Digital Commons Network^™

Bowtie Antenna-Coupled Bi₂Te₃–Sb₂Te₃ Thermoelectric Detector For Millimeter-Wave Radiation, Rumana Zahir

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

We explore the development of antenna-coupled thermoelectric detectors for long-wavelength radiation using sputtered bismuth telluride (Bi₂Te₃) and antimony telluride (Sb₂Te₃) thin films. Detection in the infrared, millimeter-wave, and terahertz regimes is critical for sensing, imaging, and energy applications; however, many existing detectors rely on cryogenic operation, exhibit narrow spectral response, or require complex material systems. In this work, we investigate the feasibility of reliable, room-temperature long-wavelength detection using microfabricated thermoelectric thin films integrated with antenna structures. A systematic full-factorial experimental approach was employed to determine how sputtering parameters and post-deposition annealing influence …

Charge Transport Modeling Of Multifunctional Molecular Transistors, Romena Akter

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Distinguishing between the current–voltage characteristic curves associated with different transport mechanisms in a molecular electronic device and an artifact arising from device-level disorder is a central challenge in the study of molecular electronics. Characterizing these mechanisms and connecting them qualitatively to molecular-level orbital alignment, electrode coupling, voltage division, energetic disorder, and reorganization energy requires not only experimental data but also a rigorous theoretical framework for extracting physically meaningful parameters from measured transfer characteristics. This dissertation addresses this challenge in Chapters 2, 3, and 4 by developing and applying four complementary transport models —Simmons tunneling, single-level Landauer, Marcus hopping, and McConnell …

Connecting The Existing Fiber Infrastructure To The Future With Antiresonant Hollow Core Fibers, Timothy Bate

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Optical fiber systems based on solid-core silica waveguides underpin modern telecommunications, high-power laser delivery, precision sensing, and coherent optical systems. However, nonlinear effects, material absorption, and thermal limitations within silica increasingly constrain further scaling in both optical power and transmission performance. Antiresonant hollow-core fibers provide a promising alternative by guiding light predominantly in air, substantially reducing nonlinear interactions, latency, and optical damage while enabling transmission regimes inaccessible to conventional solid-core fibers. Despite rapid advances in antiresonant hollow-core fiber attenuation and power handling, one of the largest remaining barriers to widespread adoption is reliable integration with the existing solid-core fiber ecosystem. …

Making Unsafe Sequences Unexecutable: Formal Protocol Enforcement For Cyber-Physical Systems, Arthur Amorim

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Cyber-physical systems execute physical actions in response to software commands, making their communication protocols a primary attack surface. A stealthy attack is a sequence of individually valid messages that violates a required ordering, driving the system into an unsafe state without malware or protocol violation. Existing defenses examine messages or physical state in isolation, not protocol level sequences, and cannot prevent them. Preventing them requires enforcement that makes unsafe sequences unexecutable at the communication boundary.

Formal methods offer a principled path to enforcement, but no tool spans specification to safe deployed hardware. Model checking automates proofs but has no certified …

Effects Of Back-Pressure On Pseudo-Shock Systems, Emil C. Alunno

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

The isolator of a scramjet engine houses a pseudo-shock, a compressive flow structure that raises the static pressure and decelerates the incoming supersonic flow for efficient combustion while shielding the inlet from the elevated pressure downstream. Under sufficient back pressure the leading shock bifurcates and forms a shock train followed by a shockless mixing region, and the resulting system oscillates even under nominally steady conditions; this unsteadiness distorts the flow, can drive the pseudo-shock out of the isolator and unstart the inlet. This thesis experimentally examines how a pseudo-shock in a constant-area isolator at a measured entrance Mach number of …

Sensory And Emotional Impacts On Modern Consumer Experiences, Winter E. Bland

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This dissertation comprises two essays examining how environmental and psychological stimuli shape consumer experience, attitudes, and cognition. The first essay investigates the joint influence of scent temperature (warm versus cool) and scent arousal (stimulating versus relaxing) on experiential attitudes and cognitive performance in digitally mediated consumption environments. Across multiple lab experiments with biometric validation, findings reveal that these two scent dimensions interact to shape downstream outcomes. Warm, low-arousal scents (e.g., vanilla) enhance consumers' experiential evaluations of digital interactions but do not improve task performance, whereas cool, high-arousal scents (e.g., peppermint) boost cognitive efficiency and accuracy but do not elevate experiential …

