Digital Commons Network^™

Assessing The Relationship Of Grit And Student Achievement In Reading And Mathematics In Second Grade Students Of The Sault Ste. Marie Public School District, Sheri L. Mcfarlane

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The single most common predictor of success may be how hard students work. Students who persevere when faced with challenges and adversity have grit. This quantitative study explored the relationship of grit and student achievement in students in early elementary school. The subjects of the study were second grade students enrolled in the Sault Ste. Marie Area Public School District. The cognitive measures for this study were the subjects’ scores from the Northwest Evaluation Association’s Measures of Academic Progress in the areas of mathematics and reading. The non-cognitive measure for this research was the Grit-S Scale, which provided a grit …

Effect Of A Carbohydrate Beverage On Exercise Performance In Youth 7-17 Years Old, Lauren Jording

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Sports enhancement products go through trends as new products are introduced and as old products are redesigned and re-introduced to the market. Gatorade© is a sports beverage that is often used by youth during sports. However, the effects of sports beverages on youth performance are unknown. One aim of this study was to determine if youth experience the same performance benefit from carbohydrate beverages as adults. A second aim of this study was to determine differences in metabolic measures (VO2, VE, & RER) between the carbohydrate and water performance trials in youth and adults. A third aim was to examine …

Access Granted: A Study Of The Factors Affecting The Development Of Technology Literacy In Black Males, Carlton Bernard Bell

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

One of the most urgent challenges of the digital divide is the need to expand technology literacy. Access to technology was believed to be one of the causes for the discrepancy that exists, but there is a deeper divide: the divide that exists between technology literacy, and career readiness. Although access to technology has improved over time, the educational outcomes for Black males in related fields have not. A critical area of concern is the lack of a Black male professional presence in technology fields, which has serious implications for the future of our society. These implications include a less …

College Students And The Rhetorical Dissent Goal: Associations Between Dissent Goal, Dissent Target, And Perceptions Of Instructor Power, Martin Glenn Heator

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Some college students who experience discontent with the instructional experience engage in a complaining and problem-solving behavior called instructional dissent. Three types of dissent have been identified: rhetorical, expressive, and vengeful. Student perceptions of instructor power influence if and how students dissent. This study explored the relationship between instructor power and rhetorical dissent. Previous studies measured rhetorical dissent as a single variable incorporating the goal for dissenting and the target for dissent expression, using the instructor in the class as the only target. This study measured dissent goal and dissent target as separate variables and included the instructor in the …

What Works? Teaching African American Students In Urban Schools, Shawn Renee Forman

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The academic achievement gap for African American students compared to their White counterparts has historically and currently remained significant. Many researchers have been prompted to address this issue by examining the practices utilized to teach African American students. The findings from this study suggest that when teachers move away from the traditional methods of teaching and move toward teaching practices that take into consideration the individual student, motivation and academic performance can be achieved. This research presents a general literature review, interviews from four urban elementary school principals, and the stories of five African American urban elementary teachers who were …

The Effects Of Social-Exclusion Inducing Stereotype Threat, Michael Bartosek

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Stereotype threat occurs when one may feel as if they are confirming or representing a selfcharacteristic or a negative stereotype of one’s group. Social exclusion has been shown to threaten the need to belong. Both stereotype threat and social exclusion have many common links: Each affects an individual’s self-views, feelings, and each impact one’s ability to focus cognitive faculties to perform well on cognitive tests. This thesis sought to explain how social exclusion would increase the perceived threat on related tests of sociability. As such, participants were included or excluded during an online social game, and then received an ordinary …

How Do Speech-Language Pathologists Perceive Their Influence Over Patient Adherence Regarding Dysphagia Recommendations?, Charlene D. Shin

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative research study explored speech-language pathologists’ (SLP) perceptions regarding their potential to influence patient adherence to dysphagia recommendations. Five SLPs holding the CCC-SLP were interviewed in an open-ended format, and the transcriptions of the interviews were the data for this study. The SLP interviews provided a glimpse into SLP interpretations of patients’ fears, concerns, and comprehension of their dysphagia and the recommendations they were given. The themes identified within the data were SLP education for patient and family, respect for patient decisions, SLP understanding of barriers to patient adherence to dysphagia recommendations, family buy-in and practical support, perpetuation of …

Quantifying Changes In Accelerations And Heart Rate Indicative Of Fatigue During Condensed Competitions In Elite Youth Ice Hockey Players, Kenneth L. Martel

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Thirty-three elite youth ice hockey players wore Bioharness-3 (Zephyr, MD) sensors to compare accelerations (ACC) and heart rate (HR) over four games (G1–G4) in three days, in order to establish changes in cardiovascular stress and physical exertion associated with fatigue. Peak ACC and HR across multiple time frames were quantified and analyzed in conjunction to determine exertion profiles for each game. MANOVAs for peak ACC and HR, at each time point across G1–G4 and multiple games per day (M1, M2) for magnitude and time as main effects were performed. HR beats per minute decreased between G1 and G3/G4 in time …

