Digital Commons Network^™

Gimmick Leadership, George Padilla

Faculty Publications

In the 1960’s, “Gypsy,” a musical movie classic premiered about a domineering mother who sought self-glorification by pushing her young daughter into stripping. The young daughter, Gypsy, learned the trick of the trade from veteran strippers in a song—“You Gotta Have A Gimmick.”

While education has always been filled with fads and slogans, today, educational leaders loudly proclaim, “College Ready”/”College Started”/”College Complete”/Career Ready.” For many educational leaders, these are gimmick slogans because academic achievement remains low and many students are arriving at college academically unprepared—but, now, possibly with hollow college credits and at greater risk of failing. Our nation …

Equal Goals, Unequal Standards: The Policy Debate On Goalpost Dimensions In Women’S Football, Tarlan Chahardovali, Johan Rewilak Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This study critically examines proposals to reduce goalpost sizes in women’s football; a debate often framed as a practical adjustment to accommodate physiological differences between male and female goalkeepers. Using data from men’s and women’s professional English football within two distinct periods (1951–1975 and 2011–2025), we investigate whether differences in goalkeepers’ height, gender and training are associated with variations in goals conceded. Our findings reveal that taller goalkeepers concede fewer goals; however, this relationship is U-shaped and this benefit diminishes beyond a certain point. We also find that improved coaching and investment, proxied by additional training via national team selection, …

Deporting Disability, Tania Valdez

Faculty Publications

Since the enactment of the earliest migration laws in the United States, people with disabilities have been targeted for exclusion and expulsion based on stereotypes that they are either dangerous or not productive. Although some of the pejorative language regarding disability in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) has changed over time, certain statutory provisions and the very structure of the INA still allow ableism to operate broadly in immigration adjudications. This Article focuses on the subtle, but pervasive, ways that immigration law disfavors noncitizens with disabilities. In particular, this Article examines ableism in the context of removal (commonly known …

Healer Or Human? How Online Physician Reviews Guide Patient Choice, Shabnam Azimi, Sina Ansari, Ignacio Luri, Atefeh Yazdanparast

Faculty Publications

Online reviews increasingly guide physician choice, yet it remains unclear whether content emphasizing a physician's competence (technical skills) or benevolence (prioritizing patients' welfare over self‐interest) more strongly influences patients' decisions. Integrating a field study of 12,351 physician reviews with two online experiments, we distinguish two dimensions of review effectiveness: how helpful readers find a review, and how confident they feel about the choice it informs. We show that competence‐ and benevolence‐focused content influences these outcomes through distinct mechanisms. Benevolence‐focused reviews receive higher helpfulness evaluations because caring behaviors are easier to describe in concrete, vivid language and because naturalistic review platforms …

Exploring Predictors Of Student And Parent Attendance In A Tier 2 School-Based Program: Implications For Optimizing Attendance In The Coping Power Program, Heather Mcdaniel, Alexa C. Budavari, Belinda E. Hernandez, Elise T. Pas, Catherine P. Bradshaw

Faculty Publications

There is growing interest in the use of multi-component Tier 2 preventive interventions to help address youth behavior problems in schools, yet parent and youth attendance at sessions can be suboptimal, and, if not optimized, can compromise outcomes. The current study explored baseline predictors of parent and youth attendance at the school-based Early Adolescent Coping Power (EACP) program, a preventive intervention for middle schoolers with externalizing problems. Data come from the 375 seventh graders (62% male, 72% Black) who were in the 20 middle schools randomized to receive the EACP intervention and their parents. We identified two latent profiles of …

Instructional Slides From Molten Salt Electrochemistry Symposium (Moses) 2026, Devin Rappleye, Carlos Mejia, Alex Peroff

Faculty Publications

This instructional slide set was developed for the 2026 Molten Salt Electrochemistry Symposium (MoSES) as an introduction and review of fundamental electrochemical concepts and methods used in molten salt systems. The material is intended for students, researchers, and practitioners seeking to better understand and interpret electrochemical measurements in high-temperature molten salts.

Topics include electrochemical thermodynamics, kinetics, mass transfer, electrode potentials, cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry, chronoamperometry, square-wave voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and common approaches for analyzing electrochemical data. Emphasis is placed on building physical intuition, understanding underlying assumptions, recognizing common experimental artifacts, and connecting electrochemical signals to real chemical and transport …

Regulating Manipulative Design Is Not Preempted By Cda 230 Or The First Amendment, Brett Frischmann, Peter Ormerod

Faculty Publications

For over two decades, there has been a heated debate among legal scholars, activists, judges, and others about the scope of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. A persistent theme in those debates has been hyperbolic claims about the necessity of immunity from state laws for digital tech platforms and fearmongering that anything less than maximum immunity will destroy the Internet.

