Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding Dyslexia In Secondary Schools: Perspectives Of Students (With And Without Confirmed Diagnosis) And Educators, Kerissa Nelson

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 seeks high quality education for all (UNSDG4). This requires classrooms to have improved access and opportunity for all students including those with dyslexia. Research regarding dyslexic students’ experiences and inclusive education have not yet been thoroughly investigated. This research specifically addressed the experiences that both shape and are shaped by one’s own perspectives and those of others in their environment. The study’s objectives were to create knowledge and promote understanding of the experiences of students with dyslexia and to gain educators’ perspectives on classroom practices. The study drew on these different perspectives using …

Evaluating The Integration Of A Mathematics Enhancement Programme Into Jamaican Primary Mathematics Classes, Shandelene Khadine Kedisha Binns-Thompson

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

This embedded quasi-experimental research design examined the impact of an enrichment initiative entitled the Mathematics Enhancement Programme (MEP) on Jamaican students’ performance and attitude towards mathematics. It identified teaching strategies for integrating the MEP into Jamaican primary mathematics classes. It investigated the impact of the MEP on teachers’ pedagogical practices, and it identified the barriers to integrating the MEP. A sample of 331 students and 12 teachers were conveniently selected from three schools from three parishes in Jamaica for the intervention group. The comparison group consisted of 180 students and seven teachers conveniently selected from two schools in central Jamaica. …

Responding To Reading Difficulties: An Exploration From Different Professional Perspectives, Ezgi Unlu

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

The study was designed to explore educators’ perspectives on reading difficulties and their choice of teaching strategies for students with reading difficulties. The study aimed to understand how educators form their professional perspectives on reading difficulties, how this relates to their understanding of the concept of ‘dyslexia’ and how this informs their teaching methods. Furthermore, the study has explored the extent to which these chosen teaching strategies are inclusive and meet the needs of all students. A qualitative case study was used to generate data to address the research questions and achieve the aims of this study. Data were generated …

A Delicate Matter: The Madhouses Of The South West Of England, 1770 – 1851, Emma Barrett

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

This thesis examines the private madhouses of Somerset, Dorset, Devon, and Wiltshire during a period of great transition within the existing lunacy care landscape. Many madhouses pre-dated county asylums in provision for the pauper mentally ill, including in the south west. Madhouses operated as an enterprise, unlike the parish overseen county asylums. This led to a lack of regulations in care. The Lunacy Commission was formed as part of the 1828 Madhouse Act. This led to a series of inspections of all asylums throughout England for the first time. At this time, Devon and Somerset had disproportionally high rates of …

Teaching An English Geography Curriculum Abroad: Who Is The Other?, Kay Chapman

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

In former British colonies, such as Sri Lanka, affluent families from that country may choose to send their children to international schools because they want their children to have a British education and qualifications and be taught by British teachers. This research investigates how some of the actors involved negotiate a geography curriculum constructed for sixteen year olds in England with pupils from Sri Lanka. This small scale, multi-method, qualitative study focuses on one geography department at one international school in Sri Lanka. Data collected includes in-depth interviews with a Sri Lankan teacher, British teachers at the school and an …

Sound Marks, Deborah R. Gerhardt, Jon J. Lee

Faculty Publications

A lion roars just before a film rolls. A doughboy giggles. A giant green man laughs a hearty, "Ho, Ho, Ho." These iconic sounds are all federally registered as trademarks. They identify specific brands and distinguish their products and services from the competition. Human brains treat sounds like these as categorization tools and cognitive shortcuts—ideal trademark symbols. But what about the sounds your favorite toys or electronic devices make? Or those made by a fictional character in the latest blockbuster?

