Digital Commons Network^™

Students' Definitions Of Academic Success, Brent Kelderman

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

Academic success has not been well defined consistently, and when definitions have been proposed (e.g. Kuh, Kinzie, Buckley, Bridges, & Hayek, 2006 ; York, Gibson, & Rankin, 2015), they are not always measured consistently. Is it good grades (Parker, Summerfeldt, Hogan, & Majeski, 2004), and if so, what constitutes a good grade and what should be graded? Is it understanding the material, and if so, is understanding shown by simply completing the academic tasks (Choi, 2005)? Is it perseverance and grit (Tang, Wang, Guo, & Salmela-Aro, 2019), and if so, why do many other definitions and views focus so much …

The Role Of The Next Generation Science Standards In Teachers' Curricular Choices In The Life Science Classroom, Amy Tankersley

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

In 2013 a group of experts used A Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2012) to draft the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which aims to increase science literacy through integrating the concepts and practices of science into comprehensive standards for science (NGSS Lead States, 2013). As students learn to explore the content and practices of scientists, ideally, they should increase their ability to think and reason in ways that will benefit their ability to participate in society. Because of the complex nature of systematic education reform, teachers need to put significant time into implementing NGSS to fulfill the goals …

Detecting And Evaluating Cracks On Aging Concrete Members With Deep Convolutional Neural Networks, Brendan Barnes

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cracks in concrete structures are evaluated through a timely and subjective manual inspection. The location of cracks is often recorded in an inspection report where some cracks are measured. Although measurements or locations may not be necessary for all cracks observed in concrete members, if quantitative data can be gathered in an autonomous way, allowing measurement data to be used in tracking changes in spatial and temporal scales, this quantitative data can provide useful information not yet captured in the manual inspection process. This thesis aims to construct an image-based crack detection and evaluation pipeline that can assist health monitoring …

A Case Study Examining Students' Experience In Student-Centered Learning Practices Implemented At An Air Force Training Course, Mindy Fisher

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study is to examine students’ experience of student-centered learning practices implemented at an Air Force training course. At this stage in the research, student-centered learning is generally defined as a learning approach during which students generate learning opportunities and reconstruct knowledge dynamically in an open-ended learning environment (Lee & Hannafin, 2014). The theory guiding this study is constructivism based on Lev Vygotsky’s learning theory which represents an epistemological perspective as to the nature and evolution of individual understanding where learners create their own learning. Student-centered learning environments are rooted in constructivist approaches (Creswell & Poth, …

Implementing Christlike Love In The Johnson Grove Baptist Church, Robert Lee Sullivan Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research project was paramount, the title expressed the vision and purpose of the researcher as an under-shepherd of Christ. Implementing Christlike Love was not just designed for this church, but the key principle that was used in this project can inspire others. The problem addressed was a lack of true Christlike love in this church. Believers assumed that loving others would be automatic but loving like Christ requires God’s help. The purpose of this project was to appraise and resolve the perceived lack of Christlike love within the Johnson Grove Baptist Church. This researcher sought to provide a remedy …

Intervention: Helping The Rural Baptist Church Identify Areas Of Strength And Weakness For Greater Kingdom Service, Anthony Jerome Baylor

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The rural Baptist Church has historically been a place of tradition, cultural importance, and refuge. It has been led by a wealth of great leaders who have served generations of faithful members. Over time, many rural Baptist Churches have seen a gradual decline, and some are on the verge of extinction. This decline may be a direct result of those churches attempting to continue unnecessary traditions and unproductive ministries. These churches also sacrifice future interests and prospects for institutional practices that do not fulfill the Great Commission and promote destructive practices. To initiate an intervention into the destructive practices of …

Sustainability Issue Of The Total Quality Management (Tqm) System In The Manufacturing Industry, Jesus A. Guillergan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this research is to understand the sustainability issue of total quality management (TQM) and its effects in the manufacturing industry. Having exploratory and descriptive objectives, this research used a flexible design single case study on a water treatment company in the southeastern United States to facilitate the examination of the phenomenon using real‐life, present‐day context, and multiple perspectives from participants. The single bounded case study collected and integrated many forms of qualitative data ranging from interviews, observations, and quality‐related archived documents to answer the research questions. The results revealed that failure in sustaining the quality system in …

