Digital Commons Network^™

Enhancing Memory Through Literary Features, Sarah Naylor

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Literary devices used by a writer can influence and impact the manner in which readers respond and interact with a text. Both the perspectives readers are expected to take while reading and the amount of foregrounding in a text cognitively and affectively influence a reader’s experience. However, little research has explored what effects these factors have on verbatim memory. For this research, participants were instructed to read a short literary story either by identifying with the protagonist or as a spectator. After reading and completing a range of other tasks, participants were asked to select sentences they saw in the …

Enhancing Password Security And Memorability Using Machine Learning And Linguistic Patterns, Jared Wise

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In the digital age, text-based passwords remain a primary method for securing online accounts. Yet, users frequently face a dilemma between creating passwords that are easy to remember and sufficiently secure against cyberattacks. This research introduces an approach to password generation that bridges this gap by utilizing linguistic patterns, particularly song lyrics, to develop highly secure and naturally memorable passwords. Using large lyric datasets gained from web scrapes from popular song lyric websites (AZ Lyrics, Genius), features are extracted from a corpus of over 5 million lyrics using sentence structure and natural language processing in a novel way. In using …

A Linguistic Analysis Of The Language Surrounding Witchcraft In France From The 16th To 20th Centuries, Kaleigh Landers

Honors Theses

While the history of witchcraft in France is a subject that has received significant scholarly attention, little research has been conducted on the linguistic implications of the language used in regard to the subject. This study attempts to analyze the texts written about witchcraft between the 16^th and 20^th centuries in order to draw conclusions as to how language and culture affect each other. The aim of this study was to conduct a discourse analysis of these texts to identify cultural connotations, language trends, and insights regarding how the French language has evolved to communicate complex, dividing concepts …

Supervenience And Non-Naturalism, Michael Hogan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Supervenience presents a problem for the moral non-naturalist. Supervenience states that one’s moral properties cannot differ without one’s natural properties differing. It, therefore, states a necessary connection between moral and natural properties. Moral properties for the moral non-naturalist are sui generis, which means they are not reducible to natural properties, but also they are utterly different in kind than natural properties and any other kind of property. How can these properties be necessarily connected? This requires an explanation. The challenge to the moral non-naturalist is to provide such an explanation. McPherson (2012) presents an explanatory challenge to the non-naturalist …

A Native American Free Press: The Opportunities And Threats To Press Freedom In Indian Country, Bryan Pollard

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tribal media – media outlets often operated by a tribe for a Native audience – are an indispensable public service to their communities. They are relied upon for news and information about current events and governmental actions, and often reinforce cultural and community values. These outlets are often financially subsidized by the tribal government if the operation is too small or geographically remote to generate the revenue necessary for financial independence. Herein lies a central dilemma: Can tribal media, under the influence of tribal governments, serve as an independent voice free of political interference and capable of fair and truthful …

“Breaking Barriers: Empowering African Youth Through Implementation Of A Therapeutic Patient Education Program For Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis”, Wafa Hamdi, Angela Migowa, Hanene Lassoued Ferjani, Alia Fazaa, Saoussen Miladi, Kaouther Maatallah, Kawther Ben Abdelghani, Ayodele Faleye

Paediatrics and Child Health, East Africa

Introduction: Patient education is crucial in managing chronic diseases like Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). Traditional methods such as videos and brochures often fail to maintain long-term knowledge retention. Therapeutic Patient Education (TPE) offers a more effective, patient-centered approach.

Objective: PAFLAR aimed to implement a TPE program with a “train the trainers” masterclass to ensure effective delivery and improve outcomes for children with JIA.

Methods: PAFLAR’s TPE program was designed through a focus group, involving a literature review and strategic planning for the implementation step. The program includes specialized training for healthcare professionals enhancing their abilities to deliver …

Proceedings Of The 2024 Child Language Acquisition Symposium For Indigenous Communities, Tamera C. Yazzie, Bethany G. Lycan, Alec J. Goldberg, Kayleigh L. Russell, Melvatha R. Chee

Indigenous Child Language Research Center

The proceedings of the inaugural Child Language Acquisition Symposium for Indigenous Communities, which took place at the University of New Mexico on May 17-18, 2024.

2024 Indigenous Child Language Research Center Handbook, Tamera C. Yazzie, Bethany G. Lycan, Ryan D. Smith, Cormac League, Melvatha R. Chee

Indigenous Child Language Research Center

This handbook is continuously being developed by the Indigenous Child Language Research Center at UNM to provide Indigenous communities with a description of our organization and our research methodologies to aid in their own child language research endeavors.

