Digital Commons Network^™

"I Just Have Big Emotions, Okay?!": Exploring Emotional Literacy Through Picture Books, Amie L. Bigelow

Theses and Dissertations

Many children in the United States struggle with mental health issues. The increase in mental health difficulties for children and adolescents has increased so greatly after the COVID19 pandemic that it has been declared a national mental health emergency by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Children’s Hospital Association (AAP et al., 2021). The burden to provide children with socialemotional learning, opportunities, access, and support often falls on teachers, and this burden can be particularly acute in rural communities, stemming from the limited availability of resources. Using picturebooks through means such …

Manipulating Colloidal Particles Using Chemical Gradients And Top-Down Control, Mark Nichols Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

Colloidal particles provide the ideal building blocks for the next generation of microdevices, such as advanced sensors and precision drug delivery systems. However, many such applications require the use of top-down (i.e. humanly controllable) forces to manipulate colloidal particles with single-particle precision, and current methods can only achieve such precision for small numbers of particles at a time. To address this challenge, we propose using chemical forces in combination with existing top-down techniques to enable the control of larger numbers of particles simultaneously. Controlling colloids using chemical reactions is a novel technique not typically utilized. Due to its distinct difference …

Leveraging Biological Mechanisms In Machine Learning, Kyle J. Rogers

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis integrates biologically-inspired mechanisms into machine learning to develop novel tuning algorithms, gradient abstractions for depth-wise parallelism, and an original bias neuron design. We introduce neuromodulatory tuning, which uses neurotransmitter-inspired bias adjustments to enhance transfer learning in spiking and non-spiking neural networks, significantly reducing parameter usage while maintaining performance. Additionally, we propose a novel approach that decouples the backward pass of backpropagation using layer abstractions, inspired by feedback loops in biological systems, enabling depth-wise training parallelization. We further extend neuromodulatory tuning by designing spiking bias neurons that mimic dopamine neuron mechanisms, leading to the development of volumetric tuning. This …

Reactivity To Environmental And Social Demands In Autistic And Neurotypical Adults: More Alike Than Different?, Mackenzie Marjorie Hyde

Theses and Dissertations

Lack of mutual understanding between autistic and neurotypical individuals contributes to the marginalization of the autistic community. This study aimed to investigate similarities in reactivity to environmental and social pressures between autistic and neurotypical adults in order to facility empathy between the communities. Participants were 328 young adults aged 18-26 years old. Twenty-eight young adults (14 female) reported a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 300 young adults (150 female) comprised a complimentary group of neurotypical individuals. Participants completed multiple standardized tests to measure autistic trait expression and an original survey that measured their reactivity to eight scenarios that …

Infrared Light-Based Data Association And Pose Estimation For Aircraft Landing In Urban Environments, David Akagi

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we explore an infrared light-based approach to the problem of pose estimation during aircraft landing in urban environments where GPS is unreliable or unavailable. We introduce a novel fiducial constellation composed of sparse infrared lights that incorporates projective invariant properties in its design to allow for robust recognition and association from arbitrary camera perspectives. We propose a pose estimation pipeline capable of producing high accuracy pose measurements at real-time rates from monocular infrared camera views of the fiducial constellation, and present as part of that pipeline a data association method that is able to robustly identify and …

Speech-Language Pathologists' Perspectives On Working With Couples Impacted By Aphasia, Jannelyse Allred

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) perceptions of, experiences with, and perceived barriers to providing psychosocial support to couples impacted by aphasia. A survey was conducted, with 50 responses analyzed. All participants were licensed SLPs who work in the United States and have people with aphasia (PWA) on their caseload. Participants responded to a portion of survey questions, viewed five short videos of Relationship-Centered Communication Partner Training (RC-CPT), then answered a portion of repeated questions to measure the change in perceived confidence, comfort, knowledge, and experience. Results indicate that SLPs perceive counseling to be within their scope of practice and …

