Digital Commons Network^™

Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Perceptions, Knowledge, And Collaborative Practices In Professional Learning Communities, Josey S. Rodriguez

Education Theses and Dissertations

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) investigates teacher perceptions, knowledge of and collaborative practices of professional learning communities (PLCs) at a Southwest Texas high school. The study used a mixed-methods design utilizing a survey, open-ended questionnaire, PLC observations, and an interview. Participants included 8 mathematics teachers and one campus administrator at a campus with over 800 students in grades nine through twelve. Teacher perceptions of PLCs were analyzed using descriptive statistics for quantitative data, while observations, the open-ended questionnaire, and the interview were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Findings revealed that despite PLC+ training, limited …

Exploring The Relations Between Employer Beliefs And Workplace Practices: Organizational Factors And Autism Employment Outcomes, Melinda Ann Henson

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Autistic individuals experience persistent employment disparities despite interventions targeting individual skills and supports, suggesting that workplace factors also shape employment outcomes. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) posits that workplace environments supporting employee autonomy, competence, and relatedness promote employment outcomes. This study examined SDT-aligned practices and tested associations between employer beliefs about autism as a form of neurodiversity, hiring receptivity, and employment outcomes for Autistic professionals. A preliminary aim was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a newly developed measure, the Workplace Inclusivity and Autonomy Survey (WIAS), designed to assess SDT practices via employer report. Participants included 43 professionals representing a range of …

Implementing A Self-Administered Crafft Screening Tool In A Pediatric Mental Health Setting, Michael Nguyen

Doctoral Dissertations & Projects

Background: Adolescent substance use disorders (SUDs) require early identification in inpatient psychiatric settings, but inconsistent screening workflows limit systematic detection.

Aims: This quality improvement project evaluated implementation of the Car, Relax, Alone, Forget, Friends, Trouble (CRAFFT) 2.1 screening tool to improve identification of adolescents at risk for SUDs and support multidisciplinary communication.

Methods: CRAFFT 2.1 screening was embedded into admission workflows for adolescents admitted to two inpatient psychiatric units. Admission nurses distributed self-administered forms during admission. Completed screenings were scored and entered into the electronic medical record. Scores were categorized as low (0), medium (1), or high (≥2). High-risk results …

The Intersection Of Visual Communications, User Experience, & Design Theory: A Case Study With The Dog Spaw, Jessica Miltner

Honors Projects

This project explored the intersection of visual communication, user experience, and design theory, focusing on researching design and UX principles and applying them in a real-world case study with The Dog Spaw from Celina, Ohio. The project resulted in a redesigned website that aims to influence user behavior by improving perceptions of trust, professionalism, brand consistency, and ease of use, and by examining how these perceptions, in turn, influence user action.

Creepy Or Customized? Understanding The Ethical Boundaries Of Ai-Powered Personalization, Hope Schultz

Honors Projects

Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm, and its presence in our lives only continues to grow. Not only has it changed the way we live and interact with technology, but it has also fundamentally changed how businesses reach customers, particularly in marketing. It now powers the algorithms, predictions, and personalized experiences that shape nearly every digital interaction we have as consumers, including the videos we see on TikTok, the products that are recommended to us on Amazon, and the weirdly accurate ads that pop up across different platforms. These AI-powered systems are constantly learning from tiny behaviors we …

Americana Marketing Campaign, Shaela O'Keefe

Undergraduate Theses

Americana World Community Center has served as a beacon of hope and justice within the Louisville, Kentucky community for over 30 years. The nonprofit organization provides “holistic services to Louisville's refugee, immigrant and underserved population to build strong and healthy families, create a safe and supportive community and help every individual realize their potential” (Americana, 2024). Americana creates opportunities for families to thrive through “education, family support, youth achievement, and career & financial development” (Americana, 2024). To further Americana’s mission and assist immigrant families, the organization is currently undergoing the process of gathering narratives of Americana’s impact on their staff, …

