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A Narrative Study Describing The Transition From Residential Treatment As A Child: An Adult Perspective, Alison Marie Vogelsang Jan 2022

A Narrative Study Describing The Transition From Residential Treatment As A Child: An Adult Perspective, Alison Marie Vogelsang

Dissertations and Theses

To date, the literature sorely lacks empirical research exploring treatment outcomes among children in residential treatment centers (RTCs). Consequentially, there is an increasing demand for more studies examining such outcomes, particularly as they pertain to an individual’s experience leaving an RTC. There is even less research exploring the perspectives of individuals who resided in an RTC as a child due to the vulnerable nature of this population and difficulty in accessibility. The transitional period is believed to be a salient component impacting treatment outcomes, yet little is known about how this component of residential treatment is experienced and whether it …


Measurement Of (Alpha, Neutron) Reactions And Development Of Analysis Tools With The Majorana Demonstrator, Tupendra Kumar Oli Jan 2022

Measurement Of (Alpha, Neutron) Reactions And Development Of Analysis Tools With The Majorana Demonstrator, Tupendra Kumar Oli

Dissertations and Theses

Neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) is a hypothetical nuclear transition which, if observed, would prove that neutrinos are Majorana particles. In addition, the decay rate could provide an effective neutrino mass scale. The decay violates lepton number conservation and could offer a potential path to explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe via leptogenesis. However, the experimental observation of this decay is very challenging and would require excellent energy resolution of detectors, low background levels, and high exposure. The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR experiment searches for this decay in 76Ge using P-type Point Contact (PPC) High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors. In addition, the …


Development Of A Targeted Drug Delivery System For Intracranial Atheroslerotic Disease, Kirby Fuglsby Jan 2022

Development Of A Targeted Drug Delivery System For Intracranial Atheroslerotic Disease, Kirby Fuglsby

Dissertations and Theses

Intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) remains a leading cause of ischemic events such as stroke. However, the use of drug coated balloons (DCBs) containing paclitaxel (PAT) in the brain vasculature remains limited. This is the result of several factors including particulate shed from polymer excipients, PAT toxicity, and poor blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability of PAT. Therefore, there is a need for novel PAT and excipient formulations for balloon coatings to improve delivery of PAT to the arterial wall in ICAD while reducing off target drug effects and particulate shed. GM1 has previously been shown to cross the BBB and have high …


Biofilmgeneset: Leveraging Multi-Omics Data Mining And Ica To Discover Biofilm Stage Genes Of Interest From Condition-Specific Expression Dataset, Mathew Olakunle Alaba Jan 2022

Biofilmgeneset: Leveraging Multi-Omics Data Mining And Ica To Discover Biofilm Stage Genes Of Interest From Condition-Specific Expression Dataset, Mathew Olakunle Alaba

Dissertations and Theses

Biofilm formation occurs in the attachment, colony, maturation, and dispersion stages. Understanding the molecular basis at every point of this process is essential to developing efficient diagnostics devices and effective antibiofilm agents. Gene expression data provide molecular insight for both static and temporal biofilm development. The most used analytic techniques for biofilm gene expression data are clustering and network inference algorithms, which class genes with similar expressions across the samples. However, these methods are inherently deficient because they do not capture gene(s) expressed in a subset of the samples. These subsets might be unique to a developmental stage, for example. …


Molecular Genetic Investigation Of Twins, Families, And Populations, Jeffrey John Beck Jan 2022

Molecular Genetic Investigation Of Twins, Families, And Populations, Jeffrey John Beck

Dissertations and Theses

Twins have long been of interest for illuminating genetic and environmental influences on human traits and diseases. These explorations have been accelerated by the substantial amount of information collected from twins and their families participating in twin registers around the world. In this dissertation, I review what is known and what remains unknown about the biology and genetics of twins and the underlying twinning process. To elucidate additional genetic factors of the twinning process, I employed pedigree-based analysis to identify genetic regions shared among distantly related mothers of dizygotic twins. The shared regions may potentially contain rare genetic variants with …


Challenges To Career As A Source Of Meaning And Satisfaction Among Certified Athletic Trainers In The United States Of America, Nicole Marie Glasgow Jan 2022

