Digital Commons Network^™

Electronic Portfolios In A High School Community Of Practice: Action Research Exploring Writing Experiences In An Advanced Placement Writing Course, Archibald Franklin Harrison Iv

Theses and Dissertations

The underlying assumption of this study is that writing as a process has profound implications for success and fulfillment both in and beyond the classroom. A second assumption is that electronic portfolios provide students a space to write, revise, reflect, share, and explore themselves as writers. Students who engage with and embrace the writing process to the point that they self-identify as writers may be more likely to not only succeed at academic writing tasks but to integrate writing into their future lives (Lengelle and Meijers, 2014). For writing to play a prolonged role in this level of academic, professional …

Timing Deterministic Structural Model Updating Considering Impact And Fatigue Damage, Jason Michael Smith Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Naval ship structures such as support trusses, hull sections, driving machinery, and load-bearing beams are subjected to various damage states that develop on short-term (i.e. impact) and long-term (i.e. fatigue) timescales. Naval structures fitted with a structural health monitoring system with damage detection abilities will enable appropriate real-time adjustments to the ships’ posture and control policies and thus have increased survivability and lethality. A digital twin can provide real-time condition assessment of naval structures when conjoined with a decision-making framework will increase naval ship survivability through informed response management. A fundamental challenge for the development of digital twins is reliable …

Face Validation Of A Spanish Non-Invasive Prenatal Screening Knowledge Scale, Kenya Michelle De Leon

Theses and Dissertations

Non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) provides risk assessment for chromosome aneuploidy in pregnancy. Previous studies in the United Kingdom and United States have attempted to measure patient knowledge, decisional conflict, and informed choice in cohorts of English-speaking pregnant patients who elected NIPS (Griffin et al., 2023; Lewis et al., 2016). However, knowledge scales utilized in these studies have not been validated. The current study was conducted in order to assess face validity of a Spanish NIPS knowledge scale that was originally written in English. This scale was developed as part of a larger project to ultimately provide more validated research measures …

Projecting The Effects Of Climate Change And Urbanization On Longleaf Pine Stands In The Florida Flatwoods, Lilian Grace Hutchens

Theses and Dissertations

The southeastern United States once held millions of hectares of highly connected longleaf pine ecosystem. In a dramatic range reduction, longleaf pine now occupies less than 5% of its original extent, its remnant patches existing within a matrix of human-dominated land uses. Conservation planning for longleaf pine ecosystems is complicated given the ecosystem’s reliance on fire and the broad spatial and temporal scales at which longleaf pine management must operate. Planning timelines for longleaf pine management extend into the end of the 21st century, a period during which climate, fire regimes, and land cover are all expected to change, influencing …

Connecting Their Stories: Black Educators’ Experiences Within Cultural Heritage Institutions That Document The Long Arc Of The Civil Rights Movement, Constance Marie Caddell

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to examine Black educators’ experiences within cultural heritage institutions that are documenting topics that include the long arc of the American Civil Rights Movement. Black educators are powerful conduits of the African American story because they align with African American cultural heritage institution’s goals to foster equality, identity, pride, and honor in the community. These shared goals lead to Black educators using teaching methods that liberate, advocate, and empower students. This allows them to share new knowledge, strategies, techniques, and concepts on diverse topics. Considering their fundamental mission, it is essential to gain an awareness of the …

The Impact Of Opendyslexic Font On The Reading Comprehension Of Tier Ii And Tier Iii Reading Intervention Students, William David Whitmire

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods action research project measured the effect of OpenDyslexic font on the reading comprehension of MTSS Tier II and Tier III reading intervention students. A review of the literature revealed little research about OpenDyslexic font or its effect on reading comprehension. The study consisted of a 7-week period with 4^th grade Tier II and Tier III reading intervention students using OpenDyslexic font while reviewing previously taught comprehension strategies before end of the year testing. Results show positive growth for Tier II reading intervention students and results were inconclusive for Tier III students.

