Digital Commons Network^™

History And The School Prayer Cases, Mark Storslee

Faculty Publications

In a series of two decisions known as the School Prayer Cases, the Supreme Court famously held that the Establishment Clause forbids state-sponsored prayer in public schools—even where the government provides opt-outs for dissenters. Yet subsequent legal developments have rendered those decisions unstable. And with the Court’s recent turn to “historical practices and understandings,” many question whether the School Prayer Cases can possibly survive.

It is too soon to tell where the Court’s renewed focus on Founding-era history might lead. But this Article contends, contrary to both some originalist Justices and their critics, that a focus on history does …

Multibillion-Dollar Tax Questions, James Alm, Jay A. Soled, Kathleen Delaney Thomas

Faculty Publications

Tax compliance in the United States historically hovers in the 80 percent range, costing the nation approximately half a trillion dollars annually in uncollected tax revenue. To foster greater tax compliance, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) should employ whatever tools are at its disposal. Standard deterrence theory argues that increasing the audit rate and imposing stiffer penalties would foster greater tax compliance. There are political headwinds, however, that strongly suggest that these approaches are not currently viable. Instead, there is a low-cost method that could yield greater tax compliance. Drawing on recent and compelling social science research, the IRS should …

Natural Objects And Testamentary Freedom, Kevin Bennardo

Faculty Publications

This Article explores the tension between inheritance law’s designation of certain beneficiaries as natural and unnatural for certain purposes and its organizing principle of testamentary freedom. Either inheritance law is primarily concerned with effectuating the preference of the decedent or it is primarily concerned with safeguarding the economic health of the family. It cannot be both. Ultimately, one of these two must yield. Either we acknowledge that decedents don’t have the level of dispositional freedom that is advertised or we change the law’s designation of some devises as natural and other as unnatural.

This Article proposes a pathway to relieve …

A New Hope? Restoring Self-Compassion In Response To Abusive Supervision, James P. Burton, Brittany C. Buis, Larissa K. Barber

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Given the persistent financial and psychological costs of abusive supervision in organizations, a greater understanding of the mechanisms that employees can use to cope with abuse is warranted. In the present study, abusive supervision is expected to be negatively related to a key employee coping mechanism – self-compassion – and this hindered mechanism would lead to higher levels of anxiety and lower levels of hope. However, a written meditation targeting self-compassion could break the link between abuse and employee anxiety or hope. The hypotheses and the written self-compassion meditation were tested across two studies incorporating both a highly controlled laboratory …

Challenges And Coping Strategies In Transitioning From Caregiving To Widowhood: A Systematic Review, Abby Baumbach, M. Courtney Hughes, Yujun Liu

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Ninety-one percent of surviving spouses in the U.S. cared for their spouses before they died. This review explores the challenges of the transition from caregiving to widowhood and different coping strategies used by widowed spousal caregivers. A systematic review of literature on the transition from caregiving to widowhood was conducted using four major academic search engines. Overall, 280 articles were identified, with 22 meeting the inclusion criteria. Challenges for widowed caregivers included experiencing care burden, letting go of the caregiver role, grief, and triggers. Widowed caregivers’ coping strategies included social support and services use, filling the time gap, finding spirituality, …

University Biology Classrooms As Spaces For Anti-Racist Work: Instructor Motivations For Incorporating Race, Racism, And Racial Equity Content., Nicole L. Scheuermann, Candice Idlebird, Sayali Kukday, Vance J. Mccracken, Rachel E. Bradley, Heather E. Bergan-Roller

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Science is often portrayed as a meritocratic endeavor, but university biology programs exhibit high rates of student attrition, particularly among students of Color, despite similar interest and aptitude for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as White students. Culturally relevant pedagogy is associated with student persistence in STEM. One way to practice culturally relevant pedagogy in biology courses is to engage students in discussions of race, racism, or racial equity. Guidance exists to help instructors incorporate race-related topics into the biology curriculum, but the reasoning behind the decision of whether to adopt this practice is not well characterized. Understanding instructors’ …

