Digital Commons Network^™

Cit 4833 : Applied Artificial Intelligence Technologies - Llm, Technology

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Ele 4280 : Content Area Reading In The Elementary And Middle Levels, Teaching, Learning, And Foundations

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Eng 3000 : Multigenre Writing Workshop, English

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Scj 2000 : Digital Content Creation And Engagement, Communication And Journalism

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Jou 3302 : Multiplatform Editing, Communication And Journalism

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Jou 3000 : Advanced Reporting, Communication And Journalism

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cmn 2920g : Strategic Communication & Advocacy In Today's World, Communication And Journalism

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Decomposing Shadow Prices Under Climate-Driven Growth Scenarios: Insights From An Elk Herd Case Study, Ranjit Bawa, Drew Bennett, Wai Yan Siu, Bailey Kirkland, David Finnoff, Jacob Hochard

ODU Articles

Natural capital accounting provides a framework for integrating ecological processes with economic valuation, but the mechanics of shadow price formation often remain opaque to resource managers and policymakers. Using the Clarks Fork elk herd in northwestern Wyoming as a case study, we decompose the shadow price of natural capital into its ecological, economic, and institutional components. Population dynamics are estimated using a linearized Ricker model and projected forward using a logistic projection, incorporating climate-driven reductions in intrinsic growth rates. These ecological scenarios are linked to a shadow pricing formulation that explicitly accounts for marginal benefits, harvest policy responses, discounting, and …

Mission Critical: A Mixed-Methods Study On Strengthening The Ninthgrade Trajectory For At-Risk Students, Jennifer A. Skitromo

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Many adolescents experience difficulties during the transition to high school, which increases the risk of lower academic achievement, higher absenteeism, and behavioral challenges. This mixed-methods Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice examined how educators at the HSI, a Grade 6–12 magnet school in the Northeastern United States, addressed adult practices that hinder students’ transition to ninth grade. Nine educators participated in an eight-week student-centered meeting protocol designed to strengthen collaboration and support ninth-grade students at risk of falling off track toward on-time graduation. Quantitative data included partial-interval observations of participant engagement, pre- and post-test results from the adapted Teacher Collaboration Assessment, …

Developing Teacher Leaders: The Impact Of Instructional Coaching On Middle School Math Teachers’ Mindsets, Instructional Strategies, And Student Outcomes, Odena Lafreniere

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

This mixed-methods Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice examined the impact of a six-week mathematics-focused instructional coaching intervention on student achievement, teacher practice, and teacher mindset in the middle schools of a small urban district. Guided by the Tennessee Coaching Project and Institute for Learning (TN-IFL) coaching model and the Mathematical Quality of Instruction (MQI) rubric, the intervention supported three mathematics teachers across six cycles, including pre-lesson planning, classroom observation, and postintervention feedback conferences. The researcher compared student achievement and instructional practices of coached teachers with those of eight non-coached peers across Grades 6–8. Quantitative data included weekly district quizzes, mindset …

Enhancing Paraprofessional Self-Efficacy And Skill: The Impact Of Trauma-Informed Professional Learning On Support For Middle School Students With Disabilitie, Betsy Jean Paddock

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice explored the impact of a seven-week professional learning series on trauma-informed practices for paraprofessionals and certified educators supporting Students with Disabilities (SWDs) at Smithville Middle School. Grounded in Adult Learning Theory, Transformative Learning Theory, and Trauma Theory, the study employed a mixed methods design to examine changes in participants’ self-efficacy, trauma literacy, and professional collaboration. Quantitative data were collected through pre- and post-surveys using the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) and the Trauma Literacy Survey (TLS), while qualitative data were gathered through reflective journals and focus group discussions. Quantitative results revealed statistically significant …

Enhancing Teacher Well-Being And Resilience Through Scheduled Daily Mindfulness Practices: A Convergent Mixed Methods Study, Laura K. Mallett

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) examined whether a brief, scheduled, daily mindfulness routine could reduce teacher stress and burnout, increase resilience, and support well-being in an elementary school setting. Guided by a theory of improvement emphasizing self-awareness and emotional regulation, the study employed a mixed-methods, pre- post design implemented over seven weeks using a small sample of classroom teachers.