Chaplaincy: A Practical Approach To Caring For The Human Spirit, Susan Fair

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This DMIN project is based on the Pastoral Ministry program at Nyack College, which publicly promotes that it leads the student to become a professional in the ministry context. The problem is that the academic curriculum does not include components of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). The project facilitator reasons that the current environment demands that spiritual care providers possess a specific skill set extending beyond pulpit preaching, reading scriptures, and prayer. The literature review contains articles, journals, and books that explore caring for the human spirit within the physical, spiritual, emotional, financial, religious, and holistic context. The research methodology designed …

Commercial Violin: Creating A Hybrid Twenty-First Century Collegiate Violin Curriculum, Ryan Joseph Ogrodny

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the stylistically diverse professional music opportunities available to twenty-first century violinists, modern collegiate violin students are most often exclusively trained through traditional classical pedagogy. Conversely, violinists who perform commercial music often do not experience formal classical training, which provides functional foundational skills required of the professional violinist. There has yet to be a collegiate violin curriculum developed that incorporates elements of both classical and commercial music, allowing for diverse musical opportunities through structured and sequential pedagogy. This qualitative research study identifies, examines, and compares current classical and commercial collegiate violin methodologies simultaneously as a framework for the development of …

Students' Evaluations Of Black Faculty At Historically White Institutions: A Causal- Comparative Study, Kathleen Carter Gentry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

With a call for greater accountability, institutions of higher education have focused upon student evaluations to measure teacher effectiveness to ensure that students are learning. Education researchers have revealed that Black faculty reported negative experiences within academe such as microaggressions, insults, and not being regarded as credible scholars by students and other faculty. Very little research examines the role that race plays in students’ evaluations of Black faculty from the viewpoints of students. This quantitative, nonexperimental, causal-comparative dissertation investigates 210 students’ evaluation scores of actual university faculty as measured by academic competence, sensitivity to students, instructional effectiveness, and their viewpoints …

Understanding Eschatology Leads To A More Fruitful Christian Life, John Michael Mendola

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The evangelical church cannot fulfill its mission to facilitate the return of Jesus unless its membership’s studies eschatology. Too many relegate biblical prophecies to the past without recognizing their fulfillment in the here and now. This study investigates the contemporary belief structure of church members and aims to develop an effective corrective measure in order to improve the spiritual life of its members while advancing the church’s central mission of evangelizing. This study aims to determine what members know about church viewpoints on eschatology and deliver an educational remedy. The 15-person sample received a six-week course on eschatology developed and …

A Contemporary, Modified Suzuki Curriculum For The Beginning Trumpet Player, Brendan Holly

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Through music education symposiums such as the Tanglewood Symposium and Vision: 2020, calls for popular music's inclusion into the public school music curriculum have been made and heard worldwide. In response, public schools have produced new curricula for popular music courses such as rock band, music technology, and other contemporary music classes. In contrast, traditional music courses such as band, choir, and orchestra have remained unchanged. Despite various beginner trumpet method books and content delivery methods, limited curriculum and methods for content delivery exist to prepare beginning trumpet players for interaction with popular music. This qualitative research study critically examined …

Valuing Personality Type Differences And Maximizing The Artistic Potential Of Early-Career-Stage Singers, Jennifer Nicole Donnell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Personality type differences color the ways in which voice students learn, practice, interpret music, relate to their teachers and coaches, and choose careers within the field of music. The Singing in Color Research Study is a qualitative study that examines the impact of personality type on the education, leadership, and career decisions of early-career vocal students. The study is built on the premise that individual differences “color” the way in which we as individuals see the world, behave, learn, and thus affect the creativity and artistry of the singer. It is proposed that music educators can leverage personality type theory …

Bullying Victimization In Middle Schools: A Quantitative Correlational Study, Corey Centwane Calhoun Sr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Bullying victimization is a very common, complex and potentially damaging form of violence among children and adolescents. Bullying is defined as unwanted, aggressive behavior, which involves a real or perceived social power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time (therefore, the definition excludes occasional or minor incidents). Bullying victimization in schools is not only alarming, but it has now become a persuasive concern, one that should be evaluated closely by educators, parents, and policymakers in all school systems. In public schools, 1 in 10 reports at least a case of serious violent crime, …

The Strong Black Woman And Marital Satisfaction: A Mediation Moderation Analysis Of Mental Health And Religiosity, Jessica Christine Wright

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between endorsement of the Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema (stoicism and independence subscales), mental health (depression and anxiety), marital satisfaction, and the potential moderating effects of religiosity (negative and positive religious coping) on the strength and direction of this relationship. Participants consisted of four-hundred and thirty-nine married women who were recruited via Qualtrics. The women completed inventories to assess for SBW endorsement, marital satisfaction, depression, anxiety, and both negative and positive religious coping. The results indicated embracing characteristics of SBW-stoicism predicted decreased marital satisfaction and increased anxiety and depression. In …

