Digital Commons Network^™

Goemai/Ankwei Religiosity: Understanding Indigenous Divinity In Relation To Christianity, Edward Muge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Postcolonial/decolonial thinking developed in response to modernity’s colonial logic that glorified and universalized the Western locus of enunciation, subjectivity, and history. The prioritization of Western epistemology, hierarchization of being based on race, gender, and religion, and the universalization of Western Christian religion relegated all other modes of being, knowing, and accessing the Divine to the periphery. For a long time, indigenous people have accepted the Western linear worldview that makes them the exemplars of the whites (Euro-Americans) in their primordial state of Western history and development. The goal of the Western colonial matrix of power is the subsumption of …

A Qualitative Study Of Leadership Tools And Traits That Foster Effective Relationships In Rural School Communities, Julie Boyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify leadership qualities and practices that nurture relationships in school settings. The central question framing this study was: What leadership tools and traits foster effective relationships in rural school communities? I conducted semi-structured interviews in a small Northwestern school district. Non-classroom leaders and classroom leaders, who will be referred to using pseudonyms, were recruited from the elementary, middle, and high schools based on recommendations from the district’s superintendent. Prior to conducting interviews, participants were provided with a framework based on Kouzes and Posner’s (2017) exemplary leadership practices and asked to choose five …

Evaluation Planning And Special Service Eligibility Decisions Of School Psychologists: Differences By Chronic Health Condition And Impairment Severity, Maria Tina Benno

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School psychologists are expert practitioners who are well-versed in conducting comprehensive psychoeducational evaluations to address a wide range of students’ needs in schools. The increasing prevalence of pediatric chronic illnesses (CIs) and the presence of students with CIs attending school requires school psychologists to be knowledgeable of the educational and social-emotional impacts of CIs on students’ functioning. Moreover, organizations such as the American Psychological Association (APA) and National Association for School Psychologists (NASP) encourage school psychologists to demonstrate competency in understanding the influence of CIs on students’ function in the classroom (APA, 1998; Schmitt et al., 2019). Comprehensive psychoeducational evaluations …

Rhetorical Privilege: Entitlement, Control, And The Disruption Of Shared Discourse, Marc Grandillo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project seeks to explore a concept that I call rhetorical privilege, an occurrence that develops within a particular population of individuals who exhibit an elevated sense of self, demanding exclusive accommodation or recognition for unearned accomplishment. Commonly known as entitlement, this mentality is often associated with younger generations that have been raised in an environment that engenders an attitude of control. Equipped with the misguided notion that all aspects of their lives may be personally determined, individuals carry this same assumption into communicative encounters. My contention is that the contemporary rhetorical speaker-audience relationship, understood to be built upon “a …

The Integration Of Catholic Mission And Ethics In Contributing To A Good Death, Noah Dimas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Catholic healthcare ethics exists within a morality that is under regular heavy scrutiny. This is furthered by the healthcare space itself becoming more secular as the greater society itself moves beyond the religious origins of healthcare. However, this does not have to be relegated to a negative. Rather, this can become a strong call to action for Catholic healthcare to rally together and advocate for itself in the wider healthcare space. This is especially true as these challenges to the Catholic moral-ethical framework begin to question the presence of both Catholic and religious healthcare as whole. These challenges, if left …

The Intercultural Communicative Meaning Of The Life Of Igbo Diaspora, Judith I. Udechukwu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In his novel, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad describes the African continent as “the heart of darkness” and frames African cultural heritage as barbaric, uncivilized, outlandish and backwards.[1] Unfortunately, this view represents the position of many European scholars who consider these cultures as inimical to civilization. However, in the contemporary era, intercultural communication, postcolonial studies, globalization, and decolonization of methodology have proved the negative western portrayal of Africa and its traditions as wrong and can no longer adequately address the complexities of African culture. Thus, the postcolonial African studies from the perspective of Chinua Achebe challenges the colonial narrative …

The Rhetoric Of Integrated Marketing Communication (Imc) Approaches To Marketing Sporting Events, Mohammed Almughaiseeb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effective communicative capabilities of integrated marketing communication (IMC)

programs demand the expansion of their application to include sporting events. Sporting events, specifically the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, have proven to have effective communication capabilities that can be used to influence the perceptions of target audiences. Creating positive perceptions of a sporting event can help achieve promotional, political, economic, and cultural gains, among others. Achieving desired goals requires preparing a comprehensive and persuasive IMC plan. The communication and marketing capabilities possessed by IMC programs have not been sufficiently studied in the context of marketing sporting events. Therefore, …

