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Enthusiastic Educators And Interested Visitors: Investigating The Relationships Between Museum Educators' Enthusiasm And Visitors' Situational Interest, Changchia James Liu

Open Access Dissertations

Informal education environments like museums have become some of the most important educational resources. Although much attention has been paid to museum settings and programs, little is known about how museum educators support visitors’ learning and intrinsic motivation. In particular, there is a need to investigate museum educators’ enthusiasm, considering that enthusiasm is a powerful way of creating an engaging learning experience across various subjects and environments. In this study, I investigate museum educators’ enthusiasm as perceived by adult visitors through the lens of interest development. The results I found (N = 209) indicate a strong positive relationship between museum …

I Just Don't Feel Like I Am The Authentic Me: Navigating Identity And Organizational Identification Through Experiences Of Workplace Incivility, Jennifer S. Linvill

Open Access Dissertations

Workplace incivility is a pervasive problem in organizations worldwide. Given the current political and social climates in the United States, it is a relevant and timely topic that requires further understanding. The current study contributes to this growing body of empirical research by examining how individuals’ multiple identities (i.e., age, gender, national origin, race, sexual orientation) and organizational identification relate to their experiences with workplace incivility. Additionally, this project explores how targets’ experiences with workplace incivility relate to power and control. Through in-depth interviews with individuals who have experienced workplace incivility, the study makes several important contributions.

This study provides …

Do You Smoke?: How Physicians Navigate Conversations About Smoking And Lung Cancer, Mary E. Marshall

Open Access Dissertations

Lung cancer, the second most commonly diagnosed cancer, is a leading cause of death among older adults (Cronin et al., 2018; Siegel, Miller, & Jemal, 2017). While there are numerous health benefits associated with smoking cessation in patients with advanced lung cancer (Gemine & Lewis, 2017; Parsons, Daley, Begh, & Aveyard, 2010), conversations about smoking cessation are infrequent and often lack physician support for cessation (Warren, Marshall, et al., 2013; Wells et al., 2017). Physicians may avoid lengthy conversations about smoking to protect patients from feeling shame and guilt due to the perceived stigma associated with smoking and a lung …

Dissolution And Redemption Of Self In Shakespeare's Four Main Tragedies, Wei Lu

Open Access Dissertations

From the Pre-Platonic Greek culture to the Renaissance, history witnesses the shift from the care of the self, to a renunciation of self, and back to an articulated concern for the self. These changes in how people understood their identity culminate in Shakespeare’s tragedies. It is the purpose of my project to investigate and extend beyond the current thinking about Shakespeare and philosophy. Current scholarship tends to agree with Stanley Cavell’s Disowning Knowledge, which sets Shakespeare’s work in a climate of skepticism. My work argues that a more positive account of moral philosophy better explains the nature of the self …

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Correlation-Based Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling Under Different Patterns Of Missing Correlations, Jing Lv

Open Access Dissertations

Missing correlations often happen in the primary correlation matrices and create major problems for the performance of meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM). In current literature, methodological investigation regarding the performance of MASEM methods paired with a large proportion of missing data is limited. This simulation study was designed to investigate the impacts of missing conditions on the correlation-based MASEM performance, utilizing weighted-covariance generalized least squares (W-COV GLS) with pairwise deletion (PD), W-COV GLS with multiple imputation (MI), and two-stage structural equation modeling (TSSEM) to pool the correlation matrices. Specifically, impacts of the study number (k), the within study sample size …

Self-Other Agreement In Person And Thing Orientations, Miranda M. Mcintyre

Open Access Dissertations

Personality judgments are inherently subjective—perceptions of one’s own traits often differ from perceptions held by others. However, research on personality relies overwhelmingly on self-reports. This lack of methodological diversity threatens the validity and reliability of individual differences research. The current work addresses this common-method bias for person orientation and thing orientation, which are personality traits that reflect interest in different aspects of individuals’ environments. Three studies investigated self-other agreement in these orientations and compared convergence with Big Five traits and vocational interests. Study 1 (N = 193) presents evidence that thirteen individual difference constructs vary in observability and desirability, which …