Copd Discharge Care Bundles: An Integrative Review, Leigh Goodwin Wingo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. It is the reason for millions of emergency room and hospitalizations, increasing healthcare costs, morbidity, and mortality. Many studies have evaluated the effects of COPD patient care bundles to help reduce the risk of 30-60-90-day readmissions post discharge from the hospital for COPD exacerbation. A comprehensive search was conducted on articles dated between February 2015 to January 2020 in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL, OVID, internet search, and Liberty University online library. This review included articles based on the effectiveness of COPD discharge …

The Role Of Embodied Metaphor In The Relationship Between Vestibular Dysfunction, Anxiety And The Self, Kaitlyn Abrams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is considerable evidence that vestibular dysfunction and anxiety are correlated. Clinical and philosophical arguments suggest that a loss of sense of self, experienced through symptoms like derealization and depersonalization, might contribute to this relationship. The present study used a mixed methods approach, including Systematic Metaphor Analysis, to analyze written short answer and quantitative survey data from one hundred and thirteen participants with vestibular disorders. The Systematic Metaphor Analysis revealed several primary metaphor concepts which elucidated the connections between concrete experience and abstract concepts in vestibular dysfunction. These included metaphors of Agency, Stability, Orientation, Self-Object, and Figure-Ground. Primary metaphors for …

The Story Circle As A Practice Of Democratic, Critical Inquiry, Natalie M. Fletcher, Maughn Rollins Gregory, Peter Shea, Ariel Sykes

Department of Educational Foundations Scholarship and Creative Works

The authors of this essay have been committed practitioners and teachers of Philosophy for Children in a variety of educational settings, from pre-schools through university doctoral programs and in adult community and religious education programs. The promotion of critical thinking has always been a primary goal of this movement. But communal practices of critical thinking need to include other kinds of democratic conversation that prompt us to see others as full-fledged persons and to be curious about how our being in community with them makes growth and self-correction possible. As we continue to experiment and innovate in new contexts we …

Opposing Worldviews: A New Perspective On Ernesto "Che" Guevara's Failure In The Congo, Amy J. King

PALARA: Publication of the Afro-Latin/American Research Association

No abstract provided.

The 'Ideal Victim' Of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women: An Examination Of The Impact Of Victim/Offender Relationship Status, Victim Self-Identity, And Observer Gender On Constructing Victim Status, Kelli Dauphinais

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Guided by Nils Christie's (1986) Ideal Victim framework, the current study examines the effect that victim/offender relationship status (casual vs. serious), victim self-identity (as a "victim" or a "survivor"), and observer gender (woman vs. man) have on victim blame attributions. Data were collected from 329 adult students at a large public university in the Southwest United States using an online, experimental vignette design. Three separate one-way analysis of variances (ANOVAs) were conducted to test the study's three hypotheses. Results suggest that among the study sample, victim/offender relationship status (H1) and victim self-identity (H2) do not significantly affect victim blame attribution …

Optimizing Mixed Reality Simulation To Support Stem Graduate Teaching Assistants In Developing Student-Centered Pedagogical Skills, Constance Doty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Physics graduate teaching assistants (GTA) often instruct student-centered lab and recitation sections at large universities, creating the opportunity to positively impact students. However, as STEM GTA professional development varies by institution and discipline, GTAs rarely receive feedback about their teaching. In K-12 teacher preparation, "microteaching", where a teacher teaches a lesson to peers acting as students, is used to provide feedback. Research has demonstrated benefits to microteaching in K-12 teacher and STEM GTA preparation, but practicing teachers find microteaching can lack authenticity. Recently, researchers have explored integrating technology, like simulation, in pedagogy training to provide a more authentic training experience. …

Legal Ethics, Patrick Emery Longan

Mercer Law Review

This Survey covers the period from June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021. The Article discusses developments concerning attorney discipline, bar admission and reinstatement, malpractice and other civil claims, ineffective assistance of counsel, disqualification of counsel and conflicts of interest, judicial conduct and recusal, attorney’s fees and liens, contempt, formal advisory opinions, amendments to the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, and one miscellaneous matter.

Zoning And Land Use Law, Newton M. Galloway, Steven L. Jones

Mercer Law Review

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically affected the world’s economy and supply chains during this Survey period. However, real estate development did not cease. In many urban and suburban areas, including the metropolitan Atlanta area, new development projects rose from the ground, despite the economic risks and challenges created by the pandemic. Nevertheless, the long-term impacts of the pandemic may fundamentally challenge many paradigms that have long sustained successful real estate development.

