Digital Commons Network^™

Measuring Cogency In Argument In The Seventh-Grade English Classroom, Millie Gonzalez-Balsam

Doctoral Dissertations

Constructing a cogent argument that addresses real-world problems aids students in the development of critical thinking and requires students to present multiple perspectives in a credible manner. Yet, rubrics do not always measure students’ reasoning. The purpose of this study was to create a valid and reliable instrument to measure cogency in argument. I created a Teacher Designed Rubric Measuring Cogency (TDRMC) based on Toulmin’s model of argument for its emphasis on context-specific warrants, and I used Wilson’s framework for assessment to operationalize the construct of cogency. I compared the TDRMC to the current standardized assessment rubric for the Common …

Perceptions Of African American College Students In San Francisco Bay Area Community Colleges On Their Developmental Training To Participate In Civic Engagement During High School, Melvin Davis

Doctoral Dissertations

The democratic practice of representative government in the United States is supposed to represent and protect its citizens. Since the United States abolished legalized slavery with the 13th Amendment in 1865, individual states have made many attempts to impede the civil rights and voting rights of African American citizens. Several pieces of legislation were designed to protect citizens, such as the Civil Rights act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In addition to overt legislated actions to thwart voting rights, the 26th Amendment of 1971 afforded citizens at least 18-years old the right to vote. Studies, however, …

Advancing The Learning Of Algebra For All: Case Studies Of Teachers’ Efforts Toward Equitable Math Teaching, Ruth Urbina-Lilback

Doctoral Dissertations

Myriad indicators suggest that preparation and access to mathematics coursework is not the same for all. Teachers, central in facilitating equitable math learning experiences (NCTM, 2014), require preparation to support this critical educational need. While principles from research on equitable teaching provide a beginning knowledge base, this knowledge base is incomplete. Teachers must also know how to adapt this knowledge base into their practice, requiring descriptive, “well-documented events” (Shulman, 1986) that can be used for preparation in equitable teaching.

This qualitative study provided an in-depth, close-up examination of practices of four algebra teachers identified as having stances aligned with equitable …

The Para Predicament: Investigating The Intersectionality Of Race, Disability, And Paraeducator Assignment, Christina Saccoccio

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between student characteristics and paraeducator assignment. A Disability Critical Race framework was chosen to investigate whether current models of special education service delivery, which rely heavily on paraeducator supports, may be further marginalizing Students of Color with disabilities. A secondary dataset from one school district of 322 students serviced under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in grades PK-12 was analyzed. This quantitative study utilized multivariate logistic regression with a focus on student characteristics as a predictor variable for paraeducator assignment. My first research question investigated whether individual student characteristics (i.e., race/ethnicity, disability category, …

Antibiotic Resistance Regulated By Two-Component Regulatory System In Vibrio Parahaemolyticus, Lu Li

Doctoral Dissertations

In this study, we report two previously unidentified mechanisms that governs β-lactam

and antimicrobial peptide resistance.

In Gram-negative bacteria, production of β-lactamases is often induced in response to

the antibiotic- associated damage to the cell wall. Here, we have identified a previously

unidentified mechanism that governs β-lactamase production. In the Gram-negative

enteric pathogen Vibrio parahaemolyticus, we found a histidine kinase/response

regulator pair (VbrK/VbrR) that controls expression of a β-lactamase. Mutants lacking

either VbrK or VbrR do not produce the β-lactamase and are no longer resistant to β-

lactam antibiotics. Notably, VbrK autophosphorylation is activated by β-lactam

antibiotics, but not by …

The Perceptions And Lived Experiences Of African American Male Presidents In California Community Colleges, Tyree L. Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations

Current research has shown racial disparities and inequities among African American men who desire to be community college presidents in California, or already hold the position. This study explored why California has only 7 African American community college presidents on 115 campuses; how to overcome obstacles to attain the presidency position; what life/work experiences assists current presidents in their leadership positions in higher education, as well as each president’s trajectory that ultimately led them to the presidency. The study explored factors that have kept African Americans out of higher education leadership roles such as the presidency.

