Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring Servingness Through Pedagogy: A Critical Case Study Of An Hispanic Serving Institution, Yemin Sánchez

Theses and Dissertations

This critical ethnographic case study advances current understandings of what it means to teach at an Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and how faculty enact servingness within an HSI enrolling high indices of Latin@/Hispanic students. Drawing on decolonial, culturally sustaining and liberatory pedagogical frameworks, this study interrogates how constructs such as Hispanic, Latin@/Latinx, or coloniality shape the pedagogical conditions under which faculty operate. Using pláticas with ten faculty members, this research study demonstrates servingness is not a technique or an institutional designation, instead, it is a fluid and deeply humanizing ecology with five mutually reinforcing dimensions: Servingness as Relational Praxis, Servingness …

Teacher Narratives Of Curriculum Implementation In Bilingual Education: A Vygotskian Analysis, Jose F. Orozco

Theses and Dissertations

This narrative inquiry explores bilingual educators' experiences implementing the Amplify Reading curriculum in a diverse, Title I-funded urban district. As schools adopt standardized curricula, tensions emerge between monolingual standards and the needs of bilingual students. Using a Vygotskian framework with Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and Knowledge Structures (KS), the study examines how teachers navigate systemic contradictions and how these tensions influence their professional identities.

Using an interpretivist approach, data were collected via semi-structured interviews, a focus group, and a researcher’s journal from six experienced bilingual educators. Thematic analysis reveals profound structural fractures within the activity system: a primary contradiction between …

Investigating Pre-Service Teachers’ Readiness For Early Reading Instruction: A Mixed Methods Study Of Quantified Knowledge In Phonemic Awareness And Lived Experiences, Kristin Morgan

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the lived experiences of pre-service teachers as they develop their knowledge and instruction skills during a three-week module within their first literacy course in a teacher preparation program. Literacy courses play an important role in equipping pre-service teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote reading development. Research suggests that phonemic awareness is a crucial skill that predicts later reading achievement; however, many teachers lack the necessary experience and knowledge. This gap raises concerns about teacher preparation programs and how pre-service teachers learn. Guided by Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, this sequential explanatory mixed-methods study sought to understand …

Impact Of Multicultural Literature Through Reader's Response, Rachel Konrad

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine how students respond to using five multicultural read aloud texts and responding to them in a response. The goal of this study was to see if student engagement improved as a result of the study and if student comprehension improved through the use of pre and post assessments. Student data was collected that included a pre and post assessment, anecdotal records of student discussion, responses to texts, and student and parent surveys. Students discovered and discussed themes across texts such as cultural identity, community, and belonging.

Foreign Language Experience Effects On L2-Accented Speech Attitudes In College Students, Jordan L. Ellington

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to test whether knowledge of a second language in college students can affect perceptions and prejudices towards speakers with foreign accents. The testing was completed through both implicit and explicit attitudinal measures in regard to recorded audio stimuli. The explicit attitudinal testing was performed through participant self reporting of attitudes. Participants were presented with first (L1) or second (L2) language accented English samples and then rated that speaker in terms of various characteristics or traits that represented the speaker's solidarity and status. The implicit testing was performed in an Auditory Implicit Associations Test on …

Gratitude And The Second Language Writer: The Effects Of Gratitude Journaling In The English Language Writing Classroom, Lauren Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Gratitude journaling interventions have repeatedly been shown to enhance wellbeing when conducted in participants’ first language (Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Sansone & Sansone, 2010), yet no studies to date have examined these practices in second language (L2) contexts. This mixed-methods quasi-experimental study investigated the effects of a six-week gratitude journaling intervention on adult L2 English writers enrolled in an intensive English program. Eleven writing classes (N = 183) were randomly assigned to either a gratitude journaling group or a neutral-events control group, with 123 participants completing all four stages of data collection. Trait gratitude and subjective wellbeing were measured pre-intervention, …

Exploring Subject-Verb Agreement Challenges Among Third-Grade Portuguese Dual Language Immersion Students: A Mixed-Methods Study, Marisa Tobias