Investigating The Impact Of Leaderboards, Badges, And Ebucks On High School English Language Learners’ Cognitive Engagement, Self-Efficacy And Intrinsic Motivation Toward Reading In English, Omar J. Almamoori

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

This study examines the impact of gamification elements, in particular leaderboards, badges, and eBucks, on the cognitive engagement (CE), intrinsic motivation (IM), and self-efficacy (SE) of English Language Learners (ELLs) at a high school in the Southeastern United States. The investigation, conducted during optional weekly readings, utilizes a mixed methods design to investigate the effects of gamification on ELLs' learning experiences. Through pre-post surveys and semi-structured interviews, data was collected to assess the gamified intervention's impact. Utilizing a one-way covariate analysis (ANCOVA) in IBM SPSS Statistics (version 29), the study evaluates the effect of gamification while controlling for grade, gender, …

Leadership Strategies And Multi-Frame Thinking Of Rural School Superintendents’ During Periods Of Crisis, Steven J. Moses

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

This dissertation examined the leadership strategies used by rural, public-school superintendents in the Central Appalachian region of Eastern Kentucky during and following the flood of 2022 that was considered a natural disaster. The context of this study was framed by a 1 in 1000-year flooding event that devastated school districts and communities in Eastern Kentucky. The geographic boundaries of this study were limited to school districts that were part of counties identified as “Appalachian” by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). In addition, school districts in this study were also identified as rural by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) …

The Influence Of Independent Secondary School Heads On Shaping Organizational Culture, Ian D. Macphail

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

This dissertation examined the experiences and connections between head of school leadership and culture in small, independent boarding schools in New England. This study was the result of the participation of eight heads of school from eight separate institutions, engaging in semi-structured interviews. All of the schools were secular in their practice, all-gender, and had a formal dormitory-based boarding program. Each school enrolled 400 or fewer students, focusing the impact of these leaders on a tighter, interactional lens. This study explored a relatively under-researched area of K-12 education and used exploratory, qualitative methods to gather the stories of these formal …

Distributed Leadership In International Schools Across The Asia Pacific: A Sequential Explanatory Study, Robert A. Appino

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

This explanatory study examined how distributed leadership is practiced in international schools. This included looking at principals’ readiness to practice a distributed perspective of leadership, how they practice leadership, the opportunities for teacher leadership, and the relationship between distributed leadership practices and school innovation and improvement. Principals have increasingly adopted distributed leadership, sharing responsibilities with others, in response to COVID-19 (Azorin, Harris, & Jones, 2020). However, this response was not by design but to survive (Harris & Jones, 2020). The demands of the pandemic left leaders stretched more than ever, and adopting distributed leadership practices was essential (Harris & Jones, …

Biomechanics, Strength, And Physical Function After Surgical Repair Of Rotational Ankle Fractures, Benjamin Brightwell

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

Ankle Fractures account for approximately 9% of all lower extremity fractures and incidence continues to rise. Up to 53% of ankle fractures require surgical intervention. Impaired physical function is one of the most reported and observed lasting effects of surgically repaired ankle fractures. Additionally, limited physical capacity and function have been identified as the primary threats to health-related quality of life after surgical repair of ankle fractures. These impairments to physical capacity and functionality can last longer than 5 years after surgery. Since surgery typically successfully restores stability and congruency of the talocrural joint, these poor long-term outcomes are an …

Shaping College Habitus: An Exploration Of The Effect Of The Social/Spatial Construction Of First-Year Classes On The Habitus Of Low-Income, Working-Class Rural Students, Joshua R. Mcconnell Parsons

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Low-income, working-class (LI/WC) students entering spaces of higher education often face completely new social and cultural fields that do not match their prior experiences, requiring them to construct new conceptualizations of their habitus within those spaces—the way they internalize and interact with the world. However, a dearth of research exists on how these students’ conceptualizations of the social and physical spaces that make up their actual classroom and academic experiences play a role in how they come to form their new identities or habitus. This in-depth qualitative analysis of students’ habitus formation leverages Doreen Massey’s theoretical framework of critical spatiality …

The Co-Curriculum Of College Student Employment: Perspectives From Supervising Practitioners, Brittany Begley Wildman

