Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of A Brief Gratitude Journaling Intervention On Third Grade Students Attending An Orthodox Jewish Elementary School In New York, Tamar Gassner

Theses and Dissertations

Research in the field of positive psychology has focused on the beneficial effects of gratitude on overall wellbeing. Recent studies have demonstrated that anxiety and depressive disorders are increasingly common among youth in the United States. Further, both anxiety and depression have been linked to other comorbid mental health conditions, such as dysthymia, disruptive disorder, and substance abuse disorder. Moreover, anxiety and depression are associated with negative social and academic outcomes. Considering the prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorders among youth and the associated comorbidities, it is vital to direct efforts towards prevention and early intervention. The literature supports a …

Queerstory Of Recovery: Literacy And Survival In A.A., Danielle Bacibianco

Theses and Dissertations

By studying A.A.’s prescribed qualification narrative device, examining literacy studies that continue to circulate A.A.’s narrative model, analyzing LGBTQIAP+ qualifications published through A.A.’s literary press, and exploring A.A.’s deeply hidden history of its Queer members, I identify how Queer members learn how to tell their qualifications within the confines of the program’s cisheteronormative history and are forced to conceal their identities for the sake of preserving the A.A. redemption story. I argue that there is a difference between narrative telling and recovery storytelling: that while most recovery literacy narratives are crafted and occur in church basements, where A.A.’s rhetorical prescriptiveness …

The Semantic And Acoustic Voice Features Differentiating Neutral And Traumatic Narratives, Yosef Shimon Amrami

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a quantitative and qualitative exploration of how one linguistically communicates emotions through an autobiographical narrative. Psycholinguistic research has affirmed that linguistic features of a narrative, including semantic and acoustic features, indicate a narrator’s emotions and physiological. This study investigated whether these linguistic features could help differentiate between trauma and neutral narratives and if they can predict autobiographical narratives’ subjective trauma ratings (STR). Qualitative analyses of the positive and negative evaluative statements were also conducted, which indicated the narrators’ thought processes during recall. Twenty-two Spanish-English college students participated in this study and narrated both traumatic and neutral narratives. …

Girls Solo Quieren Una Cosa, También: Trenzando Analysis Of Dominicanas’ Sexual Resistance, Raquel Christina Corona

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents trenzando as a method and paradigm for studying how Dominican women resist against various forces (institutions, cultures, ideologies, and individuals) in their lives so they can gain access to sex and sexual pleasure. I use trenzando as a method to study a myriad of texts in order to analyze key moments of resistance that Dominican women have to employ in order to explore their bodies and actually be able to engage in sex and reach any semblance of sexual pleasure. My methodology represents a trenza (a braid), each chapter presents a strand or forces that Dominican women …

“I Have Gone Beyond My Sphere”: Network Analysis And Rhetorical Feminism In Women’S Writing 1650-1750, Donna P. Downing

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of a contrasting public sphere and private sphere is both enduring and contested. The model of the eighteenth century public sphere offered by Jürgen Habermas offers a rational-critical approach to public discourse, while bracketing difference. Interlocutors of Habermas see such exclusion as problematic, particularly from a feminist standpoint. In contrast to Habermas’ static model, this project offers a networked, motile vision of public and private spheres that allows for interconnections and relationships, and which not only incorporates conceptual differences, but in fact relies on them. In this flexible model, rhetorical feminism, where the ideology of feminism is brought …

A Mixed Methods Approach To Initiating A Critical Global Literacy Curriculum In The Rural High School English/Language Arts Classroom, Amy Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary society consists of emerging globalization where students will face global issues and will be expected to think critically in the professional realm. However, critical literacy and global literacy are often largely ignored in the rural high school ELA classroom where fewer cultural opportunities exist and less diversity is evident (Riley, 2015). The purpose of this study was to address a significant need for understanding the strengths and weaknesses of implementing a critical global curricular framework in a rural high school ELA classroom. Additionally, this study aimed to uncover both student and teacher perspectives regarding this implementation as well as …

