Digital Commons Network^™

Using Improvement Science To Study The Influence Of A Self-Regulatory Skills Intervention Program Within The Pre-Referral/Student Study Team Process, Abbie Sian-Stirone

Theses and Dissertations

The Dissertation in Practice (DiP) details a continuous improvement study utilizing Improvement Science and Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to refine a school site's pre-referral/Student Study Team (SST) process. The need for this systemic refinement was driven by reported district-level equity concerns regarding the overrepresentation of Latinx students in special education. The study investigated the influence of a targeted Self-Regulatory Learning (SRL) Intervention Program, which leveraged an SRL Reflection Tool to teach explicit metacognitive and self-management strategies to Latinx students identified as at-risk of special education referral. Conducted in an urban public intermediate school, the research employed qualitative and quantitative data to …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Lanthanide Extended Structures And Their Novel Transuranic Analogues, Hunter Bernard Tisdale

Theses and Dissertations

The United States owns a substantial amount of radioactive waste as a result of decades of research, weapons manufacturing, and nuclear energy production. As nuclear energy and research continue to add to our stockpiles of waste, the issue of remediating this waste becomes more pressing. Many of the radioactive constituents of this waste, such as the transuranic (Z > 92) elements, will give off radioactivity at harmful levels for millennia. Thus, a robust method of storing this waste is paramount to ensuring public safety. Currently, nuclear waste is being processed by vitrifying it in borosilicate glass. However, this method has shortcomings …

Investigating Connections Among Cognitive Coaching, Student Agency And Achievement In Ninth Grade Algebra 1, Terri Renee Rathburn

Theses and Dissertations

This convergent parallel mixed-methods action research study explored the application of Cognitive Coaching as a student-centered intervention to promote agency and academic achievement in a ninth-grade Algebra 1 classroom. Grounded in Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory and informed by self-regulated learning and agentic engagement frameworks, the study investigated how structured coaching conversations supported students’ intentionality, forethought, self-reactiveness, and self-reflectiveness.

Findings indicate that students who engaged in coaching demonstrated measurable growth in self-reported agency and thematic analysis of coaching transcripts revealed shifts from passive compliance to proactive engagement. While achievement results on the Algebra 1 end of course assessment did not reveal …

Personal Finance Education In Florida: Teaching The Teachers, Jessica Morey

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods action research study with an explanatory sequential design investigated teacher financial capability and financial well-being in advance of a mandate that will require high school students in Florida to take a semester-long personal finance course, taught by social studies teachers. Survey results from 47 participants—teachers at a large suburban high school and high school social studies teachers across a Florida school district serving just over 29,000 students—indicated that while most teachers can answer basic financial literacy questions, many lack the financial self-efficacy to ensure their financial future. Teachers had varying experiences with financial socialization. While many had experienced …

Writers Helping Writers: The Power Of Peer Feedback In Student Writing, Heather Palmer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to improve students’ engagement with the writing process by focusing more intently on peer feedback. The study occurred in my sixth-grade classroom in an affluent suburb of a large U.S. city. As an insider to the setting, I used mixed methods to address a problem of practice, having noticed that students were not engaging in revision between their first and final drafts. Through the lens of social constructivism, I examined data collected through surveys, semi-structured interviews, and writing samples. Being both reviewers and recipients of feedback had positive yet distinct impacts on …

Gravitational Perturbations And Quantum Field Interactions In Modified Spacetime Backgrounds, Abhishek Rout

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a study of gravitational perturbations and quantum field dynamics in modified spacetime backgrounds. The research is motivated by the quest to understand how quantum fields behave in curved spacetimes, particularly when extensions to general relativity, such as Chern--Simons modifications, are introduced.

The first part examines quantum field interactions with oscillating solitonic backgrounds, inspired by breather-type solutions of the sine--Gordon equation. Fermion bound states are shown to undergo destabilization due to the oscillatory background, leading to particle production and flux propagation to infinity. These results highlight the challenges of maintaining localized fermionic states in time-dependent topological backgrounds.

