School Discipline Bylaws In Egypt: An Analysis Of The Framing Of Children’S Rights In Education (2014–2024), Noha Ekram Hassan

All Dissertations

This study investigates how Egypt’s School Discipline Bylaws (SDB), issued between 2014 and 2024, construct the language of discipline, children’s rights, and school governance. Using a Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis (CADA) combined with interpretive Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the research identifies child-rights terminology within the five Bylaw versions, examines its relationship to the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and traces how these linguistic patterns change over time. The analysis also explores the discursive framing of discipline, sanctions, and agency, alongside a rubric-based evaluation of the SDB’s alignment with CRC principles of protection, participation, and …

The Influence Of Using Bibliotherapy And Cinematherapy Interventions On The Social-Emotional Competencies Of Middle School Students Identified As Gifted, Debra P. Wallace

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Adolescents encounter many stressors in their lives and need resources to help them navigate their challenges. Access to books and movies may help gifted middle school students find ways to cope with various stressors characteristic of gifted students. Bibliotherapy and cinematherapy interventions effectively offer gifted students emotional support for their mental, social, and academic struggles, since gifted students tend to avoid asking for help. In a rural southeastern town, a 2-month improvement science study included a Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle with gifted eighth graders. From December 2024 to January 2025, gifted students participated in an intervention program using bibliotherapy and cinematherapy …

Adoption Of The 4-H Thriving Model Of Positive Youth Development:A Case-Centered Examination Of 4-H Agents, Patricia Whitener

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Youth development professionals working in non-formal educational settings face the persistent challenge of translating evidence-based frameworks into effective practice. This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study examines how South Carolina 4-H agent/educators perceive and adopt the 4-H Thriving Model following mandatory statewide training. The study investigates the roles of professional identity, change readiness, and organizational factors in shaping innovation adoption decisions among Extension professionals who work with considerable autonomy within diverse community contexts.

The 4-H Thriving Model represents a comprehensive theory of change that connects program practices to the developmental processes that influence youth outcomes (Arnold and Gagnon, 2019). The model …

Examining The Roles Of Embodiment And Theory Of Mind In Shaping User Perceptions Of Llm-Driven Conversational Agents, Elizabeth A. Schlesener

All Dissertations

Large Language Models (LLMs) have advanced conversational agents, enabling natural, human-like interactions in domains such as education, programming, and workplace collaboration. Yet, user distrust persists over privacy, accuracy, and bias. As developers work to mitigate these issues and human-AI collaboration expands, reinforcing trust in LLM-driven systems is essential. To address this problem, this dissertation explores the role of anthropomorphic form in LLM-driven conversational agents and its impact on user perception.

According to the familiarity thesis, humans attribute human-like characteristics to nonhuman entities — a process known as anthropomorphism — to better comprehend unfamiliar phenomena, based on the assumption that they …

The Life Significance Of Summer Outdoor Program Employment During Emerging Adulthood, Austin M. Souto

All Dissertations

Seasonal employment in outdoor programs—encompassing camps, guiding services, and similar organizations—plays a vital role in delivering structured outdoor experiences, yet little research has explored its enduring effects on staff over the course of their lives. This dissertation examined the long-term significance and influence of seasonal outdoor work during emerging adulthood. Guided by Significant Life Experience and Life Course Theory, an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design was used. In the qualitative phase, interviews revealed that seasonal work influenced life trajectories by contributing to identity formation, career discovery, ways of relating to others, and the navigation of trade-offs. Seven mechanisms—opportunities for growth, connection …

Experiences Of Young Adults With An Intellectual Disability And Their Families As They Transition From High School To A Post-Secondary Education Program, Erica Walters

All Dissertations

PLAIN LANGUAGE ABSTRACT

Young adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) often face challenges when transitioning from high school to adult life. Postsecondary education (PSE) programs have been shown to help these individuals build skills, gain independence, and improve long-term outcomes, such as employment and independent living. However, not all students with ID are aware of or able to access these opportunities. Families, schools, and communities play an important role in helping young adults with ID prepare for and succeed in PSE programs.

