Digital Commons Network^™

Artapanus And Greek Colonial Poetics, Scott Harris

Dissertations

The fragments of Artapanus have proven to be enigmatic for most scholars over the years and as such have not been treated in significant detail. Most scholarship has been restricted to two separate lines of enquiry: genre and ethnicity. I suggest that the resonance between Greek colonial poetics sheds new light on Artapanus's literary agenda: namely, that Artapanus is constructing and representing the memory of Jewish cultural and political foundations using broader Greek poetics which were used to describe the civic, cultic and geographic foundation of a colony. In this way, Artapanus is no longer an outlier within the Hellenistic …

Comparative Analysis Of Classification Performance For U.S. College Enrollment Predictive Modeling Using Four Machine Learning Algorithms (Artificial Neural Network, Decision Tree, Support Vector Machine, Logistic Regression), Anna Kye

Dissertations

Every year, the national high school graduation rate is declining and impacting the number of students applying to colleges. Moreover, the majority of students are applying to more than one college. This makes a lot of colleges to be highly competitive in student recruitment for enrollment and thus, the necessity for institutions to anticipate uncertainties related to budgets expected from student enrollment has increased. Hence enrollment management has become a pivotal sector in higher education institutions. Data and analytics are now a crucial part of enhancing enrollment management. Through big data analytics-driven solutions, institutions expect to improve enrollment by identifying …

Key Stakeholders' Perceptions Of Stem Education In Zambia: A Mixed Methods Inquiry, Choobe M. Maambo

Dissertations

In the recent past, the concept of STEM education has become a “buzz phrase” in the Zambian education system, and yet, very little is known about STEM education let alone what those involved in STEM think or know about STEM in the country. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate key STEM stakeholders’ perceptions of STEM education in Zambia. To better understand STEM in the country, it was critical to explore the perceptions of STEM held by STEM teachers, STEM administrators, and STEM policymakers in the perception domains of STEM vision, STEM definition, STEM purpose, STEM relevance, and …

Past And Progress: Producing History At Chicago's 1933-34 World's Fair, Cate Liabraaten

Dissertations

During the country’s worst economic crisis, the Great Depression, Chicago hosted an event that presented a vision for the future. The 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition was Chicago’s second world’s fair, important for revitalizing the local economy as well as encouraging optimism for a better future. While the fair’s theme officially focused on scientific and technological progress and was intended to be forward-looking, several exhibits dwelt on the past.

Study of these historic-themed exhibits reveals that by featuring Abraham Lincoln, Fort Dearborn, Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable, and a replica colonial village, Americans looked to their shared past to make …

None Of Us Are Safe: How Leaders Sustain Culturally Responsive Elementary And Middle School Improvement Planning, Jerry B. Michel

Dissertations

In the spring of 2020, school leaders, school boards, and teachers faced challenges beyond the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, finding themselves under attack for the perceived applications of critical race theory in school curriculum. These conditions made active engagement in equity-focused school improvement planning more challenging. School leaders and leadership teams may benefit from using an established framework to identify strengths and areas for growth around culturally responsive pedagogy for effective school improvement planning. This article explores the use of Hammond’s (2015) Ready for Rigor Framework as a tool for identifying prioritizing which conditions for culturally responsive pedagogy …

The Forgotten Minority—The Experiences Of Somali-Jareer Bantu Students In Higher Education: “I Don’T Even Exist At This Institution. I’M Barely Recognized As A Human Being”., Arli Mohamed

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine how students of Somali-Jareer Bantu descent experience education, particularly how they navigate higher education in the United States and how they make meaning of their experiences. Grounded in a descriptive phenomenological approach, the design method includes semi-structured individual and focus group interviews, with a holistic interpretative phenomenological analysis as a method of data analysis. This study utilizes descriptive phenomenology to investigate how Somali-Jareer Bantu students experience higher education in the U.S. and make meaning of their multiple identities as they navigate higher education environments. Using this methodological approach, the following questions guide …

Characterization Of Mroq-Dependent Regulation Of Staphylococcus Aureus Quorum Sensing, Madison Ruth Stock

Dissertations

Gram-positive bacteria produce small autoinducing peptides (AIPs), which act to regulate expression of genes that promote adaptive traits including virulence. The Gram-positive pathogen Staphylococcus aureus generates a cyclic AIP that controls expression of virulence factors via the accessory gene regulatory (Agr) system. S. aureus strains belong to one of four Agr groups (I, II, III, and IV), and each group harbors allelic variants of AgrD, the precursor of AIP. In a prior screen for S. aureus virulence factors, the Alonzo lab identified MroQ, a putative peptidase. A ΔmroQ mutant closely resembled a Δagr mutant and had significant defects in AIP …

Relationships Among Perceptions Of Support, Experiences Of Gatekeeping, And Burnout In Counselor Educators And Supervisors, Alicia Lamar

