Digital Commons Network^™

Online Learning As A Tool For Accessibility For Autistic Higher Education Students, Keirnan E. Brown

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Online learning is becoming more prevalent (Aylmer, 2020) and institutions are seeing an increase in disabled students (HEFCE, 2017; Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of the University System and Research [ANVUR], & National Conference of University Delegates for Disability [CNUDD], 2021; Rao, Edelen-Smith, & Wailehua, 2015). Meanwhile, this group experiences an achievement gap concerning learning and outcomes (ECU, 2017; Eurostat, 2014; Eurostat, 2019; Pearson et al., 2019). Therefore, exploring potential uses of online learning may be beneficial. One related use for online learning is its potential as a tool for accessibility for autistic students. Moreover, a literature gap exists …

Exploring The Experiences Of School Counselors Advocating For Social Justice Within Urban Pk-12 Charter Schools, Betsy Marina Perez

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

School counselors serve students’ academic, career, and social/emotional needs through a comprehensive school counseling program, and center their work on concepts of equity, advocacy, social justice, and systemic change, to remove barriers and increase opportunities for all PK-12 students. Charter schools are also unique public school settings as they offer flexibility, innovation, and autonomy to staff to create individualized experiences for their students. Held in common by these two educational services is the commitment to serving the needs of historically marginalized populations (Black, Indigenous, People of Color [BIPOC] and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds) and the opportunity to advocate for …

Quasi-Static And Impact Load Response Of Bfrp-Reinforced Concrete Beams And Post-Terrorist-Attack Sub-Assemblages, José Luis Carrasquillo

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation presents the outcome of a theoretical and experimental study of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Polymer (BFRP) reinforced concrete beams and post-terrorist-attack subassemblages subjected to either quasi-static or impact load. Both BFRP reinforcement as well as BFRP fabric are used in this investigation. The sub-assemblage consists of an otherwise two-span beam converted to a fixed-end single-span one owing to the loss of a middle column blasted off during the terrorist attack. The simply supported beams are subjected to a midspan quasistatic or an impact load. However, each sub-assemblage is subjected to a quasi-static load up to collapse to simulate the …

Identification Of Quality Indicators Of Visual Based Learning Material In Technology Education Programs For Grades 6th - 9th In Greek Schools In Cyclades Aegean Islands, Spyridoula Tsouganatou

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to identify quality indicators for visual based learning material for technology education classes for grades 6th to 9th. This is a three round Delphi study aimed in answering the following research question. RQ: What are the quality indicators that contribute to the successful selection of visual-based learning material that contribute effectively to transmitting pedagogical information in a technology education classroom for grades 6^th -9^th? The quality indicators were determined by the consensus reached by technology education expert panel/educators that have been identified for the contributions and expertise in the field of …

Spectroscopy Of Atmospheres, Randika Dodangodage

Physics Theses & Dissertations

Spectroscopic methods are used to study planetary and stellar atmospheres. The information obtained from spectroscopic studies provides insight into atmospheric compositions and dynamics, which can be used to model and characterize atmospheres and climates. Laboratory-recorded absorption cross-sections are needed to interpret the recorded spectra of planets and stars. High resolution ethane, neopentane, propene, and n-butane spectra have been recorded, and absorption cross-sections have been provided for different temperatures and total pressures with different broadening gases, including hydrogen, helium, and nitrogen. The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) satellite orbits Earth and records spectra through solar occultation limb observations. HOCl is a chlorine …

The Incremental Validity Of Feedback Orientation On Performance: Beyond C & G, Elissa Ann Liguori

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The current study examined the incremental validity of feedback orientation to predict task and contextual performance above and beyond two robust predictors of performance (conscientiousness and cognitive ability). Additionally, this study tested if feedback orientation could ameliorate the effects of adverse impact. 185 adults employed in the United States completed a survey assessing their levels of feedback orientation, cognitive ability, and conscientiousness. It was hypothesized that feedback orientation would incremental validity to predict contextual (H1) and task performance (H2) above and beyond conscientiousness and cognitive ability. Furthermore, the authors expected that feedback orientation would ameliorate the effects of adverse impact …