Quantitative data were collected using the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT), the Teacher Burnout Scale (TBS), and the Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), along with daily emotion check-ins from the How We Feel app. Analyses were conducted in Excel and included …

Rise: Renew, Inspire, Strengthen, And Empower: A Healing-Centered Affinity Space, Elba Llantin-Cruz

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) examined the benefits of a healing-centered affinity community for educators from racially and culturally underrepresented groups in Connecticut. A low rate of educators of color (EOC) impact student achievement and engagement outcomes. Higher attrition rates due to toxic working conditions, microaggressions, and invisible labor negatively impact EOC’s sense of belonging and professional growth. Using the Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) and a qualitative case study methodology, the researcher implemented a six-week healing-centered professional learning affinity space with four educators who identified as Black or Latina to foster belonging, connections, and well-being while …

Completing The Circle: Consultee-Centered Group Consultation As Professional Development To Improve Restorative Practices Implementation In A Middle School, Sara A. Tennyson

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

This mixed-methods Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) examined the impact of consultee-centered group consultation on educators' knowledge and the frequency of implementation of Restorative Practices (RP) in a middle school setting. Participants included 17 educators with various roles at a suburban middle school in the mid-Atlantic United States: Nine participated in the consultee-centered group consultation, and eight did not. The researcher administered pre- and post-surveys to both groups and examined the results using descriptive statistics. The researcher conducted participant surveys, recorded group consultation sessions, and analyzed journal entries to form qualitative themes. Quantitative findings indicated that the participant group …

Using Ai-Generated Multimedia To Teach Leisure Choice Making, Charles Thull

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This learning representation introduces an AI-developed, multimedia assessment for identifying leisure preferences among middle school students with developmental disabilities. Grounded in instructional design, ecological systems, and multimedia learning theories, the activity integrates ChatGPT, InVideo AI, Sora, DALL·E, and Gemini to create guided-choice visuals, short videos, and a structured, teacher-facilitated paired-choice activity using visual prompts across home, school, and community interest contexts. The technology-developed design fosters engagement, accessibility, and self-expression as students participate in a structured, teacher-facilitated paired-choice activity. Outcomes include enhanced student voice in leisure planning, increased self-awareness, and the identification of potential leisure interests. Assessments include student responses to …

Cds 4350 : Aural Rehabilitation, Cds

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

The Thing About Stuff: Exploring Consumerism Through Contemporary Print, Collage And Self-Reflection, Alexandra Lee Cox

Theses and Dissertations

The Thing about Stuff is an exhibition of editioned prints and book forms that pertain to personal and societal contradictions under capitalism. I use a combination of collage, design, print, traditional research and writing to form a better understanding of my place in capitalism by redefining my participation in it. Historical and contemporary research in combination with self-reflection and artmaking assists in my exploration of consumerism through the lens of human-object relationships. This body of work translates my own material desire for an audience through intentional composition, limited color pallets and intentional display. The accompanying supportive statement focuses on the …

Built Different: Place, Identity, And The Holistic Well-Being Of Female Student Athletes, Jaye Mack

Theses and Dissertations

This research furthers the conversation surrounding holistic female student-athlete wellness, recognizing that their experiences can be inequitable – influenced by the intersectionality of race, gender, and athletic identity (Armstrong et al., 2018; Druckman et al., 2018; Neeley et al., 2021). This research accredits the physical environments where athletes train, recover, and connect as an underexplored factor in holistic well-being.