Exploring How Faculty Motivations And Professional Development Strategies Influence Digital Literacy Practices In A Study Abroad Program In Italy: A Case Study, Paolo Bartolini

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study research was to explore the multifaceted motivations, perceptions and attitudes that influence digital literacy practices in a small group of study abroad faculty and how professional development can help inspire them to act to innovate their digital literacy practices within a study abroad context. The role of study abroad programs in the U.S. has grown significantly in recent decades. As the number of students participating in these programs continues to increase, so have questions about the role of digital literacy practices in foreign education. Digital literacy embodies a way of learning that focuses …

The Emerging Science Of Wellness In The College Writing Curriculum, Peggy Suzuki

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that the college writing curriculum – and indeed any educational program---would benefit from an emphasis on human wellness and the arts. Wellness consists of one’s emotional, social, spiritual, physical, intellectual, and vocational well-being. Additionally, students’ environmental circumstances, like home life, finances, diet, exercise, and work obligations play a huge role in balancing personal health, especially in marginalized communities. Since one’s physiological and psychological connection impacts one’s identity and health, improving writing in the classroom requires holistic and creative approaches for rewiring individual thinking. I draw from positive psychology, where concepts like complex optimism and positive emotions nurture …

The Role Of The Economy In Changing The Achievement Gap Between Different Racial And Ethnic 8th Grade Students’ English Language Arts Test Scores, Dominique Limprevil-Divers

Theses and Dissertations

There is a large achievement gap in literacy between Black and White students in the United States that has been found to be mostly due to both differing learning opportunities as well as to income levels. Meanwhile, much of the research on academic performance has focused on race with less attention on the income of the school neighborhood zip code as a mediating factor in test outcomes for racial/ethnic students. This research investigated trends in English Language Arts test scores compared to income in the surrounding communities among New York City schools’ racial/ethnic groups of middle school students; also, whether …

Kujdesi Infermieror Te Pacientët Me Artrit Reumatoid, Valbona Zeqiraj

Theses and Dissertations

Artriti reumatoid është një çrregullim inflamator, sistemik,kronik i cili kryesisht prek nyjet që janë të veshura me synovium. Karakterizohet tipikisht nga një përfshirje simetrike,herë pas here deformuar, poliartriti periferik. Për shkak se është një sëmundje sistemike, mundet gjithashtu ndikojnë në të gjithë trupin, duke përfshirë zemrën, mushkëritë dhe sytë.

Shkaku AR nuk njihet plotësisht. Ka të ngjarë që individët e ndjeshëm gjenetikisht të ekspozohen ndaj një antigjeni të panjohurduke rezultuar në vetë-stimulim të sistemit imunitar (autoimuniteti).

Përgjigja imune reagon në mënyrë të kryqëzuar me indin pritës (membranën synoviale) duke rezultuar në pezmatim të membranës sinoviale (sinovit).Kjo krijon hipertrofi sinoviale.

Ky …

Perceptions Of Consensual Sexual Student-Faculty Relationships, Olivia Pottschmidt

Theses and Dissertations

Consensual, sexual relationships (CSRs) involving university faculty members and students are not uncommon (Richards et al., 2014). Given the increased attention of sexual harassment on college campuses, a number of universities have implemented CSR policies that generally fall into three categories: total ban, limited ban, and discouragement. Despite the intention of these policies,--the prevention of sexual assault and harassment--they have been criticized for being vague and too general (Bellas & Gosset, 2001; Jafar, 2003). Examining student perceptions can provide inside into university culture and inform policymaking. To this end, participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions stemming from …