Exploring The Experiences Of Late Age-On-Arrival Multilingual Learners In Postsecondary Education, Robyn D. Ecklund

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Multilingual learners (MLs) are the fastest growing population in the United States public school system (Biondi et al., 2024; Kanno & Cromley, 2013; Perez & Morrison, 2016; Varghese & Fuentes, 2020). Within this population of students, there is a subset of students that arrive in the United States during secondary school. These “late age-on-arrival” students face significant linguistic, cultural and social challenges in their pursuit of postsecondary success after high school (Kanno, 2021; Kanno & Cromley, 2013; Perez & Morrison, 2016). This interpretative phenomenological analysis sought to answer the research question: what are the lived experiences of late age-on-arrival MLs …

Gaining Voice, Creating Opportunity: An Exploration Of Non-Native English-Speaking Students’ Sources Of Self-Efficacy In U.S. College Public Speaking Classrooms, Desiree M M Flores-Molina

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This qualitative dissertation explores the sources of public speaking self-efficacy among non-native English-speaking international students enrolled in U.S. college public speaking courses. The study applies Bandura's social cognitive theory to examine how students describe the experiences that shape their confidence and perceived ability to succeed, with attention to mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and physiological and affective states. It also considers how classroom practices and instructor support contribute to or constrain students' confidence.

Data were collected through semi-structured student interviews, guided reflection artifacts connected to major speech assignments, and key-informant interviews with public speaking instructors. Thematic analysis was used …

Integrated Optical Probes For Confocal Scanning Imaging And Adjustable Coherent-Gated Dynamic Sensing, Yonglin Huang

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Optics and photonics have been one of the most important sciences and technologies that impact modern human life in a big way. For example, fiber-optics for communications and artificial intelligence. Optical probes are critical components for optical imaging and optical sensing technologies that have been actively researched and developed in the past decades. Advanced fiber-optic sensor probes with smaller size, better performance, lower noise, higher photon efficiency, rapid sensing time, and lower cost are needed in many applications, such as nanoscale material science, chemistry, and biomedical fields, etc.  In this project, new fiber-optic sensor probe technologies and integrated micro-optic devices …

Teledentistry: A Path To Minimize Emergency Department Dependency For Dental Issues, Aishwarya Joshi

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Teledentistry has been promoted as a strategy to minimize emergency department (ED) visits for non-traumatic dental conditions (NTDCs). However, it remains unclear whether structural readiness or temporary policy expansion drives sustained reductions in reliance on the ED. This study integrates Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use and Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory to examine determinants of Medicaid NTDC ED utilization and Tele-dentistry adoption.

Andersen’s model posits that utilization is shaped by predisposing, enabling, and need factors, whereas DOI theory emphasizes structural attributes that influence adoption, including relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. Combining these frameworks allows for a …

Two Studies Exploring Signal-Environment Fit In Ai-Assisted Managerial Decision-Making Under Uncertainty, Oleksandr Kondrachuk

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This dissertation examines how the fit between the characteristics of artificial intelligence systems and the uncertainty environment shapes managerial reliance on AI advice. Organizations increasingly deploy different AI systems, such as predictive and generative, to support management accounting decisions. However, the accounting literature has mainly treated AI as a single undifferentiated entity. This dissertation addresses this gap through two related studies. In the first study, drawing on signaling theory and ecological rationality, I develop a signal-environment fit framework proposing that the reliance on a certain AI system depends on the match between system characteristics (input, process, output) and uncertainty characteristics. …

Contextual Influences On Algebra 1 Achievement In Florida: A Multilevel Analysis Of Fsa Data And Policy Implications For B.E.S.T., Alberto Leiro Jr

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This study examined how school-level and district-level contextual factors are associated with Algebra 1 achievement in Florida using a multilevel modeling framework. Drawing on statewide publicly available data from the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA), the analysis included schools nested within districts to account for the hierarchical structure of educational data. School-level predictors included absenteeism, economic disadvantage, English language learner status, student mobility, and the proportion of students with disabilities, while district-level variables included poverty and crime rates. Results from the null model indicated that a meaningful proportion of variance in Algebra 1 achievement was attributable to differences among districts, supporting …