Examining The Response Of The Martian Atmosphere To Increases In Different Portions Of The Electromagnetic Spectrum During Solar Flares, Bradley R. Kumm

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This report describes the methods used to examine how the Martian atmosphere responds to increases in different portions of the electromagnetic spectrum during solar flares. On March 24, 2015 the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission satellite made measurements of the atmosphere and solar irradiance during a solar flare. These measurements were used by the Flare Irradiance Spectral Model (FISM) to generate solar flux values for 59 wavelength bins describing flare event. The solar flux values at different wavelength bins were scaled by different amounts and input into the Mars Global Ionosphere Thermosphere Model (M-GITM) to create 16 distinct …

Students’ Interpretations Of Categorical Data Using Dynamic Graphical Representations, Adam Eide

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Statistical association is an important concept in statistics. An exploratory study examined how students reason about statistical association utilizing graphical representations constructed with CODAP, a dynamic statistical graphing software. Task-based interviews were conducted with three 6th grade students prior to formal instruction. Students’ conceptions of a statistical relationship, proportional reasoning skill level, ability to interpret bivariate categorical graphs (particularly segmented bar graphs and two-way binned plots), and ability to identify association of two categorical variables were all investigated through interview tasks and responses to inquiry. Students were found to have developing proportional reasoning skills and struggled to correctly define and …

Impact Of Highway Work Zones On Traffic Crashes: A Case Study In Michigan, Qadri Hafez Shaheen

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Infrastructure in the US is severely aged and outdated. This presents a seemingly paradoxical problem in the field of construction management: In order to fix and make roads and highways more safe, construction zones must become inherently less safe in the process. There is a high cost to taxpayers and drivers, as work zones experience a significant amount of crashes and fatalities each year. To mitigate some of the factors that contribute to these crashes, this paper attempts to deliver guidelines on how to update relevant crash data, identify relevant factors, and create recommendations accordingly. The research focused particularly on …

An Historical Analysis Of Women’S Emergence Into Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership: Eastern Michigan University, A Case Study, Cheyenne Luzynski

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The implementation of Title IX has increased women’s participation rates in intercollegiate athletics tenfold, yet women’s representation in athletic leadership remains marginal compared to men. As such, the purpose of this study was to understand the social construction of gender as it relates to intercollegiate athletic leadership at Eastern Michigan University. The study explored the history of sporting activities as a mechanism to shape and perpetuate masculine and feminine culture. These values (i.e, competitiveness and cooperativeness) were institutionalized in higher education as sex-segregated physical education and athletic functions. This historical case study applied organizational and institutional theory analyzing the institutional, …

Interaction Between Body Talk In Romantic Relationships And Body Dissatisfaction On Unhealthy Body Change Behaviors, Lillian Ellis

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Unhealthy body change behaviors, such as eating disorder symptoms and muscle dysmorphia symptoms, can cause serious harm in individuals’ lives, impacting physical and emotional health. Body change behaviors have been shown to be associated with body dissatisfaction and body talk. However, individuals’ body talk with their romantic partner has not been well examined. The current study investigated the relationships between body talk with a romantic partner, gender, and body dissatisfaction with body change strategies, using a hierarchical regression that included direct relationships and interaction effects. Participants were college students who took an online study for class credit. Body dissatisfaction and …

Recognizing Addictive Disorders Through Transdiagnostic Assessment, Meagan M. Carr

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Some evidence suggests high rates of comorbidity between substance and other related addictive disorders. However, few self-report instruments adopt a transdiagnostic approach, which would be best positioned to answer questions about comorbidity as well as other related phenomenon, such as discontinuation of one type of behavior and initiation of another. The current work aimed to develop a measure that screened for seven types of potentially addictive behavior: alcohol use, drug use, tobacco use, gambling, binge eating, hypersexual behavior, and excessive video game playing. Data were collected at three time-points to develop a large pool of possible items, establish the initial …

Opioid Use And Abuse In The United States, James Pellerin

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Opioids have quadrupled the number of unintentional drug overdose deaths since 1999 and are now among the leading causes of death in the United States. Though some reform has recently occurred, the United States continues to operate largely under a punitive criminal justice model despite unsuccessful legislative schemes and voluminous research stemming from a previous war on drugs. This thesis serves to explore the history and extent of opioids in the United States and to analyze salient catalysts responsible for creating an epidemic of abuse. While private and governmental coalitions have formed to develop successful interventions and treatments, they are …

The Relationship Between Motivational Interventions And Task-Oriented And Ego-Oriented Learners, Carolyn S. Dale

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Background: The current high stakes standardized testing mandate, wherein school funding and other resources depend on successful student test performance, makes student motivation especially important. This study seeks to examine factors affecting K-5 teachers’ ability to recognize different types of student motivation behaviors and identify corresponding interventions. The study focuses on an aspect of motivation known as goal orientation, which has been found to manifest in two basic types: ego orientation and task orientation.

