Digital Commons Network^™

Storm Clouds, Disheveled Storks, And Dangerous Animals: The Impact Of Concussion On Narrative Production Of A Silent Animated Video, Aislyn Grace O'Connell

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: Concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is the most prevalent category of brain injury. Despite its classification as a mild injury, concussion can result in persistent symptoms that impact one’s ability to participate in everyday life. Among the challenges associated with concussion, discourse production (e.g., storytelling) has gained attention as a potential area of subtle impairment in people who have experienced a concussion, as it places high cognitive demands on the individual. Disruptions in cognitive processes may alter how individuals organize, interpret, and convey information in social contexts. However, discourse deficits are typically more apparent in severe TBI, …

Shared And Unique Neural Correlates Of Sign And Spoken Language Production: An Ale Meta-Analysis, Grace Robertson

Master's Theses and Capstones

This coordinate-based meta-analysis aimed to identify brain areas that are uniquely active in sign language production during single word/sign production tasks using Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE). Evidence from a pooled ALE of all studies revealed a shared network between sign and spoken language for language, specifically lexical, syntactic, and semantic selection and retrieval, motor planning and execution, sensorimotor integration, phonological working memory, and visual and multimodal processing. The ALE subtraction (sign language > spoken language) did not reveal any significant clusters above the corrected threshold. However, visual inspection of an uncorrected map revealed that regions responsible for language, spatial attention and …

Ai In Wonderland, Bodj Oliver Alngohuro

Honors Scholar Theses

Studies in sound symbolism have revealed a baseline preference for people to associate certain sounds with certain concepts. The Bouba/Kiki effect, for instance, reveals a preference for individuals to associate “Bouba” with a round shape and “Kiki” with a sharp shape (Köhler 1929). Other studies have revealed other associations with certain sounds and names with concepts, such as “Mil” referring to something small and “Mal” referring to something big (Sidhu and Pexman, 2017). This study looks at LLMs and how they compare to humans concerning intuitions for certain names based on sound symbolism.

Read Again, Succeed Again, Kaitlin Martz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of a repeated reading (RR) intervention on the oral reading fluency and comprehension of first grade students identified as “at-risk” in a high poverty school in the Mississippi Delta. Students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds often have limited early literacy experiences, which contributes to persistent achievement gaps in reading (Romeo et al., 2022; NAEP, 2024). This study is grounded in LaBerge and Samuels’ (1974) theory of automaticity to employ an intervention focused on building reading fluency as a means to improve reading comprehension.

Six students participated in one-on-one sessions three times per week for …

Developing A Noticing Skill Of Learners Of Jfl Through Writing With Chatgpt, Anna Suzuki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Acquiring an additional language, especially whose linguistic systems differ from a learner’s first language, such as English and Japanese, is quite challenging. However, the improvement of technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) has some potential in supporting language learning.

This study investigated how ChatGPT can assist learners of Japanese whose first language is English in writing Japanese narrative of a 4-panel story and what learners notice comparing their Japanese writing with ChatGPT’s production. This study followed three steps: writing, an online survey, and a one-on-one interview. Four undergraduate students who were taking either a 200-, 300- or 400-level Japanese course …

Hereditary Transmission Of Drumming Among The Anlo-Ewe: The Case Of Agbodo/Amuzu Family Of Hatsukorfe, Denu, Volta Region, Ghana, Ernest Elikplim Kwabla Adonoo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the hereditary transmission of drumming among the Anlo-Ewe of southeastern Ghana, focusing on the Agbodo/Amuzu family of Hatsuk?ƒe in the Volta Region. Situated within ethnomusicological discourse on traditional Anlo-Ewe musical practices and the specialized roles of the researched family, who are drummers of the exclusive Ye?e religious tradition, this research argues that drumming in this context is not merely a musical activity but a complex system of communication, identity, ritual authority, and cultural continuity. The study fills and addresses a significant gap in existing scholarship on the Anlo-Ewe music, which has largely emphasized community dance-drumming and institutional …

Dynamic Elements Of Synchronous And Asynchronous Learning In English As A Second Language Education: Self-Efficacy, Achievement, Persistence, And Satisfaction, Keith J. Brewer

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated how instructional modality influences adult English as a Second Language (ESL) learners enrolled in a non-credit language program. Learners in this state-funded program were able to determine their own balance of synchronous, face-to-face instruction and asynchronous online learning based on personal needs and preferences. The study examined the relationships between instructional modality and learner self-efficacy, achievement, and course satisfaction among adult ESL students enrolled through a community college. A mixed-methods design was used to investigate learner outcomes across modalities. Engagement with asynchronous instruction was measured using data from the program’s learning management system (LMS), while attendance logs …

