Digital Commons Network^™

Testimonios Of Latin@ Leaders In Large Urban School Systems: Educación, Lenguaje Y Cultura, Hilda L. Maldonado

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Across the nation, Latina/o educational leaders who serve large urban school systems face the challenges of educating historically marginalized Latinx student populations, many of whom represent a diverse group of English Learners (ELs) in school systems designed for monolingual English speakers. This study is an exploratory, qualitative, multiple case study, using testimonio methodology to document the experiences of seven Latina/o leaders across the nation to arrive at new understandings of their practices. The review of the literature focused on the sociopolitical history of Latina/o education, linguistic hegemony in schooling, and theories of leaders of color. These concepts were used were …

Different Ways Of Knowing And Growing: A Case Study Of An Arts-Integrated Pedagogy At An Urban Elementary Charter School, Amarpal Khanna

LMU Theses and Dissertations

An arts equity gap exists in K–12 grade education. African American and Latinx students have fewer opportunities for access to arts education than do White students. In California, charter schools have an opportunity to address the equity gap for students in those demographic groups. The goal of this qualitative case study was to observe how Kahlo Charter Elementary School, an urban charter elementary school in Los Angeles County, implemented an arts integrated curriculum and to identify benefits and challenges for fourth and fifth grade students of color enrolled at the school. Aesthetic learning (Bose, 2008; Denaway, 2013; Greene, 1978, 1995, …

Muchos Somos Más Fuertes: Testimonios Of Latina Parent Leaders In The Local Control And Accountability Plan Process, Sylvia J. Hodge

LMU Theses and Dissertations

English Learners represent 18.6% of the entire California public school population or 1.1 million students; 81.4% speak Spanish (California Department of Education [CDE], 2021b). Historically, English Learners have experienced inequitable educational opportunities when compared to their English-only counterparts in California (Gándara & Contreras, 2010; Gándara et al., 2003; Perez Huber et al., 2015; Rumberger & Gándara, 2004), which has led to low educational achievement CDE, 2019a; Gándara & Mordechay, 2017; Olsen, 2010). To address underserved students’ inequitable educational opportunities throughout California, then-Governor Edmund G. Brown signed into law the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in 2013. The LCFF provides equitable …

Speaking Ourselves Into History: Asian American Educators’ Pathways To The Principalship In K-12 Public Schools, Lisa Yoon

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Data shows that there is an overall dearth of Asian Americans in the role of the principalship in K-12 public schools. According to the Department of Education (2019), Asian Americans made up 5% of the national student population, but less than two percent of all K-12 public school principals identified as Asian. This mixed methods study is designed to provide insight into why there is an underrepresentation of Asian Americans in roles of the principalship in K-12 public schools. Through the theoretical framework, Asian Critical Race Theory, the aim of this dissertation study is to a) examine the factors that …

A Decade Of Gomri Dispersant Science: Lessons Learned And Recommendations For The Future, Antonietta Quigg, John W. Farrington, Sherryl Gilbert, Steven A. Murawski, Vijay T. John

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Dispersants are among a number of options available to oil spill responders. The goals of this technique are to remove oil from surface waters in order to reduce exposure of surface-dwelling organisms, to keep oil slicks from impacting sensitive shorelines, and to protect responders from volatile organic compounds. During the Deepwater Horizon response, unprecedented volumes of dispersants (Corexit 9500 and 9527) were both sprayed on surface slicks from airplanes and applied directly at the wellhead (~1,500 m water depth). A decade of research followed, leading to a deeper understanding of dispersant effectiveness, fate, and effects. These studies resulted in new …

Maritime Robotics And Autonomous Systems Operations : Exploring Pathways For Overcoming International Techno-Regulatory Data Barriers, Tafsir Martin Johansson, Dimitrios Dalaklis, Aspasia Pastra

Articles

The current regulatory landscape that applies to maritime service robotics, aptly termed as robotics and autonomous systems (RAS), is quite complex. When it comes to patents, there are multifarious considerations in relation to vessel survey, inspection, and maintenance processes under national and international law. Adherence is challenging, given that the traditional delivery methods are viewed as unsafe, strenuous, and laborious. Service robotics, namely micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) or drones, magnetic-wheeled crawlers (crawlers), and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), function by relying on the architecture of the Internet of Robotic Things. The aforementioned are being introduced as time-saving apparatuses, accompanied by the …

