Digital Commons Network^™

Self-Directed Learning In The Elementary Library, Maggie B. Doud

Learning Hub

This article examines the implementation of the "My Time" self-directed learning framework in elementary school libraries, focusing on its impact on student autonomy, critical thinking, and engagement. "My Time" integrates structured choices with flexible guidance, enabling students to take ownership of their learning. The author reflects on practical experiences and connects them to theoretical foundations, including Glasser’s Choice Theory, Knowles' self-directed learning model, and constructivist principles. Key findings demonstrate that "My Time" significantly improves student engagement, autonomy, and behavior through activities such as makerspaces, inquiry-based projects, and reflective goal-setting. The article emphasizes the program's potential to transform school libraries into …

The Data-Driven Library: Communicating The Value Of Your School Library Program To Administrators, Parents, Students, And Colleagues, Shala Howell

Learning Hub

This article examines the use of data dashboards as a tool for teacher librarians to advocate for their school library programs. It emphasizes the importance of linking library services to district priorities to secure funding, increase collaboration, and demonstrate the library’s impact on student outcomes. An eight-step process is detailed, including defining objectives, identifying target audiences, collecting and visualizing data, and publishing dashboards using accessible tools like Google Workspace. By crafting coherent, audience-specific narratives, librarians can highlight how their programs support educational goals, improve resource utilization, and foster collaboration. The article concludes that data dashboards provide a sustainable and compelling …

Science, Physiology, And Nutrition For The Nonscientist, Judi S. Morrill

Open Educational Resources

A wonderful blend of physiology, nutrition, biochemistry, genetics, biology, evolution, chemistry--what we all need to know as informed citizens. A basic knowledge of the life sciences and how our bodies work--to promote our own good health, especially as we're bombarded with misleading advertisements, soundbites, and the like. DNA fingerprinting, calorie requirements, dietary advice, genetic engineering (including gene editing with CRISPR cas9)--all in an easy-to understand book.

Carbohydrate Counting: Traditional Filipino Food Lists For Management And Prevention Of Diabetes Mellitus, Ashwini Wagle

Open Educational Resources

The Carbohydrate Counting tool was created to address the specific dietary needs of the Filipino population. It is an original intellectual work by Ashwini Wagle, Ed.D., MS, RD, Chair of the Department of Nutrition, Food Science, and Packaging at San Jose State University (SJSU).

The development of this tool was made possible through the collaboration and support of several contributors. Serena Starr, MS; Justine Martinez Cuaresma, MS, RD; Nazli Goudarzi, MS; Leah Olaivar; and Joe Johnston—a graduate student in the Department—played integral roles in the project. Their contributions included verifying the authenticity of traditional foods, designing culturally appropriate meal plans, …

Realities Of Nutrition, Judi S. Morrill

Open Educational Resources

What Is Nutrition Reality? Is it in the advertising claims that a food is natural or supplies instant energy? Is it in the myriad of dietary supplements? Is it in the diet plans for instant weight loss and glowing health? The only way to find out is to learn the basic principles of nutrition science, so you can be your own nutrition expert. Here is the true introduction to nutrition that you will read with pleasure and real understanding. It will free you from dependence on popular sources of information - often misinformation - so you can distinguish illusion from …

Words And Stardom: Modernist Poetic Responses To Asta Nielsen, Karl E. Toepfer

Open Educational Resources

This essay discusses how four modernist poets portrayed the Danish movie star Asta Nilesen (1881-1972). German Hans Schiebelhuth (1895-1944) describes the "demonic" power of Nielsen's image to awaken dark aspects of his adolscent personality. For the Flemish poet Paul van Ostaijen (1896-1928), Nielsen's cinematic image provokes a radical shattering of language into extravagant "word-images." Danish writer Rudolf Broby-Johansen (1900-1987) linked Nielsen's image to a radical (Marxist) critique of oppressive sexual politics within a capitalist society. German Franz Behrens (1895-1977) composed a lengthy, expressionist ode to Nielsen from the perspective of one who actually worked as a screenwriter in the German …

Librarians In U.S. Public Schools Without Other Kinds Of Specialist Educators: The Scale Of Opportunities For Instructional Leadership, Keith Curry Lance, Caitlin Gerrity

Learning Hub

This article explores the unique instructional leadership opportunities for school librarians in U.S. public schools that lack other specialist educators, such as technology specialists, instructional specialists, and instructional coaches. Drawing on data from the 2020–21 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), the study highlights the prevalence of schools with librarians operating without full-time or part-time technology specialists, subject-specific instructional specialists, or instructional coaches. The absence of these roles often places librarians in a central position to support both students and teachers in areas such as literacy development, STEM education, and technology integration. Additionally, the article examines the potential for librarians …

