Digital Commons Network^™

“Not Conducive To Good Education”: Insights From Interviews With High School Math Teachers About The Academic Impacts Of Covid-19 In The Classroom, Thomas G. Holtmeier, Brook K. Batch, Rebecca J. Allen

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

This study explores the academic impacts of COVID-19 and virtual learning on high school math students in the United States. Previous research has found that COVID-19 led to significant declines in engagement and test scores, alongside a widening opportunity gap among students of different backgrounds. This study interviewed high school math teachers from two private schools to understand what they have observed of students both during the pandemic and now. The findings reveal that the virtual learning experience had a limited negative impact on most students in these two schools, but teachers expressed concerns about the limitations of the …

Does Educator Preparation Align With State Standards? A Factor Analysis Of Missouri’S First-Year Teacher Survey, Ximena Uribe-Zarain, Beth Kania-Gosche, Mark Hogrebe

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

First-Year Teacher Surveys (FYTS) are essential for evaluating teacher preparation programs (TPPs), providing crucial feedback from recent graduates about their training and readiness for real-world teaching. This study focuses on Missouri’s FYTS, utilizing Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to investigate the survey's factor structure and its alignment with the state's nine teaching standards. The study sample consisted of 1,424 first-year teachers who completed the FYTS during the 2023 academic year. EFA revealed eight distinct factors, largely corresponding to the original standards, while CFA results supported the multidimensional factor structure with significant item loadings. Although model fit …

Developing Culturally Responsive Curriculum For Educators Working With Special Needs Learners In The United States, Ginikachi Ifenatuora

Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural & International Education Plan II Graduate Projects

None

Exploring Coaching Leadership Behaviours In Strength And Conditioning Coaching: Preferences Of Ncaa Division I And Ii Collegiate Student-Athletes Based On Task Variability, Severiano Tiberi, Jeremy Moody, Steve Cooper, George Jennings, Joseph I. Esformes

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

This study aimed to explore collegiate student-athletesˈ preferences of coaching leadership behaviours in strength and conditioning coaching and evaluate differences between the student-athletesˈ preferences of behaviours based on task variability. In total 145 National Collegiate Athletic Association student-athletes (closed sports athletes = 51, open sports athletes = 94) completed an electronic questionnaire involving the athletesˈ preference version of the Revised Leadership Scale for Strength and Conditioning. Results revealed that the most favoured behaviour was ˈtraining and instructionˈ, whilst the least favoured was ˈautocraticˈ. Similar results were observed for closed and open sports groups, though closed sports athletes preferred ˈtraining and …

Need Frustration And Poor Mental Health Among Collegiate Athletes: The Indirect Role Of Ruminative Thinking, Alanni N. Brown, Adrian J. Bravo, Stimulant Norms And Prevalence 2 (Snap2) Study Team

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

Vulnerability to negative mental health outcomes (i.e. anxiety and depression) among DI collegiate athletes may best be understood using Self Determination Theory (SDT) and the framework that need frustration impairs autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Need frustration may also relate to negative mental health symptoms via higher ruminative thinking, known to relate to both need frustration and poor mental health. The present study tested these two path models (i.e., SDT need frustration components [autonomy, relatedness, competency]-->rumination facets [problem-focused thoughts, counterfactual thinking, repetitive thinking, anticipatory thoughts]-->mental health problems (one for depression and one for anxiety as outcomes) among 341 collegiate …

Mentoring Of Para-Athletes And Its Impact On The Preparation Process For The 2020 Paralympic Games, Irina Perfilova, Joshua R. Pate, Robin Hardin

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

Many factors contribute to successful athletic performance, and athletes have reported that mentors have played a vital role in their athletic performance as well as their personal development. Mentoring relationships can have a transformative impact on people’s lives, and mentored athletes, either by peers or coaches, have higher levels of dedication, confidence, and individual performance. Having a mentor is critically important during unexpected challenges in life such as was the case with the extraordinary uncertainty for para-athletes during the postponement of the 2020 Paralympic Games. The purpose of this study was to explore how mentoring aided para-athletes’ navigating the challenges …

Development And Transition In Crisis: The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Division I College Athletes, Grace Kazmierski-Davie, Khalid Ballouli

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

The aim of this study is to explore how Division I college athletes made meaning of their experiences during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. Though existing literature details various athlete transitions, there is limited knowledge about how athletes navigate unprecedented disruptions like a global pandemic. This qualitative study employed semi-structured interviews to gather in-depth data. The study included a diverse sample of 19 college athletes, ranging from freshmen to seniors, representing various sports and academic levels. Findings revealed that athletes employed diverse strategies to maintain readiness and mental sharpness, reflecting both proactive and reactive coping mechanisms. …

