Digital Commons Network^™

The Listening Challenge: Fostering Soft Skill Development Through A Four-Week Practice And Reflective Journaling Assignment, Monica A. Hodis, Patricia L. Wollan

AMTP Proceedings 2025

In response to the growing emphasis on soft skills in business, this study addresses the persistent gap between employer needs and graduates’ abilities by introducing the Listening Challenge. This four-week individual learning assignment, grounded in Kolb’s experiential learning model, aims to enhance students’ listening skills through intentional practice and reflective journaling. Conducted over three semesters with 101 undergraduate students in a Personal Selling course, the study utilized qualitative data analysis to assess the effectiveness of the assignment. Results indicate significant progress in students’ listening abilities, increased self-awareness, and heightened motivation to improve. Students reported enhanced listening self-efficacy and expressed intentions …

The Role Of Firm-Level Characteristics In Enhancing Managerial Marketing Knowledge Competencies And Business Performance., Christine A. Makama

AMTP Proceedings 2025

This ongoing study examines the influence of firm-level characteristics—learning orientation, market orientation, and dominant logic—on managerial marketing knowledge competencies and business performance. Utilizing the Resource-Based View (RBV) and organizational learning theories, the research examines how these elements collectively shape strategic decision-making and adaptability in competitive markets. A quantitative methodology is employed, with data gathered through surveys of marketing managers across diverse industries. Preliminary analysis, utilizing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), suggests significant interrelationships among firm-level characteristics, with learning orientation and flexible dominant logic emerging as key drivers of enhanced marketing knowledge competencies. Early findings also highlight the potential for firms to …

Bridging Workplace Discrepancies: Enhancing Managerial Plasticity For Effective Internal Branding And Employee Engagement, Lauren Peng, Tulay Girard

AMTP Proceedings 2025

Workplace value shifts and remote work have created discrepancies in managerial approaches, widening the gap between managers and personnel. This study addresses managerial plasticity development to navigate modern work environments and enhance internal branding. It introduces the Plasticity Model for measuring managerial plasticity and the Internal Branding Plasticity Model (IBPM) to explore relationships between internal branding, plasticity, employee engagement, job satisfaction, and loyalty. The research aims to provide insights into neuroplasticity development for fostering inclusive and innovative work environments.

Motivators And Barriers To Healthy Food Consumption: Qualitative Study With Gen Z Living In Bratislava, Emel Yarimoglu, Lucia Vilcekova

AMTP Proceedings 2025

People in Europe have been caring about physical activity, healthy eating, and healthy body weight. The study aimed to explore the motivators and barriers to healthy food consumption among university students living in Bratislava, Slovakia. Qualitative research was conducted with sixteen students, and data were collected by written text. Self-reported written data were collected by convenience sampling and analyzed via content analysis. Four motivators of healthy food consumption were revealed (personal appearance, health-consciousness, physical activity, and social), and four barriers to healthy food consumption were obtained (functional, personal, psychological, and social). This research is original since it demonstrated motivators and …

Adoption Of Virtual Influencers By The Healthcare Industry: Benefits And Drawbacks, Jessica L. Holden, Ismet Anitsal, Melek Meral Anitsal

AMTP Proceedings 2025

Social media influencers are thought leaders and influence others' attitudes, opinions, and behaviors (Pourkarim et al., 2023. Laszkiewicz & Kalinska, 2023). The healthcare industry currently utilizes social media and social media influencers to provide generalized health advice and opinions on and experiences with different providers (Reed & Feilding, 2022). However, the use of social media by healthcare businesses is still relatively novel (Gijsen et al., 2020), although it is becoming increasingly used for healthcare education and decision-making (Stellefson et al., 2020). Within the social media marketing space, there has been a rise in the use of virtual influencers. A Virtual …

The Impact Of Online Vs. In-Person Classes On College Students' Social Functioning And Well-Being: A Pilot Study, Aron Levin, Irwin Levin, J. Charlene Davis, C. Edward Heath