“Kematz'ib' Para Gritar” Innovative Technologies In Revitalizing The Mayan Languages: Empowering Youth Through Poetry - A Narrative Study, Héctor De Jesús Palala Martínez

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation explores innovative approaches to preserving and revitalizing the linguistic and cultural heritage of Mayan-speaking youth of Guatemalan descent in rural Nebraska. It delves into the intersection of technology, artistic expression, and cultural practices, emphasizing the revitalization of Mayan languages in Abya Yala (the Americas), particularly emphasizing the Guatemalan and the Mayan diasporas in Nebraska.

The research investigates the roles of digital humanities, culture-based education, and poetic expressions in language preservation/revitalization efforts among Mayan youth and unaccompanied minors in transnational educational settings. Central to the study is an academic initiative for transnational Mayan high school students integrating poetry and …

A Search For Self Through Allyship And Advocacy ‘About, With, And As’ Multilingual Learners: An Autoethnographic Study, Molly Heeren

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This autoethnographic study uses personal memoirs to explore the author’s allyship and advocacy efforts throughout the past 24 years in the language teaching profession. Through the process of self-reflexivity and introspection, “turning points” are investigated to understand more about what influences the actions and behaviors of allyship or advocacy ‘about, with, and as’ multilingual learners. As a district level instructional coach and teacher of multilingual learners in both elementary and adult settings, the author’s revelations in teaching identity, influences of Empire, misalignment of the ‘sense of language,’ and legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice become salient issues. The dynamics …

When Language Policy And Planning Is A Missed Opportunity: Lessons Learned From A Proposed But Not Implemented Dual Language Bilingual Education Program, Jessica Mitchell-Mccollough

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

When populations undergo demographic shift, as in Nebraska in recent decades, educational practices can establish or reinforce hegemonic practices through denial or legitimization of language, culture, and identity, or they can be counterhegemonic. The demographic changes in Nebraska have been defined by a growth in Latinx populations (Morales, et al., in press). As a result, there have been various efforts to explore dynamic shifts in educational programs offered to support students’ unique language acquisition needs, including growth in dual language bilingual education (DLBE). However, not all communities have responded uniformly. During a recent strategic planning process Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) …

Navigating The Complexities Of Time: Innovative Approaches For Accurate And Resilient Time Series Modeling, Sepideh Koohfar

Doctoral Dissertations

The application of time series data has a rich history, and its relevance continues to expand due to recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous systems. These technological developments have driven the collection and utilization of time series data to new heights, propelling its significance to unparalleled levels. Deriving insights from time series data has become indispensable for effective decision-making in various domains, as it enables the identification of patterns, trends, and fluctuations that inform strategic actions and optimize outcomes. The core challenge lies in developing precise and reliable predictive models that effectively leverage the input data for accurate …

Georgia’S Law Of Rules: Textualism And A Survey Of The Canons, Matthew P. Cavedon

Mercer Law Review

Before a travel guide can be written, there has to be a map; before treatises can be written, there have to be surveys. This Article is a survey of Georgia textualism and every canon the Supreme Court of Georgia has recognized in its 180-year history. I begin with a general overview of textualism: the priority of plain meaning, legal context, and legal history (Part I). If there is no ambiguity, “our search for [legal] meaning is at an end.”

But of course, this frequently fails to be the case, so I have read nearly 4,000 cases in search of the …

Open Repository @ Binghamton Monthly Additions And Top Downloads - November 2024, Caitlin Holton

Library Created Resources

Newly added work in the Open Repository @ Binghamton (ORB) from 11/1/2024-11/30/2024. Top downloads from same time frame.

Global South Sisterhood In A Virtual Exchange: A Critical Autoethnography, Bhavika Sicka, Arzu Atajanova

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Racially And Culturally Conscious Parent Engagement Programs: Parent Contributions To A Critical Analysis, Veronica Maria Lucero

Dissertations

To capture the perspectives of Latinx families as they relate to racially and culturally conscious parent engagement programming, this qualitative phenomenological case study sought to examine the parent engagement for Latinx families and answer following research questions:

• Q1 What are the perceptions regarding parental engagement of Latinx parents who participate in parent engagement programs in a Rocky Mountain, suburban elementary school committed to considering race and culture in their engagement practices?
• Q2 How do Latinx parents perceive culturally and racially conscious parent engagement program participation impacts their students’ school experience?

