Digital Commons Network^™

The Meaning Of Spiritual Practices For Caregivers Of Children With Cancer In Thailand: A Heideggerian Phenomenological Study, Wipawee Ponkaew

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Caring for children with cancer may bring short and long-term challenges to families due to added healthcare activities focused on the ill child or adolescent. Among available resources and support strategies, religiosity/ spirituality (R/S) have been increasingly identified as a source of comfort.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experience and interpret the findings of spiritual practices for caregivers of children with cancer in Thailand. A purposive sampling method was used to recruit participants, with semi-structured interviews. Swanson’s Theory of Caring provided the theoretical underpinning of the study, and Deikelmann’s seven-stage process was adapted for …

Hurricane Damage In The Bahamas: Leveraging Spatial Analysis To Inform Adaptive Measures For Housing Resiliency, Chia Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the transition from disaster recovery to adaptation planning in the wake of extreme climatic events, with a specific focus on housing resilience. It examines the key factors influencing successful adaptation planning and how innovative strategies can contribute to sustainable and equitable communities. The study focuses on Abaco, The Bahamas, a region devastated by Hurricane Dorian in 2019, where recovery remains ongoing, and hurricane threats persist. Given the vulnerability of The Bahamas’ low-lying geography, it is crucial to implement adaptive planning measures that consider both the physical impact of hurricanes and the need for strategic housing allocation. By …

Pid Auto-Tuning For Usvs: A Multi-Evolutionary Optimization Ai Approach, Xavier Navarro Vicent

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

USVs play a critical role in a wide range of marine applications, where precise station-keeping is essential for tasks such as autonomous launch and recovery of an onboard aerial drone. Maintaining a stable position in a dynamic marine environment requires robust control strategies to counteract external forces, including wind, waves, and currents, which can introduce vehicle oscillations and positional errors. To optimize the operability limits of the vehicle based on sea state, weather conditions, and mission requirements, the USV must be carefully tuned. Traditionally, the tuning is performed manually, which is time-consuming and can lead to operational delays. This study …

Making Hot Chocolate: Connecting Hypersexuality And Violence Against Black American Women In 20th And 21st Century Literature, Ashlan Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

African American literature in the early 20th and 21st centuries have been employed as a method of protest against the deleterious stereotyping of Ebonic (read: Black American) people in the United States, addressing and challenging the monolithic notions that define Ebonic people in life and media. In the process of expressing these protests, challengers to racist social norms utilize the Ebonic female body and image for the benefit of their personal interests through a combination of hypersexuality and violence. This thesis addresses the lack of accountability in these political lenses and assesses the ways in which authors objectify and abuse …

The Observer & The Observed, Azarakhsh Shafieikadkani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the concept of the gaze and its role in shaping identity, particularly in relation to marginalized genders, including women and non-binary individuals. Rooted in feminist and psychoanalytic theories, the research interrogates the power dynamics between the viewer and the viewed, exposing the ways in which patriarchal structures influence visual representation. Drawing from personal experiences of growing up in Iran and the complexities of immigration, the project critically engages with how societal norms manipulate identities and reinforce objectification. Through experimental photography, I distort and deconstruct the human form using materials such as hair gel on plexiglass and matte …

Investigating The Portrayal Of Native Americans In Florida’S K-12 Social Studies/History Textbooks: A Critical Content Analysis, Marisa Miceli Schnirman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Textbook bias is an enduring and contentious issue in the United States. U.S. textbooks have long been criticized for perpetuating bias and reinforcing dominant narratives that marginalize minority groups, such as members of Indigenous nations. This study confirms that biases continue to exist in textbooks and promote the harmful narrative that Indigenous peoples are people of the past. This narrative undermines the survivance (Vizenor, 1998), contributions, and very existence of Indigenous peoples. Using a critical lens, this content analysis examines the portrayal of Indigenous peoples in select fourth-grade, eighth-grade, and high school social studies and history texts used in Florida …

Cultivating Mindsets Of Persistence: Experiences Of Undergraduate Women Students In Stem Programs At A Public Research University, Etina Qirjo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), women's representation is disproportionately low across high school, higher education, and professional sectors. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the factors influencing the persistence of undergraduate women STEM students at a public university by identifying available resources, uncovering obstacles and investigating their personal experiences. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews with a sample of 12 female participants enrolled as undergraduates in STEM majors at a public university. The research design chosen for the study was qualitative, focusing on stories from women’s experiences that provide an understanding of what …

The Quiet Gnosticism Of Samuel Beckett’S Endgame, Andrew Dean Chapman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis draws on and extends previous Gnostic readings of Samuel Beckett’s fiction which has located the figure of the demiurge mostly in the background and finds through close reading that in Endgame the demiurge takes the foreground.

