Digital Commons Network^™

Latent Transition Analysis: A Statistical Method For Identifying Underlying Subgroups Over Time, Holmes Finch

Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education

Researchers working in early childhood research are often interested in assessing change over time in multiple variables. In addition, they may wish to ascertain whether there exist subgroups in the data with respect to these variables, and whether/how membership in these groups is related. Latent transition analysis (LTA) provides such researchers with a useful tool for investigating questions around such groups, including their composition, frequency, and the likelihood of moving from one to another at different points in time. The purpose of this manuscript is to provide a full demonstrate of LTA and show how it can be used to …

A Tutorial For Identifying And Comparing Change Points In Developmental Trajectories, Holmes Finch

Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education

Researchers in a variety of social science fields work with sequential data, such as measurements made over time. In some instances, one or more of the moments (e.g., mean, variance) of the series may change abruptly at some point in the sequence, yielding what is known as a change point. There is a broad literature describing methods for changepoint detection. Researchers working with multiple sequential series containing change points may be interested in comparing the locations of these changes. The purpose of this manuscript is to demonstrate how a researcher can detect changepoints and compare changepoints between two or more …

Using Multilevel Modeling To Understand Nested Data, Holmes Finch

Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education

Researchers in the social sciences often work with nested data, in which individuals are collected in higher level clusters. For example, educational research often involves working with samples in which students are nested within schools. Standard data analyses, such as regression and analysis of variance (ANOVA), yield statistically biased results when this nested structure is ignored. One widely used and effective approach for handling such nested data is multilevel modeling. The purpose of this manuscript is to review the basics of multilevel modeling and to provide the reader with a fully worked example in which the analytic approach and results …

Using Effect Sizes, Confidence Intervals, And The Bayes Factor To Better Understand The T-Test, Analysis Of Variance, And Regression Results, Holmes Finch

Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education

Null hypothesis testing is a widely used paradigm for assessing research hypotheses across the social sciences. Despite their ubiquity, researchers have discussed a number of problems and limitations to hypothesis testing and have suggested alternatives that might provide greater depth and explanation of research results. The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of several such alternatives and to show how they can be integrated with one another and with null hypothesis testing in order to provide a more holistic view of research hypotheses.

Guest Editor's Introduction: Methodological Innovations For Advancing Early Childhood Educational And Psychological Research, Anthony Mangino Ph.D.

Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education

The goal of this special issue is to provide you, the inquisitive reader and developmental scientist, with some of the methodological tools to aid in augmenting your analytic capacity.

Learning To Get Out Of The Wing - The Motivations Of Learners Incarcerated In Québec Provincial Prisons, Frédérick Armstrong

Journal of Prison Education Research

41 men and women incarcerated in the Québec provincial prison system were asked why they enrolled in educational activities. Relying on self-determination theory’s to describe and categorize their motivations, we found that most respondents had extrinsic motivations to participate in educational activities and that only three respondents could be described as intrinsically motivated. Respondents joined programmes to escape boredom, to receive financial compensation or to receive some other benefits; not for the pleasure of learning. These results are different from other research reporting that a majority of incarcerated learners were intrinsically motivated. After addressing this contrast and arguing that it …

Urban Conflagrations: Structural Ash And Soil Metal(Loid) Contamination After California’S Eaton And Palisades Fires, S. Anselme Dossou, Leon Kelly, P. Louis Lu, Robin Jones, Oliver O'Donnell, Justin St. P. Walsh, Daniel D. Richter

Art Faculty Articles and Research

In the weeks after California’s Eaton-Palisades wildfires, structural ash of burned homes and soils from yards and curbsides were sampled for analysis of Pb, As, and eight metals from 32 burned residences. About six months after fires and after US Army Corps of Engineers’ Phase 2 cleanups removed 15 cm from structural ash footprints, 17 properties were resampled within about a meter of original sampling sites. Concentrations of metal(oid)s in structural ash and residential soils varied between and within properties with significant spatial and temporal patterns. Lead concentrations were highest in structural ash and soil of yards of select pre-1970s …