College Students And Athletes: Identity Adherence, Injury, Illness, Depression, Social Support, And Problem Behaviors, Samuel L. Nekvasil

Open Access Dissertations

College students are at pivotal time in their life for identity development. They are typically away from home for the first time, independently making decisions while also striving to maintain their academic performance. A subset of this population, college athletes, face a number of unique challenges often connected with their potentially competing identities as athletes and students (i.e., athletic and academic identities). In addition, when injury/illness occurs, identity adherence may shift for all students (i.e., athletes and non-athletes) and there is the potential that they may engage in problem behaviors (i.e., risky sexual behavior, illicit drug use, problem alcohol use, …

Fostering Internal Motivation To Respond Without Sexism: A Self-Determination Theory Approach, Laura Ruth Parker

Open Access Dissertations

Internal motivation to respond without sexism (Klonis, Plant, & Devine, 2005) may be a powerful way to combat sexism and gender discrimination. However, little is known about how this motivation develops. Drawing from self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), Experiment 1 demonstrated that teaching people about the harmful consequences of sexism in a way that supported their fundamental human needs for autonomy and competence strengthened internal motivation. However, harm information and fundamental need support only increased internal motivation for participants low in social dominance orientation (SDO; Pratto, Sidanius, Stallworth, & Malle, 1994). Participants low in SDO reported the greatest recognition …

Quality Control Along Supply Chain, Didun Peng

Open Access Dissertations

Product quality is the core competitiveness of a brand, prompting brand-owner continuously to pursue. Learning curve is the tool to improve product quality by variance reduction. At the same time, knowledge depreciation with its negative effects attracts attention. Thus, a comprehensive learning curve is introduced in this dissertation. This research focus to explore the quality improvement along the supply chain. There are three contributions in this dissertation: 1) it provides the supply chain’s optimal distribution of quality improvement to manufacture and its suppliers; 2) it shows the benefit from coordinated quality improvement among the supply chain; 3) it illustrates the …

A Study Of Techniques And Mechanisms Of Vagus Nerve Stimulation For Treatment Of Inflammation, Jesse P. Somann

Open Access Dissertations

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has been on the forefront of inflammatory disorder research for the better part of the last three decades and has yielded many promising results. There remains, however, much debate about the actual biological mechanisms of such treatments, as well as, questions about inconsistencies in methods used in many research efforts.

In this work, I identify shortcomings in past VNS methods and submit new developments and findings that can progress the research community towards more selective and relevant VNS research and treatments. In Aim 1, I present the most recent advancements in the capabilities of our fully …

Electrophysiological And Spatial Orientation Ability Differences In Expert And Novice Aircraft Pilots, Karthik Sukumar

Open Access Dissertations

Exploring differences between experts and novices by observing task-specific performance has been an important area of research in several domains. This study examined differences in expert and novice aircraft pilots based on their cortical activity and spatial orientation ability. Twenty-eight aircraft pilots (eight experts, 20 novices) performed 23 in-flight sequences inside a flight simulator while their cortical activity was recorded using an electroencephalographic (EEG) device. Thirty-two aircraft pilots (11 experts, 21 novices) attempted a 30-question multiple-choice spatial orientation ability test. Outcomes of the study revealed significant differences in cortical activity between expert and novice groups. Novice pilots projected higher mental …

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury In First-Year College Students: The Testing Of A Nonlinear Integrated Model, Natasha Pryde Trujillo

Open Access Dissertations

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is an increasing concern among college students (Whitlock, Muehlenkamp, & Eckenrode, 2008). First-year college students, who are in the midst of transitioning to the college environment, are often at increased risk for problematic behaviors or maladaptive coping as they adjust to the varied changes that take place during this crucial developmental phase (Chickering & Reisser, 1993, Fromme, Corbin, & Krause, 2008). First-year college students may be at particular risk for NSSI engagement because of the developmental, interpersonal, and intrapersonal demands that accompany the transition to college. Further, first-year students who have experienced aversive life events connected to …