Vision Controlled Autonomous Stakebot For Driving Stakes And Its Digital-Twin, Corey Lee Leydig

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis a novel vision-based AI driven autonomous ‘StakeBot’ is proposed to serve the agricultural 4.0 industries of the future. In recent years supply, demand and production of vegetables that are harvested from plants with weak stems like bell pepper, tomato, eggplant has been significantly up by several fold. With growing demand and new green-house establishments across the country production of vegetables will require a tremendous number of labors which will be hard to supply soon. To overcome the issues in addition to the labor shortages, automation through robotics will be the only viable solution. Plants like bell peppers …

How Do They Do It: A Narrative Of Disabled Public School Instrumental Ensemble Conductors And Their Positive Working Relationships With Their Administrators, Lia Alexandria Patterson Snead

Theses and Dissertations

As the leader of the instrumental ensemble, the conductor’s role is important on and off the stage. Public school conductors have especially demanding jobs because they must act as a conduit between composer and ensemble as well as handle all administrative duties pertaining to running a music program. Subsequently, this results in a heavier workload than the average teacher. The demanding workload can add to any preexisting issues for disabled ensemble conductors who struggle at work due to insufficient support from their administrators. The lack of strong administrative support for disabled or impaired faculty and staff may be due to …

A Causal Comparative Study Of The Effects Of Physical Activity Course Enrollment On College Students’ Perceived Wellness, Mental Health, And Basic Psychological Needs, Genee’ Regina Glascoe

Theses and Dissertations

On college campuses, there has been an increase in mental health needs among students. In 2019, 56% of students attended counseling for mental health concerns compared to 46% of students who attended in 2010 (The Center for Collegiate Mental Health, 2019). Colleges have begun focusing on student wellness to assist their students with the capability to thrive during their college years and beyond (LaFountaine et al., 2006). Basic psychological needs must be met to achieve psychological growth and wellbeing (Ryan & Deci, 2000b; Zhang et al., 2012). Taliaferro et al. (2009) found evidence of an association between physical activity and …

An Examination Of Celebrity Product Involvement And Endorsement Effectiveness, Eric Nichols

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate celebrity product involvement and its relationship with endorsement effectiveness. Due to the increased leverage in creating their own brands, celebrity athletes are increasingly engaging in entrepreneurial endeavors such as collaborations on product development, an investment relationship, and outright ownership and creation of a brand or product. This paper also studied the extent which parasocial interactions and athlete identification may moderate endorsement effectiveness in the form of brand attitudes as well as what role product congruence may play.

Participants were recruited to complete an online survey that exposed them to manipulations of narrative …

Fourth-Grade And Fifth-Grade Cover-Band Classes: An Action-Research Project Inspired By Popular Music Education And Music Learning Theory, Julia Turner

Theses and Dissertations

I facilitated “Fourth-Grade and Fifth-Grade Cover-Band Classes,” a popular music education-, informal music learning-, and music learning theory-inspired action-research project. The purpose of this action-research project was to examine the facilitation and learning processes used by my students and me when engaged with those music learning approaches and theory. The guiding questions for this study included: 1) How do I use and adapt principles from modern band (2023), Green (2008; 2014), and Gordon (2012; 2013) to prepare my facilitation of a popular music project for my fourth-grade and fifth-grade students? and 2) How do my fourth-grade and fifth-grade students engage …

Identity In Literacy Narratives: Toward Reflexive Pedagogy In First Year Writing, Laiken Elizabeth Harrigan

Theses and Dissertations

An ongoing discussion for composition pedagogues is the relation of individuals’ identities and discourse histories in relation to academic discourses. In this thesis, I argue that academic discourse cannot be entirely separated from personal discourse, as individuals are always in conversation with their discoursal histories and identities. In order to better understand how students perceive their relationships to academic discourse, I analyze how First Year Writing (FYW) students experience the discourse of FYW— where they either intertwine their identities or we see their personal identities collide with the academic space. I used open coding to conduct a textual analysis of …

Extreme Covering Systems, Primes Plus Squarefrees, And Lattice Points Close To A Helix, Jack Robert Dalton

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation considers three different topics.

