Digital Commons Network^™

Parent Knowledge Of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Kandice J. Benallie

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Parent knowledge of ASD may be relevant to early identification and intervention services for children with ASD. By understanding how knowledgeable parents of young children are about ASD, researchers and practitioners can intervene and educate this population. This study sought to determine the knowledge base of ASD among parents with children five years and younger and if developmental, behavioral, and autism-related concerns predict knowledge of ASD. The sample of parents consisted of 167 mothers and fathers. All participants completed a knowledge questionnaire (i.e., ASKSG) and reported their level of developmental, behavioral, and autism-related concerns of their oldest child between the …

Current And Historic Visitor Experiences In Coastal Alaskan Wilderness: Visitor Motivations And Experience Quality In Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, Gabriella R. Furr

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Visitors to parks and protected areas (PPAs) engage in a variety of activities and choose different modes of travel, especially when the location itself has few limitations, such as open-water settings with relatively few backcountry visitors. Managers must understand why visitors are recreating in a particular place and the quality of their experiences in order to offer appropriate and meaningful opportunities. This study seeks to better understand visitor motivations (the “why”), to develop and measure effective indicators for evaluating the quality of visitor experiences, and to contextualize these findings with a unique investigation of historical Glacier Bay National Park data. …

Kindergarteners' Conceptions And Representations Of Temperature: An Exploratory Study On How Young Children Perceive Air Temperature, Ryan Francis Cain

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As states, districts, and teachers work to make science classes more about doing the work of science and less about remembering science facts, research is needed to show what doing science looks like. This is especially needed for the youngest students, since much of the current research studies examine the upper part of the K-12 grade range.

Having been an early elementary science teacher, my work in this dissertation and beyond is focused on making the doing of science accessible to young children. One way to do science is to collect and interpret data – to measure something and make …

Mental Health Awareness And Advocacy: Assessment Tool Development And An Evaluation Of A College-Based Curriculum, Ty B. Aller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Students’ mental health issues are a common concern on college campuses and are often addressed via prevention programming called mental health literacy. This dissertation consists of two studies regarding mental health literacy programming for college students at a western university in the United States. In study one, the Mental Health Awareness and Advocacy Assessment Tool (MHAA-AT) was created and evaluated for its utility in assessing college students’ mental health literacy. This assessment tool is unique in that it is built upon a process-based approach to mental health literacy. The assessment tool demonstrated adequate psychometric properties and it was deemed an …

Treatment Of Clinical Perfectionism Using Acceptance And Commitment Therapy, Clarissa W. Ong

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Clinical perfectionism is characterized by rigidly pursuing unrealistically high standards on which self-worth is contingent and experiencing distress when these standards are not met. Because clinical perfectionism is associated with many psychological diagnoses, understanding how to treat it may help streamline available treatments. The aim of this dissertation was to test the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a cognitive-behavioral therapy, on 53 individuals with clinical perfectionism. Participants in the ACT group received 10 therapy sessions and those in the control group were on a waitlist for 14 weeks. The first study supported the effectiveness of ACT relative to …

Navigating Adulthood: Exploring The Impact Of A High School Life-Skills Course On Adulthood Transition Experiences, Lacee R. Boschetto

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was conducted to explore the adulthood transition experiences of Utah high-school graduates, with heightened focus on the application value of educational content from the course, Adult Roles. The purpose of the study was identified through experiential interactions with high-school graduates, and was supported by research on 21st century adulthood transitions shown to divert away from traditional adulthood markers. The inconsistency between modern adulthood transition behaviors and traditionally held adulthood assumptions lead to negative perceptions about young adult’s capability to adapt to adulthood. The researcher was motivated to investigate opportunities that may provide increased preparation for the transition into …

Preservice Teachers Knowledge Of Adolescent Suicide, Annette N. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher preparation programs have a responsibility to prepare future teachers to teach

and mentor students through their academic years. With the rise of suicide in school age children, responsibility has fallen to teachers to better recognize and understand students who may be suicidal. This study sought to answer the question: to what degree does teaching certification, teaching experience, and suicide awareness embedded coursework predict preservice teachers’ knowledge of suicide awareness and prevention? Data from the Adolescent Suicide Behavior Questionnaire and a demographic survey which asked about participants’ preservice training was sent to universities and colleges in Texas with an undergraduate …