This Article tackles these issues and others. We push back against the widely-held belief that all unconventional trademarks—product designs, colors, …

History And The School Prayer Cases, Mark Storslee

Faculty Publications

In a series of two decisions known as the School Prayer Cases, the Supreme Court famously held that the Establishment Clause forbids state-sponsored prayer in public schools—even where the government provides opt-outs for dissenters. Yet subsequent legal developments have rendered those decisions unstable. And with the Court’s recent turn to “historical practices and understandings,” many question whether the School Prayer Cases can possibly survive.

It is too soon to tell where the Court’s renewed focus on Founding-era history might lead. But this Article contends, contrary to both some originalist Justices and their critics, that a focus on history does …

Multibillion-Dollar Tax Questions, James Alm, Jay A. Soled, Kathleen Delaney Thomas

Faculty Publications

Tax compliance in the United States historically hovers in the 80 percent range, costing the nation approximately half a trillion dollars annually in uncollected tax revenue. To foster greater tax compliance, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) should employ whatever tools are at its disposal. Standard deterrence theory argues that increasing the audit rate and imposing stiffer penalties would foster greater tax compliance. There are political headwinds, however, that strongly suggest that these approaches are not currently viable. Instead, there is a low-cost method that could yield greater tax compliance. Drawing on recent and compelling social science research, the IRS should …

Storage Facilities And Strategies In The Nile Valley Between The Borderscape Of The First And Third Cataracts (4000 Bc-1000 Bc), Ana Oliveira

Theses and Dissertations

Between the 4th millennium and 1st millennium BC, different communities inhabited the region located within the First to the Third Cataracts. These groups obtained, stored, and distributed foodstuff and commodities in various ways. This paper presents archaeological data from this area and period to shed light into storage strategies and facilities in use during this period on the upper course of the Nile Valley in an attempt to better understand subsistence strategies and economies.

Lobbying As A Means For Expanding The Communication Instructional Base In Higher Education Iii, Craig Newburger, Patricia L. Donat, Sherwyn P. Morreale

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Based on several national mandates, this essay examines the support for and importance of active advocacy among our discipline members in framing the conversation about oral communication proficiency, leading instructional design, and assessing student learning on our campuses. Recommended action involves the development and implementation of a coordinated strategy for engaging both institutional accreditors and those charged with the development and modification of individual campus general education requirements regarding the importance of communication scholars and instructors as principal designers of learning goals, subsequent learning activities, and the corresponding assessment of oral communication instruction on college campuses.

Journal Of The Association For Communication Administration: Complete Volume 41

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the complete volume of JACA Volume 41.

Informing The State Of Process Modeling And Automation Of Blood Banking And Transfusion Services Through A Systematic Mapping Study, Shaima' Abdallah Elhaj, Yousra Odeh, Dina Tbaishat, Anwar Rjoop, Asem Mansour, Mohammed Odeh

All Works

Purpose: The current state of the art in process modeling of blood banking and transfusion services is not well grounded; methodological reviews are lacking to bridge the gap between such blood banking and transfusion processes (and their models) and their automation. This research aims to fill this gap with a methodological review. Methods: A systematic mapping study was adopted, driven by five key research questions. Identified research studies were accepted based on fulfilling the following inclusion criteria: 1) research studies should focus on blood banking and transfusion process modeling since the late 1970s; and 2) research studies should focus on …

Assessing The Impact Of Chatbot-Human Personality Congruence On User Behavior: A Chatbot-Based Advising System Case, Mohammad Amin Kuhail, Mohamed Bahja, Ons Al-Shamaileh, Justin Thomas, Amina Alkazemi, Joao Negreiros

All Works

Chatbot personality has been demonstrated to influence user behavior, such as trust and intended engagement. However, previous research on chatbot-user personality congruence’s influence on user behavior is scant despite its significance in human-human conversations. This study explores the effect of chatbot-human personality trait congruence on user behavior in the context of a chatbot-based advising system. In this study, 54 college students interacted with chatbots with three different personalities (extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and rated their trust, usage intention, and intended engagement with the chatbots. Additionally, 18 participants were interviewed to gain further insights into their perceptions and evaluations of the …

