Digital Commons Network^™

Bilingual Math For Kindergartners (Biki), Anna Aldrin, Caroline Tapia, Lillian Le

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

For many children from bilingual households, kindergarten represents a critical, learning benchmark where the introduction of fundamental math concepts coincides with their first significant exposure to the English language. Traditional educational methods often fail to support English language learners, leading to a disconnect between their understanding of math in the home and its application in the classroom. This linguistic barrier frequently results in reduced engagement, diminished confidence, and an unstable educational foundation that can discourage students from pursuing STEM careers later in life. While existing platforms like Khan Academy and Duolingo address either language acquisition or mathematical proficiency independently, they …

Concept Analysis In Occupational Therapy Research: Exploring Approaches And Discipline-Specific Considerations, Patricia Schofield, Tanja Krizaj, Kirsty Thomas

School of Nursing and Midwifery

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the use and considerations needed for conducting a concept analysis within occupational therapy research. Concept analysis is a popular analytical research tool used with the methodology providing firmer definitions of ambiguous concepts.Design/methodology/approachAn exploration into the use of concept analysis within occupational therapy research. Discussing current approaches of concept analysis and the implementation of this within occupational therapy research.FindingsConcept analysis within occupational therapy research requires further consideration. Current research is favouring one approach when completing a concept analysis that leads to common flaws within the methodology.Originality/valueFurther consideration is required to the approaches followed when completing a …

Ai, Translation, And Telling The Truth, David I. Smith

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

I am working on a large translation project this year. I have been surprised to find several conversation partners voicing the assumption that I am getting AI to do the translating for me. I’ve been wondering how to respond.

A short, but in the end inadequate answer is that, impressive as the current variations on machine translation are, they still get things wrong. Neural machine translation services such as Google Translate and DeepL still produce oddities fairly regularly. I have been working lately with seventeenth-century Czech texts, an area in which I would expect machine translation to struggle a little …

Dual Language Immersion In Utah Schools: Examining Experiences And Access To Improve Sustainability, Melissa Catherine Jensen Kimball

Theses and Dissertations

Dual language immersion (DLI) programs can impact students in many ways. Multiple researchers have studied the effects of these programs and have found numerous benefits. However, there is little published information on the actual experiences of individuals in schools with a DLI program, including those who are involved in the program and those who were a part of DLI school communities but not directly involved in the program. A. Hawks, J. Rowley, D. Stovall, and their respective thesis and dissertation committees created a survey to better understand the current perspectives of administrators, parents, teachers, and other school staff on these …

Napier Grass (Pennisetum Purpureum) Meal Modulates Growth Efficiency, Gut Morphology, And Systemic Health In Broiler Chickens, Eric Lim Teik Chung, Yee Lyn Ong, Nazri Nayan, Muhamad Faris Ab Aziz, Faez Firdaus Abdullah Jesse, Faizal Andri, Arissara Sopawong

The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Grass and leaf meals, which include vital phytocompounds, have the potential to be a natural and safe alternative to antibiotics in the poultry industry. Therefore, this study aims to assess Pennisetum purpureum leaf meal and its phytocompounds on the health performances of colored-broilers. A total of 216 unsexed Sasso chicks were assigned to six diet groups. The negative control (T1) received a commercial basal diet without antibiotics, while the positive control (T2) received the same diet with oxytetracycline (100 mg/kg). Groups T3 to T6 received no antibiotics and included P. purpureum meal at 1.25, 2.50, 3.75, or 5.00 grams per …

The Child Figure In Climate Fiction: Redefining Community And Culture In The Face Of Climate Change, Allison Wasley

SUURJ: Seattle University Undergraduate Research Journal

While climate change has been a known phenomenon for decades, social and cultural factors have stagnated our collective ability not only to discuss ongoing climate disasters, but also to conceptualize the disintegration of the very relationship between humanity and the natural world. This essay builds upon existing research and theory, proposing that climate fiction could serve as an antidote to our “cultural derangement,” which simultaneously destroys the relationship between humanity and nature, and our relationship with one another. This essay analyzes several examples of climate fiction that leverage the figure of the child as a symbol of hope and a …

Queer (Re)Formations Of Mexican Identity: Modernity & Visibility As Seen In El Vampiro De La Colonia Roma, Y Tu Mamá También, And Sueño En Otro Idioma, Mar Bradley

SUURJ: Seattle University Undergraduate Research Journal

Starting with the infamous Ball of the 41, the perception of Mexican male queerness has been strongly affected by its visibility. The Ball of the 41 attracted massive attention from the press; popular engraver José Guadalupe Posada completed two prints on the ball, mocking the attendees. For the first time in modern Mexico, queerness was represented in widespread public media, as knowledge of the scandal disseminated throughout the country by articles and images printed in newspapers. A politics of visibility is central to understanding the representational shifts of queer people, particularly by studying how queer people represent or are represented …

