Digital Commons Network^™

Student Authored Digital Games As Authentic Learning: Using The Can You Create A Game Challenge In Elementary Classrooms, Mary Leanna Prater

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

This embedded single-case study examined an elementary classroom implementation of a digital game authoring challenge aligned with state mandated content standards. Teachers used the game challenge over four 50 minute class periods during a three month period of time. A total of twenty five (n=25) 4th grade students, nine (n=9) 5th grade students and three (n=3) STEM teachers participated in the study.

The central research question for this study is: How do elementary teachers use a game challenge specifically aligned with Common Core/Next Generation Science (NGSS) state standards for instruction? Qualitative data, drawn from participating teacher interviews, classroom observations, student …

Higher Education System Governance: An Exploratory Study Of Presidential Decision Making In The Kentucky Community And Technical College System, Sarah Jill Page

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

There are more than 40 higher education systems across the United States enrolling more than 5.6 million students. Literature on higher education systems is well-documented; however, variations in system structures and governance are apparent. The limited research on governance in community college systems merits examination. This study explored presidential decision making in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System using quantitative and qualitative procedures. As a two-phase, sequential exploratory study using surveys, interviews, and documents, this study considers decision making from an organizational and environmental perspective to understand how presidents share academic, administrative, and personnel decision making. This study extends …

A Debriefing Technique In High-Fidelity Patient Simulation And Competent Decision-Making Abilities Among Nursing Students, Trena Seago

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

Nursing faculty are utilizing high-fidelity patient simulation (HPS) with debriefing to help engage nursing students in making competent clinical decisions. This quasi-experimental study examined the use of HPS with debriefing and students’ ability to make nursing care decisions using standardized exams. The experimental group received debriefing after HPS and the control group did not receive debriefing after HPS. The pre- and post-test assessed participants’ ability to make clinical care decisions. The analysis of the pre-test and post-test HESI scores showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups.

The Role And Impact Of School Nurses And Intentions To Delegate Diabetes-Related Tasks Amidst Budget Cuts And Legislative Changes, Michelle J. Lineberry

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

As the percentage of school children with chronic conditions such as diabetes continues to rise, funding for school nurses to keep those students healthy and safe is decreasing. This dissertation includes three studies: (1) a systematic review of the literature on the role and impact of American elementary school nurses, (2) a focus group study that further examined the role of Kentucky school nurses and described their reaction to a new regulation that necessitates delegation of diabetes-related nursing tasks to unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP), and (3) a quantitative study that examined Kentucky school nurses’ past behaviors and future intentions regarding …

Lifestyle Contributors To Cardiovascular Disease Risk, Adam J. Berrones

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

Aortic stiffness is an independent risk factor that has prognostic value regarding future cardiovascular disease (CVD) events such as myocardial infarction, strokes, and heart failure. Although death rates due to coronary heart disease have declined in recent years, the leading global killer remains CVD and prevalence is still high. Understanding lifestyle contributors associated with aortic stiffness would provide the public with insight into targeting key health-related behaviors.

The purpose of this observational study was to examine the association of physical activity, physical function, and dietary quality as independent factors contributing to aortic stiffness in apparently healthy middle aged men. Fifty-two …

Protection And Enforcement Challenges For Tattoo Copyrights, Yolanda M. King

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

This article is based on remarks adapted from the transcript of a talk that was given by the author on October 2, 2015, at the Kernochan Center Annual Symposium at Columbia Law School, summarizing issues surrounding tattoo copyrights in the author's previous articles.

The Right-Of-Publicity Challenges For Tattoo Copyrights, Yolanda M. King

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

This Article is the third and final piece of a series of articles that examine the applicability of intellectual property law to tattoos. The second article in the series, The Enforcement Challenges for Tattoo Copyrights, concluded that copyright owners can and should enforce their rights against users outside of the tattoo artist-customer relationship. This Article explores a different source of intellectual property protection for tattoos: the right of publicity. As tattooing has become increasingly prevalent among celebrities, tattoos have become “one” with the persona of the tattoo bearer. A tattoo that carries the meaning of a celebrity tattoo bearer serves …

Thoughts On American Legal Education: Past, Present And Future, Marc D. Falkoff

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

As a professor and administrator at a public law school, I have witnessed firsthand widespread changes in the legal market for our graduates, and I have observed how that transformation has affected how and what we teach our students. Some of the disruption in the legal market was undoubtedly hastened by the Great Recession. But the truth is that law firms had already turned to computer programs for document review, were increasingly relying on contract lawyers, and had begun outsourcing legal work to India and the Philippines well before the fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Moreover, innovations like Legal …

What Do People Mean When They Say They “Had Sex”? Connecting Communication And Behavior, Brittnie Peck, Jimmie Manning, Andrew Tri, Daria Skrzypczynski, Morgan Summers, Kayleigh Grubb