Mismatch Negativity (Mmn) And Neurodevelopmental Outcomes In Children Born Preterm, Aidee León Lúa

Theses - ALL

Premature birth is a leading factor contributing to neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and cognitive disabilities. Early detection measures can help children access services earlier, even before behavioral traits manifest. Event-related potentials (ERPs), measured though electroencephalography (EEG), are objective and non-invasive methods to study brain activity in children born preterm. The mismatch negativity (MMN), measured by the difference in neural response to alternating frequent and rare stimuli, has been associated with cognitive abilities in preterm children, but its relation to autistic traits remains underexplored. The present study examined whether speech evoked MMN amplitude and latency in children born preterm between 5 …

Evapotranspiration Everywhere, All The Time: Towards A Unified View From Earth Observation, Joshua B. Fisher, Martha C. Anderson, Diego G. Miralles, Kanishka Mallick, Paul C. Stoy, Youngryel Ryu, Wim G. M. Bastiaanssen

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Scientists want to know everything, everywhere, and all the time. This is particularly true in Earth science, where we seek to understand processes that span from the molecular to the planetary scale in how the world works, how it affects us, and how we impact it—especially the water cycle. Evapotranspiration (ET) was the last component to be measured in closing the water cycle: for decades, closing the water budget meant adding up all the measurable components, then inferring ET as the residual. Early measurements relied on water loss from pans and weighing lysimeters, followed by sensors inserted into plants to …

Developmental Ecological Psychology Meets Organicist Biology: The Example Of The Ecological Self, Catherine Read

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

In this paper we outline an ecological-organicist theoretical framework to understand human development. The ecological approach to development (Developmental Ecological Psychology, DEP) places the organism at the center and has a mutualist theoretical framework with an epistemic foundation in direct perception. While research in this tradition has paid much attention to specific developmental questions at a young age (such as perceptual learning, affordances, and action coordination), less effort has gone into the discussion of theoretical issues of overall development at the level of organism-environment mutuality. Meanwhile in biology, a new emphasis on the organism as an explanatory concept and level …

The Influence Of Prosthetic Obturators On Quality Of Life In Individuals With Maxillectomy Defects, Minseok Kim

Oral Health

Abstract

Introduction: In recent years, there has been a growing focus on understanding the impact of oral cancer on patients' quality of life. Prosthetic rehabilitation techniques, such as maxillary obturators, often in conjunction with reconstructive surgery, have emerged as interventions to address the challenges posed by post-maxillectomy abnormalities.

Objective: This study aims to systematically review and evaluate the effectiveness of maxillofacial prosthetic rehabilitation using obturators in enhancing the quality of life of patients following maxillectomy.

Methodology: Systematic review of identified literature spanning the timeframe from 2000 to 2020 was used. The comprehensive search encompassed widely recognized databases including PubMed, …

Climate Policy Uncertainty And Housing Prices: Analyzing Bidirectional Transmission Across U.S. Metropolitan Areas, Sourav Batabyal, Alper Gormus

Finance and Economics

This study examines the relationship between climate policy uncertainty (CPU) and residential housing prices across U.S. metropolitan areas using the U.S. CPU index developed by Gavriilidis in 2021 and monthly S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, covering January 1991 to May 2024. Employing a Fourier-augmented Toda–Yamamoto causality framework that accounts for both abrupt and gradual structural breaks, we document significant CPU → housing prices transmission in multiple metropolitan markets, with bidirectional transmission dynamics emerging in Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, and San Francisco, as well as at the U.S. national level. The results reveal substantial spatial heterogeneity across various …

Evaluating Sources In The Age Of Ai And Misinformation: Practical Routines For Social Studies Classrooms, Viloshinee Murugan Ph.D

