Digital Commons Network^™

The College Choice Of West African International Students: A Generalization Of The Hossler And Gallagher Model Of Student College Choice, Zeambo Wynger Dahnweih

Dissertations

After decades of research, the question of a universal college choice still abounds. In the United States scholars still advance disparate data on how students make college choice decisions that meet their particular needs. And, whereas research is replete with studies on the college choice of black families, there remains a dearth of studies on Black people of foreign descent, an integral demographic of the overall U.S. higher education enrollment.

This qualitative case study focuses on the college choice plights of West African students who enroll at U.S. public universities. It employs a West African-centric version of the Hossler and …

Ua19/16/2 Women's Basketball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases, photos and game statistics for WKU women's basketball team in 2021.

Gender Differences In Typed And Handwritten Probes For Written Expression Curriculum-Based Measurement, Allison Kaye Henderson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Previous research has shown that there are gender differences in Written Expression Curriculum-Based Measurement (WE CBM) with female students scoring higher than male students (Fearrington et al., 2014; Jewell & Malecki, 2005; McMaster et al, 2017; Scheiber et al., 2015). However, research looking at a different transcription mode (i.e., typed) in WE CBM is a new area of development (Mercer et al., 2019). Differences in gender with typed writing has not yet been examined. The purpose of this study was to examine if gender differences exist in typed, as well as handwritten WE CBM probes. The participants from this study …

Ua19/16/2 Basketball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases, photos and game statistics for WKU basketball team from January to July 2021.

Administrative Trust As A Contributor To Forensic Coach Burnout And Exit, Benjamin Schultz Pyle

Dissertations

This study sought to determine whether a relationship exists and its extent between intercollegiate forensic coach trust in university administrators and burnout and exit in intercollegiate forensic coaches. Specifically, this study examined the relationship between intercollegiate forensic coach trust in their university administrators with both intercollegiate forensic coach satisfaction and intercollegiate forensic coach burnout in predicting intercollegiate forensic coach exit from forensics.

Fifty-seven intercollegiate forensic educators participated in the research, including 37 directors of forensics. Data analysis revealed significant relationships between intercollegiate forensic coach trust in university administrators, intercollegiate forensic coach satisfaction, intercollegiate forensic coach burnout, and intercollegiate forensic coach …

Statistical Study Of The Effect Of Implementing An Airveyor System On The Warpage Of Injection Molded Closures, Charles Wesley Bozarth

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Berry Global in Bowling Green, Kentucky produces predominantly polypropylene container closures. One variant, the 83mm lined jar closure, is produced by first being injection molded, placed in work-in-progress (WIP) hold for 24 hours to cool, and then finished through the auxiliary liner operation into a final product. While this process is an effective method to produce a quality large-diameter closure and allows the polypropylene adequate time to cool without warping out of shape, the 24-hour WIP time and the manpower needed to accomplish this can negatively impact several business metrics as well as employee safety.

The purpose of this thesis …

The Effect Of Environmental Context Upon Visual Distance Perception, Jessica M. Dukes

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The ability of 16 younger adults to visually perceive distances in depth was evaluated within three environmental contexts (indoors in the dark, indoors in the light, and outdoors). The observers' task was to bisect an 8m distance interval in all contexts using both monocular and binocular vision. In the outdoor environment (a natural grassy field), the observers' judgments indicated perceptual compression of farther distances similar to that obtained in many previous studies. In the indoor lighted environment (a 10.2 x 9.6m laboratory room), the observers' judgments were consistent with perceptual expansion of farther distances. Finally, there was a beneficial effect …

Social Engagement Of Nursing Home Residents: A Comparison Of Two Observation Methods, Annika Gabbard

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In Kentucky, low levels of physical activity and social engagement negatively impact health. This problem led to the creation of Bingocize®, an exercise program that combines the game of Bingo with intermittent exercises in a group setting to increase levels of positive affect, physical health, and, the focus of this study, social engagement. Since clear benefits of social engagement have been established, measurement and documentation of this behavior can assist in determining the level of potential benefit from Bingocize®. The purpose of this study was to compare the opinions of healthcare workers who have experience with Bingocize® on two measures …

Do Emotion Words Influence Age Effects In Delayed Match-To-Sample Performance For Emotional Faces?, Ying-Han Li