Theses and Dissertations

Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs are commonly recognized for supporting the development of oral proficiency; however, persistent challenges with grammatical accuracy, particularly subject-verb agreement, remain common among elementary-aged learners. This mixed-methods study focuses on third-grade students in a Portuguese DLI program and examines how they use present-tense verb forms in different classroom contexts. Drawing on classroom observations, instructional materials, and students’ oral and written production, the study analyzes the nature of the input learners receive and the types of errors that persist during oral communication. Findings indicate that students demonstrate greater accuracy during structured tasks, while difficulties with subject-verb agreement …

Differentiable Objectives For 3d Scene Relighting Via Gradient Descent On Olat Basis Coefficients, Anson Savage

Theses and Dissertations

Designing effective lighting is an iterative and often time-consuming process. This work contributes to automatic lighting design research by presenting a render-engine agnostic optimization routine: gradient descent on RGB multipliers of one-light-at-a-time (OLAT) basis images. We compare several objective functions to accomplish lighting tasks and show that our method is capable of quickly and effectively exploring different lighting styles using either text prompts or reference images. We also present several datasets specific to lighting tasks and show that fine-tuning on these datasets can improve performance.

Robust And Interpretable Cross-Domain Arabic Readability Prediction Using Hybrid Modeling: Evidence On The Limitations Of Transformer-Based Classifiers, Sarah Alzu'bi

Theses and Dissertations

Automatic readability assessment aims to predict how difficult a text is for readers to understand. The concept of readability has been widely studied across languages due to its significant impact on reading comprehension, leading to the development of various methods and approaches. In this study, I addressed two key challenges in readability assessment. First, I examine the performance of statistical classifiers and transformer-based models, including CAMeLBERT(Inoue et al, 2021.) with a focus on their ability to generalize under domain, genre, and stylistic shifts. Second, I investigate the interpretability of transformer performance in readability task, which are often criticized for their …

The Relational Good Life: Entrepreneurship Education And Grounded Sumak Kawsay In Otavalo, Ecuador, Vanessa I. Lozano Hardman

Theses and Dissertations

Indigenous Kichwa communities in Ecuador’s Otavalo region have long participated in local and transnational markets, historically as mindalaes, specialized traders of the northern Andes. Yet in recent years, international development-oriented NGOs have framed entrepreneurship education as newly necessary for economic development. These approaches emphasize individualized narratives of vision, self-reliance, and growth, often characterizing Indigenous peoples as lacking entrepreneurial skills or the appropriate mindset. Drawing on ethnographic research with youth, mothers, and teachers at Saminay–El Legado, an agro- technical, intercultural bilingual secondary school (UECIB) in the parish of San José de Quichinche, this article examines how entrepreneurship education intersects with grounded …

Independent English Teaching In Brazil: A Case Study, Jade G. Gunca

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study investigates the experiences and practices of successful independent English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Brazil who operate outside traditional schools and private language institutes. Rather than providing a broad descriptive profile, this study offers an in-depth examination of a small group of teachers. These educators frequently use social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook to showcase communicative, personalized, and flexible instruction in response to growing learner demand. Although English is widely taught in Brazilian schools, persistent structural constraints often limit students’ development of communicative proficiency, prompting some learners to seek instruction from independent …

Domain-Specific Fine-Tuning Of Neural Machine Translation For Georgian Religious Texts, Jacob Brent Fisher

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates whether domain-specific fine-tuning of a large multilingual neural machine translation model improves translation quality for English-to-Georgian religious text, a low-resource pair underserved by existing systems. Using the 1.3-billion-parameter NLLB-200 model as a baseline, two LoRA-adapted variants were trained: General-FT, on 91,143 parallel segments of contemporary religious discourse drawn from the General Conference talks and other publications of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Scriptural-FT, on 33,229 segments from the scriptural canon of The Church. The three models were evaluated using automated metrics (BLEU, chrF, COMET) covering both domain-matched and cross-domain conditions, and on a …

Answers “Go By Water”: Felt Knowledge As An Alternative Epistemology In Othello, Annalisa Gulbrandsen