Prior to the pandemic, commercial retail developments, such as malls and destination shopping centers, were already in the economic doldrums due to the rise of e-commerce and their economic vitality …

Trouble With Treble Damages For Third Parties: The Georgia Streetgang Terrorism And Prevention Act, S. Meghan Pittman

Mercer Law Review

As the Georgia Supreme Court has issued its final opinion on the Georgia Streetgang Terrorism and Prevention Act, several issues are now raised. While the interpretation of the statute appears to be correct, the question still arises of whether or not this interpretation is consistent with the legislative intent of this Act as a whole.

Clearly, the issue which the Act was enacted to prevent was harm to innocent third-parties by criminal streetgangs. While a commercial property owners may not be able to fully police the area in which their property is located, shouldn’t these individuals be held to a …

Table Of Cases

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Who Gets The Drought: The Standard Of Causation Necessary In Cases Of Equitable Apportionment, E. Tate Crymes

Mercer Law Review

More than just an amenity, “[a river] is a treasure” noted Justice Holmes in a dispute over the waters of the Delaware River. Water is a unique resource in that it is fluid and can move between borders of sovereign states. When water flows across state boundaries, there are often conflicts between the rights of the powerful upstream state and the vulnerable downstream state. Although water rights laws vary across the United States, most eastern states adopt the principle that the right to water is equal for both states. ...

In the Court’s most recent equitable apportionment decision, Florida II, …

A Method For The Identification Of Covid-19 Biomarkers In Human Breath Using Proton Transfer Reaction Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry, Aikaterini Liangou, Antonios Tasoglou, Heinz J. Huber, Christopher Wistrom, Kevin Brody, Prahlad G. Menon, Thomas Bebekoski, Kevin Menschel, Marlise Davidson-Fiedler, Karl Demarco, Harshad Salphale, Jonathan Wistrom, Skyler Wistrom, Richard J. Lee

Emergency Medicine Articles

Background: COVID-19 has caused a worldwide pandemic, making the early detection of the virus crucial. We present an approach for the determination of COVID-19 infection based on breath analysis.

Methods: A high sensitivity mass spectrometer was combined with artificial intelligence and used to develop a method for the identification of COVID-19 in human breath within seconds. A set of 1137 positive and negative subjects from different age groups, collected in two periods from two hospitals in the USA, from 26 August, 2020 until 15 September, 2020 and from 11 September, 2020 until 11 November, 2020, was used for the method …

Developmental And Behavioral Responses Of Early Life Stages Of Fathead Minnows (Pimephales Promelas) To Urban Effluents Treated With Advanced-Oxidation Processes, Amy Cavanaugh

Biology Theses

Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) are the main vector for pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) to enter waterways. Many PPCPs are lipophilic, allowing them to bioaccumulate and biomagnify within aquatic organisms. PPCPs have been known to alter fish behavior and physiological processes, such as nesting defense and sex ratios, and produce an increase in deformities. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are novel ways for treating WWTPs effluents that use hydroxyl radicals to indiscriminately breakdown PPCPs. In this study, fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were used to examine the biological effects of AOP-treated municipal effluent as they developed from eggs to …

Livestock Grazing Impacts On Crop And Soil Responses For Two Cropping Systems, Alyssa Kuhn

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Diversified crop, forage, and livestock systems are assumed to be more sustainable and economically competitive than traditional cropping systems. Objectives of this study were to determine effects of integrating grazing livestock into corn (Zea mays)-soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) (C-S) and corn-soybean-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (C-S-W) cropping systems on plant population, grain yield, soil nutrients and soil carbon dioxide (CO₂) flux following winter grazing corn residue (both systems) and an oat (Avena sativa) cover crop (C-S-W only) planted after wheat. For the 2019 and 2020 production seasons, neither corn nor soybean plant …

Can Procedure Take?: The Judicial Takings Doctrine And Court Procedure, Rebecca Hansen

University of Chicago Law Review

In considering the value of the judicial takings doctrine, this Comment argues that we should look to a new area of law: procedure. Courts often have the authority to set procedure, and they use this authority for substantive ends. This Comment argues that applying the Takings Clause to procedure demonstrates the value of the judicial takings doctrine. It argues that the Takings Clause, rather than the Due Process Clause, is the appropriate framework for certain forms of procedure. Under the Takings Clause, we can recognize the judiciary’s authority to use procedure for substantive ends while also offering “just compensation” to …