Implicit Memory And Online Advertisement Priming, Matthew L. Custard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Implicit Memory research has been investigating the attentional requirements needed for something to be encoded and accessible through implicit memory. So far, previous research has produced mixed results on attentional requirements for perceptual implicit memory, some studies citing evidence for the need of attention, others citing the opposite. As well, research has been consistent in producing results showing that conceptual implicit memory has higher attentional demands than that of its perceptual counterpart. Adopting Transfer-Appropriate Processing framework, the current paper investigates attention requirements for both a perceptual task (picture identification) and a conceptual task (category exemplar generation). Participants examine webpages with …

Responding To Racial Incivility In Classrooms: Hospitality And Responsibility, Nathalie Piquemal, Dave Misir, Rebeca Heringer

Journal of Global Education and Research

This paper considers the relationship between education and hospitality in the specific context of moments of incivility in classrooms, with special attention to racial/white resentment. The authors reflect on the extent to which nurturing intellectual candor with interpretive charity (Callan, 2011) can be extended to incivility shaped by white resentment. They contend there is a need to approach hospitality as responsibility (Levinas, 1969, thereby suggesting conditions for student agency. The relationship between the educator as host and giver of hospitality and the students as guests and respondents is discussed (Ruitenberg, 2011b). The paper argues the role of the teacher is …

Truth And Reconciliation In Light Of The Cross: Martin Luther’S Theology Of The Cross In Relationship To The Current Ubuntu Theology Of Desmond Tutu, Nokukhanya Pearl Shabalala

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Shabalala, Nokukhanya, P “Truth and Reconciliation in Light of the Cross: Martin Luther’s Theology of the Cross in Relationship to the Current Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu.” Master of Arts Thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2019. 97pp.

The issue of suffering in Africa has resulted in Africans attributing suffering to God’s work, ancestors’ anger and evil spirits or witchcraft’s work. This is a skewed understanding of suffering. And not only that, the suffering that has been perpetrated by the civil war has birthed the phenomenon of child soldiers resulting in Africa casting out its children. In both of these presented issues sub-Saharan …

When Galaxies Collide: Resolving Criminal Justice Disputes Among Nations In Space, Caleb Ohmer

Journal of Space Law

No abstract provided.

Interdisciplinary Team Teaching In Space Legal Education, Ermanno Napolitano

Journal of Space Law

No abstract provided.

Entrepreneurship As Boundary Object: Toward Reintegration Of Colombia’S Ex-Militants Into Civil Society, Andres Barrios Fajardo, Clifford J. Shultz, Juan Carlos Montes Joya

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

War and other violent conflicts greatly degrade a country’s economic, social, and marketing systems. In the aftermath of conflict, national and international organizations develop different strategies, such as business development, aimed at the reconstruction of these systems. This article draws on boundary theory to frame the way in which entrepreneurship can help ex-militants to discard war-activities and to reintegrate peacefully and productively into a peace-time economy. An interpretive study examining the life-narratives of former militants of illegal groups involved in Colombia’s armed conflict – the world’s longest, lasting 52 years – regarding their business start-ups was designed and administered. Findings …

Response To My Commentators, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Mapping The Landscape Of Support And Safety Among Sexual Minority Women And Gender Non-Conforming Individuals: Perceptions After The 2016 Us Presidential Election, Laurie Drabble, Cindy Veldhuis, Angie Wootton, Ellen Riggle, Tonda Hughes

Faculty Publications

As part of a larger online survey, we conducted an Internet-based study that included both qualitative and quantitative data from a national non-probability sample to examine how sexual minority women and gender non-conforming individuals described their experiences and concerns after the 2016 election. The current study explores responses in relation to local social and political climates. Quantitative analysis of survey responses (N = 969) examined changes in participant concerns relative to state policy context (number of positive policies offering equal rights and protections for LGBTQ communities) and size of community (e.g., urban and rural). Analysis of narrative responses to open-ended …

Extract And Active Principal Of The Neotropical Vine Souroubea Sympetala Gilg. Block Fear Memory Reconsolidation, Anthony Murkar, Hristian Cayer, Jon James, Tony Durst, John T. Arnason, Pablos E. Sanchez-Vindas, M. Otarola Rojas, Zul Merali

Brain and Mind Institute

Background: Souroubea sympetala Gilg. is a neotropical vine native to Central America, investigated as part of a targeted study of the plant family Marcgraviaceae. Our previous research showed that extract of S. sympetala leaf and small branch extract had anxiolytic effects in animals and acts as an agonist for the GABAA receptor at the benzodiazepine binding site. To date, the potential effects of S. sympetala and its constituents on reconsolidation have not been assessed. Reconsolidation, the process by which formed memories are rendered labile and susceptible to change, may offer a window of opportunity for pharmacological manipulation of learned fear. …