AMTP Proceedings 2025

This paper examines the relationship between undergraduate college students’ mix of online and in-person classes on their well-being and mental health. We first examine the research on consumer well-being and Quality of Social Functioning and then apply these streams of research to our pilot study, an online survey. In our pilot study, we find some statistical differences in students’ well-being, depending on whether they take predominantly in-person or online classes. Students who take about one half of their classes online are more satisfied with their academic performance than those who take all or mostly in-person classes. Those who take all …

Marketing For Musicians And Artists: A Pedagogical Model For Creative Business Education, Aron Levin, Jose Luis Saavedra Torres

AMTP Proceedings 2025

The myth of the "starving artist" persists, but marketing and entrepreneurial skills can empower creatives to thrive in the gig economy. This paper presents a pedagogical framework for a marketing course tailored to non-business students, particularly those in the creative arts. Using Sam Ryder, a musician who leveraged digital platforms to achieve meteoric success, as a case study, we explore the role of higher education in equipping artists with business skills. Grounded in experiential learning theory, the course integrates modules on branding, digital marketing, pricing, and work-life balance, emphasizing hands-on projects like SWOT analyses, brand identity design, and marketing strategy …

Applying Moral Foundations Theory To Examine Consumer Vulnerability: Evidence From Cash App, Atanas Nixon, Jiyoon An

AMTP Proceedings 2025

This study investigates how consumers' moral emotions can improve our understanding of their vulnerability in financial services from the perspective of Transformative Service Research (TSR). The study uses the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's archive of consumer complaints about Cash App, a peer-to-peer payment platform, as the empirical context. The Moral Foundation Theory, which includes five dimensions of moral concerns (care/harm, fairness/cheating, loyalty/betrayal, authority/subversion, and purity/degradation), was applied to assess consumer vulnerability. Two analyses were conducted: spatial and discourse analyses. Whereas spatial analysis was used to examine aggregated levels of moral emotions across different states, discourse analysis was conducted on …

Do Nursing Students Perceive That They Are Educationally Prepared To Care For Minority And Ethnically Diverse Populations Upon Graduation?, Trinity T. Brisbane, Trinity T. Brisbane

Honors College Theses

Every individual has the right to receive safe and efficient care in the healthcare setting. As healthcare grows and demographics evolve rapidly, it is crucial that frontline workers, especially nurses, are adequately prepared to address the unique needs of minority and ethnically diverse populations. However, a significant gap exists in understanding how effective current nursing school curricula is in preparing students for this critical aspect of patient care. This research utilizes a quantitative survey methodology to address the central question: “Do Nursing Students Perceive That They Are Educationally Prepared to Care for Minority and Ethnically Diverse Populations upon Graduation?” The …

Role Of Eye-Tracking Technology And Software Algorithms In Enhancing Adhd Detection And Diagnosis: A Systematic Literature Review, Lauren E. Perkins

Honors College Theses

This systematic literature review explores the role of eye-tracking technology and software algorithms in enhancing the detection and diagnosis of ADHD. ADHD, a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting both children and adults, is traditionally diagnosed through behavioral assessments, which may lack objectivity. Recent studies suggest that eye-tracking, specifically focusing on saccades, fixations, and blink rates, offers the potential for more accurate and objective measures of ADHD. The review examines clinical trials, observational studies, and machine learning research to assess the correlation between ADHD and eye movement patterns. Results indicate that individuals with ADHD exhibit distinct eye movement patterns, which can be quantified …

Artificial Intelligence Approaches To Energy Management In Hvac Systems A Systematic Review, Seyed Abolfazl Aghili, Amin Haji Mohammad Rezaei, Mohammadsoroush Tafazzoli, Mostafa Khanzadi, Morteza Rahbar