This study explored what helps or makes it harder for students with ID and their families to pursue postsecondary …

El Leñador, December 2025, El Leñador Staff

El Leñador Newspaper

El Leñador is an English and Spanish newspaper produced by Humboldt State University students. Our staff cover and provide news to Latinx and other diverse communities on campus and in Humboldt County. We are committed to providing relevant news and expanding the representations and stories told about people of color and other marginalized groups. Our work helps create more social, political and cultural diversity in local media.

El Leñador es un periodico en español y inglés producido por estudiantes de la Universidad Estatal de Humboldt. Nuestro personal cubre y provee noticias a la comunidad Latinx y otras comunidades diversas en …

When Environmental Provisions Acquire Primacy Over The Economic Interests – Case Comment Of The Preliminary Ruling In Case C-626/22 C.Z. And Others V Ilva, Katarzyna Błaszczak, Michał Krzaczek

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

This case note analyses the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) preliminary ruling in case C-626/22 (C. Z. and Others v Ilva). The Court interpreted the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), ruling that Member States cannot derogate from minimum EU environmental requirements. The ruling established that environmental permits must consider all scientifically known harmful substances that could be emitted by installations. The Court also ruled that national regulations permitting repeated extensions to deadlines for installation operations, despite the identification of serious environmental and health risks, were incompatible with the IED. The CJEU’s interpretation confirms the primacy of environmental and …

Social Expectancies To Be Constantly Available And Productive As Antecedents And Consequences Of Burnout: A Longitudinal Bidirectional Investigation, Andree Hartanto, Meilan Hu, Adalia Y. H. Goh, Eddie M. W. Tong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Burnout has become increasingly prevalent in contemporary society, affecting not only those in the workplace but also students across various educational settings. The current study investigates whether the pervasive social expectancies to be constantly available and productive contribute to the onset and maintenance of academic burnout among university students. Using a 13-week longitudinal design and a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model, we examined the bidirectional association between social expectancies to be constantly available and productive and academic burnout. Our findings indicate that heightened social expectancies predict increases in emotional exhaustion and feelings of inadequacy in the following week. Furthermore, emotional exhaustion, …

Effectiveness Of Cognitive And Behavioral Interventions In The Treatment Of Schizophrenia: An Umbrella Review Of Meta-Analyses, Gabriel Xing Da Tan, Andree Hartanto, Zoey Khai Yee Eun, Meilan Hu, Kean J. Hsu, Nadyanna M. Majeed

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Background: Cognitive and behavioral interventions have risen in popularity both as an adjunctive treatment to antipsychotic medication and as an alternative treatment for schizophrenia. With the growing number of such interventions, we performed an umbrella review to provide a comprehensive summary comparing the effectiveness of the different interventions among populations with schizophrenia. Methods: This umbrella review included meta-analyses evaluating cognitive and behavioral interventions for schizophrenia. Following PRISMA guidelines, the initial search yielded 4888 records, and after a three-stage screening procedure, 33 meta-analyses met the inclusion criteria for the final analysis. Results: Our findings from the 33 meta-analyses support the efficacy …

Contextual Stress Profiles And Trajectories Of Internalizing Symptoms Among Adolescents In Mexican Immigrant Families, Su Yeong Kim, Wen Wen, Kiera M. Coulter, Wei Xiang Sim, Tianlu Zhang, Jingyi Shen, Yang Hou, Yishan Shen, Ka I. Ip

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Contextual stress experiences in early adolescents may predict distinct trajectories of depressive symptoms and anxiety across the course of adolescence. Data from 604 Mexican-origin adolescents collected from 2012 to 2020 (54% female; Mage = 12.92, SD = 0.92) showed that youth with high stress levels in multiple domains (Broadly Stressed) and those with high stress in language brokering domain only (Language Brokering Stressed) had similar levels of internalizing symptoms in early adolescence, and both groups reported higher stress than youth experiencing occasional levels of stress across domains (Occasionally Environmentally Stressed). However, youth in the Language Brokering Stressed group experienced slightly …