Inviting Submission: Isabella Beeton At The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, 1856-1865, Julie Megan Sorge Way

English Theses & Dissertations

Isabella Beeton, creator of the iconic domestic manual Beeton’s Book of Household Management, died suddenly in 1865, just before her twenty-ninth birthday. Her popular book survived to codify stereotypical Victorian female ideals. Yet the “Mrs Beeton” mythos camouflages a remarkable talent: far from domestic drudgery, Beeton maintained a vibrant career as a writer and editor at the Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine (EDM), traveling widely to research the latest fashions and laboring behind the scenes to ensure the magazine’s success. Closely examining Beeton’s EDM work demonstrates how these formative, productive years shaped her later, more popular writing. Such a …

Development Of One And Two Current Transition Amplitudes With Two Body Final States, Keegan H. Sherman

Physics Theses & Dissertations

One of the biggest challenges facing modern day nuclear physics is understanding the structure of states within the hadronic spectrum of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). We have shown this spectrum to be quite rich with hundreds of allowed states; however, if we wish to better grasp the dynamics of QCD, then it is necessary that we start investigating the internal structure of these states. This may be done by probing these states with external currents, but this requires a description of the intersection of QCD with the electroweak sector. This work acts as a stepping stone in this direction. Working to …

Partners In Crisis: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Collaboration Between Crisis Intervention Team Officers And Mental Health Professionals, Jessica L. Huffman

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Law enforcement officers (LEOs) are often the first responders to crisis situations, which increasingly include mental health crises. Collaborating with mental health professionals and organizations increases the likelihood that individuals will receive a response that is contextually and culturally informed by an understanding of mental health needs and considerations. For this reason, Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) have been established to train LEOs and to unite efforts with mental health professionals, advocates, and community constituents. While there is existing and ongoing literature exploring the responses provided by CIT, there is limited research on the experiences of CITs related to their unique …

Performing Information Extraction For Mission Engineering Applications, Samuel R. Koski

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The process of extracting structured data from unstructured and semi-structured text is manual, time consuming and error prone. Current natural language processing approaches for automating this process are difficult to verify for non-trivial and context-sensitive corpora. Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT have become a subject of considerable interest, opening a promising avenue of exploration. However, there is limited evidence on the performance of LLMs for information extraction.

In this dissertation, an approach is proposed to evaluate the accuracy of Stanford OpenIE and OpenAI's ChatGPT for this purpose. This includes comparing Resource Description Framework (RDF) triples extracted by each of …

Preserving Location Authenticity: Multi-Sensor System To Thwart Gps Spoofing In Self-Driving Vehicles, Peng Jiang

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The ubiquity of the Global Positioning System (GPS) has cemented its role as the cornerstone for an array of location-based services and navigation systems, spanning applications from autonomous vehicles and drones to maritime vessels and wearable technology. Nonetheless, ensuring the integrity of reported geographical coordinates poses a formidable challenge, owing to the proliferation of diverse GPS spoofing tools. This predicament is compounded by the pervasive availability of tools like Fake GPS, Lockito, and software-defined radios, enabling even unsophisticated users to commandeer and disseminate counterfeit GPS coordinates. This dissertation undertakes the task of devising an encompassing and resilient framework, integrating a …

Forest Thought, Narrativity, And Counterinsurgency In Yñiga, Glenn L. Diaz

Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance

In this paper, I investigate the ways in which the tropical forest can assume the position of discourse, formal design, and textual form in fiction. I think about how, beyond its usual role as space, its vitality and various logics can facilitate a different way of storytelling, one that seeks to embody the historical resistance that the forest has long incubated. I demonstrate this by looking at the forest as a critical element in the spatio-poetics of my novel Yñiga (2022), and how its literal and conceptual manifestations--or "forest thought"--can help illuminate the ways in which history is imagined in …

