Digital Commons Network^™

Leadership Regarding The Support And Implementation Of Collaborative Teacher Teams To Advance District Equity Goals, Deborah Holman

Educational Studies Dissertations

Educational leaders increasingly prioritize equity reform processes; however, many struggle to enact sustainable change that addresses persistent disparities in student outcomes. Existing research on district effectiveness identifies key improvement practices but offers less insight into how leaders operationalize these practices effectively. The growing body of research on professional learning communities (PLCs) offers emerging evidence that job-embedded, focused PLCs are a mechanism that can positively impact student outcomes. This study addressed the connection between the improvement practices and PLCs by exploring how school and district leaders leverage collaborative teacher teams as a mechanism for equity-minded reform. Using a constructivist grounded theory …

Trauma Sensitivity In Rural Education: A Teacher-Centric Analysis Grounded In Bronfenbrenner’S Ecological Systems Theory, Karie L. Williams

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative case study examines the ways rural teachers implement trauma-sensitive practices despite having few resources and little institutional support. There is a lack of research regarding what teachers in these settings think about trauma-sensitive practice, how teachers implement trauma-sensitive practice within their classrooms, and what ecological factors contribute to the sustainability of trauma-sensitive practice. The primary question driving this research is “How do K–5 public school teachers in a rural-distant district in Virginia implement trauma-sensitive practices within the ecological systems that shape their professional roles, instructional decisions, and relational work with students?”  This question reflects the study’s purpose to …

Influence Of The Discipline Of Authentic Movement Practice On Interpersonal Relationships, Joy Ruben Welts

Educational Studies Dissertations

This mixed methods study explored how practicing the Discipline of Authentic Movement impacts relationships. This research was conducted to fill in the gaps around attunement and use of the Discipline of Authentic Movement as an intervention to support healthy relationships. Five self-selected adults met on Saturday afternoons for eight weeks to practice the Discipline of Authentic Movement. They completed a pre and post Revised Adult Attachment Scale and reflected weekly on their experience through journaling. Participants reported that it was the structure of the Discipline of Authentic Movement that allowed them to feel more comfortable being themselves with others. The …

Black Excellence By Design: A Critical Framework For Transforming K–12 Education, Darnell T. Williams

Educational Studies Dissertations

This dissertation examines Black Excellence as a historically grounded, culturally situated, and politically consequential construct in K–12 education. Using constructivist grounded theory and a critical analytic lens informed by Black Feminist Thought, BlackCrit, Critical Race Theory, and Decolonial Theory, this study examines how Black Excellence is defined, enacted, and protected by Black educators, school leaders, and district-level administrators working within racially stratified and ableist educational systems. Drawing on in-depth interviews and constant comparative analysis, the findings conceptualize Black Excellence not merely as academic achievement, but as a relational, cultural, and political practice sustained through what this study theorizes as Protective …

San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper V. Cnty. Of San Luis Obispo, 161 F.4th 590 (9th Cir. 2025), Erika C. Rader

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper v. Cnty. of San Luis Obispo, the Ninth Circuit addressed how to consider a mandatory preliminary injunction for an Endangered Species Act claim when multiple listed species may be affected by the requested relief. The Plaintiffs brought ESA and state law claims to compel the County of San Luis Obispo to change its operation of the Lopez Dam on Arroyo Grande Creek, which they claimed adversely affected South-Central California Coast steelhead trout. The tidewater goby and California red-legged frog, both listed species, are also present in Arroyo Grande Creek. The Ninth Circuit determined the …

Unleashing Consultation: Tohono O’Odham Nation V. Department Of Interior And The Case For Reforming The National Historic Preservation Act, Elizabeth Tobey

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Ninth Circuit’s 2025 decision in Tohono O’odham Nation v. Department of Interior highlights an ongoing failure by federal land management agencies to consult meaningfully with tribal nations as mandated by the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act. This article argues that the NHPA’s framework for tribal consultation enables federal land management agencies to sidestep meaningful engagement with tribes, undermining both cultural resource protection and the federal Indian trust responsibility. To address these deficiencies—particularly in the context of renewable energy development on federal public lands, directly at issue in Tohono O’odham Nation—this article proposes amendments to the NHPA informed by …

Wilderness Watch V. U.S. Forest Service, No. Cv 23-133-M-Dwm, 2025 Wl 2985292 (D. Mont. Oct. 23, 2025)., Gardner Dee