Challenges To Career As A Source Of Meaning And Satisfaction Among Certified Athletic Trainers In The United States Of America, Nicole Marie Glasgow

Dissertations and Theses

There is a high prevalence of burnout in the athletic training profession. Similar to what has been found in other healthcare professions, burnout is correlated with lack of job satisfaction, high turnover, and decreased productivity. In phase one of this study, the purpose was to investigate whether there was a relationship between perceived career meaning and burnout among certified athletic trainers. In phase two, the purpose of the study was to explore the lived experiences of meaningfulness and purposefulness by certified athletic trainers. The overall objective of the research was to generate an understanding of factors associated with burnout in …


Nonhematopoietic Erythropoietin: A Study Of Signaling, Structure, And Behavior, Nicholas John Pekas Jan 2022

Nonhematopoietic Erythropoietin: A Study Of Signaling, Structure, And Behavior, Nicholas John Pekas

Dissertations and Theses

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a cytokine hormone known for initiating red blood cell proliferation by binding to its homodimer receptor (EPOR)2 in the bone marrow. Recent progress in neurobiology has shown that EPO also exerts robust neurotrophic and neuroprotective activity in the CNS. It is widely thought that EPO’s neurotrophic activity is centrally involved in its antidepressant and cognitive enhancing effects. However, EPO’s potent erythropoietic effects prevent it from being used in the clinic to treat psychiatric disorders. A chemically engineered non-erythropoietic derivative of EPO, carbamoylated EPO (CEPO), produces psychoactive effects without activating hematopoiesis. However, CEPO is expensive to produce and …


Investigating Synthetic Methods For Tio2-Nayf4 Hybrid Nanocrystals, Nurul Muttakin Jan 2022

Investigating Synthetic Methods For Tio2-Nayf4 Hybrid Nanocrystals, Nurul Muttakin

Dissertations and Theses

The capacity to develop and expand the utility of a single nanostructure is one of the major issues in the field of hybrid nanocrystals. Major advancements in the fabrication of materials with multiple functionalities by combining many materials into a single nanoparticle entity are intriguing, but they still pose obstacles that must be addressed. This trend has been spurred by significant progressions in the wet-chemical synthesis of durable and easily programmable nanocrystals with various morphologies. The extent of the structural complexity of solution-based nanocrystals looks to be one of the inevitable avenues along which nanoscience will increasingly focus. We have …


Seventh Grade Mathematics Results In A Standards-Based Learning Environment: Examining Teacher Collaboration And Leadership, Demetria C. Moon Jan 2022

Seventh Grade Mathematics Results In A Standards-Based Learning Environment: Examining Teacher Collaboration And Leadership, Demetria C. Moon

Dissertations and Theses

The pressure on schools to improve student performance in middle school mathematics combined with the movement towards standards-based instruction leaves teachers searching for the most effective instructional practice and administration examining their role in improvement efforts. This study examines the effect on student achievement in middle school mathematics as a function of the quality of teacher collaboration interacting with administration presence during collaboration. This study used a quantitative research design in which seventh-grade mathematics teachers from two different middle schools in the same district with similar demographics taught the same standards-based unit of study and administered a common summative assessment …


Understanding How Different Personality Models Can Predict Non-Suicidal Self-Injurious Behaviors, Rachel Chavin Jan 2022

Understanding How Different Personality Models Can Predict Non-Suicidal Self-Injurious Behaviors, Rachel Chavin

Dissertations and Theses

The current study seeks to examine the role of maladaptive personality traits and personality functioning’s relationship with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) engagement and suicidal behavior. Specifically, this study examined the validity of the Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD) in predicting historical and prospective self-harm behavior in comparison to the Five Factor Model. This study recruited 400 female participants, ages 18-24, who completed a battery of measures about personality functioning, traits, self-harm, and suicidal history. Two weeks after the initial assessment, participants completed a follow-up survey to assess their NSSI behavior over the past two weeks. Through point-biserial correlations, this study …


Encouraging Persistence Among Native American Nursing Students By Fostering Cultural Identity Development At A Predominantly White University, Valeriah Rose Big Eagle Jan 2022

Encouraging Persistence Among Native American Nursing Students By Fostering Cultural Identity Development At A Predominantly White University, Valeriah Rose Big Eagle