A Qualitative Phenomenological Study Examining The Experiences Of Substance Use Disorder Clients Engaging In Adventure Therapy, Heather Cresswell

Dissertations

Drug overdose deaths in the United States continue to rise. In 2019, over 70,000 drug overdose deaths were recorded, marking a 4% increase from the previous year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). More recent estimates suggest the death toll exceeded 100,000 in a twelve-month period ending in April 2021, indicating a significant rise (Johnson, 2021). The high mortality rate linked to addiction highlights the necessity for effective interventions for individuals diagnosed with SUD. The study presented focused on the impact of Adventure Therapy (AT) as an addition to the treatment of adults diagnosed with SUD. The chosen research …

Impact Of Financial Literacy And Financial Capability On Students' Self-Efficacy, Darren Scott

Dissertations

Low-income, first-generation college students experience unique obstacles in their pursuits of a college degree. One of the biggest stressors that exist within this population is financial stress which has led to money being the number one reason students do not persist to graduation. Despite this being one of their biggest stressors, many higher education institutions do not put an emphasis on financial literacy initiatives that research has shown can help alleviate this type of stress. This mixed methods study explores the impact financial literacy and financial capability has on a students’ self-efficacy. This research is guided by Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy …

An Evaluation Of The Factors That Lead To The Development Of Deferential Interactions Between Teachers And Students, Shondra Browne-Bolton

Dissertations

Schools have historically maintained a hierarchy with an expectation that students show deference. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors that caused students to treat teachers disrespectfully. This mixed-methods inquiry included K-12 teachers and administrators who responded to a social media post and participated in surveys and interviews. Based on my findings, the factors that led to the development of deferential interactions between teachers and students included establishing trusting relationships, reciprocated respect, clear schoolwide behavior expectations, positive communication with parents, and teachers' professional dress. My recommendations were for establishing clear schoolwide behavior expectations, for school districts to …

I Saw Guns And Sharp Swords In The Hands Of Young Children: Why Mental Health Courts For Juveniles With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Fetal Alcohol Spectrum/Disorder Are Needed, Michael L. Perlin, Heather Ellis Cucolo, Deborah Dorfman

Articles & Chapters

In this article, we offer – we believe for the first time in the scholarly literature -- a potentially (at least partially) ameliorative solution to the problems faced by persons with autism(ASD) and fetal alcohol syndrome/disorder (FAS/FASD) in the criminal justice system: the creation of (separate sets of) problem-solving juvenile mental health courts specifically to deal with cases of juveniles in the criminal justice system with ASD, and with FAS/FASD. There is currently at least one juvenile mental health court that explicitly accepts juveniles with autism, but there are, to the best of our knowledge, no courts set up specifically …

Attentive Reading: A South African Example Of Law In Context, Kris Franklin, Sarah E. Chinn

Articles & Chapters

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court just shot holes through the United States Supreme Court’s revanchist reading of precedent and history in to support overturning Roe in Dobbs. In Allegheny Reproductive Health Center, both the majority and the powerful concurring opinion explore the oppression inherent in both past and current conditions for women, concluding that ignoring that context makes rendering legal opinions affecting women’s rights either impossible or nonsensical. Can courts really do that? We think they not only can, but that they must.

In this article, a scholar of law and a scholar of literature work together to consider what it …

Methods, Analyses, And Applications Of Multilayer Temporal Link Prediction In Networks, Xie He

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Many applications stem from the possibility of accurately predicting links in various types of networks. In this thesis, we present methods, analyses, and applications for static, temporal, and multilayer networks. The first part of this thesis demonstrates how static network features serve as efficient and accurate predictors for link prediction in temporal networks. It includes an ensemble learning method we developed and presents experimental results on 90 synthetic stochastic block models and 19 real-world datasets. The second part closely follows, showcasing 20 different sampling methods and their effects on nine different link prediction algorithms for 250 real-world networks across 6 …

Toward Electrical Impedance Sensing Surgical Drill For Tissue Boundary Detection, Harshavardhan Devaraj

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Dental implantation is an increasingly common procedure used to treat missing teeth. However, surgical drilling to place the implant poses a high risk of injury to critical anatomy, such as inferior alveolar nerve injury or maxillary sinus perforation. A real-time surgical feedback system sensing proximity of these critical anatomy could reduce injury risks. This dissertation investigates the development of such a system that incorporates an electrical impedance sensor into the tip of a surgical drill.

