Digital Commons Network^™

Design And Validation Of An Led-Based Solar Simulator For Solar Cell And Thermal Testing, Matthew Gunther

Master's Theses

An LED-based solar simulator has been designed, constructed, and qualified under ASTM standards for use in the Cal Poly Space Environments Laboratory. The availability of this simulator will enhance the capability of undergraduate students to evaluate solar cell and thermal coating performance, and offers further research opportunities. The requirements of ASTM E927-19 for solar simulators intended for photovoltaic cell testing were used primarily, supplemented by information from ASTM E491-73 for solar simulators intended for spacecraft thermal vacuum testing. Three main criteria were identified as design goals - spectral match ratio, spatial non-uniformity, and temporal instability. An electrical design for an …

English Language Learners In The Dance Classroom: Building Bridges To Rigorous Language Acquisition, Breegan Kearney

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate several aspects of instructing English Learners (ELs) in the dance classroom. The researcher created three essential questions to guide her research: Q1 What specific strategies are currently being utilized by dance teachers to support English Learners in accessing dance-specific language? Q2 What are the opportunities for and barriers to incorporating these strategies? Q3 Does this teaching process have any effect on student engagement in dance class? Thirty dance educators discussed their experiences instructing English Learners in dance content in the form of a digital survey, and rated common strategies for ELs based …

Missing In Action: Locating The Body In Interdisciplinary Studies, Ann Lenore Moradian

Master's Theses

This research project relied on the use of interdisciplinary literature, surveys and interviews to explore the prevalence of the human body and its movement across a variety of disciplines other than movement-based practices, and also to explore perspectives of movement experts regarding the knowledge, skills, and capacities they believed might be related to their practice-based work. In other words, what do movement practitioners and movement experts know, and who cares? The materials gathered were analyzed with the aim of understanding the range of possibilities for future work, and identifying areas of potential discourse, engagement, or collaboration across disciplines. The outcomes …

From Concrete To The Classroom: A Street Dance Toolkit, Tarayjah Hoey-Gordon

Master's Theses

Minimal research exists in the way of successfully and appropriately incorporating the study of Hip-Hop culture into public education dance curriculum. Many of the available resources about this topic are not academic, standards based, or developed through research studies. The purpose of creating a Street Dance Toolkit was to analyze the ways in which access to an extended curriculum based on Hip-Hop culture can be used to expand a dance educator’s knowledge of Street Dance as a formal technique in a public school setting. The process of designing and analyzing the toolkit to establish a formalized street dance curriculum was …

Synthesis And Evaluation Of N-(9'-Acridinyl)-O-Phenylhydroxylamines, Jana Forster

Master's Theses

Anilinoacridines are a class of compounds that are known to intercalate DNA. This class of compounds can be used as a target therapy to combat cell growth and replication. The anilinoacridines, DNA, and topoisomerase II will form a ternary complex that results in numerous strand scissions leading to apoptosis. Previous research has shown that the anilinoacridines can have a short half-life and produce harmful side products as a result of hydrolysis. The half-life could increase if this structure was slightly altered by making a molecule that does not readily hydrolyze. N-(9’-Acridinyl)-O-phenylhydroxylamines can be synthesized in three steps starting with commercially …

Fostering Resilience: Integrating Positive Character Strengths With Dance Making Skills To Help Young Children Cope With Adversity, Laura Vormwald

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate how involvement in a choreography unit focused on positive character strengths could increase confidence in strengths that foster resilience. Research shows that building resilience is the key to helping children overcome adversity and trauma. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to answer the three research questions in this study. Q1 Does involvement in dance making build students’ character strengths? Q2 Which character strengths are best developed through dance making? Q3 Which inspirations for dance making relate most thoroughly to the selected character strengths? The research instruments used were a pre and …

Physiological And Anatomical Responses Of Douglas-Fir And Lodgepole Pine To Bark Beetle Attack And Blue-Stain Fungi Inoculations, Robert Walker

Master's Theses

Bark beetles are important native insect pests to conifer forests in North America and their irruptive beetle populations are of serious concern both ecologically and economically. As bark beetles bore into the phloem of a host tree to excavate brood galleries, they simultaneously deposit spores of blue-stain fungi. Both the partial girdling of the tree’s phloem by beetles and the blockage of xylem by fungi can overcome the tree’s defenses and cause its death. To combat colonization by insects and pathogens, conifers allocate large amounts of metabolic resources into defense mechanisms, of which, resin ducts play important roles. As resin …

A Restorative Resource: Dance-Based Non-Profits That Operate To Benefit Sex Trafficked Victims, Jessica Coleman