Communication College Students And Their Career Readiness: An Evaluation From The Employer's Perspective, Carson Mann

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Higher education institutions are seen as places that educate students in specific subjects and provide training that leads to either a career or further learning opportunities. Unfortunately, public trust in higher education has plummeted since 2015. The evolution of higher education has been the subject of speculation by various groups, but developing translational skills through effective internships could very well solve the issue at hand. Institutions ought to have data -driven evidence about their disciplines’ effectiveness and their translational ability to the workforce. To understand this, student career readiness must be evaluated. Students' career readiness is a vital measure of …

Towards An Understanding Of Learning In Immersive Virtual Reality: Investigating Learning Affordances To Bridge Theory And Practice, Gregory Mcgowin

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This dissertation examines how modality-specific scaffolding shapes performance, presence, and transfer in immersive virtual reality (I-VR). Framed through theories of extended cognition, real-time guidance is conceptualized as cognitive scaffolding that structures perception and action by embedding task-relevant information within the environment. Situated within the learning sciences and informed by 4E cognition (embodied, embedded, enactive, extended), this work develops a framework for understanding how I-VR affordances relate to learning and performance.

The empirical study investigates how scaffolding modality (audio vs. visual) influences presence and performance in a VR racing simulation. Using a 3 × 2 × 2 mixed factorial design, 111 …

Comics In The Classroom: Social Science Teachers' Lived Experiences With Comic Art In Instruction, Robert W. Mcintosh

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This qualitative descriptive phenomenological study explored secondary social science teachers’ lived experiences with comic art in classroom instruction. Existing research suggests that comic art, including comic books and graphic novels, can support student engagement, content understanding, visual literacy, and critical thinking; however, less is known about how teachers experience and make decisions about using comic art in social science education. Framed by Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Social Cognitive Theory, the study treated comic art as a representational instructional technology and examined how teacher confidence and the context of their experience shaped its use. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews …

Two-Phase Transcritical Carbon Dioxide Flow At The Microscale For Thermal Management Applications, Soroush Niazi

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

High-power electronic and power-conversion devices now generate heat fluxes that exceed what conventional air- and single-phase-liquid cooling can dissipate, motivating the search for more capable coolants and cooling mechanisms. Carbon dioxide is an attractive candidate for this role: it is inexpensive, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly, and near its critical point its thermophysical properties change rapidly, which raises the heat-transfer coefficient. In addition, a large pressure drop produces strong cooling through the Joule–Thomson effect and phase change, so that the throttling element itself becomes a source of cooling. This dissertation studies the throttling, phase change, and choking of high-pressure carbon dioxide …

Cracking The Code Of Ai Autonomy: Examining The Role Of Challenge And Hindrance Appraisals And Ai Literacy In Task Satisfaction, Rujuta Parekar

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

AI is constantly evolving and being rapidly integrated into the workplace. Limited research has examined how this integration is affecting employee outcomes, and particularly the impacts of whether employees are expected or mandated to use AI for their work. The present study utilized the challenge-hindrance framework to examine the effect of autonomy in using AI on task satisfaction through challenge and hindrance appraisal among working adults. Since the ability to understand and use AI can influence how individuals perceive it, the moderating effect of AI literacy on the hypothesized research model is also examined. A multi-wave research design was used …

Human-Centered Governance Of Climate Resilience: Integrating Sustainability, Equity, And Mental Health, Chelcee A. Pangerl

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This dissertation examines how sustainability and resilience are defined, implemented, and experienced across three levels of climate governance: household perception, community experience, and federal policy. Climate resilience is often evaluated through infrastructure performance, emissions targets, restoration timelines, and preparedness systems, yet these measures do not fully capture how residents experience uncertainty, support, equity, and mental health. To address this gap, the dissertation develops and applies the Integrated Policy Framework for Sustainability and Resilience (IPFSR). IPFSR organizes six domains into three functional categories: policy outcomes, human-centered dimensions, and implementation mechanisms. Sustainability and operational/physical resilience are treated as policy outcomes; mental health …