In the first part, we prove that if the least modulus of a distinct covering system is 4, its largest modulus is at least 60; also, if the least modulus is 3, the least common multiple of the moduli is at least 120; finally, if the least modulus is 4, the least common multiple of the moduli is at least 360. The constants 60, 120, and 360 are best possible, they cannot be replaced by larger constants. We also show that there do not exist distinct covering systems with all of the moduli in …

Understanding Intergenerational Transmission And Frequency Of Ethnic-Racial Socialization Practices Among Racial Ethnic Minority Groups, Ryan Chantz Houston-Dial

Theses and Dissertations

Ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) is a multidimensional concept that can be defined as the transmission of attitudes, beliefs and messages about ethnic-racial group membership (Hughes et al., 2006). To counteract the negative effects of discriminatory experiences, ethnic minority parents proactively impart race-salient messages to their youth. Sociodemographic variables such as regional location has been shown to affect the frequency of ERS messages as well (Thornton et al., 1990). The current study examines ERS practices in 436 African American, Hispanic/Latinx and Asian American parents. This study also explores the concept of intergenerational transmission, in which parents pass on to their own children …

A Conductor’S Guide To Lucrecia Roces Kasilag’S Misang Pilipino (1965), Denise Ysabel Ellis

Theses and Dissertations

Composer Lucrecia Roces Kasilag (1918-2008) is a National Artist for the Philippines and a UNESCO International Artist of the World. Though she has many more accolades and triumphs to note, both national and international, Kasilag is not well known outside of her native Philippines. One factor that obscures this composer from the world is that much of her work is unpublished, as are other historical Filipino composers’ works.

Kasilag composed her first Misang Pilipino in 1965 to commemorate the 400^th year of Christianization in the Philippines, but multiple editions of the work were written and used for different occasions. …

Mathematics Teachers’ Attitudes And Intentions Towards Instructional Videos As Part Of A Flipped Learning Model, Jessica Lee Lambert

Theses and Dissertations

Teachers’ attitudes and intentions play an integral role in the integration of technology into their lesson designs for mathematics. All K-8 students at the research site are now one to one with a device, either a tablet or laptop, depending on their grade level. It is up to teachers to determine how and when to integrate technology into their instructional design for mathematics. The purpose of this action research was to evaluate and describe mathematics teachers’ attitudes and intentions for integrating instructional videos as part of a flipped learning instructional model. The following questions served to guide this cycle of …

Implementing Meaningful Problem-Based Learning In A Middle School Science Classroom, Celestine Banks Pough

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to explore the impact of problem-based learning on science instruction in my eighth-grade college preparatory classroom. Constructivism was the framework for this study. Problem-based learning is based on constructivist principles, and it served as the instructional model for this study. PBL can foster the use of problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills, and communication skills, which are needed in the 21st century. This research study was centered around three research questions. The first question asked about the impact PBL has on students’ science achievement. The second question asked how does PBL impact students’ …

Planting Rhizomes: Roots And Rhizomes In Maryse Condé’S Traversée De La Mangrove And Calixthe Beyala’S Le Petit Prince De Belleville, Rume Kpadamrophe

Theses and Dissertations

For centuries, migration has played a crucial role in the development of human civilization, with the transplantation of cultures from one region to another shaping identities worldwide. The African diaspora, beginning with the Atlantic Slave Trade, saw the forced transportation of around 12 million Africans across the ocean, resulting in the creation of creole identities in the Antilles. Literature has long reflected the experiences of migrants. In Maryse Condé's Traversée de la Mangrove and Calixthe Beyala's Le Petit Prince de Belleville, the complexity of Antillean and Afro-French identities is explored. This thesis delves into how Condé's work highlights the …