Parent Perspectives Of A Dialogic Book Reading Workshop, Camille Slocum

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to identify how parents perceive dialogic book reading workshops that they participate in, and how cultural backgrounds affect these perspectives. Four native English-speaking mothers, and one Spanish-speaking mother with preschool-age children participated in this study. After two dialogic book reading workshops, parents participated in focus groups to discuss their perceptions. Participants noted three positive themes including motivators like incentives and childcare, positive influences, and effective adaptations in their reading routines with their children, and how the workshops were structured with helpful facilitators, supplemental materials, and content. Participants suggested various ideas for improvement. The Spanish-speaking …

Feasibility Of Parallelized Measurement Of Local Thermal Properties, Alexander J. Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis documents research done in the development and the exploration of feasibility for a high-throughput method to measure local thermal properties. The present capabilities in the measurement of local thermophysical properties such as thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and Kapitza resistance are very inefficient and impractical to fully understand and characterize heat transport through certain materials and features. This work follows up on past work in local thermal property measurement via the spatial domain thermoreflectance (SDTR) method, and explores the possibility of parallelizing the process. The parallelized SDTR (P-SDTR) method involves using laser projector sources to periodically heat and measure …

Factors Surrounding Mental Health Well-Being For Male Adolescent Pacific Islanders, Melia Fonoimoana Garrett

Theses and Dissertations

Despite increasing mental health concerns, individuals from the Pacific Islands largely do not utilize the resources available to them (National Survey of Drug Use and Health, 2020). This is of particular concern among male adolescents within the population who are more at risk of mental health concerns. An interpretative phenomenological analysis focus group study was conducted in person with male adolescent Pacific Islanders (PI; ages 14–16) residing in one Western state (n = 3). Male adolescents reported that admitting to mental health concerns would greatly limit their academic, career, and personal ambitions due to the stigma attached. They also discussed …

Design Of Precision Deployable Origami-Based Space Arrays, Clark Thomas Roubicek

Theses and Dissertations

Deployable origami-based arrays can offer many benefits for a wide variety of engineering applications because of their ability to stow compactly and deploy to a large area. These types of arrays have been demonstrated for use in solar arrays, heat shields, and more; however, they have yet to be shown in high precision applications such as telescopes. The biggest roadblock to using origami in high precision arrays is align- ment in the deployed state; in optical systems, local (single panel) and global (entire array) misalignment can drastically reduce performance. Precision positioning of origami-based arrays can be a challenge because of …

Challenging The Master Narrative Of Holocaust Victimhood: Examining The Holocaust Through A Gendered Lens, Annabella Blowers

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Women are severely unrepresented in the master narrative that has come to define what it means to be a Holocaust victim. Although men and women were subjected to different forms of victimization, women’s unique experiences of suffering have been marginalized and subsumed within the male-dominated master narrative. Examining the Holocaust through a gendered lens challenges this existing narrative of Holocaust victimhood. Conducting a gender analysis of the Holocaust is essential to fully incorporate women’s experiences into Holocaust history and the grossly inadequate narrative society uses to define Holocaust victimhood.

An analysis of fifty Holocaust fiction novels revealed that literature’s depiction …

Teaching Resilience In Pacific Islander Children Through Culturally Adapted Stories, Isabel Medina Hull

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the efficacy of culturally adapted bibliotherapy in promoting resilience among American Samoan children aged 5-13 years in response to high adolescent suicide rates in the Pacific Islands and the need for culturally adapted and supportive interventions grounded in mental health wellness. Bibliotherapy, particularly the identification with story characters, has been recognized for bolstering mental wellness, resilience, and emotional regulation in children. In this research, the children's response to bibliotherapy was measured through card sorting and forced-choice exercises, assessing their engagement with literature mirroring their experiences. The materials were developed in collaboration with Samoan cultural brokers on island …

One Size Does Not Fit All: Creating Educational Equity For Later Diagnosed Autistic Women, Naomi Julian

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Autism research focuses on the externalized behaviors usually associated with the male phenotype of autism with little representation of the internalized behaviors associated with the female phenotype of autism. Even more so, there is little research involving later diagnosed autistic women — especially women of color. Beyond this, non-white individuals have been marginalized within the sphere of education, and their marginalization is exacerbated by an autism diagnosis.