Land Acknowledgement, Editors Of Suurj

SUURJ: Seattle University Undergraduate Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Suurj Volume 10 Entire Volume, Editors Of Suurj

SUURJ: Seattle University Undergraduate Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Aphasia Therapy In An Arabic-Speaking Individual After Stroke: A Case Report, Mohammed F. Alharbi Dr

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: This case report describes the clinical application and preliminary outcomes of Arabic-adapted Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA), Phonological Components Analysis (PCA), and Verb Network Strengthening Treatment (VNeST) in an Arabic-speaking adult with post-stroke aphasia and highlights language-specific factors that affect the adaptation of these interventions to Arabic. Methods: The participant was a 53-year-old right-handed native Arabic-speaking man who developed moderate to severe nonfluent transcortical motor aphasia after a left middle cerebral artery stroke. One month after stroke onset, he underwent assessment with the Short Aphasia Test for Gulf Arabic speakers, which showed relatively preserved auditory comprehension and repetition but marked …

An Asexual Autist’S Feminist Musings On The Lord Of The Rings, Robin A. Reid

Journal of Tolkien Research

Abstract: This reader response is about how a seventy-year-old asexual autist began to discover her feminist queer politics by reading Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings at the age of ten. Countering the negative stereotype of feminists (and/or women) disliking Tolkien, Reid describes how her autistic obsession with Tolkien’s world and her love for Éowyn led her first into online Tolkien fandom and then into aca-fandom. She chronicles a journey from feeling isolated and weird in her childhood and adolescence (in small-town Idaho during the 1960s) to finding communities in which her weirdnesses (autism, asexuality, and feminism) were not only …

“Mythology Is Language And Language Is Mythology”: Allegory, Applicability, And/Or Asexuality In Tolkien’S Legendarium, Rory M. Queripel

Journal of Tolkien Research

Frequent criticisms of queer approaches to Tolkien’s work are that they are purely an outside artefact based on external readings and agendas, rather than with any basis in the works themselves. However, this paper contends that, while the much-vaunted “freedom of the reader” allows for such external readings, there is more in the substance of Tolkien’s language and mythology to back them up than may otherwise be assumed. Taking as a starting point Tolkien’s own statement that “the mind, the tongue, and the tale are co-eval,” the article explores the simultaneous linguistic and mythological development of Tolkien’s legendarium. Using the …

Introduction: Asexuality And Aromanticism In Tolkien's Works, Clare Moore, Rory Queripel

Journal of Tolkien Research

This article introduces this special issue focused on asexuality and aromanticism in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. It seeks to fill a gap in queer Tolkien studies by presenting multiple articles on asexualt/aromantic interpretations of Tolkien's work.

A Comparative Examination Of Early Reading Literacy Policies In Louisiana And Mississippi, Joyrance Neveu Cormier

Doctoral Dissertations

Controversies over the best practices for teaching children to read have persisted for decades (Thomas, 2022). Researchers and practitioners continue to identify best practices, curricula, and assessment tools to produce young readers who are ready to "read to learn" by the end of third grade. Since the 1990s, accountability has primarily focused on reading, particularly on students' challenges with reading comprehension. To address these challenges, the National Reading Panel was established in 1997. The panel was charged with synthesizing research findings on the most effective methods for teaching children to read (Shanahan, 2005). More recently, the concerning reading performance of …

The Pie Thief (And Friends): Ethnographic Microanalysis Of Peer Interactions Involving Children With Highly Unintelligible Speech: A Descriptive Study, Katherine Anne Mcquitty Hays

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is an ethnographic microanalysis investigating how children with highly unintelligible speech accomplish a range of social actions when interacting with their peers. Detailed transcription of multimodal communications of peers interacting in the context of a 9-day summer therapy camp yield profiles of two participants of interest, each with approximately 30-40% speech intelligibility. Domain analysis and taxonomy organize data for the purposes of comparative analysis across transcribed durations of peer conversation and peer play. Findings indicate pervasive pragmatic impacts as well as effective uses of multimodal means within interactional frames and schemas. Clinical implications include consideration of AAC optimization …

Uncovering Hidden Potential: A Multiple Case Study Of Best Practices To Identify Giftedness In Underserved Student Populations, Kevin Hislop

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates district-level practices that promote equitable identification of giftedness among underserved student populations, particularly those who are culturally, linguistically, and ethnically/economically diverse (CLED) (Briggs et al., 2008; Briggs & Renzulli, 2009; Lewis & Novak, 2019). Grounded in Renzulli’s Schoolwide Enrichment Model, the research addresses persistent disproportionality in gifted education by examining how universal screening, teacher education, and alternative opportunities for talent development—such as student academic portfolios, teacher referrals, and nonverbal ability tests—can expand access or limit barriers to gifted services. Drawing from a solid literature base, the study emphasizes systemic barriers rooted in traditional IQ-based identification and subjective …