This thesis proposes that Endgame’s gnosticism goes further than recreating gnostic themes and tropes. Rather, Endgame’s gnosticism fuses the gnostic laughter of the gnostic Christ, Schopenhauerian tragedy, and Quietist paradoxes to create a system of progressive enlightenment which culminates in a revelation evidenced by a laugh that, in Beckett’s Watt, is called the mirthless laugh. This laugh, I propose, is the laugher’s …

Digitally Collaborative: An Analysis Of Peer Review In Fyc Classes And The Affordances Of Digital Tools, Arianna Bartolone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Digital technology has significantly impacted students and their learning environments. Jobs that do not require at least an entry-level understanding of basic computer skills are nearly impossible to find. Online platforms have become integrated into our daily lives and are now essential in the classroom. Students are expected to grasp the functions of technology and its intersection with the curriculum. Universities utilize various online learning technologies in their classrooms. While basic computer literacy and understanding are crucial components of university education, students require additional support when using these platforms in their writing. I will explore how to integrate digital literacy …

Analysis Of The 2-Person Combinatorial Games Split-S-Nim And Chomp On 2 Rows, Daniel Gray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Split-S-Nim is a variant of Nim in which each player on their turn can choose to make any legal move in the traditional version of Nim or add q coins to a heap, where q is some element of a predetermined subset of integers, S. We classify all sets that have the property in which the winning strategy is equivalent to the winning strategy for a version of the game with a set that has cardinality 1.

If S has a smallest non-negative even value, q, then we conclude that it must either have a winning strategy identical to a …

Examining The Relationships Among Land Surface Temperature, Surface Urban Heat Islands, Land Cover, And Societal Impacts In The Miami Metropolitan Statistical Area, Alanna D. Shapiro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Surface Urban Heat Islands (SUHI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) are important to study because they can have large impacts on human and environmental health and well-being. The research described in this dissertation includes three separate but related studies of SUHI and LST. The first study evaluates historic LST trends in a multiscalar view and examines the impact of environmental and socioeconomic explanatory variables on LST. Results show that NDVI and impervious surfaces are significant explanatory variables for the dependent variable LST. The rate of change (RoC) of each of the regression models ranges between 0.29oC/decade and 1.56oC/decade. The second …

Perceptions Of Educational Settings, Taniya Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the influence of self-monitoring on cognitive performance under stereotype threat in an online academic setting. One hundred thirty-two Black and Hispanic participants completed a series of GRE-style questions following exposure to either a stereotype threat or control condition (Steele & Aronson, 1995). Participants also completed measures of self-monitoring (Gangestad & Snyder, 2000), academic motivation (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990), cognitive load (Kirschner, 2002), self-esteem (Crocker et al., 2003), and ethnic identity. Using multiple regression and mediation analyses conducted in Jamovi, self-monitoring emerged as the strongest and most consistent predictor of test performance. Academic motivation partially mediated this …

Movie Genre Classification Using Script Texts, Michael Roman Cuomo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Genres are used to classify movies so that they can be grouped with others that have similar themes and structures. These classifications are categories created by humans. In the process of creating a movie, a script is often the first creation to write and share ideas about a topic. The script contains large amounts of text that is used to describe the dialog, setting and direction of the film. Although the script contains important information for the film, the amount of text can present a challenge for machine learning algorithms. Often in studies on film classification, if text is used, …

A Higher Calling: How Christian Student Affairs Administrators Integrate Their Faith While Working At Public Community Colleges, Danielle J. Ward

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The cornerstone of the student affairs field was the intentional focus on holistic student development, their mind and spirit. The problem addressed was that many student affairs professionals felt ill-equipped and uncomfortable discussing and expressing their personal faith at some institutions of higher education. As a result, some were hesitant about integrating faith at work, personally and professionally. The study sought to identify faith's role in Christian student affairs administrators who worked at public open-admission community colleges and the administrators’ perceptions of how their personal faith integration at work impacted their relationships with students and colleagues. The paradigm for …

The Lived Experiences Of African American Women In Predominantly White Higher Education Institutions In Texas And Their Journey To Advancement To Tenure, Wanda Dyer, Wanda Yvonne Carter-Dyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

African American women are underrepresented in predominantly White higher education institutions in Texas. Inconsistent treatment and policies have contributed to the disparate numbers of African American women in predominately White institutions. African American women are subjected to discrimination based on race, sex, and color. The problem investigated in this study was the barriers to African American tenure-seeking women in predominately White institutions. Barriers discussed in those interviews were discrimination, equity, inclusion, lack of support systems, organizational culture and relationships, and mentors. Six African American women in PWIs in Texas were interviewed to give a voice to the barriers experienced …