Homomorphically Encrypted Faceted Values, Tanmay Singal

Master's Projects

Faceted values prevent the implicit flow of sensitive information by controlling the visibility of program data. They achieve this by maintaining two facets for each variable: a public facet, which is observable, and a private facet, which remains hidden. Although this method secures the flow of sensitive data, it can be leaked if the server storing the faceted values is compromised. While faceted values may be encrypted on the server, doing so would necessitate that the private facets be briefly decrypted during execution to allow arithmetic operations to be performed on them, creating an attack vector for information to be …

Visionmate: Ai-Powered Image Captioning Web Application, Sai Anoushka Kokku

Master's Projects

VisionMate is a web application that generates captions for camera-captured images. It is designed
to assist users with visual impairments by converting visual input into spoken and written text. The
application uses the GIT-base model from Hugging Face, which processes the image and returns a
descriptive caption. Users can take a picture using the device camera—either via webcam on
desktop or the native camera interface on mobile. The app provides audio output using the
SpeechSynthesis API and uses full-screen tap interaction to simplify accessibility.

The frontend is implemented in React.js, and the backend is built with FastAPI. The backend calls …

Augmenting Missing Sensor Data For Robust Human Activity Recognition, Suryakangeyan Kandasamy Gowdaman

Master's Projects

Applications of ubiquitous computing, including health monitoring, sports analytics, and ambient-assisted living, rely on Human Activity Recognition (HAR) using wearable sensors. However, model robustness is challenged by missing sensor values, class imbalance, inter-subject variability, and temporal noise. This work proposes a complete HAR pipeline that addresses these challenges through sampling, time-series augmentation, dynamic feature handling, and GAN-PCA-based imputation. Built on the DeepSense architecture, the model integrates convolutional feature extraction with bi-GRUs for temporal modeling. The system is evaluated using 5-fold cross-validation, subject-aware holdout, and LOSEO strategies on the Opportunity dataset. Results demonstrate consistent accuracy across folds and strong generalization to …

Photoproof: A Mobile Application For Verifying The Authenticity Of Images, Pruthviraj Urankar

Master's Projects

The easy access to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, such as deepfakes and generative adversarial networks (GANs), has facilitated the creation of highly realistic artificial images, thereby undermining the authenticity of photos in today’s digital age. Misinformation and manipulation are key dangers to digital content due to this advancement. Therefore, the need for reliable methods of photo verification and authentication has become increasingly important. This report presents a decentralized iOS app that uses blockchain to ensure photo authenticity. The app leverages Ethereum smart contracts and cryptographic hashing to securely log image metadata. When a user takes a photo, the app hashes …

Optimizing Analytics Storage Strategies For Search Engines And Wiki Platforms, Sujith Kakarlapudi

Master's Projects

Modern search engines and wiki platforms generate vast quantities of user inter-
/="/">action data such as page views, edits, clicks, and session events. This data must be stored and aggregated efficiently to enable scalable analytics and responsive querying. Yioop, an open-source search engine framework, serves as our primary case study, processing millions of such events to power its indexing and recommendation features. This report explores a shift from the conventional database storage based model to a log based model, in order to improve scalability and write efficiency. A size-limited, append-only logging facility was provided to log analytics events: the …

Large Language Model Powered Etl Pipeline Development A Project Report, Aditya Chandras

Master's Projects

This projects discusses the use of Large language model to simplify and automate Extract, Transform, Loading (ETL) development. Data engineering tasks oUen need technical experDse, thereby challenging non-experts and even industry professionals for such Dme intensive operaDons. The project tackles these challenges by employing quanDzaDon of a base Lllama-2-7b-Chat model using QLora technique. The lowered precision of the base model allow further execuDon on a limited hardware resource. The project further performs Supervised fine-tuning trainer (SFT) to perform fine-tuning, specializing the model for generaDng script for ETL tasks. The fine-tuned model is evaluated through a series of micro and comprehensive …

Dynamic Pricing For Revenue Maximization In 5g Networks With Elastic Network Slicing And Reinforcement Learning, Naisheel Shah

Master's Projects

Network slicing is a concept that enables a diverse array of network applications with lots of unique service requirements. For the scope of this research, we delve into elastic network slicing, which has a potential benefit for both the providers and users through cost-effective resource utilization. Dynamic pricing of these slice resources is a method for operators to realize the balance of different types of network slices by implicitly communicating the current network state to slice users. We have designed a custom pricing scheme using Deep Reinforcement Learning for elastic network slices that maximizes the revenue of slice providers while …

Suicidal Ideation Detection On Reddit Using Llm-Annotated Data And Graph Neural Networks, Ikbal Singh Gurdev Singh Dhanjal