Public Land & Resources Law Review

This comment argues that the District of Montana’s decision in Wilderness Watch v. U.S. Forest Service correctly applied the Ninth Circuit’s Kofa framework to strike down a multi-agency native trout restoration project in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, holding that the Forest Service unlawfully prioritized Yellowstone cutthroat trout conservation over the Wilderness Act’s mandate to preserve wilderness character. Dee further contends that while large wilderness watersheds offer valuable climate refugia for native coldwater fish, watershed-scale restoration projects will continue to conflict with the Act’s prohibitions on motorized and mechanized intrusions so long as agencies rely on helicopter transport and rotenone application at …

Morag Stewart Oral History Interview, Morag Stewart, Dane Van Orden

Eastern Washington University Staff and Faculty Oral Histories

Professor Morag Stewart taught Management Information Systems at Eastern Washington University (EWU) from 1988-1999.

In this interview, Stewart discusses her career as a professor at EWU and overseas. Stewart provides her impression of students at EWU during her time there and discusses changes in technology as it pertains to her field.

The transcript has been reviewed by the interviewee and corrections have been made for the purposes of clarity and accuracy. The original recordings have been preserved and are available upon request.

Dane Van Orden interviewed Stewart in Spring 2026 for a course in oral history.

Floyd Cloke Oral History Interview, Floyd Cloke, Logan Preedy

Eastern Washington University Staff and Faculty Oral Histories

Floyd Cloke served as supervisor of surplus services at Eastern Washington University and a graduate of the university in 1979.

In this interview, Cloke discusses his hometown, Leavenworth, Washington, his time in the Army during the Vietnam War, his experiences as a student attending Eastern Washington University on the GI Bill, and his subsequent work as an employee of the University.

The transcript has been reviewed by the interviewee and corrections have been made for the purposes of clarity and accuracy. The original recordings have been preserved and are available upon request.

Logan Preedy interviewed Cloke in Spring 2026 for …

Examining The Association Of Nurse Staffing Levels With Delayed Antibiotic And Insulin Administration: A Mixed Methods Study, Mikie Desyana Rachman

WUSM Theses and Dissertations – All Programs

Background: Recent reports indicated that medication errors contributed to 10% of preventable harm among hospitalized patients with over half occurring during the administration stage. Despite emerging research using EHR data to examine care processes and clinical outcomes, limited studies have integrated objective and subjective nursing staffing measures to evaluate how nursing staffing levels could be associated with delays in care delivery.

Method: A parallel convergent mixed-methods study was conducted in four adult medical-surgical units at a Midwestern Academic Medical Center from January 1 – March 31, 2025. Quantitative data of insulin and IV antibiotic administration records, laboratory results, and nurse …

From Skilled Labor Pipeline To College-Prep Track: A Study Of Admissions, Access, And Intent In A Massachusetts Vocational High School, Jennifer Ferland

Educational Studies Dissertations

This mixed methods study examined the effectiveness and equity of vocational high school admissions in Massachusetts, focusing on an oversubscribed regional vocational high school and its largest urban comprehensive feeder school. Although vocational schools were created to provide equitable, high‑quality career and technical education, and to prepare students for skilled employment, most vocational students now pursue postsecondary academic pathways, contributing to shortages in the trades. At the same time, traditional admissions criteria—focused on grades, attendance, and behavior—have historically limited access for English Learners, students with disabilities, low‑income students, and students of color. The purpose of this study was to investigate …

Elementary Residents And Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy In Mathematics, Quayisha F. Clarke

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative interpretive embedded case study examines how seven preservice elementary mathematics residents in a Northeastern teacher residency program identify and enact culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) (Paris and Alim, 2017) in their math instruction, and how their intersectional identities shape these enactments. Drawing on CSP, intersectionality, and discretionary spaces (Ball, 2018), the study explores how residents interpret, reason through, and make moment-to-moment decisions that affirm students’ learning in mathematics.