The Impact Of The Flipped Classroom Model On Elementary Students’ Achievement And Motivation For Learning Geometry, Kimberly M. Smalls

Theses and Dissertations

National and state data show students in poverty perform lower on math standardized assessments than their peers who are not students in poverty. The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the implementation of the flipped classroom model on the achievement and motivation towards mathematics for fourth-grade students at an elementary school in the Southeast United States. Traditional teaching methods such as teacher-led modeling, the use of manipulatives, and small-group math instruction present barriers which have not led to overall academic improvement for these students. This study focused on three overarching questions: (1) Is there a difference in fourth-grade …

A Flood Of Information: Assessing The Effectiveness Of An Enhanced Flash Flood Warning Social Media Graphic, Christopher John Long

Theses and Dissertations

Flash flooding is the most frequent and damaging type of severe weather globally. In the United States, heat is the only weather-related cause of death more frequent than flooding. However, while the number of deaths associated with other types of severe weather has decreased since the 1950s, the number of flash flood-related deaths has remained steady. Therefore, there exists a need to improve flash flood warning communication.

In this project, it is hypothesized that improving the National Weather Service’s flash flood warning social media graphic by including areas that commonly flood may increase individuals’ perceived storm risk, their intended compliance …

Genetic Testing For Autism: The Autistic Adult Perspective, Thomas Scott Dent

Theses and Dissertations

Many professional medical organizations recommend some level of genetic testing as standard of care for those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. However, genetic testing related to the diagnosis of autism is seen as controversial by many in the autistic community. While opinions about genetic testing have been well-documented from the perspective of the parents of autistic children, our understanding of the autistic adult perspective remains limited. We implemented a descriptive, web-based survey of autistic adults to assess their awareness of, attitudes towards, and interests in genetic testing for autism (n = 145). Our data demonstrated that half of our participants …

The Impact Of Interactivity On Information Processing For Virtual Tourist Destinations, Hongxiao Yu

Theses and Dissertations

The rapid development of virtual reality (VR) platforms offers great potential for the widespread consumption of VR tourism offerings. This creation of tourism experiences through VR significantly impacts tourism marketing strategies. Nevertheless, unprecedented development presents research challenges to better understand the effectiveness of VR interactivity in providing dynamic virtual experiences and shaping consumers’ intention to visit actual tourism destinations. Moreover, destination marketing managers face challenges in designing interactive features to leverage VR technology to influence consumers’ decision-making. To address these challenges, this dissertation extends the heuristic-systematic model to investigate how VR interactivity influences visit intention through engaging experiences with technology …

The Impact Of Cognitive Coaching On High School English Teachers’ Implementation Of Metacognitve Reading Strategies, Charrai Hunter

Theses and Dissertations

The problem that this action research study addressed was the ineffective facilitation strategies used in professional development for teachers. The purpose of the study was to determine whether reflective practices impact teachers’ instructional decisions. The study used Cognitive Coaching, a reflective coaching model, as its intervention. To gather data the study used classroom observations, coaching conversations, and an eight-question structured survey administered at the end of the study. This qualitative case study included three high school English teachers as its participants and the study was conducted at two different high schools in a suburban school district in the Southeast. The …

Evaluating Health Awareness In Cancer Genetics Amongst The Black And African American Community In South Carolina, Annika Jaliya Gadson

Theses and Dissertations

Historically minoritized individuals are underrepresented in genomic research which limits the ability to fully understand genetic variation within the population (Sirugo et al., 2019). This creates bias that questions the effectiveness of guidelines for genetic testing, predictive risk values, and medical management. Disparities in cancer genetics may be attributed to historical events that have cultivated mistrust in research and medicine, institutional bias, provider skepticism in patient reporting of medical symptoms, and limited access to genetic testing (Saulsberry et al., 2013). More exploration is needed to better understand how to increase access and awareness of cancer genetic services to Black and …