The Control Of Safeguarding Children Social Work: A Mixed Methods Study Of The Interaction Between Managerial And Professional Control In A Social Policy Context, Julie Brown

Other Faculty of Health Theses

While central government guidance has standardised children’s social work processes, social work practice remains fundamentally the application of professional knowledge in complex and unpredictable situations. Existing empirical studies have prioritised the perspective of social workers and their frustration with the changes imposed on them by central government and local management and have neglected the view of management. This mixed methods study includes content analysis of official guidance and an analysis of interviews with local authority managers and social workers. This evidence reveals both the roles and attitudes towards control, of policy makers, managers and practitioners in their exercise of control …

The Effects Of Mindfulness Meditation On Attention Regulation, Paul Sharpe

Other Faculty of Health Theses

The research in this thesis tested the claim that mindfulness meditation regulates attention. Attention regulation was operationalised as an improvement on alerting, orienting or executive attention measured using the Attention Network Test (ANT), or a reduction in the attentional blink (AB) effect, measured using a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) task. Chapter 1 reviews the relevant literature. Chapters 2 and 3 report five experiments which tested the effects of Focused Attention Meditation (FAM) on the ANT. In Chapter 2, no effects of brief FAM were found on the ANT in novices (Experiment 1), or long-term meditators (Experiments 2 and 3). …

Governance Of High Sea Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas From A Maltese Perspective, Christopher Cousin

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

The conservation of marine resources is gaining importance as more research is carried out leading to an increase in public awareness through campaigns and news. One conservation tool that is attracting more attention is commonly referred to as marine protected area (MPA). This tool has been used over many years but its use is increasing. There are various legal instruments that either obligate or encourage the use of MPAs. MPAs can be applied in all areas irrespective of the jurisdiction. However, jurisdiction of the area where a MPA is to be designated, influences the nature of regulations with which the …

Philip Guston’S Absurd And The Sisyphean Affirmation In The Battle For Existentialism, Jason Blacklock

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

Abstract Philip Guston’s Absurd and the Sisyphean Affirmation of the Battle for Existentialism – By Jason Blacklock This dissertation offers an Existentialist interpretation of the life and work of Philip Guston. Discourse regarding avant-garde New York School artists and their knowledge and manipulation of Existentialism has an illustrious rollcall. Dore Ashton and Harold Rosenberg, amongst others have added their powers of exegesis to contemporary work by Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Willem de Kooning. Amongst this canon of America’s great twentieth century Abstract-Expressionists Philip Guston’s work is often noted, but rarely aligned fully with Existentialist and particularly Absurdist values. I …

Lut Lut Lut A Collection Of Poems Accompanied By A Critical Thesis: The Poetics Of The Dérive And Détournement With Reference To The Situationists, Susan Howe And Peter Riley, Sam Kemp

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This project investigates the role of the artistic techniques of the dérive and détournement in the work of contemporary poets Susan Howe and Peter Riley, exploring the ways in which these poets adapt, develop and draw inspiration from Situationist avant-garde practices of the mid to late twentieth century. The study consists of two chapters, preceded and followed by an introduction and conclusion. My introduction introduces the key features of the Situationist theory of psychogeography, a radical walking technique aimed at undermining the spectacle of urban commercialism in 1950s Paris, and demonstrates how the frameworks of the dérive and détournement, key …

William Blake’S Selfhood And The Atomistic Materialism Of Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura, Joshua Schouten De Jel

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This thesis demonstrates for the first time the way in which William Blake aligned his idiosyncratic concept of the Selfhood – the lens through which the despiritualised subject beholds the material world – with the atomistic materialism of the Epicurean school as it was transmitted through the first-century BC Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura. Not only will I argue that Blake was aware of classical atomistic cosmogony and sense-based epistemology, but that he systematically mapped postlapsarian existence onto the philosophical framework of Epicurean cosmogony. As a result, when the subject succumbs to the Selfhood and once the …