Data were collected across two semi-structured interviews, three classroom observations, post-observation debriefs, lesson plans, coursework artifacts, and a researcher's reflexive journal. Analysis followed a hybrid inductive–deductive approach, using thematic and axial …

Nurtured Meaning: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Of The Tree Of Life In Contemporary Women's Art, Christina A. Defilipp

Educational Studies Dissertations

The Tree of Life has historically flourished across cultures as an archetypal image of interconnection, regeneration, and continuity. In the Anthropocene, however, its symbolic vitality is reframed by the realities of environmental crisis. This study investigates how contemporary women artists across the globe sustain and reinterpret the Tree of Life’s meaning to express themes of ecological, spiritual, and cultural relevance. Employing a qualitative design grounded in hermeneutic phenomenology, the study analyzes publicly available artworks and published reflections, including interviews, catalog essays, and artist statements. A purposive sample of twenty women artists from diverse cultural traditions forms the dataset, each represented …

"Free To Fall": Milton's Satan And The Trial Of Discernment, Mae Legare

English Honors Theses

William Blake once wrote, "Milton was of the Devil's party without knowing it," reasoning a deep-seated alignment with evil that only becomes illuminated in Satan's vibrantly humanized character. By analyzing Milton's earlier political prose, Areopagitica and The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, alongside Satan's monologues in Paradise Lost, the author and his fallen characters' voices begin to sound synonymous. They are enraged by similar injustices and failures of political institutions, and they employ very similar methods of argumentation and political rhetoric. Blake was correct, in a sense, that Milton was "of the Devil's party," but I argue that …

The “Fallen Woman” Reconsidered: Inner And Outer Redemption In Victorian Literature, Caroline Kramer

English Honors Theses

This undergraduate thesis critically examines three female protagonists situated within the “fallen woman” character archetype of Victorian literature through a lens of redemption: Ruth Hilton in Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell (1853), Mercy Merrick in The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins (1873), and Tess Durbeyfield in Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (1891). While nineteenth-century readers may have expected that these women needed to undergo a moral transformation based on circumstances of their past, this thesis argues that none of them fundamentally require “redemption” according to any of the word’s typical definitions; rather, the question posed regards the modes through …

Qualitative Analysis Methods Of Zen And Don In Maize Based On Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, Traditional Machine Learning, And Lstm, Gao Man, Qian Chengjing, Ding Ziyuan, Luo Yunjing, Zhai Chen

Food and Machinery

[Objective] To establish a rapid and accurate detection and analysis method for mycotoxins. [Methods] Based on near-infrared spectroscopy, qualitative models for the contents of zearalenone (ZEN) and deoxynivalenol (DON) in maize were established.144 naturally contaminated maize samples were used, and near-infrared spectra were collected from two sample preparations, namely maize powder and toxin extract. Five pretreatment methods were applied to process the original spectra, and two characteristic wavelength screening methods were selected to further extract effective information from the spectra. Pollution classification models for ZEN and DON were established using three machine learning algorithms, namely k-nearest neighbor classification algorithm, least …

Research Progress On Nutritional Components, Bioactive Properties, And Application Of Chlorella Vulgaris In Food, Xu Bingzheng, Xu Zongxi, Zhang Jian, Liang Rongrong, Liang Yusi

Food and Machinery

Chlorella vulgaris, a green microalga, is widely recognized in the food industry for its outstanding nutritional value. This review systematically summarizes the diverse nutritional components enriched in this microalga, including proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins, pigments, and minerals, as well as the various bioactivities conferred by these components, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antibacterial and antiviral, anticancer, detoxifying, adjuvant antidiabetic, antihypertensive and antihyperlipidemic, neuroprotective, antidepressant, and prebiotic activities. Additionally, the research progress of C.vulgaris in food applications is elaborated, and the current challenges in its commercialization are discussed, including the technological gap in large-scale production that coordinates nutritional composition and low-cost …

Genomics And Bioinformatics Student Companion Workbook (First Edition), Na Xu, Tina Hu

Open Educational Resources

This Genomics and Bioinformatics Student Companion Workbook provides an integrated, hands-on introduction to the principles and applications of modern genomics and bioinformatics. Designed for undergraduate students, the workbook guides learners from foundational concepts of genome structure and sequencing technologies to advanced topics including variant analysis, comparative genomics, and multi-omics integration. Emphasizing the interplay between experimental biology and computational analysis, it introduces key analytical tools and biological databases that support genome interpretation and data-driven discovery.