Quality Improvement Project: Integrating Depression Screening Into Adult Wellness Visits In A Primary Care Clinic, Nina Denchukwu

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Depression is a prevalent and debilitating mental health condition that remains significantly underdiagnosed in primary care, despite national recommendations for universal adult screening. At the project site, less than 40% of adults completing annual wellness visits had documented depression screening. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate whether integrating the evidence-based Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-2 and PHQ-9 into the electronic health record (EHR) would improve completion of depression screening, documentation, and referrals to treatment. The project was guided by Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations Theory and the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) framework. A quantitative pre–post intervention design linked with the …

Quality Improvement Project: Impact Of Faculty Competency And Classroom Application Of Artificial Intelligence (Ai), Clydea Hale

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare has created a growing need for nursing faculty to develop competency in AI to adequately prepare students for modern clinical practice. Despite this need, limited faculty knowledge and low classroom application of AI persist. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) quality improvement project was to evaluate the impact of an evidence-based AI educational intervention on nursing faculty competency and classroom application. Guided by the Stetler Model of Evidence-Based Practice and Lewin’s Change Theory, a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was implemented with nursing faculty at a rural community college in …

Promoting Trauma-Informed Practices Through Staff Education, Ediomi Enebong Oduwole

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Front office staff in outpatient psychiatric settings are often the first point of contact for patients experiencing anxiety and emotional distress. However, existing evidence indicates that non-clinical, front office staff often lack formal training in trauma-informed care (TIC). This gap may limit early recognition and response to patient distress. This quality improvement project addressed this gap by evaluating the impact of a trauma-informed educational intervention of staff confidence and documentation of patient distress. The project was guided by Pender’s Health Promotion Model and Lewin’s Change Theory. It used a pre-and post-intervention quantitative design with sample of five front office staff …

Media Framing Of The Bawku Conflict In Ghana: An Analysis Of Cultural Biases, Narratives, And Peacebuilding Implications, Falilatu Saaka

Master of Arts in Media and Communication Plan II Graduate Projects

This research examines the media framing of the Bawku conflict in Ghana, focusing on how cultural biases shape the portrayal of ethnic disputes and influence public perception. Utilizing a qualitative discourse analysis grounded in Framing Theory and Afrocentric critique, the study analyzes ten news reports from major Ghanaian media outlets to identify patterns of bias, narrative construction, and ideological positioning. Findings reveal that media coverage predominantly emphasizes security and stability, often at the expense of addressing deeper political, economic, and historical factors. Language, imagery, and sourcing choices tend to reinforce stereotypes, skewing public understanding towards ethnic dichotomies, particularly between the …

Social Perspective Taking, The Search For Meaning, And A Sense Of Belonging In Emerging Adults, Miranda Joy Powers

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study examined relationships among social perspective-taking, the search for meaning, and a sense of belonging among college students. Drawing on data from the 2021 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership, this research tested whether social perspective-taking and the search for meaning predicted higher levels of belonging. Additionally, covariates, including race, religious affiliation, gender, and COVID-19, were analyzed to assess their effects on both the independent and dependent variables. A regression analysis was performed, and as hypothesized, students with higher levels of social perspective-taking and those searching for meaning reported greater belonging. In addition, the covariates race, religious affiliation, COVID-19, and …

Homeless Veterans: How To Help Veterans Receive Their Benefits So No Veteran Is Without Sustainable Housing, Kelly Hancock

Nonprofit and NGO Studies Student Projects

In this research, I examined why veterans remain homeless despite available resources and what can be done to place them in sustainable housing. I did this through interviews with VA staff and by examining various projects implemented to support veterans. In my research, I found that the resources are available for veterans if they know to request them. The VA employees noted that misconceptions and misinformation are leading causes of veterans not asking for help. Therefore, a solution would be for civilians to call the VA hotline to report homeless veterans. They will then meet the veterans where they are …

Expanding The Pantheon Of “Place-Myth”: Media-Induced Travel In College Students Who Study Abroad, Isabella M. Shevetz

