Digital Commons Network^™

Perspectives Of Students With Intellectual And/Or Developmental Disability In College Inclusion Programs On Their Preparation For Working In Competitive Integrated Employment, Eva R. Blixseth

Dissertations and Theses

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities have a history of being isolated, marginalized, and excluded from employment that is competitive and integrated. Policy makers, disability advocates, and self-advocates have made efforts to center inclusive education and employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual disability. Employment is a valuable outcome for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities exiting college inclusion programs (Lee & Colleagues, 2022). However, from 2017 through 2021, not all students with intellectual and/or intellectual disability exiting college inclusion programs were employed. This is concerning as O'Brien et al. (2019) pointed out students' primary goal for completing college inclusion programs …

A Walk In The Park: A Spatial Analysis Of Crime And Portland Parks, Cheyenne Pamela Hodgen

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis presents two individual research papers that examine the relationship between greenspaces and crime in Portland, Oregon. The two papers use an adapted street network buffer to better measure crime concentration around discrete locations. This methodological development allows for an improved measure of crime concentration around discrete locations.

The first contribution, explores the relationship between different greenspace types and crime, breaking down different crime types into discrete categories. The results of this study suggest that overall, Portland greenspaces do not experience a concentration of crime, however, different patterns emerge as greenspace and crime types are disaggregated. Only one greenspace …

Transportation Mode Choice Behavior In The Era Of Autonomous Vehicles: The Application Of Discrete Choice Modeling And Machine Learning, Sangwan Lee

Dissertations and Theses

New mobility technologies, such as shared mobility services (e.g., car-sharing) and, more importantly, autonomous vehicles (AVs), continue to evolve. The supply-side advancement will likely disrupt and transform transportation mode choice behaviors, and create a new paradigm since they are emerging and becoming increasingly feasible alternatives to the existing modes of transportation. Accordingly, this dissertation employs discrete choice modeling (DCM) and machine learning (ML) using a U.S. nationwide stated choice experiment to understand how travelers adopt new transportation modes or continue to use conventional modes of transportation.

This dissertation consists of three papers. The first examines future market shares of each …

Masculinity Instability And Ideologies As Predictors Of Ipv Perpetration: The Mediating Role Of Relationship Power, Emma Christine Marioles O'Connor

Dissertations and Theses

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is considered to be a pervasive and devastating social issue and is disproportionately perpetrated by men (CDC). Masculinity ideologies, which are comprised of male role norm expectations, inform boys and men about what it means to be and to not be "a man" and have been established as a predictive factor of men's IPV perpetration. These ideologies serve to maintain existing social hierarchies that entitle men to seek socially dominant and powerful positions in society, as well as within their intimate relationships. Further, masculinity is considered to be unstable, subject to threat, and in need of …

The Effects Of Language Proficiency On Narrative Macrostructure In Spanish-English Bilinguals, Jenny Magallon

Dissertations and Theses

Bilingual children of the same age may have different narrative skills depending on the quantity and quality of their experiences in the two languages. Thus, children's storytelling skills can vary depending on children's oral proficiency in each language. The present study examined the effects of oral proficiency on story structure in forty 5- to 7-year-old Spanish-English speaking children using Spanish and English samples from story retelling tasks. Language proficiency was measured as continuum of performance using the Spanish-English Language Proficiency Scale (SELPS; Smyk et al., 2013). To estimate the effects of Spanish and English proficiency on story structure, linear regressions …

Governmental Persuasion Strategies On Social Media During Covid-19: A Comparative Study Of The Us And China, Fan Wang

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

This study compared persuasive strategies of the governments of the U.S. and China during a public health crisis using social media messages. Collecting data with R and Python from two national public health sectors' official accounts on Twitter (N = 1,630) and Sina Weibo (N = 3,554), the researcher investigated how the organizations' messages reflected Cialdini's seven principles of persuasion and whether other emergent messaging patterns occurred. According to the different phases that the two countries had gone through during the pandemic, the researcher also conducted a pooled times series analysis to investigate the relationship between the frequency of daily …

A Protracted Developmental Trajectory For English-Learning Children's Detection Of Consonant Mispronunciations In Newly Learned Words, Carolyn M. Quam, Daniel Swingley

Speech and Hearing Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Children are adept at learning their language’s speech-sound categories, but just how these categories function in their developing lexicon has not been mapped out in detail. Here, we addressed whether, in a language-guided looking procedure, 2-year-olds would respond to a mispronunciation of the voicing of the initial consonant of a newly learned word. First, to provide a baseline of mature native-speaker performance, adults were taught a new word under training conditions of low prosodic variability. In a second experiment, 24- and 30-month-olds were taught a new word under training conditions of high or low prosodic variability. Children and adults showed …