Exploring The Perceptions Of School Leaders And Teachers Towards The Role And Value Of School Librarians, Amanda Galliton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the perceptions of school leaders and teachers toward the role and value of school librarians in a North Central Texas Education Service Center area. The study investigated how superintendents, principals, and teachers view the contributions of certified school librarians to student achievement and school culture, particularly in light of budget cuts and the elimination of librarian positions. Using a mixed-methods approach, this research gathered information from superintendents, principals, and teachers, using quantitative and qualitative data and then quantitizing that data. The results reveal a significant variance in perceptions among superintendents, principals, and teachers, as well as a …

Strategies For Success: Developing The Hero Within To Increase Persistence Of Community College Students Returning From Academic Dismissal, Angela Cavazos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Students are enrolling in college at a higher rate than ever before, yet retention rates continue to be problematic for higher education institutions across the United States. Many students fail to persist beyond their first year and are often forced out due to academic difficulties. Students who return from academic dismissal are likely to be dismissed again. This quasi-experimental quantitative action research study aimed to evaluate the impact that a student success intervention course designed through an asset-based positive self-leadership framework and focused on the development of psychological capital constructs of hope, efficacy, resilience, and self-efficacy (HERO) had on the …

Barriers Principals Face Integrating Blended Learning In Secondary Schools, Lacey Tremaine Ajibola

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the barriers secondary principals encounter integrating instructional technology as a part of a blended learning model. Existing research investigating the barriers principals face is limited and fractured and is mostly examined from the perspective of teachers. Therefore, this study provided data on the perspective and experiences of principals as technology leaders and their perceived barriers to implementing blended learning models. The researcher aligned the research questions to the International Society for Technology in Education Standard for Educational Leaders as a conceptual framework. Interviews with 11 secondary principals from the same …

Deep Learning For Computer Vision Applications In Medical Diagnostics And Wildlife Monitoring, Mostapha Al Saidi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores innovative applications of deep learning and computer vision techniques across three distinct domains: medical imaging, dermatological diagnostics, and wildlife monitoring. The research addresses critical challenges in each field through the development and optimization of convolutional neural networks and other deep learning architectures.

The first study examines COVID-19 classification from X-ray images, comparing one-shot versus two-stage classification approaches using transfer learning with pre-trained models such as VGG16 and VGG19. The initial hypothesis was that breaking down the classification task into two optimized tasks would yield better results than one-shot classification. Results demonstrated that the single-stage approach achieved superior …

“Thank You For Hearing Me”: Listening To Stories Of Linguicism, Caroline Asher Webb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the effects of linguicism on nonnative speakers of English who are currently studying in higher education in the United States or other English-dominant countries. Linguicism, also called linguistic discrimination, others and discriminates against people based on their oral or written language use. Rooted in master narratives of Standard English, monolingualism, and the native speaker, linguicism, unlike other forms of discrimination, such as gender or racial discrimination, is subtle and unmarked, thus permeating the consciousness of even the most well-intentioned of people.

Using a Critical Race Theory framework, the present study utilized a storytelling methodology to gather first-hand …

A Self-Sustaining Autonomous System For Long-Term Arctic Monitoring, Wenqiang Xu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The accelerated melting of Arctic sea ice poses critical challenges to global climate stability, marine ecosystems, and navigation safety. To address the need for continuous, high-resolution monitoring of the Arctic environment, this dissertation explores the development and feasibility of a Self-sustaining Autonomous System (SAS) for long-term Arctic observation. The proposed system is designed to overcome the limitations of traditional fixed or drifting buoys, as well as the range and endurance constraints of drones and Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)s, by utilizing a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) as a core observation platform. The wind-powered SWATH harnesses …

You Are Safe Here: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Psychological Safety And Organizational Ombuds In Higher Education, Angella J. Wint

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study aimed to better understand the nature of ombuds’ psychological safety experiences in higher education by exploring how ombuds make meaning of their lived experiences with psychological safety and how it informs their roles with the constituencies they serve in higher education. Relying on data gathered related to the lived experiences of 12 organizational ombuds working at institutions of higher education, this study utilized one-on-one, open-ended, semi-structured interviews to collect data. The Four Stages of Psychological Safety was the conceptual framework used to study participants’ lived experiences. This study will contribute to the limited published empirical research …

The Consistency Strength Of The Generalized Continuum Hypothesis Failing At A Measurable Cardinal, Connor Watson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This expository paper investigates the equiconsistency of the GCH failing at a measurable cardinal with the existence of a cardinal κ of Mitchell order κ++.