A simulation framework based on finite element method (FEM) was developed to optimize the sensor as it approached a high impedance boundary. The accuracy of …

Automated Glacier Classification In High Mountain Asia Using Machine Learning And A Random Forest Classifier, Victoria Elizabeth Halvorson

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

High Mountain Asia (HMA) is home to the largest mass of glaciers and ice outside the north and south polar regions. HMA glaciers are projected to experience accelerated mass loss from higher greenhouse gas emissions through the end of the century. Many studies of glacier mass balance and mass loss in HMA obtain glacier area from the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI). However, the RGI is designed to show glacier area across the world that is accurate to the year 2000 and, as a result, is not an accurate representation of the current state of glacier area in HMA. Additionally, glacier …

A Loon On Highland Lake, An Eco-Fantasy, Erin E. Bennett

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

A Loon on Highland Lake is a fantasy play, adapted from Tchaikovsky’s ballet, Swan Lake, itself an adaption of a Russian “swan maiden” folktale. In this retelling, the spirit of an invasive tree species, Alder Buckthorn, endangers the inhabitants of the small lake town of East Andover, New Hampshire. On the night of the 4^th of July, Buckthorn places a curse on an unfortunate news reporter, transforming him into a loon, the solitary black bird known in the northeast for its distinct, haunting call. Figgy, a shy ecologist living in East Andover, stumbles upon the knowledge that her …

Skip The Grid: Delivering Solar Energy In The Navajo Nation, Lance Brack

Construction Management

Skip the Grid is an interdisciplinary service-learning project to install solar energy systems on dwellings in the Navajo Nation. This project is a large collaboration between students from 7 different majors at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), SOLV Energy, the educational equity non-profit, Heart of America (HOA), and many industry and community sponsors. Through HOA, Skip the Grid targets homes of school age children that have limited or no access to electricity. On March 24, 2024, a group of 20 Cal Poly students traveled to Farmington, New Mexico to begin collaboration with the Consolidated School District. Over the following …

2024 Annual Hackathon: Redesigning Safety Head Protection, Olivia Pisani

Construction Management

The Hackathon is an annual event hosted by construction management students at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. The event aims to redesign a piece of safety equipment to make it more user-friendly, safe, and enjoyable, and provide equitable safety for all genders. The subject of the hackathon held in April, 2024, was head protection for construction workers, primarily hard hats and helmets. Head protection is a critical PPE item that impacts every worker on a job site - which is why it was chosen for a redesign. The 2024 hackathon event was centered around inviting industry members …

Measuring Jury Perception Of Explainable Machine Learning And Demonstrative Evidence, Rachel Edie Sparks Rogers

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

Subjective pattern comparison has been subject to increased scrutiny by the courts and by the general public, resulting in an increased interest in pattern comparison algorithms that provide quantitative assessments of similarity for use by forensic scientists. While these algorithms would mark an improvement over current subjective comparison methods, individuals without a statistical background may struggle with the statistical concepts and language necessary for describing algorithmic methods. If algorithms are to be used, examiners must be able to testify about their use in a way that is accessible to the jury. In a series of studies, we conduct an assessment …

Exploration Of The Mental Health Impacts Of Drought On Rural Nebraskans Via Remembered Perceptions, Grace Schleining