Civil Engineering & Construction: Faculty Publications

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems contribute a considerable share of total global energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, putting them at the heart of the issues of decarbonization and removing barriers to achieving net-zero emissions and sustainable development goals. Nevertheless, the effective implementation of artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods to optimize energy efficiency while ensuring occupant comfort in multifarious settings remains to be fully realized. This paper provides a systematic review of state-of-the-art practices (2018 and later) using AI algorithms like machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), and other computation-based techniques that have been deployed to boost HVAC system …

Targets To Increase Hiv Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) Uptake Among Communities In Northeast Georgia, Kaley E. Parchinski, Molly Hirsh, Andrew Cheng, Nia Kalifa, Manvi Manyam

Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association

Background: This study seeks to identify targets to increase HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake in Athens-Clarke County, GA, a non-urban area with high HIV burden and poor PrEP utilization.

Methods: A cross sectional survey of adults attending HIV outreach screenings in Athens, GA between November 2022 and March 2023 describes participant demographics and validated scales measuring PrEP knowledge, attitudes, stigma, descriptive norms, and intentions.

Results: Of 136 total participants, key demographic groups included Black (N=84, 61.8%), Latinx (N=10, 8.1%), LGBTQ+ (N=25, 18.4%), and persons who use injection drugs (N=19, 15%); overall, less than half of the PrEP knowledge items were …

The Masters Program: A Model For Teaching Adolescents Soft Skills For Career Readiness, Jewrell Rivers

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This workshop will introduce conference participants to the MASTERS Program, a model for teaching adolescents soft skills for career readiness. Participants will engage in small group discussions, simulation activities and interactive exercises to fulfill learning objectives. Participants will be provided with guidance on how to implement the MASTERS Program at their school for preparing students for success in the workplace.

When Grief Comes To Court: Supporting Bereaved Court Involved Youth, Lane Pease, Erin Richter

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Youth who are court involved have higher rates of bereavement than the general population. Learn how grief impacts youth involved in the Juvenile Court. This session will focus on how bringing together court stakeholders and partnering with outside experts to provide grief support can decrease further court involvement and lead to positive outcomes.

Importance Of Principal-School Counselor Relationship, Moya A. Pope Ed.S, Monica Y. Pace Ed.S

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Principals and School Counselors - y'all alright?!? What's your relationship like: Good? Bad? Ugly? The relationship between the school counselor and principal can affect the school as a whole - and when they have a strong relationship, the school community is stronger. This presentation will give you tips on how to strengthen your relationship, become better leaders and positively affect student achievement and school climate.

The Importance Of Country Of Origin In Vaccine Messaging For H-2a Farmworkers, Anna M. Scheyett, Maria Bowie, Virginia Brown, Andrea Scarrow

Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association

Background: H-2A farmworkers are disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19 and understanding their beliefs regarding COVID-19 vaccines is important for public health outreach, yet to date little research has examined the influence of country of origin (COO) on the vaccine beliefs of this uniquely transient population.

Methods: Three focus groups (N=30) were held with H-2A farmworkers in South Georgia to explore their beliefs on COVID-19 vaccines, using thematic analyses to identify COO influences on these beliefs.

Results: Family in COO influenced worker vaccine beliefs through direct advice, commonly held beliefs in COO about harmful government agendas via vaccines increased worker vaccine fears, …

True Grit: Teaching Students With Learning Disabilities To Persevere, Jane E. Strong

Empowering Educators Conference

What gives you your “True Grit?” In this session, participants will explore the concepts of grit and perseverance for students with learning disabilities. Discover how these asset-based strategies enable self-efficacy and higher achievement in students (and teachers!). Evidence-based classroom strategies will be shared for participants to use with their students.