Honors College Theses

Media-induced tourism refers to any travel that is in some part motivated by the consumption of mass media related to that location. Media-induced tourism and mass-tourism have led to nation branding and destination marketing across the globe, two industry phenomena that have worked to skyrocket tourism in places where it was not previously a large driver of the local economy. The expansion of mass media availability and the birth of social media mean the media roles of producer and audience member have blurred. Ordinary people now have the influential power of large media corporations. In destination marketing, the user-generated content …

Supporting Those Who Serve: The Impact Of Peer Support On Law Enforcement Suicide, Emily N. Warren

Honors College Theses

Individuals working in law enforcement face daily stressors that far exceed those experienced by the general population. This elevated exposure to stress has been associated with increased rates of mental health disorders and suicide among law enforcement officers. In response, peer support programs have gained recent attention, with new state and federal legislation promoting peer support as a strategy to address the mental health crisis within law enforcement. This paper examines the impact of statewide peer support programs on law enforcement suicide rates through statistical analysis. A difference-in-differences analysis is used to compare state-level law enforcement suicide rates before and …

Movement Intention Recognition Using Wearable Dry-Electrode Sensors And Multimodal Eeg-Emg Data, Elsa Concha-Pérez, Hugo G. González-Hernández, Jorge A. Reyes-Avendaño, María Beltrán-Rodríguez, José Luis Olazagoitia, Javier Fernández De Gorostiza Luengo

Artículos científicos

Recognizing human movement intention in less controlled environment is the step needed to go beyond strict laboratory settings in order to improve intuitive and reliable human-robot interaction systems. By taking this into account, the present study evaluates the feasibility of decoding the intention to perform hand-arm gestures in self-paced tasks from electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) collected with wearable dry-electrode devices. An experimental protocol was designed to emulate three gestures in human-robot interaction: Neutral, Ask, and Take. The protocol was implemented in two laboratories using different EEG headsets, Ultracortex Mark IV and Muse 2, and a common EMG device, Mindrove …

Reimagining Musical Improvisation Through Poetic Inspiration: A Creative Practice Investigation, Sean Foran

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

This article explores creative practice as research through an innovative approach to musical improvisation and recording that challenges traditional boundaries between music and literature. Working with experienced improvising musicians, this study investigates how poetic texts serve as inspiration and catalysts for new creative processes and musical outcomes. Using a practice-based research framework, the project positions poetry as both creative stimulus and constraint, resulting in a suite of short recorded works. The collaboration with a poet prompts a reconsideration of process, recording, and audience experience, with the final release presenting instrumental music alongside printed poetry, but without spoken narration. The findings …

Velocity: The Shimmer As Methodology, Lola Montgomery

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

This article articulates a new methodology, named ‘shimmer’. Shimmer is an embodied, intuitive, temporally irregular, and affectively attuned methodology for creative-practice research. Grounded in feminist philosophy, phenomenology, autotheory, and Csikszentmihalyi’s theory of flow, shimmer names the state in which corporeal knowing precedes cognition and generates theoretical insight. Drawing from lived episodes of illness, performance, lineage-work, and practice-led research, I argue that shimmer functions as an onto-epistemological mode of inquiry: a somatic process that moves between the imaginary, symbolic, and real to produce conceptual clarity with velocity. Against the masculinised tempo of academic grind, shimmer proposes a cyclical feminist temporality of …

The Ambiguity Of Truth: Exploring Inductive Reasoning And Pedagogy In Creative Practice Through Critical Reflection, Stephen O'Connell

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

The creative process inherently utilises critical thinking, reflective practice and problem-solving skills, but students can struggle with the mental effort required to engage in critical thinking. This paper examines this phenomenon through a critical reflection as a case study, utilising the Integrated reflective cycle method to engage both in reflective practice and theory. Through the reflection on in-class experiences, errors in the students’ inductive reasoning and a tendency for them to shortcut mental challenges with experiential heuristics were identified, with students appearing to seek cognitive ease over critical metacognition. This paper then proposes utilising an inductive reasoning-led pedagogy, with a …