Complex Shadowed Set Theory And Its Application In Decision-Making Problems, Doaa Alsharo, Eman Abuteen, Abd Ulazeez M.J.S. Alkouri, Mutasem Alkhasawneh, Fadi M.A. Al-Zubi

All Works

Modern technology makes it easier to store datasets, but extracting and isolating useful information with its full meaning from this data is crucial and hard. Recently, several algorithms for clustering data have used complex fuzzy sets (CFS) to improve clustering performance. Thus, adding a second dimension (phase term) to the range of membership avoids the problem of losing the full meaning of complicated information during the decision-making process. In this research, the notion of the complex shadowed set (CSHS) was introduced and considered as an example of the three region approximations method simplifying processing with the support of CFS and …

Intra-Organizational Knowledge Sharing, Ambidexterity And Firm Performance: Evaluating The Role Of Knowledge Quality, Aleksandra Dzenopoljac, Vladimir Dzenopoljac, Shahnawaz Muhammed, Oualid Abidi, Sascha Kraus

All Works

Purpose: This study aims to examine how knowledge sharing contributes to organizations’ ambidexterity, their overall performance and the role of knowledge quality in this relationship. Knowledge sharing is conceptualized based on tacit and explicit dimensions, and ambidexterity is viewed as comprising exploitative and explorative capabilities. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a cross-sectional survey-based research design and structural equation modeling to test the proposed model of knowledge sharing and knowledge quality in organizational ambidexterity and the related hypotheses. Findings: The results indicate that tacit knowledge sharing has a significant, direct impact on the exploitative and explorative capabilities of the organization and indirectly …

Prevalence Of Premenstrual Syndrome And Its Associations With Dietary And Other Lifestyle Factors Among University Female Students In Dubai: A Cross-Sectional Study, Haleama Al Sabbah, Noof Al Mutawa, Enas A. Assaf

All Works

Background: Premenstrual syndrome is a relatively prevalent condition that affects a significant number of menstruating women worldwide. It can range from mild to severe and may interfere with daily activities. Objective: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of premenstrual syndrome and its associated factors among female university students in Dubai. Design: This study was designed as a cross-sectional study. Methods: The analysis for this study involved 217 female university students (aged ⩾18 years old) who completed a self-reported online questionnaire. Participants were recruited through simple random sampling, and the study received ethical approval from the Zayed University Ethical Committee. …

The Information Age For Education Via Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning: A Bibliometric And Systematic Literature Analysis, Hassan Abuhassna, Fareed Awae, Mohamad A.B.M. Adnan, Mahyudin Daud, Abdulla S.B. Almheiri

All Works

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in education is a rapidly evolving field, yet the long-term implications and actual impacts on student learning outcomes require more in-depth study. Address this gap, our study offers a novel approach combining bibliometric analysis and a Systematic Literature Review (SLR), guided by the PRISMA methodology. The first phase, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis, identified key nations, educational institutions, journals, keywords, and influential authors in the realm of AI/ML in educational settings. This phase provided a macro-level understanding of the field’s landscape, showcasing the global and interdisciplinary nature of AI/ML research in …

Diagnostic Performance Of Ai-Based Models Versus Physicians Among Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Feras Al-Obeidat, Wael Hafez, Muneir Gador, Nesma Ahmed, Marwa Muhammed Abdeljawad, Antesh Yadav, Asrar Rashed

All Works

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common primary liver cancer that requires early diagnosis due to its poor prognosis. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have facilitated hepatocellular carcinoma detection using multiple AI models; however, their performance is still uncertain. Aim: This meta-analysis aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of different AI models with that of clinicians in the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: We searched the PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases for eligible studies. The R package was used to synthesize the results. The outcomes of various studies were aggregated using fixed-effect and random-effects models. …

Exploring Instability In Dream-Based Narratives : A Comparative Analysis Of “Vanilla Sky” And "Inception", Sara Glemaud

