Digital Commons Network^™

Creating Systems Of Professional Learning To Encourage Deep Thinking In Social Studies: A Qualitative Study, Elizabeth Poda King

Theses and Dissertations

This paper describes a problem that developed due to a lack of systems in place to provide professional learning for teachers in social studies. This problem was ignited when revised standards were adopted which shifted from heavy content focus to skills and content. Standards requiring both skills and content encourage student inquiry and promote deep thinking by students through the use of historical evidence. Therefore, the purpose of the improvement science plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles was to develop a system of job-embedded professional learning to assist teachers with teaching strategies that use historical evidence to promote deep thinking in social studies …

Expanding Tailored Nanomaterials With Precise Spatial And Morphological Control, Mengxue Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Multicomponent nanocomposites with precise spatial control are important for diverse fields spanning from energy conversion to optoelectronics and catalysis. Traditional methods using hydrophilic interactions alone are limited to random mixtures when multiple nanoparticle (NP) types are combined. To improve capabilities, a new strategy for polymer micelle design combining orthogonal hydrophilic (H) and fluorophobic (F) interactions to independently control two distinct NP populations was developed.

Initial research aimed at understanding F-interaction adjustments, which further enabled the switchability of FNP distribution states (dispersion vs aggregation) within polymer films through immersion annealing. Next, dual-NP assembly was examined using a diblock poly (H-b-F) where …

The Influence Of Instruction On Underrepresented Stem Leaders On Elementary Students’ Stem Identity And Perceptions Of Stem, Megan Elizabeth Willson

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study explored the influence of exposure to underrepresented STEM leaders on third-grade students’ STEM identity and their interest in STEM careers. Using an integrative STEM approach and guided by both Constructivist Learning Theory and Social Cognitive Career Theory, this convergent mixed methods study consisted of an eight-week intervention with lessons based on different STEM leaders and related activities each week. This eight-week period collected data through weekly researcher field notes, exit tickets and was prefaced and followed by a pre- and post-survey and pre- and post-interviews. Findings from the quantitative data, the Role Identity Survey in STEM …

How Exposure To Professional Development Affects Teachers’ Use Of Tier One Behavior Interventions, Taurean Jarquise Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that ongoing professional development is most beneficial for teachers. However, many schools cannot provide the time teachers need to participate in the frequent meetings, discussions, and reflections needed to cause professional growth. Student behavior continues to be an area in which teachers need support. Many teachers report that student behavior is one reason they often become unhappy with their jobs and leave their education career altogether. The qualitative action research study used strategies aligned with Culturally Relevant Pedagogy to offer six teachers professional development in Tier 1 behavior interventions. The data gathered measured how much Tier 1 behavior …

The Design And Optimization Of Optical Systems For The Detection And Characterization Of Phytoplankton, Caitlyn M. English

Theses and Dissertations

Phytoplankton are among the smallest organisms found in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Despite their small size, phytoplankton play a vital role in sustaining life on Earth as primary producers. Through oxygenic photosynthesis phytoplankton are also responsible for large scale carbon fixation and oxygen production. The distribution of phytoplankton in a given water resource can exhibit a high degree of variability across time and space, and this is in large part due to their varying sensitivities to environmental conditions such as resource availability and grazing by predator organisms. As such, phytoplankton community structure is widely used as an investigative tool for …

Gateways To Reading: Action Research With At-Risk Students At An Alternative School, David Sean Goff

Theses and Dissertations

There is no shortage of research on how low levels of literacy disproportionately affect students of color, but this research was interested in how three theoretical models may impact this trend. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the reading experiences and engagement levels of students in an alternative school English class, applying culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), self-determination theory (SPD), and zone of proximal development (ZPD). CRP is a theoretical model that upholds students’ cultural identities, while pursuing academic success. ZPD is a theoretical model that suggests learning occurs when content is within students’ ability. SDT is …