Legal System Support Of Crime Survivors And Attitudes On Justice, Izabella Leblanc

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Researchers have demonstrated the impact of victimization on mental health, and survivor dissatisfaction with legal processes and services. Recent literature supports the efficacy of restorative justice programs that started in response to retributive justice and its inability to directly address survivor harm. Thus, the current study examined how crime survivors perceive legal system support and attitudes towards restorative justice, with an undergraduate sample recruited from UTC’s SONA system and an online cloud-survey sample. Participants completed a survey that asked about their victimization experience(s), and legal system and restorative justice attitudes. Analyses examined mean differences between non-victims and victims, and subjective …

Personalized And Adaptive Therapeutic Music Generation From Biosignals Using Knowledge-Guided Multimodal Large Language Models, Amin Amiri

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Multimodal generative models are reshaping digital therapeutics by enabling real-time synthesis of personalized content aligned with a user’s physiological and affective state. However, existing systems remain fragmented across modalities and often lack a unified framework that can jointly represent biosignals, natural language intent, music, and video under long-context constraints. This dissertation presents an end-to-end multimodal large language model ecosystem for personalized therapeutic music generation that combines discrete tokenization, evidence-grounded reasoning, and stabilized preference alignment. At the representation layer, the dissertation develops a family of tokenizers that convert continuous biomedical and media signals into compact discrete sequences for transformer-based modeling. Harmonizer …

The Impact Of Framing Effects And Moral Values On Prosocial Engagement, Olajuwon Olagbegi

Dissertations

Framing effects can shape perceptions, beliefs and behavior, particularly in prosocial contexts. The current study examined how language framing (social justice, social activism, volunteerism) and moral values influence interest in prosocial engagement across low- and high-cost helping scenarios. Participants (N = 219) were randomly assigned to one of three framing conditions and reported willingness to help in both low- and high-cost situations. They also completed the Moral Foundations Questionnaire. Replicating prior work (Olagbegi and colleagues, 2024), participants were more willing to engage in low- than high-cost helping. Across conditions, social justice framing elicited the greatest willingness to help. Higher fairness …

“Oh, Hey, Miss, Why Am I Taking This Test?”: Amplifying The Critical Voices Of Long-Term Emergent Bilinguals From The Rgv On Telpas, Luisa Adriana Valdez

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative narrative study examines the lived experiences of seven Long-Term Emergent Bilinguals (LTEBs) in Texas public schools, with a particular focus on the TELPAS test and its role in shaping students’ academic trajectories. Grounded in decolonial theory and a raciolinguistic ideological perspective, the study investigates how state-mandated English proficiency assessments and identification practices reproduce inequities and racialized linguistic hierarchies. Using pláticas as a culturally sustaining methodological approach, narrative accounts were collected from seven U.S.-born, Spanish-English bilingual Latinx students from the Rio Grande Valley. Findings reveal that the home language survey and TELPAS language proficiency assessment function as colonial sorting …

Developing Ai Literacy In Preservice Stem Teachers: Exploring The Role Of Pedagogically Grounded Engagement With Generative Ai In Lesson Planning, Omar Raul Elizondo

Theses and Dissertations

The rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is introducing new opportunities and challenges in education. This qualitative multiple-case study explored how preservice STEM teachers developed AI literacy through structured engagement with GenAI during inquiry-based lesson planning. Grounded in Ng et al.’s (2021) four-domain AI literacy framework, the 5E instructional model, and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the study examined how preservice teachers conceptualized, applied, evaluated, and ethically reasoned about GenAI-supported outputs while designing lessons aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).

Participants were three preservice STEM teachers enrolled in the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s …

From Homeland To The Foreign Classroom: The Salaysay Of Filipina Immigrant Teachers In Texas, Shanna Cui Miranda

Theses and Dissertations

Filipina immigrant teachers are a growing presence in Texas schools, especially as districts respond to teacher shortages by recruiting internationally trained educators. This narrative study explores the salaysay of Filipina immigrant teachers in Texas and examines how their funds of knowledge inform their teaching practice. Guided by the research question, What are the salaysay of Filipina immigrant teachers in Texas, and how do their funds of knowledge inform their teaching? The study uses Funds of Knowledge (Moll et al., 1992) as the central framework and resizes it to focus on teachers as holders of culturally developed knowledge. The resized framework …