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This thesis aims to dissect the deliberate destabilization that emerges from Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky and Christopher Nolan’s Inception. By stripping away stabilizing elements and weaving intricate dream sequences, Nolan and Crowe craft a cinematic experience that blurs the distinction between reality and imaginary. The means in which Nolan and Crowe execute this is through several ways. Firstly, through the exploration of the symbiotic relationship between the characters' bodies and minds within the dream narrative. Secondly, through the deliberate creation of spatial and temporal instability, which blurs the boundaries between reality and fantasy or the imaginary. Lastly, both films deliberately …

Answering The Call Through An Inquiry Circle : English Educators Embark On A Journey To Become Antiracist, Lisa V. Kenny

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This study examines a group of four English educators, two women of color and two white women, who self-identified as teachers for social justice as they formed a teacher inquiry group, called a teacher inquiry circle, as they attempt to become antiracist. The purpose of the inquiry circle was to answer the call to action for more equitable racially just schools that permeated the nation during the Covid-19 pandemic and after the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020. To conduct the study a feminist practitioner action research methodology was used, and a racial literacy framework was applied …

Exploring Teachers’ Lived Literacies : Disrupting Hegemonic Conceptions Of Literacy In Schools, Katie F. Whitley

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In schools, literacy is often positioned as a fixed set of reading and writing skills. This can limit what counts as an academically acceptable literacy practice despite the complex and nuanced ways people communicate in their personal and social contexts. With this tension around conceptions of literacy in mind, I wondered how teachers thought about literacy in their lives and in what ways (if any) their personal conceptions of literacy crossed the boundary into their classrooms. Thus, this study examines three secondary English language arts teachers’ conceptions of literacy using a feminist approach to new literacies as the theoretical framework …

Beyond Print : The Web Of Egan’S Narrative Universe, Cassandra Sardo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Jennifer Egan’s website greatly rewards readers and literary critics interested in A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Candy House. It hosts an interactive timeline filled with details like when and where she wrote each chapter of Goon Squad, a digital counterpart to her famous PowerPoint chapter, and excerpts from her handwritten first drafts of The Candy House. These digital epitexts, however, have been largely overlooked by critics, and a comprehensive analysis and close reading of Egan’s work in this important context remains uncharted territory. My thesis aims to bridge this gap by exploring the technological elements within Egan’s …

Infusing Commonsense Via Knowledge Bases In Multipurpose Robotic Task Organization, Rafael Omar Hidalgo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This research explores the innovative integration of commonsense knowledge (CSK) within AI systems, with a particular focus on domestic robotics. At the heart of this study is the Robo- CSK-Organizer, a groundbreaking system that utilizes a classical knowledge base, namely ConceptNet, to enhance robotic decision-making through sophisticated object organization and classification. This system is contrasted with a ChatGPT-based organizer, examining their performance in terms of ambiguity resolution, consistency in object placement, adaptability to task classifications, and crucially, in explainability, a key aspect of XAI (Explainable AI). Through a combination of controlled experiments, quantitative and qualitative analysis, the study demonstrates that …

State Sovereign Immunity After The Revolution, Ernest A. Young

Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court’s 1996 decision in Seminole Tribe v. Florida opened an era of dramatic expansion of states’ sovereign immunity from suits by private parties. Nationalist Justices vigorously contested that expansion, vowing that they would never accept Seminole Tribe’s legitimacy or accord it stare decisis effect. In 2020, however, the unanimous decision in Allen v. Cooper did accept Seminole Tribe’s vision of state immunity, apparently ending the Court’s longstanding and bitter division on this issue. This Article assesses Seminole Tribe as a revolution in legal doctrine that established a new paradigm of state immunity law, analogous to the scientific upheavals …