Wisdom Responses To Troubled Times: Healing Through Contemplative And Somatic Approaches, David Smith, Thomas Falkenberg, Remy Y.S. Low, David Chang, Åsa Jarskog, Jason Brown, Randy Persad, Anna Rumjahn, Charles Scott, Heesoon Bai

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

Humanity is facing troubled times, as witnessed by increased polarization and division that are exploding into various forms of violence. Collectively, we are facing unprecedented ecological and environmental disasters. On campuses throughout North America, and closer to home, student anxiety, depression and other mental health issues are increasingly prevalent. The academic fields of contemplative inquiry and somatic studies, which highlight holistic approaches to education, are responding to these troubled times by showing how we can accomplish presence of mind, promote healing, and embrace the physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, and ecological dimensions of wellness.

Views From The Cheap Seats: Understanding The Key Motivators Behind Sport Volunteering, Nicholas Paul Smith, Tiberio Garza

The COSMA Journal

Sport volunteers are imperative to the success of sport mega events. Knowing why volunteers continue to help events was the purpose of this study. This study aimed to investigate the motivations of sport volunteers post Covid-19. Data were collected from 30 volunteers at the 2023 NCAA College World Series. Inductive qualitative analysis and descriptive statistics found that community support was the reason the respondents were most glad to volunteer. The findings offered insight into how communication factors between supervisors, law enforcement, and other volunteers affected volunteer motivation. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed in more detail …

Contemplative Practices Facilitating Awareness, Compassion, And Healing In Study Abroad: A Reflective And Explorative Study, Ciara C. Hoyne, Jing Lin

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

This reflective essay focuses on the relationship between contemplative practices and participation in a short-term study abroad trip. The study explores how contemplative practices help facilitate self-understanding, alleviate stress, enhance connection to the host community and culture, and enable healing. We use our experiences participating in a short-term study abroad program as an example for examining the role of contemplative practices in the context of study abroad. We discuss and integrate relevant literature on the topic of meditation, mindfulness, and contemplative inquiry to offer insight into how contemplative practices can be integrated into study abroad in a way that enhances …

Healing In Relation: Honoring Post-Graduate Grief As An Opportunity For Relational Scholarship, Tanya J. Behrisch, Anna Rumjahn, Chris Yakimov

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

This paper is a three-way conversation about grief that follows a graduate program. We explore our experiences with post-graduate grief in community, attending to each other’s sense of loss following separation from supervisors, theses, and graduate programs. In committing to slow scholarship, processes—such as navigating feelings and living—have been valued over producing a manuscript quickly. Slowness, including long gaps between meetings, enabled us to follow the diverse contours of quiet alchemical processes such as grieving, opening up to emptiness, self-acceptance, being enough, and letting go. After years of compression and dialogic friction with her mentor, Tanya confronts feelings akin to …

Imagination: Bridging The Intended, Delivered, And Received Curricula, Vicki Boley Dr., Paul A. Michalec Dr.

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

This paper explores the transformative potential of imagination in higher education, particularly its capacity to bridge the intended, delivered, and received curricula. Through a qualitative study involving in-depth interviews with graduate students, the research highlights how imagination fosters holistic, socially just, and humanizing educational experiences that transcend traditional instructional boundaries, encouraging student ownership and creative engagement in the higher education classroom and beyond.

Color Tests For The Presumptive Identification Of A Range Of Benzodiazepines, Regan Mulvin

Honors Projects

Color tests are presumptive chemical tests that determine the class of drug in both laboratory and field settings. Despite the rising popularity of benzodiazepines and the usefulness of color tests, there is no widely accepted color test for identifying them. This study tested six different color tests against five benzodiazepines, including diazepam, clonazepam, lorazepam, alprazolam, and flualprazolam, to identify which of the tests would work most generally across all benzodiazepines. Of the six tests, the McKibben test, the Janovsky test, and the Zimmerman test all showed potential usefulness as a presumptive color test. More studies should be done on a …

Fan Perceptions Of Dynamic Ticket Pricing In Professional Sports: The Impact Of Transparency, Incentives, And Demographics, Joshua Greer, Nicholas Zoroya

The COSMA Journal

Abstract

Dynamic Ticket Pricing (DTP) has become a widely implemented strategy in professional sports, allowing organizations to adjust ticket prices based on demand fluctuations. While DTP optimizes revenue generation for teams, its impact on fan perceptions, purchasing behavior, and loyalty remains a crucial consideration. This study examines the influence of age, gender, pricing transparency, and promotional incentives on fans’ perceptions of fairness, trust, and purchasing decisions within a dynamic pricing model.

