Digital Commons Network^™

Examining Motivation As A Mechanism For The Effects Of Stereotype Threat On Stem Outcomes: A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis, Delaram A. Totonchi

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Although African-American students start STEM majors with higher levels of interest compared to their racial majority peers, they drop out of these majors at higher rates. One often tested explanation for this racial disparity is stereotype threat–the anxiety related to being judged stereotypically or the fear of confirming such stereotypes. Stereotype threat negatively impacts academic outcomes through a variety of psychological mechanisms including declined motivation. Accordingly, in this study, I examined expectancy-value beliefs as motivational mechanisms for the effects of stereotype threat on STEM outcomes. Participants were 362 African-American students in introductory chemistry and biology courses who completed surveys at …

A Narrative Inquiry Of Long-Term Learning Outcomes Of Community College Education Abroad, Heidi Fischer

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Since 2007-08, the number of community colleges who reported sending students abroad has tripled. Community college students represent diverse demographic backgrounds, socio-economic statuses, and life experiences that are often underrepresented in higher education and education abroad (EA). The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to explore the long-term learning outcomes gained by 27 community college alumni who studied abroad between Fall 2015 and Fall 2019. Data collection consisted of two rounds of in-depth, individual semi-structured interviews as well as a pre-interview survey. Participants had graduated within the past five years and participated in both short-term, faculty-led and mid-length, faculty-in-residence programs …

A Comparison Of Impostor Phenomenon In Community College And Public University Students, Shanda Jenkins

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Impostor Phenomenon (IP) is a feeling of illegitimacy or fraudulence despite evidence to the contrary. Most people experience feelings of impostorism in their lifetime, and it has been associated with several outcomes in the literature. Although there is some evidence higher education may facilitate feelings of IP, community college students have been largely excluded from the literature.

The current study expanded the research by examining the prevalence of IP in community college (CC) students and analyzing differences based on demographic variables: gender, under-represented minority (URM) status, first-generation status, Pell Grant eligibility, and disability. Comparisons were made between CC students and …

A Case Study On The Application And Implementation Of Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports For Students With Emotional Disabilities In Alternative Education, Kira Candelieri Marcari

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Alternative educational settings are serving students with emotional disabilities (ED) at an increasing rate; however, there a paucity of research examining the effectiveness of these programs. A review of the existing literature targeting students with problematic behaviors, supports the use of a positive, preventative, proactive, and systematic approaches such as the three-tiered, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) framework. Although findings suggest that the PBIS framework is associated with favorable outcomes for students with ED in both traditional and nontraditional settings, few studies have explicitly examined whether PBIS can be effectively modified to fit the needs of students with ED …

Authentication Schemes' Impact On Working Memory, Janine D. Mator

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Authentication is the process by which a computing system validates a user’s identity. Although this process is necessary for system security, users view authentication as a frequent disruption to their primary tasks. During this disruption, primary task information must be actively maintained in working memory. As a result, primary task information stored in working memory is at risk of being lost or corrupted while users authenticate. For over two decades, researchers have focused on developing more memorable passwords by replacing alphanumeric text with visual graphics (Biddle et al., 2012). However, very little attention has been given to the impact authentication …

How Interactions With Staff Relate To Students' Early-Career Success At Small Residential Colleges, Donna L. Fenton

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

College completion in the United States is a complex and incessant problem resistant to change despite decades of effort. To address a precursor to completion, this quantitative study focused on early-career success within college. The problem of this study was to examine settings beyond large research universities and explore how interactions with professional staff affect student success.

Non-experimental research was conducted in Fall 2020, the first full semester of in-person education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students were recruited from first-year seminars (FYS) and follow-up seminars (FUS) at a small residential college in the Midwest region of the United States. Of …

A Leader, A Follower, And Some Humor Walk Into A Meta-Analysis: A Review Of Positive And Negative Leader Humor, Richard Hayes

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Although leader humor is a growing research topic, there are still unaddressed issues surrounding this topic. In particular, there is disagreement surrounding the conceptualizations of positive and negative leader humor, conflicting theoretical predictions and empirical findings on the effects of leader humor, a dearth of research on the antecedents and correlates of leader humor, as well as a lack of research on the boundary conditions of these relationships. This qualitative and quantitative review of the nomological networks of positive and negative leader humor addressed these issues based on a meta-analysis of 67 empirical studies (N = 21,121). Results indicate that …

Cybersecurity Risk Assessment Using Graph Theoretical Anomaly Detection And Machine Learning, Goksel Kucukkaya