Rethinking Commercial Law’S Uncertain Boundaries, Steven L. Schwarcz

Faculty Scholarship

Although it is an essential part of business law, commercial law has uncertain boundaries. That uncertainty creates significant legal ambiguities and inconsistencies, confusing lawyers and courts and causing misinterpretations that disrupt commerce and reduce efficiency. This Article hypothesizes and tests possible explanations for the uncertainty, including that commercial law’s development has been path dependent, ad hoc, and lacking well-defined normative purposes. The Article then analyzes what those boundaries should be, arguing that commercial law should cover all business-related transfers of property, subject to exceptions needed to reduce transaction costs and otherwise increase economic efficiency. The Article also compares its proposed …

Representations & Warranties, Fraud, And Risk Shifting: An Analytical Framework, Steven L. Schwarcz

Faculty Scholarship

Do violations of contractual representations and warranties (“R&Ws”) merely shift risk by giving rise to contract-breach damages, or can they also give rise to fraud claims? This question is at the heart of numerous lawsuits, including billions of dollars of securitization-related litigation. Many agreements governing the issuance of securities in these transactions limit R&W breach claims to a sole contractual remedy—curing the violation or repurchasing nonconforming loans that caused the violation. Although parties making the R&Ws argue that this sole remedy should adequately shift risk, investor plaintiffs contend that it insufficiently shifts the risk if the violations are extensive. Plaintiffs …

Deepfakes In Court: How Judges Can Proactively Manage Alleged Ai-Generated Material In National Security Cases, Abhishek Dalal, Chongyang Gao, Paul W. Grimm, Maura R. Grossman, Daniel W. Linna Jr., Chiara Pulice, V. S. Subrahmanian, John Tunheim

Faculty Scholarship

Dall-E. ChatGPT GPT-4. Words that did not exist in the English lexicon just a few years ago are now commonplace. With the widespread availability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, specifically Generative AI, whether in the context of text, audio, video, imagery, or even combinations of these, it is inevitable that trials related to national security will involve evidentiary issues raised by Generative AI. We must confront two possibilities: first, that evidence presented is AI-generated and not real and, second, that other evidence is genuine but alleged to be fabricated. Technologies designed to detect AI-generated content have proven to be unreliable, …

Human Psychology And Robot Evidence In The Courtroom, Alternative Dispute Resolution, And Agency Proceedings, Sara Sun Beale, Hayley Lawrence

Faculty Scholarship

In human–robot interactions in legal proceedings, human responses to robot-generated evidence will present unique challenges to the accuracy of litigation as well as ancillary goals such as fairness and transparency, though it may also enhance accuracy in other respects. The most important feature of human–robot interactions is the human tendency to anthropomorphize robots, which can generate misleading impressions and be manipulated by designing robots to make them appear more trustworthy and believable. Although robot-generated evidence may also offer unique advantages, there are concerns about the degree to which the traditional methods of testing the accuracy of evidence, particularly cross-examination, will …

Originalism And Historical Fact-Finding, Joseph Blocher, Brandon L. Garrett

Faculty Scholarship

Historical facts are more central to constitutional litigation than ever before, given the Supreme Court’s increasing reliance on originalism and other modes of interpretation that invoke historical practice and tradition. This raises a central tension. The case for originalism has rested largely on the idea that it is simultaneously fact-bound and a theory of adjudication capable of resolving questions of constitutional law. In practice, however, the historical facts central to originalism typically are not litigated in accordance with standard practices for fact-finding: introduction at trial, expert testimony, adversarial testing, deference on appeal, and so on.

In the absence of the …

Standing And Probabilistic Injury, Curtis A. Bradley, Ernest A. Young

Faculty Scholarship

Standing to sue often turns on questions of probability. For example, public law plaintiffs must show that they are likely to be affected by allegedly unlawful government surveillance or environmental policies, and consumers may wish to sue private defendants over false credit reporting or data breaches that may or may not cause them financial or reputational harm in the future. This Article offers a framework for resolving a wide range of these “probabilistic standing” issues. Our core claim is that courts and commentators ask too much of standing doctrine in probabilistic cases. First, scholars sometimes seek a unified theory of …