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Age differences are apparent in using verbal labels of emotion to categorize emotion face stimuli. Particularly, older adults have more difficulty detecting emotion cues like anger and fear relative to younger adults, but seem to have less difficulty with disgust cues. However, age differences are diminished in situations when participants are limited to two possible emotion choices or are required to simply match stimuli based on emotion cues without the use of labels. One question that emerges from the disparities in these findings is the role that emotion labels themselves play in driving possible age differences in emotion perception. The …

Revisiting Hudson County Water Co. V. Mccarter: Realism, The Public Trust Doctrine, And Environmental Conservation In The Lochner Era, Steven Huffman

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Legal histories of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era tend to focus inordinately on economic regulation within a doctrinal framework in which private rights, equal protection, and “substantive” due process guided judicial decision-making. Consequently, the overarching economic context in prevailing legal historiography obscures an important yet oft-overlooked development in the linkage between public rights, natural resource trusteeship, and the early-twentieth-century environmental conservation movement. This development is inextricably tied to the evolution of water law in the late nineteenth century and the expansion of the American commercial republic. A normative understanding of public water rights during this period is confined to …

Examining Interactions Of Parental Psychopathology And Parental Resources On Infant Affect Regulation With Mothers And Fathers, Alexis Marie Hernandez

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Parents play a significant role in infant emotional development; specifically, infant affect regulation (Taipale, 2016). Various sources of stress might influence how parents interact with their infants as well as infant regulation. Parental psychopathology (depression, anxiety) has been associated with increases in infant negative affect (Forbes et al., 2004; Reck et al., 2018). Parental resources, another source of stress, is associated with parenting during parent-infant interactions and subsequent infant socioemotional outcomes (Lickenbrock & Braungart-Rieker, 2015; Lin & Seo, 2017). Research examining these sources of stress in the parent-infant relationship with mothers and fathers and subsequent infant affect regulation is limited. …

Aasp Cmpc® Recertification Survey: Analysis Of Perceived Benefits And Barriers, Ben Sammet

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A survey of 212 individuals who recertified or certified as a Certified Mental Performance Consultant® (CMPC) provided information on the perceived benefits of and barriers to the credential. Primary reasons for recertification and certification were the perceived credibility and expertise implied by the credential, with some indicating the certification to be central to their practice. Similarly, the primary value of the CMPC® certification cited by respondents was an indication of meeting professional standards; being listed on the CMPC® registry also was valued. In addition to perceived credibility, being perceived as ethical was highly ranked as a benefit of certification. Supporting …

Ethnography Of Reading Comic Books, Azadeh Najafian

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis explores why adults read comic books. This research used the ethnographic method and interviewing eleven people, four women, seven male, as its primary source. Based on information and common themes gathered from interviews, I built this thesis into one introduction, three body chapters, and a conclusion.

In the first chapter, I argued that comics could function the same as myths and explained this function and related examples under the “mythic effect” name. In the second chapter, I discussed how my informants use reading comics as a means to escape their everyday lives and how sometimes this escapism carries …

Using Theatre To Teach Social Skills To Students On The Autism Spectrum, Meaghan Nicole Ritchie

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Theatre-based interventions are an emerging field to improve social skills in individuals with autism. This study analyzed 10 different articles using theatre-based interventions, combined with evidence-based practices, to increase social skills deficits in students, ages 8-17, diagnosed with autism. Results indicate improvement in social skills for individuals with autism after participating in theatre-based interventions.

Psychosocial Work Influences On Adaptive Performance, Eli Alvin Dickinson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The present study sought to understand why some employees may be more or less able to adapt to the changing work environment. Adaptive performance can help employees to be resilient to technological advances, economic factors, and/or cultural shifts, making it an important form of extra-role performance. According to conservation of resources (COR) theory, one reason employees may fail to adapt is because they lack resources that are required in order to be adaptive. I proposed that the resources needed for adaptive performance aggregate in a resource caravan. Job embeddedness is a proposed resource caravan that may facilitate more adaptive performance …

The Influence Of Prenatal Yoga On Mental Health In Pregnancy During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Cathryn Duchette

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The COVID-19 pandemic poses risks to the mental health of expecting mothers as studies have demonstrated increased levels of stress and anxiety for new and expectant mothers during the pandemic. Prenatal yoga has been shown to be effective for improving mental health during pregnancy, but no research has been done to determine its effect on mental health during a pandemic. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of a 10-week prenatal yoga intervention on the mental health of pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Baseline levels of anxiety and depression were high, with an average depression score …

Gender Differences In The Association Between Emotion Dysregulation And Suicidal Behavior, Eliza Hope Laves