In the qualitative tradition, interviews were used to critically analyze …

“Don’T Bring Your Feminism Here!”: The African Hair Braiding Salon As A Rhetorically Charged Space For Feminist Activism, Efe Plange

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This project extends scholarship on Black beauty and hair care spaces in the US as rhetorically charged for various forms of activism. It specifically explores the nature of work, conversations and feminist ways of being among a group of braiders working together in an African hair braiding salon to legitimize the African hair braiding salon as a site with unique contributions to this body of work. Grounded in Feminist Geo-criticism and Conversational Rhetoric, the study seeks to make contributions that are relevant to the field of Rhetoric and more specifically the sub-field of feminist rhetorics, African and non-Western feminist rhetorics, …

Ali-Agent: Assessing Llms’ Alignment With Human Values Via Agent-Based Evaluation, Jingnan Zheng, Han Wang, Tai D. Nguyen, An Zhang, Jun Sun, Tat-Seng Chua

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Large Language Models (LLMs) can elicit unintended and even harmful content when misaligned with human values, posing severe risks to users and society. To mitigate these risks, current evaluation benchmarks predominantly employ expertdesigned contextual scenarios to assess how well LLMs align with human values. However, the labor-intensive nature of these benchmarks limits their test scope, hindering their ability to generalize to the extensive variety of open-world use cases and identify rare but crucial long-tail risks. Additionally, these static tests fail to adapt to the rapid evolution of LLMs, making it hard to evaluate timely alignment issues. To address these challenges, …

The Learning Crisis: Three Years After Covid-19, Tomasz Gajderowicz, Maciej Jakubowski, Alec Kennedy, Christian Christrup Kjeldsen, Harry Anthony Patrinos, Rolf Strietholt

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread disruptions to education, with school closures affecting over one billion children. These closures, aimed at reducing virus transmission, resulted in significant learning losses, particularly in mathematics and science. Using data from TIMSS 2023, which assesses fourth and eighth-grade achievements across 71 education systems, this study analyzes the impact of school closure duration on learning outcomes. Mixed-effect models estimate deviations from pre-pandemic trends, adjusting for demographic factors. Results show a global average decline of 0.11 standard deviations (SD) in student achievement, with longer closures linked to more severe losses. The effects on low performers, girls, and …

Constructing Qur’An Recitation Classification Using Alexnet Algorithm, Harits Ar Rosyid, Dzulkifli Abdullah, Mohammed S. Alqahtani

Knowledge Engineering and Data Science

The growing demands for accurate and efficient methods in the Qur'an recitation classification highlight the limitations of existing models, particularly in assisting the memorization process. This study aims to address these challenges by implementing the AlexNet Convolutional Neural Network architecture, widely recognized for its effectiveness in image classification, to classify the Qur'an recitations using the Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient (MFCC) as the feature extraction method. The research involves several stages, including data collection, preprocessing (audio segmentation by verse), data augmentation, feature extraction, and classification using the AlexNet architecture, followed by performance evaluation. Key results demonstrate that the combination of MFCC …

Comparative Analysis Of Bpnn And Lvq For Sundanese Character Recognition, Haviluddin Haviluddin, Herman Santoso Pakpahan, Dinda Izmya Nurpadillah, Hario Jati Setyadi, Medi Taruk, Rayner Alfred

Knowledge Engineering and Data Science

The Sundanese script (Aksara Sunda), an essential part of Sundanese cultural heritage, has been used since the 14th century AD. However, recognizing handwritten Sundanese characters remains challenging due to variations in individual writing styles. This study compares the performance of Backpropagation Neural Network (BPNN) and Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) for recognizing handwritten Sundanese vowel (Swara) characters. A dataset was collected from 15 individuals, each writing seven Sundanese vowel characters, which were then used for training and testing the recognition models. Experimental results show that BPNN outperforms LVQ, achieving a higher classification accuracy (95.23%), lower Mean Squared Error (MSE), and faster …

How Couples Navigate Interethnic Differences In Asian American Population: A Grounded Theory Approach, Michelle Nakaula

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Several studies have discussed the impact of cultural factors in Asian American families. Previous research has demonstrated useful strategies used in dealing with distress and relationship dissatisfaction regarding cultural differences. There is limited data or studies that explore additional challenges faced by interethnic couples, rather than interracial couples and the impact of family dynamics on these relationships. Each partner’s identity development process was influenced by their understanding of different cultural traditions and customs. These unique experiences shaped their understanding of roles and expectations within their relationship and parenting styles. Additionally, these family relationships and cultural backgrounds play a role in …

Adapting Deep Learning Models For Downstream Web Tasks: Multimodal Models, Task Development, Agent Adaptation, Graham Annett

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a framework for the development of deep learning models tailored for dynamic web tasks, leveraging generalized pre-trained multimodal transformers. A task generation framework, applied to multiple web datasets, is introduced, facilitating instruction fine-tuning of models for executing multi-step web workflows. This approach enhances the adaptability of pre-trained models to a spectrum of novel web tasks, which is vital for the reliable operation of web agents.