The Impact Of Couple Minority Stress And Perceived Relationship Equity On Relationship Satisfaction Of Women In Same-Gender Relationships, Rebekah Malott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to test two hypotheses (H1: relationship satisfaction will mediate the relationship between perceived relationship equity and potential relationship dissolution in women in same-gender relationships. H2: Relationship satisfaction will mediate the relationship between perceived minority stressors and potential relationship dissolution in women in same-gender relationships). Participants who met the demographic profile and consented to the study were asked to complete five questionnaires: relationship equity (Kurdek, 1998), couple minority stress (Neilands et al., 2019), relationship satisfaction (Funk & Rogge, 2007), potential relationship dissolution, and demographics. The results showed that relationships satisfaction was a partial mediator between …

The Evolution Of Empathy: Through The Lens Of A Rodent Model., Caroline Driscoll-Braden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Empathy is the capacity to be affected by and share the emotions of others, to discern the circumstances prompting another’s emotional state, and to identify with another by adopting their perspective. Research investigating the empathically motivated behavior of rats can help inform the evolutionary history of empathy and provide additional support of the continuity of empathy in animals and humans. In this dissertation, I examine the helping behavior of rats to explore the complexities of rodent empathy. In Chapter I, I review the multiple layers of empathy and describe both historical and contemporary research examining empathy in non-humans. I explain …

Our Story, Our Song: Assessing And Addressing Black Women's Healthcare Experiences., Jason Deakings

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite advancements in medicine and health sciences, health disparities and declining life expectancy persists among Black women in the United States. Researchers and non-traditional healthcare providers suggest alternative healing (e.g., music and Sister Circles) and research methodologies to achieve a culturally conscious, traumainformed, quality, and holistic care and practice. The intersecting identities and cultural responsibility of Black women highly influences the barriers and facilitators on the uptake of healthcare services. Utilizing a community engaged research approach, this qualitative study assessed the healthcare experiences, as well as the role of music in the lived and retold experiences of Black women navigating …

Fear Of Becoming A Victim Of Crime On A College Campus: A Visual And Factorial Experimental Design Survey Analysis Of Location And Demographic Factors., Nancy Steinmetz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vanessa LoBue (2013) states that the emotion of fear, “a signal of impending threat” (p. 38) is common among mammals. For over five decades, there has been substantial research into what in society, or our communities, makes us fearful. It is this author’s intention to examine how college students’ fear of crime or fear of victimization may be heightened or intensified by specific factors that are commonplace on college campuses and areas adjacent to those campuses. Nicole Rader (2004) argues that the fear of crime discourse needs to be expanded to a larger “construct” called “the threat of victimization” (p. …

Author(Iz)Ing Literacy: A Rhetorical/Historical Analysis Of Literacy For College Readiness In Kentucky From Kera To The Common Core (And Beyond)., Susannah Kilbourne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation traces the economy of documents representing literacy for college readiness through an analysis of the interplay of literacy theory, literacy policy, and policy documentation. Specifically, this dissertation examines how college-level literacy is defined in Kentucky through a network of related documents. With Latour’s Actor-Network Theory serving as a theoretical frame, this dissertation tracks not only the vast and interconnected system of compositions operating as articulations of college-level literacy but also the presence (or absence) of rhetoric and composition’s compositions within the network of relations defining literacy for college readiness. This dissertation is divided into five chapters. Chapter One …

Effects Of Pyramidal Behavior Skills Training On The Procedural Integrity Of School Staff When Delivering Functional Communication Training To Students., Erica Mcclure

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Behavioral skills training (BST) is a commonly used, well-researched method for delivering training that has been shown to generate mastery and fidelity across multiple populations and skills. Despite the evidence supporting its use across multiple settings with a variety of populations, few studies have examined the use of pyramidal BST to train educators in a public school setting in the implementation of functional communication training (FCT). This study utilized a concurrent multiple probe across participants design to examine the effects of pyramidal BST on the procedural integrity of general education teachers providing FCT as part of an intervention plan. BST …

Still Got The Blues - No Time But Here, No Place But Now: Geographies Of Art & Activism In The Work Of Clyde Woods., Jake Mace

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The fight against displacement and dispossession in the increasingly inequitable process of reterritorialization is arguably the most pressing struggle of the modern city – and it is articulated through cultural production as much as through political debate and economic development. Yet research that is at the nexus of critical, urban, and cultural studies and which explores the resistant potential of countercultural production rather than the hegemonic impact of mainstream cultural production is underdeveloped. Clyde Woods’s blues epistemology offers a guide to reading cultural production of marginalized groups as maps of meaning that offer alternative visions of the past, the present, …

Neonate Atlantic Sharpnose Shark (Rhizoprionodon Terraenovae) Relative Abundance And Body Condition In Two South Carolina Estuaries Varying In Urbanization, Rileigh E. Hawk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Urbanization near estuaries has been shown to affect the growth and survival of juvenile sharks using the system as a nursery. North Inlet and Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, are similarly-sized, tidally-dominated, bar-built estuaries with extensive Sporobolus-lined tidal creeks but differ in degree of human impact. Previously, Murrells Inlet was shown to have a lower abundance and diversity of large sharks than North Inlet and Atlantic Sharpnose Sharks (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae) were shown to use North Inlet as a primary nursery. To examine potential differences in neonate shark abundance and growth between a developed estuary, Murrells Inlet, and a protected estuary, North …