Through a structured progression of chapters, students explore genome organization across diverse biological systems, from prokaryotes and viruses to complex eukaryotic genomes, and examine how genomic …

Teacher Professional Development In Art Museums, Tamar Rosenfeld-Cohen

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study examines teachers’ professional development and learning experiences in art museums, attempting to bridge the gap in the literature regarding the links between teachers’ identities and learning experiences to their teaching, and the disparity between the needs and tenets of adult learning and the teacher professional development experiences that are offered to teachers (Mehta & Fine, 2019).

This study intended to identify the effective and meaningful features of art museum teacher professional development offerings, conceptualize teachers’ experiences in these programs and how art museums can support their own needs, personal preferences, and professional requirements. Based on a mixed-methods research …

The Search For Moby Dick: The Role Of State Law In Maritime Tort Cases, John E. Holloway

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

In 1917, the United States Supreme Court held in Southern Pacific v. Jensen that a state statute is invalid if it “interferes with the proper harmony and uniformity of [the general maritime law].” Over a century after Jensen, we still do not know the limits of this “uniformity principle.” Just two years ago, the United States Supreme Court found that this question—what is the role of state law in maritime cases?—remains “one of the most perplexing in the law.”

This Article tracks the Court’s struggle to make sense of the Uniformity principle. It surveys the Court’s inconsistent rulings and criticisms …

Assessing Legacy Collections: Analyzing The Preservation, Recovery, And Interpretive Value Of Archaeobotanical Remains From Site 15le70 (Pine Crest Rockshelter), Lee County, Kentucky, Jennifer Carroll

Graduate Final Projects

This paper uses the archaeobotanical assemblage from Site 15Le70, a multi-excavated and extensively looted rockshelter in eastern Kentucky, while opening new lines of inquiry into gendered labor and practice during the Archaic-Woodland transition. Because legacy collections are often dispersed across institutions and/or research projects, the materials from any single site may be fragmented, as was the case for 15Le70. Such collections can be overlooked, yet this investigation into 15Le70’s archaeobotanical assemblage demonstrates that partial or scattered datasets can yield meaningful results and hold the potential to fill gaps in the archaeological record left by looting.

In this study, a small …

Patterns Of Molecular Evolution Driving Reproductive And Genomic Processes In Sauropsids, Taylor Green

Theses and Dissertations

Sexual reproduction is an important driver of genetic diversity and speciation through such forces as selection, mutation, and drift. Sauropsids are an appropriate clade to study shared molecular drivers of sexual and genomic evolution due to their genome architecture, sex determination mechanism (SDM) plasticity, and large syntenous genomic regions. Using comparative phylogenetic methods, I identify predictable patterns of selection in meiotic recombination genes and clade-specific drivers of recombination rate evolution. Then, leveraging whole genome sequencing, I demonstrate that American alligator genomes are characterized by an ancient loss of genetic diversity driven by drift and historic inbreeding. I also generate a …

Frye Is So Last Century: It’S Time For Washington To Get With The Times, Darian Mullen

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

This paper argues that Washington State should finally abandon the

Frye test for expert witnesses and adopt the Daubert test used by federal

courts and most states. It begins with a discussion of the background of

expert witnesses in the U.S. court system and its evolution through Frye.

Then, it looks at the increase in drunk driving in Washington State as a

case study for how the public depends on quality science to protect

individuals and punish wrongdoers. Through the case study, it is

apparent that Frye is an unworkable standard that should be superseded

by Daubert.

Classification Of Hif Detection In Nev Profile Using Wavelet Transform And Convolution Neural Network, Abdul Hafiz Kassim, Mohd Abdul Talib Mat Yusoh, Aster Smith Valentinie Wilson Nottelmarc, Ahmad Farid Abidin, Sim Sy Yi, Daw Saleh Sasi Mohammed

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

High impedance faults (HIFs) present a critical challenge in power systems due to their subtle signal characteristics, which often remain undetected by conventional protection methods. These faults typically do not produce significant phase disturbances, making reliable detection difficult. However, analysis of the neutral-to-earth voltage (NEV) profile under fault conditions provides a promising alternative for fault identification. Existing approaches for detecting and classifying HIFs using NEV signals remain limited and may result in inaccurate maintenance decisions. This paper proposes a fault classification framework for multiple fault types, including HIF, three-phase fault, three-phase fault to ground, double line, double line to ground, …

