Digital Commons Network^™

Targeting Children: Liability For Algorithmic Recommendations, Michal Lavi

American University Law Review

We live in the algorithmic society, characterized by massive digital surveillance and data collection by private companies exploiting human information vulnerabilities for profit. The infrastructure of free expression translates into an infrastructure of digital surveillance. This model, dubbed “surveillance capitalism,” includes massive personalized algorithmic targeting that departs from human speakers, allowing a level of influence never witnessed before in scale, scope, or depth.

Personalized targeting can garner many benefits, as it allows individuals to find content that interests them without needing to invest energy in seeking out that content. However, personalized targeting can also cause tremendous harm because it can …

“Share The Fear”: Communication Concerns Of Parents With Cancer With Dependents And Coparents: A Qualitative Needs Assessment Study, Cinzia Caparso, Zoe Bowen, Sung Won Choi

Nursing Faculty Research Publications

Background: The estimated 1.6 million adults in the United States with cancer who also have dependents face unique challenges given the profound impact of cancer on their families, such as increased psychological distress, decreased quality of life, and altered family functioning. Unfortunately, little is known about the mutual cancer-related communication concerns for the perspectives of the parents with cancer or the coparents. Coparents care for the patient and dependents until they reach adulthood (e.g., unmarried, divorced, stepparent, and/or same-sex partnerships).

Objective: To understand the mutual cancer-related communication concerns from the perspectives of parents with cancer and the coparents and intervention …

Table Top Roleplaying & Communication: Rituals, Rhetoric & Reclamation, Logan Cyrus Sayles

Undergraduate Scholarship

Broadly the topic is about the effect reclaiming a passionate will to play, act, and tell stories has on our lives and how doing so changes communication practices and the way people communicate. Narrowed further the focus is on the observable effects of Table Top Role Playing Games (linguistically narrowed down to the most popular Table Top Role Playing Game, Dungeons & Dragons) as a kind of social tool, with a further sub-focus on the stimulation and promotion of the following values and activities; acting, creative thinking, critical thinking, public speaking, self-confidence, self-empowerment, risk-taking, experimentation, active listening, teamwork/group work, storytelling, …

The Critical Need For Early Language Access For Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Children, Kinya D. Embry-Wright

Theses and Dissertations--Rehabilitation Sciences

According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are referred to as the experts of communication (ASHA, n.d.) utilizing their specialized training, extensive education, and clinical expertise to work with individuals across the lifespan with a variety of different speech and language delays, disorders, and deficits. However, when working with deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) children, there is often precedent given to speech and listening (M. L. Hall et al., 2019). For example, ASHA only recently updated their DHH portal to include American Sign Language (ASL), though they still list it on some webpages as an Augmentative …

Artificial Intelligence Is Like A Perpetual Stew, Nathan Reitinger

American University Law Review

Artificial intelligence is inescapable. It is in our phones, fridges, and most of the businesses we engage with use it to “improve” their services. From deciding on what YouTube video to watch next to driving vehicles or firing weapons, artificial intelligence is a linchpin in our society. But what is artificial intelligence? And, more importantly, why does that matter? It matters because we are currently unprepared to deal with the paradigm-shifting legal issues brought about by artificial intelligence. And without this understanding, we are nearly certainly going to make mistakes. The bright side is that artificial intelligence is not complicated. …

Theatrical Tools To Support The Community Agreement, Bethany E. Post

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

When working with a new group of people, it is common practice to create a Community Agreement in pursuit of quality outcomes. This tool uses dialogue to methodically outline the desired educational or creative environment, democratically articulating the commitments and expectations to remain in place throughout the duration of the group's existence and setting all participants in accord with the work to come. However, the Community Agreement can fail to support individual participants during moments of inevitable tension. In such moments, participants may experience unplanned emotional or physical reactions in response to triggering material or ideas. To navigate these reactions …

Effective Communication With People With Dementia: An Exploratory Study Of Pre-Registration Occupational Therapy Students, Samita Kirve, Lucy Perkins

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Dementia is a major global concern, with 50 million people already affected worldwide in 2018, and this number is expected to triple by 2050. Healthcare practitioners, specifically occupational therapists, are responsible for providing care and ensuring the well-being of people with dementia. However, occupational therapy students may not always have the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively communicate and support dementia patients, which could negatively impact the quality of care they provide. To explore this issue, a study was conducted with final-year pre-registration occupational therapy students at a public university in England. The study used a qualitative methodology, with semi-structured …

Exploring Communication Preferences And Experiences Of First-Generation Students: Bridging Psychological Distance With Librarians In Online, Hybrid, And In-Person Library Environments—An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Sabine Jean Dantus

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation explored the preferred communication methods for reducing the psychological distance between librarians and 17 first-generation students (FG004 – FG020), including graduate and undergraduate participants in the University Libraries’ online, hybrid, and in-person environments. Through interpretative phenomenological analysis, eight themes emerged, illustrating how participants' communication preferences, cultural and linguistic demands, financial obstacles, and early library experiences affected their communication expectations with librarians.