Humanizing Architecture: A Polymorphic Space, Nada Abbara

Theses and Dissertations

The built environments in which our communities thrive constitute an integral part of human experience and evolution. Yet, many places are detached from the way we experience them due to mass-production, which often produces standardized environments, and due to the tendency of modern architecture to delineate spaces as static objects rather than dynamic interactions. Thus, there is an emerging need to humanize architecture through an interdisciplinary approach that engages nature’s behavioral patterns. The project proposes a transformable polyhedral structure that interacts with human emotion through a three-dimensional morphing space that contracts and expands. This spatial interaction is achieved through a …

The Default: The Paradox Of Play And Productivity, Yeon Geong Hwang

Theses and Dissertations

Society takes a dim view of idleness, regarding downtime as wasted time, but what if society’s view is wrong? This thesis champions daydreaming; it advocates for quirky, playful experiences that improve quality-of-life by avoiding burnout and mitigating tedium. Borrowing language from the Theatre of the Absurd, The Default challenges society’s attitudes toward productivity, striking a new relationship between a cubicle worker and a set of seemingly-familiar but surprising objects. Reflecting on the absurdity of contemporary work-life imbalance, the objects and narratives depicted in The Default invite playful interactions, when objects that appear to be normal behave unexpectedly. The Default is …

Psychological Sense Of Community Among Older Adults In Puerto Rico Two Years After Hurricane María, Thomas D. Buckley

Theses and Dissertations

Hurricane María devastated Puerto Rico in 2017 and resulted in adverse long-term outcomes. Psychological sense of community (PSOC) may serve as a protective factor against the effects of Hurricane María for older adults in Puerto Rico. Using a three-paper format, this dissertation draws on a resilience framework and theories of PSOC and the Ecological Theory of Aging to examine the role of PSOC among older adults in Puerto Rico two years after Hurricane María.

Paper one is a scoping review of the concept of PSOC in research with community dwelling older adults. I begin by presenting findings on study characteristics …

Teacher Perceptions Of Parent-Teacher Communications And Practice, Misty Rose Tomchuk

Theses and Dissertations

It has been established in prior research that parent involvement and school-family partnerships have the potential to positively impact student achievement; however, creating and maintaining positive and productive parent-teacher communication can be difficult. Since teachers function as the link between school and the home, there is an increased need to study the perspectives and experiences of teachers. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teacher perceptions of parent-teacher relationships, teacher conversation competence, and teacher communication frequency with parents.

This study involved an online survey distributed to 234 participants via Amazon Mechanical Turk. The following results were …

"The Last Major Front": Special Education's Transition To Adulthood And North Dakota, Matthew David Mccleary

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis examines the development and implementation of special education’s transition policy in the United States and North Dakota from the 1980s to the 1990s. Researchers have primarily sought to further evidence-based practices in preparing adolescents with disabilities for adulthood, but the history of this effort has rarely been discussed. In the late 20th century, policymakers, researchers, and educators attempted to turn around negative socio-economic outcomes for people with disabilities by helping youth with disabilities and their families plan for the future and get connected to post-school services and employment. Assumptions about people with disabilities influenced transition programming and the …

Exploring Academic Leadership In Higher Education Through The Lens Of Leader-To-Member Exchange (Lmx) Theory, Dequies A. Lanier

Theses and Dissertations

A phenomenological study focused on Exploring Academic Leadership in Higher Education Through The Lens of Leader-to-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory, Dequies A. Lanier, 2020: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. Keywords: communication, leadership development, higher education, leader-member exchange, organizational leadership This applied dissertation was designed to explore the communication between higher education leaders and faculty at the department level in the United States at a southeastern higher education institution. The study sought to explore (a) the communication relationship between leaders and followers; (b) commitment to the organization; and (c) suggested communication …

Teaching Strategies Leading To Success In Self-Contained Classrooms, Sonja Michelle Robinson-Madden

