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Pembangunan Instrumen Literasi Pentaksiran Bilik Darjah Guru Bahasa Arab Di Sekolah Menengah, Norazida Ibrahim

Student Works (2020-2029)

Current educational transformations demand a paradigm shift from exam-oriented assessment to a more holistic Classroom-Based Assessment (CBA). However, the effectiveness of this implementation is limited by the absence of specific and validated instruments to measure CBA literacy within the context of Arabic language education in Malaysia. This gap results in the actual competency levels of teachers in this field being difficult to determine objectively, subsequently complicating the planning of precise professional development. Therefore, this study aims to develop and validate the Arabic Language Teacher’s Classroom Assessment Literacy (ALaTCAL) instrument based on Wilson’s (2005) Four-Building Blocks Model. The instrument encompasses the …

Does Ethnic Identity Moderate The Association Between Ethnic Discrimination And Gambling Harm Among Hispanic Or Latino/A/X College Students, Adrianna Jordan Valencia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

No abstract provided.

Economic Sanctions And State Capacity In Target Countries, Showrav Paul

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The thesis examines whether economic sanctions erode the target countries’ state capacity and whether these effects differ by the identity of the sanctioning actors. Drawing on “the naïve theory of sanctions”, the thesis hypothesizes that economic sanctions reduce fiscal and administrative capacity but incentivize military capacity. By incorporating data from the Global Sanctions Database, the World Bank, and the V-Dem datasets, the thesis employs country-fixed-effects models to test hypotheses. The overall findings contradict the naïve assumptions and indicate that sanctions have limited efficacy in undermining the state capacity of target countries. The results can be summarized as follows: 1) economic …

Lost In Thought: An Exploration Of Musical Perception And An Original Piece For Orchestra, Matthew Moix

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an original two-movement musical composition orchestrated for full orchestra titled Lost in Thought, based on Alice Oseman’s graphic novel series Heartstopper (2018-2023). The work explores the relationship between two different characters from the series, Nick and Charlie. It emphasizes the different perspectives of these characters and explores the concept of how two different points of view can tell the same story in different ways. An accompanying analysis of the work explains how the two movements illustrate the characters' individual mindsets throughout their version of the story, as well as showing their personal character development and how their …

Exploring The Importance Of Mental Health Education In 5th Grade & Its Impact On Emotional Well-Being, Claudia K. De Jong

Masters Projects

Exploring The Importance of Mental Health Education in 5th Grade & Its Impact on Emotional Well-being

Abstract

Mental health challenges among youth continue to rise, with many mental health disorders emerging before adolescence, highlighting a critical gap in early prevention efforts. This study explores the importance of implementing structured mental health education in 5th grade as a proactive approach to supporting emotional development and reducing long-term behavioral risks. Grounded in research on developmental psychology and social-emotional learning (SEL), this project examines how early intervention can improve emotional regulation, help-seeking behaviors, and overall student well-being during a key transitional period. Using …

Fostering A Sense Of Belonging Through Culturally Engaging Campus Environments, Rebeca Barajas-Juarez

Masters Projects

Latinx college students are the fastest growing student population, enrolling into college at higher rates than any other group, yet their retention rates are concerningly low (Almanzar & Ruedas-Gracia, 2024). Research has shown that Latinx students disproportionately experience hostile campus climates and feel the negative effect on their sense of belonging (Hurtado & Carter, 1997). Additionally, Latinx students at predominantly white institutions regularly encounter challenges that lead to feelings of isolation and a higher likelihood of departing from college (Benavides et al., 2024). This project uses Samuel D. Museus’ (2014) Culturally Engaging Campus Environment (CECE) Model as the main framework …

Supporting First-Generation Students By Bridging The Social Capital Gap, Bailey A. Pudlowski

Masters Projects

First-generation students are an increasing presence on college campuses. First-generation students are coming to school, with a gap in social capital in comparison to their continuing- generation peers. First-generation students need support and resources to counteract this capital gap. Using self-determination theory (1985) and Astin’s theory of involvement (1984) as drivers to gauge best practices to support first year students. Using those theories, as well as taking first- generation student demographics into account, I created a workshop that has a goal of bridging the social capital gap between first-generation students and their peers. This workshop focuses on having students reflect …

An Educational Intervention To Increase Nurses’ Knowledge And Confidence Of Patient Mobility, Debbie Ann Pytak

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Immobility is a significant concern given that nearly half of all hospitalized adults are immobile during their hospitalization, placing them at increased risk for adverse outcomes. As a result, it is critical for nurses to implement strategies that promote safe, structured patient mobility. Thus, the purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to determine if an educational intervention focused on patient mobility and standardized mobility tool utilization increased knowledge and confidence among nursing staff in an acute care setting. Ten participants volunteered to attend the educational intervention. The average age of the participants was 44.30 years (SD …