Neurodiversity Among Nurses: Consequences For Wellbeing And Burnout, Megan Pohlmann

WUSM Theses and Dissertations – All Programs

Background/Introduction – Current research highlights three critical aspects of nurse wellbeing: the subjective personal perspective, multifaceted complexity, and variation across individuals. A particular gap in past research is a lack of understanding of how neurodivergence may impact nurses’ workplace wellbeing. Neurodiversity is the variation in human minds and neurocognitive functioning, and neurodivergence is the divergence from what society would consider the norm. Like wellbeing, it is difficult to capture, recognize, and define, which causes confusion among neurodivergent individuals and employers alike. With up to 20% of individuals displaying neurodivergent traits in the workplace, it is important to recognize that those …

Degrees Of Access: The Role Of Family Education In Applying To Graduate School, Emma Tweed

Math and Computer Science Honors Theses

Access to graduate education in the United States remains heavily stratified by structural, financial, and informational barriers. While undergraduate first-generation student outcomes are widely studied, fewer structural analyses examine how graduate-level “educational inheritance” shapes prospective applicants' navigational capital, particularly within competitive STEM fields like mathematics. Drawing upon theories of social capital and the “hidden curriculum,” this study investigates the relationship between an individual's knowledge of the graduate school application process and the highest level of education attained by an immediate family member.

Using the Knowledge-GAP survey instrument funded by the National Science Foundation, data were collected from a diverse sample …

The Extraction And Chemical Characterization Of The Avian Pigments Turacin And Turacoverdin, Sarah R. Bekkali

Honors Scholar Theses

Bird coloration is a trait that extends beyond mere aesthetics as it has an extensive range of biological significance. Plumage patterns and hues can influence camouflage, mate choice, social dominance, and physiological performance. Bird fitness, their ability to survive and reproduce, is greatly dependent on color. Melanins, carotenoids, and pterins are well-studied pigment systems that are commonly found across many avian species’. Alternatively, porphyrin-based pigments are rare and less-studied as they only found in turacos a sub-Saharan African bird belonging to the family Musophagidae. This thesis focuses on two pigments of interest: turacin, the deep crimson-red pigment found in …

Exploring Direct Support Professionals' (Dsps) Attitudes Regarding Trauma Informed Care And Its Impact On Turnover Intention, Lorraine D'Sylva-Lee

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The relationship between Direct Support Professionals’ (DSPs’) attitudes toward trauma-informed care (TIC) and their turnover intention has remained empirically untested, despite DSPs’ exposure to primary and secondary trauma. An estimated 8.38 million Americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) depend on this workforce, yet 2024 turnover rates reach 53.7%. This convergent mixed methods study examined TIC attitudes, turnover intention, and their relationship among 109 DSPs in IDD provider agencies in New Jersey. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the cross-sectional design used the ARTIC-10, TIS-6, and two open-ended items. DSPs with more favorable TIC attitudes were significantly less …

Muscular Strength And Angular Ranges Of Some Body Joints During The Take-Off Phase And Their Relationship To Vault Performance., Intisar Kadhim Abdul Kareem, Zina Abdel Salam, Zubaidah Salah Hadi, Özgür Eken

Modern Sport

Artistic Gymnastics is a sport that requires high integration of physical, skillful, and mechanical abilities. Success in this sport depends on controlling coordinating the movements of body parts during different performance phases. The vaulting device requires the production of high speed and strength in a relatively short period of time because artistic performance goes through many essential phases including approaching, taking off, first vaulting, second vaulting, then landing. Previous studies reported that taking off is the most effective and decisive phases on achievement in vaulting. The goal of the study is to identify the relationship of muscular strength and joint …

The Effect Of A Rehabilitation Program Supported By Suspension Training Straps Among Tennis Players With Medial Elbow Muscle Tendon Injuries, Mustafa Muhammad Ali Farhan

Modern Sport

The objective of this study is to design a rehabilitation program involving the use of suspension training straps and find out whether it helps improve the range of motion for injuries of the medial elbow muscle tendons. It is assumed that there exist statistically significant differences between the pre-tests and post-tests concerning the range of motion in the elbow joint, in favor of the post-test results. The experimental approach is used, with the adoption of the single-group pre-test/post-test experimental design. The research population includes seniors tennis players that have sustained injuries to their medial elbow muscle tendons at Middle Euphrates …