Master's Projects

Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among people aged 15-29. More than 720, 000 people commit suicide every year. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw an increase in people seeking out mental health support on anonymous forums like Reddit. These anonymous forums allow people to express their suicidal ideation without judgment and give them a support structure that not everyone has. The aim of this project is to detect suicidal ideation using Reddit. In this work, we propose SIRGEL (Suicidal Ideation on Reddit using Graph Embeddings and LLMs), a dual-pipeline approach that combines large language model (LLM)- based …

Transforming Chatbot Text: A Sequence-To-Sequence Approach To Human-Like Text Generation, Natesh Reddy

Master's Projects

With the advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, the boundary between text written by a human and that created by AI has become blurred. This poses a threat to systems designed to detect AI-generated content. In this work, we adopt a novel strategy to adversarially transform GPT-generated text using sequence-to-sequence (Seq2Seq) models, to make the text more human-like. We concentrate on improving GPT-generated sentences by including significant linguistic, structural, and semantic components that are typical of human-authored text. The goal is to then use this transformed data to train a more robust detection model. Our experiments show …

Archeota, Fall/Winter 2024, Sarah Miller, Kaitlyn O'Dell, Erica Leff, Peyton Walters, Joshua Insel

Archeota

Archeota is a platform for SJSU iSchool students to contribute to the archival conversation. It is written BY students, FOR students. It provides substantive content on archival concerns and issues and promotes professional development in the field of archival studies. Archeota upholds the core values of the archival profession.

Contents

A Tale of Two Film Archives: History and Impact of the British Film Institute and the Cinémathèque Française by Sarah Miller

Enhancing Archival Access with Sustainability: Insights from a Library Scholar Internship at Cal Poly Humboldt by Kaitlyn R. O’Dell

Farewell to Our Winter 2024 Graduate: Interviews with SAA Student …

The Role Of Advocacy And Occupational Justice In Increasing The Accessibility Of Parks For Parents With Disabilities, Nathan Burke-Tan

Doctoral Projects

The purpose of this doctoral capstone project was to address ongoing accessibility barriers experienced by adults with disabilities, particularly those in caregiving roles, in public parks and playgrounds in the greater San Diego region. Although many parks meet the minimum requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), research shows that caregivers with disabilities continue to encounter obstacles that limit safe, meaningful participation in community spaces (Dalpra, 2022; Fernelius, 2017; Firkin et al., 2024; Movahed et al., 2023; Ogletree et al., 2020; Prellwitz & Skar, 2007). These persistent gaps indicate a need for stronger advocacy and clearer public awareness of …

Grounded In Experience: A Collaborative Approach To Resource Development For Adults With Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Morgan Kam

Doctoral Projects

Background: Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is a complex connective tissue disorder that significantly affects daily occupations, participation, and quality of life, yet early support for individuals pursuing or newly receiving a diagnosis remains limited. Occupational therapy (OT) is uniquely positioned to address these challenges through interventions that promote self-management and functional engagement.

Purpose: This project aimed to develop an experience- and evidence-informed educational resource for individuals undergoing or newly receiving an EDS diagnosis, while increasing awareness of OT’s role in managing this chronic, multisystemic condition.

Methods: A mixed-methods approach integrated qualitative insights from interviews, online support groups, and practitioner feedback. A …

Family-Level Impacts Of Equine-Assisted Occupational Therapy For Children With Disabilities: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Pilot Study, Emily Canigiula

Doctoral Projects

Equine-assisted occupational therapy (EAOT) has been shown to enhance functional, social, and quality-of-life outcomes for children with disabilities (McDaniel Peters & Wood, 2017; Prieto et al., 2022). While child-focused outcomes are well documented, significantly less is known about how EAOT participation may influence caregivers and the broader family unit, as existing research largely prioritizes individual outcomes over family experiences (Peters et al., 2017; Tan & Simmonds, 2018; Trzmiel et al., 2019; Xiao et al., 2023). Emerging qualitative studies suggest potential family-level impacts including family engagement, reduced parental stress, and enhanced feelings of pride, empowerment, and connection (Kalmback et al., 2020; …

Bridging Gaps With Occupational Therapy: The Unique Role Of Occupational Therapy In Women’S Day Shelters, Alex Sato

Doctoral Projects

Homelessness is a multifaceted, complex issue that we face as a society. Mainstream services provided to homeless or vulnerable populations tend to focus on housing and basic services. While these are essential and meaningful, literature suggests there is a lack in trauma and self-care support (Marzana et al., 2023; Milaney et al., 2020). Looking through an Occupational Therapy (OT) lens, there are a multitude of ways the profession can provide holistic care. Current OT service provision within this population most commonly focuses on obtaining and maintaining housing and addressing the survival occupations these individuals may be engaging in (Cunningham & …

Promoting Participation And Self-Efficacy Among Youth With Disabilities In Community-Based Vocational Education, Allison Hollender