The findings revealed a dichotomy between in-person and online communication preferences, with participants valuing both the immediacy and social presence of face-to-face interactions and the convenience of online tools like chat services. Cultural and linguistic familiarity …

Preface, Christopher Oscarson

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Quite often, we take writing for granted. The sublime simplicity of mere symbols or scratches on a page escapes our attention as we search for more significant sources of meaning in a memory that can be only fleeting and fragmentary at best. But what could be more fundamental to our source of self and community than language and, by extension, writing? Human beings could not be saved from living in an eternal present if they lacked the ability given them by language to reflect. Community with others can be formed only if there is a means of preserving and sharing …

Instructional Practices To Support English For Speakers Of Other Languages In The Art Classroom: An Ethnographic And Autoethnographic Study, Arthur Waldrip

Art 895 Research Papers

In this research, I utilize an ethnographic and autoethnographic methodology to understand such instructional practices that are utilized to support English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and ways that these practices can be implemented into an art curriculum, in addition to an ethnographic and autoethnographic study, examining and reflecting on the impact language has on bicultural students who are placed in programs that support ESOL. As a bicultural adult, I compare my past and present experiences of understanding, supporting, and adapting language for ESOL students to better support their needs in the art classroom.

The Impact Of Language And Culture On Productivity: A Recommendation To Implement An Innovative Spanish Language Track, Jordan J. Price

Construction Management

Productivity is a popular focus of construction research because of its efforts to overcome a multitude of project related challenges. This research explores the intersection of language barriers, cultural differences, and productivity in the construction industry with a focus on the impact of bilingual management. It evaluates the impact of these factors on productivity and its beneficial relationship to multilingual management on diverse construction crews. The impending retirement of 40% of the construction labor force calls for proactive initiatives to manage the demographic shift shown by the growing composition of Hispanics in the workforce. The influence of language barriers on …

How Eagle Public Schools' Gifted Program Works As A System: A Case Study, Casey Rae Ward

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Learners who are gifted often underachieve due to various issues related to how they are served in their gifted programs. The purpose of this qualitative single-instrumental, embedded case study was to describe how the components of the gifted program of Eagle Public Schools, a small suburban school district in northern Virginia that recently implemented a new talent search approach in its gifted program, work together as a system to address the problem of underachieving gifted learners. The study sought to answer the central question: How do the components of Eagle Public Schools’ gifted program work together as a system? The …

Impaired Discourse Content In Aphasia Is Associated With Frontal White Matter Damage, Junhua Ding, Erica L. Middleton, Daniel Mirman

Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Papers

Aphasia is a common consequence of stroke with severe impacts on employability, social interactions and quality of life. Producing discourse-relevant information in a real-world setting is the most important aspect of recovery because it is critical to successful communication. This study sought to identify the lesion correlates of impaired production of relevant information in spoken discourse in a large, unselected sample of participants with post-stroke aphasia. Spoken discourse (n = 80) and structural brain scans (n = 66) from participants with aphasia following left hemisphere stroke were analysed. Each participant provided 10 samples of spoken discourse elicited in three different …

Lost In Interpretation: The Lived Experience Of Nurse Interpreters In The Clinical Setting, Byron Batz

Dissertations

The use of language interpreters in the health care setting constitutes a vital part of provider-patient communication but remains a relatively unexplored phenomenon. Registered nurses (RNs) are often called upon to serve as interpreters when linguistically diverse patients constitute a large segment of the patient population. That RNs serve simultaneously in an interpreter role – in addition to clinical and advocacy roles – is a complex facet of contemporary nursing practice in a diverse U.S. culture. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to examine the lived experience of RNs serving as interpreters in health care institutions in Southern …

How To Cultivate A Good Character—Pragmatically: Dewey And Franklin On The Virtues, Shane J. Ralston

Education and Culture

Philosophical pragmatists rarely receive credit for their contribution to virtue ethics. But perhaps they should. How did America’s philosopher of democracy, John Dewey, and one of its most famous elder statesmen, Benjamin Franklin, advise troubled souls in search of moral improvement? According to James Campbell, Dewey and Franklin recommended the cultivation of inquiry-specific virtues, specifically imagination and fallibilism, thereby transforming the moral agent into a more effective ethical problem solver. For Gregory Pappas, open-mindedness and courage resemble Deweyan virtues, since both are integral to the pragmatist’s ideal of a balanced character. However, Pappas contends that Dewey would reject any procedure …

