Digital Commons Network^™

Gatekeeping Access To Emergency Departments: A Survey Of Hmo Policies, Regina Conway-Phillips

Theses

The purpose of this study is: (1) to determine if the practice of "gatekeeping" to control access to emergency departments by clients is a prevalent practice in nationwide Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs}; (2) to determine if a consistent HMO-wide definition of "life-threatening" emergency medical condition exists; (3) to delineate emergency triage systems used by HMOs; (4) to determine what medical directors perceive is the impact of gatekeeping access to emergency department (ED} services on the timeliness of HMO members receiving ED services; and (5) to see if differences exists in for-profit and non-profit HMO gatekeeping policies.

Game Design Learning: Understanding And Supporting The Game Design Process In Higher Education, John Healy

Theses

This thesis presents a study of the game design process in higher education. The PhD research makes several contributions to the field by developing a model of game design learning through the analysis of qualitative data and creating a number of learning supports informed by this model. The research also proposes the signature pedagogy of game design learning as the studio project and explores the relationship between game design and other design disciplines. These contributions advance the understanding and practice of game design education, benefiting researchers, educators, and designers. As the popularity of digital games has grown in the 21st …

Students With Hidden Disabilities’ Perceptions Of Online Versus On-Campus Education, And Disability Support Services, Susan Young

Theses

A focus on widening access and participation in Higher Education has resulted in increased numbers of tertiary students with hidden disabilities in recent decades, globally. While academic supports at an institutional level are available for this student population, issues are reported with them consistently, which often leads to their non-utilisation. This is one possible explanation for why these students experience inequitable academic circumstances compared to their peers concerning lower grades and welfare levels, and higher withdrawal and failure rates. There is a paucity of research available on adequate accommodations that support the academic success of students with hidden disabilities in …

Deep Learning Methods To Automate Students’ Writing Evaluation For Improved Writing Outcomes, Temesgen Mikael

Theses

Writing is an essential skill for students to master. Nevertheless, it remains the most challenging of the four language skills for many due to various factors, including infrequent writing assignments and inadequate feedback tools. Consequently, there is a pressing need to develop more effective methods for supporting students' writing skill development. In this thesis, the aim is to apply deep learning techniques to automated essay scoring and improve the feedback provided by existing tools. To achieve this aim, this study’s main objective is to compare the predictions made by different deep learning models to identify the most effective approach for …

The Impact Of Big Data Analytics On The E-Commerce Businesses, Riham Mahmoud Saad

Theses

Big data technologies are fundamental to the transformation of the E-Commerce sector in today's information-driven environment. Web server logs, geolocation services, abandoned shopping carts, transaction receipts, social media activity, and other sources of data can be used by online businesses to gather information. A lot of the time, having so much information might be daunting. However, Big data analytics capabilities may provide E-Commerce businesses with insightful information that can be used to better attract and keep customers while also boosting profitability and reducing costs. Big Data Analytics is attracting increased investment from E-Commerce firms. They can not only learn more …

Case Study: The Adoption Of Power Bi Dashboard For Improved Credit Risk Management In The Uae, Reem Saeed Ali Hassan Alnajjar

Theses

Financial institutions will be under pressure to extend loans because of the need to act promptly on loan requests while upholding quality and compliance when servicing customers with competitive banks. In this new era, it is interesting to test existing theories and factors and whether new insights could emerge. Thus, the focus of this qualitative research is to understand factors influencing technology adoption and success and hence, improve credit risk analysis with the help of new advances in technology and dashboards tools such as Power BI and other intelligent systems. This is important to achieve optimal, more secure, and faster …

Ai Chatbots In Uae Government Entities: An Empirical Investigation Of User Adoption And Acceptance Factors, Amna Ali Ghanem Alremeithi

Theses

Artificial intelligence, particularly its chatbot application, has become widely used across diverse sectors, including healthcare, commerce, and banking. Thus, the high traction of these tools led the UAE’s strategic partners to recognize the need to embrace this technology and apply it across its various governmental institutions. As such, this research explores the factors influencing UAE government employees' acceptance and utilization of AI-based chatbots, providing insights into the drivers and barriers to embracing this technology. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) model was modified and used as the basis for this quantitative research methodology. The data …

An Examination Of The Privacy Paradox Phenomenon In The Uae Context, Maitha Majdi Al Ahbabi