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for individuals between the ages of 15 and 24 years old (Drapeau & McIntosh, 2020). Being younger and female is significantly associated with suicidal behaviors (e.g., suicidal ideation, plan, and attempts), and girls report higher scores on suicidal ideation, plan, and attempts that result in a hospital visit compared to boys (Kann et al., 2018; Nook et al., 2008). Additionally, adolescents (e.g., 17.2%) reported the highest levels of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) engagement compared to young adults (e.g., 13.4%) and adults (e.g., 5.5%), and girls reported more NSSI engagement than boys among adolescents …

The Dark Side Of The Ivory Tower: Examining Incivility And Microaggressions Against Ethnic Minorities In Academia, Teresa San Hoang Nguyen

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Discrimination is still prevalent and pervasive in society, though there have been many attempts to mitigate its impact. Though often not as overt, “modern” discrimination is more subtle in nature, often slipping through as passable social interactions because of its ambiguity. However, the negative impact that ethnic and racial minorities experience because of this subtle discrimination cannot be ignored. In academia, as with many other workplaces, ethnic and racial minorities are impacted by subtle discrimination. During the Black Lives Matter movement that has surged in 2020 in the wake of social injustices against Black and Brown people, this issue has …

Knowledge Is Power: A Study Of Juvenile Justice Facilities And Educational Programs, Molly Anne Latham

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Juvenile Justice System is established to maintain public safety, as well as rehabilitate youth that have involved themselves in criminal activity. The overall goal is to create a better future for these individuals and transform them into law-abiding citizens for the good of society. In order to understand where the system has failed in doing this, we must first examine what opportunities and programs these individuals have to help them succeed. The current study will employ a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional survey through which the United States Bureau of the Census (1995) collected data on the characteristic of …

Reimagining The Duck Stamp, Hunting Licensure And Public Land Preservation, Alec Wayne Boyd-Devine

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The American Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, or Duck Stamp, is a form of licensure issued by the Federal Government for waterfowl hunters. Why do physical stamps act as licensure to hunt waterfowl on both public and private land in the United States? How did the stamp become the key that grants access to resources that supposedly should be owned by the public? The duck stamp has been well-documented in conservation communities as a resource which has made significant positive impacts on the environment. The increase of anti-hunting sentiments in our society combined with fewer hunters per capita may …

Synthesis And Catalytic Oxidation Of Organic Substrates By Light-Harvesting Metalloporphyrins, Christian Alcantar

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

note: Some notation in this abstract may not appear exactly as formatted in the thesis.

In this work, ruthenium, iron, and manganese light-harvesting metalloporphyrins have been successfully synthesized to serve as biomimetic models of the active site of Cytochrome P450 for the development of a green and efficient oxidation catalyst. The covalent introduction of light-harvesting boron-dipyrrin (BODIPY) fluorophores on the porphyrin macrocycle allows for the absorption of a broader range of visible light in addition to that captured by the porphyrin aromatic system alone. It is expected that this core-antenna system will increase the absorbed light energy and transfer it …

La Llorona, Picante Pero Sabroso: The Mexican Horror Legend As A Story Of Survival And A Reclamation Of The Monster, Camille Maria Acosta

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

For centuries, the relationship between Mexico and its infatuation with scary stories has been profoundly complex, but why? Perhaps it is the easiest way to communicate a Mexican culture, although proud and resilient, riddled with haunting narratives. For myself personally, the Mexican horror narrative La Llorona has served as a lens for conversation and communication that is unique and important.

In this thesis, I explore how Mexicans and Mexican Americans alike use the legend of La Llorona as a unique form of communication through personifying what truly haunts us. From using the narrative as a tool for entertainment, cautionary tales, …

Changes In Consumer Market Preference And Purchase Frequency In Response To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sean Thomas Dial

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Research literature throughout 2020 indicate consumer behavioral changes in response to the systemic effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, but these studies investigate transient adaptations in consumer behaviors during the early quarantine period of the pandemic. This study intends to investigate lasting or permanent changes in consumer market preference and purchase frequency between BAM and online retail due to the effects of the pandemic. The principal investigator designed a survey for participants to estimate purchase frequencies and market preferences for apparel, electronics, groceries, and general purchases before and after the pervasive effects of the pandemic (N = 1195; n = …

Serve-Specific Core Self-Evaluations: A Predictive Validation Study, Brandi Renee Forgione