Teaching Complex Content In Healthcare: A Comparison Of The Effect Of Three Types Of Multimedia Pretraining On Schematic Knowledge And Near Transfer, Melisa Patrice Kaye

Doctoral Dissertations

Challenged to teach complex content to students, university educators in healthcare disciplines face a practical need for effective pedagogical approaches. The preponderance of multimedia and digital resources in and beyond college classrooms suggests that solutions to teaching complex content should leverage educational technology and multimedia resources. The multimedia principle of pretraining is one effective way to augment complex content learning. The pretraining principle specifies that learning is more effective when the names and characteristics of main terms and concepts are introduced before more nuanced and complex content is presented.

The purpose of this study was to investigate three approaches to …

Peace Education In Kenya: Tracing Discourse And Action From The National To The Local Level, Kathleen Louise Zanoni

Doctoral Dissertations

Recent Presidential elections in Kenya (2017) resulted in a contested re-run election and demonstrated the presence of systemic corruption, a culture of impunity, and a continued rift among civil society. Deep wounds were awakened during this recent election triggering past grievances from the post-election violence in 2007-08. It is critical and timely to explore various cross-sectoral peacebuilding approaches at the national and local levels to increase the capacity of individuals to act as agents of peace. However, peacebuilders often overlook the possibilities that exist within formal education to foster spaces of resistance against direct, structural, and cultural forms of violence. …

Perceptions Of Primary School Principals In Singapore About Their Role As Justice Agents, Kit Wah Antonia Teng

Doctoral Dissertations

Justice in school is central to both the Catholic church and the government of Singapore. Both institutions have expectations of principals as justice agents to serve the needs of every student by means of equality and equity in educational provision to all students. There is limited research on how principals of Catholic and government primary schools in Singapore perceive their role as justice agents and how they fulfill this expectation.

This qualitative research examined the experiences of primary school principals in Singapore in their enactment of educational leadership for justice. Of the 10 principals interviewed, 4 were principals of Catholic …

Relationship Of Counselor Trainees’ Gender Role Ideologies On Clinical Judgment With Male Clients, Bryce Crapser

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to assess how counselor trainees’ gender role conflict, stage of the gender role journey, and emotional stereotype endorsement relates to clinical judgment toward male clients. Participants included counselor trainees enrolled in master’s and doctoral level counselor education programs (n=117) recruited via CESNET list serve and email requests. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a male or female client vignette, identical with the exception for the name and gender pronouns. All participants completed the Gender Role Conflict Scale, Gender Role Journey Measure, and Beliefs About Men’s Emotions scale before reading the male or female …

Cost-Effective Use Of Follow-Up Colonoscopies And Fecal Immunochemical Tests In Colorectal Cancer Screening, Grace N. Joseph

Doctoral Dissertations

Colorectal cancer (CRC), if not detected early, can be costly and detrimental to one's health. Screening techniques for colorectal cancer can help find and remove adenomas in an effort to prevent future CRC. A colonoscopy has the potential of identifying CRC early as well as preventing the disease. Fecal Immunochemical Tests (FITs) is an initial non-invasive screening technique that identifies the presence of the disease, and needs to be followed by a more invasive test (like colonoscopy) if anything is detected. However, the optimal frequency for follow-up colonoscopy, and screening colonoscopy with FITs is unknown, and may vary based on …

Metal Containing Polymers As Dielectrics: A Co-Design Approach To Material Space Expansion, Shamima Nasreen

Doctoral Dissertations

“Metals” is known to play an integral part of human life in its numerous form from the dawn of civilization whether as an everyday mechanistic tool as well as important biological nutrients. They are found in everything around us from power system as wind turbines to medical instrument as diabetes test strips, construction materials to transportation development, and needless to say in our essential everyday electronic equipment. To imagine life without electricity, road without cars and medical care without many of today’s medical devices are impossible. The uses of metals and derivative of metals become the utmost necessity beyond replacement. …

Equidimensional Adic Eigenvarieties For Groups With Discrete Series, Daniel Robert Gulotta '03

Doctoral Dissertations

We extend Urban's construction of eigenvarieties for reductive groups G such that G(R) has discrete series to include characteristic p points at the boundary of weight space. In order to perform this construction, we define a notion of "locally analytic" functions and distributions on a locally Q_p-analytic manifold taking values in a complete Tate Z_p-algebra in which p is not necessarily invertible. Our definition agrees with the definition of locally analytic distributions on p-adic Lie groups given by Johansson and Newton.