In the realm of schooling, the relationship between race, gender, and disability lacks investigation. In this exploratory study, I draw upon qualitative data from interviews of 17 racially diverse autistic women ages ranging …

Investigation Of Collision Cross Sections & Time-Resolved Structural Modification Of Biomolecules, Host-Guest Systems, & Small Molecules Using Ion Mobility & Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry, Noah Mismash

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the structures and structural changes of supramolecular host-guest systems, proteins, and other small molecules in the gas phase, utilizing a combination of computational modeling and experimental data. The primary instruments employed were a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FTICR-MS) and an ion mobility mass spectrometer (IM-MS). In the IM-MS experiments, the focus was on investigating the binding behavior of cyclodextrin macrocycles—specifically α, β, and γ-cyclodextrin—with per-fluoroalkane substances (PFAS), which are pervasive environmental contaminants. This investigation involved measuring ion-neutral collision cross sections and using computational modeling to determine whether PFAS compounds bind inside or outside the …

A Study Of Professional Learning Community Leadership Using A Modified Approach, Makayla Willis Needs

Theses and Dissertations

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are an important vehicle for teacher reflection and collaboration. The team leader of the PLC plays a critical role in the effectiveness of a PLC in improving instruction and student learning. However, there is less research around how the team leader facilitates the work of the PLC to improve instruction. This paper reports on a self-study investigation conducted by the team leader who used a modified approach to the PLC process focused on student mathematical thinking. The self-study consisted of analyzing video conversations of three PLC meetings to understand the nature of the leadership and how …

Exploring How Sino-Business Culture Informs United States Business Negotiation Practice, Chase Peterson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Numerous scholarly works have explored the intricacies of negotiating with China. This paper aims to add value to previous research by providing insights deduced from cross-cultural communication with individuals from the People's Republic of China (PRC), while emphasizing the advantages of adaptation of Chinese business culture by U.S. negotiators. The United States Institute of Peace observed several biases among U.S. negotiators including a tendency to accept initial solutions prematurely, as well as a lack of understanding regarding counterparts' objectives and contextual circumstances (Quinney 2002). The strengths of Chinese business culture help remedy these tendencies and inform Western negotiators how different …

Transformational Leadership And Teacher Commitment: Examining Differences Between Rural And Non-Rural Teachers, Kyle Jonathan Patterson

Theses and Dissertations

Teacher burnout, absenteeism, and turnover continue to plague schools throughout the United States. Researchers have suggested that a school principal's transformational leadership may impact teacher commitment, though there are limited findings regarding the differences in commitment levels among rural and non-rural teachers. There are also limited findings regarding how the different elements of a principal's transformational leadership (idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, and inspirational motivation) impact teachers' professional and organizational commitment, if at all. The purpose of this study was to investigate potential differences in commitment levels among rural and non-rural teachers, as well as urban-rural differences in the …

Mathematical Modeling And Understanding The Physiological Mechanisms Of Vibration On Wound Healing And Scar Remodeling, Devin Rion Needs

Theses and Dissertations

Chronic wounds and pathological scars reduce the quality of life for millions of people worldwide. Through mathematical modeling and clinical testing, understanding of how these conditions occur continues to increase. These tools have also been employed to investigate the efficacy of treatments that could impact wound healing and scar remodeling. The purpose of this work is to investigate the physiological effects of vibration treatment on wound healing, blood flow, and scar remodeling through mathematical modeling and experimental testing. This work presents and validates a mathematical murine model for whole body vibration enhanced wound healing (VEWH). This VEWH model builds on …