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation addressed the strategies used in self-contained classrooms that lead to the success of students with intellectual disabilities in Jamaica. The study was prompted by the poor performance of primary schools in teaching delivery as evidenced in the National Inspectorate Report. The views of successful teachers were collated in order to provide meaningful research data that can be used to improve the effectiveness of teachers regarding their teaching strategies and engagement of their students in the teaching-learning process. In addition, the research findings may be used to inform policies regarding the education of special needs students who are …

A Qualitative Examination Of Student Threat Assessment In Nassau County, New York, Christopher J. Cleary

Theses and Dissertations

Law enforcement agencies and school systems face the critically important task of preventing attacks of targeted school violence and providing safe environments for students, faculty, and staff. The tragic results of past school shooting incidents have caused law enforcement agencies to work collaboratively with educators to develop strategies to reduce violent attacks.

Numerous examples from previous school shooting incidents show that shooters exhibited certain warning signs before the attack, and those signs went unaddressed. The student threat assessment process was developed to help educators and law enforcement members recognize the warning signs and take preemptive action before violence occurs. Threat …

American Epidemic: The Societal And Multi-Generational Impacts Caused By The Mass Incarceration Of Women In The United States, Jessica Younts

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the social impacts of incarcerating women, specifically mothers, as well as the far-reaching collateral consequences that the mass incarceration of women in the United States has on formerly incarcerated women’s successful reintegration back into society and analyzed how the harsh policies that exist detrimentally impact family members and society as a whole. This study revealed several themes that show the far reaching damage incarceration itself has on women and their families and provides a more comprehensive analysis of the incalculable costs of mass incarceration. By raising awareness to the long-term impact on society, this research can provide …

Gender Differences In Social Presence In Gender-Segregated And Blended Learning Environments In Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Eid Alotaibi

Theses and Dissertations

The present study aimed to achieve one of the goals of the Saudi Arabia Vision 2030, which is the improvement of the quality of teaching approaches and learning outcomes. Additionally, the vision strives for equality among students in all educational institutions, including equality among men and women, who are mostly segregated in all aspects of life (e.g., education). One of the major issues in the online portion of blended learning environments is the lack of social presence. Therefore, the present study used a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design to investigate the influence of gender on the perception of social presence levels …

Stigmatizing Labels, School Bonds, And Capital In The School Reentry Experiences And Educational Outcomes Of Justice-Involved Youth, Peter S. Willis

Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that justice-involved youth who reenter public and alternative schools following contact with the juvenile justice system struggle to find a place in the school community and complete their educations. Because educational attainment affects recidivism rates, successful school reentry for justice-involved youth presents important research questions for policy and practice. This study examined school reentry through cases studies of adults who had been justice-involved youth and had experienced school reentry following contact with the juvenile justice system. Study participants’ school reentry experiences were examined through a theoretical framework comprised of labeling, social control, and field theories. Findings suggest that …

The Relationships Between Adolescents’ Future Aspirations And Postsecondary Enrollment: Finite Mixture Models, Chu Yi Lu Qiu

Theses and Dissertations

This study took person-centered statistical approaches to explore the multidimensional construct of adolescents' future aspirations and its associations with three covariates (i.e., gender, race, and SES) and a binary, distal outcome measure, postsecondary enrollment. Fourteen survey items representing the multidimensionality of adolescents' future aspirations were extracted from two-waves of Educational Longitudinal Study:2002 student data. The multidimensionality or the latent construct of the adolescents' future aspirations were explored using two finite mixture models called latent class analysis (LCA) and latent transition analysis (LTA). Based on the students' response patterns on the fourteen indicators, three latent classes representing three levels of aspiration …

"Unite The Left": Contextualizing Bukharin's Abc Of Communism And Berkman's Abc Of Anarchism, David Hayter

Theses and Dissertations

In 1919, Nikolai Bukharin, the leading theoretician of the Bolshevik Party, published a manual entitled The ABC of Communism meant to put the governing ideology of the newly formed Soviet State into eminently readable terms. Alexander Berkman, a Russian Anarchist who strongly supported the October Revolution, became disillusioned with the new regime in 1921 and left the country. He later published his own tract entitled The ABC of Anarchism. This thesis pits these two theoretical works against each other as historical documents embodying the nature of leftist polemics that has characterized the movement since the dissolution of the First …