Why Israel Failed To Anticipate The October 7 Attack: A Postmortem Analysis, Emily Helgeson

Honors

This project conducts an autopsy of Israel’s failure to anticipate Hamas’s surprise attack on October 7, 2023. Existing scholarship identifies multiple contributing factors for this intelligence failure, including flawed strategic assumptions (conceptzia), political dysfunction, organizational sexism, and overreliance on surveillance technology. While all these factors may have contributed to the failure, most studies either examine the causal impact of a single factor in isolation or treat multiple factors together as equally impactful. As a result, the literature has yet to identify the primary driver of the October 7 failure. To address this gap, this study adopts a postmortem approach, borrowed …

The Impact Of Traffic On Packet Schedulers Within A Simulated Environment, Landon Mohr

Honors

Packet scheduling is a well-studied topic in networking. It determines the order in which packets leave a congested output link and therefore affects delay, jitter, throughput, and packet loss. Prior research has shown that different schedulers offer different tradeoffs, but fewer studies have examined how scheduler performance changes under defined mixed-traffic workloads. The experiment uses NS-3 to simulate a congested network with multiple traffic types, including VoIP, gaming, HTTP, streaming, and bulk transfer, and compares FIFO, Strict Priority Queuing, and FQCoDel under varying traffic profiles and queue sizes. The results show that scheduler choice affects timing-sensitive traffic much more strongly …

Elasmobranchii Oral Microbiome Diversity Within Southeast Florida: Implications Of Shark Zoonotic And Antibiotic Resistant Pathogens Associated With Human Interactions, Amanda Finnefrock

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Sharks are incredibly common in the Atlantic and Gulf waters surrounding Florida. Despite the prevalent nature of these animals, little research exists on the composition of their microbial communities (or “microbiomes”). Here we aim to determine the microbial makeup of the oral environment of sharks so that we can determine if there are any bacteria of clinical significance to humans, such as being antibiotic-resistant or having elevated capability for pathogenicity. A total of 41 samples were collected from the mouths and teeth of bull, Caribbean reef, great hammerhead, lemon, nurse, and sandbar sharks caught in Southeast Florida using sterile swabs …

Geographical And Anatomical Microbiome Variation In Invasive Green Iguanas (Iguana Iguana), Amanda A. Diaz

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

The common green iguana (Iguana iguana) was introduced to South Florida in 1965 and has since been an especially pernicious threat both environmentally and economically. This highly invasive species is also expanding in range and populations at an astonishing rate. Understanding how this reptile is able to adapt and thrive in novel environments is of imperative need in order to begin managing their disruptive populations. Notwithstanding their negative impacts and significance, the microbiome of wild populations has not yet been characterized. Here, using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, this study is the first to characterize the microbiome composition …

Sustainability, Culture, And Higher Education: An Autoethnographic Sustainability Comparison Of The Sustainability Initiatives At The University Of Salzburg And Bowling Green State University, Madison Alt

Honors Projects

Human activity is already triggering damaging environmental tipping points (Lenton, 2020), emphasizing the need for sustainability in all aspects of development. Institutes of Higher Education (IHEs) have the power and responsibility to contribute to a more sustainable world (Parr et al., 2022). Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in Ohio, United States, and the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS) in Salzburg, Austria are two IHEs with multifaceted sustainability programs. While living and studying at BGSU and PLUS, I used autoethnography, a personal narrative approach, combined with public sustainability information to compare the sustainability initiatives at each university, and determine what …

Building Understanding: Developing A Mental Health Literacy Scale For Teacher Preparation Faculty, Jesse Mossholder

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This study aimed to create a valid and reliable Teacher Preparation Faculty Mental Health Literacy Scale. Current literature consistently indicates that traditional undergraduate college students experience high rates of stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout. Teacher preparation programs often lack systematic approaches to supporting student mental health or to preparing faculty to respond effectively. While the literature, resources, and institutional support regarding college student mental health have increased, a significant gap remains in understanding faculty mental health literacy within the context of teacher preparation programs. This mixed-methods sequential exploratory study utilized non-discriminative snowball sampling to recruit preservice educators and teacher preparation …

Astrocyte Circadian Regulation In Neurodegeneration: In Vivo Bmal1 Occupancy Mapping Using Macs-Calling Cards, India Reiss