Doctoral Projects

Occupational therapy, with its focus on participation, contextual adaptation, and strength-based practice, is uniquely suited to support the growth and inclusion of youth in transition (Angell et al., 2018; Cahill et al., 2020; Carroll et al., 2025). Research indicates that transitional-aged youth (TAY) with disabilities, ages 14-24, are less likely to graduate from high school, pursue postsecondary education, or live independently (BLS, 2024; Cheng & Shaewitz, 2022; Cook et al., 2015). These disparities are compounded by occupational deprivation, or limited opportunities for meaningful participation, which can negatively impact long-term self-efficacy and belonging (Arbesman & Logsdon, 2011; Cahill et al., 2020). …

From Silos To Synergies: How To Enhance Interdisciplinary Collaboration Among Graduate Students, Jennifer Jimenez

Doctoral Projects

Interprofessional education (IPE) is essential for preparing collaborative healthcare practitioners, yet opportunities at San José State University (SJSU) have been limited, inconsistent, and largely dependent on individual faculty initiative. This capstone project aimed to strengthen IPE at SJSU by assessing institutional capacity and developing feasible, sustainable strategies to enhance exposure and participation across health-related programs. Guided by the Person–Environment–Occupation–Performance (PEOP) model and adult learning theory, the project combined a needs assessment, literature review, and partnership with the Healthy Development Community Clinic (HDCC) to create an instructor implementation guide and student introductory modules for HDCC service-learning onboarding. An IRB-approved mixed-methods faculty …

A Guide To Falls In A Skilled Nursing Facility, Sarah Ghione

Doctoral Projects

Approximately one in four older adults experiences a fall each year in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2024b; Kakara et al., 2023). Among those residing in nursing homes for either short-term rehabilitation or long-term care, the risk of falls is doubled (Acker & Janssen, 2017; Shao et al., 2023). The purpose of this doctoral capstone project was to develop an educational resource aimed at enhancing staff education and fall prevention efforts within a single nursing home, supporting the facility’s goal of reducing fall rates. Methods included a needs assessment, observational experiences, resource development, and the …

Rondo: A Minimal Single Page Application For Digital Exhibits, Nick Szydlowski

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Minimal computing is a promising conceptual framework for digital humanities infrastructure, but the static site architecture most commonly associated with minimal computing can present a steep learning curve, particularly in a workshop or classroom context. This article introduces Rondo, a new minimal framework for digital exhibits which requires no software installation or command line interaction. Rondo differentiates itself from static site tools by adopting a single page application architecture with data stored in a Google Sheet, but it includes tools to disconnect from Google Sheets and create a static site with no external dependencies. Rondo’s reliance on Google Sheets reflects …

"Acoustical Bedlam": A Contextualization Of Beethoven's Christus, Leanna R. York

The Beethoven Journal

The premiere of Beethoven’s Christus am Ölberge at the Theater an der Wien on April 5, 1803, marked the composer’s first and only contribution to the complex tradition of the German oratorio. Since the genre’s inception at the turn of the eighteenth century, it reflected artistic, literary, and theological controversies of its day. Beethoven’s chosen theme, the passion of Christ, came with its own set of ever-shifting compositional and textual expectations, influenced by older traditions of sepolcri and staged oratorios (common in Vienna and at the court of the elector of Cologne after mid-century) and lyric works such as Graun’s …

Second Thoughts? Czerny, Beethoven, And The Ninth Symphony’S Choral Finale, Mark Evan Bonds

The Beethoven Journal

Sometime after the premiere of the Ninth Symphony, according to Carl Czerny, Beethoven told a small circle of friends that he had made a “wrong choice” in writing a choral finale, that he was resolved to write a purely instrumental finale in its place, and that he already had an idea in his head for the new finale. Czerny never committed this report to writing, but he did transmit it orally to three others who did: Leopold von Sonnleithner, Otto Jahn, and Gustav Nottebohm. Anton Schindler would later deny the report, but the available evidence strongly supports the veracity of …

Innovative Sonorities: Atypical Pitch Orders In Beethoven's Piano Trios, Yoko Maruyama

The Beethoven Journal

In his chamber music with keyboard, Beethoven famously emancipated the cello from its bass function to make it equal with the other instruments, as has been repeatedly noted. Some studies have also highlighted, partly in relation to this emancipation, the sonorous balance between strings and piano in Beethoven’s chamber works. The pitch relationship between the cello and violin in his piano trios has been less discussed, yet attending to both parts reveals a tendency to use an atypical order in which the cello’s pitch is set above the violin or between the violin’s chord tones. This tendency increases from Beethoven’s …

Review Of The Catholic Beethoven By Nicholas Chong, David Wyn Jones

The Beethoven Journal

No abstract provided.

Conference Report: 200th Anniversary Of Beethoven's 1824 Academy Concerts (Beethoven-Haus, Bonn, 2024), Mary Kirchdorfer, Cheston Humphries

The Beethoven Journal

No abstract provided.