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The cyber domain is a great business enabler providing many types of enterprises new opportunities such as scaling up services, obtaining customer insights, identifying end-user profiles, sharing data, and expanding to new communities. However, the cyber domain also comes with its own set of risks. Cybersecurity risk assessment helps enterprises explore these new opportunities and, at the same time, proportionately manage the risks by establishing cyber situational awareness and identifying potential consequences. Anomaly detection is a mechanism to enable situational awareness in the cyber domain. However, anomaly detection also requires one of the most extensive sets of data and features …

Institutional Context Drives Mobility: A Comprehensive Analysis Of How Academic And Economic Factors Relate To International Student Enrollment At United States Higher Education Institutions, Natalie Irby Cruz

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

International student enrollment (ISE) has become a hallmark of world-class higher education institutions (HEIs), particularly as global student mobility has grown exponentially worldwide in the last several decades. Although the United States (U.S.) has welcomed the largest numbers of international students since the 1950s, ISE shrunk by 10% in the previous three years from an all-time high of 903,127 students in 2016/2017 (IIE, 2019). A synthesis of research studies about international student mobility and enrollment highlights the significant role that academic and economic rationales play for international students who choose the United States. This quantitative, ex post facto study focused …

Indian Media Narratives In Gang Rape, Astha Bhandari

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Violence against women is a worldwide phenomenon, and while brutal crimes shock us, it is nothing exceptional. This social construction of violence against women is displayed through the media's language. The language then portrays structures of power dynamics, fueling patriarchal discourse, where masculinity becomes the king, and femininity denigrated, birthing a rape culture. This study explores the impact of media reporting of gang rape cases of women in India and investigates the media reporting of nine different gang rape cases, post 2012 Delhi gangrape.

The research looks to identify the media semantics used in portraying the victims in the print …

The Use Of Counter Narratives As A Prevention And Countering Violent Extremism (P/Cve) Communications-Based Measure: A Study Of Muslim-American Undergraduate Students In Universities And Colleges In California, Mohamed Ahmed

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to contribute to efforts on countering violent extremism and radicalization. This research study measured attitudes towards violent extremist groups and the appeal of violent extremist ideologies among Muslim-American undergraduate students in universities and colleges in California. The target sample group for the study was drawn from Muslim-American undergraduate students from a university and community college within the state. The sample constituted 20 participants, comprised of four focus groups with 5 student respondents each. The researcher used the nomination process to identify participants from the target population. As part of the study’s methodology, a counter-narrative …

Perceptions Of Burden In Needs Assessment: An Exploration Of Measurement Creation And Validation, Kim N. Pinckney-Lewis

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Needs assessment is a valuable tool in the instructional designer and performance improvement practitioner toolbox. However, it is often avoided due to perceived burdens associated with the needs assessment process. The current research explores needs assessment participants’ perceptions of four proposed components of burden, including: 1) duties, obligations, and responsibilities; 2) cost; 3) needs assessment facilitator skills; and 4) needs assessment facilitator systemic sensitivities. The researcher also developed and tested a Perceived Burden for Needs Assessment Participants Survey (PBNAPS) as a potentially reliable and valid measure of this phenomena. The PBNAPS proved to be both internally consistent (a= 0.86) and …

Wrath And Relationships: Homicide Weapon Choice And Victim Offender Relationships, Joseph Gonnella

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence that victim-offender relationships and the event circumstances have on homicide weapon choice. From Cornish and Clarke’s Rational Choice theoretical perspective, offenders go through decision- making processes to determine which weapon will be the most effective to meet their goal, based on the circumstances of the event. This study examined the use of three weapon types: firearms, knife/ blunt objects, and personal weapons, amongst victim-offender relationships such as acquaintance, intimate, non-intimate family/friend, and strangers along with circumstances such as homicides committed as the result of a felony, and homicides committed as …

Investigating Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Virginia Computer Science Standards Of Learning: A Qualitative Multiple Case Study, Valerie Sledd Taylor

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Computer science education is being recognized globally as necessary to better prepare students in all grade levels, K-12, for future success. As a result of this focus on computer science education in the United States and around the world, there is an increased demand for highly qualified teachers with content and pedagogical knowledge to successfully support student learning. As a result, there is a call to include and improve the computer science training offered to pre-service teachers in their educator preparation programs from methods courses to practicum and student teaching experiences. Thus, it is important to understand how pre-service teachers …

Meditation And Cognitive Function Research Study, Darrin Landry

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

Although research has shown that long-term guided meditation and mindfulness practices improve attention, memory, and processing speed, the research on the effects of short-term self-guided meditation on improving cognitive processing and memory is limited. This study examined whether a brief self-guided meditation practice improved cognitive processing speed and memory capacity. The participants engaged in a five-day program which consisted of taking an online mental speed test and memory recall test, then meditated for 15 minutes a day, for five days. After completing the five-day meditation program, the participants took the two cognitive processing tests again. The results on the test …