Theses

The proliferation of technology and the internet has led to the collection and sharing of personal information online. Privacy breaches and data breaches have become a growing concern, leading to the emergence of the "privacy paradox" phenomenon, where by individuals express concerns about privacy, but continue to engage in behaviors that compromise their privacy. Despite the importance of this issue, relatively little research has been conducted in the UAE on the topic of the privacy paradox. This study aimed to investigate the presence of the privacy paradox in the UAE and the factors that motivate individuals to use technologies that …

Sex, Drugs, And Secondary Confessions, Kylene Street

Theses

Jailhouse informant testimony in the form of secondary confessions is one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions in the United States. Often, informants receive incentives in exchange for their testimony. This is the first study to incorporate incentives other than reduced sentences. In two experiments, employing a multigroup comparison with 4 levels of the independent variable (Incentive: Legal, Illegal, No Incentive, No Informant), this study explored the influence the type of incentive received by the informant had on jury decision making. The results of Experiment 1 indicated neither perceptions of the informant nor verdict decision making were influenced by …

Modelling The Relationship Between Personality Traits And Basic Emotions: A Multi-Modal And Affective Computing Approach, Brendan Ryan Donovan

Theses

In the field of Psychology, it has long been assumed that one’s personality traits are linked to one’s emotional states. Yet there is a scarce amount of research that has directly quantified the relationships between basic emotional states and Big Five personality traits. Most empirical research has investigated how attributes of emotional states map to a narrow selection of personality traits (Extraversion and Neuroticism) via a single modality (questionnaires). This narrow focus restricts the field’s understanding of the relationship between emotional states and personality traits.

In this research, the Personality Emotion Mapping (PEM) model was developed to map the relationships …

An Examination Of Bilateral Skill Proficiency And The Impact Of A Coach Mentoring Intervention In A Gaelic Football Development Academy, Kevin Murray

Theses

This programme of research had two aims which organised the research into two distinct phases. Phase one examined differences in bilateral skill proficiency and frequency of use between selected and non-selected Under 17 inter-county male academy Gaelic footballers. Phase two explored the coaching practices of three youth Gaelic football coaches in the same youth Gaelic football academy. In phase one, quantitative data from a bilateral skills test and match play analysis from 82 players which were retrospectively grouped as selected (n=19) and non-selected (n=63) to an Under 17 inter-county team revealed that selected players scored significantly higher than non-selected in …

The Development Of A Framework For Training Design Thinking In Industry, Aidene O'Mahony

Theses

The motivation for this research was driven by the growing interest in design thinking. The increasing use of design thinking can be observed through large organisations such as Google and IBM adopting the discipline. Recognized as a driver for innovation, organisations are turning to design thinking education and training as an approach for increasing organisation innovation capabilities. Organisations are often dependent on analytical solutions to solve such problems, which leads to organisations having trouble implementing innovative tools and techniques (Christensen and Overdorf, 2000). Research has emerged that highlights the potential for design thinking as a mediatory between analytical problem solving …

Affordability Culture In Organizations, Taylor Yeazitzis

Theses

Affordability has been a growing interest in organizations over the years. Though affordability is an ever-present issue within organizations, there is a lack of research surrounding affordability culture as an organizational subculture. The current study aims to close this research gap by identifying organizational aspects associated with affordability in which current organizational practices can be evaluated by organization members. To accomplish this goal, 346 participants from NASA, industry, and The University of Alabama in Huntsville were surveyed to understand the organizational aspects associated with affordability. Results indicated that students tended to evaluate affordability in terms of budgets and funding, whereas …

Connecting Bridges : A Critical Disability Reading Of A Silent Voice, Tyler Dickey

Theses

Disability scholars have read stories in the form of manga to see how their depictions of disabilities can be harmful or helpful to those possessing disabilities. Most manga examined in this way usually consists of a story where either only one character is present with a disability, or the story falls within the ‘supercrip’ narrative. Yoshitoki Ōima’s A Silent Voice differs from this trend as it displays multiple characters with different types of disabilities and falls into the slice-of-life genre. This thesis exists to do a critical disability reading of A Silent Voice as a piece of disability literature. I …

The Implications Of Information Load On Usability And Performance In Dashboards, Emily O'Hear

Theses

As learning analytics dashboards become ubiquitous in various industries, understanding how users process data and information is crucial to their design. Previous literature has brought valuable knowledge to dashboard design and cognitive load, but it is unclear how individuals perform with and digest a high or low information load. Tradeoffs are present as a dashboard with a lower information load requires more clicks and a dashboard with a higher information load could lead to information overload. This study presented a data-rich and minimalistic dashboard to active-duty airmen at Fairchild Air Force Base. Results indicated that participants largely preferred the data-rich …