How Progressive Was The Representation Of Physical Disability Within Mainstream Film In The 1990s, Given The Increased Awareness About Disability During The Decade?, Connor David Ruse

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

This dissertation will explore the representation of physical disability in mainstream films in the 1990s, determining that this onscreen representation was only slightly progressive in nature. It is based on a qualitative analysis of sixteen characters with disabilities in fifteen mainstream films released between 1987 and 1999. The observations from this analysis were compiled into a database examining: the type of impairment a character had, the character’s screen time, the disability terminology used within the film and common tropes used to tell the character’s narrative within the film. Using the database and supportive sources, like interviews with the films’ casts …

Future Nelsons: A Quantitative Social History Study Of British Naval Cadets, 1884-1894, Oliver J Moore

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This dissertation is a quantitative study of naval cadets who joined the Royal Navy in the final two decades of the nineteenth century via the training institution H.M.S. Britannia (Training Ship). The focus of the study is on the backgrounds of cadets, geographical and social, and how they impacted career progression. The individuals of this study group would join the navy during a time of rapid change followed by a significant increase in recruitment of officers and men after the Naval Defence Act (1889). The importance of the navy and its future leaders was of significant interest to the navy, …

Gender And Materiality In Early Modern English Gloves, J Daybell, Svante Norrhem, Susan Broomhall, Jacqueline Van Gent, Nadine Akkerman

More Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Research

This article explores the complex interactions of gender with the materiality of the processes of becoming and being a glove in the early modern period. Through an investigation of gloves, glove parts, and their ephemeral presentation (through leather, embroidery, and perfume), we argue that gender and materiality act in dialogic ways to produce power relations, and that considerations of gender, power, and materiality are central to our understanding of how material things function in a given society, embedded in social practices and cultural processes of production, consumption, and exchange. Using the glove as an indicative point of exploration, the article …

Maternal Social Support, Depression And Emotional Availability In Early Mother-Infant Interaction: Findings From A Pregnancy Cohort, Kelli K. Macmillan, Andrew J. Lewis, Stuart J. Watson, Declan Bourke, Megan Galbally

Nursing Papers and Journal Articles

Background: Social support theory suggests that parental social support may influence the nature of early parenting behaviours and specifically the mother-infant relationship. This study examines whether support from a partner, friends or family is associated with differences in quality of mother-infant interactions in the context of maternal depression.

Methods: 210 women were followed from early pregnancy to six months postpartum within Australian pregnancy cohort, the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study (MPEWS). Mother-infant interactions within a standardised observation at six months postpartum were measured by the Emotional Availability (EA) Scales using total scores of the parental scales. In early and …

Infant Removal From Birth Parents - How Does Health Information Impact Court Decisions? A Scoping Review, Rachel Gregory-Wilson, Liesel Spencer, Elizabeth Handsley, Toby Raeburn

Nursing Papers and Journal Articles

Problem: Courts make complex decisions daily regarding removal of infants from birth parents and placement in out-of-home care. Nurses and other health professionals often take part in such processes, either as court informants, witnesses, or via their role delivering healthcare to infants and/or birth parents involved. To date there has been very little research exploring how health information impacts upon decision-making about infant removal.

Aim: To explore how health information impacts court decisions about removing infants from birth parents.

Methods: Using Arksey and O’Malley’s five-stage method for scoping reviews as a guide, eight electronic databases were searched to identify relevant …

Ethnic Racial Socialization, Ethnic Identity, And Internalizing Outcomes In The Context Of Stress Among Mexican Origin Families, Sarah Alicia Jolie

Master's Theses

Research demonstrates that it is important to study the impact of cultural factors on child development and well-being (Garcia Coll et al., 1996). Among Latino youth, ethnic racial socialization and ethnic identity have been associated with positive outcomes, such as academic competence and lower reports of internalizing problems (Liu & Lau, 2013; Berkel et al., 2010; Umaña-Taylor & Guimond, 2010). Additionally, there is evidence of ethnic identity mediating the association between ethnic racial socialization and child internalizing symptoms among Mexican-origin adolescents (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014). However, more research is needed in examining these associations within stressful contexts relevant to Latino …

