Digital Commons Network^™

Sensing, Knowing, And Making Water Quality Along Marikina River In The Philippines, Gideon Lasco, Anita Hardon

Development Studies Faculty Publications

Water quality is a major concern around the world, but assessments of quality often privilege producers, regulators and experts over consumers. With water supplies and sources constantly in flux, how do ordinary people experience and “sense” quality? How do they define “good” or “good enough” water, and what practices do they engage in to “make” good water? In this article, we attend to these questions by presenting findings from an open-ended qualitative study carried out along the Marikina River, Manila, the Philippines – a waterway that courses from rural and mountainous villages to highly urbanized communities. First, we describe the …

Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions Regarding The Inclusion Of English Learners In Mainstream Classrooms, Geraki Marie Kossonou

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how mainstream elementary teachers perceive the inclusion of English learners (ELs) in their classrooms and what strategies they use to enhance the learning of ELs. Utilization of Bandura’s self-efficacy occurred in the research. The two research questions that guided the study include, “What are the perceptions of elementary teachers regarding the inclusion of ELs in their classrooms?” and “How do elementary teachers demonstrate their knowledge and application of effective strategies for supporting and enhancing the learning of ELs?” The two research questions helped to explore the phenomenon of mainstream teachers’ perceptions …

Advanced Placement Teachers’ Perspectives On Effectiveness Of Georgia Gifted Legislation: A Generic Qualitative Study, Rebekah Annette Atkinson

Theses and Dissertations

Gifted students from minority backgrounds, including low SES, African American and Latinx students, are underrepresented in gifted education, specifically high school Advanced Placement (AP) programs. Despite national legislation and guidance, the federal government allows individual states, including Georgia, to create their own gifted policies and delegate implementation to individual districts. Georgia, like many other states, continues to show inequity in gifted education for minority students and deficiencies in gifted instruction. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of inequity in gifted education for high school students in Georgia through a generic qualitative research design that analyzed AP …

Creating A Social Media Presence In Columbus State Women's Basketball Program, Kaihla Carter

Theses and Dissertations

This professional project will explore increased social media growth within the Columbus State University Women's Basketball team. It will present a sweeping writing audit focusing on the encounters and perspectives of the Columbus State Women's Basketball program regarding social media and the advancing opportunities for female student-athletes. It will dive into the framework to understand how women's basketball social media platforms impact the subjects, stories, and conversations encompassing the game, ultimately molding the public insight and plan. We get into the impact of a solid virtual social media presence, effective online entertainment strategies, the variety inborn in the women's basketball …

Culturally Responsive Teaching: High School Teachers Reflecting On Multicultural And Global Education, Giselle Pardo De Rincón

Doctor of Education (EdD)

This study explored the challenges and benefits teachers face in implementing culturally responsive teaching, multicultural education, and global education and their impact on student learning, community integration, and sense of belonging. Through qualitative narrative research, I investigated how high school educators could create inclusive classroom environments. Four high school teachers from a suburban high school in Oregon, aged 21 or older, participated in semi-structured interviews focused on culturally responsive teaching, multicultural education, and global education. The research aimed to uncover high school teachers’ experiences across different career stages, offering insights to support educators and inform policy and teacher preparation programs, …

Assessing Barriers And Facilitators To School Nurse Recommendations Of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination, Amy E. Dark

DNP Scholarly Projects

Background Vaccine hesitancy among students and caregivers is a pervasive challenge for educational leadership and school health staff, leaving the school community at risk for vaccine preventable disease. The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is an underutilized primary prevention strategy against six HPV related cancers.

Purpose The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project was to measure the effect of an evidence-based educational intervention and facilitated role play on the knowledge and confidence of school nurses (SNs) when discussing HPV vaccination.

Methods This QI project was performed using a brief educational presentation with facilitated role play and a pre/post survey design. …

Comparing L2 Learning Outcomes In Traditional And English As Alingua Franca Study Abroad Contexts, Judith Borrás Andrés

Artículos científicos

The number of students embarking on a study abroad experiencecontinues to grow steadily. A new setting for study abroad in Englishhas developed recently where students may be studying in anenvironment where English is used as a lingua franca but is not anofficial language of the country. This setting is referred to as English asa lingua franca study abroad or ELFSA (Köylü 2016). The present studyexplores the outcomes that may arise from participating in an ELFSAprogramme and it compares the merits of this type of context to thosearising from traditional, anglophone settings. Using a written task and aproficiency test, the L2 …

