Digital Commons Network^™

Synchronous Virtual K-12 Teachers' Use Of Multimedia Principles In Electronic Slide Design, Lisa Beaulieu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hundreds of thousands of K-12 children in the United States are enrolled in online K-12 virtual schools that consistently report poor academic outcomes. There is a need to assess how well instructors in a synchronous online environment present new material to learners in a way that best aligns with how the brain manages and integrates new information into long-term memory. Online K-12 teachers use PowerPoint to design Electronic Slide Presentation (ESP) decks, which are used as their main form of instruction with their students during synchronous classes. The Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML) provides a set of principles which …

Situating Heirloom Presence Within The Family Narrative: That Is/Was Then, This Is/Was Now, Rachel Savorelli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Intramundane objects often become “intergenerational transfers of contaminated objects,” commonly known as heirlooms (Belk 151; Heisley and Cours 425; Holmes). Rather than priceless possessions, heirlooms are mostly ordinary objects, such as photographs and gardening tools. Regardless of rarity or monetary value, as familial artifacts, heirlooms compel an ethic of responsibility. For this project, the term “heirlooming” is a performance of communicative practices of story-telling, ritualizing, and kin-keeping that contribute to heirloom preservation and continuation. A narrative ethics background structures family communication to both make meaning and make sense of ongoing and changing practices across generations. Heirlooms situated within family narratives …

Thirdspace Leadership: Depicting Fbcoai Leaders’ Transitional Identities And Expe- Riences Of Breaking “Fbcoai Bamboo Ceiling” In Chinese Immersion Programs, Shengnan Yue

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explores how the transitional identities and experiences of Foreign Born Chinese Origin Asian Immigrant (FBCOAI) leaders influence their leadership practices in American Immersive Chinese Language Program. In the Chinese immersion programs, FBCOAI leaders are those with ethnicity Chinese who entered the United States during adulthood, and immigrated during their adulthood. This study is to explore the Thirdspace leadership, an actual-and-virtual place, where the FBCOAI leaders reconcile their professional development and leadership into practice. FBCOAI leaders are bilingual, experiencing a transitional stage of immigration status, and geographical/cultural/occupational changes. This study stands on “an-Other” perspective to know the FBCOAI …

Person-Centred Care And Health Justice In A Multicultural World: Holistic Perspectives From Context, Care, And Capabilities, Asmat Ara Islam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Medical ethicists debate whether “one-approach-fits-all” is specifically a problem for disease-oriented paradigms. In developed countries, health systems have adopted limited person-centred care (PCC) paradigms, most of which focus only on patient autonomy. However, these models neither adequately respond to a nexus of relevant aspects, including patients’ vulnerability, needs, and capabilities, nor provide adequate justification that PCC is related to social justice. The central question of this dissertation is: how does a PCC framework that is based on the capabilities approach justify a shift in the current health system toward PCC so that health systems can address health injustices in a …

Investigating The Income Academic Achievement Gap: An Exploration Of The Roles Of Mindfulness And Self-Concept Clarity In Low-Income College Students., Natalie Burke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to examine whether linguistic patterns previously associated with trait mindfulness and self-concept clarity in low-income college students’ application essays are associated with academic performance and psychosocial variables. The aims of the study were as follows: 1) Explore relations between linguistic markers that have been previously associated with higher mindfulness/self-concept clarity and GPA and 2) Explore relations between linguistic markers that have been previously associated with higher mindfulness/self-concept clarity and anxiety/depression. Participants were 54 undergraduate students in the Cardinal Covenant program (a scholarship program for students from low-income families) who began college in the …

Language Ideologies And Racialization Of Language: Multilingual Learners' Experiences In The First Year In A Community College., Yohimar Sivira Gonzalez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Community colleges have become key sites for preparing diverse and immigrant students for the transition to the workforce and four-year institutions. Yet, despite the recent growths of Multilingual Learners in community colleges, few studies focus on how students experience the first year in college after completing their ESL programs and their relations with instructors and how instructors perceive and interact with students institutionally classified as English as a Second Language (ESL) students. I use theories of language ideologies and racialization of language to understand multilingual learners’ experiences in the first year of college and how interaction with instructors shaped those …

La Casita Center: An Accompaniment Based Approach To Social Justice And Social Service., Ben Harlan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

La Casita Center is a Louisville based nonprofit organization that accompanies Latinx immigrants in the Louisville Metro area. and that is led and staffed by Latina immigrants. In this thesis, I investigate how employees of this Latinx-immigrant led nonprofit organization, navigate challenges to both administer service and build community using the model of accompaniment. Organizations like La Casita are critically important for Latinx newcomer communities in the United States and as neoliberal and nativist-inspired policiescontinue to oppress and marginalize, La Casita provides a model for what it means to center inclusion, belonging, community, and solidarity. In a global landscape of …