Dissertations

Counselor educators and supervisors carry out the responsibility of ensuring that counselors in training are competent and fit for practice. Burnout can occur when stressors in the workplace are not addressed. Engagement in the role of gatekeeper and perceptions of support can be factors that impact burnout in counselor educators. The exploration of variables that may relate to counselor educator burnout would benefit the counseling community including counselor educators, counseling students, counseling clients, and the community at large. There has been a paucity of research exploring the relationships among faculty members’ perceptions of support, experiences of gatekeeping, and burnout in …

Android Security: Analysis And Applications, Raina Samuel

Dissertations

The Android mobile system is home to millions of apps that offer a wide range of functionalities. Users rely on Android apps in various facets of daily life, including critical, e.g., medical, settings. Generally, users trust that apps perform their stated purpose safely and accurately. However, despite the platform’s efforts to maintain a safe environment, apps routinely manage to evade scrutiny. This dissertation analyzes Android app behavior and has revealed several weakness: lapses in device authentication schemes, deceptive practices such as apps covering their traces, as well as behavioral and descriptive inaccuracies in medical apps. Examining a large corpus of …

Carrier Transport Engineering In Wide Bandgap Semiconductors For Photonic And Memory Device Applications, Ravi Teja Velpula

Dissertations

Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors play a crucial role in the current solid-state lighting technology. The AlGaN compound semiconductor is widely used for ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs), however, the efficiency of these LEDs is largely in a single-digit percentage range due to several factors. Until recently, AlInN alloy has been relatively unexplored, though it holds potential for light-emitters operating in the visible and UV regions. In this dissertation, the first axial AlInN core-shell nanowire UV LEDs operating in the UV-A and UV-B regions with an internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of 52% are demonstrated. Moreover, the light extraction efficiency of this …

Twitter Sentiment Analysis: Applications In Healthcare And Finance, Jiali Wang

Dissertations

This research explores the influence of Twitter sentiment on healthcare and finance industries. It assesses how Twitter sentiment and culture measure influence COVID-19 statistics, and it investigates the impact of Twitter sentiment on S&P 1500 stock mispricing. Furthermore, it examines how tweet sentiment predicts major industry returns.

The first part examines how Hofstede’s Culture Dimensions (HCD) and Twitter economic uncertainty index (TEU) relate to COVID-19 infection rate and death rate. The results show certain aspects in HCD, such as power distance index (PDI) and masculinity (MAS) both are negatively and significantly associated with the infection rate, while indulgence (IVR) and …

The Future Of The Urban Street In The United States: Visions Of Alternative Mobilities In The Twenty-First Century, Esther Zipori

Dissertations

This dissertation is concerned with the present and future of urban streets in the United States. The goal is to document and analyze current visions, policies, and strategies related to the form and use of American urban streets. The dissertation examines current mobility trends and offers a framework for organizing visions of the future of urban streets, evaluating them through three lenses: safety, comfort, and delight: assessing physical conditions in accordance with livability standards toward sustainable development. At the same time, it demonstrates the way 12 scenarios (NACTO Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism, Sidewalk Labs: Quayside Project, Public Square by FXCollaborative, …

A Novel Biomaterial Platform For Cardiac Tissue Engineering, Andrew House

Dissertations

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the world. With a growing demand for in vitro cardiac models that can recapitulate the complex physiology of the cardiac tissue, there is a desire to create novel therapies and treatments. However, due to a lack of fundamental understanding of the heart's inflammatory response to myocardial infarction, the development of new therapies is both time consuming and costly. In this work, a novel approach to fabricating a dynamic hydrogel cardiac platform is reported. This platform better mimics the dynamic changes occurring in the native cardiac tissue microenvironment during cardiac …

Nondirect Line-Of-Sight Free-Space Optical Communications And Networks, Paa Kwesi Affir Esubonteng

Dissertations

Nondirect Line-of-Sight Free-Space Optical Communications (NLoS-FSOC) uses diffuse reflected light to establish communication between two or more stations that are with or without line-of-sight (LoS) to each other. Different from free-space optical communications (FSOC), NLoS-FSOC uses a diffuse reflector (DR) between a transmitter and a receiver so that LoS is not required between them but between the station and the DR. Unlike a mirror, the DR reflects the incident light to all directions and except to itself. That multidirectional reflection broadcast the optical transmission to all receivers with LoS to the DR. The optical broadcast channel establishes a true optical …

The Impact Of Job Satisfaction On Retention And Motivation For Leadership Advancement Of The U. S. Citizenship And Immigration Services (Uscis) Millennial Supervisors, Kelvin Medlock

Dissertations

Purpose: This explanatory mixed-methods study aimed to identify the job satisfaction level of millennial supervisors at the five service centers of the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Additionally, it identified the impact that job satisfaction levels have on their job retention and motivation for leadership advancement.