Theses and Dissertations

William Shakespeare's Othello is fundamentally a play about epistemology--how does one know what he/she knows amidst the sea of words, evidence, and misdirection? Traditionally, the problem of knowledge in Othello has been treated as an intellectual problem of the mind. However, this thesis argues that the play purposefully draws attention to the limits of what the mind can know by way of the eye (what is seen) and ear (what is spoken or heard), instead offering an alternative epistemology that is felt through embodiment. When Desdemona's words no longer have the power to affect what Othello believes, Desdemona's answers to …

Integrating Traditional Samoan Music With School-Aged Children In Fostering Culturally Appropriate Behaviors Within The Framework Of Fa'afaletui And Multimodal Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Stormi Rachelle Winscot

Theses and Dissertations

Fa’aSamoa, the cultural framework shaping Samoan values, relationships, and daily life, deeply informs educational experiences in American Samoa. Music, as both cultural expression and communal practice, offers a powerful lens through which student engagement can be understood. This exploratory study employed multimodal interpretative phenomenological analysis (MMIPA), guided by the Fa’afaletui framework, to examine how Samoan and Pacific Islander students responded in embodied ways to traditional Samoan, culturally adapted Western, and other Western (folk, classical, pop) music in classroom settings. Drawing on focus group interviews and systematic observations, the study centered students’ movement, vocal expression, rhythmic participation, and peer interaction as …

Utah Secondary English Language Arts Teachers And The Use Of Body Diverse Young Adult Literature, Katy Johnson Bigham

Theses and Dissertations

Representation in young adult (YA) literature has expanded significantly in recent years, but body size diversity - specifically the inclusion of fat protagonists - is still minimal and understudied in secondary English language arts (ELA) classrooms. Research shows that diverse literature plays a crucial role in helping students see themselves and other reflected in the texts they read, as shown in the metaphor of literature as "windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors" (Bishop, 1990). So how does this apply to the representation of body size diversity in the ELA classroom? This study explores how secondary ELA teachers in Utah perceive …

Metonymy In Sound: A Neurolinguistic Study Of Al-Mullalah Soundscape Using Fnirs, Rand Naser Muflih

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis offers an interdisciplinary exploration of the semantic and neurolinguistic development of Al-Mullalah, a traditional Palestinian "coded" song type. By combining metonymy, soundscape analysis, and functional neuroimaging, the study traces the evolution of Al-Mullalah from a localized, covert means of communication tied to historical struggle to a globally recognized auditory symbol of collective resilience. The research uses a multi-method approach. First, soundscape analysis demonstrates how Al-Mullalah functions within Palestinian aural counterpublics, strengthening communal memory through various uses. Second, a qualitative analysis of semantics and themes examines how the text's metonymic structures change over time. Lastly, a Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy …

Artificial Intelligence For Better Inclusive Higher Education: A Study Of A Private University In Cairo, Shereen Ismail

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how artificial intelligence (AI) tools relate to accessibility for visually impaired students in Egyptian higher education, focusing on University Y in Cairo. Grounded in the Social Model of Disability and Universal Design for Learning, it examines visually impaired students’ lived experiences of AI mediated access and the institutional conditions that shape these experiences. A qualitative phenomenological design was used, with semi-structured interviews conducted with visually impaired undergraduate students and key staff involved in assistive technology, teaching and learning, and student wellbeing; data were analyzed thematically. The findings indicate that participants experience AI tools (e.g., chatbots, transcription and …

Development Of Deep Fused Neural Architecture For Ancient Tamil Palm-Leaf Manuscript Recognition, Hariharan P Mr

Theses and Dissertations

Digitizing Tamil palm-leaf manuscripts is important for education, communication, and the preservation of cultural heritage. The complex structure of the Tamil script, the wide range of handwriting styles, and the degradation seen in ancient Tamil palm-leaf manuscripts make these texts very difficult to read and understand. Digital Image Processing (DIP), document analysis techniques, and traditional Optical Character Recognition (OCR) are unable to handle noise, background interference, faded ink, and limited labelled data, motivating the need for robust, effective Deep Learning (DL)- based solutions.