The Role Of Intersensory Redundancy In Face Recognition In 5- And 12-Month-Old Infants, Aslı Bursalıoğlu

Master's Theses

The goal of this study was to examine the role of audiovisual synchrony in 5- and 12-month-old infants’ attention to and processing of face stimuli. Infants were tested using an online platform called Lookit. In the first phase of the experiment, infants were familiarized with two videos presented simultaneously and side-by-side. Each video displayed a woman speaking in an infant-directed manner. A soundtrack was played that matched one of the videos (experimental condition) or neither of the videos (control condition). It was hypothesized that synchronous audiovisual presentation would attract infants’ attention and promote processing, especially among 12-month-olds. Visual-paired comparison (VPC) …

Menstrual Pain Trajectories And Their Psychological And Behavioral Predictors, Hannah Marie Alves Hagy

Master's Theses

Despite the high prevalence of menstrual pain (i.e., dysmenorrhea) and the negative impact on quality of life, there is a dearth of research on how menstrual pain changes over time. There is also a critical need to understand psychological and behavioral predictors of these menstrual pain trajectories because dysmenorrhea is a known risk factor for the development of chronic pelvic pain (CPP) and chronic non-pelvic pain (CNPP). Given that current treatments for CPP and CNPP have had limited success, developing preventative strategies for dysmenorrhea is of high importance. Relying on longitudinal survey data collected as part of a larger investigation, …

Risk Factors And Knowledge Associated With High Unintended Pregnancy Rates And Low Family Planning Use Among Pregnant Women In Papua New Guinea, Elizabeth Peach, Christopher Morgan, Michelle J. L. Scoullar, Freya J. I. Fowkes, Elissa Kennedy, Pele Melepia, Primrose Homiehombo, Lucy Au, Stanley Luchters, Alexandra J. Umbers

Population Health, East Africa

Unintended pregnancy is a major driver of poor maternal and child health in resource-limited settings. Data on pregnancy intention and use of family planning (FP) is scarce in Papua New Guinea (PNG), but are needed to inform public health strategies to improve FP accessibility and uptake. Data from a facility-based cross-sectional sample of 699 pregnant women assessed prevalence and predictors of unintended pregnancy and modern FP use among pregnant women in East New Britain Province, PNG. More than half (55%) the women reported their pregnancy as unintended. Few (18%) reported ever having used a modern FP method, and knowledge of …

Indigenous Culture-Based School Mathematics In Action Part Ii: The Study’S Results: What Support Do Teachers Need?, Sharon Meyer, Glen Aikenhead

The Mathematics Enthusiast

This second part of two related articles reports the answers to the research question: What precise supports must be in place for Grades 5 to 12 teachers to enhance their mathematics classes in a sustainable way with Indigenous mathematizing and Indigenous worldview perspectives? In addition to various logistical supports, two other types of supports were identified: supports for learning and unlearning ways of perceiving the world generally and perceiving Western mathematics specifically. These needed supports came to light when we mentored the teachers. On the one hand, the co-researching teachers learned, or had already learned: (a) the plurality of mathematical …

The Academic Community’S Perceptions Of The Two-Column Proof, Jeffrey Pair, Susanne Strachota, Rashmi Singh

The Mathematics Enthusiast

Our research team surveyed members of the mathematics education scholarly community to gain insight into the community’s perceptions of the two-column proof and its role in high school geometry. We created an email survey, which we sent to email addresses gathered from public lists of conference participants and speakers from recent mathematics education conferences. We asked study participants to describe the value of the two-column proof and discuss whether they would be in favor of eliminating it from the high school geometry curriculum. There was a wide range of diversity in the responses, and we present several themes that we …

Real Numbers As Infinite Decimals, Nicolas Fardin, Liangpan Li

The Mathematics Enthusiast

Stemming from an idea put forward by Loo-Keng Hua in 1962, this article describes an original way to perform arithmetic directly on infinite decimals. This approach leads to a new and elementary construction of the real number system via decimal representation. Based on the least upper bound property, a definition of trigonometric functions is also included, which settles an issue that Godfrey H. Hardy called \a fatal defect" in his Course of Pure Mathematics.