Moreover, this work proposes an encoding schema extending the Decision Transformer, which advances the adaptability of these models for downstream tasks through targeted modality tokenization, thereby broadening their practical applicability. These enhancements …

The Constitutional Meaning Of Financial Terms, Tomer Stein, Shelby Ponton

Utah Law Review

The Constitution has sixty-three financial terms. These financial terms include, for instance, “compensation,” “expenditures,” “debt,” “coin,” “revenue,” “securities,” and “bankruptcies”—all of which determine the elementary building blocks of our governmental makeup. When the Supreme Court interprets the meaning of these financial terms, it does so in isolation and without a consistent framework. This Article proposes a unified framework for the interpretation of financial terms in the Constitution which comprises two fundamental canons of construction.

First, this Article proposes that all financial terms in the Constitution should be interpreted with fiscal and monetary neutrality—interpreting financial terms in a way that does …

One Is Not Enough: Session, The Social Status Provision, And Consistent And Definitive Constructions, Miles C. Skedsvold

Mercer Law Review

Originalism really is “a theory working itself pure.” But most of the blood, sweat, and tears in the enterprise are spilled over the federal constitution. At least partially as a result of those efforts, though, more and more important legal questions are examined under state law—and in particular, state constitutions. And so it is more important than ever to work through the hard methodological questions that will help produce answers. Presiding Justice Nels S.D. Peterson’s landmark article “Principles of Georgia Constitutional Interpretation” breaks key ground in this area—and this Article aims to take the shovel and keep digging. ...

Thus, …

An Approach Designed To Fail Deaf Children And Their Parents And How To Change It, T. Humphries, G. Mathur, Donna Jo Napoli, C. Rathmann

Linguistics Faculty Works

The matter of raising and educating deaf children has been caught up in percepts of development that are persistently inaccurate and at odds with scientific research. These percepts have negatively impacted the health and quality of life of deaf children and deaf people in general. The all too prevalent advice is to raise the child strictly orally and wait to see what happens. Only when the child is seriously behind is a completely accessible language – a sign language – introduced, and that is far too late for protecting cognitive health. The medical profession, along with others, needs to offer …

Nlp-Based Quantitative Methods For Measuring Highway Project Similarity To Support Project Clustering And Bundling, Quan Do

All Dissertations

State highway agencies (SHAs) often need to classify similar projects into distinct work type clusters, enabling them to correlate new projects with historical data on cost, schedule, pay item production rates, and project complexity. This classification also facilitates the identification of similar projects for project bundling. However, the conventional method for classifying projects into work types is inefficient, relying heavily on subjective judgment and manual review of project scope. This inefficiency hinders SHAs’ ability to effectively apply knowledge gained from historical projects to future projects. Moreover, the subjective nature of project classification is time-consuming and can result in inconsistencies and …

How Millennials Make Investment Decisions: Financial Literacy And Financial Behavior, Dewi Tamara, Anita Maharani

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

This study investigates the effect of financial literacy, financial attitude, risk perception, and financial behavior on investment decisions. Employing a survey method with 342 respondents in Jakarta, the findings reveal that financial literacy has a negative and insignificant effect on investment decisions. In contrast, risk perception plays a crucial role in influencing investment decisions. Furthermore, financial behavior has an indirect mediating effect between financial literacy and risk perception on investment decisions but does not affect financial attitude. This study concludes that risk perception and financial behavior are important factors in investment decisions. Future research may consider incorporating other variables such …

Textualism In Practice, Anita S. Krishnakumar

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

It is by now axiomatic to note that textualism has won the statutory interpretation wars. But contrary to what textualists long have promised, the widespread embrace of textualism as an interpretive methodology has not resulted in any real clarity or predictability about the interpretive path—or even the specific interpretive tools—that courts will invoke in a particular case. Part of the reason for this lack of predictability is that textualism-in-practice often differs significantly from the approach that textualism-in-theory advertises; and part of the reason is that textualism-in-theory is sometimes in tension with itself. In light of textualism’s ascendance—and now dominance—on the …

From Preparation To Practice: How Principals Engage Families In Diverse School Settings, Morgan Garner

Ed.D. Dissertations

Rural, urban, and suburban school principals faced distinct challenges in engaging families and fostering positive school climates. Recognizing the need for tailored leadership strategies, it was essential for principal preparation programs to provide context-specific training. The purpose of basic interpretive qualitative study was to explore the relationship between principals’ approaches to school management in rural, urban, and suburban schools and how their preparation programs facilitated the development of these approaches. Forty-six principals participated in the study, and I collected data through a questionnaire based on a parental involvement framework. The analysis revealed key differences in strategies; rural principals emphasized community …