Parental Divorce, Parental Conflict Dimensions, Perception Of Gains, Growth, And Parent-Child Relationship In College Students, Matthew M. Welsh

Open Access Dissertations

The primary focus of this study was to examine the possible associations among perceptions of pre-divorce parental conflict, perceived gains of parental divorce, posttraumatic growth, and current relationship quality with parents. The literature review focuses on college student development, empirical studies related to negative and positive outcomes for children, adolescents, and college students of divorce, and factors related to negative and positive outcomes for children, adolescents, and college students of divorce. Findings are based on data I collected from 430 participants from Purdue University. I addressed my questions and tested the associated hypotheses through the use of MANOVA and hierarchical …

The Dark Side Of High-Quality Lmx: Relational Tensions And Their Impacts On Leaders And Members, Lusi Wu

Open Access Dissertations

As one of the most popular approaches to study leadership, the leader-member exchange (LMX) theory focuses on the dyadic relationship between a leader and a member (Gerstner & Day, 1997; Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995). It posits that supervisors develop different forms of exchange relationships with followers (Sparrowe & Liden, 1997). Low quality LMX is more like economic exchange based on mutually agreed on duties, while high quality LMX is characterized by trust, support, loyalty, and commitment (Uhl-Bien & Maslyn, 2003). Past LMX studies have documented and supported many positive outcomes for high-quality LMX subordinates, such as higher job satisfaction, organizational …

Efficient Fast Computing For U-Statistics Via A-Optimal Subsampling, Mingao Yuan

Open Access Dissertations

U-statistics has been widely studied and used in both statistics and machine learning. One challenge in application of U-statistics is the intensively demanding computation. In this thesis, we propose subsampling method to fast compute U-statistics. Our work is fourfold: (1) we formally accommodate uniform subsampling to fast computing of U-statistics; (2) we propose A-optimal subsampling method, which outperforms uniform subsampling method in terms of MSE; (3) we provide a method to approximate the A-optimal subsampling probabilities, since the running time of the A-optimal subsampling probabilities is the same as the full sample U-statistics; (4) we get the limiting distribution of …

Postsecondary Stem Paths Of High-Achieving Students In Math And Science: A Longitudinal Multilevel Investigation Of Their Selection And Persistence, Soohyun Yi

Open Access Dissertations

This study used a quantitative approach to investigate high-school students’ talent-development pathways in STEM from 10th through 12th grades and for 8 years thereafter. The purpose of this study was to longitudinally investigate three important choices and accomplishments on the STEM talent development trajectory: a) selecting a STEM major in college; b) persisting with the STEM major until graduation; and c) selecting a career in STEM after college graduation. Given that students with gifts and talents are more likely to persist and succeed in STEM fields than average achievers, and understanding their unique needs may be the first important task …

Early Turn-Taking Prediction For Human Robot Collaboration, Tian Zhou

Open Access Dissertations

To enable natural and fluent human robot collaboration, it is critical for a robot to comprehend their human partners’ on-going actions, predict their behaviors in the near future, and plan its actions accordingly. Specifically, the capability of making early predictions can allow robots to determine the precise timing of turn-taking events and start planning and executing preparative tasks to take the turn. Such proactive behavior would save waiting time and increase efficiency and naturalness in collaborative tasks.