Revision As Protecting What Is Important, Cruz Medina

English

This is a story about drafting and revising an article manuscript for an ill-fitting “top-tier” journal while trying to protect the important student writing at the heart of the piece. In 2015, I began researching the translingual practices of multilingual students in a first-year composition (FYC) course at my Bay Area university. When I submitted the manuscript to an National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) journal, I revised the format of the manuscript for a more empirical model in line with the journal’s guidelines, and the manuscript was ultimately rejected after revision and resubmission. Even though I had envisioned …

Examining The Relationship Between Immigration And Labor Market Dynamics In The United States Before And After Policy Changes Of 2017, Noor Jahan Tarshi

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

This thesis investigates the effects of U.S. immigration policy changes in 2017 on labor market dynamics, examining both the immigrant and native-born populations. The study is motivated by the significant socio-political shifts under the Trump administration, which introduced measures like the Public Charge Rule, adjustments to the H-1B visa process, and threats to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). These policy changes provide a unique opportunity to analyze their impact on the U.S. labor market, offering insights critical for policymakers and scholars. The research specifically aims to explore how these immigration policies have influenced employment opportunities, wage levels, and …

The Struggle For Eudaemonia: The Eugenics Movement In Psychology And Community Resistance In Connecticut, Eve Galanis

Academic Articles

Throughout the twentieth century, the eugenics movement dominated medical discourses in the state of Connecticut. From deportations, coerced institutionalizations and sterilizations, to proposed executions of people with mental illness, eugenic policies were deployed in an attempt to control and direct populations. The state collaborated with academic institutions like Yale University, and agencies like The Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor, to endorse pseudo-scientific techniques of surveilling and administering bodies across intersecting lines of race, ability, gender, sexuality, class, and citizenship status. This research examines the biopolitics of eugenics and the contest for economic, geographic, social, and ideological space. Using …

The Violence Of Free Speech And Press Metaphors, Erin C. Carroll

Washington and Lee Law Review

Today, our free speech marketplace is often overwhelming, confusing, and even dangerous. Threats, misdirection, and lies abound. Online firestorms lead to offline violence. This Article argues that the way we conceptualize free speech and the free press are partly to blame: our metaphors are hurting us.

The primary metaphor courts have used for a century to describe free speech—the marketplace of ideas—has been linked to violence since its inception. Originating in a case about espionage and revolution, in a dissent written by Oliver Wendell Holmes, a thrice-injured Civil War veteran, the marketplace has been described as a space where competition …

"Ruskiy Mir" And "Ukrainskyi Svit": Ontological And Anthropological Antagonists, Liudmyla Fylypovych, Oksana Horkusha

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article focuses on a crucial issue of global interest--attempts of the Russian Federation to reformat the world according to the worldview model of the "Ruskiy mir." The paradigm of the "Ruskiy mir" assumes a system of values (ontological, anthropological, theological, and historiographical ideas and behavioral models) programmed by the entire russian history, as defined by russian culture, traditions, and the russian worldview. According to the "Russian worldview," the world should have a different structure, and the global international system should have a different format: Moscow (the Russian Empire and the Russian Federation) should be at the center of the …

Building Resilience, Navigating Crises Since 2019: A Phenomenological Study Of Leadership Factors Influencing Retail Business Owners In Lebanon, Mira Fadel

Theses and Dissertations

The Lebanese population and culture are recognized for their resilience when facing adversity withstanding events such as the Lebanese Civil War, and multiple country invasions. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of retail business owners from different geographical regions and retail types in Lebanon and to identify the leadership factors that kept them resilient while navigating the compounding crises since 2019. The leadership factors included leadership styles, strategies, and agility. The conceptual framework encompassed all leadership factors, the retail industry, cultural context, and resilience. Data for this hermeneutic phenomenology was collected through semi-structured interviews followed …

Examining The Role Of Cultural Capital In Access And Equity For Female C-Stem Learners Of Color, Tiffany L. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to examine the impact of cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1973; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977) on the access and equity of C-STEM learners of color under the following four tenets of Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth model: aspirational, familial, social, and navigational capital. A theoretical framework of Critical Race Theory (CRT; Crenshaw, 1988) was utilized to frame the study. Research questions explore the impacts of cultural capital upon the perceived access and equity of female C-STEM learners. Qualitative methodology guided the study under the integrated approach of Quantitative Ethnography (QE) which examines qualitative data with the support of statistical …

Promoting Interaction In The Hybrid Learning Environment: Challenges And Solutions For International Students In Higher Education, Yi Lu

Theses and Dissertations

In the years 2020 and 2021, a total of 1,142,352 international students pursued their higher education degrees in the U.S. (SEVIS, 2022), many learning in English for the very first time. International students benefit from interaction in the classroom to support their learning and continued English language development (Loewen & Sato, 2018). The interaction hypothesis (IH) is a helpful lens to consider language interaction in a variety of learning environments (Long, 1996). More specifically, the IH suggests that modifications and negotiations made during conversational interaction help language learners process input. Although the IH has traditionally focused on the traditional face-to-face …