A total of 57 participants completed a survey assessing their attitudes toward DTP. Key areas of analysis included perceived fairness, willingness to pay for high-demand games, trust in pricing …

A Description Of Mental Health Policies In Ohio Secondary Schools, Laura L. Harris, Molly Rowe

Journal of Sports Medicine and Allied Health Sciences: Official Journal of the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association

OBJECTIVE To compare secondary school mental health policies implemented for the student body with those implemented for student athletes.

Integrating Music Content Into The Secondary Mathematics Classroom: Facilitating The Process Of Designing Interdisciplinary Lessons, Denae Bumpus

Honors Projects

Many people enjoy music, and music has a multitude of connections to mathematics, so it makes sense for a mathematics classroom to incorporate musical elements into the instruction, but the literature has shown that many math teachers do not have a strong enough musical background to feel confident in incorporating music into the math class. Therefore, this research sought to provide a resource to help secondary mathematics teachers integrate age-appropriate musical applications to their mathematics lessons which connects standards of mathematics into standards of music. Specifically, the paper connects the Ohio Standards of Mathematics for Geometry with the course objectives …

Final Master's Portfolio, Sophia Michalski

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This portfolio explores research in technical writing revolving around digital products and literary practices such as Post-Structuralism as literary theory and the methodology Docile Bodies within literary texts. While half the portfolio includes analytical essays which examine how these themes intersect and arise in literary landscape, the other half aims to investigate how the current digital marketplace prioritizes cloud-based products and what limitations are placed through extensive research.

"We All Of Us Have Our Particular Devil Who Rides Us And Torments Us": Sexuality And Identity In Trauma Narratives, Aysenur Zaza

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This portfolio reads literary narratives through the lens of feminist trauma theory to critique how institutional powers like heteronormativity, misogyny, and racism shape the production and perception of trauma. Centering works by women writers (with an exception in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) it examines how experiences such as childbirth, racial respectability, and gendered identity formation are silenced or pathologized under dominant frameworks, particularly the medicalization of trauma. Drawing on scholars like Laura Brown and Lucy Thompson, the portfolio challenges the white, male-centric origins of PTSD and critiques the expectation of “wholeness” imposed on women in both literature and …

Board Of Trustees Meeting Minutes 2025-05-02, Bowling Green State University

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

The official meeting minutes of Bowling Green State University's Board of Trustees.

Echoes Of Emotions Through Mindful Music: Impacting Older Adults One Song At A Time, Elisabeth Baende

Honors Projects

Music has been researched to be a positive impact on older adults with memory loss like dementia. Technology has also made a positive impact for increasing older adult functioning with tasks and communication styles. The paper provides an idea to combat memory decline and cognitive functioning with an app called Mindful Music. The paper describes what Mindful Music is and how it could be beneficial for older adults with dementia. The paper also brings the conversation on stress and struggles throughout memory loss. How music makes the impact on emotions is supplied in the methods and results section. The paper …

The Oaks Vs. Other University Dining Facilities: Does Architecture Affect Food Waste?, Sydney Bezich

Honors Projects

The purpose of this study was to find a connection between food waste and architecture and determine how food waste can be mitigated using architectural solutions and methods. Food waste is an important issue worldwide and is present in university dining facilities. This study focuses on university dining facilities’ preventable food waste at both the pre-consumer and post-consumer levels. Architecture, in this project, is defined as all aspects of the built environment. This includes, but is not limited to, design and layout, materials, systems, building operations, marketing displays, and sustainability. Methods for this study included researching sustainability, architecture, and food …

At The Outset: An Exploration Of Jazz And The Music Video, Riley Kramer

Honors Projects

This project centers around the creation of an original jazz composition and music video for the purpose of filling the gap in visual media used to promote jazz music. The history of music in film is briefly explored, as well as the history of jazz in film and music videos. Jazz is found to have been intertwined with film from the first widely available sound films, but the connection has since dwindled, with only a few modern jazz compositions having widely available music videos.