This Article argues that states retain considerable discretion to regulate digital platforms’ design and engineering decisions. We argue that manipulation, engineered behavior, and even habituation and normalization of engineered behavior by digital platforms are content-agnostic harms attributable to …

The Hope College Department Of Biology: The First 50+ Years, Christopher C. Barney

Faculty Publications

The Hope College Department of Biology was founded in 1899 with the appointment of the first Professor of Biology at Hope, Samuel Mast. During the first 50+ years of the Biology Department, there were eight total faculty members in the department, including Frances Koeman, the first female faculty member in the natural sciences. Four faculty members, Mast, Frank Patterson, Oscar Thompson, and Teunis Vergeer were primarily responsible for developing the department’s curriculum and programs, with Mast and Vergeer also carrying out published research. The department was housed primarily in Van Raalte Hall and the Science Building (now Lubbers Hall) for …

Relationships Between Shared Group Properties: Theory, Measurement, Estimation, And Adjustment, Mark A. Maltarich, Paul D. Biese, Nichelle C. Carpenter

Faculty Publications

Teams researchers, meta-analysts, and others often study relationships between group-level constructs measured by aggregating individual-level variables, but it is well-known that group-mean correlations are influenced by individual-level relationships. We review multilevel issues and current practices in estimating and adjusting group-mean associations. We give special attention to comparisons across levels of analysis, and to adjustments for estimating population parameters. A Monte Carlo simulation study indicates that the two most commonly used adjustments in meta-analysis are ineffective in estimating population-based effect sizes. They frequently overestimate true relationships, sometimes severely. Indeed, simulations show that common adjustments move estimates away from population values in …

Navigating The Cocoon: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Mothers’ Experiences Of Seeking Diagnosis And Services For Children With Disabilities In Insular Rural American Samoa, Elizabeth Cutrer, Ocean K. Akau, Lorena Seu, Isabel Medina Hull, G. E. Kawika Allen, Ofa H. Kanuch, Cameron W. H. Hee, Melia Fonoimoana Garrett

Faculty Publications

This study examines how mothers raising children with disabilities in American Samoa experience the processes of seeking diagnosis, navigating special education, and advocating for services within an insular rural context. American Samoa, an unincorporated U.S. territory located 2600 miles from Hawaiʻi with a population under 50,000, represents a case of what we term insular rurality—a condition in which the structural disadvantages of rurality are intensified by oceanic isolation, territorial governance, and colonial history. Data were collected through three focus groups with fifteen mothers whose children hold a range of disability diagnoses, with a card sort activity at the outset of …

Don't Self-Opt Out Of Career Opportunities: Proceed With Confidence, Valerie Mendoza

Faculty Publications

While reflecting on your career in the past, have you ever stepped back from an opportunity that you wanted because you doubted yourself? In the workplace, confidence often gets mistaken for competence, and that means talented employees can be overlooked simply because they hesitate. The truth is that confidence isn’t something you’re born with. It’s a skill you can build. This session will get you started on building that skill.

We’ll explore practical strategies to strengthen your confidence starting today. We’ll also break down the key differences between how confident individuals act compared to those who aren’t, so you can …

White Matter Microstructure Of Sensorimotor Projection Fibers In Chronic Low Back Pain, John R. White, Jennifer M.C. Vendemia, Zachary Baty, Sheri Silfies, Stephen A. Coombes

Faculty Publications

Introduction: 

Chronic low back pain (cLBP) is linked to altered cortical sensorimotor structure and function, yet white matter microstructure in sensorimotor projection fibers remains poorly characterized. Objective: To address this gap, we used diffusion MRI to comprehensively characterize sensorimotor projection fibers in 44 patients with cLBP and 41 matched healthy controls.

Methods: 

We estimated an array of microstructural measures, including fractional anisotropy (FA), extracellular free water fraction (FW), free water–corrected FA (fwcFA), and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) metrics.