Performing The Digital Identity: A Media Discourse Analysis Of Online Identity Construction, Dalya Qasem

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This dissertation investigates how news media construct narratives about TikTok and its role in shaping digital identity. While existing scholarship has examined issues such as privacy, marketing, and entertainment, less attention has been given to how identity is represented, negotiated, and understood within public discourse. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) combined with computational text analysis through Voyant Tools, this study analyzes a corpus of 111 news articles published between 2020 and 2025 that explicitly reference TikTok and identity. The analysis identifies prominent keywords, topics, and rhetorical patterns across media texts. Furthermore, the research demonstrates a critical analysis of popular understandings …

Advancing Cyber-Physical Security And Resilience Of Modern Power Systems: Intelligent Monitoring, Secure Operation, And Resilient Recovery, Md Moshiur Rahman

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Modern power distribution systems are rapidly evolving into cyber-physical, DER-rich, and data-driven networks that rely on extensive sensing, communication, automation, grid-edge intelligence, and operator decision support. While this transformation improves flexibility, observability and controllability, it also expands the cyber-attack surface and increases the risk that cyber intrusions can propagate into physical disturbances, compromised DER operation, degraded situational awareness, and interrupted service continuity. This dissertation advances the cyber-physical security and resilience of modern distribution systems by developing a high-fidelity real-time cyber-physical hardware-in-the-loop testbed using OPAL-RT, EXata CPS, industrial relays, SCADA/RTAC, HMI, and grid-edge devices to emulate realistic DER-integrated distribution grid operation. …

Examining Principals' Perceptions Of Their Preparedness To Lead In Title I Schools, Tiffany Roebuck

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Principals serving in Title I schools face complex instructional, organizational, cultural, and community related demands that require specialized leadership preparation and support.  The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experience of principals serving in urban Title I schools regarding their preparedness, supports, challenges, and successes as instructional leaders. The study also examined principals' perceptions of culturally proficient leadership and principal preparation program attributes considered essential for leadership readiness in high-needs school settings. Guided by the Culturally Responsive School Leadership (CRSL) framework, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 10 principals serving in urban Title I …

Visual Cues Of Human-Likeness, Not Salience, Impact Trust-Related Human-Computer Interaction, Jordan Schotz

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

As interactions with digital agents become increasingly integrated into daily life, understanding how visual representations influence social decision-making is critical. Previous research in human-computer interaction has frequently confounded the psychological effects of an agent's perceived human-likeness with the underlying visual salience of the stimuli. To address these persistent gaps, the present study systematically isolated the effects of human-likeness and visual cue trustworthiness on trust behavior while controlling for objective image properties. The present study expanded on and normed the Virtual Avatar Facial Stimuli Set (VAFSS), a comprehensive database comprising hundreds of identity-matched photographs and computer-generated avatars varying across a spectrum …

Revisiting The Foundation Of Strategic Core Theory: Informal Roles And Teamwork Roles In Work Team Centrality, Allen Thomas Shorey

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Strategic core theory makes a distinction between roles within a team that are central to the team’s workflow (i.e., core roles) and those that are not central (i.e., non-core roles) (Humphrey et al., 2009). This line of work has shown that attributes, such as job-related skill of core team members, were more predictive of team performance than those of non-core members. However, this line of work has primarily examined core and non-core roles as defined by formal taskwork roles. In this thesis, I examine patient care teams and management simulation teams with the principal conviction that (a) informal roles and …

Overcoming The Glass Wall: Self-Employment As A Career Strategy For Immigrant Professionals, Barbara Silva

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Skilled immigrant professionals frequently experience barriers that limit their ability to secure employment opportunities aligned with their qualifications in host-country labor markets. Although prior research has documented some of the challenges these professionals face, such as credential devaluation and discrimination, less is known about why recruiters perceive immigrant candidates with similar qualifications differently and why some immigrants navigate the labor market more successfully than others. Drawing on Status Characteristics Theory, this dissertation examines how the location and type of immigrant professionals’ prior work experience shape hiring-related outcomes by influencing recruiters’ perceptions of competence and acculturation. First, I review the literature …