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to bring awareness to dance-based non-profits which operate for the purpose of being a restorative resource for victims of sex trafficking. The goal of the researcher was to answer these five essential questions: Q1 What is the structure of the program? Q2 What are the outreach strategies being used to bring in participants? Q3 What kind of curriculum is being used in the program? Q4 What are the benefits that dance-based non-profits provide for victims of sex trafficking? Q5 How are the benefits of these programs being measured? This research was significant because with …

Participation In Ballroom Dancing: The Effects On The Social And Emotional Intelligence Of Adolescents, Ashley Baxter

Master's Theses

The goal of this study was to determine the impact that ballroom dancing had on the social and emotional intelligence of adolescents as well as to examine which areas of social and emotional intelligence were most affected by participating in ballroom dancing. In the text Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning: Research and Practice, there are five competencies of social-emotional intelligence as defined by Celene E. Domitrovich et al.: “. . . self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making” (6). The researcher examined the effect that ballroom dancing had on four out of five of these social-emotional …

Dignity And Respect In The Salsa Dance Classroom: Fostering Healthy Self-Esteem To Promote Compassion, Diana Sanchez

Master's Theses

Many students that have attempted to take salsa dance classes often express their disillusionment in the way in which they are treated by salsa dance instructors. Salsa dance classes have the possibility to function to awaken in the student greater integration with the society in which people live, while stimulating actions, improving self-esteem, and self-confidence, improving vocabulary, awakening sensitivity, attenuating shyness, as well as increasing communicative and social skills. If the content of a course is well designed and delivered with an intentional student-centered approach, it can positively contribute to greater and more sincere learning. In this sense, the objective …

With A Little Help From My Friends: Determining The Role Of Physical Activity And Belonging In Retention Of First-Year University Students, Bryson Kelly

Master's Theses

There exists an issue facing colleges and universities across the United States. Roughly 29% of first-year students do not return for their second year of school. Previous research has shown a significant relationship between a student’s sense of belonging or fit within the university and their decision to continue enrollment (retention). Physical activity has also been shown to have a significant relationship with a sense of belonging. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine if physical activity and sense of belonging predict retention of university students from their first year to their second year using a Relationships …

Strictly Ballroom: Examining How The Culture Of Collegiate Ballroom Dance Influences Body Image Perceptions, Rachel Neil

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence that collegiate ballroom dance programs have on participants’ body image perception and self-esteem and to identify what sort of effect those perceptions have on performance satisfaction. In this project the researcher surveyed twenty-four students, ten males and fourteen females, who were presently involved in a collegiate ballroom dance program with a goal of identifying what sort of influence the culture of their ballroom dance programs had on each participant’s body image and self-esteem. The research instrument used in this study was an electronic survey that included yes or no questions, …

Facilitating The Acculturation Of Children Among Russian Immigrant Mothers, Anna Goncharova

Master's Theses

While biculturalism is considered the preferred strategy of acculturation for most, the existing research does not address the degree to which immigrant mothers support bicultural acculturation of their children and how these mothers enact biculturalism. Although existing research demonstrates that parental involvement and social capital of immigrant parents are important for the success of their children, studies do not delineate the personal meanings and the process of maternal involvement in the acculturation of their children into American society. This research addresses these questions and describes maternal goals towards acculturation and depicts how Russian immigrant mothers facilitate acculturation of their children …

Desire And The Power Of Practice: Queer Sexual Perspectives, Philip W. Kemp

Master's Theses

This research provides a theoretical analysis of the lived experiences of 17 queer individuals, ages 19 to 66, regarding their sexual desires and practices. Queer Theory is incorporated to inform on sex, gender performance and sexuality as social constructs, to inform grounded theoretical concepts, and to identify expressed social behavior by each participant. Social Exchange Theory is used to analyze participant responses. Modified grounded theory is incorporated to posit a particular social exchange that I refer to as the queer exchange; in which particular costs/benefits are considered before queer individuals engage in social exchanges due to their potentially (un)perceived queerness. …

The Impact Of A Casve-Cq Enhanced Intervention On Group Career Counseling Outcomes, Kendall L. Klumpp

Master's Theses

This study aimed to investigate the effect of using the CASVE Cycle Questionnaire (CASVE-CQ) on career group intervention outcomes, specifically career decidedness, negative career thoughts, career decision-making difficulties, and career decision-making self-efficacy. Participants included 45 undergraduate students who receive scholarships from a student retention program which includes a career group intervention as a requirement to receive the scholarship. It was predicted that the use of the CASVE-CQ would result in greater increases in career decidedness and career decision-making self-efficacy, as well as greater decreases in negative career thoughts and career decision-making difficulties compared to those receiving the same intervention that …

My Child’S Keeper: Child Vulnerability And Quality Of Life On Parental Stress And Grit, Abigail Armstrong