Methodology: An explanatory sequential design data collection method was used to identify and describe the level of job satisfaction of USCIS millennial supervisors. This Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) was completed by the participants and was followed by an open-ended interview designed to collect in-depth data on job satisfaction factors’ impact on retention …

Service Learning: A Case-Study Examining Positive And Negative Influences On Higher Education Faculty, Kathleen Reavy

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was, first, to study why a professor would implement and then continue to use a service learning methodology and, second, to study how a professor is shaped by service learning experiences. An in-depth case-study design was used to study the impacts of personal and contextual factors on one higher education professor implementing service learning in her classroom. Interviews, observations, and document reviews were used to gather data. The focal point for this study was a professor of a senior-level Nursing Leadership and Management course who successfully incorporated a service learning methodology and continues to do …

Implementing A Smoking Cessation Protocol In Type 2 Diabetics In A Podiatry Clinic Using The Five A'S Model, Guerlyne Henson

Dissertations

Smoking is an independent risk factor for DMT2 making it essential for providers to address smoking cessation consistently. The purpose of this quantitative, quasiexperimental quality improvement (QI) project was to evaluate if or to what degree the implementation of a tobacco cessation protocol using the Five A's model would impact the patient's motivation, nicotine dependence, and provider compliance with assessing tobacco use in adult diabetic smokers in a podiatry clinic for four weeks in the northeastern United States. The transtheoretical model (TTM) was utilized to evaluate patient motivation to quit smoking and determine appropriate cessation interventions. Data on the motivation …

Online Clinical Post-Conference, Face-To-Face Clinical Post-Conference: Effects On Critical Thinking In Associate Degree Nursing Students, Kristie A. Berkstresser

Dissertations

Nurse educators, at every level of pre-licensure nursing education, are charged with developing critical thinking skills within their students. Post-clinical conference is one teaching strategy that nurse educators can employ to help promote the development of critical thinking skills in pre-licensure nursing students. However, traditional face-to-face post-clinical conference is marred with issues and concerns, as identified in the nursing education literature. An alternative to face-to-face post-clinical conference, asynchronous online learning environment, mitigates the issues and concerns associated with traditional post-clinical conference. Adult learning theory supports the use of asynchronous online learning environment. The asynchronous online learning environment promotes student-centered teaching …

Evaluation And Revision Of The Practice Environment Scale Of The Nursing Work Index For Acute Care Hospital Staff Nurses, Caitlin M. Campbell

Dissertations

The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) is the most frequently used instrument for measuring the nursing work environment. The original PES-NWI obtained its items directly from the parent instrument, the Nursing Work Index, which was developed in the 1980s. However, potential value change among younger generations and vast historical, social, and technological transformations in the way healthcare is provided may have led to different factors that compose a favorable work environment for nurses working today.

Implementation Of The Family Help Protocol: A Feasibility Project For A West Texas Icu, Rebecca Mcclay

Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to determine if there is sufficient bedside ICU nurse buy-in to the Family HELP protocol to make implementation feasible at one county hospital in West Texas.

"Cameras Don’T Kill People": Community-Based Organizations And The Expansion Of Surveillance Systems In St. Louis, Missouri, Claire Greene

Dissertations

In many cities, private camera ownership and video sharing partnerships with law enforcement are on the rise. These private surveillance networks have dramatically increased the reach of law enforcement and intensified the monitoring of urban life. Although police use of private cameras has become the subject of contentious debate, our understanding of private camera systems and how they are used by the police remains quite limited, largely focusing on either utopian or dystopian narratives. Drawing on interviews with community organizations in St. Louis, Missouri, that have installed neighborhood surveillance systems, this dissertation seeks to provide some insight into the rise …

Daily Rounding To Reduce Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections In A Rehabilitation Facility, Folashade Oluwafunmi

Dissertations

Despite national efforts to reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), healthcare facilities continue to report CAUTI events. The project site reported CAUTI rates above local and national benchmarks even though a CAUTI bundle was in use. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental quality improvement project was to determine if the implementation of daily rounding by organizational CAUTI champions, using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Comprehensive Unitbased Safety Program (CUSP), would impact CAUTI rates among adult residents in a rehabilitation facility in Northern California for four weeks. Lewin's change theory and the IOWA evidence-based practice model were the …

Experiences Of Associate Degree Nursing Faculty Transitioning To Teach In A Baccalaureate Program, Carleen Joan Graham

Dissertations

In light of the repeated calls for the baccalaureate degree as the required level of entry into practice, associate degree nursing programs are in a precarious position whereby these programs and associated faculty face some very crucial decisions. These decisions include retiring the associate degree nursing program entirely, creating and focusing on baccalaureate programs, and considering which baccalaureate tracks to offer. An issue of concern is the academic leadership's ability to support faculty as they transition to teaching at advanced levels. Few research studies have explored the transition to teaching at advanced levels of nursing education, most specifically, from associate …