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

What do people mean when they say they “had sex”? The most-cited study regarding what activities are communicated as having “had sex” is now over 20 years old. This chapter provides findings from a study that replicated the original study’s methods to provide an up-to-date understanding. An Internet survey completed by 380 women and 197 men from the United States was conducted. Results show that penile-vaginal intercourse was the sexual activity most likely to count as having “had sex,” with 97.4% of participants indicating it as sex. Other common sexual activities measured include penile-anal intercourse, oral-genital contact, and manual stimulation …

The Intersection Of Culture And Icf-Cy Personal And Environmental Factors For Alternative And Augmentative Communication, Danai Kasambira Fannin

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Clinicians facilitate successful use of Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC). The most clinically competent providers, however, address needs that extend beyond technical AAC use to help clients experience full participation. This can only be achieved for all clients by considering individual cultural factors that affect their participation. This article describes how Personal and Environmental Factors of the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: Children & Youth Version (ICF-CY; WHO, 2007) encompass how cultural characteristics (e.g., family/ home, school, recreational, social, or spiritual) impact participation. The ICF-CY can provide a structured way for Speech-Language Pathologists to …

Exploring Organizational Resilience Asset And Its Antecedents For Effective Internal Crisis Communication, Young Kim

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nowadays crises are omnipresent with daily news headlines as reminders. The public continues to see or experience many different crises that affect numerous individuals and organizations as well as society in general. Against this backdrop, corporate communication professionals, for effective crisis management, are expected to help the organizations and their leaders make decisions, as well as communicate clearly when crises arise. Considering a fast changing media environment, recent scholars have called for new approaches to crisis communication to enhance theoretical developments. They suggested that researchers should take a broader context beyond the dominant crisis communication research perspectives based on the …

Class-Related Emotions In Physical Education: A Control-Value Theory Approach, Kelly L. Simonton

LSU Master's Theses

This study investigated a model of students’ control beliefs and task value in physical education (PE). Specifically, it examined relationships among students’ perceptions of their teachers’ communication and instructional clarity, control beliefs and values toward PE, and academic emotions. High school students (N= 529) completed valid and reliable instruments assessing perceptions of teacher characteristics, control, value, enjoyment, and boredom in PE. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and internal reliability estimates were calculated. A path analysis was used to test the hypothesis that teacher communication and clarity would be related to control-value appraisals which would in turn, positively predict enjoyment or boredom. …

Interrelationships Among Physical Health, Health Risk Factors, Psychosocial Characteristics, And Social Support In Individuals With Major Depressive Disorder Receiving Integrated Care In Community Mental Health Settings, Blaine Stewart Masinter

LSU Master's Theses

Integrated primary and behavioral health care (PBHC) programs in community mental health (CMH) settings is a topic of burgeoning interest in the current literature. These settings aim to counter the health discrepancies and inordinate mortality of persons with serious mental illness (SMI) and comorbid medical conditions. Within the SMI population, the most prevalent diagnosis is Major Depression (MDD). MDD has been well studied in the literature and has been associated with increased rates of physical health conditions. Research has correlated higher levels of social support to lower levels of psychological distress and increased physical health. This cross-sectional, descriptive study examines …

Increasing Off-Chip Bandwidth And Mitigating Dark Silicon Via Switchable Pins, Shaoming Chen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Off-chip memory bandwidth has been considered as one of the major limiting factors to processor performance, especially for multi-cores and many-cores. Conventional processor design allocates a large portion of off-chip pins to deliver power, leaving a small number of pins for processor signal communication. We observed that the processor requires much less power than that can be supplied during memory intensive stages in some cases. In this work, we propose a dynamic pin switch technique to alleviate the bandwidth limitation issue. The technique is introduced to dynamically exploit the surplus pins for power delivery in the memory intensive phases and …

Exploring Intermedia Agenda Setting Effects Of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, Andrew Abad

LSU Master's Theses

The HBO television program Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is a new and unique take on the typical political comedy show popularized by programs like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Uninterrupted by commercial breaks and with full creative control, host John Oliver and his team spend 30 minutes on Sunday nights discussing a typically underreported story at length, abandoning the monologue and interview portions reminiscent of traditional political comedy shows in favor of a long-form style investigation into a particular issue or topic. The main segment of each episode is then uploaded to the social media website, …

Succession In Family Owned Businesses: The Influence Of Succession Planning And Demographic Characteristics On Succession Success, Steven Thomas Perret

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the influence selected aspects of succession planning and selected demographic characteristics had on the level of success in the succession of family owned businesses (FOB¡¯s) in south Louisiana. To achieve this, the researcher designed a survey instrument to collect data. A total of 61 FOB¡¯s responded indicating they completed succession; however, only 23 or (38%) completed a planned succession to the next generation. An important finding was that having a high quality succession plan had a positive influence on the perceptions of family owned business owners and managers. Another important finding …