Systems Check: A Qualitative Case Study Of Educators And Parent-Educators Supporting Adolescent Readers From An Ecological Systems Perspective, Kristi Nicole Grooms

Theses and Dissertations

In spite of decades of research and an abundance of well-intentioned intervention efforts, supporting adolescent readers, particularly at the middle level, remains a significant area of concern for educators in the United States. The struggles are present for educators working to help underperforming readers reach grade-level and keep advanced readers motivated and engaged. At home, parents and guardians experience similar challenges. Data on adolescent comprehension performance continues to be frustrating in terms of producing consistent positive results. This qualitative action research study investigated the ongoing challenge of supporting adolescent readers, specifically within the context of 7th grade, through a systems …

Empowering Education: Unveiling The Strategies Of Latina Elementary Principals In Cultivating Culturally Responsive Learning Environments, Amaris Jeanette Rivas

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This study employed pláticas (Cuevas-Guerra, 2025) to explore how Latina elementary school principals leverage lived experiences, cultural heritage, and community values to foster culturally responsive learning environments. Grounded in Yosso’s (2005) CCW framework and Bordas’ (2013) Latino leadership principles, two questions: (a) How do Latina principals’ early family and educational experiences shape their leadership practices? and (b) What strategies do they use to create culturally responsive schools? were explored Individual and group pláticas with five Latina principals revealed six themes: (a) familia and community bonds, (b) resilience and resistance, (c) cultural identity and pride, (d) education and knowledge, (e) collaboration …

Thermodynamic Study Of Ligand Coordination On Lead Halide Perovskite Quantum Dots, Bishal Adhikari

Theses and Dissertations

Inorganic lead halide perovskite (ILHP) has been extensively studied in thin films and bulk crystals as promising materials for their photovoltaic and optoelectronic properties. These are stable enough to be prepared as colloidal quantum dots that can be dispersed, deposited and used to achieve quantum confinement; however, selection of the suitable surface passivating ligand remains challenge for long term stability of the colloidal quantum dots. Several ligand coordination chemistries used to achieve greater stability or specific functions: these can be installed at time of synthesis in some cases they can also be installed to preexisting quantum dots by ligand exchange …

Merit, Equity And Intersectionality: Autoethnographic Examination Of Perceived Race And Gender-Based Discrimination In The Workplace, Shavanna Henry

Theses and Dissertations

This autoethnographic action research dissertation uses intersectionality, critical race theory, and racial battle fatigue theoretical lenses to examine my mental health as I experienced perceived race-based and gender-based discrimination at a public high school on the West Coast of the United States. The goal was to examine how my mental health was impacted during the development and attempted implementation of a DEI plan, and how my mental health was affected by the intersectionality of race and gender. I used journal entries and digital artifacts to craft seven vignettes that captured my experience. The findings from coding and analyzing data showed …

New Performance Measurement Framework For Realizing Patient-Centered Clinical Decision Support: Qualitative Development Study, Prashila Dullabh, Courtney Zott, Nicole Gauthreaux, James Swiger, Edwin Lomotan, Dean F Sittig

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Patient-centered clinical decision support (PC CDS) exists on a continuum that reflects the degree to which its knowledge base, data, delivery, and use focus on patient needs and experiences. A new focus on value-based, whole-person care has resulted in broader development of PC CDS technologies, yet there is limited information on how to measure their performance and effectiveness. To address these gaps, there is a need for more measurement guidance to assess PC CDS interventions.

Objective: This paper presents a new framework that incorporates patient-centered principles into traditional health IT and clinical decision support (CDS) evaluation frameworks to create …

Preface, Editors Wacana

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

No abstract provided.