Out There: Notes And Stories A Hybrid Collection With Critical Introduction, Ben Porter

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is composed of two parts: literary criticism and a collection of fiction and lyric essays. Across both sections, it examines the problem of description: how persons make experience, action, and suffering intelligible in language, and what happens when that intelligibility breaks down under historical, social, and familial pressure. The critical essay, “Failed Descriptions and Neoliberal Talk in Don DeLillo’s The Body Artist,” argues that DeLillo represents a crisis of intentional speech under neoliberal modernity, in which public language is narrowed to private affect and meaningful social description becomes increasingly difficult. Reading the novel through philosophers of language and …

A Qualitative Study Examining Teachers' Knowledge And Awareness In Recognizing The Characteristics Of Twice Exceptional Learners: An Underrepresented And Underserved Population, Adrianne Monique Williams

Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past 30 years, research on twice exceptional learners has been gradually increasing, however, knowledge and awareness of the information in the educational community have been slowly evolving (Bailey & Rose, 2011; Baum, 2004). Outwardly, twice exceptional students may present as typical. Still, they face many unique challenges that include academic achievement, social awkwardness, executive functioning deficits, social communication challenges, and teachers who are not aware and trained to meet the atypical needs of these students. Researchers and practitioners are becoming increasingly aware of the underrepresentation that plagues gifted and talented programs, especially concerning twice exceptional students, and students …

Fashioning The Self: Trauma, Disability, And Autofiction In Contemporary Quebecois Literature, John Ashburn

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation brings into dialogue trauma studies, disability studies, queer theory, and scholarship on autofiction and self-portraiture to examine representations of the self in contemporary Quebecois literature. Focusing on La fille d’elle-même (2021) by Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay, Tu aimeras ce que tu as tué (2017) by Kev Lambert, Grosse (2018) by Lynda Dion, Désormais, ma demeure (2020) by Nicholas Dawson, Chienne (2019) by Marie-Pier Lafontaine, and Ouvrir son cœur (2018) by Alexie Morin, this study argues that the literary self emerges as fundamentally unstable, shaped by trauma, embodiment, cognitive variation, and shifting configurations of gender and sexuality. Across this corpus, fragmentation …

Optimizing Well-Being In Post-Stroke Aphasia: Improving Access And Participation In Mental Health Care, Ashley H. Kidd

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is focused on improving the well-being of people with aphasia. The overall aim of this research agenda is to move the healthcare system forward in its understanding of managing people with aphasia’s well-being after diagnosis. This focus is addressed through a compilation of three separate academic articles that are published or submitted to journals for the peer review process in speech-language pathology. All three works are focused on aphasia, a language disorder resulting from acquired brain injury, and the well-being of the person with aphasia. The first article focuses on managing the communication breakdowns that occur during group …

The Impact Of Student Choice On Reading Engagement And Comprehension In First Grade, Gia Stella Nardi

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to (a) examine the effect of student choice on first-grade students’ reading engagement and (b) determine how student choice impacted their reading comprehension during instruction. Throughout the study, students utilized a choice board following each read-aloud to express their understanding of what they perceived as important in the text. Findings indicated that students demonstrated high levels of engagement during the 12 read-alouds, which were intentionally selected based on their interests, as well as during the choice-based activities that followed. Additionally, students showed growth in their ability to apply key comprehension skills, including summarizing, identifying …

Category Learning Under Verbal Interference, Yawen Xue

Cognitive Science Senior Theses

What happens to cognition when you disrupt language? What does language actually do as a representational medium for cognition? Much literature shows a facilitative role of language on categorical thinking. This work specifically examines the role of language in category learning using a verbal interference paradigm. I ran two experiments where participants learned to distinguish between two novel categories of bugs while under conditions of verbal or visuospatial interference. In Experiment 1, category membership was determined by an XOR rule; in Experiment 2, category membership was determined by an AND rule.

In Experiment 1, participants on average did not succeed …

Samuel Johnson Dictionary, 1773 Edition, Beth Rapp Young

Research Data and Datasets

This dataset contains digitized page images from the 1773 fourth edition of A Dictionary of the English Language, contributed by the University of Florida and Indiana University as part of a digital humanities project led by Beth Rapp Young. The collection provides foundational primary source material for the study of 18th-century English lexicography and supports research in textual analysis, transcription, and historical linguistics.