Master's Theses

There is a reciprocal relationship between parenting stress and child distress that has been well documented (e.g., Rechenberg, Grey & Sadler, 2017). These effects generalize to physical outcomes such that higher maternal depression has been associated with poorer child health-related quality of life (HRQOL; Jaser, Whittemore, Ambrosino, Lindemann, & Grey, 2008). In the same way that parental distress has been shown to affect the child, parental perceptions of child vulnerability in children with chronic illness has also been associated with negative outcomes, including child depressive symptoms (Mullins et al., 2004), increased health care use (Spurrier et al., 2000), and increased …

​Burned Out But Barely Begun: A Qualitative Study On Newer Clergy And Communication Surrounding Emotional Labor And Personal Well-Being In South Mississippi, Lauren Noll

Master's Theses

This study provides an overview of the concepts surrounding clergy burnout,

organizational culture, and emotional labor theory. Furthermore, it explains the need

for  clearer understanding of clergy perceptions of their own personal

experiences with burnout and their emotional wellbeing in relation to their organizational environment and careers as clergy members. The methodology of qualitative interviews sought to understand the narratives and experiences of clergy members from their own words and worldviews rather than from a statistical basis or analysis.

This research found answers to key questions involving communication about burnout in the context of organizational culture and emotional labor, including …

Navigating Hate: The Public Deliberation Of Matthew Shepard And Hate Crime Legislation, Abigail Barnes

Master's Theses

Since Matthew Shepard’s murder in 1998, his narrative has been recirculated to justify a federal hate crime statute and Shepard has been used as a symbol for the demand for hate crime legislation. This study seeks to evaluate how Shepard is used in public deliberation, the role of private organizations in the public deliberation of hate crime legislation, and the discursive history of the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act of 2009. Through a rhetorical criticism, this study finds that the nuances of Shepard’s narrative are abandoned in order to construct him as a “permissible” symbol for LGBTQ+ protections. However, if …

An Exploratory Study Of Pulse Width And Delta Sigma Modulators, Logan B. Penrod

Master's Theses

This paper explores the noise shaping and noise producing qualities of Delta-Sigma Modulators (DSM) and Pulse-Width Modulators (PWM). DSM has long been dominant in the Delta Sigma Analog-to-Digital Converter (DSADC) as a noise-shaped quantizer and time discretizer, while PWM, with a similar self oscillating structure, has seen use in Class D Power Amplifiers, performing a similar function. It has been shown that the PWM in Class D Amplifiers outperforms the DSM [1], but could this advantage be used in DSADC use-cases? LTSpice simulation and printed circuit board implementation and test are used to present data on four variations of these …

Advancing Scool – Game Type Research And Development, Chanelle K. Mosquera

Master's Theses

The proposed project, sCool, is an adaptive game-based learning experience designed for STEM education. In this work, we present a new iteration of sCool in efforts to further examine contributing factors of engagement, usability, and comprehension. The newly developed game experience for acquiring object-oriented programming skills is divided into two parts: concept learning and practical challenge. The concept learning part teaches students theoretical lessons of programming through fun gameplay. The practical challenge part allows students to practice programming by completing tasks. This project presents several new game types for both the concept learning and practical challenge parts. The development of …

Personality And Mood For Non-Player Characters: A Method For Behavior Simulation In A Maze Environment, Noah L. Paige

Master's Theses

When it comes to video games, immersion is key. All types of games aim to keep the player immersed in some form or another. A common aspect of the immersive world in most role-playing games -- but not exclusive to the genre -- is the non-playable character (NPC). At their best, NPCs play an integral role to the sense of immersion the player feels by behaving in a way that feels believable and fits within the world of the game. However, due to lack of innovation in this area of video games, at their worst NPCs can jar the player …

Iot Camera System For Monitoring Strawberry Fields, Simon Schoennauer

Master's Theses

A wireless imaging system for monitoring strawberry fields provides enough quality image data for computer vision algorithms to make meaningful yield predictions. This report contains a design for a wireless sensor network modified with mesh networking techniques to extend coverage range and a solar energy harvesting system to improve sensor node lifetime. A two hop system with six nodes is implemented in a laboratory environment validating the communication systems integrity over an 800’ range. Moving from a primary battery system to solar energy harvesting increases the module lifetime indefinitely.