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Astrocytes maintain neuronal homeostasis through cellular programs that are frequently disrupted early in neurodegenerative disease, many of which are regulated by the circadian clock. The core clock transcription factor BMAL1 is required for normal astrocyte function, yet whether its regulatory activity is altered during neurodegeneration remains unclear. BMAL1 expression changes in disease are often inconsistent, suggesting that transcription factor binding, rather than expression, may be a more informative readout of BMAL1 function. We used a Cln3Δex7/8 model of neurodegeneration, which exhibits early astrocyte dysfunction prior to widespread neuronal loss, to test whether degenerative pathology reprograms BMAL1 binding in astrocytes. We …

Combined Flt3l And Cd40 Agonism Restores Dendritic Cell Driven T Cell Immunity In Mouse Models And Patients With Pancreatic Cancer, Graham Hogg

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Combined Flt3L and CD40 Agonism Restores Dendritic Cell Driven T Cell Immunity in Mouse Models and Patients With Pancreatic Cancer By Graham Douglas Hogg Doctor of Philosophy in Biology and Biomedical Sciences Immunology Washington University in St. Louis, 2026 Professor David DeNardo, Chair Professor T cell directed immunotherapies have largely failed to demonstrate clinical efficacy in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). This broad resistance may result from poor tumor antigenicity and an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). We hypothesize that tumor immunity in pancreatic cancer patients is further limited by systemic and tumor-intrinsic suppression of conventional …

Technology-Driven Risk Governance In U.S. Financial Reporting: The Role Of Cybersecurity Disclosure And Regulatory Technology In Strengthening Capital Market Transparency, Kingsford Brakye, Mary Magdalene Yeboah

Beacom School of Business Student Publications

The rapid digitalization of the financial reporting systems has exposed the U.S. public companies to cybersecurity threats that could impair financial information integrity, the reliability of disclosure, and investor confidence. This paper examines how cybersecurity risk disclosure practices and regulatory technology adoption affect transparency and accountability in US capital markets. The study reviewed existing literature, regulatory guidance, and corporate disclosures in the filings of U.S. public companies, 2020-2026, using a qualitative analytical approach. The results show that the disclosure of cyber risk in corporate reporting is becoming visible in recent years, with the advent of new laws, such as new …

From Tradition To Transition: Evaluating Culinary Medicine As A Tool For Metabolic Health Among Nigerian Immigrants In The United States And The United Kingdom, Simi Oduwole M.S.

Department of Nutrition Student Projects

This scoping review examines existing publications to evaluate whether Culinary Medicine can be used as a tool for metabolic health among Nigerian immigrants in the United States and the United Kingdom. Nigeria is one of the fastest-growing populations globally, with increasing migration to high-income countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Evidence suggests that Nigerian immigrants experience a rise in diet-related chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, as duration of residence increases. This phenomenon is often attributed to dietary acculturation and shifts toward Westernized eating patterns. This scoping review evaluates whether culinary medicine can mitigate …

The Celebrity Fantasy: Digital Identity, Performance, And Catfish Deception, Erin L. Dutton

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This paper examines how celebrity fantasy shapes digital identity and contributes to vulnerability in catfishing scenarios. Using ideological criticism, this study analyzes two episodes of MTV’s Catfish involving celebrity impersonation to explore how digital spaces make it easy to perform a public persona. Research on online identity and parasocial relationships argues that people often feel close to celebrities and are drawn to the fantasy of being noticed by them. In these episodes, the fantasy becomes a tool for deception. Findings suggest that catfishers rely on celebrity tropes to gain appeal, while victims are pulled in by the thrill and validation …

Author Bethany Bruno's Website Portfolio Redesign, Madeline Belle Murrah

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Development Of Resources To Support Independence In And Access To Nature-Based Activities, Riley Carpender

Capstone Projects

This capstone paper discusses the need for resources that support independence in and access to nature-based activities that support health and wellbeing. Occupational therapists (OTs) have expertise in recommending and implementing adaptations to increase individuals’ engagement in nature-based activities. There is currently a gap in the literature regarding access to nature-based activities, and a lack of understanding of how these activities may be implemented, either by caregivers, educators or healthcare professionals. During my capstone I created a guide with modifications for gardening activities for children, wrote an article on how to adapt nature journaling to be more accessible, coded and …

Becoming Laser-Focused On Sustainability Leadership In Higher Education Institutions, Ray F. Coleman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

This dissertation explored leadership responses to integrating sustainability into higher education institutions (HEIs). Specifically, it compared statistical differences between self-perceptions of leadership and student, staff, and faculty perceptions regarding leadership effectiveness for sustainability in two Florida based HEIs: one holding a sustainability certification and one without such certification. In response to a shortage of survey instruments regarding this topic, I produced a new instrument to assess perceptions of leadership sustainability, made statistical comparisons between these two institutions to inform others of those perceptions, and synthesized several leadership components into a proposed change process identified as the Attitude Based Cognitive Dissonance …