“A Voice, A Messenger” By Aaron Jay Kernis: A Performer's Guide And Historical Analysis, Pagean Marie Disalvio

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

a Voice, a Messenger by Aaron Jay Kernis is a concerto for trumpet and ensemble comprising winds, brass, percussion, double basses, harp and piano. It is a contemporary 21st century work that demonstrates historical awareness and has the potential to become a noteworthy addition to the trumpet solo repertoire. Kernis’s work is challenging, rewarding, and tests the technical ability of the modern trumpeter’s agility and physical endurance without surpassing the instrument’s potential. In conjunction with my lecture recital, this document serves to expose trumpeters and other musicians to this new and significant composition. Original interviews with two of the trumpet …

Phonological Encoding Of Medial Vowels In Adults Who Stutter, Allison Elizabeth Jacobs

LSU Master's Theses

Previous data suggest the metrical properties of a word may influence the time course of phonological encoding, particularly in adults who stutter. The purpose of the present study is to examine phonological and metrical encoding skills in fluent and non-fluent adults, in particular the medial stress-bearing vowel. Investigators used a silent phoneme monitoring paradigm to assess reaction times for all phonemes within nonword CVCCVC stimuli. This paradigm required participants to manually identify target phonemes within a nonword to further isolate the level of phonological encoding from other processes. Eight participants were exposed to stimuli with initial-stress, and eight participants were …

Black Girl Magic: How Black Women Administrators Navigate The Intersection Of Race And Gender In Workspace Silos At Predominantly White Institutions, Allison Michelle Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In choosing to look at the impact of white racially homogeneous work environments, if any, in relation to Black women higher education administrators, this research was grounded in Patricia Hill Collins’ Black Feminist Thought. Utilizing Black Feminist Thought, rooted in intersectionality, provided a sturdy foundation for one interested in conducting research specific to Black women, whether the discourse is race, gender, and/or any other intersecting identities. Black Feminist Thought conveys the message that Black women have similar yet different experiences from White women and similar yet different experiences from Black men, while simultaneously having shared yet different experiences than other …

Relational Effects Of Person-Centered Comfort, Andrea Jean Vickery

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

When faced with stressful events, people seek the comfort of close others. The quality of support we receive from our friends, family members, and romantic partners, in turn, impacts our ability to cope. In addition, how we feel about our close relational partners seems intimately related to their abilities to foster appropriate, rather than maladaptive, coping. Surprisingly, however, the relational effects of support are largely ignored in literature. The two studies that comprise this dissertation incorporate tenets of two influential interpersonal communication theories, Person Centered Theory (PCT) and Relational Framing Theory (RFT), to investigate the relational effects of person-centered comfort. …

Identification Of Genes Associated With Resistance To Brown Rust In Sugarcane And Prevalence Of One Major Gene, Mavir Carolina Avellaneda Barbosa

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Development of resistant cultivars is the main control measure against sugarcane brown rust caused by Puccinia melanocephala. Durability is uncertain, since the pathogen possesses adaptive ability to overcome host plant resistance. A differential gene expression study utilizing suppressive subtraction hybridization was conducted to improve understanding of brown rust resistance mechanisms in sugarcane. The expression patterns of 11 unigenes representing biosynthetic pathways, defense-related genes, and signaling genes were analyzed in L 99-233, a cultivar exhibiting quantitative resistance, L 01-299, a resistant cultivar with the major resistance gene Bru1, and two susceptible cultivars, Ho 95-988 and L 09-125, at 24 h, 48 …

Contemporary Organic Transformations Enabled By Novel Cationic Processes, Caitlan Elizabeth Ayala

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the development of synthetic methodologies in organic synthesis in two different areas. Chapter 1 discusses the more recent examples of transforming alcohols to their corresponding alkyl chlorides. The first area of our group’s research interest is the development of a mild chlorination method from unactivated alcohols, detailed in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 provides an insight into the history of oxyallyl cations, the basis of the second methodology development project in our laboratory. This chapter focuses on the traditional reactions that utilize these reactive intermediates, and it also showcases the concept of direct nucleophilic addition and the …

Effects Of Various Seating Arrangements On Disruptive Classroom Behavior, Natalie Marie Robichaux

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Both class-wide behavioral interventions and antecedent strategies are commonly used to target disruptive behavior problems and improve classroom management. Typically, antecedent strategies precede behavioral interventions due to their proactive nature. Antecedent strategies, such as altering the classroom seating arrangement, may be more desirable to teachers than behavior interventions due to their simplicity and ability to be easily incorporated into existing routines. Past research, though limited, has demonstrated that row and column seating arrangements are associated with lower disruptions during independent work activities compared to group seating arrangements. In the first study, a multi-element design was used to compare rates of …