The Indivisible Self Model of Wellness (IS-WEL) was used to (1) explore the influence of physical design features on female student athletes' holistic well-being and (2) understand how their identity shapes how they experience and attach meaning to their team environments. …

From Deference To Dialogue: How International Gtas From High Power Distance Cultures Adapt To U.S. Classroom Dynamics, Deborah Akua Afi Appiah

Theses and Dissertations

International graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) from high power distance cultures play a significant role in undergraduate education at U.S. universities, yet they face challenges that go well beyond language proficiency. Coming from educational backgrounds where teacher authority is unquestioned and hierarchical, these GTAs must navigate American classrooms that operate on fundamentally different assumptions, where authority is earned rather than assumed, informality is the norm, and students expect to question, negotiate, and be personally known by their instructors. The present study examined how eighteen (18) international GTAs from seven (7) high power distance countries perceived and adapted to these differences while …

Secret-Keeping Experiences Of Young Adults, Jace C. Griffith

Theses and Dissertations

In 2020, researchers Frijns et al. called for a new wave of secret-keeping research which prioritized the person-centric experience of youth keeping secrets. This study added to that collection by comparing two kinds of secret-keeping which are not compared in existing research: secrets which are related to abuse, and secrets which are not. Researchers in the field of child welfare study only abuse-related secret-keeping, almost always qualitatively. Alternatively, researchers of non-abuse secret-keeping or general secret-keeping collect almost entirely quantitative data, absent of the personal experience of secret-keeping.

Through an online survey, 205 undergraduate students were asked to reflect on an …

Data Defines Success: Algorithm For Dataset Quality Assessment In Deep Learning For Malware Detection, Matei Ionescu

Theses and Dissertations

The field of artificial intelligence is based upon the premise of constructing architectures through which to propagate training data. However, the majority of existing research literature is focused on architecture. While necessary, the attention devoted to the architecture should not so precipitously exceed that of the data. It should be noted that this disparity is not without reasonable cause. Data quality is often exceedingly difficult to verify due to particularities of the field or subfield; LLM repositories of text are distinct from image recognition pictures of dog breeds which are distinct from EEG waveforms of human brains which are distinct …

Between Tradition And Transition: Cultural Negotiations And Contraceptive Perceptions Among Ghanaian Students In The United States, Beatrice Amissah

Theses and Dissertations

As global mobility continues to rise, international students often encounter new cultural norms and health practices that differ from those in their home countries. While some studies have focused on contraception within the context of gender and types, less focus has been placed on diasporic populations, especially how students navigate tensions surrounding contraception within new cultural environments. This study explores how Ghanaian students in the United States interpret, negotiate, and respond to contraceptive messaging while navigating the cultural transition between their heritage and host societies. Drawing on Berry’s (1980)  Acculturation Theory, the study examines the tensions students experience, the strategies …

Creating "An Exemplar Of A Better World": A Dialogic Analysis Of Academic Freedom Surrounding Columbia University Activism From 2023-2025, Ellanore Foltz

Theses and Dissertations

From October of 2023 to August 2025, the community at Columbia University engaged in a series of debates regarding the meaning of academic freedom. Academic freedom, first institutionalized in the United States during the first world war, has shifted over the decades as the purpose of higher education and the threats to higher education changed. In recent years, campus protests regarding Israel and Palestine have sparked new debates about academic freedom that reflect ongoing and sometimes fundamental disagreements about higher education. This study utilizes Relational Dialectics Theory (RDT; Baxter, 2011) to explore the interplay between different discourses of academic freedom …

America The Not Yet Beautiful: Unfulfilled Promises In A Racist-Capitalist Society, Kaitlyn Tibbetts

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis draws from Langston Hughes’s poem “Let America Be America Again” to analyze four American novels that demonstrate the United States’s unfulfilled promises for lower-class individuals and minorities. The four novels examined in this thesis include: The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, There There by Tommy Orange, and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez. Utilizing theoretical frameworks such as social reproduction theory, intersectionality, and Burden-Shelly’s theorizations on racist-capitalist oppression, this thesis argues that the policies and systems that the U.S. is founded on are designed to primarily benefit economically …