"Ngadéngékeun Nu Mantun"; Constructing The "Carita Pantun" Performance In Rice Planting Ritual Of The Baduy Indigenous Community, Endin Saparudin, Priscila Fitriasih Limbong, Turita Indah Setyani, R. Cecep Eka Permana

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

This study aims to examine carita pantun performances in ritual contexts as observed in the Baduy community in Kanekes Village, Banten, on several occasions between 2021 and 2023. Carita pantun serves as traditional epics narrated in oral tradition performances accompanied by kacapi musical instruments. Historically, carita pantun was fully integrated into the ritual calendar and performed regularly in various regions in Tatar Sunda including West Java and Banten. Over time, it has been increasingly narrated for secular entertainment. This study explores carita pantun performances that retain a sacred function and remain deeply integrated into the life of the Baduy community. …

Transformed Images Of Women In A Sundanese Magazine; A Corpus Linguistics Perspective, Susi Yuliawati

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

In this paper, I examine the evolving portrayal of women in Sundanese society through a close analysis of certain nouns denoting women in the magazine Manglé. Using corpus linguistics, specifically word frequency and collocation analyses, I aim to investigate the evolving images of Sundanese women in relation to Indonesia’s political context over time. I argue that the evolution shown can be seen as a detailed overview of how the images of Sundanese women have been transformed. The results indicate that the trend in constructing women’s images is predominantly through the use of the noun wanoja, in contrast to …

Sundanese "Kecap Anteuran" From The Perspective Of Japanese Onomatopoeia, Yuyu Yohana Risagarniwa, Hera Meganova Lyra, Rahmat Sopian

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

One of the distinctive features of the Sundanese language is the use of Kecap Anteuran (KA), or verb intensifiers. This linguistic feature often poses challenges when translating Sundanese into foreign languages, particularly European languages. However, we argue that Sundanese KA demonstrates a higher degree of translatability into Japanese, a language that also uses verb intensifiers similar to those found in Sundanese. In Japanese, words analogous to Sundanese KA are categorized as giongo-gitaigo, although the term onomatope is more commonly used. This study aims to identify Sundanese KA based on Tamori’s classification of Japanese onomatopoeia. Using a descriptive-qualitative approach, we …

Contemporary Sundanese Quran; A Departure Or Divine Proximity?, Taufiq Hanafi

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

The Sundanese are deeply immersed in Islam, as exemplified by the adage, “to be Sunda is to be Muslim”. An important initiative within this cultural-religious context is the translation of the Quran into low vernacular Sundanese, departing from the formal and codified language forms of the original. Despite concerns about potential textual transgression, this translation negotiates linguistic barriers and reinforces cultural identity within the Islamic framework. This paper examines the contemporary Sundanese translation of the Quran, Ayat Suci Lenyepaneun (1989), and argues that its use of low colloquial Sundanese not only enhances the Quran’s legibility but also establishes an immediate …

Children Of Patanjala; Revisiting The Problem Of Baduy Origins Using Old Sundanese And Old Javanese Sources, Aditia Gunawan

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

Various theories regarding the origins of the Baduy people have been discussed by scholars. A recent contribution by Robert Wessing and Bart Barendregt (2005) approaches the problem from the broader context of the structure of kingdoms in Java and Pajajaran. The present paper assesses their theory in the light of documentary sources from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, not only in the Sundanese language but also in Old Javanese. These sources indicate that the religious aspects of Baduy society reflect practices and ideas that seem to have been widespread in early Java and Bali. My approach is to investigate …

Secrets Of A Beautiful Woman; R. Tjandrapradja’S "Wawacan Rusiah Nu Geulis": A Morality Tale From West Java, Wendy Mukherjee

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

Raden Tjandra Pradja’s Wawacan rusiah nu geulis (The verse tale of the secrets of a beautiful woman) which was published in 1921 is a verse narrative of high literary merit. A tale of sexual morality, it is an early example of the realist fiction which was to develop during the first half of the twentieth century in the Sundanese language of West Java. The work carries an unusual and intricately woven sub-text telling of ethnic and cultural tension in Bandung, the provincial capital, through the representation of non-Sundanese figures – Hadhrami Arabs and cosmopolitan foreign Muslims. An Arab, Sheikh Abubakar …