The …

The Role Of Language Ideologies In Saudi Elementary English Education: Efl Teacher’S Perspectives And Experiences, Ghanem Saad S Alghuwainem

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how Saudi elementary English teachers understand and enact language ideologies in a period of rapid educational change and national reform. Using a comparative case study of five teachers in Al-Ahsa, the study triangulates semi-structured interviews, classroom audio recordings, and teaching materials to compare stated beliefs with observable practice. The analysis is guided by the theories of English hegemony and language and gender ideology, which together illuminate how global linguistic hierarchies are localized through teachers’ beliefs and practices. Findings reveal that teachers occupy an ideologically complex position as they balance the national push for English proficiency under Vision …

Strategies For Developing Mathematical Identities In Middle School Students, Margaret M. Stevens

Theses and Dissertations

This concurrent mixed-methods action research study investigated the impact of mathematical discourse intervention on seventh-grade students’ mathematical identities and understanding. Twenty students participated in a four-week intervention implementing Smith and Stein’s (2018) five practices plus one framework.

Quantitative results showed curriculum-based assessments improved significantly (p < .001, d = 1.64). State mathematics assessment revealed minimal change in mean scores. The Mathematical Identity Questionnaire revealed positive shifts across all five constructs, with largest gains in Mathematical Initiative (+0.40) and Problem-Solving Persistence (+0.30). Qualitative analysis using Bingham’s (2023) five-phase process revealed three themes: Mathematical Voice Development, Identity Transformation Through Competence Building, and Communal Validation. Social Cognitive Theory and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy integration showed how discourse interventions addressed both individual self-efficacy and systemic inequities. Findings suggest intensive discourse intervention can initiate positive changes in mathematical identity and understanding for struggling students. Implications include restructuring mathematics instruction to prioritize student discourse and voice, creating more equitable learning environments.

Influence Of Channel Geometry And Inflow Hydrograph On Hydraulics And Air Volume Around Shafts Of A Stormwater Main, Lylie Vindie Wilkie

Theses and Dissertations

Stormwater management in urban areas is complex, in part because of difficulties related to modeling water flowing in closed conduits, as well as to controlling odor, noise, and pipe corrosion. This thesis summarizes the main findings of a study on how changes in inflow discharge and the geometry of a stormwater main may affect water flow, and how changes in water depth impact air volume and pressure around an air shaft. The study is conducted using CHAN, a one-dimensional model that simulates both flow hydraulics in mains and associated changes in air volume and pressure around air shafts. Main difference …

Determination Of Tensile Strength Distribution Of Single Carbon Fibers At Microscale Gagelengths, Karan Deepak Shah

Theses and Dissertations

High performance carbon fibers are widely used as reinforcements in composite material systems for aerospace, automotive, and defense applications. The tensile strength of commercial fibers is significantly less than its theoretical limits. The composite systems are often overdesigned, thus any increase in the fiber tensile strength can yield significant cost and weight savings. Modification of fiber surface treatment (sizing) during manufacturing is a potential route to enhance fiber strength. Single fiber tensile testing at millimeter-scale is typically used to characterize the effect of sizing on the fiber strength. However, the longitudinal tensile failure of a composite system is a result …

Parental Attitudes And Expectations Regarding Piano Study For Their Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Lin Zhong

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates parental attitudes and expectations regarding piano study for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Although music has been recognized for its therapeutic and educational benefits among individuals with ASD, research examining these outcomes from the perspective of parents has been limited. This study focuses on in-depth interviews with nine parents of children with ASD enrolled in the Carolina LifeSong Initiative, a specialized piano program serving students with diverse developmental disorders.

The interviews explored parents’ motivations for initiating piano study, expectations for both musical and non-musical outcomes, and observations of their children’s growth and challenges through music. Parents reported …

Multiphysics Modeling, Analysis, And Design Of Ceramic Hollow Fiber Membranes For Oxygen Separation, Hamed Abdolahimansoorkhani

Theses and Dissertations

Oxygen plays a central role in numerous industrial processes. Several technologies have been reported for producing oxygen from air. Among them, oxygen transport membrane (OTM) technology—based on mixed-conducting, gas-tight ceramic membranes—has attracted significant attention due to its high oxygen selectivity, relatively low capital and operating costs, and versatility for both ex-situ and in-situ applications. Mathematical modeling of OTMs offers a powerful tool to investigate internal multi-physics transport phenomena, providing deeper insight into fundamental mechanisms while serving as a cost-effective approach for optimizing membrane stack designs.