The Majority As The Minority: A Single Case Study Exploring Campus Environment And The Retention Of Racial Minority Students Attending A 2-Year Technical Hbcu In South Carolina, Meaghan Sharon Avery

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The existing retention literature focuses on White students and non-White students in predominantly White institutional (PWI) environments. Furthermore, prevailing literature tends to concentrate on varying factors that influence these students to be retained at their respective institutions. Retention factors in differing contexts, such as historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), have been studied to a much lesser degree. Moreover, even fewer studies exist on how the campus environment at 2-year HBCUs influences retention or departure. Using a qualitative case study methodology, this study explores how the institutional environment of a rural southern 2-year technical HBCU influences the retention of racial …

Non-Destructive Imaging Of Phytosulfokine Trafficking In Plants Using Fiber-Optic Fluorescence Microscopy, Bernard Abakah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plants secrete peptide ligands and use receptor signaling to respond to stress and control development. Understanding these phenomena is key to improving plant health and productivity for food, fiber, and energy applications. Phytosulfokine (PSK), a sulfated peptide hormone, regulates plant cell division, growth, and stress tolerance via specific phytosulfokine receptors (PSKRs). This study uses fiber-optic fluorescence microscopy to elucidate trafficking of PSK in live plants. The microscope features two-color optics and an objective lens connected to a 1-m coherent imaging fiber mounted on either a conventional upright microscope body or 5-axis positioning system (X–Y–Z plus pitch and yaw). PSK and …

Student Success Programming, College Academic Achievement Scores, And Retention Rates, Leslie D. Merritt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Student success programming was created to help students transition to the college environment and coursework. While many university-created programs are geared to all students, federally-funded programs and some university-created programs aim to specifically help students from marginalized populations. With Spady’s (1970) and Tinto’s (1975) theories guiding the conceptual framework, this study examined the relationship between participation in student success programs as it related to grade point averages and retention rates. Additional focus was placed on Black and Pell-eligible participants of student success programming. The study was conducted using archival data from two mid-size, public, four-year institutions of higher education. One …

Early College High School: A Study Of Dual Enrollment Students' Academic Success Based On Classroom Environment, Cynthia A. Johnston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This ex post facto, causal-comparative, quantitative study examined variations in academic success of Early College High School (ECHS) students who completed a dual credit course in two separate classroom environments, specifically a high school classroom environment and a college classroom environment. The researcher sought to determine if a relationship existed between classroom environment and final grades of students enrolled in an ECHS. Students in the high school classroom environment sample completed a dual credit English 101 course in a high school classroom located in an ECHS, taught by a high school teacher who had been credentialed by the partnering community/technical …

Disability Justice In Higher Education: The Lived Experiences Of Disabled White Women Disability Services Directors, Emily Gaspar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Eight disabled white women disability services directors shared their experiences working in disability services in higher education. The ten principles of disability justice provided the framework for this interpretative phenomenological analysis. Individual interviews were used to gain an understanding of the lived experiences of the participants with specific focus on disability identity of the professionals working in disability services and how their identities inform their campus experiences, along with how their intersectional identities inform their disability identity. Participants were found to experience ableism and oppression, a broad spectrum of relationships, disability solidarity, disability disclosure, identity hierarchy, disability management and coping …

The Underrepresentation Of African American Students In Ap And Honors Courses In Wilks County School District, Ivy Collins Palmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Across the nation, research has shown that in an Advanced Placement (AP) class almost anywhere in the United States, it is likely to have the same phenomenon: a class made up primarily of white, middle- and upper-class students (Jeffries & Silvernail, 2017). Limited access to rigorous coursework for students from low socioeconomic households and minority groups can affect the number of minorities who matriculate to top research universities (Baylor, 2016). Access to AP and honors courses opens up new opportunities for students and pushes them toward success and future aspirations (McCauley, 2007). The problem is the African American (AA) population …

Discipline, Disparity, And Diplomas: Suspension And Grade Retention In A Southeastern State, Sarah N. Kangarloo Crist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to explore how race and gender impact student success in a southeastern state. A mixed-methods design was implemented so that the quantitative data could be further explained and explored using qualitative research. The quantitative analysis was conducted using a three-factor ANOVA to analyze the number of days a student misses due to suspension and the number of grade level retentions; race, gender, and the district a student attends were used as the independent variables in the analyses. Purposive sampling and the development of a script for the qualitative interviews followed the quantitative analyses. Interviews with administrators …