Effects Of Professional Development On Secondary School Teachers’ Self-Efficacy, Knowledge, And Attitudes About Adhd, Rebecca Jeanne Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Educators in general are not likely to have an accurate understanding of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including its etiology, how it presents, or how it is treated. Teachers also report lower satisfaction with students who have ADHD, including frustration with classroom experiences. Additionally, teachers express a desire to learn more about ADHD and how to manage related behaviors in their classrooms. Students with ADHD report wishing their teachers liked them more and understood that they aren't trying to be difficult. Accurate knowledge of ADHD has been shown to improve teacher efficacy. The current research study is adapted from Latouche …

Control, Localization, And Shock Optimization Of Icosahedral Tensegrity Systems, Brett Layer

Theses and Dissertations

Exploring the design space of tensegrity systems is the basis of the work presented in this thesis. The areas explored as part of this research include the optimization of tensegrity structures to minimize the size of a tensegrity structure given payload shock constraints, and the control and locomotion of an icosahedral tensegrity system using movable masses and using an accelerometer in conjunction with leveraging geometrical knowledge of an icosahedral tensegrity system to localize the system after the system moves. In the optimization design space, a simplified model was created to represent an icosahedral tensegrity structure. This was done by assuming …

The Acceptability Of Relationship-Centered Communication Partner Training For Couples Impacted By Aphasia: A Mixed Methods Pilot Investigation, Kathryn-Anne Pertab, Tyson G. Harmon, Jonathan Sandberg, Jon L. Pertab, William S. Evans

Faculty Publications

Purpose: This study explored the acceptability and impact of Relationship-Centered Communication Partner Training (RC-CPT) in couples impacted by aphasia. In particular, couples considered whether discussing their relationship roles and responsibilities was important and relevant to the changes they desire. Preliminary quasi-experimental data regarding perceived communication confidence and the marriage relationship were also obtained.

Method: Three couples participated in RC-CPT across two sessions. Surveys were used to measure communication confidence and the marital relationship before and after participation in RC-CPT. The quantitative findings were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Couples also participated in a semi-structured interview about the acceptability of RC-CPT, during …

Using Rna Sequencing Methodologies To Uncover Common Pathways In Neural Tube Defects: A Comparative Study Of Three Oxidative Neurotoxicants, Aubrey Coleen Johansen

Theses and Dissertations

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are the second most common type of congenital birth defect that affect infants worldwide. There are several proposed mechanisms for NTDs, but no definitive mechanism has yet been described. One possible mechanism is oxidative disruption of normal developmental signaling. The purpose of this study is to culture whole mouse embryos with three common developmental toxicants, mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP, a plastic pollutant), Fumonisin B1 (FB1, a corn mold), and valproic acid (VPA, an anticonvulsant drug), all of which are known to cause NTDs, and compare their shifts in redox potential and changes to important signaling pathways through …

Transition-Based Services And Community Support: Improving Knowledge Of Community Resources For Youth With Disabilities In Role Transitions, Ian Christopher Gee

Theses and Dissertations

Youth with disabilities often struggle to transition into new areas of life; many of these youth have difficulty finding and keeping jobs, making friends, and living independently. The present study evaluated the effects of accessing an online guide detailing how to access supports in one's community. The goal was to increase knowledge of community support options for four students with intellectual and learning disabilities from a transition-support program in the Mountain West. The guide included information on applying for a job, making friends by joining a social club, and finding where to attend church. Results indicated that each student learned …

Perceptual, Acoustic, And Kinematic Measures Of Speech Precision And Steadiness, Jessica Jamiel Martin

Theses and Dissertations

Clinicians rely on perceptual analysis in the assessment and diagnosis of motor speech disorders. However, connecting perceptual measures to quantitative data has proved challenging. This study uses correlational analyses to explore the relationship between perceptual, acoustic, and kinematic measures. Twenty typical speakers provided speech samples of rapid syllable repetition and speech tasks, which were then rated by 12 listeners for precision and steadiness on a visual analog scale. Data was analyzed to identify significant correlations between the measures. We found evidence of a modest perceptual-acoustic relationship, with results suggesting that acoustic rate may be correlated with perceptual features. Our findings …

