Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating The Impact Of Creativity In Specialized Learning Environments, Samantha Jo Stewart

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Stewart, Samantha, M.A., Summer 2025 Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Chairperson: Dr. Jeb Puryear

This study investigates the impact of creative instructional strategies on student engagement and learning in a K–5 Structured Learning Program (SLP) serving students with behavioral challenges, trauma histories, autism, and twice-exceptionality (2e). A mixed-methods approach was used to compare two instructional periods: September to December, during which traditional teaching methods were used, and January to June, when flexible, creativity-based practices were introduced. Instructional shifts included increased student choice, multimodal tasks, and scaffolded opportunities for divergent thinking. Data sources included daily staff reflections, classroom observations, and student work …

Predicting Language And Literacy Success In Children With And Without Developmental Language Disorder, Melissa Catherine Phelan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the roles of phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness in predicting language and literacy success for children with developmental language disorder (DLD), DLD with dyslexia, and typically developing (TD) children. DLD, a prevalent yet underdiagnosed condition, is associated with significant psychosocial and academic challenges, including a roughly 50% likelihood of developing dyslexia. Current identification systems rely on inconsistent parent/teacher referrals, which miss approximately 60% of children with DLD and over 33% with dyslexia, limiting access to effective interventions. This study longitudinally examines whether kindergarten screenings of three metalinguistic skills—phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness—predict …

Designing A Behavior-Supportive Literacy Block Using Ufli Phonics For First Grade Students With Behavioral Challenges, Julia Lynne Pugh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Students with behavioral challenges tend to struggle while engaging with structured academic instruction, particularly in foundational literacy blocks. In fact, in 2021, it was reported that 27.7% of children aged 3-17 struggle with a mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder. (Leeb et al., 2024) While programs such as UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) offer highly effective phonics instruction, these programs typically lack embedded support for individuals struggling with self-regulation, attention, and task persistence. As a result, these students are presented with a higher risk of falling behind in their reading skills. In this project, the author aims to develop a …

A Social-Ecological Justice Approach To Ecotourism: Examples From Cockpit Country, Jamaica, Laurel Ann C. Curry

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ecotourism aims to support local social, ecological, and economic systems sustainably, but its implementation often perpetuates social and environmental injustices. This work applies a new social-ecological justice (SEJ) framework to ecotourism, combining Pope et al.’s holistic approach with principles like ecological stewardship, economic repositioning, and collaboration tailored to specific contexts. Importantly, basic capabilities for full functioning of humans and other species were used in this research to measure areas of justice and injustice. Using a case study approach with the Southern Trelawny Environmental Agency (STEA) in Jamaica's Cockpit Country, co-created interview data were analyzed to evaluate its ecotourism program’s alignment …

An Overview Of Nagpra And The 2024 Revisions, Emily V. Owens-Barber

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Section 11 of the National Museum of the American Indian Act (NMAIA) was added to public law in 1989. This required the Smithsonian Museum to repatriate any human remains or funerary objects associated with Native American Ancestry back to their tribes. In 1990, The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was added to federal legislation expanding on this section and requiring that every federally funded institution in the United States that held Native American Remains or funerary objects in their collection must follow this regulation to continue to receive federal funding. Nearly 33 years later in the autumn …

Feminine Felons: Violent Offenders' Intersectional Experiences In Twentieth-Century Montana, Cassidy Ann Vander Voort

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper explores the treatment of violent female offenders in Montana in both the media and prison system from 1900-1960. Women of all races faced gender discrimination from both the carceral system and popular media. Local newspapers sensationalized crimes committed by female offenders, portraying them as women who lived outside of the expectations of womanhood in the twentieth century. Newspapers and courts placed women into two categories: “mad/sad” female offenders, who received forgiveness for their crimes; or unforgivable, “bad” offenders. Crime did not determine these categorizations; instead, gender expectations of the white middle class shaped female criminals’ treatment. If these …

Exploring The Potential For Cynophagy, Working Dogs, And Village Dogs At Housepit 54, Daniel O. Nohren

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Several field seasons at the Bridge River Archaeological Site have recovered a vast faunal assemblage subject of numerous archaeological and genetic investigations, several of which have focused on potential roles of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). In order to examine the highly fractured nature of the Housepit 54 canid assemblage, the calculation of a fracture freshness index was performed which created quantitative units of measure useful in the comparison of bone fracture taphonomy over time and across taxonomic groups. This method has been employed specifically to investigate the potential for exploitation of within-bone nutrients among both a sample of …

