Digital Commons Network^™

Global Humanitarian Aid Sector Leaders’ Perceptions Of Leadership Development Programs To Support Humanitarian Aid Workers, Stephen J. Thomspon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed through this study is that current leadership development programs for global humanitarian aid sector (GHAS) leaders fail to adequately address the unique circumstances of humanitarian aid work. Grounded in trauma-informed care and adaptive leadership, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore GHAS leaders' perceptions of the essential components and opportunities for improving leadership development programs, as well as their recommendations on how to address the unique contexts of humanitarian aid workers. Semistructured interviews with eight GHAS leaders who had at least 10 years of sector experience were conducted. Through qualitative content analysis with a …

"Where's The Writing?": A Content Analysis Of Writing Practices In Second Grade Core Knowledge Language Arts, Jessica Pierce

Theses and Dissertations

One current and increasingly common trend in elementary and early childhood English Language Arts (ELA) instruction is the use of scripted literacy programs requiring teachers to implement the curriculum with fidelity. This has consequences for writing instruction as students continue to score below proficiency levels on national writing assessments (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2011), and the tendency for a mismatch between recommended writing instruction and classroom practice. Therefore, the purpose of this content analysis was to explore the writing instruction found in the Knowledge Strand of the 2nd-grade Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) curriculum. Analyses revealed three overarching themes: …

Constructing Meaning With First Graders Using Wordless Picturebooks During Interactive Read-Alouds, Madison Weeter

Theses and Dissertations

Wordless picturebooks are an underutilized tool in elementary classrooms despite growing recognition as a valuable literacy tool. Research remains limited on how wordless picturebooks influence meaning-making during interactive read-aloud discussions. The guiding question for this study was: "How do first-graders and their teacher construct meaning during three interactive read-alouds of wordless picturebooks?" This qualitative study was conducted in a first-grade classroom. Data was collected through audio and video recordings of three interactive read-alouds facilitated by the teacher-researcher. Recordings were transcribed and analyzed using reflective thematic analysis (RTA). Six themes were created from analysis of the data: (a) cracking the code, …

Dnp Final Report: Enhancing Self-Regulated Learning And Metacognition For First-Semester Undergraduate Nursing Students, Carla S. Biondillo

DNP Final Reports

Background. First-year undergraduate nursing students often struggle to adapt their learning strategies to the higher-order thinking and clinical reasoning demands of nursing education. Ineffective study habits, low academic self-efficacy, and limited self-regulated learning (SRL) skills are consistently identified as predictors of attrition, which ranges from 20–50% nationally and internationally.

Purpose. At an academic medical center in rural East Texas, first-semester students report academic overwhelm and inadequate study strategies, consistent with national trends. A structured, evidence-based faculty coaching intervention targeting SRL and metacognition was found to be feasible within the collaborative, student-centered organizational culture.

Methods. A quality improvement (QI) design …

Simulations Of Skyrmions And Merons, Ryan Friesen, Aidan Kirk, Tom Carroll, Xuemei Cheng

Physics and Astronomy Summer Fellows

Skyrmions and merons are particle-like spin structures that are found in specific magnetic materials. Due to their stability and nanoscale size, these quasiparticles have been proposed as promising candidates for qubits in quantum computing applications. Our goal is to design materials that can host and stabilize these quasiparticles. Skyrmions and merons exist only under specific conditions, and the parameter space for these materials is vast. Thus, we use the simulation package MuMax3 to run simulations to test the viability of potential materials to simplify this search. We present on our simulations of these skyrmions and merons. This work was supported …

Identifying Symbolic Modeling Of Grooming Precursors In Social Media, Heath Landress

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Short-form video platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels increasingly circulate dating and lifestyle advice that may normalize coercive relational scripts. A key challenge for preventing technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation is that early grooming precursors can be communicated through audiovisual design choices, such as tone, pacing, setting, and editing, that make manipulative narratives appear benign. The purpose of this qualitative multimedia content analysis was to identify recurring observable patterns that provide a form of symbolic modeling, through which relational and boundary-shaping cues associated with early-stage sexualized grooming are framed as ordinary dating or lifestyle advice in public TikTok and Instagram …

Dnp Final Report: Community-Based Advance Care Planning Education For Older Adults: A Quality Improvement Project, Teresa Hill

DNP Final Reports

Background: Advance care planning (ACP) supports patient autonomy and promotes care aligned with individual values and preferences. Despite these benefits, fewer than half of adults aged 50–80 have completed formal ACP documentation, and community-dwelling older adults rarely engage in ACP before serious illness, representing a persistent gap in early engagement.

Purpose: This quality improvement (QI) project evaluated the effectiveness of a community-based ACP educational intervention in improving ACP knowledge, confidence, and engagement among older adults.