Native Nation Resistance To The Machinations Of Settler Colonial Democracy, Nazune Menka

Faculty Articles

This Essay’s publication coincides with the centennial commemoration of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, which offers an opportunity to revisit the historical and contemporary ways the concept of citizenship has been used to both increase Indigenous legibility and refute the project of empire. Through a review of the history of territorial incorporation, statehood, federal recognition, and citizenship, I examine the machinations of settler colonialism that seek to eliminate, contain, and assimilate Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples into the federal polity. Seeking to concretize this examination—and to respond to calls to broaden the scope of Indigeneity and the field of …

A Narrative Discourse On Large Global Corporations And Modern Slavery In Complex Supply Chains, Bonnie Nixon

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation asks to what extent, if at all, large global corporations are addressing modern slavery in their complex supply chains. Many companies publicly report that they are addressing human rights topics such as modern slavery in their complex supply chains using traceability, transparency and accountability frameworks and tools, public communications, stakeholder dialogue, auditing, etc. The researcher explored narratives in academic, governmental, corporate, and non-governmental organization reports, media publications, websites, and videos to determine whether the corporations are addressing modern slavery in complex supply chains. Using systematic review methods and tools, the researcher also analyzed medical and engineering profession ethical …

Green Colonialism: Sidelined While On The Front Lines, M. Alexander Pearl

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

The United Nations General Assembly recently unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing the “right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right.” in July, 2022. ... The resolution was heralded by U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Inger Andersen as a “victory for people and the planet,” and it was described as a catalyst for action by U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment David Boyd. ... Boyd went on to say that the resolution could encourage States “to enshrine the right to a healthy environment in . . . constitutions and regional treaties.”... This short …

Fake News Detection In Online Platforms, Elena Shushkevich

Doctoral

This thesis presents research conducted during a Ph.D. program at Technological University Dublin from 2020 to 2024. The objective of this research is to develop and evaluate effective methods for detecting and classifying fake news in social media and press, addressing the critical issue of misinformation in the digital age. The relevance of this study is underscored by the increasing prevalence of fake news and its potential societal impact, emphasizing the importance of advanced tools for identifying and mitigating misinformation.

An Examination Of Scientific And Technical Communication For Forensic Engineering And Forensic Pathology., Tori C. Reeder

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Police communication sits at the unique intersection of risk communication, scientific and technical communication, and medical communication, as we see in forensic reports. In this dissertation, I examine the communicative underpinnings of forensic pathology and forensic engineering reports. I argue that there is not only an inherent link between the unpredictability of a written text and the reception of said text by both its intended and unintended audience, but also a link to the broader socio-cultural contexts. I will examine an atypical forensic pathology report (autopsy report) of George Floyd, a more standard forensic pathology report of an inmate who …

Four Lessons To Build Upon: A Study Of Postsecondary Composition Classroom Curriculum, Tucker D. Nielsen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Soft skills in technical professions may be valued by employers, but post-secondary students engage with a dichotomy arguing against the blend of soft and hard skills. This study utilized activities with LEGO® bricks to determine how plausible kinesthetic learning methods are within university composition classes. Four in-class activities based on the class’s four core assignments were spread across the Spring 2024 semester at Michigan Technological university. Through written reflections, lists, posters, and photos of students’ builds, students practiced and demonstrated engagement with identified composition and critical thinking skills.

Two criteria (Audience Expectations and Genre Expectations, were not demonstrated as clearly …

Wait, We’Re Invited, Too? An Academic Social Justice Book Club For The Community (A Case Study), Amanda Boyer, Amir El-Chidiac

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

Political tensions, racial reckoning, and rising book challenges have led to deeper polarization in the United States, especially in Pennsylvania, where there is already an even divide between liberals and conservatives. The increasing division led two librarians from the Susquehanna University Blough-Weis Library (2021) to initiate a Social Justice Book Club. This club aimed to unite the campus and local communities to grapple with social justice issues in a safe environment. Librarians had concerns when starting the club due to the regional tensions. Still, they were determined to find a way to safely allow everyone involved to learn more about …

Representation Of Lgbtq+ Characters In The 2019 To 2022 Iowa Teen Award Books, Jamie Thompson

Graduate Research Papers

This qualitative literary content analysis examines the representation of LGBTQ+ themes in the student-nominated Iowa Teen Award (ITA) books from the past three years to help librarians and classroom teachers build an inclusive library collection. The research question posed in this study is: In what ways are LGBTQ+ characters represented in the Iowa Teen Award books? The analysis of eight middle-grade books (Appendix A) using the book analysis tool (Appendix B) identified three themes: Transformation of Understanding, Hopefulness, and Richness of Plot. Results showed that while all the books had a complex storyline, only five of the books showed a …