To that end, this dissertation presents the design and implementation of an early turn-taking prediction framework, centered around physical human robot collaboration tasks. …

Associations Between Physical Frailty And Cognitive Functioning Using Factor Analysis, Ni Sun-Suslow

Open Access Dissertations

While there are several proposed definitions, Fried et al. (2001) is the first study to define the physical characteristics of frailty. To date there have been few attempts to validate this criterion. Further, there is a long-standing and growing interest in the relationship between frailty and cognitive impairment. Few studies have investigated this relationship using an unmodified Fried criterion and cognitive measures beyond a mental status screener. We first examined whether the physical indicators of Fried phenotype cluster together to describe frailty syndrome using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and we further explored the association between frailty as a latent variable …

Middle East And North African International Students: Precollege Characteristics And Student Engagement, Mohamed Magdy Hassan Zaki Anis

Open Access Dissertations

Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) international students are among the largest and most rapidly growing populations studying at U.S. colleges and universities, yet little is known about their academic and social engagement on campus. The literature on this student population shows that MENA international students arrive in the United States with a set of particular challenges that inhibit their potential to fully engage academically and socially during their college experience. These challenges include language barriers, difficulty adapting to the American classroom teaching style, culture shock, and cultural differences (Abo Rabia, 2015; Al Murshidi, 2014; Burt, 2004; Carty et al., …

The Role Of General Psychological Processes In The Association Between Parental Rejection And Lgb Youth Internalizing Problems, Brian Edmund James Richter

Open Access Dissertations

Upward of 70% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth experience some degree of negative parental reaction to their sexual orientation, which is problematic in light of data documenting an association between parental rejection and internalizing problems in these youth. While emerging studies have begun to study mediating factors, this research is limited and has significant gaps. To the author’s knowledge, the current study is the first to examine longitudinal data in this area as well as to investigate general psychological processes (i.e., factors common to all youth and known to be linked to youth mental health outcomes) that may …

Spinal Cord Neural Interface In Common Marmosets, Shubham Debnath

Open Access Dissertations

Patients suffering from paralysis or amputations can benefit from neural prosthetics to restore movement, such as control of a robotic limb for self-feeding or cursor control from communication. Current neuroprosthetics rely on stable, high quality recordings from chronically implanted microelectrode arrays in neural tissue. Microelectrodes implanted in brain tissue can be affected by multiple abiotic and biotic factors that lead to degradation in recording quality, ultimately resulting in electrode failure. While chronic electrophysiological recordings and electrode failure modes have been reported from larger non-human primates, studies in primary motor cortex from the marmoset model have not been previously described. The …

Effects Of Cognitively Guided Instruction On Teacher Created Opportunities To Engage Students In Problem-Solving, Uma Gadge

Open Access Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of a two-year long professional development (PD) program called Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) on teachers’ instructional practices for engaging students in problem-solving in elementary mathematics classrooms. The treatment involved sixteen days of CGI PD across two years. Forty-two and forty-seven teachers’ classrooms were observed and videotaped during first- and second-years, respectively. Videotaped classroom instruction was coded, and the resulting data were analyzed to compare students’ problem-solving opportunities between CGI and non-CGI classrooms. This study found that CGI teachers were more likely (than not), in comparison to non-CGI teachers to provide their students with various problem-solving …

Modulating Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy And Sensory Dysfunction In Drosophila, Jennifer M. Brazill

Open Access Dissertations

The number of individuals living beyond a cancer diagnosis continues to increase due to advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Unfortunately, most cancer therapies are associated with a range of complications that can affect the course and completion of treatment as well as patient quality of life. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a serious side effect of many commonly used chemotherapeutic agents, including the microtubule-targeting agent paclitaxel. Sensory symptoms typically present in the distal extremities and include feelings of numbness, spontaneous pain, and abnormal or exaggerated sensitivity. Currently there are no neuroprotective or effective symptomatic treatments for CIPN. The in …

Teachers' Negotiation Of Curricular Adaptation: Understanding The How And Why In Intensive Reading Settings, Lindsey A. Chapman

Open Access Dissertations

The adoption of packaged curricular programs to promote literacy for adolescent struggling readers (ASRs) has become progressively more widespread as a result of increasing policy and accountability pressures. Greater attention is now being paid not just to what program is being used, but how it is being implemented. Yet, teachers are largely left out of decision-making with regard to curriculum and implementation. For teachers tasked with providing remedial instruction to ASRs, pressure to implement a program “with fidelity” are compounded by expectations related to high-stakes testing and accountability. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences and …