Organic Synthesis Of A Hydrazine Functionalized Ammonium Compound For Improved Capture Of Aldehyde Metabolites From Exhaled Breath, Po'iu N. Burgo

Undergraduate Theses

Breath analysis has emerged as a non-invasive and inexpensive way to screen for respiratory diseases. This technique involves measuring concentrations of specific metabolites found in exhaled breath that serve as a biomarkers for disease. A subclass of volatile organic compounds called α,β-Unsaturated aldehydes, products of the lipid peroxidation mechanism, are underrepresented as biomarkers of lung cancer. These have been found to have relatively increased concentrations in the exhaled breath of lung cancer patients compared to a healthy patient. One of the reasons that these metabolites have been underreported is that the techniques used to measure and characterized exhaled metabolites do …

Exploring Occupational Therapy’S Role In Addressing Mental Health Disparities And Emergency Service Utilization Among Homeless Populations: A Comprehensive Review, Megan Darnell

Capstone Projects

Occupational Therapy (OT) is a healthcare profession focused on enabling individuals to engage in meaningful activities and roles through a client-centered approach. This doctoral capstone experience (DCE) was completed in the Emergency Department (ED) at Bronson Methodist Hospital, where individuals experiencing homelessness frequently present with unmet mental health needs. A gap was identified in the accessibility and utilization of community-based mental health and social resources, contributing to repeated ED utilization. The purpose of this DCE was to examine how resource provisions impact the frequency of ED visits and engagement with community mental health services among this population. Objectives include developing …

Advocating For Occupational Therapy Services In Adult Outpatient Physical Therapy Clinics: Enhancing Interprofessional Collaborative Care, Hannah Peyerk

Capstone Projects

The topic of this capstone project is to define occupational therapy’s (OT) role at an adult outpatient physical therapy (PT) clinic. The project focuses on advocacy and education related to OT’s scope of practice and role on an outpatient interdisciplinary team. Literature suggests that healthcare professionals have limited understanding of OT’s specific roles on the rehabilitation team. This can impact referrals and involvement of OT in interprofessional collaboration. The best way to advocate and educate about OT’s role is by active collaboration with other healthcare professionals. This project takes place at Ivy Rehab Physical Therapy (Ortonville), an outpatient PT clinic …

Role Of Occupational Therapy In Hippotherapy And Therapeutic Riding: A Mental Health Perspective, Ava Morrison

Capstone Projects

The purpose of my doctoral capstone experience (DCE) was to gain knowledge about the unique role that occupational therapy (OT) plays in equine-assisted therapy at the Cheff Therapeutic Riding Center, with an emphasis on Therapeutic Riding. Equine-assisted therapy, including hippotherapy and therapeutic riding, is an emerging area of occupational therapy practice that promotes physical, cognitive, emotional, and social well-being through structured interactions with horses. Despite growing evidence supporting the therapeutic benefits of equine-assisted interventions, confusion remains regarding the distinctions between hippotherapy and therapeutic riding, highlighting the need for increased education and advocacy within the field. In addition, there is a …

Uncovering Endometriosis, Gabriella Viana Wilson

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

America’S Nazis: Denazification, Operation Paperclip, And The Cold War, Oliver L. B. Marcel

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This essay examines how Operation Paperclip and the postwar recruitment of German scientists influenced American denazification policy during the Cold War. I argue that the United States’ pursuit of scientific and technological advancement repeatedly took precedence over moral and legal accountability. From the Truman and Eisenhower administrations to the Space Race and the creation of the Office of Special Investigations, federal policy reflected a consistent pattern of prioritizing progress over justice. The study demonstrates that Cold War imperatives fundamentally reshaped U.S. political identity and its relationship with former World War II enemies.

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 …

Psoas Muscle Volume Asymmetry, Not Attachment Site Asymmetry, Is Associated With Chronic Low Back Pain Status, Kassity D. Clay

Theses and Dissertations

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a leading cause of disability worldwide, with increasing evidence implicating neuromuscular factors such as muscle asymmetry in its pathophysiology. The psoas major muscle (PMM), a key contributor to lumbar spine stability, has been comparatively under-investigated despite its biomechanical importance. PURPOSE: To determine whether right-to-left differences in PMM volume and attachment site asymmetry are associated with CLBP; to evaluate whether ODI, IPAQ, and age are associated with PMM volume imbalance; and to assess whether combined PMM volume and attachment asymmetry are associated with CLBP. METHODS: A retrospective secondary analysis was conducted using lumbar MRI data …