A Novel Method To Commercialize Medical Devices Initially Developed At California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, Christina Grigorian

Master's Theses

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo is a university that encourages students to approach learning hands-on. As such, there is cutting-edge technology being developed by students in all departments on campus. Being that the university possesses an outstanding biomedical engineering department, there are groundbreaking medical devices that students are creating at Cal Poly SLO. These are devices that can better the lives of individuals suffering from ailments or fulfill needs in the medical industry. Subsequently, it is vital that these devices make it out of campus laboratories and into the hands of consumers. In order to move a product …

Phantom Ocean, Real Impact: Natural Surf Sound Experiments Alter Foraging Activity And Habitat Use Across Taxa, Ryan N. Wardle

Master's Theses

A growing body of research focuses on how background sounds shape and alter critical elements of animals’ lives, such as foraging behavior, habitat use, and ecological interactions (Bradbury & Vehrencamp, 2011; Barber et al., 2010; Kight & Swaddle, 2011; Shannon et al., 2016). Much of this research has centered on the effects of anthropogenic noise (Dominoni et al., 2020; Francis & Barber, 2013; Ortega, 2012; Swaddle et al., 2015), but recent studies have also revealed that natural sound sources can influence animal behavior (Davidson et al., 2017; Le et al., 2019). Natural sounds, such as crashing surf, can create conditions …

Improving Sustainable Fertilizer Practices For Pomegranate By Leaf Nutrient Concentration Evaluation And Fertilizer Trials, Minh Le

Master's Theses

Fruit tree leaf nutrient concentrations are commonly used to determine fertilizer rates, but information is limited regarding nutrient requirements, seasonal N uptake and removal rates, and soil N dynamics for pomegranate. Relationships between fertilizer rates, leaf nutrient concentrations, fruit yield and quality were examined in five mature, commercial California ‘Wonderful’ pomegranate orchards. Site 1 was observed for two growing seasons (2018-2019) and sites 2-5 were observed for one season (2018 or 2019). In 2018, 150, 300, or 450 g N/tree was applied at sites 1-3 in a single application at early fruit development or in two equal applications at early …

B-Plane Targeting With The Spacecraft Trajectory Optimization Suite, Jared Graef

Master's Theses

In interplanetary trajectory applications, it is common to design arrival trajectories based on B-plane target values. This targeting scheme, B-plane targeting, allows for specific target orbits to be obtained during mission design. A primary objective of this work was to implement B-plane targeting into the Spacecraft Trajectory Optimization Suite (STOpS). This work was based on the previous versions of STOpS done by Fitzgerald and Sheehan, however STOpS was redeveloped from MATLAB to python. This updated version of STOpS implements 3-dimensional computation, departure and arrival orbital phase modeling with patched conics, B-plane targeting, and a trajectory correction maneuver. The optimization process …

Simulation Of An Sp8t 18 Ghz Rf Switch Using Smt Pin Diodes, Andre De Souza Vigano

Master's Theses

Radio frequency (RF) and microwave switches are widely used in several different applications including radar, measurement systems, telecommunications, and other areas. An RF switch can control a radar’s transmit vs. receive mode, select the operating band, or direct an RF signal to different paths. In this study, a single pole eight throw (SP8T) switch using only Surface Mount (SMT) components is designed and simulated in Keysight’s Advanced Design System (ADS). Single pole eight throw is defined as one input and eight possible outputs. A star network configuration with series-shunt PIN diode switches is used to create the 8-way RF switch. …

Eelgrass (Zostera Marina) Population Decline In Morro Bay, Ca: A Meta-Analysis Of Herbicide Application In San Luis Obispo County And Morro Bay Watershed, Tyler King Sinnott

Master's Theses

The endemic eelgrass (Zostera marina) community of Morro Bay Estuary, located on the central coast of California, has experienced an estimated decline of 95% in occupied area (reduction of 344 acres to 20 acres) from 2008 to 2017 for reasons that are not yet definitively clear. One possible driver of degradation that has yet to be investigated is the role of herbicides from agricultural fields in the watershed that feeds into the estuary. Thus, the primary research goal of this project was to better understand temporal and spatial trends of herbicide use within the context of San Luis …

Professional Development For Student Employees Of Color, Monica Duran

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to conduct a Participatory Action Research (PAR) project with undergraduate student employees at a large research institution in order to reimagine the career and leadership development programs so that they are responsive to, and supportive of, students who identify as people of color. This would be done using a framework of Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth theory (2005). The participants of this study were five undergraduate student employees who worked within a single department in a division of Student Affairs. The methodology used was Participatory Action Research, which is a methodology in which the researcher …

Hate Speech, Habitus, And Identity Signaling On 4chan’S Politically Incorrect Board, Jonathon Geiger

Master's Theses

Websites, such as 4chan, have provided a place for extremism and hate speech to flourish through anonymous discourse. One group that has been especially important to this growth has been the alt-right. The alt-right is a far-right white nationalist movement that is known for engaging in trolling, creating memes, and generating conspiracy theories. Past research has focused on the amounts of hate speech and characterizing content on the website. However, past studies have not looked at the experience of using the website through the combination of participant observation and content analysis. Here I show that the extensive use of hate …