A Critical Examination Of An In Class Tabata Based Physical Fitness Protocol On Student Engagement Levels In A Sixth Grade Math Class, Justin R. Kulik

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a Tabata Based Physical Fitness Intervention (TBPFI) on measures of student engagement in a middle school mathematics class. Student engagement was measured with the Student Engagement in Mathematics Scale (SEMS) which a Likert style scale. The results of this survey supplied a numerical rating for the social, emotional, and cognitive engagement of each studentparticipant in the study on days when a TBPFI was implemented and on days when it was not implemented. Additionally, pre- and post-interviews were conducted with the student-participants and the teacher-participant. Finally, researcher observations and rating …

A Qualitative Study On Mental Health Resource Utilization Of Enlisted Airmen During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Hassahn Khali Wade

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative action research study examines the impact of COVID-19 on Airmen serving in the aircraft armament systems career field, while also studying the utilization of mental health resources among those same Airmen. Nine Airmen chose to participate in interviews, received an intervention in the form of a resource guide outlining mental health resources offered on-base, and received a second interview to measure any changes in attitude. Respondents found COVID-19 impacted their workload negatively, and adversely affected their personal lives. Culturally, there is an unenthusiastic viewpoint on mental health assistance, which leads many Airmen to suffer in silence and not …

Online Professional Development’S Effect On Teachers’ Technology Self-Efficacy And Continuance Intention To Use Pear Deck, Katherine Shirley Degar

Theses and Dissertations

Districts and schools are spending millions of dollars on technology, training, and professional development each year; however, a disconnect between technology use and good pedagogy remains. The one-shot, sit-and-get professional development model has not provided North Lake Intermediate School’s teachers the necessary skills and knowledge to prepare students for the 21st century through the use of innovative technologies. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate how a TPACK-focused online professional development experience influenced teachers’ development of technology self-efficacy and intention to integrate the technology tool, Pear Deck, and measure changes in their attitudes toward Pear Deck.

The …

Advancements In Parametric Modal Regression, Qingyang Liu

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation considers statistical inference methods for parametric modal regression models. In Chapter 1, we motivate the mode as the measure of central tendency instead of the median or the mean with an example. Following the motivational example, we include an overview of existing modal regression models. Later, in the same chapter, we explain advantages of the parametric modal regression models over existing nonparametric modal regression models. In Chapter 2, we address issues in statistical inference brought in by data contaminated with measurement error. With measurement error in covariates, statistical inference methods designed for modal regression models with error-free covariates …

Outliers To The Black Experience: Perceptions Of How Participation In Internships And Study Abroad Influences Black Students’ Development Of Career Readiness Competencies, Erica James Lake

Theses and Dissertations

Black students represent nearly 15% of the college student population, yet nationally only 6% of these students participate in internships and study abroad. Comparatively, White students represent approximately 52% of the college student population, and they represent over 70% of the students who participate in internships and study abroad. This is significant because internships and study abroad experiences can help students gain access to mentors and improve their retention and graduation rates. This study sought to determine if Black students believed they gained career readiness competencies during their experiences.

This qualitative study included interviews, observations and photos from Black seniors …

Genomic Analysis Of Exophiala Sp. Etnp2018, A Marine Fungal Strain Isolated From An Oxygen Minimum Zone, Margaret Kelly Bernish

Theses and Dissertations

Microbial metabolic activity is central to biogeochemical cycling in virtually all ecosystems. Fungi are important parts of microbial communities, serving as decomposers, parasites, and symbionts. Most of our understanding of fungal ecology is derived from the study of isolated, cultured terrestrial fungi. However, the marine environment includes thousands of divergent, uncultured fungi. A number of these species, which include saprobes, parasites, and endophytes, can survive and sporulate in a wide range of salinities. Other such species face the additional challenge of limited nutrient accessibility. The genus Exophiala includes agents of mycoses in both humans and in marine animals. This research …