A Psychometric Analysis Of The Comprehensive School Survey (Css) Middle School Student Version., Stephen Leach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School climate is increasingly recognized by scholars and policymakers as a crucial factor associated with students’ educational experiences. Hence, practitioners endeavor to equitably measure and improve school climate to promote favorable student academic and behavior outcomes. Unfortunately, school climate research is fragmented, and a research-practice gap exists in best scale development and validity testing practices. The result is a proliferation of practitioner-developed school climate measures lacking solid theory-grounding and evidence to support intended score interpretations and uses. In response, Whitehouse et al. (2021) proposed a validity testing framework for practitioner-developed instruments aimed at supporting culturally responsive school climate measurement. Their …

“It’S About The Two Selves”: Experiences In Code-Switching Between Home And Academic Environments, Travis Wolven

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research study is an exploration of how college students navigate code-switching between their home and academic environments. Data were collected from five participants using interview and small group methods. Through the lenses of Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) and Memorable Messages (MM) frameworks, the researcher explores how key MMs affect how participants coordinate and manage meaning in communications with others in their home and college environments. Findings were fourfold: 1) participants chose between following established and creating new rules when code-switching; 2) participants shared experiences and strategies regarding knowing when and how to code-switch; 3) preparing audiences for …

A Frayed Edge: A Qualitative And Poetic Inquiry Analysis Of White Antiracist Protest In 2020, Emily Katt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This multiphasic study explored the narratives of five first-time Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrating during the historic confluence of conflicts in 2020 America. After positioning the liminal 2020 circumstances within an antiracist research lens, the author analyzed, first through grounded theory and then secondarily through poetic inquiry, how these five participants described their protest experiences. The grounded theory phase yielded an overarching theory that first-time protestors experienced a dual process of unsuturing and of calling-out, with three subthemes categorized within each of these two processes. The author moved into analysis with the poetic inquiry phase, crafting poems guided by six …

An Investigation Of Lab-Based Research Procedural Fidelity: The Relationship Between Experimenter Infant-Directed Speech, Temperament And Language Proficiency, Tess A. Simpson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether developmental researchers were influenced in the laboratory by the characteristics of children who participate in their research. I hypothesized that experimenters, as social partners, would adapt their speaking and other behaviors to the child’s perceived temperamental profile and language proficiency. I specifically focused on whether experimenters would adhere to the experimental laboratory procedure of two elicited imitation tasks, Feed Bear and Make a Rattle, in an archival dataset. Participants included 61 primarily white 15-month-olds. Coders transcribed infant directed speech (IDS) and analyzed transcriptions for total words, words per sentence, and …

Community College Faculty’S Perceptions Of Culturally Responsive Teaching, Sarah Tolbert-Hurysz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study sought to understand community college faculty’s perceptions of and experiences with culturally responsive teaching. Participants were full- and part-time faculty currently employed at community colleges in the Southeastern United States and purposefully selected to provide information-rich data. Data collected from the semi-structured, in-depth interviews with the participants were coded and thematically analyzed. Emerging themes included faculty’s inclusion of varied categories of cultural diversity when describing students; limited knowledge related to culturally responsive teaching; perception that culturally responsive teaching is centered on connecting and building relationships with students; belief in the value of providing students exposure to different …

Opinion Mining Of Bird Preference In Wildlife Parks, Isiwat Adenopo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Opinion Mining is becoming the fastest growing area to extract useful and insightful information to support decision making. In the age of social media, user’s opinions and discussions have become a highly valuable source to look for users preferences, likes, and dislikes.

The industry of wildlife parks (or zoos) is a competitive domain that requires careful analysis of visitor’s opinions to understand and cater for their preferences when it comes to wildlife. In this thesis, an opinion mining approach was proposed and applied on textual posts on the social media platform, Twitter, to extract the popularity, polarity (sentiment), and emotions …

The Folk Festival Of The Smokies And The Role Of Music Festivals In Preserving Old-Time Music In Appalachia, Keegan Luckey-Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the history of the Folk Festival of the Smokies, which sought to preserve old-time music as an expression of southern Appalachian regional culture. The study uses qualitative methods, including personal interviews with one of the founders and significant festival participants, supplemented with archival and historical research into photographs, festival performances and literature regarding the festival. Since the festival operated for thirty-three years as a small festival in a relatively isolated location in eastern Tennessee, this case study serves as an example of the role of festivals in intangible cultural heritage preservation in relatively rural settings. The legacy …

Perceptions Of Middle School Teachers Regarding Differentiation Instruction, Karen Mclerran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions of middle school teachers regarding differentiation of instruction for students with mild to moderate disabilities. Although there has been little documentation in the literature regarding instructional differentiation five factors that facilitate change have been identified in the framework.