The Great Lakes Social Studies Journal

As students encounter information through search engines, social media, and AI-generated content, evaluating sources has become more complex and essential in social studies classrooms. Research shows that students struggle to judge credibility, trace claims to evidence, and recognize how context, authorship, and purpose shape information. This article argues that these challenges are not the result of student apathy or inability, but of limited opportunities to practice evaluative reasoning as a routine disciplinary habit. Drawing on scholarship in disciplinary literacy and civic reasoning, as well as nearly three decades of practitioner experience, the article presents practical instructional routines, sample mini-lessons, and …

Walking The Map: Exploring Illinois Using Giant Traveling Maps, Irenea Walker, Kim Carthans

The Great Lakes Social Studies Journal

While it is common for any social studies discipline to receive limited instructional time in the elementary classroom, geography would be among the least taught (Bauml, 2023; Hinde, 2014). As a result, many students lack even the basic knowledge of geography, such as state capitals, geographical locations, and major landmarks. It is even more alarming that elementary students are unaware of the geography of their own state. National Geographic Society introduced giant floor traveling maps over a decade ago through each state’s National Geographic Alliance (2025). The gigantic floor map helps students get a sense of the map's places through …

The Legacy Of Lead: Lead Exposure's Harmful Effects And Its Concentration In Poc Communities, Layla Sophronia Barber

Student Theses 2015-Present

This thesis examines the disproportionate burden of lead exposure carried by low income, POC communities. The systemic nature of this problem is a symptom of a longstanding legacy of environmental injustice in the United States. Decades of federal neglect are reflected in the higher statistics of lead exposure and poisoning in predominantly black communities. While it is understood that lead exposure poses a serious threat to physical health and early cognitive development, there is a discouraging lack of urgency to remove the toxin from non-wealthy communities. The material covered by this thesis aims to identify and correct the discriminatory social …

The Prospect Of F.E.W. Resources: How Food, Energy, And Waste Management Workforce Programs Address Global Equity And Sustainability, Quincy P. Biddle

Student Theses 2015-Present

As a global society, the issues affecting a specific city or country are no longer isolated; instead, they impact other places in myriad ways. Over the past few decades, environmental degradation and economic inequality, both within and between countries, have caused shortages of necessities like food and water, inadequate access to safe energy sources, and increased pollution, impacting people’s prosperity and the well-being of the planet. It is of global interest to remediate these issues for the betterment and progress of society, and thus, an approach to addressing these complications collectively and comprehensively is of utmost importance. This paper investigates …

Secondhand Or Second-Class? Environmental Injustice In Global Textile Waste Trade, Wendy S. Escalante

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper addresses the issue of textile waste dumping, specifically how secondhand clothing exports from the Global North create environmental, social, and public health burdens in the Global South. The study focuses on case studies in Chile’s Atacama Desert, where shipments of used clothing overwhelm local waste infrastructures and worsen patterns of environmental injustice. Chapter 1 describes the global flows of textile waste, including trade volumes, landfill accumulation, and the impacts of discarded clothing on ecosystem services such as clean water, fertile soils, and breathable air, alongside health risks from microplastic pollution, toxic runoff, and respiratory hazards from textile fires. …

Solid Waste Management In Greater Khartoum City, Sudan, Roba Mahmoud

Student Theses 2015-Present

This study investigates the rising solid waste management (SWM) dilemma in Greater Khartoum City (GKC), a critical environmental and public health issue caused by fast urbanization and inadequate infrastructure, with historical linkages to Sudan's colonial and postcolonial growth. Chapter 1 describes the current problem using quantitative and qualitative data, demonstrating that GKC produces approximately 3,340 tons of waste each day, with 56% organic matter, 8% plastics, and 16% paper. Collection efficiency remains severely poor, at 31.5%. Informal recyclers known as Nakasha or Barkata collect approximately 7% of total waste, supporting roughly 3,900 people, whereas filthy open dumps and unsorted medical …