Ethics And Contemporary Leadership: Do Ethical Leadership Theories Align With Scripture?, Anthony Scott Poston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Morals, ethics, and values are instrumental for leaders to know and choose between right and wrong. Leadership theories regularly discuss ethics, but where do these ethics come from? Frequently, the source of leadership ethics is glossed over or left out entirely. This study sought to address this gap in contemporary leadership literature by answering the question: how do contemporary leadership theories, which contain morals, ethics, and/or or values components, align with similar themes found within the Hebrew and Christian scriptures? The researcher used a thematic analysis of contemporary leadership literature to identify ethical themes within the literature. Next, the themes …

Building Resilience: A Mixed Methods Exploration Of Head Start Teachers Coping During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ehichoya Edokhamhen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the resiliency of Head Start teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study explored the role social support (as an external factor of resilience) and self-efficacy (as an internal factor of resilience) played in the resilience of Head Start teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study employed a sequential explanatory mixed methods design involving two phases: a quantitative and a qualitative phase. Participants in this study were 99 teachers in rural eastern Tennessee and some rural parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and New Mexico, who were Head Start teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. …

Teacher Instructional Strategies Impacting Rural, High-Poverty Student Academic Outcomes, Erin Kinney Burt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is an abundant amount of interest among educators surrounding what actions can be taken by the government, local representatives, school boards, administrators, and teachers to assist rural, high-poverty students flourish academically. An uninspiring truth related to this subject is many times, a student receives the education the state and local communities are able to provide based on the quality of teachers they are able to retain and the resources available. Instructional strategies teachers implement could influence the quality of education students receive and could leave a community in a constant cycle of dependency and hardship. The purpose of this …

Building Comprehension: A Causal Comparative Study Of Factors Contributing To The Oral Reading Fluency Of First Graders, Kimberly Michelle Shaw

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teachers are charged with the task of reaching all students academically in hopes all students will become proficient readers by third grade. Oral reading fluency is a predictor in academic success since fluency reflects comprehension. Students often come to school unprepared in their earliest years due to a lack of opportunity and/or early literacy experiences, creating an achievement gap, a disparity in academic performance between groups of students. This study identifies the correlation between socioeconomic status, race, gender, and preschool enrollment and the oral reading fluency of first-grade readers as indicated by the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills …

Leadership Development In Education For Sustainable Development: Evaluation Of Higher Education Students In Sustainable Development Programs, Michelle Dzurenda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) has been working decades towards reaching Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to create peace and prosperity for people and the planet. The 2030 Agenda was created as an urgent call to action, a global partnership, and a comprehensive plan to work towards the 17 SDGs. For this study, the focus is on Goal 4- quality education and the impact of leadership on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Leadership on ESD has been a more recent topic and under researched. By making advancements in leadership on ESD there will be positive …

Teaching Students With A Mild Intellectual Disability How To Respond To Strangers Using Computer-Based Video Instruction, Chelsey Rae Simmons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Computer-based video instruction (CBVI) has been effective in teaching students with disabilities various health, community, and safety skills. Research suggests that CBVI is often used in conjunction with community-based instruction (CBI). Frequently, students with severe disabilities or students who are of high school age participate in CBI and/or CBVI and its accompanying research. This study investigated the effectiveness of CBVI to teach students with a mild ID, ages 11-13, appropriate responses to lures from strangers. A single-case, multiple probe across participants design was used to examine the impact of CBVI on one dependent variable, a correct two-step response (verbal and …

Creating Unicorns: Teaching Iep Literacy And Accommodation Self-Advocacy Through Asynchronous Interactive Video Modules, Kathleen M. C. Dorr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Data indicate that individuals who disclose their disability status to self-advocate for accommodations at the postsecondary level may be as rare as the mythical unicorn. During the 2019–20 school year in the United States, 7.3 million public education students aged 3–21 years received some form of special education services. These students account for 14% of the nation’s public school enrollment (Irwin et al., 2021). In one study, only 20% of high school students reported having received any instruction on reading and understanding their own Individualized Education Program (IEP; Agran & Hughes, 2008). In another study, only 19% of postsecondary students …

Ableism, Ableist Microaggressions, And Psychological Thriving: A Mixed-Methods Study Of College Students With Physical Disabilities, Tonya Barnhill Dawsey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microaggressions are daily insults to individuals that communicate messages of exclusion, inferiority, and abnormality. The term microaggression was originally used to explain the experiences of racial minorities. This term has also been used to explain the experiences of other individuals with oppressed identities. More recently, the term ableist microaggression has been used to describe these types of experiences for individuals with disabilities. Like other oppressed groups, individuals with disabilities experience ableism through interpersonal discrimination which is often delivered in a subtle, ambiguous, and unintentional manner that is difficult to address. Qualitative studies in the field of education and disability studies …