Exploring Barriers And Facilitators Of Mental Health Treatment For Law Enforcement Officers: The Impact Of Police Occupational Culture, April Reed

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Prior research has explored the impact of police culture on mental health stigma among law enforcement, however, a deeper understanding about how different aspects of police culture may inhibit or facilitate mental health treatment utilization is needed to inform policy and practice. This dissertation explores the relationship between police culture and mental health using a qualitative research design. Twenty-five (n=25) law enforcement officers from a county sheriff’s office in Central Florida were interviewed and participant observations were conducted during a three-month period. The present study sought to address the following research questions: What are the experiences of the job and …

“I Call For The Resurgence And Reclamation Of Our Indigenous Ways”: Institutional Landscapes, Resistance, And The Experiences Of Mmir Advocates, Sara Tehrani

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Indigenous Peoples across Turtle Island experience disproportionately high rates of violence and homicide compared to other racial groups. Rooted in coloniality and sustained by Western institutions, this epidemic is recognized as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) crisis. In response, Indigenous women have mobilized the MMIR Movement to raise awareness and advocate for institutional change. Although scholarship on MMIR has expanded, limited research has explored the experiences of MMIR advocates. This study interrogates the institutional landscapes that shape MMIR advocacy and explores the resistance strategies advocates employ to address the crisis. Using reflexive thematic analysis, this study examines semi-structured …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of School Leaders’ Role In Implementing The Four Pillars Of Community Schools For Improving Student Achievement, Adrian Irwin Thomas

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This study examined teachers’ perceptions of school leaders’ roles in implementing the Four Pillars of Community Schools to support Student achievement in under-resourced schools. The four pillars of Community Schools- Integrated Student Support, Expanded Learning Time and Opportunities, Family and Community Engagement, and Collaborative Leadership and Practices- served as the conceptual framework for the study. Distributed Leadership Theory and Epstein’s Framework of Parental Involvement provided the theoretical lens that guided the interpretation of the findings. The study explored teachers’ perceptions of leadership practices associated with the four pillars and identified leadership strategies perceived as most effective for sustaining the community …

Memory-Efficient Acceleration For Emerging Applications Via Hardware/Software Co-Design, Shilin Tian

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Emerging artificial-intelligence and data-intensive scientific workloads increasingly face a memory wall: irregular access patterns and large intermediate data volumes make data movement, rather than arithmetic, the primary constraint on performance and energy efficiency. This dissertation develops a memory-centric hardware/software co-design methodology that jointly reshapes algorithms, architectures, and dataflows to retain frequently reused data on chip. The methodology is demonstrated through three accelerators and an RTL design tool. VITA replaces multi-head attention in vision-transformer-based 3D human mesh recovery with hardware-friendly average pooling and maps the resulting operators to a reconfigurable datapath, achieving 5.05-fold and 69.12-fold speedups over a state-of-the-art GPU and …

Human And Ai Support In Business Simulations: A Quasi-Experimental Mixed Methods Study Of Performance At Scale, Sara Willox

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Large classes change what instruction looks like. In hybrid business courses with high enrollment, it becomes harder to respond to individual students, and performance can suffer as a result. This study looked at what happens when that gap is addressed in different ways during an eight-week business simulation at the University of Central Florida. Six course sections were divided into three study groups. One group worked without support, one received instructor guidance, and one used AI tools that included a course search system and generative responses. Student outcomes were based on weekly profit and loss recorded in Sim Companies. The …

How Did Covid-19 Affect Volunteer And Donor Management For Human Services Agencies? What Are The Lessons For Future Response?, Nina Yon

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges for human services agencies, disrupting the interdependent systems of volunteer engagement and donor support essential to nonprofit sustainability. This study integrates insights from literature, theory, and empirical analysis to examine how nonprofit organizations adapted their volunteer and donor management strategies during this prolonged crisis. Drawing on Contingency Theory and Resource Dependence Theory (RDT), the research explores how organizational structures and strategies evolved in response to shifting environmental conditions, health mandates, and resource constraints. Using a multiple-case qualitative design, data was collected from semi-structured interviews with 20 leaders representing five Central Florida human services agencies, …