Results: 

General linear models identified significantly higher FA and fwcFA and lower orientation dispersion index (ODI) in cLBP vs …

Experience Therapy: How Service Experiences Regulate Everyday Negative Affect, Chang Ma Ph.D., Jae Eun Park, Alei Fan, Laurie Wu

Faculty Publications

In today's fast-paced and high-pressure society, maintaining emotional well-being requires effective strategies for managing everyday negative affect. This research examines the role of service experiences in reducing negative affect and introduces experience therapy as a novel strategy for affect regulation. Through a series of studies, we assess the effectiveness of experience therapy and investigate how different service experiences—varying in levels of personal effort involvement and social involvement—contribute to negative affect regulation. The findings demonstrate that experiences requiring high personal effort and social involvement are particularly effective in alleviating negative affect, especially among emotionally stressed individuals. These effects are mediated, respectively, …

The Historical Persistence Of Working-Class Culture: How Laborers Created The Ethical Foundation Of Western Civilization, Kenneth Atkinson

Faculty Publications

This article highlights four historical events that shape our present: the world’s first industrial strike in ancient Egypt to protest workers’ health and safety; working-class efforts to improve labor conditions during the Roman Republic and Middle Ages through strikes and the creation of guilds; the social justice activism of the prophets of Western religions (all working-class folks!); and the creation of the selfie and the transition from a culture of character to our present obsession with celebrities and individualism that began during the Renaissance. Each case highlights unique features of working-class culture, working class reactions to societal changes, and the …

The Meaning And Measurement Of Unrealised Fertility: A Comparison Of Measures Among Women Ages 40-49 In The United States, Kathleen Broussard

Faculty Publications

Unrealised fertility – when people fall short of their childbearing goals – is inconsistently defined and measured, leading to wide variation in estimates of its prevalence and implications for health and well-being. Using a nationally representative sample of U.S. women aged 40–49, this study compares four potential approaches to measurement, finding prevalence estimates that range from 3.5% to 22.4% across indicators. Multivariable logistic regression models reveal that the social and reproductive health correlates of unrealised fertility also vary according to the selected indicator. Improved measures of unrealised fertility are needed to inform our understanding of fertility barriers, including who is …

Intern Experience And Support In The Byu-Public School Partnership, Ryan S. Nixon, Rebecca K. Hunter, Paul H. Ricks

Faculty Publications

This study examines the experiences and perceived support of early childhood and elementary education interns in the BYU–Public School Partnership. In June 2025, 137 former interns (54% response rate) completed an anonymous survey with open-ended prompts, and responses were qualitatively analyzed. Most interns characterized the experience as positive or both good and hard (84%), though 16% reported largely negative experiences. Relationships with students were consistently identified as the most meaningful aspect, often providing motivation during difficult periods. Support was most frequently attributed to facilitators, with additional support from grade-level teams and Clinical Faculty Associates (CFAs). While generally helpful, support was …

Visual Cues In Online Education: How Emojis In Asynchronous Instructor Communication Strengthen Emotional And Behavioral Outcomes, Minseong Kim, Tami L. Knotts, Nancy D. Albers, Karen E. James

Faculty Publications

Online learning environments often lack nonverbal cues that support relational communication between instructors and students, making it difficult to establish emotional connection and trust. This study examines how emojis, as affective visual cues, influence instructor credibility, emotional attachment, trust, and responsible behavior in asynchronous online education. A scenario-based experiment was conducted with 297 undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to view an instructor email either with or without emojis. Participants subsequently evaluated the instructor’s credibility (expertise, trustworthiness, and likeability), as well as their emotional attachment, trust, and anticipated responsible behavior. The results indicate that emojis significantly enhance perceived likeability, which …

Institutional Silence And The Governance Of Women College Athletes’ Reproductive Autonomy In The United States, Tarlan Chahardovali, Molly Harry Ph.D., Emily S. Mann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This study examines how women college athletes understand their pregnancy-related rights and protections and how institutional communication – or its absence – shapes reproductive autonomy within college sport. Guided by a reproductive justice framework, it conceptualizes pregnancy as a site of reproductive governance shaped by institutional policies, norms, and silences within performance-oriented sport organizations. The analysis draws on semi-structured interviews with 25 women college athletes from various NCAA Division I institutions in the United States, conducted between September 2023 and July 2024 in the post-Dobbs legal context, and uses reflexive thematic analysis to examine athletes’ knowledge of Title IX and …