The Relationship Between Principals’ Transformational Leadership And Teachers’ Organizational Citizenship Behavior Within Public Primary And Middle Schools In Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China, Chuxuan Yin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This non-experimental causal-comparative study was designed to explore the relationship between principals’ transformational leadership and teachers’ organizational citizenship behavior within public primary and middle schools in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China, as well as the differences in principals’ transformational leadership and teachers’ organizational citizenship behavior based on demographic characteristics. A sample of 142 principals and 675 teachers was recruited. Data collection utilized two validated instruments: the Transformational Leadership Questionnaire for evaluating principals’ transformational leadership level, and the Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale for Primary and Middle School Teachers for measuring teachers’ organizational citizenship behavior level. Both descriptive statistics (frequency distribution, mean, standard …

As Above, So Below: Environmental Justice Stories Of Seeds, Mining And Migration, Cassidy M. Motahari

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Environmental justice issues directly impact the health, cultural heritage and livelihoods of communities. This multimedia master’s project examines how federal policies, legal frameworks and the prioritization of corporate interests perpetuate environmental justice issues in the western United States. Three distinct stories provide a more nuanced understanding of the impact of systemic inequities on seed saving, mineral extraction and humanitarian aid on public lands.

With four companies controlling over 60 percent of the global seed market, declining genetic diversity in seeds limits the potential to cultivate and develop crops that meet the regional and cultural needs of diverse growers. In a …

Worn History: The Biography And Value Transformation Of Emma Sansaver's Dress, Lauren I. Stgeorge

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines the life of Emma Sansaver’s beaded buckskin dress as both a material object and a cultural witness. Worn during her time at the Fort Shaw Government Industrial Indian Boarding School and the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, the dress intersects with assimilationist policy, Indigenous resilience, public spectacle, and personal memory. Unlike the regalia of her teammates, Emma’s dress was preserved, first by Emma herself, then by her descendants, and continues to be cared for and displayed in educational and institutional settings today.

Using the theoretical frameworks of Arjun Appadurai and Igor Kopytoff, this project approaches the dress …

Department Chairs' Experience In Implementing Educational Mandates In Chinese Higher Education, Lida Liu

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the era of globalization and a thriving knowledge economy, higher education emerges as a pivotal vehicle for driving social progress and shaping new development paradigms. Departments, as the fundamental units of teaching, research, and social service, occupy a crucial position within the higher education system. The implementation experiences of department chairs, encompassing the opportunities and challenges they encounter, the strategies and actions they undertake, as well as the support they receive and obstacles they face, hold significant importance for gaining insights into the execution of educational mandates at the grassroots level and enhancing the efficiency of higher education management. …

In The Clear: Timber Harvest Informs Elk Summer Nutrition And Resource Selection In A Densely Forested Landscape, Trevor C. Weeks

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As wildlife and habitats face unprecedented challenges in the form of landscape conversion, shifting disturbance regimes, and climate change, it becomes increasingly important for land and wildlife managers to find avenues for collaboration as they seek to maintain habitat to support robust wildlife populations. Timber harvest may provide one such avenue for collaboration. It has been shown to increase the quality and quantity of ungulate nutritional resources by reverting stands to early successional stages. Additionally, timber harvest may allow for a more precise application of such effects, as managers choose where and how to harvest timber. However, the exact effects …

Counselor Educators’ Understanding Of Ableism: A Mixed Methods Study, Cynthia Renee Boyle

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ableism, defined as beliefs and practices that prioritize able-bodiedness and lead to disability discrimination, is a prevalent but often overlooked form of oppression rooted in the historical American legacy of other forms of prejudice, discrimination, and is foundationally rooted in higher education through eugenics. Despite the counseling profession's mandate for multicultural competence, disability issues and ableism are often excluded from mainstream curriculum, contributing to a knowledge gap among counselor educators. This convergent mixed methods study explored and analyzed counselor educators’ understanding of ableism using a cross-sectional questionnaire administered to 48 participants. Quantitative results indicated a positive correlation between more formal …

Alive For The Wake, Anna Kate Powell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the year 2046, bacteria strain B. bibitor has rendered all petroleum hydrocarbon compounds unrefinable. Paramedic Amanda Bailey finds hope in the resilience of humanity but struggles when she learns the powers that be would rather concentrate their efforts on fighting B. bibitor—restoring infected hydrocarbons to their previously refinable (and profitable) nature—rather than investing in already-developed clean firm energies and renewable material manufacture.