Crime And Greenspace: Extending The Analysis Across Cities, Samuel Scott Ogletree

All Dissertations

The role of greenspace in urban areas has become a focus of research as municipalities seek to increase the quality of life in cities. Multiple benefits are found to be associated with greenspace, but disservices such as crime are often overlooked. Studies investigating the link between crime and greenspace have revealed mixed results and been limited in geographic scope. This dissertation sought to examine the crime and greenspace relationship, extending the analysis to multiple cities in order to describe how the relationship may vary in different contexts. Additionally, one possible cause of crime, increased temperatures, was investigated to determine how …

Improving Healthcare Readiness To Respond To Human Trafficking: A Case Study, Traci A. Hefner

All Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to assess the readiness of a Department of Emergency Medicine (ED) to respond to human trafficking (HT), using an adapted Transtheoretical Model’s Stage of Change Model as a guide. Content analysis allowed for an assessment of 13 system-wide policies and procedures and 25 hours of on-site observations of patient data collection processes and clinical practices during intake, triage, and the medical screening evaluation at three ED sites. Thematic analysis identified five readiness themes based on semi-structured interviews with 22 healthcare personnel from four ED sties. Results indicated that system-wide policies and procedures …

Educating For Civic-Mindedness: Examining Student Impacts Of Academic Programs Of Community And Civic Engagement In Higher Education, Laura L. Minor

All Dissertations

Within the last decade, colleges and universities in the United States have embraced the “community engagement” model to fulfill their public missions and prepare their students for work within increasingly complex and diverse communities. The number of academic majors and minors in community engagement-related fields has multiplied across the country, yet there is little literature that examines their impact on students, and whether or not they are producing uniquely engaged citizens upon graduation. This quasi-experimental, quantitative study explores the effects of one such program on students at Central Connecticut State University. Graduates who have completed a minor in Community and …

Development Of Blast Risk Assessment Framework For Financial Loss And Casualty Estimation, Paresh Chandra Poudel

All Dissertations

The entire study can be divided into four main studies. Study I presents the development of probabilistic version of popular Kingery and Bulmash (KB) blast model. The probabilistic model was developed by considering the uncertainty in the model quantified using available experimental data. The model was then applied to generate fragility curves are developed for three types of glazing under three common bombing scenarios and study 1995 Oklahoma City damage.

Study II discusses on development a blast loss estimation framework for buildings where demand loads are calculated using the probabilistic blast model and capacity form seismic design. Loss for archetypes …

Systems Engineering Approaches To Minimize The Viral Spread Of Social Media Challenges, Amro Khasawneh

All Dissertations

Recently, adolescents’ and young adults’ use of social media has significantly increased. While this new landscape of cyberspace offers young internet users many benefits, it also exposes them to numerous risks. One such phenomenon receiving limited research attention is the advent and propagation of viral social media challenges. Several of these challenges entail self-harming behavior, which combined with their viral nature, poses physical and psychological risks for the participants and the viewers. One example of these viral social media challenges that could potentially be propagated through social media is the Blue Whale Challenge (BWC). In the initial study we investigate …

The Role Of Out-Of-School Time Programming In Predicting Critical Reflection And Positive Outcomes In Marginalized Youth, Katrina Black Reed

All Dissertations

Background and Purpose. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of critical reflection (CR) in promoting positive outcomes in high achieving marginalized youth in an academic-based out-of-school time (OST) context. Marginalized youth face adverse social conditions in the United States and CR is defined as being able to recognize the perceived structural inequalities in a community by using navigational tools that enable a person to analyze their social surrounding, conditions, and circumstances. There is a lack of understanding of how OST programs promote CR in marginalized youth. This paper intends to explore the relation between OST program …

Conservation, Conflict, And Community Context: Insights From Indian Tiger Reserves, Devyani Singh

All Dissertations

Protected areas across the world have been established to preserve landscapes and conserve biodiversity. However, they also are crucial resources for nearby human populations who depend on them for subsistence and to fulfill social, economic, religious, and cultural needs. The contrasting ideologies of park use and conservation among diverse stakeholders (e.g. managers and local communities) make protected areas spaces of conflict. This mixed methods study aimed to gain a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of these complex conflicts and potential solutions by focusing on the social and ecological landscapes surrounding two Indian protected areas: Dudhwa National Park (DNP in Uttar Pradesh) …

Can Coaching Help Community Partnerships Promote Health Equity, Community Engagement, And Policy, Systems, And Environmental Changes? Results From An Evaluation, Jung Y. Kim, Lisa Schottenfeld, Michael Cavanaugh

The Foundation Review

Foundations and other entities have increasingly funded coaching and technical assistance to support multisector community partnerships to promote health and health equity. However, much remains to be learned about how coaching can best support these partnerships.