Dissertations and Theses

There has been a calling to promote diversity in the healthcare workforce to alleviate the health problems that currently exist among the Native American population. Minorities are disproportionately represented in the nursing workforce (Beard, 2014), especially Native Americans. Increasing the number of Native American nurses in the healthcare workforce has been found to significantly reduce these health disparities (Eddie, 2018; Eschiti, 2004; Gebbie et al., 2003), supporting the need for more Native American nursing students to graduate from college. There has been little research regarding the implications of cultural identity experienced by Native American nursing college students in higher education …


Development And Characterization Of Germanium Detectors For Searching Rare-Event Physics, Rajendra Panth Jan 2022

Development And Characterization Of Germanium Detectors For Searching Rare-Event Physics, Rajendra Panth

Dissertations and Theses

High-purity germanium (HPGe) detector has an excellent energy resolution and low-energy detection threshold ideal for searching rare-event physics such as dark matter and neutrinoless double beta decay searches. Understanding the electrical contact properties and the Ge detector properties is key to enhancing the use of Ge detectors for a wide range of applications. Amorphous Ge (a-Ge) is one of the passivation materials used to passivate Ge detectors, which also provides the barrier height to the charge injection. Several a-Ge contact Ge detectors were fabricated and tested at the University of South Dakota (USD) and Max-Planck-Institut (MPI) für Physik in Munich …


User Experience In The Visual Notifications On Smart Devices, Young Ae Kim Jan 2022

User Experience In The Visual Notifications On Smart Devices, Young Ae Kim

Dissertations and Theses

Notifications on smart devices have a crucial role for the end-users to help decide their action to the information. Despite the flexible customization of notifications for the intuitive user experience, users feel overwhelmed by the number of notifications they receive daily. The nature of notifications is short-lived, but they are extremely intrusive and disengaging. While user experience and user interface are advanced, notifications have remained broken despite their complexity. In fact, the notifications have the poorest usability that users may struggle to customize notifications in their smart devices and choose to ignore them. Irrelevant notifications not only get ignored, but …


Andragogy And Leadership Development In Entry-Level Doctoral Occupational Therapy Education, Tracey Elaine Recigno Jan 2022

Andragogy And Leadership Development In Entry-Level Doctoral Occupational Therapy Education, Tracey Elaine Recigno

Dissertations and Theses

Leadership development is critical for occupational therapy practitioners to be effective in their varied roles and ultimately is necessary for the sustainability of the occupational therapy profession. Occupational therapy education needs to be the starting point for developing a leadership identity. Best practices in leadership development require that experiences are contextualized and provide opportunities for active learning and reflective practices, yet there is minimal research to understand how occupational therapy educators teach this concept. This dissertation sought to first describe leadership development in occupational therapy and then describe how occupational therapy educators approach leadership education using adult learning principles. The …


Externalizing Psychopathology In Individuals Who Have Criminally Offended: Factor Structure And Differential Outcome Associations, Robert Doss Jan 2022

Externalizing Psychopathology In Individuals Who Have Criminally Offended: Factor Structure And Differential Outcome Associations, Robert Doss

Dissertations and Theses

In light of recent grievances with categorical conceptualizations of psychopathology, researchers recommend shifting away from categorical toward dimensional conceptualizations. However, research on dimensional conceptualizations and existing measurement tools’ ability to capture these dimensions is still in its early stages. Specifically, special attention has been paid to the externalizing dimension’s structure as a general dimension or two specific dimensions with shared characteristics (i.e., disinhibited externalizing and antagonistic externalizing). The current study aims to validate the PAI’s dimensional structure, focusing on the externalizing dimensions as depicted by the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) model, an emerging dimensional model of psychopathology. Participants were …


Disruption Of Cholesterol Biosynthesis Contributes To Glial Dysfunction And Disturbs Astrocyte-Microglia Crosstalk, Bethany Ann Freel Jan 2022

Disruption Of Cholesterol Biosynthesis Contributes To Glial Dysfunction And Disturbs Astrocyte-Microglia Crosstalk, Bethany Ann Freel