History Happenings, Georgia Southern University

History: News & Publications

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Exploring Predictive Modeling For Food Quality Enhancement: A Case Study On Wine, Cemil Emre Yavas, Jongyeop Kim, Lei Chen, Christopher Kadlec, Yiming Ji

Computing: Faculty Publications

What makes a wine exceptional enough to score a perfect 10 from experts? This study explores a data-driven approach to identify the ideal physicochemical composition for wines that could achieve this highest possible rating. Using a dataset of 11 measurable attributes, including alcohol, sulfates, residual sugar, density, and citric acid, for wines rated up to a maximum quality score of 8 by expert tasters, we sought to predict compositions that might enhance wine quality beyond current observations. Our methodology applies a second-degree polynomial ridge regression model, optimized through an exhaustive evaluation of feature combinations. Furthermore, we propose a specific chemical …

Innovative Instruction To Cultivate Young Adolescents’ Creativity In A Virtual Environment, Stacie K. Pettit, Christi L. Pace, Dawn Jeffers, Emily Harrison

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

The unique needs of high-ability young adolescents should be met just as those students with other diverse needs even when instruction becomes virtual. This paper highlights the work of two teachers who overcame the challenges of remote and hybrid learning to provide quality lessons on creativity, logic, and problem solving. They are accomplishing this for 4th and 5th grade students in their gifted program through project-based learning and other lessons situated around creativity. The strategies presented that encourage students to exercise creativity would be beneficial for all students.

Associations Between Atmospheric Ozone, Pm2.5 And Prevalence Of Diabetes In Georgia, United States, Kingsley A. Kalu, Jingjing Yin, Atin Adhikari

Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association

Objective:

This study examines the association between two air pollutants (PM_2.5 and ozone), and the prevalence of adult diabetes mellitus in relation to various confounding factors.

Methods:

We collected diabetes prevalence data from the 2015 County Health Ranking and Georgia Health Data Hub. A negative binomial regression analysis was conducted to examine the associations between the county-level dependent variable “adult diabetes” (for adults aged> 18 years diagnosed with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes) and two independent county-level variables: percentage of days ³ NAAQS for ozone and PM_2.5 concentration levels while controlling for confounders.

Results:

At the county …

Perspectives Of African American And Hispanic/Latino Individuals On Hiv Molecular Cluster Detection, Maxwell Richardson, Brendan H. Pulsifer, Jane Yoon Scott, David Holland, Eleanor W. Garlow, Pascale Wortley, Daniel Mauck, Jenna Gettings, Valeria Cantos, Masonia Traylor, Eric Rangel, David Folkes, Carlos Saldana

Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association

Background: Responding to HIV clusters detected using molecular data has been shown to reduce transmission and improve testing, treatment, and prevention. However, there are varied opinions about the use of cluster detection activities, and some advocates have raised concerns about patient consent, data security, and the potential for HIV criminalization. Incorporating the perspectives of marginalized populations that are disproportionately affected by HIV is essential to understanding the diversity of those perspectives, yet it is often overlooked in the literature. Thus, our study seeks to highlight the perspectives of Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino individuals in the Southern United States on HIV …

Building An Inclusive Community: Hosting An International Graduate Student Orientation, Adelia B. Grabowsky, Liza J. Weisbrod, Timothy Dodge, Juliet T. Rumble

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

In 2018, library faculty at a large, public land grant university formed a working group tasked with assessing the information needs of graduate students and implementing action plans to support this user population. From the beginning, the librarians recognized that graduate students are not a homogeneous group. Desiring a more nuanced understanding of these students, they held focus groups in 2019 to explore students’ experiences with navigating graduate school and, more specifically, the University library. One sub-group of particular interest to them was international graduate students, who make up a sizable percentage of the graduate student population on campus. International …

Teaching Information Literacy In A Genai World: A 5cs Framework For Fostering Critical Engagement, Paul Cook, Adam Maksl

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Teaching Information Literacy in a GenAI World:
A 5Cs Framework for Fostering Critical Engagement

This interactive workshop will equip participants with a robust framework for teaching students the knowledge and skills necessary to understand the modern, multifaceted information ecosystems upon which GenAI is built and operates. The 5Cs of news literacy (context, creation, content, circulation, and consumption), as outlined in Tully, Maksl, Ashley, Vraga, and Craft (2021), will be adapted to information literacy more broadly and we will explain how that framework presents an excellent foundation upon which broader information literacy knowledge and skills can be built. As GenAI becomes …