Data collection strategies included one-on-one semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. Analysis of data occurred in three phases: (a) transcribing interviews, (b) member checking of the transcripts, (c) coding-recoding of the data. The analysis of data was based on the theoretical proposition that student achievement, positive behaviors, and increased learner motivation fosters …

All-Day Prekindergarten: Closing The Achievement Gap In Literacy, Theodore Clevenger Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative research study was to compare the impact that half-day and full-day prekindergarten had on economically disadvantaged students on Grade 3 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) Reading test results. Data from students who previously attended a half-day and full-day prekindergarten program were analyzed to see which program had a greater impact on STAAR reading scores at the conclusion of third grade. The comparison included two urban school districts with an economically disadvantaged threshold of 70% or greater. Descriptive statistics to obtain frequencies were used to create data that showed how students performed …

An Examination Of Academic Advising: How Satisfaction And Frequency Of Advising Predict Degree Commitment Among Hispanic/Latino Students In Online Bachelor’S Degree Programs, Shayne A. Futujma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hispanic/Latino student enrollment in higher education has increased in recent years. However, persistence and dropout rates in higher education for Hispanic/Latino students are still an issue of great concern. Online degree programs are also on the rise, allowing some Hispanic/Latino students to attend college where there was no opportunity before. Although online programs are an excellent option for Hispanic/Latino students, their persistence and dropping out are also a concern, because Hispanic/Latino students are more likely to drop out of online courses than face-to-face. One of the resources that college students have access to is academic advisors, who serve as a …

Removing Barriers That Prevent Parents From Low Socioeconomic Backgrounds From Being Involved In Their Children’S High School Education, Jason E. Shepherd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract The purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe the barriers that prevent parents from low socioeconomic backgrounds from being involved in their children’s high school education at District X in rural East Texas. Fifteen high school teacher participants were interviewed and provided their experiences and perceptions to support the interviews and focus groups. The primary findings identified teachers’ perceptions of the barriers that prevent parental involvement, parents’ commitment to their children’s high school education, and the teacher’s role in removing barriers that prevent parents from low socioeconomic backgrounds from being involved in their children’s high school education. …

Principal Decision-Making And Perception Of Fine Arts Programing In Curricular Design, Osvaldo Altamirano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study included an exploration of the concept of perception affecting decision- making in curriculum design and the support of school administrators toward fine art programs in West Texas School Regions 18 and 19. Research shows that the fine arts provide students the social and creative skills to become productive citizens. However, research shows that in the current realm of urban and rural public school curricula, the fine arts exist at either a limited capacity or are nonexistent. This dissertation included an attempt to answer how a school leader's fine arts perception affects a principal's ability to support, build, …

'Bleeding-In-The-World': A Qualitative Study Of Self-Cutting And Blood, Sadie Mohler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an existential, phenomenological study of the role and meaning of blood in self-cutting. Using in-depth, open-ended interviews with participants who self-cut, the author gathered data on the multisensorial experience of blood and bleeding in self-cutting. Data analysis was organized around the lifeworld existentials of corporeality, temporality, spatiality, communication, and relationality. The impact of blood and bleeding across each lifeworld dimension emphasized highly relevant, and previously unstudied, aspects of the lived experience of self-cutting. The six themes identified and explored are (a) blood as an animate abject; (b) bleeding and control; (c) bleeding is a process and the …

“I Hear You”: Exploring The Lived Experience Of Counselors’ Empathic Response To Clients When Conducting Telephonic Counseling During Covid-19, Michael Sickels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dissertation supervised by Dr. Debra Hyatt-Burkhart

This study sought to unearth the lived experience of counselors empathically responding to clients via telephonic counseling during COVID-19. The term empathic response refers to as attending to the emotional and mental state of another person in a way that is attuned with the feelings and meanings of the individual’s experience. There are few studies that have assessed the merits of telephonic counseling, and even fewer that have examined counselors’ empathic response to clients through this medium.

To uncover the lived experience of the target population, the participants of the study were purposefully selected …

The Effectiveness Of An Evidence-Based Performance Feedback Intervention Through Zoom Communications, Inc., Kristen Mahony

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic after the American Psychological Association (APA) called for modified research practices to ensure the safety of students and families. The evidence-based writing fluency intervention known as the Performance Feedback (PF) Intervention was implemented via a fully remote platform. A single-subject multiple-baseline across participants design was utilized to evaluate the effects of the adapted intervention on the writing skills of three elementary-aged students with disabilities while also measuring maintenance of those skills two weeks following the intervention. Additionally, researchers measured the social acceptability of the virtual PF intervention by the students. Visual …

Social Justice Informed School Counseling: A Conceptual Model For Promoting Academic Achievement And Equity Among Dual-Enrolled African American Students, Sylvester Hanner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To promote college enrollment, high schools may offer students the opportunity to participate in dual enrollment programs. Students who gain college credit while earning a high school diploma may be more likely to graduate college on time and at a lower cost (College Board, 2017). Despite the benefits of dual enrollment, African American students lack equitable access to dual enrollment programs. Additionally, when they are afforded access to participate in dual enrollment courses, they have a lower academic success rate when compared to White students (CCRC Fink, 2017).