"Aren't You Old Enough To Know Better?": Judgments Surrounding Infidelity As A Function Of Age And Gender, Josephine Kirby

Theses and Dissertations

Relationships are often deeply affected by infidelity on several indicators such as marital satisfaction, forgiveness, and relationship longevity. With older adults often stereotyped as being asexual and women often being judged more harshly due to a sexual double standard, how do people perceive these groups in the context of infidelity? The purpose of my study was to investigate whether perceptions and judgments surrounding infidelity are affected by the age and gender of the person who committed infidelity. Using an experimental vignette method, participants were randomly assigned one version of a hypothetical couples’ counseling intake assessment form that, in part, described …

Reawakening Waⁿdat: Community Research & Reclamation, Darcy Allred

Theses and Dissertations

The Wyandot(te) have undergone language dormancy due to settler colonial impacts of warfare, refugee relocation, forced removals, and U.S. assimilation projects. One of the most pressing priorities among our people today is reawakening our ancestral language, Waⁿdat. The common follow-up question is: how? Through the conduit of Waⁿdat language reclamation, this project grapples with the above question in collaboration with the Wyandot(te) community, and in adherence to the tribal sovereignty of the Wyandotte Nation. The project engages with diasporic perspectives, community-based pedagogy design, and tribally specific research protocols and policies. The living collective knowledgebase with which I engage in this …

Rhetoric Of Realignment: An Analysis Of Trump's 2024 Campaign Rhetoric, David Valadez

Theses and Dissertations

When political coalitions include groups with opposing policy goals, leaders face a challenge: satisfying all constituencies without making commitments that alienate essential supporters. The present study examines strategic ambiguity in the form of deliberately vague political messaging as a tool for managing this challenge. Combining rhetorical analysis with selectorate theory, which explains how leaders achieve and maintain power through reward distribution, the research analyzes Donald Trump’s 2024 Republican National Convention acceptance speech, focusing on immigration rhetoric.

The analysis reveals that Trump’s ambiguity was selective rather than habitual. On immigration, where tech/corporate interests wanting skilled workers clashed with nationalist groups demanding …

Staff Attitudes Toward Ai Adoption At A Private Research University, Ashley C. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the limited research on university staff attitudes toward artificial intelligence use and adoption. Using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) research framework, the General Attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence Scale (GAAIS), and quantitative survey methodology, the study examines the attitudes of higher education staff toward AI, specifically examining whether demographic or professional characteristics are factors. The findings indicate that staff had moderately negative attitudes toward AI while also expressing some concerns. The results suggest that more resources and support for AI are needed for staff to address concerns. It also suggests that construct-level analysis …

The Perceived Leadership Attributes Of Chief Academic Officers, Lowa Mwilambwe

Theses and Dissertations

Using Moss’s Leadership Attributes Inventory (LAI), which contains 37 attributes categorized under 6 core leadership roles (inspire a shared vision and establish standards; foster unity, collaboration, and ownership; exercise power effectively and empower others to act; exert external influence to set the right context, establish an environment conducive to learning; and satisfy the job-related needs of individuals in the organization), and descriptive and inferential statistics, this study examined the perceptions of Chief Academic Officers (CAOs) leadership at four-year public colleges and universities from the perspectives of the CAOs who self-evaluated themselves, and their colleagues (presidents, vice presidents, deans, and other …

Understanding Faculty Perceptions Of Shared Governance At A Four-Year Public University: A Case Study Of The University Of Ghana, Patrick Amponsah

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative single-case study was to explore how faculty at the University of Ghana perceive and experience shared governance, how it is practiced institutionally, and what outcomes they associate with it. Although shared governance is widely promoted as a democratic and collegial model of decision-making in higher education, its implementation remains underexamined. The study interviewed twelve (12) full-time faculty members who worked at the University of Ghana. Thematic analysis revealed ten interrelated themes, including structured participation with limited influence, shared governance as an opportunity for faculty input, and the presence of both collaborative attitudes and formal committee …