Augmentative And Alternative Communication Use, Service Delivery Experiences, And Communicative Participation For People With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Betts Peters

Dissertations and Theses

People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) often experience changes to their speech, and may use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices and techniques to maintain the ability to communicate. The use of AAC may facilitate the participation of people with ALS in various life situations involving communication. There is limited data in the literature about the AAC approaches currently used by people with ALS, the professional services they receive to support communication, or the effects of AAC on their communicative participation. This dissertation involved a nationwide online survey of people with ALS, and comprises three papers intended to add to …

Lgbtq+ Social Services And Needs In Portland Oregon, Jay M. Tomlinson

University Honors Theses

Research shows a significant link between being LGBTQ+ and living in poverty, but little research has been done on what services are available to providers and individuals in need. This study was conducted to discover what types of social services are available to low-income LGBTQ+ people living in Portland, Oregon, and what services providers identify as unmet needs. This study consisted of a series of interviews with service providers to find out what services they offer and what they feel is still missing. Data was analyzed following a qualitative data analysis method. Data showed that housing was the largest unmet …

English Language Learner Labels: Institutions And Identity, Saylor B. Eames

University Honors Theses

In recent discussions of identity work, an underexplored issue has been how different labels impact the self-identity of multilingual students. Critics have argued for new labels and have shown how the ELL label supports a deficit view. However, they have not considered what labels are used by different institutions because they participate in different discourse communities. In my work, I explore what labels are used in the institutions of government, education, and linguistics in order to synthesize the potential identity impacts on multilingual students. I acknowledge that other researchers have contributed to our understanding of labels and identity. I will …

Multiple Identities, Colorblind White Parents, And Persisting Adoption Stigma: Toward An Intersectional Perspective Of Asian American Transracial Adoption, Michelle Y. Leipzig

University Honors Theses

Asian TRAs' experiences are continually shaped by United States policies that were installed to safeguard the current White dominant power structure. The existential threat of COVID-19 imitates the fear-based conditions that historically galvanized the White dominant majority to execute sinophobic immigration laws, imprison hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II, and overturn federal abortion rights for women - in a striking display of relevance, the last example occurred during the development of this thesis. Asian TRAs' proximity to Whiteness through their adoption into White families can prevent them from garnering the tools necessary to navigate a racist …

Data-Driven Analysis Of Drug And Substance Abuse Rates Across The Varying Regions In The United States Of America, Reem Saleh

University Honors Theses

Drugs and substance abuse is one of the leading causes of death for adolescents in the United States. The consequences of using these drugs are profound and can cause both damage to one's physical and psychological health. The rates of drug abuse in the United States continue to increase over the years. This paper analyzes the trends in rates of drug abuse in the four regions in the United States. It looks at the rates in cocaine, cigarettes, marijuana, and tobacco. A preliminary analysis was done to look at the trend in rates followed by an ARIMA time series model …

Measuring Success In First Episode Psychosis, Eric M. Mckinley

University Honors Theses

The first experience of psychosis can be hugely disruptive to a person’s life. If left untreated, psychosis can gravely impact the long-term wellbeing and functioning of the person. In the last ten years in the U.S., the rise of the Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) model for treating First Episode Psychosis is a hopeful development for addressing the unique challenges of those experiencing psychosis. The CSC model can potentially improve long term quality of life outcomes amongst people experiencing psychosis. There have been a range of empirical studies typically conducted at the state level that show a positive range of outcomes …

An Exploration Of Health Coaching Models And Their Efficacy In Chronic Disease Management: A Literature Review, Sofia Gallamore

University Honors Theses

Amidst the rise of chronic condition prevalence in recent decades, the field of health coaching has presented itself as a feasible complementary treatment method in chronic condition prevention and management. This literature review analyzes various clinical health coaching practices and their effectiveness in improving health behaviors and clinical outcomes in patients with chronic conditions. Eight studies were compared, with particular attention directed towards the evaluation of coaching techniques and modes of delivery. It was discovered that successful health coaching practices use a combination of Motivational Interviewing (MI), self-efficacy, and goal setting. Furthermore, programs that incorporated in-person intake sessions, followed by …

Teaching And Assessment Of Metacognition In The Information Literacy Classroom, Erin J. Mccoy

Communications in Information Literacy

Information literacy and metacognition have long histories of addressing the same concerns: how people think about and evaluate what they have learned. By exploring research from the library science and cognitive psychology fields, this article highlights how these two concepts are related and how that relationship can be made more explicit in the way librarians talk about and teach information literacy.