Viral Visions Of Femininity: A Visual Thematic Analysis Of Trending Tradwife Imagery On Instagram, Phoebe L. Lim

Masters Theses

This study uses visual thematic analysis and a semiotics lens to examine how trending tradwife content on Instagram constructs domestic femininity through recurring signifiers of whiteness, homemaking, motherhood, and hyperfeminine aesthetics. Current rhetorical analysis of the tradwife movement argues that the imagery of sweet, nostalgic traditionalism functions to mask visual and semiotic codes associated with patriarchal hierarchies, anti-feminism, pronatalism, and alt-right ideologies (Proctor, 2022). Drawing on the theoretical models of Saussure, Peirce, and Barthes (1972), this research analyzes how strategically curated visuals of domesticity and femininity function as ideological signifiers within digital culture. Analysis of 100 posts under #tradwife found …

Disparities In The Identification Of Vulnerable Communities Due To Design Storm Methods: A Case Study In The Vermilion River Watershed, South Louisiana, Usa, Claire Orgeron

Masters Theses

Accurately identifying socially vulnerable populations at-risk of flooding is critical for equitable disaster mitigation and planning. This study investigates how the selection of design storm method, which is fundamental to developing flood risk maps used for this identification, influences which socially vulnerable populations are recognized as being at elevated flood risk. The most widely used design storm approach relies on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 point-based rainfall frequency estimates. These estimates are typically applied spatially using areal reduction factors, thereby disregarding rainfall spatial variability in real storms. Stochastic Storm Transposition (SST), an alternative design storm approach that …

Scientific Crosstalk: Natural Language Processing, Praveshika Bhandari

Theses and Dissertations

While sentiment analysis has made significant strides in domains such as social media and personal correspondence, its application to formal scientific writings remains under-explored. The crosstalk between emotional expressions in personal and professional communications has also received limited attention despite its potential to reveal insights into the emotional drivers of scientific creativity. Our research introduces a computational framework designed to detect and quantify emotional expressions across various documents over time. Leveraging state-of-the-art transformer models fine-tuned on domain-specific corpora, the framework models emotional tone distribution. Integrating emotion analysis with knowledge graph modeling enables the exploration of emotional trends alongside key scientific …

Stories From The Pantanal: Documentary Filmmaking And Conservation In A Changing Wetland Landscape, Tobin Yates

Environmental Studies Senior Theses

This thesis pairs a short documentary film, Umbigo do Pantanal, with a written component examining conservation in Brazil's Pantanal wetland. Six days of fieldwork in Mato Grosso in September 2025 centered on Sandro Sebastião Godofredo, a multi-generational Pantaneiro rancher whose 130,000-hectare property is transitioning from intensive cattle operations toward ecosystem-based conservation and ecotourism. Sandro's account, drawn from interviews recorded on his ranch and along the São Lourenço River, anchors a broader argument about the limits of single-species conservation models in the Pantanal. The dominant jaguar-focused approach concentrates ecotourism revenue in a small portion of the wetland while pushing the costs …

Effects Of Divided Attention On Linguistic Tasks And Speech In Healthy Young Adults, Allison Coca

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of divided attention on concurrent speech and linguistic tasks by investigating performance on three linguistic computer tasks (phonological, syntactic, and semantic) and speech kinematics. Thirty-seven healthy young adults (19 male, 18 female) ages 19-30 were recorded performing a sentence repetition task using electromagnetic articulography. Each participant completed the sentence repetition once in isolation and once concurrently with each of the three linguistic computer tasks. Participants also completed computer tasks in isolation. Significant dual-task effects were observed on total number of correct responses in the phonological and syntactic linguistic tasks. No …

Jsd: Novel Methodology For Synthetic Data Evaluation, Jeffrey Lane, Scott Wang, Vincent Chang, Bojun Zhang

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

The proliferation of sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII) on dark web marketplaces has created an urgent need for robust data protection systems, especially for vulnerable populations such as minors. Traditional PII redaction often fails to identify implicit privacy risks—such as author gender indicators or non-fictional child-related context—hidden within large-scale e-commerce datasets. This paper presents JSD, a dual-stage framework for the detection and protection of sensitive text data. The Detection phase utilizes Transformer and CNN-based architectures and Human-in-the-Loop AI to surpass the "semantic ceiling" of traditional NER approaches, enabling context-aware identification of implicit PII. The Protection phase introduces GASE (Genetic Algorithm …

Olaf: Towards Robust Llm-Based Annotation Framework In Empirical Software Engineering, Mia Mohammad Imran, Tarannum Shaila Zaman

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly used in empirical software engineering (ESE) to automate or assist annotation tasks such as labeling commits, issues, and qualitative artifacts. Yet the reliability and reproducibility of such annotations remain underexplored. Existing studies often lack standardized measures for reliability, calibration, and drift, and frequently omit essential configuration details. We argue that LLM-based annotation should be treated as a measurement process rather than a purely automated activity. In this position paper, we outline the Operationalization for LLM-based Annotation Framework (OLAF), a conceptual framework that organizes key constructs: reliability, calibration, drift, consensus, aggregation, and transparency. The paper …