Military Life, Intersectionality, And Deployment: The Social Experiences And Difficulties Of Mothers Who Stay Behind, Roberto Cancio Jr

Open Access Dissertations

Studies on the military family are important because it sheds light on the phenomenon of the family, it offers a unique insight into the largest single government employer in the nation, and issues addressed surrounding it can have important implications for the further development of both health and military policy. Prior research on families has consistently found that social relationships, especially close personal relationships, like marriage, have important health consequences. For that reason, understanding the impact of military life on spouses is of great importance. However, most studies have examined spouses individually, rather than concurrently as families. Empirical research has …

Neural Basis Of Repetitive Negative Thinking In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Catherine Ann Burrows

Open Access Dissertations

Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience co-occurring internalizing problems, yet little is known about cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying this comorbidity. Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) about self-referential information is a cognitive vulnerability factor across multiple diagnostic groups with well-characterized neurobiological underpinnings. Youth with ASD may be at heightened risk for RNT due to their perseverative cognitive style, which could account for the relationship between ASD and internalizing problems. This study investigates the interaction of brain networks involved in self-referential processing (i.e., the default mode network, DMN) and cognitive inflexibility (i.e., the salience network, SN) to confer increased risk …

Examining The Effects Of Narrative-Based Interactivity And Its Two Types For Serious Digital Games, Chun Zhou

Open Access Dissertations

Health games have become an innovative tool for strengthening interventions, and these games are found to be effective in improving health outcomes. However, an underexplored question in ongoing research is why games are able to produce the desirable outcomes. To address this question, the current study evaluates the effectiveness of a specific game feature: interactivity. Considering that the effect of interactivity depends on how it is conceptualized and categorized, the current study focuses on two types of narrative-based interactivity: character-based interactivity and plot-based interactivity. Using a narrative-based digital health game, the current study examines how these two interactivity features affect …

Oral Health Related Quality Of Life, Dental Care Utilization, And Serostatus Disclosure Among Hiv-Positive Women In The Women’S Interagency Hiv Study (Wihs) Cohort, Carrigan Parish

Open Access Dissertations

Persons living with HIV are more likely than HIV-negative individuals to experience oral health problems, yet are also more likely to have unmet dental care treatment needs. Dental needs among HIV-positive individuals can also be more severe and difficult to manage compared to the general population, often contributing to the onset of opportunistic oral infections. Furthermore, dental problems in patients with HIV can be associated with low CD4 counts and poor immune function. Due to the underutilization of dental services, oral health problems and symptoms, especially those that are related to HIV infection, remain prevalent in this population. Neglected dental …

A Comparative Study Of Whether The Relationship Between Moral Reasoning And Academic Misconduct Differs Between Traditional And Nontraditional Students, Janiel Francisco Vargas

Open Access Dissertations

Academic misconduct exists among undergraduate and graduate students from diverse backgrounds and continues to undermine higher education. To better understand the decision to engage in such behavior, this study examined whether the relationship between moral reasoning and academic misconduct differed between traditional and nontraditional students. An electronic questionnaire was used to survey a convenience sample of undergraduates at a public university in the Southeast. Three research questions guided the study: (1) Does moral reasoning differ between traditional and nontraditional students? (2) Do unethical behaviors, pertaining to academic misconduct, vary between traditional and nontraditional students? and (3) Does the relationship between …

Examining Periodontal Disease And Cardiovascular Disease Risk - Assessing The Feasibility And Acceptability Of Screening In The Dental Care Setting, Richard H. Singer

Open Access Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S. and is responsible for 1 in 4 deaths annually. While mounting evidence points to an association of periodontal disease (PD) with a significant increase in the risk of CVD, independent of established CVD risk factors, this association has not been studied in Hispanic/Latino populations. Dental care settings offer an untapped health care setting to expand access to screening and early identification of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. However, little is known about dentist or patient viewpoints towards CVD screening in the dental office. The …