A Translation Of And Commentary On Yus R. Ismail’S Short Story “Assalamualaikum…”, C.W. Watson

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

Yus R. Ismail is a prolific Sundanese short story writer whose stories regularly appear in Sundanese journals and newspapers. This story “Assalamualaikum…“ appeared in Pikiran Rakyat in August 2023. It is a characteristic story of his in that it takes as its starting point the everyday lives of Sundanese villagers, and yet at the same time creates an aura of mystery around their activities. Some brief introductory information is given on the origins of the Sundanese short story in the early twentieth century and its subsequent development up to the present. A translation of the story given parallel to the …

Pierre Le Roux, Alexander Adelaar, And Bernard Moizo, "Bornéo À Coeur; Hommage À Bernard Sellato, Argonaute De La Forêt Tropicale. Borneo At Heart; A Tribute To Bernard Sellato, Argonaut Of The Tropical Rainforest", Gerard Persoon

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

No abstract provided.

Extracting Metamorphic Histories Utilizing U-Pb Laser Ablation Zircon Geochronology From The Southern Appalachians Crystalline Rocks And Detrital Sediment, Meredith Kay Love Gawai

Theses and Dissertations

The southern Appalachian mountain belt is an accretionary orogen that formed in the southeastern United States through several phases of oceanic subduction and continental collision during the Paleozoic Era and culminated in the formation of the supercontinent Pangaea. Although many U-Pb zircon ages have been collected from the igneous, metaigneous and metasedimentary rocks in the crystalline core of the southern Appalachians, there remain opportunities to better reconstruct the metamorphic and magmatic history of the southern Appalachians through the lens of zircon geochronology. Such data are valuable in identifying genetic relationships between candidate terranes of the orogen. Herein, I present laser-ablation …

Racial Contestations Of Space: Rural Preservation And Black Municipal Development In The South Carolina Lowcountry, Sydney Elizabeth Potter Smith

Theses and Dissertations

As newcomers flock to the South Carolina Lowcountry and drive development, the region has generally implemented strategies to preserve what remains of the region’s iconic rural landscapes by restricting new development in places that are designated as “Rural Areas”. These multi-scaler growth management strategies are problematic because they frame rural preservation as benefiting the greater good and prescribe a universal solution to urban sprawl, regardless of the individual needs of rural communities. This naturalizes and perpetuates forms of racial inequality across the landscape. Simultaneously, there are alternative spatial practices that aim to improve the quality of life for rural residents …

The Effects Of Implementing A Mindfulness Program In Two Elementary School Math Classrooms, Sara Lilley

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study examined the effects of utilizing trauma-informed social-emotional learning (SEL) teaching practices in two elementary math classrooms located in a Title 1 public school in North Carolina. The classrooms consisted of one third-grade classroom with 18 students and one fifth-grade classroom with 22 students. These classrooms integrated 10 minutes of mindfulness practice which included direct instruction on calming strategies and breathing techniques. This study worked to help foster a learning environment that supported the academic and mental health needs of the student participants and looked at potential relationships between calming strategies and math assessment data. This study …

Narratives In Motion: The New Era Of Dam Building In East Africa, Andrew Nicholas Selassie Prado-Alipui

Theses and Dissertations

Narratives of energy insecurity, underdevelopment, and resource conflict influence how African hydropower projects are justified within the broader context of climate change and demands for sustainable development. The challenge of meeting energy demands provides the overarching motivation for ambitious large-scale hydropower projects in East Africa, especially in Tanzania and Ethiopia. As development projects, the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP) and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) can be understood as vehicles of political discourse, framed as the technopolitical solution to questions of national identity that both countries face in the midst of sociopolitical and economic transformation periods. This research shows …

To Post Or Not To Post, That Is The Discussion: An Exploration Of Students’ Perceptions And Experiences With Using Online Collaboration Tools In Threaded Discussion Board Postings, Sherietta Farron Lane