Shaping The Witch: A Visual Art Thesis, Amanda Cobb

University Honors Theses

This thesis is an exploration of the complex and interconnected nature of folklore, personal mythology, and re-enchantment as expressed through the lens of puppetry. I have drawn inspiration from the works of deeply reflective works concerning the psychological nature of mythologies of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung, as well as the magical and beautiful work of artists Jim Henson, Brian and Wendy Froud, and Mercer Meyer. Through working in the medium of puppets, I have given consideration to the possibilities and limitations of these forms in expressing the complexity of narrative, personal mythology, the anxiety of disenchantment, lost and reclaimed …

Analyzing Perceptions And Outcomes Of Intimate Partner Violence Within Muslim Communities, Areebah Zaidi

University Honors Theses

Intimate partner violence is a complex issue that involves gender, race, sexuality, religion, and culture. Muslim communities are a combination of many identities and to be able to support the community, there needs to be a better understanding of how IPV is expressed within this population. This thesis reports findings from a survey distributed throughout Muslim networks and IPV organizations in the US. The results are based on 200 responses and demonstrate that individuals with a history of IPV have worse social and health outcomes. In addition, the source of IPV disclosure (e.g., healthcare provider, religious leader) depended on whether …

Montessori Schools: How And Why Do They Impact Student Relationships And Communication Skills?, Jacquelyn G. Zavala

University Honors Theses

Montessori schooling, created by physician and educator Maria Montessori, is a well-known alternative to the traditional style of teaching. Many researchers have focused on how the Montessori method can produce successful and well-rounded students, not only academically, but within the social realm as well. What is less known is the extent to which Montessori impacts the social development of children and their forming of peer relationships and why it does so. After looking into and discussing the previous literature written on this topic, this thesis project utilizes reviews with two individuals with experience in the primary level Montessori setting to …

The American Grammar Of Policing As An Afterlife Of Slavery: Arguments For An Abolition Democracy, Emily E. Buss

University Honors Theses

Prison abolition has entered mainstream conversation in recent years as the uniquely American carceral system comes increasingly under fire for its racial disparities, police brutality and prison labor. While these issues are sometimes framed as newly emerging, this paper utilizes a Foucauldian genealogical approach in conversation with works by W. E. B. Du Bois, Angela Davis, and other thinkers from the black radical tradition to interrogate the evolving tendencies and underlying historical forces of racial capitalism and white supremacy that shape the contemporary American prison industrial complex. Emerging out of the experience of racial slavery, these forces constitute what Hortense …

Literature Review: The Relationship Between Art And Anxiety, Madeline R. Armendariz Sullivan

University Honors Theses

In this literature review, several articles and studies are discussed to address the question: What is the relationship between making art and anxiety? Within the literature discussed, three themes are reviewed: the effects of making art on anxiety, the long-term impacts of making art, and making art and other psychological conditions. The literature reviewed suggested that making art significantly improves the symptoms of anxiety, helps participants achieve meditative, or flow, states, improves the participants' emotional regulation and quality of life, and that making art helps with comorbidity and even other psychological conditions besides anxiety disorders.

Impact Of Familial Immigration On Childhood Academic Achievement And Motivation, Maritsa S. Tatchukova

University Honors Theses

This paper conducted a review of the current literature on the topic of immigrant children and academic success. It particularly focuses on the role of key factors such as family, peers, teachers, self-perceptions, language, and extracurriculars. This paper then discusses the study done in addition to the literature review. The study involved interviewing six college students in the Pacific Northwest. All were a mix of first and second-generation children of immigrants. The study conducted a qualitative analysis of the interview transcript and discusses the results of four of those interviews. The findings suggest that the role of the family and …

The Gendered Optics Of Bridget Riley's "Op Art": Her Artistic Dismissal And Influence On The 1960s Mod Era, Anna S. Kienberger

University Honors Theses

The English painter Bridget Riley (1931-) is widely regarded as one of Britain's most successful international contemporary artists. The progression of her career to reach such acclaim, however, has been marked by consistent misperceptions, the greatest of which arose during the beginning of her ascent when she was pointedly positioned as a leading figure of both Optical Art and United Kingdom Mod fashion. The critical reception of Bridget Riley's early work (1961-67) and its appropriation by Mod fashion retailers provide interesting case studies of (1) the commercialization of art before the establishment of US copyright law and (2) the conversations …

The Cultural Dilemma Of The American Education System: An Observation Of How It Lives In Montessori, Amaya Varma