Purpose: The study assesses the relationship between elementary teachers’ goal orientations and their teaching environment, and their ability to recognize ego- and task-oriented behaviors and interventions. …

Quality Improvement Of Recycled Concrete Aggregate Using Polymers, Ahmed Ali Abdrabbou

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Crushed concrete is one of the main resources for sustainable material. As this material should not be wasted, this research aims to assess the reuse of crushed concrete material as a resource of sustainable construction material. In this thesis, two types of polymer were mixed with crushed concrete to improve its fragmentation resistance, water absorption, and permeability. Water base polymer is an eco-friendly and cost-effective material, which has been used frequently to improve the quality of crushed concrete. This thesis contributes to the improvement of crushed concrete performance by improving the aggregate properties when it is mixed with a polymer, …

Neural Correlates Of Nonverbal Social Communication In High-Risk Infants, Casey E. Swick

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The aim of this study was to replicate and extend a study by Grossmann and colleagues (2008), examining infant neural responses to gaze in 5-month-olds, to older and high-risk infants. Participants were 9-month-old infants (5 preterm, [3 female]; 12 full term [7 female]) who underwent fNIRS while viewing gaze paradigms. Findings revealed that hemisphere predicted peak oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO₂) across groups and conditions, with higher activation in the left hemisphere across groups. Interaction of group by condition predicted peak HbO₂ value, with an increase in activation in the high-risk group during the averted condition. Participants as random …

Molecular Dynamics Simulation Of Gas Transport And Adsorption In Ultra-Tight Formations, Yannick Tambe Agbor

Theses and Dissertations

Kerogen, which plays a very important part in reservoir characterization for ultra-tight formations, is also involved in the storage and production of hydrocarbons in shale. In this work, we study the kerogen structure and its interaction with insitu hydrocarbons to fully understand the fluid flow and adsorption mechanisms in the shale. Also the advancement in pore network modelling has greatly helped the understanding of mesoscale fluid flow. In this work, transport of methane in a type II marine environment kerogen model is studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Non Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics Simulations (NEMDS) using GROMACS code and Grand Canonical Monte …

Comparing Source Rock Maturity With Pore Size Distribution And Fluid Saturation In The Bakken-Three Forks Petroleum System, Williston Basin, North Dakota, Adedoyin Suleman Adeyilola

Theses and Dissertations

With the continuous demand for fossil fuel and advancement in technology, the unconventional petroleum resources have come into limelight. The Devonian Three Forks Formation consisting of carbonate and clastic sediments is an unconventional oil accumulation

containing about 3.73 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil. However, understanding rock properties of the various lithofacies and fluid saturation is still challenging.

The petroleum prospectivity was evaluated by integrating organic maturity and hydrocarbon generation with porosity distribution and fluid saturation in the Ambrose field and adjacent fields. The organic maturity was done with a programmed pyrolysis analysis (Source

Rock Analyzer) using samples taken at …

The Effects Of Cultural Participation On Health Outcomes Among American Indian/Alaska Native Elders, Collette Adamsen

Theses and Dissertations

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) history represents a number of traumatic events inflicted upon each tribal generation that has yet to recover. These events have led to major consequences on the health of this population. AI/AN people experience the worst health disparities in the nation (Espey et al., 2014; Warne & Lajimodiere, 2015). Previous studies have shown that loss of land, cultural devastation, and inadequate health care access are associated with the high rates of health disparities endured by AI/AN people throughout North America (Walters, et al., 2011). AI/AN beliefs tell us that culture serves a fundamental role in managing good …

Quantifying Extravehicular Activity Performance Degradation Due To Sustenance Deprivation, Eryn Beisner

Theses and Dissertations

Modern EVAs (spacewalks) performed onboard the International Space Station require astronauts to endure up to twelve hours of intense mental and physical exertion without food, as they do not stop to eat nor do they currently have the capabilities to consume sustenance in their spacesuits. With the future of space exploration taking aim at the Moon, Mars, and beyond, EVAs are expected to become more demanding than ever. This is a pilot study to attempt to quantify astronaut performance during an EVA to determine if there is significant performance degradation because of acute starvation. Astronauts conducting EVA training at NASA’s …

Differentiating Active And Passive Fatigue States With The Use Of Electroencephalography, Kyle Anthony Bernhardt