Eros And The Sublime: Tools For Reaching Toward An Altered Ecological Consciousness, Aineka Carlson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis explores connections between the Kantian sublime and Anne Carson’s ideas regarding “eros.” Since Kant’s Critique of Judgement was published in 1790, the Kantian sublime has grown in popularity and been utilized by theorists and creative writers alike. While the Kantian sublime is often associated with nature in popular culture, there are certain egocentric and phallocentric elements of this mode of thinking that might inhibit a biocentric mindset. Through a character study of Oryx from Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake, this thesis draws relations between the subjugation of women, nature, and the ways in which the popularized …

“Behavior Modeling And Creative Confidence In The High School Visual Arts Classroom”, Jessica A. Novak

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Artistic behavior modeling is essential for the development of creative confidence in both the teacher and students. In this study, I adopted a mixed methods approach incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data to determine the impact of artistic behavior modeling on creativity and independence in high school visual arts. The impact of behavior modeling was studied in a student-led, studio-style approach in the classroom. Utilizing writing prompts, observational data, self-reflections, artwork development, and letter grades, I determined that when educators create and reflect on their personal art alongside their students, students become more creatively independent. Students took more creative risks, …

Sunrise In The Heartland: The Ahmadiyya Movement And The Foundations Of African American Islam, Hazel Videon

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

During the early 1920s, an immigrant missionary from colonial India named Muhammad Sadiq established headquarters in Chicago for a branch of Islam called the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam (AMI). The AMI became the first institutional expression of Islam in the United States to draw a significant number of American converts and was particularly popular among African Americans. Following the Second Great Migration, Black migrants to the urban Midwest sought new ways to express their identity, fulfill both spiritual and material needs, and resist racist violence. The AMI became attractive to them as an alternative to respectability politics and drew upon …

Social Connection And Disability: A Longitudinal Experimental Study Of Intervention Effectiveness And Moderators, Krys Standley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Background: Social disconnection is an epidemic-level problem that is exacerbated for people with disabilities. There is a pressing need for theory-based research to illuminate the factors that contribute to effective interventions for improving social connection in this population.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were 1) to test the hypothesis that the Peer Collective, a six-week, online, group-based intervention centered on social support topics, would result in increased levels of social connection among community-dwelling adults with any types of disabilities and 2) to examine potential moderating effects in this hypothesized relationship.

Method: A longitudinal intervention study design with random assignment …

Suba-Cubun Chibquyioa Muysc-Cubun Chibchichuasuca: Sound Reconstruction Of Muysca In The Context Of Language Reclamation., Brenn Timoteo Romero Moreno

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines the phonological system of Muysca, a Chibchan language once spoken in central Colombia and currently dormant. Its goal includes supporting the revitalization efforts of the Muysca people of Suba. Drawing from a documentation produced in the 17th century by Catholic missionaries and engaging with comparative and historical linguistic methods, I argue for the existence of specific phonemes in Muysca —/ə/, /kʷ/, /tʲ/, and /ʔ/— which are not consistently identified in recent literature. My analysis is situated within the framework of Mediated Language Change (Hinson 2019), which acknowledges the need for Indigenous communities to actively shape the development …

Theory Of Planned Behavior And Suicide Screening In Family Medicine, Jennifer Villa

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

General medical healthcare settings, particularly primary care and family medicine practices, serve as critical access points for addressing mental health concerns. This is especially true in rural communities, where specialized behavioral health services are often limited or unavailable. Given the elevated suicide risk in these settings and the shortage of mental health professionals, primary care providers are well-positioned to identify patients at risk through suicide screening. However, research shows that many established providers do not routinely screen for suicide, representing a missed opportunity for prevention, and little is known about resident attitudes towards suicide screening and prevention. Guided by the …

Juvenile Arthritis, Body Image, And Disordered Eating: An Exploration Of Experiences, Katelyn Ann Melcher

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This qualitative study examined eating and body experiences among youth with juvenile arthritis (JA). JA, an autoimmune condition affecting nearly 300,000 youth in the United States, poses significant challenges including chronic pain, disability, and psychological concerns such as anxiety and depression. Adolescence is a critical developmental time for body image and disordered eating concerns to emerge. However, no qualitative research has explored the interactions of JA, body image, and eating behaviors among youth. Twelve youth with a JA diagnosis participated in a semistructured qualitative interview examining their experiences with JA and their feelings about their bodies and food as they …

Love At First Words: A Communication Competency Approach To Romantic Relationship Initiation, Grace E. Wiegand