Data In Action Story : Sharing And Exploring Earth Science Data, Dan Pham

Theses

To fill in the gap between the data vendors, who want to promote commercial datasets, and Earth Science researchers, who want an accessible method to the valuable datasets, the “Data in Action” story concept has been adopted by the NASA Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program to encourage creating and sharing data information in story form. To aid researchers in exploring similar stories in their fields of interest, this researcher created an “Influence Network” within the “Data in Action” framework. The Influence Network is a data visualization feature which gathers information related to story relationships using a concept called “influence.” …

The Impact Of Framing Effects And User Role On Analytics Dashboard User Experience, Carly Gray

Theses

This study considered the design and formatting of data visualizations as framing effect catalysts among leader and subordinate Air Force personnel. Gain and loss framing was applied to dashboard prototypes by incorporating colors with known population stereotypes (i.e., red and green) and emphasizing completed or remaining tasks. Users’ performance, preferences, and risk tendency were measured in response. Risk-aversion, performance and preference were expected to be higher in the loss frame for leaders and higher in the gain frame for subordinates. Study results did not fully support the involvement of role with framing effects, and main effects were observed for some …

Large Scale Data Transfers In Cloud-Based Systems, Uday Kumar Bommala

Theses

My dissertation focuses on developing a High-performance, Scalable, and Efficient Data Transfer Framework with Configurable and Extensible Features. The exponential growth of high-volume data poses collaboration challenges for big data providers, particularly in global-scale scientific research. The Earth’s scientific sector experiences an ongoing trend of increasing temporal and spatial data resolution, resulting in massive data archives at organizations like NASA, ESA, and JAXA. To facilitate efficient scientific study with partner agencies worldwide, data transfer solutions must handle this vast data volume across platforms at reasonable costs. The dissertation proposes a 3-phase approach (Analysis, Evaluation, and Implementation) to address the implementation …

Optical Transmission Of A Moving Fabry-Perot Interferometer, Nazar Pyvovar

Theses

In this thesis, I consider a novel way of using the Fabry-Perot interferometer - one of the most well-known optical instruments, extensively studied for over a century. I propose to use a moving Fabry-Perot cavity as part of a compound interferometer and find the most important implications of such design in the simplest case of uniform Fabry-Perot cavity motion. I separately build a general theoretical framework with which to analyze arbitrarily moving Fabry-Perot cavities and discuss leading-order effects resulting from non-uniform motion.

Assessing Activity Of Iot Smart Stuff Using Inertial Sensors, Juan Tarrat

Theses

Inertial sensors, including accelerometers and gyroscopes, are commonly used for capturing and quantifying motion and orientation data. IoT devices use inertial sensors to detect user activity. In this thesis we present the use of inertial sensors for determining user interactions with smart objects of everyday use, that we refer to as Smart Stuff. We present a novel use of inertial sensor to assess the use and state of the smart water bottle configured as IoT appliance. Staying hydrated is crucial for health and wellbeing; precise monitoring of user hydration is very important for the elderly and patients with chronic conditions. …

Learning To Calibrate Trust Through Explainability, Amber F. Chesser

Theses

Automation has been implemented in a range of machinery. Providing supplementary information about system processes (i.e., explainability) could mitigate over-reliance and enhance operator awareness of potential anomalies. Trust plays a critical role in human- automation collaboration, as over-trust can lead to misuse or over-reliance, while under-trust can result in disuse or the failure to engage automation when it could enhance performance. Dynamic learned trust and situational trust fluctuate during an operator's interaction with a system and can be influenced by the rate of system failures or workload respectively. Design features like explainability can impact perceived usefulness and help users identify …

Charting And Navigating The "Scylla And Charybdis" Conundrum Of Our Ageing Hearts - Heart Failure & Atrial Fibrillation, Simon Stewart

Theses

Residing on opposite sides of the Strait of Messina between Sicily and Calabria, Scylla and Charybdis were mythical sea monsters (one a fearsome creature, the other a deadly whirlpool) described by Homer. For anyone seeking to navigate that narrow and treacherous passage, avoid one of these lethal threats and you would be devoured by the other. For many populations around the world, the conundrum of successfully preventing and/or treating heart failure (HF) to increase longevity, only to increase the probability that it will increase the number of people living with and dying from atrial fibrillation (AF), represents a conundrum of …

Advance Care Planning In Cancer Patient - Caregiver Dyads, Natasha Michael

Theses

For many, a cancer diagnosis signals death's inevitability and elicits much existential concern. In the quest for life prolongation, many are offered or seek life-sustaining treatments, fail to appreciate a declining trajectory and lack the opportunity to seek information or plan meaningfully for their future.