Methods: A nurse facilitator trained in the Five Wishes framework delivered a structured, 60-minute ACP workshop at a senior center in North Texas. A pre–post …

Risk Factors For Metabolic Syndrome Among U.S.-Born And Non-U.S.-Born Hispanics In The United States, Banessa Maldonado

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Current knowledge regarding risk factors for metabolic syndrome (METS) among Hispanic individuals of Mexican descent remains limited. Using data from NHANES 2017–2020, this study compared factors contributing to METS and included U.S.-born and non-U.S.-born Hispanic adults of Mexican descent aged ≥ 18 years living in the USA (N = 949) with assessed METS. Grounded in the social ecological model and social determinants of health, this research evaluated dietary habits, lifestyle patterns, and acculturation processes using multivariate logistic regression and stratified analyses. Educational attainment was associated with METS, but the association was not statistically significant in adjusted models p = 0.528. …

Preparing Tomorrow’S Providers: A Simulation Addressing Workplace Violence In Clinical Settings, Julie Kurkowski, Danielle Yocom, Nancy Barker, Patrick Heagey, Alexa Moran, John Fisher

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Workplace violence is a growing global problem, with healthcare and social service professionals experiencing the highest rates, reaching epidemic levels in the United States (Emergency Nurses Association (ENA),n.d.; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024). Academic institutions must prepare students for these realities by integrating workplace violence education into prelicensure curricula, especially as students are also at risk during their clinical rotations (Johnston & Fox, 2020).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an interprofessional high-fidelity simulation to increase prelicensure healthcare students’ confidence in managing aggressive behaviors within the simulated clinical environment.

Methods: Nursing, Physician …

Effect Of Role Ambiguity On Turnover Intention: A Moderated Mediation Model, Heejin Lim, Seung Eun Lee

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Purpose: Given nurses’ high turnover and its impact on patient safety and quality of care (Wu et al., 2023), reducing their turnover intention is crucial. This study aimed to (a) test the direct effect of role ambiguity on turnover intention, (b) examine the indirect effect via burnout, and (c) investigate whether physician–nurse collaboration moderates the path from role ambiguity to burnout and, consequently, the conditional indirect effect (moderated mediation) on turnover intention.

Design/Methods: This descriptive, correlational study analyzed data from 507 registered nurses in South Korea collected between October and December 2024. Eligible participants had at least one year of …

Using An Outcome-Based Education Design To Drive Dissemination Of Nursing Work, Kathleen Bradley, Ningning Guo

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Nursing work dissemination often begins with a national podium or poster presentation. Submitting an abstract to these professional conferences can be challenging and time-consuming for novice writers. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Outcome-Based Continuing Education (OB-CE) model was used as a framework to design a hands-on Abstract Writing Workshop to help learners embark on their dissemination journey (ANCC, 2021; ANCC, 2025).

In September 2022, an environmental scan revealed less than fifty percent of projects were disseminated beyond the unit of improvement. Additionally, many nurses lacked knowledge and skills of abstract writing, often the first step in the dissemination process. …

Depressive Cognitions, Resourcefulness, And Sleep In Informal Caregivers Of Persons With Dementia, Rayhanah R. Almutairi

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Family or informal caregivers always provide support to their family members or others who are diagnosed with dementia. The increase in the aging population has led to a growing reliance on family members, often informal caregivers, who are increasingly responsible for providing care for older adults. Poor sleep and high levels of depressive cognition experienced by caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD) can negatively affect their physical and psychological health, which can lead to declining caregiver health, which can diminish their ability to provide optimal care. Currently, there are limited empirical studies supporting the usefulness of non-pharmacological sleep interventions …

Voice-Activated Technology Intervention And Well-Being In Older Adults Living Alone: A Meta-Analysis, Yu Shin Park, Dahye Hong, Min Kyung Park, Sikyeong Park, Suyeon Jeong, Dayoung Lee, Minsub Kim, Seojin Kim, Bada Kang

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Older adults living alone are particularly vulnerable to declines in their physical, psychological, and social well-being (1). Voice-activated technology (VAT) has emerged as a promising approach to enhance accessibility, social connectedness, and independent living among older adults. This holds significant potential for nurses to optimize care delivery systems and support the overall well-being of older adults (2). However, evidence on its impact on multidimensional well-being, particularly for those living alone, remains limited. (3, 4). Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effects of VAT interventions on the multidimensional well-being of older adults living alone.