How Is South Africa's Black Economic Empowerment Policy (Bee) Addressing Historical Inequalities And Promoting Inclusive Development As Of 2024?, Nasim Uz Zaman

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy was introduced to dismantle apartheid-era economic disparities; however, its corporate-driven model has fostered symbolic compliance rather than substantive transformation. This study critically examines BEE’s structural limitations, specifically its failure to generate mass employment, its susceptibility to elite capture, and the prevalence of "fronting" practices. By juxtaposing BEE with affirmative action frameworks in Malaysia, India, and the United States, this research elucidates why ownership redistribution alone has failed to translate into inclusive economic mobility. Employing a qualitative policy analysis, this study synthesizes unemployment trajectories, implementation distortions, and systemic governance inefficiencies to highlight the constraints …

The Relationship Between Perceived Transactional Distance, Cultural Values, And Online Instruction Among Higher Education Students: A Quantitative Analysis, Judith Kay Guetzow

Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative survey research study examines potential correlations and influences on the learning of students enrolled in online classes at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). The study specifically investigates whether transactional distance (TD) as conceptualized in Michael G. Moore’s Transactional Distance Theory (TDT), and cultural values such as power distance (PD), uncertainty avoidance (UA), and collectivism (CO) as defined in Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory, are associated with, and impact the learning experiences of online students. The analysis primarily centers on students’ perceived transactional distance and their self-reported cultural orientations.

Aged 539 Graduate Internship Report- Mount Whitney High School, Matthew C. Medeiros

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This project reviews the Mount Whitney High School Agricultural Education Program. Through evaluation of our program's needs, there was a lack of chapter promotion outside of social media. A chapter website was created to highlight Classroom, FFA, and SAE opportunities available to students in our program.

Hkc01 - What We Do In The Shadows: How Urban Density Facilitates Information Diffusion And Civic Engagement, Qing Zhang, Evan Plous Kresch

Oberlin College Kasper Economics and Business Working Paper Series

Does urban density facilitate the diffusion of information and civic engagement? This paper exploits plausibly exogenous variation generated by a unique national policy in China that requires all residential buildings to receive sufficient hours of sunshine. The policy creates higher degrees of restriction on density at higher latitudes, where longer shadows require buildings to be further apart. Using differential topic dynamics on a national petition platform to measure information diffusion, this paper shows that people respond to shifts in government attention with varying speeds across latitudes. Increases in local government reply rate to a topic raises the volume of subsequent …

Information Literacy In The Artificial Intelligence Era: A Proposed Framework, Radwan Ali, Matthew L. Wilson

Communications in Information Literacy

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems and applications have become ubiquitous across daily life. While AI offers numerous positive opportunities, it also presents numerous challenges. Information literacy (IL) advocates are concerned about the risks that accompany AI systems. Given the universal reach of AI with its potential pitfalls and perils, researchers and practitioners from various fields and disciplines should inform the dialogue on AI’s development and application. A critical aspect of this dialogue comes in the form of information literacy. Our paper aims to answer the question “How can information literacy guide users in navigating and shaping artificial intelligence technologies?” by establishing …

Undergraduate Awareness Of Sexual Harassment Law In Tanzania's Higher Learning Institutions: Case Studies Of Two Universities, Salma Ramadhan Fundi Phd Candidate

Tanzania Journal of Sociology

This study examines undergraduate students' awareness of legal provisions and guidelines concerning sexual harassment in Tanzanian higher education, focusing on the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) and the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) as case studies. Sexual harassment significantly impacts students’ well-being, safety, and academic success. Despite the existence of legal frameworks, students' knowledge of these provisions is often limited. The study employed a qualitative approach with a phenomenological research design to explore students’ experiences and perceptions of harassment policies. This design allowed participants to share the meanings they attach to their experiences and how such policies are understood …