University Honors Theses

This thesis acts as a case study examining the culture of a Montessori school by highlighting major themes from a selection of interviews. The intention is not to measure the amount of diversity in this school, but rather to provide an observation of people's understanding of the concept. It intends to show the limits and contradictions of any schooling project which concerns the structural constraints of the American education system. It reveals an internal "culture of kindness" which is constructed in this school and argues that Montessori education could be amenable to instilling certain values which allow for students to …

The Impact Of Maternal Nutrition On The Development And Severity Of Generalized Anxiety Disorders In Rodent And Non-Human Primate Studies, Esmeralda H. Cardoso

University Honors Theses

Generalized anxiety has become more prevalent among children and adolescents in the United States which impacts their health and livelihood. Maternal nutrition during pregnancy is purported to play a role in cognitive development and mental health during childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood. The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease theory suggests maternal nutrition before and during pregnancy influences transgenerational susceptibility, onset, and severity of disease through epigenetic mechanisms that then impact the child’s overall health, including cognitive development and mental health later in life. A literature review of rodents and non-human primate studies was conducted to explore the association between …

Reflecting On Resilience: Insight Into Resiliency Development And Utilization In Oregon's Older Adults From 2020 To 2022, Riley A. Wilton

University Honors Theses

The events of the last 2 years have complicated the lives of older adults throughout the world. For many, their survival can be traced back to one key trait: resilience. In the state of Oregon, the years 2020-2022 came with a host of issues that expanded past the COVID-19 pandemic. These events provide context for the world our storytellers discuss.

Using a snowball recruitment strategy through the efforts of community organizations and senior centers, 4 storytellers sat down to describe their resilience in different ways. They were asked to reflect on their own life experiences, how it influenced their resilience, …

Yay…, ��, And #Sarcasm: Exploring How Sarcasm Is Marked In Text-Based Cmc, Brontë G. Gordon

University Honors Theses

Sarcasm is a complex phenomenon of indirect speech, when we intend a meaning different from that of the literal words we use. In face-to-face settings (FtF), facial expressions, body language, and prosodic cues can be helpful indicators of sarcasm. It becomes even harder to decipher when these physical cues are removed as in any written setting. This paper explores what text strategies are used to mark sarcasm in text-based English language communication online. Through a systematic literature review, the similarities and differences of irony and sarcasm were explored, as well as the issues these parallels and distinctions create in delineating …

The Sack Of Rome, Sean M. Coloma

University Honors Theses

In 410, Goths under the command of Alaric sacked the ancient city of Rome. This event was significant in the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. It may have been seen by some at this time as a massive shock that Rome could have been attacked like this, but in the previous decades, there were a host of warning signs that something like this lay in the near future for the empire. This sack could not have happened the way it did without the perfect conditions being established in the decades leading up to it. The Roman Empire had …

Understanding Ch4 Emissions From Compostables: An Exploration Of Local Ch4 Emissions From Landfilled Compostables And The Efficacy Of Emission Mitigation Via Anaerobic Biogas Digestion, Jordan-Yoosuf Aljbour

University Honors Theses

Methane (CH₄) is the second most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas within the atmosphere, comprising ~16% of the total anthropogenic greenhouse gas composition on Earth. It has an ~12-year lifetime relative to its eventual oxidation via reaction with tropospheric hydroxyl radicals (OH), and has a 100-year indirect global warming potential (GWP) approximately ranging between 28-36 [Environmental Protection Agency, 2021]. In recent years, the observed average global concentration of atmospheric CH₄ has increased by ~11.0% from 2020 (~15.3 ppb) to 2021 (~17.0 ppb) [Dlugokencky et al., 1994; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2022]. With …

The Effect Of Stem Education On Women, Jasmine Gloden

University Honors Theses

This inquiry seeks to establish the effect of a STEM education on labor market outcomes for women. Gender differences in interest and performance in STEM fields begin at an early age, and remain steadfast through education and into the labor market. Due to factors like lack of female role models in STEM, gender stereotypes, and lack of growth mindset in terms of intellectual abilities, women can be discouraged throughout their education from continuing in a STEM education or pursuing a STEM occupation. Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, I determined the effect of a STEM education for …

Disrupted Course Delivery In The Covid-19 Landscape: Consequences For University Student Stress And Mental Health, Madison M. Eki

University Honors Theses

University students have experienced a massive disruption in the path to their academic goals. The Covid-19 pandemic has negatively impacted populations of students internationally. They have incurred physical and psychological distress. In this paper, the literature and data collected about how the pandemic affected the stress levels of students at universities will be analyzed and a recommendation for future research will be made. The purpose of this literature review is to analyze data and publications pertaining to the mental health and perceived stress of students resulting from Covid-19. There is an emphasis on the severity of the ways that their …