Graduate Portfolio, Olivia Campbell

Graduate Research Papers

History is often thought of as big events that happened throughout time. This notion can be seen in the way history is often taught in the high school and often college levels. World history always teaches about events like the world wars and similar conflicts. American history always teaches about events such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Civil War. Because of this, whether intentionally or not, history is often thought of as big events that have happened. History is also often taught through the lens of “great man history”, which focuses on people who had …

Towards Interpretable Propaganda Detection In News Text Through The Use Of Rhetorical Devices As Features, Kyle Hamilton

Doctoral

This doctoral thesis presents research undertaken towards interpretable propaganda detection in news text. Propaganda and mis/disinformation in the media have been identified in the social sciences literature as a major threat to the functioning of democratic society. While mis/disinformation is false by definition, propaganda is intended to modify the beliefs and behaviors of the information consumer but does not have to be false. Propagandistic text is often characterized by the use of rhetorical devices and linguistic style designed to exploit the reader’s cognitive and emotional biases. One way of counteracting this effect is by shifting the focus from “what” is …

Analysing Natural Language Processing Techniques: A Comparative Study Of Nltk, Spacy, Bert, And Distilbert On Customer Query Datasets., Patrizia De Camillis

ICT

This study examines the role of sentiment analysis in customer queries, emphasising its impact on brand perception and the risks of poor query management. It compares the performance of NLP models—NLTK, spaCy, BERT, and DistilBERT—on customer query and feedback data. The findings show that BERT and DistilBERT produce similar results, often categorising queries as neutral, indicating their strength in handling diverse sentiments. NLTK and spaCy also share performance patterns. The research offers insights into the capabilities and limitations of these models in sentiment analysis.

Orthographic Influences On The Production Of French Nasal Vowels By English-Speaking Learners Of French, Claire Evelyn Tow

Honors Program Theses

The present study investigated acoustic differences (F1F2 vowel space and duration) in French nasal vowel productions by three participants who speak French as a first language (L1-French speakers) and ten participants who speak English as a first language and French as a second language (L2-French speakers). French nasal vowel production by L2-French speakers was acoustically analyzed in two conditions: Auditory-Orthographic (Aud-Ortho) and Auditory-Only (Aud-Only). The results indicated a larger F1F2 vowel space for L2-French speakers in the AudOrtho task compared to the Aud-Only task. French nasal vowel durations were slightly longer for the L2-French speakers. Spectrograms from L2-French speakers revealed …

Efficient And Effective Learning Of Foundational Large Multi-Modal Models, Yiren Jian

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

The investigation of large multi-modal models (LMMs) has emerged as a focal point within the Deep Learning community, showcasing its prominence in contemporary research. LMMs exhibit the capacity to take data from diverse modalities, enabling them to execute a myriad of tasks by leveraging complementary information for enhanced predictive capabilities. The learning process of LMMs is bifurcated into two crucial stages: the computationally intensive pre-training stage, aimed at acquiring general representations from web-scale noisy data, and the subsequent fine-tuning stage, focusing on adapting pre-trained models to specific tasks.

Traditionally, the pre-training of foundational LMMs has been considered a privilege limited …

Framing A Feminist Phenomenological Inquiry Into The Lived Experiences Of Women Entrepreneurs, Edicleia Oliveira, Serge Basini, Thomas M. Cooney

Articles

Purpose – This article aims to explore the potential of feminist phenomenology as a conceptual framework for advancing women’s entrepreneurship research and the suitability of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to the proposed framework.

Design/methodology/approach – The article critically examines the current state of women’s entrepreneurship research regarding the institutional context and highlights the benefits of a shift towards feminist phenomenology.

Findings – The prevailing disembodied and gender-neutral portrayal of entrepreneurship has resulted in an equivocal understanding of women’s entrepreneurship and perpetuated a male-biased discourse within research and practice. By adopting a feminist phenomenological approach, this article argues for the importance …

"Sit Still, Look Pretty To Survive": An Analysis Of The Hunger Games Trilogy, Bryleigh Sharon De Jong

Honors Program Theses

In this thesis, it emphasizes that the analysis of this topic was done through an extensive literature review. Throughout the research process, academic and scholarly articles were reviewed and quoted from previous studies. From previous literature, results express the idea of varying ideals and needs for the “perfect” film adaptation; additionally how the people researched the workers within the film and seeing the differences involving work with the script and actors. Screenwriting theory was also taken into account through previous research.

At the end of a decade, a literary trilogy became a new pop culture phenomenon, The Hunger Games. The …