Dissertations and Theses

The brain is the most cholesterol rich organ in the body, containing ~25% of the body’s total cholesterol content. Due to the blood-brain barrier, cholesterol in the brain is primarily synthesized de novo by astrocytes and transported to neurons. Genetic disorders of cholesterol biosynthetic enzymes result in reduced CNS cholesterol levels and sterol precursor accumulation. Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) is caused by mutations in 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase (DHCR7), which is responsible for the reduction of 7- DHC to cholesterol in the final step of the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway. SLOS results in broad neurodevelopmental malformations and neurological deficits. While much work has focused …


A Model Of Childhood Maltreatment, Ptsd Symptoms, Reinforcement Sensitivity, And Alcohol Outcomes In Young Adults, Logan E. Welker Jan 2022

A Model Of Childhood Maltreatment, Ptsd Symptoms, Reinforcement Sensitivity, And Alcohol Outcomes In Young Adults, Logan E. Welker

Dissertations and Theses

Alcohol use poses a significant public health concern, particularly among young adults, 35% of whom report binge drinking (SAMHSA, 2019). Childhood maltreatment is reported by over 50% of young adults (Maples et al., 2014) which places individuals at a greater risk of problematic drinking (Goldstein et al., 2010). Developmental traumatology theory posits that 1) maltreatment-related psychobiological changes are responsible for the increased risk of dysfunctional alcohol use in maltreated individuals and 2) PTSD may be a good indicator of this psychobiological change (De Bellis, 2002). PTSD symptoms have mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and alcohol outcomes in previous studies …


Affective Dependence, Self-Regulation, And Alcohol-Related Problems: Between- And Within-Person Associations, Kyle James Walters Jan 2022

Affective Dependence, Self-Regulation, And Alcohol-Related Problems: Between- And Within-Person Associations, Kyle James Walters

Dissertations and Theses

This study sought to elucidate the role of affective dependence (i.e., PA-NA correlation) as a predictor of goal pursuit and alcohol-related problems at the within- and between-person levels and trait urgency at the between-person level. Affective dependence, that is, the extent to which PA and NA are correlated, may be a marker for self-regulation on the one hand (weaker dependence) and impulsivity on the other (stronger dependence). Importantly, the association between PA and NA varies both within and between individuals (Dejonckheere et al., 2019; Zautra et al., 2001). I designed and implemented an intensive longitudinal study to test hypotheses that …


Native American Women Superintendents’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs During The Covid 19 Pandemic, Janet Jeannine Metzger Jan 2022

Native American Women Superintendents’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs During The Covid 19 Pandemic, Janet Jeannine Metzger

Dissertations and Theses

This multiple case study focused on three Native American women superintendents’ self-efficacy beliefs and the impact of the Indigenous culture on their decision making as they led their school district through the Covid 19 pandemic. Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory served as the underpinning theory of this study. The qualitative research design for the study relied on data gathered from individual interviews and written responses to journal prompts. All participants had at least two years of superintendent experience in public school districts during the time of the pandemic. The researcher analyzed the data through open coding/In Vivo coding. The data were …


Initial Implementation Of Culturally Responsive Social-Emotional Systems Of Support For Anishinaabe Kindergarteners: Student Outcomes And Teacher Perceptions, Dustin Everett Hinckley Jan 2022

Initial Implementation Of Culturally Responsive Social-Emotional Systems Of Support For Anishinaabe Kindergarteners: Student Outcomes And Teacher Perceptions, Dustin Everett Hinckley

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the academic and social-emotional outcomes and teacher perceptions of the initial implementation of a culturally responsive social-emotional learning Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) within a culturally homogenous rural Kindergarten Center. For this study, academic and behavioral student outcomes and teacher perceptions of both the implementation process and the outcomes of the implementation were explored. A quantitative ex post facto study based on students’ academic achievement scores and behavioral data, along with survey research to determine teacher perceptions, compared a cohort of students who participated in the culturally responsive social-emotional learning MTSS with a cohort that didn’t. Overall, …


Confined In (Patri)Architecture: How Gothic And Horror Literature Exposes Ongoing Violence And Oppression Against Women, Clara A. Macilravie Cañas Jan 2022

Confined In (Patri)Architecture: How Gothic And Horror Literature Exposes Ongoing Violence And Oppression Against Women, Clara A. Macilravie Cañas