After a comprehensive introduction, in the first part of this dissertation (chapter 2), a comprehensive …

Evaluating The Performance And Feasibility Of A Device-Agnostic Approach To Compare Raw Accelerometry And Hr Data From Consumer Wearables To Research Grade Devices In Young Adults, Candy Bryan Mrudula Yalla

Theses and Dissertations

INTRODUCTION: Wearable technologies are increasingly used to monitor physical activity and heart rate in both research and everyday settings. This study aimed to compare accelerometery and heart rate (HR) data from two consumer wearables Apple Watch Series 7 and Google Pixel Watch Series 2, with research-grade devices: the ActiGraph GT9X Link and ActiHeart 5.

METHODS: Twenty-four young adults aged 18–24 years (mean age = 22.4; 54.2% female) participated in a 90-minute activity protocol while wearing the devices. The protocol included structured tasks ranging from rest to vigorous intensity. Consumer wearables and ActiGraph were worn on the non-dominant wrist, and the …

The Role Of Fibroblast Activation Protein On Left Ventricular Growth And Extracellular Matrix Remodeling As A Function Of Age And Pressure Overload, Amelia Marie Churillo

Theses and Dissertations

Fibroblast activation protein (FAP) is abundantly expressed in cancer associated fibroblasts and contributes to extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. Recent studies using imaging techniques have identified increased levels of FAP in the left ventricle (LV) of patients identified as at risk for developing heart failure. However, the role of FAP in regulated LV myocardial structure and function remains unclear. This project tested two hypotheses: First, genetic ablation of FAP would modify LV structure and function and be more pronounced with aging. Second, genetic ablation of FAP would modify LV structure and function with LV pressure overload (LVPO) accompanied by ECM remodeling.

Fue Evocations: A Culturally-Informed Performance Guide To Approaching Works For The Western Concert Flute Inspired By Traditional Japanese Flutes, Chase Michael Ketron

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this document is to create a culturally-informed and aesthetically accurate performance preparation guide for Western concert flute players seeking to perform works inspired by traditional Japanese flutes, or fue, such as the shakuhachi and nohkan.¹ While many pieces like these exist, there are limited resources detailing how to emulate the traditional Japanese flutes and their performance practices. The composers of these works often do well to provide notation for producing the specific sounds or effects they are trying to replicate, but these are non-standardized and thus vary from composer to composer. In addition, the traditional …

Eeg And Media Multitasking: Adhd As A Moderating Factor, Xiaoying Guo

Theses and Dissertations

Media use has become an integral part of everyday life. It has risen dramatically over the past century with the advent of television, computers, and digital platforms, and more recently, it has been characterized by individuals using multiple devices simultaneously (Bushman & Anderson, 2001; Nielsen Media Research, 1998; Rideout & Robb, 2019, 2021). Media multitasking (MMT) has been linked to cognitive control challenges and attentional difficulties. This study examined EEG workload (Fz theta/Pz alpha ratio), survey accuracy, and ADHD traits (ASRS v1.1) in 33 adult participants across baseline and single-versus dual-media conditions. Results indicated that mental workload was significantly higher …

Multilateral Organizations And Health Emergency Management During Crisis: The Case Study Of The World Health Organization During Covid-19 Pandemic, Aya Helmy Hamada

Theses and Dissertations

Multilateral organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), play a key role in managing health emergencies during crises. During the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO achieved significant progress by supporting countries with technical assistance, guidelines, and essential resources. As well as providing technical guidance, sharing information, and coordinating among member states. This experience highlighted the importance of WHO in tackling global public health problems and showed how multilateral collaboration can help address complex challenges. Moreover, risk and crisis communication proved to be a critical part of WHO’s response, ensuring that clear and timely information reached the public and stakeholders. Despite these …

Security And Terrorism Vs Free Expression: Analytical Study On The European Court Of Human Rights, Mariam Adel Massoud

Theses and Dissertations

The 11 of September attacks provide a paradigm shift when it comes to protection of national security. It results in a trending vision that prioritized security over national security, which makes it essential to think about balancing national security with free expression as a pillar of democratization. This study focusses on how the balance between freedom of expression and national security interests is achieved. It studies the legal approached of the European court of human rights and its legal assessment to strike this balance. The findings of this analytical study asserts that in order for the ECtHR to achieve this …