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Initial interactions are essential to romantic relationship formation, and both parties must desire a second interaction after an initial encounter for the relationship to advance. Many studies have explored the communication styles and tactics that are effective in a person desiring a second interaction from a dating initiation scenario. However, existing research has yet to explain why some communication strategies do or do not result in second interactions. The current study seeks to examine this phenomenon further, testing the extent to which perceived partner communication competence influences a person to want to see another again after an initial interaction. In …

Better Together: Leveraging Existing Research To Evaluate Population Trends, Habitat Selection, And Species Interactions Of Mesocarnivores, Jordan Lee Heiman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Whether from human impacts, climate change, or extreme fires, landscapes around the world are rapidly changing (Foley et al. 2005, Grimm et al. 2008, Bowman et al. 2020). As these landscapes change, it is clear that many ecosystems and species are being negatively affected (Laliberte and Ripple 2004, Butchart et al. 2010, Freeman et al. 2018, Li et al. 2022). With an expanding number of species facing extinction risks, it is critical for agencies to know when and where to focus their limited resources and conservation efforts (Martin et al. 2012, Auerbach et al. 2014, Bal et al. 2018). To …

The Devil In The Bakken, Kennedy Lorraine Delap

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 2008 the oil boom hit North Dakota. The oil brought wealth and human health concerns to the state and specifically, the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. In July of 2024 the largest Clean Air Act Settlement of its kind happened on the reservation due to Marathon Oil emitting thousands of tons more pollutants that regulations outlined. This story dives into the human health effects, advocacy and the difficulty in balancing health and wealth on the reservation.

An Exploration Of Resilience In Native American Older Adults, Georgie Victoria Ferguson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Native American older adults remain underrepresented in psychological research. The unique cohort of participants in this study (born 1924 - 1957) possesses experience and knowledge that can greatly enhance the knowledge base and contribute to the overall understanding of culturally embedded resilience. Participants contributed to the identification of Spirituality and Humor as positive, culturally embedded coping factors through a set of qualitative interviews, and the present study further investigates those specifically identified coping processes using quantitative measures. This research explores how these constructs (measured by the Spiritual Well-Being and Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scales) might counteract (main effect) or buffer …

Comparative Bioinformatic Methodologies In Paleogenetic Pathogen Identification In The Casas Grandes, Victoria Lynne Giovannangelo

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The application of metagenomic tools to further elucidate ancient DNA (aDNA) holds promise in paleopathology, particularly for inferring disease patterns in ancient populations, especially in those that are understudied. This study conducts a comparative analysis of the efficacy of taxonomic pipelines--Kraken 2, HOPS/MALT, and HAYSTAC--in detecting pathogens within highly degraded aDNA samples extracted from 22 Medio Period Paquimé individuals from the Casas Grandes archaeological site in Northwest Mexico. The taxonomic results from the pipelines are compared with contamination detection program mapDamage, although concerns arose about the latter program’s ability to work with prokaryotes. Additionally, the findings are compared against prior …

There's Still Time To, Lily Kip

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There's Still Time To is a body of work composed of 51 photo-derived oil paintings. Each piece illustrates a relational situation which resists straightforward interpretation and generates infinite narrative possibilities. My source images come from my adolescent engagements with smartphone photography and social media, but the painted results are not focused on "photography" as a subject. Instead, I paint the photo to re-tread old memories and old relationships. The ambiguity of each figurative situation reflects the lived experience of relating to others and also serves as an invitation to the viewer who must base any assumptions about the painting on …

Cullet, Celia Alice Easton Koehler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

“Cullet” is an industry term for the refuse and smashed-up glass added to new material in the process of making new glass. It is related to the word “cull” from the old french “to collect” or gather. This collection of poems picks up the term as a framework for investigating the piece-meal of daily life, tracing relations between the individual and collective, and also tracing vantage and scale; shifts of where and how the speaker directs their gaze. The poems are invested in assembling an ethos of the domestic that recasts “the domestic” to include more public sites of daily …

Indigenous Access And Use On Private Land: A Toolkit For Heart Of The Rockies Land Trust Members, Ian James Craighead

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Ambient Air Quality On Asthma Outcomes In California, Abigail Obour

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study investigates the relationship between ambient air quality and asthma-related health outcomes in California, focusing on emergency department visits and hospitalizations from 2005 to 2022. Despite California’s strict air quality standards, individuals still face significant pollution challenges contributing to poor respiratory health, particularly among vulnerable populations. Therefore, this study looks at how fine particulate matter (PM2.5) affects asthma outcomes using panel data from 37 counties. A fixed effects regression model is employed to control for unobserved heterogeneities that are constant over time but vary across individual counties, ensuring robust estimates of the impact of pollution on health outcomes. This …