Beauty Is In The Blind Spot Of The Beholder, Ron Aharoni

The Mathematics Enthusiast

The paper addresses the time-old question of what is beauty. A rather ambitious, if not to say presumptuous, endeavour. But I do not aim high – I do not claim to get anywhere near unearthing the secret. Rather, I will use examples from mathematics, poetry, music and chess to substantiate one thesis: that the elusory character of beauty is not incidental. Its defiance of definition is part of its essence. The aesthetic sensation requires unawareness of its precise origin. Beauty is felt when some order is perceived, that is not fully comprehended. The order is too complex, or well hidden, …

Rednecks, Hillbillies, And White Trash In The Living Room: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Reality Television's Construction Of Appalachian Regional Identity, Bradlee Elizabeth Hartman

Senior Independent Study Theses

Reality television is one of America’s guiltiest pleasures because it lets us peer into the lives of people who are both similar to and different from us. However, the narratives we see on the small screen are far from innocent; in fact, reality television plays a large role in directing how we make sense of the world and our place within it. To that end, this study examines how MTV’s reality television series, Buckwild, constructs a particular view of Appalachian regional identity. This study utilizes ideological criticism to uncover how MTV engages in continued stereotyping of Appalachian people. Specifically, my …

Black Outside: A Film Exploring Black People’S Relationships With Outdoor Spaces, Zoie Bills

Senior Independent Study Theses

Spending time in nature is regarded as a great way to have fun and improve one’s mental or physical health. Black people are largely underrepresented in public parks and other outdoor spaces. My film explores the lack of Black presence in outdoor spaces in an effort to promote Black people’s usage of these places. I used interviews with students, environmental activists, and my own family in order to explore the scholarly, structural, cultural, and personal factors that impact Black folks’ engagement with the outdoors. The interviews revealed several major takeaways including that Black people have historical roots in outdoor spaces …

Option Implied Volatility's Predictability On Monthly Stock Returns, Hung T. Dao

Senior Independent Study Theses

Since the trading of options is based on underlying stocks, it is reasonable to assume that information from the options market can be used to explain the returns in the stock market. Our independent study investigates the relationship between options implied volatility and stock returns. Previous studies have found significant results in using implied volatility in predicting stock returns. This paper provides a discussion of such studies, the theoretical framework for the research topic, and the Black-Scholes model, which is famous for its application in implied volatility calculation. Monthly returns of 20 large US firms are regressed against implied volatility …

Whose Line Is It Anyway? Rhetoric, Pathology, And The Jewish Race In Late Victorian England, Stephanie G. Pokras

Senior Independent Study Theses

This thesis examines how both late Victorian Anglo-Jews and Gentiles used rhetoric of race science and Jewish pathology to encode lines of difference, as well as the relationship between these discourses. My first chapter analyzes the role of Gentile discourse of disease and disability as the foundation of late Victorian anti-Semitism. My second chapter focuses on Jewish ‘expert’ engagement with race science. In this chapter, I argue that contrary to the dominant historical narrative, not only was the Jewish community engaged with race science, but their scholarly conversations were dynamic and diverse. Ideas about race and pathology became central to …

Reconsidering The Late Woodland: A Critical Reassessment Of Perception And Periodization In The Ohio Valley, 400-1000 Ce, Devin A. Henson

Senior Independent Study Theses

The Late Woodland period in eastern North America has traditionally been conceptualized as a cultural hiatus between the region’s Hopewell and Mississippian traditions. As a drastic (though not complete) reduction in the practices of monumental architecture and art produced with nonlocal materials occurred during this time, the end of the preceding Hopewell tradition (and its related Interaction Sphere) has been depicted as a “collapse” or “devolution” by multiple researchers. However, the Late Woodland also saw a rise in population, intensification of agriculture, and technological innovation. Although the combination of these factors and the period’s architectural and artistic reduction appear contradictory, …