Multiscale Modelling Of Eg5: Structural Insights Into Microtubule Interactions, Atp Hydrolysis, And Allosteric Inhibition Mechanisms, Soundarya Priya Alexandar Ms

Theses and Dissertations

The mitotic kinesin EG5 is essential for spindle bipolarity and accurate chromosome segregation during cell division, making it a validated anti-cancer target. Unlike conventional microtubule-targeting agents, EG5 inhibitors offer mitosis-specific action, reducing neurotoxicity. Although inhibitors targeting EG5’s allosteric site-I have been extensively studied, mechanistic insights into inhibition at site-II, and their combined effects, remain underexplored. This thesis systematically investigates the structural and dynamic mechanisms underlying EG5 function and its inhibition using an integrative computational approach.

Conformational analysis, coarse-grained dynamics, all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, and protein network analysis were performed on EG5 motor domain structures and EG5-microtubule complexes. Results show that …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Tier Iii Restorative Practices: An Examination Of The Teacher-Student Mentorship Program And Disciplinary Approaches Towards Students With Disabilities, Jacquelyn M. Van Orden

Theses and Dissertations

This program evaluation was initiated to determine the effectiveness of a one-on-one mentorship program at Maple Grove Middle School. The program emerged in response to a troubling pattern in disciplinary data from the previous school year, of which 18 students received ten or more discipline referrals in 2023-2024. Notably, 14 of these students were classified with a disability, highlighting a disproportionate rate of disciplinary action towards students receiving special education services. In an effort to address this issue, each student was paired with a mentor, with the intent to provide support for positive behavior, and an improvement in academics. This …

Functional Role Of Cysteine Residues In Vtlr Of Agrobacterium Tumefaciens, Suravi Islam

Theses and Dissertations

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a soil-dwelling plant pathogen known for transferring DNA to host plants through a type IV secretion system. Central to its virulence and cellular regulation is the LysR-type transcriptional regulator, VtlR, which controls processes including biofilm formation, motility, tumorigensis, and small RNA expression. Although VtlR’s regulatory role is established, the specific functions of its conserved cysteine residues have only recently begun to be explored. This study investigates VtlR’s four cysteines (C144, C236, C244, and C273) through site-directed mutagenesis and a combination of phenotypic assays and transcriptional profiling. Phenotypic assays confirmed that C144 and C273 are important for proper …

Assessing Inclusion Within Naaee Affiliate Ee Associations And Where To Go From Here, Connor Chilton

Theses and Dissertations

Environmental Education (EE) has a history that has been typically defined by traditionally dominant identities (White, male, able-bodied, etc.). The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) offers a unique position as frontrunners for the field of EE and have the duty to provide an inclusive-minded education for and about the environments throughout the world. Through NAAEE’s affiliate network within the United States, this paper details a glimpse into the work towards inclusion by surveying its leadership position holders about the broad subject and several interconnections of inclusion. Upon completion of the survey, participants who opted to participate in a …

Depression-Related Impairment During The Transition To College: Informing Prevention Efforts Using A Prospective Cohort Study, Nicole A. Kelso

Theses and Dissertations

Depression is a major public health concern in higher education. With college mental health counseling centers struggling to meet the high demand for services, there is a critical need to refine and expand prevention efforts. The first semester as a new postsecondary institution may be an important window for prevention efforts as students are adjusting to new academic and social challenges. This dissertation has three primary aims. Study 1 aims to improve identification of students in greatest need of preventive care and allocation of limited prevention resources. Study 2 seeks to refine understanding of etiological processes contributing to depression during …

Punitiveness In The Modern Era: Gender Roles & Anti-Transgender Attitudes, Haley Brooke Trantham

Theses and Dissertations

Public opinion on punitiveness is an important topic of study because it can influence political elites’ decision making when developing legislation. This study focused on the role gender ideology and anti-transgender attitudes on punitiveness while controlling for religious and political conservatism. The 2020 American National Election Study (ANES) was used to examine the association between conservatism, traditional gender roles, and anti-transgender attitudes on their influence of punitiveness. Three ordinal logistic regressions were run for each type of punitiveness (i.e., death penalty support, crime spending, and felon disenfranchisement). Results indicated that religious conservatives had lesser odds for supporting the death penalty …

Detecting Electrical Submersible Pump (Esp) Failures And Estimating Run Life Using Artificial Neural Networks, Mostafa Ahmed Sobhy

Theses and Dissertations

Electric Submersible Pumps (ESPs) are one of the important artificial lift methods for sustaining production in mature and high-water-cut wells; but may suffer frequent failures due to mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, chemical, and operational failures. These failures can yield substantial deferred production and intervention costs. Plenty of ESP installations are fitted with downhole sensors. Yet, it is observed that the current industry practice underutilizes the wealth of available sensor and operational data and lacks standardized, explainable failure-type identification and classification.