The upper bound of this equiconsistency follows in two parts: Assuming the existence of a model of o(κ) = κ++, one can first use an argument of Gitik to force the existence of an elementary embedding satisfying certain closure conditions, then use a forcing due to Woodin to force the failure of GCH at κ while preserving the measurability of κ. It is this Woodin result which this thesis focuses on in the upper bound. …

Influences Of Dynamic And Static Retrieval Cues On Memory Accuracy And Reaction Times, Megan S. Smithwick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior research on recognition memory has utilized static stimuli (e.g., words) to evaluate the time course of retrieval for different types of information —familiarity-based item memory and recollection-based associative memory. The present study investigated this time course in dynamic stimuli. Participants (N = 188) viewed videos at encoding, depicting 64 actors performing unique actions. At test, participants viewed either videos or images presented for short (733 ms) or long durations (1,466 ms). The test item types included old (same actor and action pairing), conjunction (novel pairing of familiar actor and action), new actor (unfamiliar actor, familiar action), and new action …

The Practice Of The Communal Pot -Olla Común- By Low-Income Women As A Strategy To Face Hunger On The North Coast Of Peru, Ricardo M. Sabogal-Suji

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru, the ancient practice of the communal pot (olla común) has become even more popular. This consists of neighbors spontaneously organizing themselves to collect food to cook for needy people. Peru is characterized by informality and ontological precarity that persist over time regardless of the political context, leading to endemic food insecurity. The pandemic crisis further aggravated the situation of Peruvians, leading the Peruvian government to support the growing communal pots that had traditionally been autonomous. The food crisis has persisted in post-pandemic times, which is why communal pots have multiplied, many of them becoming, …

Assessing Trophic Pathways In The Southern Indian River Lagoon Using Fatty Acid Markers, Joedeelee Rigdon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) comprises over 200 Km of the Florida’s east coast and is a bar-built estuary making up one of the most biodiverse estuarine environments in North America. Toxins produced by increasingly frequent harmful algae blooms in the IRL are found throughout the food web, from zooplankton to fish, to apex predators. The impact of species characterized as harmful algae can be traced using fatty acid markers, as phytoplankton and algae that make up HABs produce characteristic poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which have conservative ratios between trophic levels. This study measured the fatty acid composition of two …

Little Habits, Caitlin Rosolen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Little Habits is a body of work that explores the subject of coping mechanisms and defense mechanisms that manifest as psychological and physiological defenses resulting from long-term chronic stress and complex trauma. Emphasizing the physical tactility of flesh and bodily fluids, the use of soft, pliable natural fibers and glass beads and yarns, are purposefully found woven, entangled, and embedded within and through the reclaimed wood stretchers. Through mixed media installation, the series probes the intimate details of mechanisms in which symptoms of stress and trauma can manifest. Focusing on an overarching survey of maladaptive mechanisms, the work serves as …

Postpartum Depression And The Relation To Maternal Sensitivity In The Context Of Infant Fear, Ainsley Richards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research was to examine if postpartum depression and maternal sensitivity are related, and how this relation manifests in mothers’ responses to their infants during unfamiliar mother-child interaction tasks compared to a routine interaction task. Participants included 55 mother-infant dyads. Dyads participated at one of three university sites across the United States. PPD data was collected from mothers when infants were 6 and 12 months old, while sensitivity data was taken when the infant was 12 months old. Results indicate that postpartum depression at 6 and 12 months is not predictive of maternal sensitivity within a non-clinical …

Investigating Treatment Planning Parameters For Proton Arc Technique In Pencil Beam Scanning (Pbs) Proton Therapy, Umesh Rana

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Proton arc pencil beam scanning (PBS) proton therapy is a novel approach to treating complex cancer in the field of radiation therapy. It provides conformal dose coverage to the CTV while reducing dose to healthy tissues. Unlike traditional proton therapy modalities, such as intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT), which primarily relies on static beam delivery, proton arc utilizes a rotational approach to irradiate the tumor from a multitude of angles, utilizing an arc of proton beams. The successful clinical implementation of proton arc PBS technology necessitates the development and validation of advanced treatment planning optimization algorithms and treatment planning techniques to …

A Study On Sentence-Level Argument Identification In Imbalanced Student Essay Corpora, Rishabh Lingam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Writing is an essential skill that affects success in nearly every academic subject and professional field. For undergraduate students, strong writing helps them organize ideas, communicate clearly, and perform better in both written assignments and overall coursework. Good writing also supports critical thinking, which is key to problem-solving and academic growth. Beyond school, writing continues to be important in the workplace, where it is used for emails, reports, presentations, and formal documents. Yet, despite its importance, many students and graduates do not have strong writing skills, and this gap is noticed by employers. A recent survey by Ashley Finley [1] …