Check-In/Check-Out To Increase Academic Engagement And Classroom Behavior Among Adolescent Students In Juvenile Detention Centers, Rakan M. Alshammari

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The use of multi-tiered techniques can address many students’ needs (e.g., problem behaviors, academic disengagement) in schools and juvenile detention centers. Some students have serious problems that may lead to poor academic performance and prevent them from being successful in school and in life. Check-in, check-out (CICO) is an effective second-tier intervention to address problem behaviors evidenced by these students. The purpose of this experimental study was to examine the effectiveness of using the CICO intervention on the four dependent variables (i.e., problem behaviors, appropriate behaviors, academic engagement, academic disengagement) among four incarcerated students. An A-B-A-B reversal design was used …

The Contextualization Of Myth: Identification Of Myth In The Propagation Of Narrative Across Generational Boundaries, Joseph G. Ponthieux

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

This thesis demonstrates the unique correlation between myth and the propagation of narrative across generational boundaries. It argues that myth occurs in the intersection of belief, semiotics, and context, and further enables a way of re-encoding a narrative with a dual contextuality. This dual context preserves a narrative’s literal context while endowing it with a new or modified myth context and affords the audience a selection of choices for how to receive a narrative experienced as myth. To demonstrate this correlation a Myth Context Reception Model is designed for the purpose of identifying ascendent, obscure or emergent myths evident in …

A Survey Of Registered Behavior Technicians: Initial And Ongoing Training And Support, Gabriela Mcwhorter Zapatero

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) benefit from early intervention, specifically applied behavior analysis (ABA). ABA is often implemented by paraprofessionals who are known as registered behavior technicians (RBTs). For many years, educators have known the value of corrective feedback in relation to skill acquisition. In this case, emphasis was placed on the proclivities of the staff in regard to feedback. This mixed methodology study examined the various strategies currently utilized to instruct RBTs, as well as their preferences for initial and continued training. Results indicated the majority of RBTs who responded to the online survey were being trained …

Burnout, Self-Efficacy, And Coping Strategies Among College Faculty, Jordan M. Ball

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Due to the changing college environment, university faculty are faced with a serious burden to support their university. University faculty are expected to satisfy numerous job demands, and these demands in turn lead to burnout, a chronic response to job stressors. Burnout is an essential component of occupational research as it relates to other negative outcomes, such as turnover and decreased performance. Because of this, it behooves both faculty and universities to employ methods that decrease burnout. Research concerning other populations indicates that certain personal resources can decrease burnout. Therefore, the current study seeks to determine if coping strategies and …

The Poverty In Usa: An In-Depth Analysis Of The Last Two Decades, Sara Negri

Economics Theses & Dissertations

Poverty is a global problem that affects not only the undeveloped states but also the most developed ones. This research paper will analyze this problem in depth, trying to summarize several definitions, several causes that can lead to an increase in the poverty rate, and policies implemented by the government in order to reduce the total number of poor people. The author analyzed the poverty rate in each state of the United States from 1990 to 2019 using a panel data analysis. She found out that California is the state with the highest value of poor people in the U.S. …

Institutionalized Perceptions Of Student Behavior And The Student Conduct Paradigm Shift In Virginia’S Public Schools, Tiffany D. Hardy

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

In 2019, the Virginia Board of Education approved the Model Guidance for Positive and Preventive Code of Student Conduct Policy and Alternatives to Suspension as a framework for school divisions to revise student behavior practices and policies. The model guidance reflects substantive changes in procedure, language, and data collection as compared to prior sanctions based codes of conduct. The goal of the model guidance is to implement a balanced approach to student behavior through proactive, constructive, and equitable practices. Consistent with current research, the guidance indicates a significant emphasis on social-emotional learning, intervention, and restorative practices. The language, coding, and …

The Impact Of Parent And Peer Socialization On Juvenile Delinquency, Ebony I. Pender

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Juveniles often make decisions based on socialization and behaviors that are taught at a young age. Socialization experiences which can either protect or lead to adverse outcomes such as juvenile delinquency. It is extremely important to examine the role of socialization in delinquency due to the large number of youths currently involved in criminal acts. There are many violent and nonviolent crimes that are committed by youth under the ages of 18. For example, in 2018, there were 728,280 arrests of youths under the age of 18. A significant number of those, 46,410, were for violent index crimes with 141,500 …

Initial Development Of The Escala De Fortaleza En Jóvenes Para Padres, David Moran