Theses and Dissertations

With advances in automation technology, it is becoming essential to understand how automation affects human operators. A concern for the implementation of automation technology is the interactive effects it has with operator cognitive fatigue. Desmond and Hancock (2001) proposed that two types of fatigue can arise depending on the nature of the task: active and passive. Active fatigue results when operators must make constant perceptual-motor adjustments during high task demands, while passive fatigue results from operators executing little or no perceptual-motor adjustments during low task demands, similar to when automation is employed. The purpose of this study was to use …

Health Aspects Of Community-Engaged Natural Play Space Planning, Design, And Implementation, Eric Castle

Theses and Dissertations

Obesity, loss of social capital, and fewer connections to nature are three community health issues faced by many. A team of concerned individuals attempted to address the spectrum of these health issues by collaboratively engaging communities to plan, design, build and program natural play spaces located in public parks. This exploratory study, utilizing a grounded theory approach, conducted focus groups with community members who engaged in this process. The specific objectives of the study were twofold; 1) to generate theory regarding the perceived impact on social capital from the community-driven planning and construction process of the Connecting Children in Nature …

Characteristics Of Individuals Who Participate In Autoerotic Asphyxiation Practices: An Exploratory Study, Lauren Chapple

Theses and Dissertations

The set of behaviors known as Autoerotic Asphyxiation (AeA) have been studied, by contemporary scientific standards, for the better part of sixty years. Within that time, an inadequate amount of research has been completed on a far too narrow sample of the population, namely those who have died from the practice. AeA as a practice has been understudied to this point despite statistics that would note the potential for an unknown number of individuals to currently be practicing these behaviors. There is a paucity of both quantitative and qualitative data about living AeA practitioners. The present study uses Sex Positivity …

Interfacing The Cfd Code Mfix With The Petsc Linear Solver Library To Achieve Reduced Computation Times, Lauren Clarke

Theses and Dissertations

A computational bottleneck during the solution to multiphase formulations of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations is often during the implicit solution of the pressure-correction equation that results from operator-splitting methods. Since density is a coefficient in the pressure-correction equation, large variations or discontinuities among the phase densities greatly increase the condition number of the pressure-correction matrix and impede the convergence of iterative methods employed in its solution. To alleviate this shortcoming, the open-source multiphase code MFiX is interfaced with the linear solver library PETSc. Through an appropriate mapping of matrix and vector data structures between the two software, the access to …

Examining Teacher Perceptions On Change In Secondary School Libraries To Promote Informational Literacy, Sarah Crary

Theses and Dissertations

Libraries in schools are changing from a place to check out books to providing access to information from a multitude of media. The specific changes needed in school libraries and the method to accomplish those changes, specifically from the perspective of teachers, is an area of research with few empirical studies. The purpose of the study was to use Fullan’s Change Theory (2007) initiation phase to identify how ready teachers are to engage in changing the way information literacy skills are taught. The researcher investigated teachers’ perception with openness to change. The researcher analyzed teachers’ perceptions about collaborative roles between …

Dieter's Deficit: Preoccupation And Working Memory, Kelly Cuccolo

Theses and Dissertations

Preoccupying thoughts can cause disruptions of ones’ attentional system and may arise as the result of a clinical disorder, societal pressures, or individual predispositions. Goal acquisition requires one to be preoccupied with one’s behaviors in order for success to be achieved, for example dieters must monitor their weight and caloric intake. As dieting is a widespread phenomenon in American culture it is important to understand the cognitive effect of preoccupation. This study examines the relationship between obsessional thoughts about food, weight, and shape, and cognitive task performance. The performance of Dieters and Non-Dieters on a battery of specific working memory …

A Comparative Analysis Of Manned And Unmanned Aviators's Approach To Safety, Aaron Marlo Dahl

Theses and Dissertations

This study is an analysis of differences between unmanned and manned aviation

industry safety. A survey tool was used to collect safety perception, risk perception, and

organizational safety culture data from various individuals throughout the aviation

industry. In general, no difference existed between the unmanned and manned groups,

indicating an overall safe operating environment for aviators. While the results of this

limited study show no overall difference between groups, it provides a baseline study for

which future data, collected from a more mature industry, can be obtained.

The War After Battle: Morale, Post-Traumatic Stress And Long-Term Welfare Of Combat Soldiers, Corey Doan

Theses and Dissertations

There is a historical, literary, and philosophical record of the effects of combat on mental health. Modern psychological research has focused on the relationship between combat deployment and a litany of mental health issues which include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), various forms and manifestations of depression, substance abuse with a specific focus on alcohol, as well as social, family, and work-life functional impairment. This study introduces a customized 18-item Integrated Military Morale Questionnaire (IMMQ) which was designed to measure the proposed basic components of military morale: personal morale, cohesion, and esprit de corps. Data from 185 United States military members …