Using Multiple Means Of Representation To Enhance Higher Education Student Learning, Cathy Stephens

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

Today’s students enter higher education from diverse backgrounds with differing educational pathways. Universal design for learning recognises that learners are not homogenous and suggests ways of improving engagement, understanding and agency for heterogeneous learners by including varied resource formats and instructional approaches, or multiple means of representation. While institutional imperatives often call for consistency of approaches and pre-designed content formats, this small pilot study asks if the implementation of varied resources and activities can enhance student comprehension and understanding of project requirements in a creative course. This small-scale study surveyed students on the perceived value of a variety of resources, …

Echoes Of Memories Erased: A Reflection On Underscoring Between The Fractures, Nat Texler

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

This paper covers a reflective account of creating the underscore for the 2025 production of Between the Fractures, performed at the Butterfly Club in Melbourne, Australia. While the process of creating a mise-en-scéne  for a two hander within a small theatre space involves multilayered praxis of aesthetic inferences (Pavis, 2003) this paper aims to provide an insider’s account into some of the creative processes that resulted in the original underscore. Drawing on an eclectic fusion of practice as research methodology, specifically Linda Candy’s reflection practice variants (Candy, 2021), the research provides insight into the decisions, references (musical and otherwise), …

Spatial Distribution Patterns Of Determinants Of Hypertension In West Java In 2023, Meirina Nur Asih Susanti, Wahyu Septiono

Preventia: The Indonesian Journal of Public Health

Hypertension is a public health issue that is unevenly distributed across regions. The high prevalence in West Java (34.4%) with a large population makes the management of hypertension crucial. Differences in economic and environmental conditions are thought to influence the distribution of hypertension, thus requiring spatial analysis. This study used an ecological approach by analyzing data from districts/cities in West Java in 2023. Secondary data were used to measure hypertension prevalence and to assess socioeconomic and environmental factors. The analysis was conducted using univariate Moran's Index, Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA), and the Spatial Autoregressive Model (SAR). The prevalence …

Understanding Adult Patients’ Experiences Of Trauma-Informed Care In Outpatient Healthcare, Jayme Aguero

Dissertations (1934 -)

Trauma is recognized as a universal human experience. Well-established evidence demonstrates the negative impact of trauma on health outcomes. In 2014, following a recommendation from SAMHSA, trauma-informed care (TIC) was implemented across human service sectors, including healthcare. While TIC has been in use for the past decade, adults’ experiences of receiving TIC in outpatient healthcare remain largely unknown. The purposes of this study were (a) to explore and describe how adults’ healthcare experiences aligned with the principles of TIC being implemented in outpatient healthcare settings and (b) to understand the perceived usefulness and meaning of TIC for adult patients. A …

The Echo: April 27, 2026, Taylor University

2025-2026 (Volume 113)

No abstract provided.

Transforming Workers' Compensation Into A Workforce Optimization Strategy, Tina Marie Santos, Kathleen Jancek

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Purpose: The personal, physical, and financial toll of workplace injuries on workers is enormous, with many experiencing isolation and depressive symptoms.

Objective: This quality improvement project aimed to improve the Workers' Compensation (WC) program to enhance workforce retention, productivity, team member well-being and reduce liability.

Approach: The project implemented a structured, iterative process grounded in baseline data to inform and refine process improvement and outcomes. Strategies for improvement included: (1) foster professional well-being through an accommodation model that emphasized belonging and meaningful contributions during recovery; (2) creative and flexible solutions leveraging team members' abilities rather than limitations that aligned with …

German Is For You! The Making Of A High School Multikulti German Course, Jennene Aten

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This teacher self-study examined the process of creating and teaching a multicultural German curriculum. This study necessarily involved observing students as they went through the semester of course work, but students are not the center of the research. I am. This research focuses on what I learned about teaching, specifically my teaching in my subject area and how I could improve my skills and methods.