In this thesis, a comprehensive Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) framework was introduced for ESPs that simultaneously estimates remaining …

Progress Towards Confinement Of An Ultracold Neutral Plasma With Electric And Magnetic Fields, Ben Farley

Theses and Dissertations

Ultracold neutral plasmas represent a regime of plasmas that is not entirely described by theory, but is critical to our understanding of many phenomena. Though their low temperature makes observing them more manageable, even "confined" ultracold plasmas do not remain contained for more than a few hundred microseconds. No steady state or long-term confinement of an ultracold plasma created by pulse ionization has ever been demonstrated. In this thesis, the construction of a Penning trap for calcium ultracold neutral plasma is presented. The trap consists of a uniform magnetic field to trap the electrons radially and a quadrupole electric field …

An Investigation Of Sex-Specific Effects Of Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Receptor Signaling In Persistent Reward Seeking Under Punishment, Anna Caroline Toburen

Theses and Dissertations

Addiction involves persistent reward-seeking behavior despite adverse outcomes, with the nucleus accumbens (NAc) critically mediating motivation and cost-benefit decision-making. Dopamine (DA)-responsive neurons in the NAc, specifically D1 and D2 receptors within the NAc are crucial in encoding motivated behavior. However, the specific role of D1/D2 receptors in driving reward-seeking under punishment remains unclear. Preliminary findings suggest a sex-specific effect, with females exhibiting greater sensitivity to the suppressive effects of footshock on natural reward-seeking compared to males. We investigated the differential roles of NAc D1/D2 receptors in modulating reward-seeking behavior under punishment, with a focus on potential sex-specific effects. Using a …

Bartók’S Romanian Folk Dances: A Consideration Of Sound And Movement, Bailey Frame

Theses and Dissertations

Béla Bartók (1881-1945) cared deeply about authenticity in his work. He continually passed by derivative versions, and instead sought the oldest, earliest, most inaugural version of each folk tune to use as that launching point for his compositions. As he collected the Transylvanian folk tunes that would become his Romanian Folk Dances, he disregarded inconveniences like bad weather and exhausting travel, and he doggedly lugged with him a newly invented Edison phonograph. Though it was unwieldy and fickle, the device allowed him to capture folk music in the moment it was created. Not one for sterile auditoriums or music studios, …

Examining The Role Of The M1 Motif Of Abcr1 Srna In Agrobacterium Tumefaciens, Daniel Arango-Cardona

Theses and Dissertations

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a gram-negative alphaproteobacterium that is one of the causative agents of crown gall tumors on plants. Its ability to transform plants using its T-DNA has been studied to improve plant-mediated transformation. sRNAs are small regulatory RNAs that play a role in gene expression in a variety of organisms and bind to target proteins or mRNAs. A. tumefaciens contains two sibling sRNAs, called AbcR1 and AbcR2, which are conserved among alphaproteobacteria. A. tumefaciens AbcR1 and AbcR2 are closely related, exhibiting 69% sequence identity, similar secondary and tertiary structure, and a conserved motif, M2, believed to direct target interactions. …

Validation And Proposed Expansion Of The Data-Driven D Region Model, Kevin M. Watson

Theses and Dissertations

Predicting ionosphere effects on radio wave propagation is critical for communications and over-the-horizon radar systems. The D region is challenging to model for several reasons, one of which is chemical complexity. Ion density changes during sunrise/sunset introduce substantial uncertainty in electron density profiles (EDPs). The Data Driven D Region (D3R) model solves electron densities through an ion chemistry model and assimilates relevant space weather inputs. This study evaluates D3R against the Faraday International Reference Ionosphere (FIRI) and measurements using Very Low Frequency (VLF) propagation paths. Space weather event impacts on D3R EDPs are evaluated during the disturbed period from 8-12 …