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Drought is a sociological phenomenon. It is a well-known occurrence across the midwestern United States; the drying out of the soil, the failing of crops, and the constant dryness and heat… this is all drought. Inspired by my earliest memory of this climate phenomenon I sought to determine whether we can identify evidence of negative mental health impacts and/or well-being in rural Nebraskans due to drought, thus my research question: Can we identify negative effects of drought on rural Nebraskan mental health and/or wellbeing? In this study, rural Nebraska community members, who are involved with the agricultural sector, were interviewed. …

Tort Theory And The Restatement, In Retrospect, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

This is my third paper on the Restatement (Third) of Torts. In my first paper, The Theory of Tort Doctrine and the Restatement (Third) of Torts, I offered a positive economic theory of the tort doctrine that had been presented in the Restatement (Third) of Torts: General Principles, and also an optimistic vision of how positive theoretical analysis could be integrated with the Restatement project. In my second paper, The Economics of the Restatement and of the Common Law, I set out the utilitarian-economic theory of how the common law litigation process could generate optimal (efficient, wealth-maximizing) rules and compared …

Design, Analysis, And Drop Assembly Of Interlocking Rigid Bodies, Amy K. Sniffen

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

This work presents a system of interlocking blocks that can be used to build a wide variety of structures. The blocks slide together to form structures that interlock geometrically like a puzzle to form semi-permanent structures without the need for cement or friction lock. The blocks are designed to be easy to fabricate, assemble, and disassemble. Contributions of the block designs include a novel interlocking joint structure; the joints are wedge-shaped, allowing for error mitigation during assembly and allowing structures to be assembled without jamming even if there is manufacturing error. We introduce planar, 3D, and volumetric designs using these …

Analyzing The Impact Of Feature Selection Using Information Gain For Airlines Customer Satisfaction, Farah Aqilah Bohani, Farah Syazwani Mohamed Rashid, Yuzi Mahmud, Sitti Rachmawati Yahya

Malaysian Journal of Computing (MJoC)

Feature selection has become a focus of research in many fields that deal with machine learning and data mining because it makes classifiers cost-effective, faster, and more accurate. In this paper, the impact of feature selection using filter methods such as Information Gain is shown. The impact of feature selection has been analyzed based on the accuracy of two classifiers: J48 and Naïve Bayes. The Airline Customer Satisfaction datasets have been used for comparing with and without applying Information Gain. As a result, J48 achieved 0.33% and 0.29% improvements in accuracy after applying Information Gain for 10-fold and 20-fold cross-validation, …

Enhancing Loan Approval Decision-Making An Interpretable Machine Learning Approach Using Lightgbm For Digital Economy Development, Teuku Rizky Noviandy, Ghalieb Mutig Idroes, Irsan Hardi

Malaysian Journal of Computing (MJoC)

This study aims to enhance loan approval decision-making in the digital economy using an interpretable machine learning approach. The primary research question investigates how integrating an interpretable machine learning approach can improve the accuracy and transparency of loan approval processes. We employed LightGBM, a gradient-boosting framework for loan approval classification, optimized via Random Search hyperparameter tuning and validated using 10-fold cross-validation. We incorporated the Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) framework to address the challenge of interpretability in machine learning. The LightGBM model outperformed conventional algorithms (Decision Tree, Random Forest, AdaBoost, and Extra Trees) in accuracy (98.13%), precision (97.78%), recall (97.17%), and …

Exploratory Analysis With Association Rule Mining Algorithms In The Retail Industry, Alaa Amin Hashad, Khaw Khai Wah, Alhamzah Alnoor, Xinying Chew

Malaysian Journal of Computing (MJoC)

Every year the retail sector expands quickly. These industries are becoming more competitive and difficult to operate in due to their expansion. Changing consumer buying habits, a decline in people's spending capacity and an increase in international retailers are a few of the difficulties that must be overcome. In the context of mining frequent item sets, many methods have been proposed to push various kinds of limitations inside the most well-known algorithms. This study presents an exploratory analysis for retail stores that uses market basket analysis as one of the data mining techniques to identify frequent patterns in customer purchases. …