Pet Ownership And Health-Related Quality Of Life Among Middle-Aged Adults, Kristi Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Pet ownership continues to be part of modern society in the United States. Researchers have explored pet ownership’s impact on chronic diseases and aging populations, but research on health-related quality of life is limited. Grounded in the socioecological model, this quantitative study analyzed data from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (N = 10,348) to investigate the impact of pet ownership on health-related quality of life among low-income adults aged 30-50 years. Chi-square tests were performed to analyze the associations between age, income, gender, and race with three health-related quality of life metrics. Results showed no statistically significant …

The Lived Experiences Of Clinicians Who Treat Black Males Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence, Gifty A. Acheampong

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global issue that negatively affects humanity. The harmful effects of IPV often result in lifelong consequences for victims. Researchers have consistently identified women and children as the primary victims of IPV, although men can also be affected. The social stigma around men seeking formal help as victims is that they must endure physical, emotional, financial, sexual, and psychological abuse in intimate relationships. Because psychological abuse is the most common form experienced by male IPV victims, there is a higher prevalence of IPV within the Black community. However, research on help-seeking behaviors among Black men …

Effective Change Management Strategies For Minimizing Financial Impact And Operational Disruption, Nhung K. Tran

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective organizational change strategies represent a persistent challenge for organizations undergoing transitions. Business leaders who must maintain operational stability and safeguard financial performance during periods of change need effective strategies to support successful implementation. Grounded in an 8-step change model, organizational information processing, and stakeholder theories, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry research project was to identify effective change management strategies used by business leaders to minimize financial loss and operational disruptions during transitions. The participants were eleven leaders from nonprofit, higher education, corporate, faith-based, agriculture, and military sectors who had effective change management strategies. Data were collected through …

The Rider (2025-12-01), Daniela Martinez Salazar

The Rider Archives

Vol. 11, No. 13

Associations Between School Experiences And Mental Health Outcomes By Gender Identity In Sexual And Gender Minority Youth In Texas And California, 2022 - 2024, Andrea Susana Yanez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: Depression and anxiety affect populations differently, with diagnoses disproportionately higher among sexual and gender minority groups, including LGBTQ+ youth. School experiences shape mental health; negative environments, bullying, and lack of support worsen outcomes, while affirming policies, peer support, and inclusive curricula are protective. Methods: This secondary analysis of the Family, Housing, and Me (FHAM) Project followed 83 LGBTQ+ youth from South Texas and California's Inland Empire (2022-2024). Data on sociodemographic characteristics, school experiences, and mental health outcomes were collected at baseline and at Waves I and II over 25 months. Analyses included descriptive statistics, monthly comparisons, and bivariate and …

Just Because They Can, Doesn’T Mean They Will: College Students’ Use And Non-Use Of Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies, Patrick Walter Mcclain

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

College students engage in high levels of alcohol consumption, which can increase their risk of alcohol-related negative consequences. To address this, researchers developed Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies (APBS), which are actions that students can take before or while drinking to limit their alcohol use and/or reduce their likelihood of experiencing drinking harms. However, students’ APBS use could depend on their perceived usefulness of these strategies, whether they engage in high-risk drinking, or both. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate: (1) what percentage of students (a) perceive each APBS as useful and (b) implement the APBS they find useful, (2) …

Advancing Effective Connectivity Analysis: Robust And Sparse Group Dynamic Causal Modeling Via Extended Parametric Empirical Bayes, Godfred Arhin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) provides a principled framework for estimating effective connectivity in neuroimaging data, with Parametric Empirical Bayes (PEB) enabling hierarchical inference across sessions and subjects. However, standard PEB assumes Gaussian distributions at all hierarchical levels and employs conventional shrinkage priors that do not enforce true sparsity, limiting robustness to outlying subjects and reducing sensitivity to parsimonious connectivity structures. This thesis introduces a robust, sparsity-inducing hierarchical extension to DCM-PEB that addresses these limitations through two key innovations. First, a Student-t group-level likelihood replaces the conventional Gaussian likelihood, automatically downweighting outlying subject-level parameters using adaptive precision weights while retaining computational …