How Open Is Merlot? A Descriptive Study Of Oer Availability In A Major Learning Object Repository., James Thibeault, Jamie Schmidt

Open Educational Resources Publications

The Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) has long been regarded as a reputable source of open educational resources (OER). However, this reputation has rarely been subjected to systematic empirical scrutiny. This preliminary descriptive study examines how reliably MERLOT's Business section surfaces OER. Using a browsing-based methodology mirroring typical user behavior, 500 catalog records were manually evaluated across six access status categories. Results indicate that only 134 of 500 sampled resources (26.8%) qualify as OER under a definition requiring both open licensing and immediate accessibility. Of the 315 live links, 42.5% were OER, while 136 records (27.2%) …

Identifying The Cultural Significance Behind Local Study Sites Used By Marine Scientists, Mackenzie Anonick

Honors Theses

This project brings awareness to the cultural significance of places that scientists (specifically marine scientists associated with CCU) study and do field work at. It is important to be respectful of places you work in and understand what environment and land you are working with. It is also important to know your privilege when working in areas of less privilege. For example, CCU students travel to Bucksport on field trips, and the majority of them are not aware of the fact that Bucksport is a largely Black and lower income town that has extreme flooding issues that impact the residents …

Teacher Shortages In Arkansas Rural School Districts: Employed Teacher’S Perceptions Of The Impact On Their Effectiveness, Carloss Guess

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

ABSTRACT

TEACHER SHORTAGES IN ARKANSAS RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS: EMPLOYED TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPACT

ON THEIR EFFECTIVENESS

Carloss Guess

Teacher shortages in rural school districts remain a persistent challenge that affects instructional quality, teacher workload, and professional sustainability. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore how teachers in rural Arkansas perceive the impact of staffing shortages on their instructional roles, workload, and professional well-being. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 10 K–12 teachers representing elementary, middle, and high schools and across varying career stages. Interview transcripts were analyzed using an inductive qualitative approach and the constant …

Debriefing In Emergency Departments And Intensive Care Units To Combat Compassion Fatigue, Madison N. Chiolino

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Compassion fatigue can be associated with nurses working in increased stressful environments such as the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Emergency Room (ER).  There is a gap in healthcare facilities, where structured interventions like debriefing tools are not implemented to address compassion fatigue. The purpose of this study was to determine if implementing a debriefing tool in areas where nurses are placed in high stress scenarios such as the intensive care unit and emergency department can aid in combating compassion fatigue. A piloted quantitative pre-and post-survey intervention design was used. Data was collected using the ProQOL 5 and PEARLS debriefing …

Barriers, Beliefs, And Brilliance: African American Males Perceptions Of Academic Success, Cara C. Bowie

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

This phenomenological study looked at the lived experience and perceptions of academically successful African American male students in Riverbend County, Arkansas.  With the help of the Critical Race Theory (CRT) and a phenomenological orientation, the research aimed to address the research question: What aspects of the educational systems do academically successful African American male students identify as most influential and impactful in their success?  Brookhaven High School was purposely chosen, with ten participants having a minimum 3.0 GPA.  The main data collection tool was semi-structured interviews, and Moustakas (1994) transcendental phenomenological analysis approach was used to determine textual and structural …

Prematurity And Special Education: Raising Awareness Of The Connections Between Preterm Births And Special Education, Nadia R. Corder

Honors Theses

In this thesis, the goal was to find the link, if any, between prematurity and special education, with regards to probability of special education and outcomes, and to create a means of professional development for not only special education teachers about prematurity risks and effects on students but also parental education about the possible procedures of their child’s education. This is accomplished through the organization of infographic pamphlets for parents and an online professional development presentation. Both these formats are compliant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility parameters. A literature review was conducted to achieve this goal using …

Homeschool Policy In Mississippi: Perceptions Of Regulations Among Parents, Alumni, And Policy Advocates, Kaley Lecroy