Germany is an ethnically diverse nation but not usually thought of as such. The presentation of Germany in German language textbooks is generally portrayed as rather monochromatic. Students who study German, specifically in Fairfield, California, …

Improving Drought Science Communication And Accessibility, Lindsay Erin Johnson

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Effective drought management depends not only on the accuracy of scientific data, but also on how that information is communicated and understood by diverse audiences. This dissertation examines drought communication through the lens of science communication, with a focus on improving readability, accessibility, understandability, and usability of drought information. Using a manuscript-style format, three studies investigate how drought information is written, delivered, and applied. Chapter 1 provides a brief overview and outline of this dissertation. Chapter 2 evaluates the readability of the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) national narratives over almost 8 years. Results show that these narratives are consistently written …

Making The Case For Spandex: The Nature Of Re-Novicing And The Merging Of Expertise For Former Elementary And High School Teachers Who Move To Teaching At The Middle Level, Elizabeth K. Boyle

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

As an academic coach in a large, Midwestern middle school, I noticed an influx of teachers with years of prior experience at the elementary or high school levels being hired to work with students in grades six through eight. Because they were already veteran teachers, they were not assigned mentorship, yet there were aspects of working in a middle-school setting that effectively “re-noviced” them (Hanuscin et al., 2020).

Knowing that cookie-cutter approaches to professional development and learning often do not meet the needs of adult learners, I sought information that would guide what professional growth opportunities could be provided to …

Laser Microprocessing Of Metallic And Composite Materials: Nanosecond Pulsed Laser Surface Melting, Laser Shock Peening, And Femtosecond Laser Machining, Qiuchi Zhu

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation comprises three parts addressing laser microprocessing of metallic and composite materials through nanosecond pulsed laser surface melting, laser shock peening, and femtosecond laser machining. The first part discusses nanosecond pulsed laser surface melting for corrosion mitigation in stainless steel. Commercial 304 stainless steel (SS) was first used to establish a processing window for stable shallow remelting and rapid resolidification. The approach was then extended to 304L/308L SS welded joints relevant to nuclear dry storage canisters. The results show that nanosecond laser surface melting refines the near-surface microstructures in the heat-affected zone and improved pitting corrosion resistance. Electrochemical and …

Integrated Approaches For Valorization Of Chicken Feather Waste: From Extraction To Application Of Keratin-Based Bioproducts, Muhammad Ehtasham Akram

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation explores the optimization of chicken feathers keratin hydrolysate (CFKH) production using alkaline hydrolysis (AH) and sub-critical water hydrolysis (SCWH), focusing on acquiring high keratin yield in the hydrolysate. Then, CFKH along with other locally sourced materials, was used to develop bioplastics with regenerative agriculture properties (BioWRAP), with the ultimate objective of applying it as a soil mulch to suppress weeds in agricultural crops. This work also addresses challenges in process design and industrial scale-up of BioWRAP. Chapter 1 is a literature review that introduces terms like biobased, biodegradable, and bioplastics, materials and methods used to make bioplastics, and …

Leading With The Heart: Fostering Asset-Based Teacher Beliefs And Practices For Multilingual Learners Through Research–Practice Partnership In A Diversifying Suburban Elementary School, Valerie Anne Kyllmann

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This mixed methods study is part of a larger research-practice partnership (RPP) between practitioners and researchers at a Midwestern suburban elementary school experiencing an increase in cultural and linguistic diversity. Like many U.S. schools, its teaching force is mostly White, middle-class, and female, creating not only a pedagogical gap, but also a belief gap about the linguistic and academic assets multilingual students possess. Grounded in linguistically responsive teaching, adult learning, and improvement science, this study explores how RPPs can leverage varying expertise in cycles of inquiry to co-create initiatives that foster asset-based teacher perspectives through building-wide events and professional development. …