An Exploratory Study Of Followership In New Hampshire High Schools, Matthew S. Hicks

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores followership theory and practical application in schools, extending Robert Kelley’s previous research from business to education. The study investigates three questions: 1) What is the distribution of Kelley’s five followership types in schools? 2) What is the relationship between teachers’ followership types and their demographic characteristics? 3) What leadership functions support teacher followership? These questions were explored using a modified 20-item version of Kelley’s The Followership Questionnaire and open-ended responses from teachers. A total of 559 New Hampshire public high school teachers completed the survey. Results were analyzed for associations between teacher demographic characteristics and followership types. …

The Effect Of Overloading On Reliability Of Wheel Loader Structural Components, Eric Raymond Achelpohl

Doctoral Dissertations

"This research attempts to provide a fundamental understanding into the relationship between the productivity of material handling equipment, specifically wheel loaders, and their ability to operate reliably when subjected to high overload conditions. The overall aim is to determine the effect of overloading the bucket on wheel loader reliability. The specific objectives of the research are to: 1) evaluate the effect of overloading the bucket on wheel loader productivity; 2) examine the effect of overloading the bucket on hydraulic pressures in the hoist cylinders (used as a proxy for forces on a wheel loader); and 3) investigate the effect of …

Disorder At First-Order Classical And Quantum Phase Transitions, Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation studies the effects of quenched disorder on classical, quantum and nonequilibrium phase transitions. After a short introduction which covers the basic concepts of phase transitions, finite-size scaling and random disorder, the dissertation focuses on four separate but related projects. First, we investigate the influence of quenched disorder with long-range spatial correlations on the nonequilibrium phase transitions in the contact process. We show that the long-range correlations increase the probability to find rare atypical regions in the sample. This leads to enhanced Griffiths singularities and changes the universality class of the transition.

Project 2 and 3 focus on disorder …

Fully Differential Study Of Dissociative Capture In P + H₂ Collisions, Basu Ram Lamichhane

Doctoral Dissertations

"In recent years, the key role of the projectile coherence properties has been studied in several ion-atom scattering processes. These studies strongly suggested that cross sections could be significantly affected by the projectile coherence properties, especially for fast, heavy ions. In the present study, we used such coherence effects as a tool to sensitively analyze the few- body dynamics of the scattering process. To this end, we performed three kinematically complete experiments on fragmentation of H₂ by 75 keV proton impacts. A novel approach was used to analyze coherence and interference effects in the observed cross-sections. The idea was …

Evaluation Of The Redesign Of A Stem Gatekeeper Course, General Chemistry I, Incorporating Active-Learning Strategies And Implementation Of A Student-Choice Model, Travis Rae Mcdowell

Doctoral Dissertations

"The first courses freshman university students typically enroll in are the introductory science and math, courses that bridge from and build upon their prior educational experiences. These introductory courses often have large enrollment lectures coupled with supplemental sessions to teach using traditional educational practices, which may operate counter to the attitudes and culture of the students who take them. To address this, the general chemistry faculty through collaboration with a team of educational specialists initiated a redesign of the general chemistry course, which primarily serves first-year undergraduates. The redesign efforts included changes such as reducing lecture time and placing emphasis …

Mitigation Of Environmental Hazards Of Sulfide Mineral Flotation With An Insight Into Froth Stability And Flotation Performance, Muhammad Badar Hayat