Honors Theses

In recent years, the growth of homeschooling and alternative education methods such as hybrid and virtual schools has reshaped educational opportunities for both parents and students. As more options become available and more parents opt for the flexibility of non-traditional school, it is imperative that we examine the educational guardrails in place for these students. Even more importantly, it is imperative that the perspectives of home educators and homeschool alumni have a place at the table when we review the regulations in place. This thesis seeks to understand the perspectives of current and former Mississippi home educators, Mississippi homeschool alumni, …

Controlling Fiscal Destiny: Evaluating The Effect Of State Tax Composition On Resilience During Defined Shock Period, Calloway R. Bills

Honors Theses

State governments operate under strict fiscal constraints that limit their ability to respond to economic downturns through borrowing or monetary policy, making tax composition a key determinant of fiscal stability. This paper evaluates how variation in state tax revenue composition affects fiscal resilience during economic shocks, focusing on the Great Recession. While prior research shows that individual tax instruments differ in cyclicality, less is known about how overall tax structure shapes revenue performance during and after shocks. Using a panel dataset of U.S. states from 1988 to 2024, this study measures resilience through two outcomes: the magnitude of revenue decline …

How Ai Governance Differs Between Regime Type, Jackson T. Guillou

Honors Theses

This thesis will examine how artificial intelligence (AI) regulation and development differ across political regime types, arguing that governance outcomes are fundamentally shaped by institutional political structures. This thesis will draw on comparative frameworks analyzing democratic and authoritarian systems. This thesis will also include case studies of the European Union, the United States of America, China, and Russia. The study finds that democratic regimes tend to emphasize transparency, accountability, and rights-based regulation of AI. This often results in slow regulation of AI, but it is more ethically legitimate and constrained. In contrast, authoritarian regimes prioritize centralized control, strategic coordination, and …

Monitored Natural Attenuation Evaluation And Additional Characterization Of A Ccr Unit Lithium Groundwater Plume, Matt Barickman, Adam Piestrzeniewicz Pg

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) refers to the reliance on natural attenuation processes (within the context of a carefully controlled and monitored site cleanup approach) to meet groundwater protection standards (GPS) for a CCR unit within a reasonable time frame (USEPA, 1999). MNA is being evaluated as an adaptive management strategy for a CCR unit groundwater plume with statistically significant lithium concentrations above GPS, though with little risk of offsite migration. A previous MNA evaluation was performed for the lithium plume following the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) “tiered lines of evidence approach” (USEPA, 2015), which determined that there were …

From Stranger To Self: The Role Of Familiarity In Modulating The N170 And N250 Erp Components, Tabish Gul

Dissertations

This study investigated how varying levels of face familiarity modulate the N170 and N250 event-related potential (ERP) components, two neural markers of face perception and recognition. While the N250 is widely considered familiarity-sensitive, the N170 has traditionally been linked to the structural encoding stage of face perception. However, recent research suggests that face familiarity may also influence N170 amplitude and latency. While most previous studies have compared up to three familiarity levels, the present study examined five levels of familiarity: own face, friend’s face, famous face, experimentally familiar face, and unfamiliar face. Twenty-six participants viewed face images while completing a …

Inconsistencies Emerge Between Regional And Local-Scale Water Security Metrics At Military Installations, Abigail Birnbaum, Michael L. Berg, Caitlin Grady, Daniel J. Weeks, Christopher M. Chini

Faculty Publications

Recent United States federal policy for military installations has emphasized the importance of developing a standardized approach for water security assessment to monitor changes in water resources and the ability for an installation to meet both its civilian and mission needs. For military installations in the United States, these assessments must consider demands both inside and outside the installation’s fence line, as regional resources are required to meet mission readiness. Focusing on physical water scarcity, this study compares four water security metrics with unique formulations and spatial resolutions, including an installation-scale metric and multiple regional metrics defined for either baseline …