The Impact Of Simulation-Based Learning Experience On Critical Thinking Acquisition, Candice Rome

Dissertations

The purpose of this comparative experimental project was to compare the impact of simulation-based learning experiences to traditional clinical rotations on critical thinking acquisition of associate nursing students within a maternal-child course. Innovative pedagogies have been integrated in nursing programs to augment inadequate clinical placement and instructor availabilities. A longitudinal convenience sample of 45 second year associate level nursing students enrolled in a maternal-child course was utilized. Four experimental groups, 24 students were exposed to an eight-hour simulation-based learning experience in place of one clinical rotation. During the eight hour simulation day, students participated in three various maternal-child centered simulations. …

Barriers To Implementing A Work-Based Learning Program: A Health Science Educator Perspective, Daniel Harrison

Dissertations

Career and Technical Education programs’ mission statement is to supply a skilled workforce for all industries (ACTE, 2021). The Health Science pathway lags behind other industry sectors in active work-based learning programs (Greenfield & Stevens, 2018). Therefore, this study examines the potential barriers to implementing work-based learning programs within the Health Science pathway. The qualitative descriptive investigation into the three types of work-based learning of visits to the workplace, work-like experiences, and employment discovered critical findings regarding healthcare requirements, scheduling conflicts, and access to facilities. Finding 1 details healthcare requirements as the most significant barrier to work-based learning programs. The …

Educators’ And Parents’ Attitudes Toward The Inclusion Of Students With Emotional And Behavior Disorders, Shannon L. Howze

Dissertations

Educating students with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD) has historically been a difficult task for educators (McKenna et al., 2021). The general education setting comes with many barriers when attempting to include students with EBD to the equation. Parents are instrumental to the success of their students with EBD regardless to the setting. Educators may lack in the skills needed to communicate, educate, and understand students with EBD. Without educators and parents collectively communicating and collaborating, students with EBD will not have the opportunity to have the positive experiences and outcomes to be successful. Applying the theoretical frameworks of Bandura’s …

Using The Social-Ecological Model To Better Understand Sexual Assertiveness Among Undergraduate Women At An Institution Of Higher Education In The Southeastern United States, Lisa Wright

Dissertations

This study examined sexual assertiveness among female undergraduate students at an institution of higher education in the southeastern United States from the context of the social-ecological model. An online survey instrument examined sexual assertiveness, sexual communication self-efficacy, campus climate, and sexual scripts. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships between these variables and all variables significantly predicted sexual assertiveness individually, but when examining the relationships collectively, only sexual communication self-efficacy and campus climate remained significant predictors of sexual assertiveness.

The Impact Of A Five-Day Number Sense Intervention On High School Student's Quantitative Reasoning Skills And Self-Efficacy, Rebecca Steele-Mackey

Dissertations

Understanding numerical quantities and applying this knowledge in practical applications is essential throughout life. A well-developed number sense comes from learning foundational skills and continuing to rely on these skills and concepts in higher mathematical education as well as in adulthood. Prior research shows that K-8 students lack a conceptual understanding of fraction, decimal, and percentage concepts (NCTM, 2009). While there is literature that identifies a deficit in these mathematical areas, there is a need to examine possible activities and interventions that can be performed throughout secondary education courses that support growth in students' conceptual understanding of rational number concepts. …

The Presence Of Relational Trust In Teacher-Principal Relationships And The Correlation Of Teacher Intent-To-Persist And Teacher Efficacy, Maryum Bilal

Dissertations

Principals and teachers must work together for students to be academically successful. Teachers directly influence the students, and principals directly affect the teachers. Before students' success can occur, the principal and teachers must have a relationship. The development of trust begins with leaders who have quality relationships with their teachers (Bryk & Schneider, 2002). When teachers trust their principals, teachers are loyal and develop self-efficacy. According to Lacks and Watson (2018), teacher self-efficacy is developed through significant interactions with the principal, making teachers feel better about themselves and their collective mission, and they become more effective in the classroom. Trust …

An Asset Model: Identifying Institutional Characteristics And Behaviors That Close Community College Completion Gaps Between Black And White Students, Courtney Lange

Dissertations

The United States fails to meet its own workforce needs, and estimates show that by the year 2025, almost two out of three jobs in the nation will require at least some postsecondary education or training (Carnevale et al., 2019b). Jobs with the fastest growth rate will require an associate degree (Carnevale et al., 2019b). According to the most recent national data from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) Research Center, one in three students begin their college journey at a community college (NCES, 2019). Only 40% finish a degree or credential within six years (NCES, 2019). The proportion of those …