Dissertations and Theses

This project focuses on the intersections of space, power, gender, religion, and the architecture of institutions that confine and repress women. I argue that these texts focus on how patriarchal and domestic ideologies lock women into gendered expectations through oppressive gender politics. Chapter one demonstrates how early gothic female writers used representations of physical structures, such as abbeys and castles, to expose the eighteenth-century woman’s experiences of abuse and confinement by repressive patriarchal and monarchal rule. This chapter connects themes and arguments within Sophia Lee’s The Recess (1783) and Ann Radcliffe’s A Sicilian Romance (1790) to reveal the metaphors that …


Anti-Counterfeiting Warnings: Do They Influence Consumer Behavior And Perception Of Overt Indicators?, Elizabeth K. Sterling Jan 2022

Anti-Counterfeiting Warnings: Do They Influence Consumer Behavior And Perception Of Overt Indicators?, Elizabeth K. Sterling

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined if overt anti-counterfeiting indicators on product packages and warning labels added to the product, informing that the product might be a counterfeit, influenced participants to spend more time examining the product package for genuineness. The overt indicators used were a QR code, and a holographic security tag that were added to packages as a sticker. There was little research regarding what consumers were looking for when examining a product package to determine if the product was genuine or counterfeit. Arguments for both involving the consumers in the counterfeit identification process, and not involving the consumers in this …


An Experience Sampling Study Of Sleep Disturbance, Emotional Regulation And Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms In Predicting Alcohol Use Among Oif/Oef Veterans, Renata Jacqueline Surette Jan 2022

An Experience Sampling Study Of Sleep Disturbance, Emotional Regulation And Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms In Predicting Alcohol Use Among Oif/Oef Veterans, Renata Jacqueline Surette

Dissertations and Theses

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a common concern for veterans involved in the post-9/11 Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts (Epidemiology, 2017). Alcohol use is highly comorbid with PTSD in returning veterans (Seal et al., 2011). There are several models for the complex relationship between these two constructs including self-medication models or as an attempt to regulate emotion. Sleep disturbances have been linked to PTSD and alcohol use (Conroy & Arnedt, 2014) and could be driving the relationship. It is also possible that difficulties in emotion regulation could be part of this relationship either independently (Kelly & Bardo, 2016; Perlick et al., …


Analyzing Cough Sounds For The Evidence Of Covid-19 Using Deep Learning Models, Muntasir Mamun Jan 2022

Analyzing Cough Sounds For The Evidence Of Covid-19 Using Deep Learning Models, Muntasir Mamun

Dissertations and Theses

Early detection of infectious disease is the must to prevent/avoid multiple infections, and Covid-19 is an example. When dealing with Covid-19 pandemic, Cough is still ubiquitously presented as one of the key symptoms in both severe and non-severe Covid-19 infections, even though symptoms appear differently in different sociodemographic categories. By realizing the importance of clinical studies, analyzing cough sounds using AI-driven tools could help add more values when it comes to decision-making. Moreover, for mass screening and to serve resource constrained regions, AI-driven tools are the must. In this thesis, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) tailored deep learning models are studied …


Cosmogenically-Induced Backgrounds In Legend, Clay Douglas Barton Jan 2022

Cosmogenically-Induced Backgrounds In Legend, Clay Douglas Barton

Dissertations and Theses

Neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) is a hypothetical nuclear decay mode. 0νββ searches are a high priority in nuclear physics. Discovery would ascertain the nature of the neutrino as the first known fundamental Majorana particle, and have far-reaching implications for physics beyond the Standard Model, including a lower bound on the effective neutrino mass scale, first direct evidence of a lepton number violating process, and insight into the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. The next-generation LEGEND (Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless ββ Decay) project will search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of 76Ge. LEGEND builds on infrastructure and technical expertise of …


2d Respiratory Sound Analysis To Detect Lung Abnormalities, Rafia Sharmin Alice Jan 2022

2d Respiratory Sound Analysis To Detect Lung Abnormalities, Rafia Sharmin Alice

Dissertations and Theses

In this paper, we analyze deep visual features from 2D data representation(s) of the respiratory sound to detect evidence of lung abnormalities. The primary motivation behind this is that visual cues are more important in decision-making than raw data (lung sound). Early detection and prompt treatments are essential for any future possible respiratory disorders, and respiratory sound is proven to be one of the biomarkers. In contrast to state-of-the-art approaches, we aim at understanding/analyzing visual features using our Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) tailored Deep Learning Models, where we consider all possible 2D data such as Spectrogram, Mel-frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC), …