A Review Of Two Decades Of Research On Language In International Management (1997 - 2022) - Supplemental Material, Yung-Hwal Park, Kevin Lehnert

Other Faculty Publications

This research reviews over two decades of research on language within international management. This comprehensive review codes and summarizes 263 articles, highlighting the impact of language in various strategic areas of management: language policy; HRM and organizational behavior; internationalization; HQ-subsidiary relationship; knowledge sharing; corporate reporting and governance; and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and inter-firm strategic collaboration. This study also highlights two major needs within the discipline (internal vs. external focus of language and level of analysis – individual, group and organizational), and addressed the call for a broader future research agenda.

Language Challenges On National Television In North Macedonia, Valdeta Kasapi

UBT International Conference

This paper will elaborate the language spoken on National Televisions in North Macedonia, comparing it with Televisions of the Republic of Kosovo as the two multi-ethnic states that emerged from the Balkans. Furthermore, making a comparison with Televisions in Belgium, more precisely in Brussels, one of the cities with many ethnic colors, as well as a state of the European family- an aim of many Balkan states. Active speech, as a key activity of sociological, communicative and linguistic identity to people, gives anthropological characteristics and values. Language with its characteristics varies constantly, it is created, developed, depending on the changes …

Let's Speculate About It: When And Why Consumers Want To Discuss Mystery Products, Aleksandra Kovacheva, Hillary Wiener

Marketing Faculty Scholarship

Research suggests that mystery products can be appealing to consumers and can motivate interest and purchase. In this paper, we examine a different benefit of these offerings – their effect on driving conversation. We propose that such products can prompt a conversation due to their ability to motivate joint speculation, or the process of thinking about possible resolutions of the uncertainty with others. We define this novel driver of conversation, delineate it from related constructs, and situate it in the literature. We then provide initial evidence for the proposed theory in seven studies (n = 2,835), demonstrating that mystery …

Unveiling The Lifeworld Of Educators’ Social Justice Journeys: A Phenomenological Investigation, Maria Rocas Halkias

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this qualitative phenomenological action research was to explore the viewpoints of educators participating in a community of practice that integrates the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework with culturally responsive teaching and personalized learning. The study involved six teachers from a competitive public school district in New Jersey. Data collection methods encompassed weekly reflections, researcher’s field notes, audio-recorded sessions, and interviews. The study yielded valuable insights into organizational frameworks and learning strategies that enhance educators’ ongoing reflective practices, while also advocating for districts to allocate resources to support teachers' continuous personalized professional development. Analysis of the findings …

Culturally Sustaining Practices In Middle Schools, Chandra Diaz, Rebecca M. Nelson, Laurie A. Ramirez, Nancy B. Ruppert

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

The social unrest during the summer of 2020 in the United States has produced a renewed sense of urgency and agency for the interrogation of curriculum in K-12 education and the development of culturally sustaining practices. This urgency has encouraged more teacher preparation programs to be intentional in developing culturally sustaining teachers. This paper offers four pillars to frame classroom practices to be integrated holistically and support middle level preservice teachers’ development of their culturally sustaining practices. Pillar one focuses on understanding self. The ability to honestly self-reflect and to understand personal practice deeply and continually is critical. Pillar two …

Com-312 (001-013-109): Oral Presentation, Laura Stanik

Humanities Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Review: Dual Method Cryptography And Steganography In Video Frames In Iot, Rawia Abdullah Muhammed, Maisa'a Abid Ali, Ashwak Mahmood Alabaichi

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

The Internet of things (IoT) is one of those emerging technologies, which are going to rule the world in the next few decades. The IoT environment not only enables Human to Machine interaction but also fosters Machine to Machine connectivity. Numerous IoT devices have poor security and insufficient computing power, making them prime targets for hackers. The IoT environment uses lightweight cryptographic techniques to address security requirements. Another security method for IoT devices is steganography. In the contemporary Internet era, the ability to secure private information is crucial, and steganography offers this capability. Due to its great ability to conceal …

‘Making It Meaningful’: Co-Designing An Intervention To Improve Medication Safety For People From Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds Accessing Cancer Services., Ashfaq Chauhan, Bronwyn Newman, Elsa Roberto, Ramesh Lahiru Walpola, Holly Seale, Melvin Chin, Reema Harrison

Patient Experience Journal

This study reports on the process of using an adapted Experienced-Based Co-Design (EBCD) conducted with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) consumers and cancer service staff to co-design the novel ‘Making it Meaningful’(MiM) instrument at a cancer service in Australia. Multi-source experiential and contextual information was gathered in phase 1 of the co-design and this evidence, coupled with knowledge gathered via a feedback event was used to inform three co-design workshops in phase 2. A series of meetings were conducted prior to and in between the workshops. Theory was progressively integrated into the workshop content. Two Mandarin speaking CALD consumers and …