Advance care planning (ACP) provides an avenue for patients and their caregivers to plan for future care. ACP is defined ‘as a process that supports adults at any age or stage of health in understanding and sharing their personal values, life goals and preferences regarding future medical care’ and is a key quality indicator in …

The Characteristics Of Senior Leadership Teams In High Performing Western Australian Catholic Composite And Secondary Schools, Daniel Michael Groenewald

Theses

The purpose of this research was to explore the perceptions of principals, senior leadership team members, and middle leaders regarding the characteristics of senior leadership teams (SLTs) in high-performing Catholic Education Western Australian composite and secondary schools (CCSS). The study investigated the characteristics that enhanced and inhibited SLTs. It explored the resources and professional learning that could improve SLTs and the role of the principal in the SLT. This research is the first study of SLTs in CCSS.

The study's literature review identified six areas of literature that formed the conceptual framework of this thesis. These six areas were: the …

The Temporal Development Of Breastfed Infants' Gut Microbiome At 1 Week And 3 Months Of Age, Faith Mhembere

Theses

No abstract provided.

Household Recycling Behaviour In Metropolitan Australia: A Social Practice Theory Perspective, Susann Noe

Theses

Australians generate almost 545kg of annual kerbside waste per capita, one of the highest amounts compared to other OECD countries (Blue Environment, 2022). Although kerbside systems in Australian metropolitan areas are well-developed and the recycling practice is considered a social norm, residents' inaccurate handling of recyclable items send as much as 35% of valuable recyclable materials to landfill, contributing to environmental harm (Cleanaway Waste Management Limited, 2021). Furthermore, newly established recycling schemes in Australian jurisdictions are not used to their full potential.

In the context of both issues, the current thesis aims to understand the underperforming nature of recycling practices …

Professional Standards: Regulating Behaviours And Values In Nursing - Intentions Versus Outcomes, Sally Robertson

Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the Registered nurse standards for practice in relation to the policy intentions for the profession and implications for the recipients of care.

Case study methodology with Bourdieu’s field theory and theory of practice as a philosophical lens and interpretive description were used to provide a framework for data collection, analysis, and reporting. There were four units of analysis: document analysis; feedback from senior leaders; nurses working in higher education; and nurses working in clinical practice. Through both historical and contemporary document analysis, the intentions underpinning the development of the Standards policy were …

The Perceptions Of Year 5 And 6 Students, Their Teachers And The School Principal Of Their Australian Identity And The School's Role In Developing Students' Australian Identity., Renae Nahajski

Theses

The aim of this qualitative research was to investigate the perceptions of Year 5 and 6 students, their teachers and the school principal of their Australian identity and the school’s role in the development of Australian identity. The study explores participants’ perceptions of their own identity and investigates where and when students feel they are taught about Australian identity.

The research also investigates where and when the principal and teachers feel the school develops students’ Australian identity. The review of the literature highlighted three areas that formed the conceptual framework for the study. The three areas were national identity; curriculum; …

Wellbeing In The Outdoors: Exploring The Impact Of An Outdoor Adventure Education Program For The Social And Emotional Wellbeing Of Western Australian Adolescents From Selected Independent Schools, Michael Down

Theses

Outdoor adventure education (OAE) programs encompass practical outdoor activities, such as hiking or canoeing, and activities promoting interpersonal and intrapersonal development. Participants are challenged in a manner that appeals to typical risk-taking behaviours common in adolescents, resulting in benefits such as resilience development, personal growth, individual empowerment, and self-efficacy. OAE is commonly used to support positive physical, emotional, and psychological changes among adolescents.

This research aimed to determine the most impactful OAE activities for adolescent wellbeing. A sequential mixed-methods research design using a pragmatic approach was undertaken to identify the most impactful OAE elements for participant wellbeing. This research involved …

Improving Care In End-Stage Dementia With The End Of Life Care Assessment Tool For Advanced Dementia: A Multi Method Study, Carolyn Heather Bourke

Theses

Introduction

Often people living with advanced dementia do not receive person-centred palliative care until they are terminal. Two common barriers preventing provision of person-centred palliative care is staff’s uncertainty of dementia severity/stage and insufficient staff training in dementia symptom assessment. Evidence suggests that residential aged care nurses would benefit from gaining access to a measure that can build essential knowledge and skills in identifying advanced dementia symptoms, to ensure that planned care and support is responsive to the needs of the individual. The aims of this project were to develop and validate an advanced dementia symptom measure for use in …