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

National statistics indicate substantial mental health and academic challenges experienced by a sizable proportion of Hispanic children and adolescents in American school settings. School counselors can provide culturally responsive supports to this population and would benefit from contextually grounded, ecologically valid assessments that focus on the positive development of Hispanic children and adolescents. To address this instrumentation gap, this study sought to develop initial items for the Escala de Fortaleza en Jóvenes para Padres in both English and Spanish. A qualitative approach was implemented to explore the perceptions of Hispanic parents/caregivers of their child or adolescent’s resiliency. Eight Hispanic parents …

“It’S Pretty Hard To Make Friends Over A Zoom Meeting Room”: Understanding The Recreational Experiences Of Youth With Type 1 Diabetes During Covid-19, Ryan Malpaya, Rowan Williams

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Youth with diabetes frequently have limited access to traditional camps because of the need for accessible medical staff (Hill, E., 2019). COVID-19 has made it even more difficult for youth with type 1 diabetes to participate in any youth development programs due to the pandemic restrictions. During the pandemic, it is unknown if youth with T1D are able to engage in any recreational activities that may teach them resilience and independence in managing their medical condition. The purpose of this study was to see how youth with T1D cope in an altered recreation environment as a result of COVID-19

Using …

Virtual School Counseling During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kaylee Kaznosky

Undergraduate Research Symposium

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects on the operation of schools in which face-to-face interaction has been the traditional modality. Students who have had to adjust to virtual learning outside of the traditional school building may be experiencing stress, anxiety, and depression (Seidel et al., 2020, p. 1260); they worry about their academics (Son et al., 2020; Tasso et al., 2021, p. 3); they have fears beyond their schooling (e.g., contracting COVID-19; Seçer & Ulaş, 2020, p. 2); and to boot they may have barriers accessing helpful resources with these issues (e.g., mental health services, school counseling services; Boudreau, …

Adaptive Task Allocation In Automated Vehicles, Skye Taylor, Bin Hu, Jing Chen

Psychology: Interdisciplinary Research in Behavioral Sciences of Transportation Issues

Adaptive task allocation is used in many human-machine systems and has been proven to improve operators’ monitoring and/or performance with automated systems. However, there is little knowledge surrounding the benefits of adaptive task allocation in automated vehicles. In this study, participants were presented with media depicting driving scenarios of both low and high workload at two levels of automation. The participants reported which tasks they felt comfortable allocating to themselves or to the automated system in each driving scenario, as well as whether they would conduct the task allocation manually or have the automated system automatically allocate the tasks. The …

Ethics Or Self-Preservation? An Online Study Examining Driver Response To On-Road Obstacles During Automated Driving, Helena Kaul, Yusuke Yamani

Psychology: Interdisciplinary Research in Behavioral Sciences of Transportation Issues

In the trolley problem paradigm, a person is faced with an ethical dilemma where they must decide how to distribute inevitable loss of life such as deciding between letting five people die on the tracks in front of a trolley or pulling a lever that causes the trolley to switch to a separate track and kill one person. This online study asked participants to monitor a simulated automated vehicle and intervene if they felt the vehicle should change lanes. The results found that participants intervened roughly 96% of the time when the group of five bollards was in front of …

Creating A Driving Workload Model And Identifying Best Practices, Josalin Kumm, Holly Handley, Yusuke Yamani

Psychology: Interdisciplinary Research in Behavioral Sciences of Transportation Issues

One major way to investigate distracted driving is to have drivers engage in a secondary task. Driving models are one way to better understand workload during driving which could result in safer driving. During this study, we create a driving model using cognitive task analysis software to analyze workload with N-Back tasks. N-Back task requires the driver to memorize and repeat numbers and letters. The result will help us determine if we can continue using this software in future research and analysis workload in a scenario with secondary tasks by comparing it to other analysis software in the framework of …

Interdisciplinary Research In Behavioral Sciences Of Transportation Issues: Proceedings, Research Experience For Undergraduates, Old Dominion University

Psychology: Interdisciplinary Research in Behavioral Sciences of Transportation Issues

No abstract provided.

How Interesting Is This To You: Rating The Interestingness Of Auditory Clips, Hanna Zakharenko, Yusuke Yamani

Psychology: Interdisciplinary Research in Behavioral Sciences of Transportation Issues

Modern technological environments integrate multiple devices, competing for limited attentional resources of users. This study aimed to validate the auditory stimuli used in Horrey et al. (2017) with a college student population and examine the psychological structure of task engagement. Thirty-nine students listened to thirty-nine auditory stimuli used in Horrey et al. (2017) for their level of engagement. Participants rated how interesting they found the material on a slider from -7 (boring) to 7 (interesting) while listening to each clip. Participants also rated levels of difficulty, entertainment, and likelihood to attend to each clip. Participants who rated high on difficulty, …