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

College student employees are not only serving the overall mission of their institutions, but also developing career readiness skills through daily interactions while at work. In this study, I explore the perceptions of the supervisors of student employees as both managers and student affairs professionals. Through one-on-one interviews with supervisors, discussing their interactions with students, I explore the implicit and explicit curricula they provide to their students using a curriculum analysis framework. I then compare the resulting learning outcomes against those identified in industry standards. The supervisors described supporting student employees' personal development during the student employment experience as well …

An Evaluation Of Statistical Approaches Within A Higher Education Research Framework: How Does Online Distance Learning Impact Student Outcomes?, Nathaniel P. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Appropriate methodology choices are of the utmost importance in research, particularly in measurement and education research. When higher education administrators and researchers study topics related to student outcomes, choosing a statistical approach that produces unbiased estimates is of primary concern. Additionally, studying student outcomes in the context of nationally representative samples provides valuable insights into the state of higher education in the U.S. When examining these data, it is critical that the nested structure be taken into consideration prior to making methodological decisions.

The purpose of the following manuscripts is to demonstrate how education researchers can develop, implement and evaluate …

Influence Of Deception Of Task Duration On The Sex-Specific Physiological, Neuromuscular, And Affective Responses To Rpe-Clamp Cycle Ergometry, Pasquale Succi

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

Several theories exist to explain the interaction of sensory afferent feedback and efferent feedforward signals on the generation of a rating of perceived exertion (RPE) which influence endurance exercise pacing and performance. Within these theories, exists the premise that the expected duration of exercise plays a role within the generation of an individual’s RPE and their endurance performance. Previous work has demonstrated equivocal findings of this influence, while other research has suggested potential differences between males and females. However, an RPE-clamp model, where the external workload is modulated to maintain a constant perceptual intensity, has not previously been used to …

The Psychosocial Aspects Of Rest, Morgan Findley

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

Past research in sport sciences has focused primarily on “rest” from a physical perspective, while giving limited focus to the psychosocial perspective (Eccles & Riley, 2014; Eccles et al., 2022). One major development on psychosocial rest emerged with the pioneering model introduced by Eccles and Kazmier (2019); however, further research is needed to test this proposed model with other sport/performance populations. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the model's generalizability and investigate the perceived frequency of psychosocial rest by athletes throughout their season. To accomplish this, 67 female university athletes completed an online survey comprised of questions representative of the …

An Investigation Of Body Image And Eating Behaviors In Former Ncaa Heptathletes, Claire Bailey

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

Research consistently supports associations between body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating pathologies in collegiate athletes (e.g., Reel & Voelker, 2012; Sundgot-Borgen, 1994). More specifically, female NCAA athletes report feeling torn between peak performance body composition and body fat levels fitting ideal feminine standards (Beckner & Record, 2016; Carson et al., 2020). Examining track and field, most event groups hold a lean-promoting perspective. However, heptathletes warrant further investigation due to the multifaceted and contradictory nature of events. Specifically, heptathletes encounter complex pressures training for a wide range of physical demands, which can create confusion in expected body types (Heazlewood et al., …

Increasing Physical Activity: Parenting Style, Parental Perceptions, And Teacher Use And Self-Efficacy, Kendra Hansen

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

This dissertation consists of three papers aimed at varied ways to increase physical activity for youth. The first paper reviews research on hyper-parenting and its effects on physical activity. The systematic literature review revealed that little is known about hyper-parenting effects on physical activity, but limited evidence suggests a negative relationship between the two variables.