An original jazz tune, “At the Outset,” was created for this project. The details of the …

"Treat Others Based On How Your Parents Treated You": A Longitudinal Study On Parenting Style Experienced In Adolescence And Prosocial Attitudes Later In Life, Chelsea Ward

Honors Projects

The parenting style one grows up with has been found to influence a variety of outcomes later in a person’s life, including prosocial behaviors. However, the attitudes behind these behaviors remained understudied, especially for permissive and uninvolved parenting styles. The present study uses The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), a nationally representative longitudinal dataset conducted in the United States from 1997 to the present year, to clarify the relationship between parenting style experienced in adolescence and prosocial attitudes in early adulthood. Results indicate that being parented with an authoritative parenting style in adolescence leads to higher levels of …

Shame Versus Guilt: Effects On Voter Mobilization In A Social Media Environment, Rachel Herner

Honors Projects

Young people traditionally have low voter turnout rates compared to their older counterparts. Voter turnout is essential to maintaining the democratic structure of the United States government. Therefore, extensive research has been conducted to find ways to increase voter turnout among young voters. Past research has shown that social pressure and shame can be utilized to increase voter participation. Additionally, Classical Civilization scholars have investigated the motivations of people through guilt and shame. Given the rise of social media use in the United States by young people over time, researchers have been provided with a new tool to encourage voter …

Enhancing A Client’S Website Design Through Research On Executive Function Skills: Informed Decision-Making In A Service-Learning Context, Jacob Irelan

Honors Projects

This synthesis project explores how research on executive function skills can inform effective website design in a service-learning context. Executive function skills—including working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility—are foundational to learning and development. By conducting a comprehensive literature review and engaging in service-learning through a client-based web design project, the study bridges interdisciplinary knowledge between education and visual communication technology. The project involved redesigning a client’s website focused on supporting individual's executive function skills, enhancing both its usability and search engine optimization. Hands-on, service learning experience supplemented by academic research allowed for the development of practical skills such as …

Enhancing Skin Cancer Literacy Amongst Young Adults: A Digital Design, Katherine Stoll

Honors Projects

The skin plays a vital role in protection, regulation, and homeostasis of the human body. Skin cancer, despite being mostly preventable, is one of the most common cancers. Young adults, ages 18 to 25, are vulnerable targets due to risky behaviors and misinformation regarding skin cancer. This project was designed by using digital media and website design to enhance skin cancer health literacy among young adults. Using a systematic literature review and research methods, an interactive website was designed to improve skin cancer health literacy and eliminate common misconceptions. The topics addressed throughout the website were the biological factors of …

Measuring Exposure Through Targeted Ads, Sarah Bazell

Honors Projects

This study investigates the effectiveness of targeted digital advertising strategies for Company X, a performance motorsports fuel brand. With the goal of optimizing engagement and improving budget allocation, four distinct ad campaigns were developed and tested on Facebook and Instagram: brand awareness, product education, dealer locator promotion, and lifestyle merchandise promotion. Each campaign was evaluated based on reach, impressions, cost per result, and conversion rates. Descriptive statistics revealed significant differences in engagement rates across campaigns, with video-based, emotionally driven ads outperforming static formats. A one-way ANOVA indicated no significant difference in reach across campaigns but confirmed significant differences in spending …

How Biophilic Design Impacts Office Spaces, Addison Carter

Honors Projects

Many working individuals experience burnout and dissatisfaction in their jobs. Although is this a result of individual mental strain, or are there other environmental factors contributing to the problem? This study investigates the impact of design on well-being and examines how biophilic design can serve as a solution to the negative effects certain architectural features may have on occupants. A literature review was conducted; it analyzed existing research on topics such as office design, biophilic design, and the influence of architecture on comfort and wellness. To explore how biophilic design can be applied in all settings, not just new construction, …

The Effects Of Artificial Intelligence On Trial Courts, Alexys Zellner

Honors Projects

Artificial Intelligence has quickly entered the realm of everyday life. Without extensive testing, there have been issues surrounding transparency, accountability, and biased decisions made by Artificial Intelligence decision-making algorithms. When a political institution—such as the courts—uses these types of tools, there is a chance that the negative attributes will impact the institutions and actors using them. The court system relies on legitimacy and public approval to enforce its laws and decisions. This study aimed to determine whether the use of Artificial Intelligence would lead to a decrease in public approval and legitimacy of the courts, as well as diminish perceptions …

Toledo Private High Schools: An Analysis Of Marketing Strategies, Tegan Ruttencutter

Honors Projects

Having a better understanding of private education is vital in a country where research on private schools outside of school choice literature is limited. This research aims to gain a deeper understanding of the marketing strategies employed by Toledo private high schools, thereby enhancing our comprehension of the local education market and its broader implications. This study will delve into the websites of three prominent Toledo private high schools: one Catholic, one Christian/Religious, and one secular school. To better understand these websites and schools, marketing and education-related literature regarding marketing strategies and private education is reviewed. Additionally, to better understand …