Doctoral Dissertations

"Today's major challenges facing the flotation of sulfide minerals involve constant variability in the ore composition; environmental concerns; water scarcity and inefficient plant performance. The present work addresses these challenges faced by the flotation process of complex sulfide ore of Mississippi Valley type with an insight into the froth stability and the flotation performance. The first project in this study was aimed at finding the optimum conditions for the bulk flotation of galena (PbS) and chalcopyrite (CuFeS₂) through Response Surface Methodology (RSM). In the second project, an attempt was made to replace toxic sodium cyanide (NaCN) with the biodegradable chitosan …

Signal Processing For Microwave Imaging Systems With Very Sparse Array, Xiahan Yang

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation investigates image reconstruction algorithms for near-field, two dimensional (2D) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) using compressed sensing (CS) based methods. In conventional SAR imaging systems, acquiring higher-quality images requires longer measuring time and/or more elements in an antenna array. Millimeter wave imaging systems using evenly-spaced antenna arrays also have spatial resolution constraints due to the large size of the antennas. This dissertation applies the CS principle to a bistatic antenna array that consists of separate transmitter and receiver subarrays very sparsely and non-uniformly distributed on a 2D plane. One pair of transmitter and receiver elements is turned on at …

Delineation Of A Coal Combustion Residue Landfill And Underlying Karst Subsurface In Southwest Missouri Using Ert And Masw Surveys, Ruobai Zhao

Doctoral Dissertations

"The safe containment of coal combustion residual (CCR) in landfills was addressed by the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) CCR rule published in 2015. The new rule affects new and existing U.S. based CCR landfills in terms of implementing safeguard systems for safe disposal and contamination control. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) data were acquired across and in proximity to a CCR landfill in southwest Missouri, USA, with the intent to identify potential karst features and seepage pathways.

Electrical resistivity tomography data were acquired using an automated 8-channel resistivity meter and multichannel analysis of …

Functionalized Nanoporous Carbon Scaffolds For Hydrogen Storage Applications, Christopher L. Carr

Doctoral Dissertations

"Recent efforts have demonstrated confinement in porous scaffolds at the nanoscale can alter the hydrogen sorption properties of metal hydrides, though not to an extent feasible for use in onboard hydrogen storage applications, proposing the need for a method allowing further modifications. The work presented here explores how the functionalization of nanoporous carbon scaffold surfaces with heteroatoms can modify the hydrogen sorption properties of confined metal hydrides in relation to non-functionalized scaffolds (FS). Investigations of nanoconfined LiBH₄ and NaAlH₄ indicate functionalizing the carbon scaffold surface with nitrogen can shift the activation energy of hydrogen desorption in excess of …

New Developments Of Dimension Reduction, Lei Huo

Doctoral Dissertations

"Variable selection becomes more crucial than before, since high dimensional data are frequently seen in many research areas. Many model-based variable selection methods have been developed. However, the performance might be poor when the model is mis-specified. Sufficient dimension reduction (SDR, Li 1991; Cook 1998) provides a general framework for model-free variable selection methods.

In this thesis, we first propose a novel model-free variable selection method to deal with multi-population data by incorporating the grouping information. Theoretical properties of our proposed method are also presented. Simulation studies show that our new method significantly improves the selection performance compared with those …

Computational Dynamics And Virtual Dragline Simulation For Extended Rope Service Life, Muhammad Wardeh

Doctoral Dissertations

"The dragline machinery is one of the largest equipment for stripping overburden materials in surface mining operations. Its effectiveness requires rigorous kinematic and dynamic analyses. Current dragline research studies are limited in computational dynamic modeling because they eliminate important structural components from the front-end assembly. Thus, the derived kinematic, dynamic and stress intensity models fail to capture the true response of the dragline under full operating cycle conditions. This research study advances a new and robust computational dynamic model of the dragline front-end assembly using Kane's method. The model is a 3-DOF dynamic model that describes the spatial kinematics and …

Data Analytics For Stochastic Control And Prognostics In Cyber-Physical Systems, Shanshan Bi