Under Pressure: The Effects Of Stress And Cognitive Load On Interrogative Suggestibility, Claudia Cota

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

High-stakes situations, like police interrogations, can impair critical thinking due to stress and cognitive demands, making individuals more susceptible to suggestion. While much research focuses on children, young adults are also at risk for interrogative suggestibility, which can have serious legal consequences. This study experimentally manipulated stress and cognitive load to test whether both factors increase suggestibility in young adults, both independently and interactively, with the highest suggestibility among those experiencing both greater stress and cognitive demands. This was evaluated by examining both condition effects and self-reports of stress and cognitive load. College students (N = 230), aged 18 to …

Exploring The Impact Of Stem Degree Attainment On Intragenerational Social Mobility Among Hispanic Students And Graduates In Two Texas-Mexico Border Universities, Pilar Gonzalez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This research employed a two-phase, sequential, explanatory, mixed-methods design to answer the research questions. The first research question examined how obtaining a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) higher education degree affects the socioeconomic advancement of current Hispanic students and alumni of the Louise Stokes Alliance for Minorities in Participation (LSAMP) within the context of two higher education institutions located along the Texas-Mexico border. The second research question explored the determinants shaping the professional pathways of Hispanic STEM students and graduates in the geographic vicinity of the Texas-Mexico border. For this study, STEM degrees refer to those recognized by the …

Encoding Of Inferences Into Long-Term Memory In Bilinguals, Bianca Valentina Gurrola

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

When reading and listening to information, people often make inferences to facilitate their comprehension and the creation of a discourse representation. However, because such inferences are not explicitly stated, they can lead to distortions in the memory representation known as inference-based memory errors. The present study investigated the encoding of inferences in bilinguals while considering the effects of language proficiency, presentation modality, and working memory load. In Experiment 1, Spanish-English bilingual participants read and listened to narratives composed from common schemas (e.g., going to eat at a restaurant) before completing a recognition test on the details from narratives. In Experiment …

Boxing The Shadow, Based On Some True Stories By Madskater Bohannon, Brad Haines

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Creative writing, as a therapeutic modality, delves into memory and confronts fragmented emotional and cognitive processes through the medium of written language. For me, this involves language exerting resistance against memory, physical form, and silence. Boxing the Shadow, a hybrid of memoir, flash nonfiction, poetry, graphic novel scripting, and playwriting, emerges from my experiences with moral injury, and the ongoing process of self-expression that challenges institutional structures. At its essence, writing is an act of survival: it renders visible the inarticulable, identifies the phantoms and specters that haunt, and finds a suitable form to accommodate memory's unreliability and the jaggedness …

Phishibl: A Systematic Evaluation Of Instance-Based Learning Model For Predicting Phishing Susceptibility, Shova Kuikel

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Despite enormous efforts to develop defenses against phishing attacks, humans still struggle to detect phishing emails given the constantly evolving attacker strategies. This thesis aims to test the predictive capabilities of a cognitive model that represents the individual susceptibility to phishing emails. While training programs aim to raise awareness, most remain outdated and ineffective against evolving attack strategies. Recent advances in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Large Language Models (LLMs) offer new defenses, yet understanding human decision processes remains crucial, as effective systems must emulate how people evaluate unfamiliar emails based on prior experience. This research introduces a cognitive model …

The Misadventures Of Popcorn And Zelda, Lori Lynne Kullberg

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Value of Animal Protagonists for Young Readers in Children’s Literature. This series is about my rescue cat and dog, Popcorn and Zelda, who are brought together at different ages and stages of their life. Witnessing their sweet interaction, mischievous playfulness, and close bond, I am immediately provided the inspiration for the early reader series of my thesis, The Misadventures of Popcorn and Zelda. My animals offer a constant stream of entertainment in watching how they interact with not only one another, but with me, as well. Oftentimes, Popcorn and Zelda’s behavior mirrors how I think a person would act …