Speciation And Nucleation Of An(Iv) In Aqueous Media, Saikot Mazumder Jan 2022

Speciation And Nucleation Of An(Iv) In Aqueous Media, Saikot Mazumder

Dissertations and Theses

Actinide molecular metal oxides are a family of clusters composed of a variable number of An(IV) centers connected through a network of oxygen and hydroxide ligands with many potential applications in nuclear waste reprocessing and environmental remediation. However, our knowledge regarding the aqueous speciation of actinide ions and their preferred nucleation pathway to form high nuclearity clusters is limited compared to their transition metal counterparts. Here, we present a computational study on the speciation and nucleation of actinide ions up to 4+ in aqueous media in the presence of zwitterionic glycine ligands. Both eight and nine coordinated species were considered. …


Experiences Of Cultural Disconnectedness Among Bosnian American Diaspora: A Phenomenological Perspective, Azra Osmancevic Jan 2022

Experiences Of Cultural Disconnectedness Among Bosnian American Diaspora: A Phenomenological Perspective, Azra Osmancevic

Dissertations and Theses

ABSTRACT Diaspora, including immigrants and refugees, undergo various experiences in their new host countries related to cultural identity formation. One of the factors related to cultural identity development within the United States is feeling caught in between two identities, resulting in never truly feeling “here or there” (Suárez-Orozco & Suárez-Orozco, 2001). Experiences of cultural disconnectedness have been highlighted among the Bosnian American diaspora in numerous studies over the last two decades. Previous studies briefly described the challenges associated with diaspora balancing their native Bosnian cultures and host American cultures. The current study focused on the gap in the literature by …


Photophysical, Electrochemical, And Catalytic Studies Of Anthraquinone And Pyridoxyl-Based Sensors And Development Of Ruthenium Photosensitizers, Anwar Hussain Jan 2022

Photophysical, Electrochemical, And Catalytic Studies Of Anthraquinone And Pyridoxyl-Based Sensors And Development Of Ruthenium Photosensitizers, Anwar Hussain

Dissertations and Theses

In the past, we have demonstrated the photophysical properties of several anthraquinone derivatives that act as a luminescent host for various environmental and biological cations. Here we extend our expertise in photochemistry to the class of chemicals containing the pyridoxal moiety. Several ligands were synthesized using eco-friendly, simple, one-step reactions via Schiff base and condensation reactions. The optical properties of these ligands were examined with a series of cations. We demonstrated the ability to detect the biologically important zinc ion in living cells such as RAW 264.7 and HEK 293 via fluorescence signaling. In addition, we extend our explorations to …


Analyzing The Academic Achievement Of Secondary Virtual Learners During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Case Study, Christina Kaye Board Jan 2022

Analyzing The Academic Achievement Of Secondary Virtual Learners During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Case Study, Christina Kaye Board

Dissertations and Theses

Secondary students from a mid-sized school district in the rural Midwest who had chosen an asynchronous learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic were analyzed to determine predictors of academic achievement and perceptions of their learning during the pandemic. An explanatory, mixed methods case study was conducted to sequentially analyze quantitative data and qualitatively analyze their experiences. Archival data from 288 students [F(7, 281) = 20.87, p < .001] was used predict grade point average (GPA) during virtual learning (M = 2.43, SD = 0.89) using a multiple linear regression (R2 = .326). This study was done to determine what factors help educators understand the variables that aide in student achievement while virtual learning. Predictor variables included race/ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, grade level, past attendance, past GPA, and number of parents/guardians in the home. Significant predictors were grade level, past GPA (M = 3.05), and sex. The focus of the qualitative research was on access to technology, digital literacy, attitude, motivation, and social connectedness prior to, during, and post-virtual learning. Four themes emerged. Results from this study suggest that schools should consider the type of virtual environment they provide, instructional design that includes social interaction, and professional development for staff prior to implementation of a virtual learning environment to increase achievement.