This study provides insight into concepts related to African American students’ opinions, …

The A-Word: Destigmatizing Abortion In American Culture., Kathryn Lafferty Danner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation uses an interdisciplinary perspective and explores the topic of abortion through legal, medical, philosophical, and cultural perspectives, providing alternative ways to talk about abortion. In some states, especially since the overturning of Roe, abortion has become almost impossible to access, particularly in the South and Midwest. Abortion as a medical procedure is highly stigmatized and although it is a common procedure, it is taboo to discuss in American culture. Exploring how different media work to destigmatize abortion in the United States can lead to a deeper, more nuanced understanding of an overly politicized topic. The introduction is a …

Rewriting Writing As Transmodal And Translingual: Tranßcribing Japanese., Alex Way

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the use of different scripts in Japanese writing practices to disrupt English-language and Western-centric approaches to multimodal composition. Early chapters establish a brief history of the Japanese writing system (JWS) and explore its functionality. I trace the JWS’s development from borrowed Chinese characters (kanji), which were adapted to the Japanese language through the translation process of kundoku, to the contemporary system which utilizes the supplemental phonetic scripts of hiragana and katakana, in part, to represent Japanese syntax. Building on this historical context, I demonstrate how the use of the Japanese multi-scripts (hiragana, katakana, and kanji) in conventional …

Pediatric Oncology Social Work Job Analysis., Alyssa Ashlyn Middleton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an examination of the tasks most important to the pediatric oncology social work role. It begins with an argument that pediatric oncology social work is a blend of four social work specialties: generalist medical social work, oncology social work, pediatric social work, and hospice and palliative care social work. Studies report pediatric oncology social workers feel unprepared for numerous tasks related to their role. Despite calls for increased education and training opportunities, few are available. Until now, there has been no study evaluating the tasks that pediatric oncology social workers deem most important to their role, nor …

Dimension And Ramsey Results In Partially Ordered Sets., Sida Wan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, there are two major parts. One is the dimension results on different classes of partially ordered sets. We developed new tools and theorems to solve the bounds on interval orders using different number of lengths. We also discussed the dimension of interval orders that have a representation with interval lengths in a certain range. We further discussed the interval dimension and semi dimension for posets. In the second part, we discussed several related results on the Ramsey theory of grids, the results involve the application of Product Ramsey Theorem and Partition Ramsey Theorem

Taiwanese Indigenous Representation, Rhetoric Of Resistance, And Heteroglossia In Warriors Of The Rainbow: Seediq Bale., John Yu-Choh Chang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the relationship between Taiwanese indigenous narrative and rhetoric, in textual representations of the Seediq people and the 1930 Musha Incident. It explores how the forced colonization of Taiwanese indigenous people affected their identities and cultural representation, and how multi-voiced forms of narrative, storytelling, and meaning-making have rooted in indigenous oral traditions and rituals that counter colonial representations. Across a range of cultural texts, I identify what I call Taiwanese indigenous rhetoric of resistance (TIRR), drawing on Simon J. Ortiz’s theory of indigenous literature and oral traditions as indigenous-nationalist forms of cultural resistance. In addition, I draw on …

Bridging The Oppurtunity Gap Through Exploring The Perceptions Of Disadvantaged African American Students, Anesha Lashal Carter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore student agency’s impact on the lives of successful African American adult students who once identified as being disadvantaged. The opportunity gap, formerly recognized as the achievement gap, continues to negatively affect low socioeconomic status African American students with limited social and cultural capital resources. There are unlimited studies which identify factors that fuel the opportunity gap (Ladson-Billings, 2006). However, many of these studies neglect to incorporate the voices of the stakeholders in which social and economic disparities impact the greatest (Anderson, 2018). This qualitative phenomenological study aims to address this research gap …

Transformation From Orality To Literacy: Studying The Effect Of Orality In Al-Jahiz’S Al-Bayan Wa Al-Tabyeen., Faiz Alasmari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The transition from orality to literacy is the focus of this dissertation. Studying orality and literacy in Western Academic scholarship focuses on the transitional phase (transition from orality to literacy) of the Western transitional. This project widens the focus of the transitional phase and analyzes the transitional phase of the old traditional Arabic culture. The dissertation analyzes both oral and transitional phases of the old Arabic culture. It studies the unique characteristics of these two phases (oral and transitional). Isnad was the main feature of the Arabic transitional phase. Isnad is a chain of narrators who convey sayings. Every narrator …