As a prerequisite to understanding and designing effective recognition systems for ancient manuscripts, this thesis first examines …

Does Concurrent Completion Of A Computer Task Interfere With Talking? Comparing Younger And Older Adults, Emma Simpson Hymas

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the impact of a computer-based divided attention task on spoken language and compares the impact between younger (18–30 years) and older (55–82 years) adults. Sixty adults participated in a speaking task and two computer tasks which varied in difficulty. The Level 1 computer task involved highlighting each instance of the word “the” and the Level 2 computer task involved highlighting each instance of the word “the” while also underlining each instance of the word “a”. Each task was completed alone and then two computer tasks with different levels of difficulty were completed concurrently with a procedural discourse …

Bridging The Gap: Exploring The Educational Transitional Experiences Of Foreign-Born Ghanaian High School Students, Samuel Adusei Buabeng

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the gaps and limitations in language transition and the educational experiences of high school students born in Ghana who are English Language Learners. The research analyzed migration patterns within this group and how these experiences affect their integration into the American education system. It also examined whether culture and acculturation influence this transitional process. The study explored the language transition process, learning experiences, and cultural shifts within English-dominant educational systems, emphasizing participants' lived experiences and any challenges they faced during their transition. Although English is Ghana's official language, significant dialectal, exposure, and teaching-quality differences affect students' proficiency …

Using Facial Landmarks For Lip Motion Interpretation Applications, Kimi S. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Facial motion, particularly lip movement, carries rich information about human speech that can be leveraged for a variety of computer vision and speech-processing tasks. Unlike other pixel-based methods, this work investigates the use of facial landmarks as a compact, privacy- preserving, and computationally efficient representation for lip-motion analysis. We evaluate landmark-based models across multiple tasks, including visual voice activity detection (VVAD), lip–audio synchroniza- tion, and visual speech recognition (VSR) for liveness detection. Using LRS3-VVAD1 and LRS22 datasets, we demonstrate that landmark-only models can achieve performance comparable to pixel-based systems for VVAD and synchronization, while significantly reducing parameter counts and inference …

Individualizing Social-Emotional Learning For Infants And Toddlers With Special Needs, Charlotte Marie Quiñones

Theses and Dissertations

Infants and toddlers develop socially and emotionally at different rates, and children with special needs face added challenges that require intentional support. Social-emotional learning (SEL) in the earliest years builds the foundation for school readiness, relationships, and lifelong success. This qualitative case study explored how infant and toddler teachers individualize SEL for children with special needs in one inclusive, culturally diverse early childhood program. Four teachers participated through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and a focus group. Program documents and lesson plans supplemented the data. Guided by the SEFEL framework, double-loop learning, and culturally responsive pedagogy, the study found that teachers …

Disproportionality Of Multilingual Learners In Special Education: A Mixed Methods Study Exploring The Relationship Between Teacher Self-Efficacy And Sheltered Instruction, Jessica Braynor

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract Jessica Braynor DISPROPORTIONALITY OF MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION: A MIXED METHODS STUDY EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHER SELF-EFFICACY AND SHELTERED INSTRUCTION 2025-2026 Hajime Mitani, Ph.D. Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership This study addressed the issue of disproportionality of multilingual learners (MLs) in Special Education. Using mixed-methods explanatory sequential design, the study examined the relationship between sheltered instruction implementation, domain-specific self-efficacy (pedagogical-content, linguistic, and sociocultural), and referrals of MLs to Intervention & Referral Services (I&RS) and Special Services. Quantitative data were collected from general education teachers using measures of Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) implementation and self-efficacy, along …

The Impact Of Violent Content Media Exposure On Behavioral Outcomes: The Mediating Role Of Media Engagement, Melissia Emad Eskander

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how repeated exposure to violent content in films, television series, and video games may influence behavioral outcomes among Egyptian media consumers. Drawing on the General Aggression Model, Social Learning Theory, and Cultivation Theory, it examines how individual interpretation, emotional involvement, and narrative absorption mediate the effects of media violence. It also considers how personality traits shape audience responses, specifically aggression, empathy, and narrative immersion.