A meta-analysis was conducted in accordance …

The Fusion Model: Advancing Dnp–Phd Collaboration To Bridge Nursing Science And Practice, Kaylan Branson, Malorie Brooks, Jennifer Stephen, Roberta Miller, Julie Van Orne

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)- and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)-prepared nurses bring complementary expertise to evidence-based practice and research. In clinical settings, collaboration between these roles is informal and poorly defined. Guided by Convergent Care Theory (CCT), a team at a large health system developed the FUSION Model (Framework for Uniting Science, Implementation, and Organizational Nursing) aimed to formalize DNP–PhD collaboration, accelerate evidence translation, and advance nursing excellence.

Methods: A team of 11 doctoral-prepared nurses engaged in an iterative model development process. Across 9 sessions, the team reviewed 25 articles, mapped current DNP and PhD role functions, and identified …

Barriers And Facilitators To Hiv Healthcare Among Adolescents Lwhiv In East African Countries, Pacifique Mukangabire

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

The burden of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa remains a critical public health challenge, especially among adolescents. With approximately 67% of 38.4 million people living with HIV residing in Sub-Saharan Africa, the region accounted for a significant number of new infections and AIDS-related deaths. Recent data indicate that adolescents are less likely to engage in timely HIV care and exhibit poor adherence to treatment, leading to high mortality rates compared to adults and children. This scoping review explored the barriers and facilitators influencing healthcare access among ALHIV in East African countries. A comprehensive search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health, …

Culturally Responsive Teaching And Practices Of Online Faculty, Oluwatoyin Okafor, Deanna L. Howe

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Online teaching and learning continue to expand across U.S. institutions (Martin et al., 2020). Online courses often attract even more diverse students than traditional classrooms, including individuals from varied racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, linguistic, religious, and gender backgrounds (Ballenger & Jiang, 2023). To enhance learning and promote success, instructors must address these cultural differences (Kumi-Yeboah et al., 2022; Shonfeld et al., 2021). Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) draws on students’ cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance styles to make learning more relevant, engaging, and effective (Abacioglu et al., 2020).

This mixed-methods study entailed revising the Culturally Responsive Teaching Knowledge and Practices of …

Vertical Alignment As A Systemic Strategy For Sustaining Workforce-Aligned K–12 Engineering Initiatives: A Collective Case Study Of District-Wide Microelectronics Integration, Greg J. Strimel, Victoria Constantine, Deana Lucas, Emily Haluschak, Yubin Lee, Morgan Hynes, Selcen Guzey, Tamara J. Moore

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Background

In response to the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, a K–12 workforce development initiative was launched to embed microelectronics education across US school districts. To promote sustainability, the initiative employed a district-wide vertical alignment strategy that progressively integrates microelectronics content and engineering-related career experiences from kindergarten through high school. While vertical alignment is often used for curriculum planning, its broader potential as a systems-level strategy remains underexplored.

Purpose

This study investigated how vertical alignment functions within a K–12 engineering workforce development initiative, focusing on enablers/barriers toward expanding and sustaining integration efforts. The research questions addressed stakeholder experiences with the …

An Introduction To The China Land Sales Data Set: The Universe Of Land-Use-Right Transfers In China 2000-2022, Yilin Hou, Lin Li, Qiang Ren

Center for Policy Research

The China Land Sales Data Set (2000-2022) includes the universe of land-use-right sales in China in the first 23 years of the 21st century, a period of the fastest mass urbanization and intense infrastructure construction in China’s history, that accompanied the rapid growth of China’s economy and household income. For this reason, this data set carries substance in many ways for anyone who needs to understand the occurrences in China of that period. The phrase “land sale” refers to the transfer of land-use right from the state as the sole owner of urban land to any individual, firm or entity …

Tiktok Vs. Instagram: How Audiences Engage With James Charles, Kristina M. Hart

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This study examines how audiences engage with beauty influencer content across social media platforms, with a focus on James Charles on TikTok and Instagram. While existing research highlights the importance of authenticity, content strategy, and influencer characteristics in driving engagement, less attention has been given to how engagement varies across platforms and how users express interaction qualitatively. To address this gap, this study employs qualitative content analysis to examine 100 audience comments, with fifty comments collected from each platform.

Using thematic coding, comments were categorized into four primary forms of engagement: audience participation, product interest, entertainment, and trust/credibility. In addition, …

Radiation Effects On The Amd Versal Running An Automatic Modulation Classification Model, Allan D. Howe

Theses and Dissertations

With the recent increase of interest into artificial intelligence (AI), graphics processing units (GPUs) have been used as the main hardware architecture for AI computation. Because of their high power consumption and large size, it is necessary to consider other architectures to perform AI computing in outer-space where size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) are tightly constrained. One such architecture is the Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Versal Adaptive Compute Acceleration Platform (ACAP), which can achieve acceptable AI throughput at a lower power and size compared to a GPU. As the Versal ACAP gets used in space applications, it is necessary …

Snap Into Better Pediatric Neuro Assessments, Irene Chacko, Nayelli Fuentes, Annie Mazon Kellejian, Claire Ring, Ibrahim Shaikh

2025

No abstract provided.