“Thomas Jefferson: America’S Flawed Founder Of Freedom.”, Jay H. Buckley

Faculty Publications

Thomas Jefferson was a deeply paradoxical figure—both a founding champion of liberty and a lifelong slaveholder—whose legacy must be understood in its full complexity. While he owned more than 600 enslaved people and participated in a system he publicly condemned, Jefferson consistently articulated and promoted ideals of natural rights, equality, and freedom that reshaped the United States and influenced democratic movements worldwide. He made repeated (though often unsuccessful) efforts to curb or end slavery through legislation, legal cases, and policy, including opposing the slave trade, limiting slavery’s expansion into western territories, and helping abolish the transatlantic slave trade. At the …

Increasing Pride Skills For Child Engagement Using Cdi-Only Ipcit With Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jordan T. Etherington, Zachary C. Labrot, Emily R. Defouw, Brad Dufrene, Brittany D. Garza, Amarah Sweaks, Briley Newcomb

Faculty Publications

Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display elevated levels of challenging behaviors and decreased social engagement. Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) may help children with ASD increase rates at which they engage and interact with their caregivers. Existing barriers to treatment completion, including high attrition and travel time and costs, may be ameliorated by delivering PCIT virtually (iPCIT) and setting attainable mastery criteria. This study utilized a multiple baseline design across three caregiver-child dyads with ASD to determine whether an iPCIT protocol affected caregivers’ use of positive engagement skills, children’s engagement, and children’s challenging behaviors. Results demonstrated increased and …

Examining The Psychometric Structure Of An Instrument To Measure Students’ Interests And Motivation In Science Learning: Factor Analysis And Measurement Invariance, Fuhui Tong, Shifang Tang, Zhuoying Wang, Beverly J. Irby

Faculty Publications

In this study, we examined the psychometric properties (reliability, validity, and underlying factor structure) and measurement invariance of a researcher-developed instrument: Motivated Strategies for Science Learning (MSSL). Data were collected from 2765 fifth-grade students across [state withheld] school districts. Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested satisfactory psychometric properties of MSSL. We further identified strong evidence to support configural, metric, scalar, and strict invariance across school location groups (i.e., rural and non-rural), confirming that the instrument can accurately capture the construct of science learning motivation among fifth-grade students from both rural and non-rural Texas schools. The study provides the …

The Big Five Personality Traits And Perceptions Of Generative Ai In Higher Education: A Canonical Correlation Analysis For Sustainable Digital Education, Mei Jiang, Shifang Tang, Qingwei Wang

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine the multivariate relationship between college students’ Big Five personality traits and their perceptions of generative artificial intelligence (AI). Guided by sustainable digital education and expectancy-value theory, this study investigated whether personality profiles were associated with students’ knowledge of AI, attainment value, intrinsic value, utility value, perceived cost, and intention to use AI. Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 375 students enrolled at a Southwestern doctoral-granting public university. Participants completed an adapted measure of generative AI perceptions and the Big Five Inventory, and canonical correlation analysis (CCA) was conducted to …

Changes In Depression, Eating, Sleep, And Emotion Regulation In Air Force Rotc Cadets After The 12-Wk Star Training Program, Antonella V. Schwarz, Hunter Haynes, Sheena Puleali’I, Jacob Mota, Molly F. Johnson, Maria G. Kaylor, Andrew Addison, Robyn Braun-Trocchio, Austin J. Graybeal

Faculty Publications

Introduction: – Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets must balance collegiate demands with military preparation, leaving them vulnerable to psychological stressors. While structured strength and conditioning (S&C) programs enhance physical readiness, their impact on psychological health in cadet populations remains unclear. This study evaluated changes in depression, eating behaviors, sleep quality, and emotion regulation during a 12-wk S&C program. Methods: – Forty-nine U.S. Air Force ROTC cadets (21 female, 28 male; age: 20 ± 2 yr; body mass index: 24.2 ± 4.4 kg·m⁻²; body fat %: 27.1 ± 9.0%) completed the Supporting Tactical Athlete Readiness (STAR) program, a …

A Place To Breathe: High School Students’ Perceptions Of A School-Based Wellness Center, Devan Clayton, Elizabeth Cutrer, Paul Caldarella, Michael Richardson, Jared Warren

Faculty Publications

Adolescents face significant academic and emotional stressors, underscoring the need for accessible school-based mental health support. This qualitative study examined high school students’ (N = 17) perceptions of a school-based wellness center, including both users and non-users. Four focus groups were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore experiences, perceived benefits, and barriers to use. Students described the center as a calming, supportive space that aided emotional regulation, short-term recovery, and readiness to return to class. Users emphasized relational connection, belonging, and managing stress and anxiety in a safe, nonjudgmental environment. Students also viewed the center as fostering early …

Heterogeneity Of Treatment Effects In Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation For Knee Osteoarthritis Pain And Symptoms, Chiyoung Lee, Xiaoxiao Sun, Juyoung Park, Chen X. Chen, Christine Pellegrini Ph.D., Nan-Kuei Chen, David O. Garcia, Heewon Kim, C. Kent Kwoh, Hyochol Ahn

Faculty Publications

Introduction: Although heterogeneity of treatment effects (HTEs) is commonly observed in clinical trials, it has received little attention in studies on transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Objectives: This study identified the presence of HTE in tDCS treatment among participants with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and explored participant characteristics associated with this heterogeneity.