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Core Self-Evaluations (CSE) is a broad personality trait used by industrial organizational psychologists to predict important organizational outcomes such as job performance and employee satisfaction. CSE comprises four elements: generalized self-efficacy, self-esteem, locus of control, and neuroticism. Task-specific versions of CSE have been proposed to better predict task-specific performance than general CSE. Accordingly, Serve-Specific Core Self- Evaluations (SS-CSE) was adapted specifically to predict serve performance of intercollegiate volleyball players. In this study, I explored the predictive validity of SS-CSE for serve performance by expanding a previous study that used a concurrent validation approach. Results indicated that SS-CSE scores collected pre-season …

Visual Management In Engineering Can Improve Resource Utilization And Reduce Administrative Non-Value Added Time, Brian Kirby Trent

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research has demonstrated how Visual Management (VM) can be used in an engineering environment to improve engineering resource utilization. Furthermore, it reduces the administrative time associated with unclear project scope, schedule, budget, and task alignment amongst engineers and project leadership. The research references a case study in which low engineering utilization was directly impacting overall project success. Inconsistent visibility of scheduled engineering activities, changes in tasking, and project metrics created uncertainty and resulted in greater than appropriate administrative time. The methodology used was to implement visual project management tools and track engineer utilization over two years. Quarterly utilization results …

Analysis Of Boundary Observability Of Strongly Coupled One-Dimensional Wave Equations With Mixed Boundary Conditions, Wilson Dennis Horner

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

*see note below

In control theory, the time it takes to receive a signal after it is sent is referred to as the observation time. For certain types of materials, the observation time to receive a wave signal differs depending on a variety of factors, such as material density, flexibility, speed of the wave propagation, etc. Suppose we have a strongly coupled system of two wave equations describing the longitudinal vibrations on a piezoelectric beam of length L. These two wave equations have non-identical wave propagation speeds c1 and c2. First, we prove the exact observability inequality with the optimal …

A Survey Of Slp Graduate Students Pre- And Post-Telepractice Training During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kelly Allison Frost

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Many university programs in speech-language pathology who offer clinical training as part of their graduate program, transitioned to a telepractice service delivery model in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the current research project was to survey graduate student opinions and perspectives on the telepractice service delivery model before and after training. Graduate students enrolled in a SLP distance program at WKU participated in a summer clinical internship and were asked to complete pre- and post-surveys about their remote clinical experience. Pre- and postsurveys were completed by 27 graduate students who were enrolled in the summer clinical internship …

Ua10/1 Vitality Report, Wku Suzanne Vitale Clinical Education Complex

CEC Publications

Newsletter created by and about the Suzanne Vitale Clinical Education Complex.

• Moore, Mary. From the Director's Desk
• McMaine-Render, Sarah. A Theme of Perseverance
• Sales, Shannon. The Family Resource Program
• Green, Haley. Renshaw Early Childhood Center Goes Viral
• Sales, Shannon. Family Resource Program: Coffee Hours
• Schaeffer, Beth. A Great Semester at the Renshaw Early Childhood Center, Virtually Speaking
• Conder, Sarah. The CEC Spotlight
• Elkins, Michelle. Kelly Autism Program: Primetime & Adult Services
• Sales, Shannon. Family Resource Program: Parent Testimonials
• Hudson, Caroline. The Career Success & Sustainability Program
• Hudson, Caroline. Communication Disorders Clinic
• Swietek, Molly. Brinkley Student Employment Fellowship Program
• Collins, Peyton. …

Ua3/10 President's Messages - Spring Semester, Wku President's Office - Caboni

WKU Administration Documents

President's Message emails sent by Timothy Caboni to faculty & staff during spring semester, 2021.

• Big Red Restart Plan
• Commencement
• Commencement
• Council for Advancement & Support of Education
• COVID-19 Immunizations
• COVID-19 Masks
• Healthy on the Hill
• Juneteenth Holiday
• Naming & Symbols Task Force Report
• Provost Robert Fischer
• SACSCOC Accreditation
• Spring Semester Strategic Initiatives

Response To Intervention In Early Childhood Education, Kendyl Young Hinson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to review literature on Response to Intervention (RTI) at the early childhood level. RTI has become increasingly prevalent within K-12 settings. Less research exists for the expansion within early childhood settings. A systematic review of literature was conducted and all available literature on RTI in early childhood education since 2004 was identified and reviewed. Articles were sorted into three broad categories for review: (a) combined, (b) academics, and (c) social emotional behaviors. The review indicated the different behaviors recommended to be examined within the early childhood setting, types of assessment methods used, and interventions …