A mixed-methods approach was adopted. A structured survey of 200 Egyptians aged 18 and above assessed media exposure, aggression, empathy, narrative engagement, and behavioral outcomes. In parallel, a content analysis of Egyptian films …

Securing Or Securitizing? Unveiling The Role Of Securitization “Audience” In Israel’S 2007 Bombing Of The Syrian Nuclear Site., Dunia Essam Hassanin

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the 2007 Israeli bombing on Syria's Al-Kibar nuclear reactor through the lens of securitization theory, concluding that intelligence served as crucial audiences in legitimizing the operation. Building on the Copenhagen School's paradigm, which defines securitization as the process by which actors build issues as existential threats necessitating extreme measures, this study fills a critical theoretical gap: the underdeveloped role of the audience. While classic formulations focus on public approval, this study suggests a more sophisticated notion of the Political Intelligence Audience: intelligence agencies that validate and operationalize securitization moves. The concept contends that groups such as the …

Exploring Academic Note Taking Practices Of Multilingual University Students: Perceptions And Practices, Alice M. Findlay Ms.

Theses and Dissertations

Note taking is a fundamental academic skill that records information and supports the identification, selection and organization of information for understanding and knowledge creation, yet it is often overlooked in higher education. Research has explored the role of note taking in supporting learning and examined similarities and differences between L1 and L2 note taking. However, few studies have focused on multilingual students in English Medium Instruction (EMI) contexts despite the additional cognitive challenges of managing information across languages and navigating Western-centric academic conventions. This study investigates how multilingual students at an Egyptian EMI university take notes in their learning contexts. …

Perceptions Of Healthcare Access Barriers Among Eritrean, Sudanese, And Somali Refugees And Asylum Seekers In Cairo., Ayan Musa Mohamed

Theses and Dissertations

As the world witnesses an increase in different displacements of individuals for various reasons, ranging from wars, civil conflicts, human rights violations, and natural disasters, refugees and asylum seekers, who are among those forcibly displaced, continue to face challenges in access to health care services in host countries. The topic of barriers to health care has been widely researched, with a large body of literature on refugees' interactions with health care systems. However, there is limited literature on the perceptions of Eritrean, Sudanese, and Somali refugees and asylum seekers' experience with healthcare access in host countries. Therefore, this thesis aims …

Groove Goes The Distance: An Initial Inquiry Into Jazz Music In Egypt, Farida Gohar

Theses and Dissertations

Jazz music has been a historically contentious site of social, cultural, and political signification. From the violent subjugation that characterized its origins and aspirational freedom that animated its practice, to its transformation into a distinctly “American” music instrumentalized by the US State Department to counter Soviet influence, jazz’s capacity for the inscription of meaning is vast and regularly cause for debate. The particular configuration of jazz music in Egypt is no less complicated although seldom studied. This thesis ventures an initial mapping of the dynamics and negotiations that historically defined the initiation of “Egyptian” jazz, as well as the ones …

Law And The (Re)Production Of Class Hierarchies In Egypt, Ahmad Abdelnaby

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates how Egypt’s legal system, structurally tilted toward the elite and constitutive of inequality, has interacted with the country’s entrenched culture of class-based discrimination to produce a legal culture uniquely comfortable with hierarchy. It contends that class-based discrimination in Egypt has evolved from a social prejudice into a juridical condition, one in which the law does not merely mirror inequality but actively constructs and rationalizes it. By examining the intersection between legal structure and Egypt’s entrenched moral order of class-based discrimination, the study reveals a legal culture that no longer hides its hierarchies behind the veil of neutrality …

An Ethnographic Exploration Of The Lived Experiences With Gynecologic Cancers, Norma Naser Aldeen

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This thesis stays close to conversations with nine women who spoke about living with and through gynecologic cancers, from moments of finding out, through treatment, and into what follows. These encounters unfolded primarily through digitally mediated exchanges across Baalbek, Beirut, and other translocal settings shaped by distance and movement. Rather than approaching illness as a bounded biomedical event, this thesis attends to how gynecologic cancer is narrated as something that lingers—pressing into everyday life through bodily sensations, altered rhythms, and ongoing recalibrations of care, responsibility, and what remains possible.

Across these encounters, care rarely appears as a stable system …