Teaching The Information Has Value Frame Through The Price Is Right, Kevin J. Reagan, Dawn ("Nikki") Cannon-Rech

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

When navigating library resources, students often remain unaware of the cost of information, particularly scholarly academic journal articles– and rightly so, given that the mission of the library is to provide patrons with free access to information. Part of the ACRL Framework, nevertheless, entails teaching students about issues with lack of information access, which can be difficult to teach in higher education, where students might have never lacked access to quality information sources. To teach students about the cost of information and the economic factors that prevent some from accessing information, two academic librarians integrated the Information Has Value Frame …

Empowering Learners, Shaping The Future: Cultivating Metaliteracy Across The Curriculum, Vivian Bynoe, Jessica L. Swaringen, Lauren Mcmillan

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

The rapid evolution of the information landscape requires students to be adaptable to a complex information environment. Students are not just information users but also informants and creators who act based on their social identities and social power (Oliphant, 2021). As educators, part of our responsibility involves empowering students to take ownership of the learning process, not only in the classroom but in ways that transfer to their everyday lives. Students who enter the college classroom may or may not be equipped with important 21st century skills such as those identified by the P21 framework for 21st century learning (Soulé, …

The Disinformation Vaccine: A Case For Integrating Comprehensive Disinformation Education Into First Year Writing Classes, Benjamin F. Jackson

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Students’ exposure to disinformation and misinformation is far greater than it has ever been. As the ability of generative AI to produce image, video, and audio deepfakes grows more sophisticated, disinformation will become even easier to spread and harder to detect. The rapid spread of social, political, scientific, and medical disinformation has been deadly and its potential is disastrous. Security experts now warn that dis/misinformation is the greatest threat to national security. Americans at large and students in particular have a demonstrated lack of information literacy when it comes to detecting false information, and bad actors nationally and globally are …

Navigating The Hidden Curriculum: A Partnership For Student Success At Coastal Carolina University, Kimberly Foster, Loren Mixon

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

As librarians who do a significant amount of introductory-level library instruction, over the years we have become aware of some gaps in students’ understanding of certain “hidden curriculum” skills. First introduced in the 1960’s, “the term hidden curriculum refers to attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge that are covertly or unintentionally learned through the schooling process” (Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice, 2014). We have found that many students have never encountered an academic article prior to coming to college, and lack the “hidden curriculum” skills to properly read and understand these types of articles. Our goal, in collaboration with the Student …

Transformative Nudges: Fostering Well-Being & Digital Literacy With Generative Ai, Kay Coates, Jessica Garner

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

In a transformative, technological era heralded by the emergence and advancements of Generative Artificial (Gen AI), educational landscapes are gradually evolving. Evidently, opportunities go abegging, innovations and reflections become invitations to be accommodated. This presentation explores the harmonious interplay between Gen AI and Nudge Theory — a substantive framework grounded in behavioral science that encourages positive change that can be executed through gentle, strategic prompts.

Carefully crafted prompts that could read like subtle interventions can profoundly influence learners' decisions and corresponding actions. Thus, Nudge Theory can be a utility vis-a-vis an effective approach for cultivating an adaptable educational culture within …

Teaching The Researched Family Profile Essay As Meaningful Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy And Counterstory, Amy L. Garrett Brown

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

My students have been asked to create a researched narrative about their family history (the definition of “family” is loose and includes families of choice) using personal interviews, artifacts, research and reflection. They will mix the voices of their family members with the voices of scholars and historians from the university library and databases. This is a conversation. In many ways, these are counterstories. In order to focus on using Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Alim and Paris) with this assignment, I thought about several of the tenets of CSP: “Instead of being oppressive, homogenizing forces, CSP asks us to reimagine schools …