Owning Our Story: An Interior Exploration To Foster Self-Reflection, Hannah Bulow

Theses and Dissertations

With emerging technologies in the 21st century, Millennial and Gen Z adults have a complicated relationship with these new technologies when it comes to creating and sustaining personal relationships (Dalessandro, 2018). When persons aged 18-35 forged new relationships without the presence of technology, relationships were more organic, natural, and led to less conflicts. Neuroimaging of the brain has also shown that neurocognitive development during early adolescence and adulthood contributes to self-consciousness and vulnerability. Adolescents are called to develop their own identity separate from their parents and understanding how others are actually evaluating them (Sebastian, 2008)

Brene Brown states that most …

Theorizing #Girlboss Culture: Mediated Neoliberal Feminisms From Influencers To Multi-Level Marketing Schemes, Frankie Mastrangelo

Theses and Dissertations

I define girlboss feminism as emergent, mediated formations of neoliberal feminism that equate feminist empowerment with financial success, market competition, individualized work-life balance, and curated digital and physical presences driven by self-monetization. I look toward how the mediation of girlboss feminism utilizes branded and affective engagements with representational politics, discourses of authenticity and rebellion, as well as meritocratic aspiration to promote cultural interest in conceptualizing feminism in ways that are divorced from collective, intersectional struggle. I question the stakes involved in reducing feminist interrogations and commitments to discourses of representation, visibility, and meritocracy. I argue that while girlboss feminism may …

Form Follows Culture, Nada Raafat Elkharashi

Theses and Dissertations

We all use everyday objects as part of our daily routines, but the way we use them varies from one culture to another. Using George Herbert Mead’s study of human conduct and Louis H. Sullivan’s credo, “Form follows function,” this thesis examines the cultural meanings and implications surrounding the fundamental act of drinking water. Using a methodology of iterative, exploratory making, a collection of glass vessels explores philosophical and physical manifestations of Islamic cultural principles derived from the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. With the goal of restoring cultural integrity to our daily activities, the work highlights …

The Institute For Storytelling & Healthcare Design Research, Ruth E.P. Deibler

Theses and Dissertations

STORYTELLING, HEALTHCARE, INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATION & GROUNDED THEORY RESEARCH:

THE TRIFECTA OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE IN HEALTHCARE DESIGN

The Student Experience Of Higher Education During The Covid-19 Pandemic: How Class And Race Shape Socially Distanced Learning At A Public University, Alice M. Quach

Theses and Dissertations

While prior research has examined trends toward growing uncertainty and precarity for young adults within the economy and higher education, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be exacerbating these existing inequalities and risks. Drawing from 30 semi-structured in-depth interviews with college students at a large Southern and urban public university, this study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting students’ learning experiences, and how those experiences are differentially shaped, in turn, by their class and race. This exploratory research illuminates our understanding of the multiple mechanisms by which the COVID-19 pandemic is shaping existing inequalities in the higher education system, mostly …

Breaking The Cycle: A Longitudinal Study Of Factors That Disrupt Peer Selection And Influence Processes Among Urban Youth, Kelly E. Oconnor

Theses and Dissertations

Having friends who engage in problem behavior (i.e., aggression, substance use, delinquency) has consistently been linked to adolescents’ own engagement in problem behavior. There are, however, several key gaps in the literature on peer influence. Few studies have considered the influence of friends’ prosocial behavior and there has been limited research to identify promotive factors that influence urban youths’ affiliation with peers who engage in problem and prosocial behavior across early adolescence, a time of heightened susceptibility to peer influence. The purpose of this study was to identify modifiable promotive factors that reduce adolescents’ problem behavior by decreasing exposure to …