Doctoral Dissertations

"In this dissertation, several novel cyber fault diagnosis and prognosis and defense methodologies for cyber-physical systems have been proposed. First, a novel routing scheme for wireless mesh network is proposed. An effective capacity estimation for P2P and E2E path is designed to guarantee the vital transmission safety. This scheme can ensure a high quality of service (QoS) under imperfect network condition, even cyber attacks. Then, the imperfection, uncertainties, and dynamics in the cyberspace are considered both in system model and controller design. A PDF identifier is proposed to capture the time-varying delays and its distribution. With the modification of traditional …

Experiences Of Women Stem Professors Who Are Considering Leadership Positions At Research Universities, Cheri Liebow

Doctoral Dissertations

Empirical evidence is needed to discern the reasons for inequities among those with doctorates hired in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. It is necessary to create a successful and motivational atmosphere for various types of female leaders who are seeking opportunities to become leaders, especially in STEM fields. This qualitative-method study used an exploratory design. The study first sought to gather information about female STEM professors’ experiences through open-ended qualitative interviews to explain gaps in details of women’s experiences as professors in STEM departments of universities. Second, the researcher sought to discern common themes in interview responses for …

Using Multiliteracies To Engage And Empower Students With Complex Support Needs, Sudha Vaghul Krishnan

Doctoral Dissertations

Using Multiliteracies to Engage and Empower Students with Complex Support Needs This dissertation is comprised of two studies:

• Creating New Learning Spaces Using Multiliteracies with Students with Complex Support Needs

• Transforming Narrative Identity through Multiliteracies

Students with complex support needs (SCSN) are frequently denied access to meaningful and challenging literacy instruction. These studies explore how student- authored narratives in the individualized education plan (IEP), implemented during a multiliteracies curriculum, can simultaneously engage and empower SCSN. These studies are based on the qualitative research that I conducted from November 15, 2018 to February 11, 2018 at a special day …

Use Of Multimedia Games For Biology Vocabulary Instruction, Ian Murray

Doctoral Dissertations

Vocabulary knowledge is considered fundamental to learning. However, students typically find learning scientific vocabulary quite difficult, and that is especially true for biology vocabulary. Games are well established as effective tools for vocabulary instruction. Multimedia instruction is likewise recognized as aiding vocabulary learning. To date, however, there seems have been little examination of the use of multimedia games in biology vocabulary instruction. This study, therefore, compared the effectiveness of digital multimedia games and traditional instruction in teaching biology vocabulary.

A two-group, quasi-experimental study was carried out over the course of 61 days. Participants were a convenience sample of 10 high …

Adaptive Dynamic Programming With Eligibility Traces And Complexity Reduction Of High-Dimensional Systems, Seaar Jawad Kadhim Al-Dabooni

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation investigates the application of a variety of computational intelligence techniques, particularly clustering and adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) designs especially heuristic dynamic programming (HDP) and dual heuristic programming (DHP). Moreover, a one-step temporal-difference (TD(0)) and n-step TD (TD(λ)) with their gradients are utilized as learning algorithms to train and online-adapt the families of ADP. The dissertation is organized into seven papers. The first paper demonstrates the robustness of model order reduction (MOR) for simulating complex dynamical systems. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering based on performance evaluation is introduced for MOR. This method computes the reduced order denominator of the transfer …

3d Seismic Attribute Analysis And Machine Learning For Reservoir Characterization In Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, Aamer Alhakeem

Doctoral Dissertations

"The Kapuni group within the Taranaki Basin in New Zealand is a potential petroleum reservoir. The objective of the study includes building a sequential approach to identify different geological features and facies sequences within the strata, through visualizing the targeted formations by interpreting and correlating the regional geological data, 3D seismic, and well data by following a sequential workflow. First, seismic interpretation is performed targeting the Kapuni group formations, mainly, the Mangahewa C-sand and Kaimiro D-sand. Synthetic seismograms and well ties are conducted for structural maps, horizon slices, isopach, and velocity maps. Well log and morphological analyses are performed for …