Methods: This secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial included 120 participants with symptomatic KOA who received 15 daily sessions of home-based 2-mA active or sham tDCS over 3 weeks. We used a multitrajectory analysis to identify distinct subgroups based on the longitudinal trajectories of KOA pain and …

Heterogeneity Of Treatment Effects In Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation For Knee Osteoarthritis Pain And Symptoms, Chiyoung Lee, Xiaoxiao Sun, Juyoung Park, Chen X. Chen, Christine Pellegrini, Nan-Kuei Chen, David O. Garcia, Haewon Kim, C. Kent Kwoh, Hyochoi Ahn

Faculty Publications

Introduction: Although heterogeneity of treatment effects (HTEs) is commonly observed in clinical trials, it has received little attention in studies on transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Objectives: This study identified the presence of HTE in tDCS treatment among participants with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and explored participant characteristics associated with this heterogeneity.

Methods: This secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial included 120 participants with symptomatic KOA who received 15 daily sessions of home-based 2-mA active or sham tDCS over 3 weeks. We used a multitrajectory analysis to identify distinct subgroups based on the longitudinal trajectories of KOA pain and …

The Influence Of Mentoring On Educational Attitudes, Beliefs, And Behaviors (Eabbs): A Scoping Review, Amanda L. Davis, Jennifer Koide, Savannah B. Simpson, Samuel Mcquillin, Michael D. Lyons

Faculty Publications

Youth mentoring is a popular means for preventing negative psychosocial outcomes (e.g., high-risk behaviors, school dropout) and promoting positive ones (e.g., matriculation, goal setting). Mentors matched with youth through formal programs, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, are uniquely positioned to promote the development of the mentee’s positive educational attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (EABBs; e.g., academic engagement, grit, growth mindset). While school staff, such as school psychologists, are often unable to directly serve all students in need of support due to lack of time or large caseloads, youth mentoring may be a means to target EABB development. However, a critical …

Private Coverage, Public Risk: The Role Of Cyber Insurance In National Security Governance, Deborah L. Johnson

Faculty Publications

This Article explores the growing yet underexamined role of the commercial cyber insurance market in shaping the United States' approach to cybersecurity readiness. It argues that, as cyber threats against U.S. critical infrastructure and essential services increase, commercial cyber insurance has quietly come to function as a de facto governance tool in national cybersecurity. In hospitals, water and energy systems, and other public-facing sectors, policy language, underwriting questionnaires, and post-breach claims practices help define what counts as "reasonable" security, influence how organizations plan for and respond to incidents, and affect the pace and scope of recovery after an attack. Yet …

Administering Election Disputes, Rebecca Green

Faculty Publications

U.S. election administration has become supercharged with controversy. A process that should be mundane—casting and counting votes—has become the target of relentless litigation, much of which ends in non-merits rulings that risk perpetuating rather than resolving public concerns. The high volume of election litigation is costly, strains election officials, and risks eroding public trust in both elections and the courts. Recognizing the need to resolve election claims fairly and efficiently, Administering Election Disputes examines administrative remedies as an under-theorized alternative to judicial resolution. Increased use of well-designed administrative election dispute resolution (AEDR) could reduce pressure on courts, deliver faster and …

The Psychology Of A Favor: Why Hidden Witness Payments Demand A New Brady Rule, Adam M. Gershowitz

Faculty Publications

Prosecutors and the police regularly pay informants and other witnesses in criminal cases. These payments can be in the form of rewards, relocation expenses, crime victims funds, and even simple cash. Although witness payments are legal, prosecutors are supposed to disclose them under the Brady doctrine because they are favorable evidence that the defense could use to impeach the witness. Yet prosecutors often fail to disclose witness payments because of communication failures with the police, poor training, excessive caseloads, and occasional ethical lapses.

This Article examines dozens of hidden witness payments that prosecutors failed to disclose. In nearly eighty percent …