The second manuscript examines parents’ perceptions of physical activity and its effect on their children’s academics. Results showed some minor differences between ethnic groups and those whose children are more active. Although parents tended to agree that physical activity was important, most did not seem …

Physical Education Teachers' Perceptions Of Their Pre-Service Teacher Education, Gunay Sen

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

Physical education plays a crucial role in fostering lifelong physical activity and contributing to the overall education of children. Effective PE teaching requires well-planned teacher education programs that align with contemporary educational standards and practices (Morgan & Bourke, 2005; Lu & Lorusso, 2016). This study addresses the gap between theoretical training and real-world teaching demands, emphasizing the need for ongoing professional development and alignment with current educational standards (Tinning, 2002; Siedentop, 1994). This dissertation explores the perceptions of physical education (PE) teachers regarding their pre-service teacher education (PETE) across four countries: Australia, England, the USA, and Türkiye. The aim is …

Understanding Intention And Behavior Of Practicing Yoga Through The Lens Of Theory Of Planned Behavior Specifically In Rural Communities; A Qualitative Study, Shelley Meyer

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

While there are known health benefits for participating in yoga, little has been studied on the intention and behavior for why individuals practice yoga especially through a theoretical lens and intense qualitative thematic analysis. Targeting the rural community considers other extenuating circumstances experienced by rural residents that can impact yoga participation in rural areas. Interviews were used to gain insight into a holistic viewpoint with the rich data bringing clarity to an individual’s thought process (of intention) to incorporate yoga (behavior) in their daily life. Utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior as the theoretical framework for developing interview questions allowed …

Dialogue Over Data: An Interview Study Of Evaluators At Institutions Accredited By Aaqep, Laura Mirochna

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The university supervisor’s role is to evaluate student teachers during the field experience process. The processes for onboarding and evaluation of university supervisors vary widely at universities in the United States but are determined, in part, by the data collection requirements of the programmatic accreditation process. An interview study was done to show how different schools are onboarding and evaluating their university supervisors and collecting evaluation data for AAQEP as the programmatic accreditor. The overarching research question is: RQ1: What is the process for onboarding and evaluating university supervisors, if any is used? The study's results indicate that AAQEP does …

De Aquí, Y De Allá: Education, Culture, And Identity Development Of Transnational Latinas, Elizabeth Harris-Medina

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

De Aquí, y De Allá: Education, Culture, and Identity Development of Transnational Latinas This ethnographic case study examines the experiences of three transnational Latina women, descendants of families from Degollado, Jalisco, Mexico, exploring how their migration history and educational backgrounds influence their life trajectories. Focusing on these three women, the study aims to better understand their challenges and inform the development of resources to support their success in the U.S. education system. Using ethnographic interviews and Ecological Systems Theory, the research highlights how places and social systems shape views and life paths, offering insights into how best to support these …

Black Girl Wisdom: A Black Feminist Analysis Of Success Strategies Of Professional African American Women At Predominately White Higher Education Institutions, Teasia Jordan

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

This phenomenological study examines the success strategies employed by professional African American women (AAW) at predominately white higher education institutions (PWIs). Grounded in Black Feminist Thought (BFT), the “Outsider Within” framework (Collins, 1986), and the concept of “failed citizenship” (Banks, 2017), it explores how AAW navigate and redefine success within environments shaped by exclusionary white patriarchal norms. Through interviews with ten co-laborers, two themes emerged: liberation from unsupportive environments and negotiation strategies to define success.

Findings reveal that AAW’s success strategies center on identity, self-awareness, and rejecting institutional oppression. Co-laborers articulated their liberation by naming the environment as oppressed, fostering …

Correlates Of Transactional Sex Among Black Men And Women Who Misuse Opioids, Shemeka Thorpe, Paige Orphé, Gabriella Pitcher, Kendall Mccleod, Natalie Malone, Danelle Stevens-Watkins

Kinesiology and Health Promotion Faculty Publications

The rise in opioid misuse coincides with increased sexually transmitted infection (STI) and HIV incidence. Transactional sex is an under-researched phenomenon among Black Americans who misuse opioids, and may increase their risk of STI or HIV transmission. Given the disproportionate impact of the opioid epidemic on Black Americans and the risks associated with opioid misuse, the current study aims to investigate sociostructural factors, history of violence, and sexual risk factors associated with transactional sex among Black men and women. A sample of n = 375 Black adult Kentuckians reporting opioid misuse completed a survey including transactional sex, sociostructural, violence history, …

Examining High School Mathematics Teachers' Research-Based Instructional Practices And Their Relationship To Students' Learning Outcomes: A Convergent Parallel Mixed-Method Study, Isiaka Busari