Study Of Condensed Matter Systems With Monte Carlo Simulation On Heterogeneous Computing Systems, Sheng Feng

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We study the Edwards-Anderson model on a simple cubic lattice with a finite constant external field. We employ an indicator composed of a ratio of susceptibilities at finite momenta, which was recently proposed to avoid the difficulties of a zero momentum quantity, for capturing the spin glass phase transition. Unfortunately, this new indicator is fairly noisy, so a large pool of samples at low temperature and small external field are needed to generate results with a sufficiently small statistical error for analysis. We thus implement the Monte Carlo method using graphics processing units to drastically speed up the simulation. We …

Founding A Historically Latino/Caribbean-Serving Institution: An Archival Research Study On Florida International University, Amaris Del Carmen Guzmán

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Employing an archival research approach, this study explores the formation of Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida. As one of the few institutions to open its doors with a specific mission to promote greater international understanding, this study explores diasporic migration and community formation in efforts to challenge the U.S. federally designated phrase of Hispanic-serving Institutions (HSIs) and acknowledge those HSIs who have historically served Latino and Caribbean populations. The author defined FIU as a Historically Latino/Caribbean-serving institution based on the transnational Latino and Caribbean cultural community formation in southeast Florida between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s. Specifically, this dissertation …

Studies On Development Of End Rot In Sweetpotato, Ratchanee Pattaravayo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

End rot development in sweetpotato is caused by several pathogens and exacerbated by unfavorable environments. A critical need exists to know what factors in the environment trigger end rot development and how to manage the crop to minimize the incidence of end rots which are the overall objectives of this study. This research was divided into three studies: 1) Effect of environmental factors on expression of end rot in sweetpotato roots. Factorial combinations consisted of flooding/non-flooding; skinned/non-skinned; cured/non-cured; recommended storage/ambient storage are environmental variables not tested previously together in a systematic way. Results showed that curing at 29oC and 85-90% …

Effects Of Pitch And Rhythm Priming Tasks On Accuracy And Fluency During Sight-Reading, Christine Renee Russell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Given the prevalent use of sight-reading in the classroom, at music festivals, and in audition procedures, it is important to know the most effective practices in preparing students to sight-read musical excerpts. Previous studies suggest that rhythm accuracy is a significant indicator of sight-reading ability. However, others have observed a possible influence of pitch on the performance of rhythm. In an effort to better understand that relationship, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of pitch and rhythm priming tasks on sight-reading accuracy and fluency. High school wind instrumentalists (N=182) sight-read selected stimulus exercises from the Watkins-Farnum …

Testing The Asset-Based Theory Of American Social Welfare: Does A Future-Orientation Mediate The Relationship Between Asset-Ownership And Financial Responsibility?, Louie Fletcher Bickham Iii

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The ownership of financial assets protects American households from experiencing the struggles of income poverty. The asset-based theory of American social welfare, which was conceptualized by Professor Michael Sherraden in 1991 and amended in 2001 by other scholars, posited that social welfare programs diminish the prevalence of poverty by enabling households to save funds to purchase assets. This theory has been scantly tested—especially among American households—despite a great amount of funds being invested into programs designed to help low-income American households to build assets. The only previous study that examined the intermediary role of future-orientations on the effect of asset-ownership …

The Contribution Of Self-Regulation To Reading Comprehension In Adolescent Learners, Rebecca Lynn Parker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the dually implicated processes of language and self-regulation in reading comprehension and to determine if self-regulation contributes unique variance to reading comprehension beyond word recognition/decoding and oral language comprehension. The study also sought to determine if the unique contribution of self-regulation to reading comprehension differs for students with language/learning difficulties and students with typical language/learning histories. Thirty-two 6th, 7th, and 8th graders participated in this study. Of these participants, 17 students had language/learning difficulties and 15 students had typical language/learning histories. All participants attended a low performing public middle school located in …

Mass Incarceration By Design: The Impacts Of Urban Renewal And Landscape Architecture's Absence On The Prison Industrial Complex And The Use Of Landscape Architecture As An Antidote To Mass Incarceration, Abigail P. Phillips

LSU Master's Theses

The work of landscape architects has both positive and negative social impacts and landscape architects can strive to intentionally design for positive social impact. This paper utilizes mass incarceration as a lens for discussing the social impact of landscape architecture. The crossroads of mass incarceration and design offer a unique opportunity for Landscape Architects to examine the impact of many urban renewal efforts on marginalized communities, the benefits of landscape architectural involvement in prison design, and the use of design as protest against inhumane structures. This paper is separated into three sections, one detailing the history of social justice and …