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods action research study was to explore how instructor presence, cognitive presence, and social presence impact students' perceptions and experiences when interacting, communicating, and collaborating in asynchronous discussions and collaborative activities during an introductory-level English literature course at a Southern career college. Online courses can create a sense of isolation due to a lack of student-to-student or student-to-instructor interaction. Discussion forums are a key communication tool to foster interaction in online courses. This action research focused on three questions: (1) How does the use of selected collaboration tools impact students’ perceptions of instructor presence in …

Of Grave Importance: A Collaborative Approach To Archaeological Research On The Cooper River Cemetery, Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, Angelina Towery-Tomasura

Theses and Dissertations

Land dispossession and displacement is a challenge being faced by the Gullah community in Lowcountry South Carolina. Land dispossession due to a phenomenon known as coastal capitalism, or, the increased interest in coastal property, on Daufuskie Island served as an impetus for Miss Sallie Ann Robinson, a Gullah, Daufuskie native, to reach out to academic communities to assist in the preservation of spaces including cemeteries. This led to the ongoing collaborative archaeology project on the Cooper River Cemetery to record information about burials and investigate the presence of those without any headstone markers. The Cooper River Cemetery is one of …

Limit Tests: Sociodemographic Representation In Public Organizations, Christopher Dee Eddy

Theses and Dissertations

Bureaucratic institutions are a critical yet often underappreciated nexus of democratic legitimacy. However, public agencies frequently fail to represent key constituencies of the American public, significantly influencing citizens' attitudes toward governing institutions and challenging effective governance. Research suggests that improving sociodemographic representation within political institutions can reinforce institutional support and citizen trust through symbolic processes and promote equitable policy outcomes through actions of bureaucrats from historically excluded groups.

Despite these insights, past research is divided on if, how, and when descriptive or passive representation leads to beneficial symbolic or active effects. While the existing body of representative bureaucracy theory offers …

Dust And Metals In Distant Galaxies, Fatima Elkhatib

Theses and Dissertations

Interstellar dust causes reddening and dimming of light from background objects. To analyze how different the dust in distant galaxies is compared to dust in nearby galaxies, we look at multiple background quasars and try to fit their spectra with various models for known galaxies that have differing dust grain populations combined with a quasar spectrum template. Through fitting these models, we found that dust in most of the foreground galaxies we analyzed is similar to the SMC bar, a relatively thin area selected from the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). However, we note that all the objects we studied did …

Keep Your Head Up: An Examination Of Out-Of-School Literacy Practices In An Intergenerational Family System, Johnnie D. Bryant-Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The asset-based qualitative study used a phenomenological approach within a Community Cultural Wealth framework to question the practices of an intergenerational family system in the Southeastern United States. The study investigated the family system’s out-of-school literacy practices and the exposure to culturally relevant literature. The study revealed that an elder who actively participated in rearing school-aged children intentionally introduced culturally relevant literature. Similarly, the study revealed that the primary caregivers did engage their school-aged children in conversations related to social justice and introduced them to culturally relevant texts. However, a child's inquiry into the topic initiated primary caregivers’ introduction to …

Co-Teaching As A Transformative Tool: Enhancing Cultural Competence, Linguistic Responsiveness, And Pedagogical Practices Of Veteran Teachers, Jennifer Cárdenas

Theses and Dissertations

Guided by the Vygotskian (1978) principles inherent in co-teaching and Lucas and Villegas’s (2013) culturally and linguistically responsive framework, this qualitative, action research study investigated the impact of implementing a co-teaching model between a multilingual learner program specialist and a veteran general classroom teacher for the purpose of enhancing the veteran teacher’s pedagogical practices related to multilingual students. Data from professional development, interview, and conversation transcripts, in addition to observations, revealed the impact of the intervention. This study covered 3 years of a co-teaching partnership in a southeastern U.S. state. The data indicated teacher growth in cultural and linguistic knowledge …