As part of its efforts to build a culture in which everyone in the United States has a fair opportunity to be healthy, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation partnered with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute to provide structured coaching to strengthen the capacities of community partnerships. The foundation contracted with Mathematica to evaluate the coaching program, focusing on whether it had an …

Capacity-Building Catalysts: A Qualitative Assessment Of Nonprofit Capacity Building By Community Foundations In Illinois, Benjamin Bingle

The Foundation Review

Community foundations have the potential to promote collaborative learning in a variety of ways as conveners, funders, and, in some instances, as nonprofit capacity builders. Yet little is known about what community foundations are doing to support capacity building. This article focuses specifically on nonprofit capacity building that is funded, organized, or led by community foundations in Illinois.

First, this article identifies the capacity-building efforts of those community foundations. Next, it summarizes results from a qualitative survey to share insights from leaders of the foundations that offer capacity-building opportunities. These data shed new light on our collective understanding of how …

Releve´, Lauren Afton Stoelzle

Theses

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Hiring Algorithms In The Canadian Private Sector: Examining The Promise Of Greater Workplace Equality, Connor Bildfell

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Private-sector employers are increasingly using hiring algorithms as a tool for screening job applicants, comparing qualifications, and ultimately determining which candidates should be selected. Within this context, hiring algorithms make no small promise: a hiring process that is not only more efficient and effective, but also more supportive of workplace equality. This promise rests largely on the notion that traditional human-driven models of hiring are beset by subjective biases and prejudices, whereas hiring algorithms, which are driven by hard data and objective evidence, can eliminate certain human biases and prejudices, thereby promoting workplace equality. But can hiring algorithms deliver on …

Thermococcus Thioreducens' Inorganic Pyrophosphatase Purification, Christopher Nozum, Zeina Sleiman

Perpetua: The Journal of Undergraduate Research at UAH

Protein purification requires an intensive multi-step process that is customized to every protein’s characteristic for optimal results. In this study, we looked at the purification process of Inorganic Pyrophosphatase (IPPase), an essential protein found in all living organisms. The commonality of the protein does not veil the fact that the mechanism by which IPPase is hydrolyzed into two orthophosphates is not fully understood. To comprehend the mechanism, recombinant mutants of the conservative region in IPPase were expressed. However, to observe a possible change in structure of the recombinant mutants with crystallization, pure concentrated protein is needed. Therefore, protein purification is …

A Novel Model To Identify Factors Associated With Mobility Apprehension, Maggi R. Welch

Perpetua: The Journal of Undergraduate Research at UAH

The prevalence of limb loss in the United States is estimated at 1.9 million instances with approximately 185,000 amputations occurring annually. Studies report that after lower-limb amputation, patients have high levels of pain, leading to restrictions in functional activity, and are at risk for developing avoidance behaviors. Potential contributing factors include muscle weakness leading to balance and gait abnormalities, which perpetuates low mobility and mobility apprehension. The aim of the study was to determine factors associated with mobility apprehension in individuals who underwent surgery for a lower-limb amputation. Adult participants who had a well-fitting prosthesis and had the ability to …

Knowledge Among Patients With Heart Failure: A Narrative Synthesis Of Qualitative Research, Carly Daley, Monirah Al-Abdulmunem, Richard J. Holden

Health Services and Informatics Research

Background: Patients’ knowledge of heart failure (HF) is integral to improved outcomes. However, the HF literature has not adequately explored the nature of patients’ knowledge of HF as part of their lived experience.

Objectives: We aimed to characterize the nature of patients’ knowledge of HF, in the context of living with the disease.

Methods: We conducted a narrative synthesis of qualitative studies that addressed patients’ knowledge of HF. Studies were systematically searched and retrieved from MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES databases. Findings were synthesized using an iterative coding process carried out by multiple analysts and reported following Enhancing Transparency in …