Preparing For And Engaging Middle School Students In Read-Alouds Of Expository Texts, Kari L. Allsup

Theses and Dissertations

As most classroom teachers primarily select narrative texts for interactive read-alouds, there is a lack of research that explores interactive read-alouds of expository texts. To address the call for greater equity between narrative and expository texts in curriculum, the purpose of this study was to examine how a seventh-grade English language arts teacher prepared for and engaged students in interactive read-alouds using expository texts. Using a self-study methodology, data were collected in three ways: field notes that captured preparation, video recordings that captured the read-alouds, and post read-aloud reflections that captured impressions following the read-alouds. Findings are organized into two …

Black Stereotypes In Basketball Films, Carsen Jackson Williams

Theses and Dissertations

This study conducts a frequency analysis on the Black stereotypes portrayed in popular basketball films through the lens of media framing. Academic literature has made a frequent topic of racial bias and its role in professional sports, particularly through sports media. However, there is a gap in the literature when looking specifically at basketball films as a whole and the prevalence therein of racial stereotypes, specifically Black stereotypes. Using framing theory as the backbone of the study, a frequency analysis was completed of main characters in the ten most popular basketball films to identify what Black Stereotypes arise. Most common …

Episodic Memory Influences On Decision-Making: An Fmri Investigation Of Young And Older Adult Populations, Julie Van

Theses and Dissertations

Episodic memory involves the ability to remember specific events and personal experiences. It shares computational and neural resources with episodic future thinking, or the ability to simulate future episodes in anticipation of situations that have not yet occurred. Activity in the frontal lobe has been associated with episodic memory formation, as functional connectivity between the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been associated with the organization and manipulation of information when forming memories. At its core, episodic memory extends to several other functional domains by recombining past information to construct future scenarios, facilitating an aspect of "mental …

Nothing About Us Without Us: A Folkloristic Approach To Creating Neurodivergent-Friendly Pedagogies For Secondary Classrooms, Brittney Hatchett

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper examines how utilizing an applied folkloristic approach of studying the communities of ADHD and autistic people allows us to conduct research that actively involves the voices of ADHD and autistic adults. I have collected personal experience narratives from ADHD and autistic college-aged students about their experiences with different teaching strategies in junior high and high school. Through analysis of these narratives, I examine how the narratives of ADHD and autistic individuals can help guide educational pedagogies towards models that more equitably consider cultures of disabled individuals and better meet the educational needs of future neurodivergent students while simultaneously …

Speech Prosody In People With Non-Fluent Aphasia: A Descriptive Study Of Between And Within Utterance Pause, Makayla Brielle Newcombe

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of pause duration and frequency in speakers with moderate nonfluent aphasia and apraxia. The speech recordings analyzed in this study were produced by 16 adult speakers of American English (8 males and 8 females). Speech samples were provided by the AphasiaBank database (i.e., narrative samples from the Cinderella Story). Praat acoustic analysis software was used to code the speech samples for utterance boundaries and durations, as well as between and within filled and silent pause durations and frequencies. Results found a difference in silent versus filled pause durations, with silent pauses …

Occupational Prestige Among East, Southeast, And Mixed Asian Groups: Exploring Heterogeneity Within The Model Minority Narrative, Kyli Fox Soug

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The phenomena of Asians exceeding Non-Hispanic Whites in education and income has been thoroughly documented and researched. However, existing research has often overlooked whether this achievement translates into access to prestigious occupations. Moreover, the predominant focus on East Asian perspectives with educational attainment and success frameworks neglects the experiences of Southeast or mixed Asian individuals. This quantitative study examines the unique experiences of East, Southeast, and mixed-race Asian Americans, in gaining entry to prestigious occupations. It seeks to understand the diversity within the broader Asian American population and dispel notions surrounding the homogeneity of the Asian experience.