A High-Performance Speech Neuroprosthesis, Francis R Willett, Erin M Kunz, Chaofei Fan, Donald T Avansino, Guy H Wilson, Eun Young Choi, Foram Kamdar, Matthew F Glasser, Leigh R Hochberg, Shaul Druckmann, Krishna V Shenoy, Jaimie M Henderson

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Speech brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have the potential to restore rapid communication to people with paralysis by decoding neural activity evoked by attempted speech into text

Triggered By Socialbots: Communicative Anthropomorphization Of Bots In Online Conversations, Salla-Maaria Laaksonen, Kaisa Laitinen, Minna Koivula, Tanja Sihvonen

Human-Machine Communication

This article examines communicative anthropomorphization, that is, assigning of humanlike features, of socialbots in communication between humans and bots. Situated in the field of human-machine communication, the article asks how socialbots are devised as anthropomorphized communication companions and explores the ways in which human users anthropomorphize bots through communication. Through an analysis of two datasets of bots interacting with humans on social media, we find that bots are communicatively anthropomorphized by directly addressing them, assigning agency to them, drawing parallels between humans and bots, and assigning emotions and opinions to bots. We suggest that socialbots inherently have anthropomorphized characteristics and …

Interpersonal Communication Model For Children With Special Needs, I. T. Al Darabah, S. R. Darawsheh, M. S. Al Shaar, E. H. Almrahleh, A. S. Al-Shaar, Q. Hammouri

Information Sciences Letters

The emphasis of this study is on how children who have special needs communicate with one another (deaf). Participant observation, interviews, and documentation are among the methods that are used throughout the data-gathering process. According to the findings of the research, the interpersonal communication model for deaf children is made up of two different models, one of which is the dyadic communication model. This kind of dyadic communication does not take place during the teaching and learning process; rather, it takes place outside of regular class hours. The whole communication model comes in at number two. Throughout the teaching and …

Improving Communication Access With Deaf People Through Nursing Simulation: A Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration, Jamie L. Mccartney Ph.D., Tracy Gidden, Jennifer Biggs, Kathy Geething, Karl Kosko Ph.D.

Journal of Gender, Ethnic, and Cross-Cultural Studies

Baccalaureate nursing and sign language interpreting students participated in a pediatric discharge simulation with a deaf person playing the role of the baby’s parent. At the conclusion of the simulation, participants were emailed a consent letter and a link to a 17-item questionnaire developed by the authors. Responses were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively, whereby nonparametric statistics were calculated to examine Likert-scale items. A Mann-Whitney test statistic was calculated, instead of an independent samples t-test, given the smaller sample in the current study (n = 26). A question was posed to participants that evaluated their self-perception of the effectiveness of …

Destined Failure, Chengjun Pan

Masters Theses

I attempt to examine the complex structure of human communication, explaining why it is bound to fail. By reproducing experienceable phenomena, I demonstrate how they can expose communication structure and reveal the limitations of our perception and symbolization.I divide the process of communication into six stages: input, detection, symbolization, dictionary, interpretation, and output. In this thesis, I examine the flaws and challenges that arise in the first five stages. I argue that reception acts as a filter and that understanding relies on a symbolic system that is full of redundancies. Therefore, every interpretation is destined to be a deviation.

Food Insecurity Among Deaf And Hard Of Hearing: A Scoping Review, Rylea Saunders, Laportia Jackson, Julia Vandermolen

JADARA

The authors employed a scoping review to examine peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2017 and 2020 focusing on the relationship between food insecurity among deaf and hard of hearing (DHOH) populations and language barriers using American Sign Language (ASL). Four databases yielded 257 peer-reviewed articles during the initial search. Four peer-reviewed articles were included in the review to explore the relationship between food insecurity among DHOH populations and language barriers using ASL. Multiple contributing factors create a food-insecure individual. Results indicate that income level, mental health status, and caregiver communication are all predictors of food security for DHOH. One of …

Communicating Indirect Feelings: American Stories Of Indirect Experiences, Susan Hess Lawson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The words people use to describe indirect human experiences and how narratives play a role are examined within qualitative research. The problem is that some people have difficulty communicating indirect experiences, and few studies have examined the issue. The purpose of this qualitative narrative research study was to examine how people who encountered indirect communication in their lived experiences can communicate the indirect experiences and messages they received. The theory guiding this study is the indirect communication theory as it relates to Communicating Indirect Feelings (CIF). The definition of CIF is how people attempt to communicate indirect feelings for shared …