2026 June 23 - From My Notepads Newsletter, Office Of The President, East Tennessee State University, Brian Noland

From My Notepads: A Newsletter from President Brian Noland

No abstract provided.

Trust, Participation, And Power: Community Perspectives From The Equity In Public Health Initiative, Shaniece Criss, Roger S. Abim-Karmon, Jody Teel, Vanessa Rodríguez, Adia Bennon, Sally Wills, Sarah Gonzales, Dalmondeh D. Nayreau, Vaishnavi Bharadwaj, Hannah G. Kim, Jennifer Woollery, Melissa Fair

Health Sciences Publications

Health disparities arise from unequal power relations shaping resource allocation, governance, and community agency. Community power is a key mechanism for addressing disparities. This study examines how visible, hidden, and invisible power operate within a U.S. county to inform inclusive governance. We conducted seven focus groups with Black and Hispanic residents (n = 68) and sixteen semi-structured interviews with elected officials, government staff, and advocacy leaders in Greenville County, South Carolina. Data were collected between March and December 2024. Transcripts were collaboratively coded in NVivo and analyzed using thematic analysis guided by Heller et al.’s Three Faces of Power …

Effective Strategic Planning Processes Used By Construction Industry Companies, Melvin C. Porter Jr.

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Strategic planning failures among small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) construction managers can lead to cost overruns, schedule delays, and operational inefficiencies that threaten organizational viability. SME construction managers who lack effective strategic planning processes face an elevated risk of project failures that jeopardize workforce stability and the long-term sustainability of the communities they serve. Grounded in hoshin kanri framework, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore successful strategic planning processes and models used by SME construction managers in southeastern Virginia to improve operations and reduce project failures. The participants were seven SME construction managers who had successfully …

Effectiveness And Ethics Of Biometrics In Homeland Security, Aaron Akintayo Akindiya

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Homeland security agencies increasingly deploy biometric technologies, including facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, to enhance identity verification and threat detection at airports and borders. However, these technologies raise ethical concerns regarding privacy, algorithmic bias, data protection, and civil liberties. Limited research captures the perspectives of frontline professionals who implement these systems. This study explored how homeland security professionals perceive the balance between effectiveness and ethics. Guided by the technological determinism theory, semistructured interviews were conducted with 13 professionals from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Transportation Security Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Thematic analysis revealed four themes: effectiveness in enhancing …

Enhancing Staff Knowledge Of Prenatal Depression Screening And Follow-Up Protocols, Gladys Ajohmbu Esunji

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This staff education project addressed inconsistent staff knowledge of prenatal depression screening and follow-up protocols in an outpatient behavioral health practice serving prenatal patients. Prenatal depression is a nursing practice concern because delayed identification and inconsistent follow-up may affect maternal well-being, infant outcomes, family functioning, and timely access to behavioral health support. The practice-focused question was: According to the evidence, among clinical staff in an outpatient maternal mental health setting, what is the impact of structured staff education on adherence to prenatal depression screening on follow-up protocol knowledge? The purpose was to improve clinical staff knowledge through a structured education …

Secondary English Teacher Experiences Implementing Culturally Responsive Teaching With Black Students In Maryland, Angela James

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite state mandates requiring culturally responsive teaching (CRT) implementation, the problem addressed by this study was that urban high school teachers are not consistently integrating CRT practices with Black students in Reading/English language arts (RELA) courses. Guided by the CRT framework, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the experiences of urban high school teachers with incorporating CRT practices with Black high school students in RELA courses in Maryland. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 10 RELA teachers. Through open coding, the following three themes emerged: the need for increased and targeted professional development, structured opportunities …

Exploring The Role Of Medical Interpreters In Patient Care, Polina Baba, Joumana De Santiago

Research Scholars

No abstract provided.

Military Culture And The Student Veteran: A Mixed Methods Study Of Service Members Transition Into Higher Education, Joanna Fagan

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Military veterans are entering higher education spaces at a steady rate. While their visibility on U.S. campuses is increasing, these veterans face various challenges in entering higher education. This mixed-methods study examined the relationships among military identity, trauma exposure, and psychological functioning in student veterans, with a focus on meaning in life, life satisfaction, and social engagement. Quantitative data was used to assess correlations and associations between meaning making, military identification, satisfaction with life, and college involvement, while qualitative data were used to contextualize and extend statistical findings. Results indicated that military identity was positively associated with meaning making but …

Hillsborough County Advisory Council July 2026 Meeting Minutes, Extension

Advisory Council

No abstract provided.