Theses and Dissertations--Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education

This convergent parallel mixed-methods study examines the relationship between high school mathematics teachers' research-based instructional practices and students' learning outcomes in Algebra 1 classrooms at a high school in a central region of a Southern U.S. State. The research addresses improving mathematics proficiency in the United States, where national performance remains below average. Guided by psychological and social constructivism, the study involved three Algebra 1 teachers and 171 students. Data were collected through classroom observations using the Mathematics Classroom Observation Protocol for Practices (MCOP²), teacher interviews, and student pre-and post-tests. Quantitative data from tests and MCOP² were …

Incorporating Uas Traffic Management Into Wildland Firefighting Operations: Initial Findings Of Subject Matter Expert Interviews, Deborah L. Bakowski, Lynne Martin, Gil Dustin, Chris Mariano

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UASs) are being utilized throughout the disaster and emergency response domain, including in wildland firefighting operations. While UASs can offer safety benefits in comparison to crewed aircraft, such as removing the human pilot from the vehicle so that they are not exposed to the same risks and the ability to operate in low-visibility conditions, they are not without tradeoffs. For example, it can be challenging for UAS pilots (UASPs) to build situation awareness of the airspace in which their UAS is operating. In order to address some of the challenges associated with using UASs and provide greater …

Improving Field Education For Social Work In Vietnam: Intern Supervisors’ Perspectives Of The Current State And Potential Solutions, Megan Aikawa, Meekyung Han, Trang T. Nguyen, Linh Dinh, Minh Thanh Bui

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Research has identified challenges associated with the implementation of competency-based social work field education in Vietnam. However, there is limited information available from intern supervisors, who have unique perspectives at the crux of social work training and service delivery. An exploratory phenomenological qualitative approach was used to explore their experiences and perceptions through online interviews. Four categories were identified: diverse implementation of a common framework, rudimentary expectations and activities, challenges to implementation, and opportunities for improvement. These findings suggest that a multidimensional approach is needed, including improved collaborations between field agencies and universities to empower students, intern supervisors, and faculty.

Research On Teachers Of Color And Indigenous Teachers: Developing And Fortifying Policies That Diversify The Educator Workforce, Conra Gist, Travis J. Bristol, Saili Kulkarni

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This special issue expands upon the Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers (Gist & Bristol, 2022a) and the practitioner-focused Phi Delta Kappan special issue, “Learning from the Voices of Black, Indigenous and People of Color Educators: Charting New Directions for Research, Policy, and Practice” (Gist & Bristol, 2021). The co-created articles in this special issue highlight the combined expertise of policy makers and education researchers. While the Handbook featured empirical research, and the Phi Delta Kappan special issue featured research briefs and teacher testimonies, the policy-driven articles in this special issue explore how research can be …

The Applicability Of Llms In Generating Textual Samples For Analysis Of Imbalanced Datasets, Saroj Gopali, Faranak Abri, Akbar Siami Namin, Keith S. Jones

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In machine learning class imbalance is a pressing issue, where the model is biased towards the majority classes and underperforms in the minority classes. In textual data, the natural language processing (NLP) model bias significantly reduces overall accuracy, along with poor performance in minority classes. This paper investigates and compares the performance of transformer-based models, such as Multi-head Attention with the data levels and algorithmic levels approaches and BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) with LLM-based data augmentation. The research utilized the approaches, such as Random Over Sampler, Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE), SMOTEENN, data augmentation at word level, class …

The Role Of Intersectionality In Research On Teachers Of Color And Indigenous Teachers, Saili S. Kulkarni, Tanja Burkhard, David J. Johns

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This paper emphasizes the complexity and criticality of intersectionality in understanding the research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers (TOCIT). Cho and colleagues (2013) identified three dimensions of intersectional dialogues: how intersectionality has been used in research and teaching, how it has been used as a theory and methodology, and how it has been used in community organizations. As Cho and colleagues noted, what intersectionality does in theory is equally as important as what it does in practice. Therefore, we drew from the recently published Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers to highlight how intersectionality …