Haciendo Caras Y Hablando Para Atrás: Conceptualizing Espacios Coyunturales/Bridged Spaces As Teachers Resistance To Contemporary Reactionary Legislative Initiatives In K-12 Social Studies, Brittney Louise Thornton-Guzman

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how teachers in the Rio Grande Valley engage in subversive resistance within the context of contemporary legislative constraints regulating discussions of race, identity, and history in K–12 classrooms. Grounded in Chicana Feminist Epistemology (Delgado Bernal, 1998) and informed by Aoki’s distinction between curriculum-as-plan and lived curriculum (Aoki, 2005), this qualitative study employs critical narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) and analysis of narrative to explore how educators navigate stateimposed restrictions. Drawing on teacher narratives, the study centers hablando para atrás (hooks, 1989) as a pedagogical stance through which educators sustain critical engagement under conditions of constraint. Findings …

Overreliance On Standardized Testing And Its Impact On The Classroom Experience, Cassia Guajardo

Theses and Dissertations

High-stakes standardized testing has become a dominant force in U.S. education system, shaping curriculum, pedagogy, and accountability systems in ways that can narrow instructional breadth and constrain teacher autonomy. This study examined how these dynamics are experienced by educators working in a predominantly Latinx, border-region district in South Texas. The purpose was to explore K–12 teachers lived experiences with standardized testing and their perceptions of its effects on curriculum, teaching methods, and classroom assessment practices within McAllen Independent School District (ISD).

Using a basic qualitative design, data was collected through an anonymous, open-ended questionnaire. Twenty-five practicing teachers from elementary, middle, …

Voices From The Classroom: Elementary Teachers’ Perspectives On Teaching And Learning During The Covid-19 Pandemic – A Case Study And Autoethnography, Alicia Lopez-Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations

Guided by constructivist learning theory and sociocultural theory, this qualitative case study and autoethnography examines how bilingual educators constructed knowledge, adapted instructional practices, and utilized mediational tools within face-to-face, online and hybrid learning environments. These frameworks informed the study’s design, data analysis, and interpretation of findings related to pedagogy, technology integration, and student engagement. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, naturalistic observations, and autoethnographic reflective journaling.

Chatbots In The Classroom: Understanding The Impact Of Chatbot Integration In Writer’S Workshops On High School Students’ Writing, Gabriel Cerda

Theses and Dissertations

Writing is a complex developmental skill, and much research has been conducted to understand in which ways to best close the gaps that national data indicates exist for students in K-12 education. This quasi-experimental study explored how integrating chatbots as dialogue agents within a writer’s workshop framework influences the quality of written compositions among Grade 12 students. The research was grounded in the Direct and Indirect Effect Model of Writing (DIEW) and the Writer(s)-Within-Community (WWC) model, which emphasize both the cognitive and social-emotional dimensions of the writing process.

Participants received real-time, individualized feedback, with pre- and post-test essays evaluated using …

Curriculum, Power And Pedagogical Becoming: An Autoethnographic Inquiry Into Lived Curriculum, Teacher Agency And Institutional Constraints, Norma Ochoa Urban-Palomarez

Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation, Curriculum, Power, and Pedagogical Becoming, examines the complex relationship between institutional curriculum structures, teacher agency, and the lived realities of classroom practice within U.S. public schooling. Situated at the intersection of curriculum theory and critical pedagogy, the study investigates how power operates through scripted curricula, pacing mandates, and fidelity-driven instructional models, and how these mechanisms shape pedagogical decision-making, professional identity, and the educational experiences of Hispanic students of poverty, language, and color. While standardization is frequently framed as a vehicle for equity and accountability, this research explores how institutional constraints may simultaneously regulate teacher practice and delimit possibilities …

Inclusive Perspectives In Early Childhood Special Education: Navigating Experiences Of Families And Educators In The South Texas Community, Jessica Ann Garza

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between family systems and inclusive outcomes in Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) programs in South Texas. Guided by Family Systems Theory and the family life cycle perspective, the research explores how family structures, cultural values such as familismo, bilingualism, and cross‑border healthcare access influence educational engagement and student progress. The South Texas region, characterized by its majority Hispanic population, bilingual households, and proximity to the U.S.–Mexico border, presents a unique context for understanding how cultural assets and systemic barriers shape ECSE collaboration. Using a convergent parallel mixed‑methods design, the study integrates quantitative survey data on …

Elementary Teachers' Culturally Responsive Strategies For Fostering Critical Thinking In Science Instruction With Emergent Bilinguals, Lydia Stella Ratel

Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESOL)-certified elementary teachers as they fostered critical thinking among emergent bilingual (EB) students in grades 3–5 science classrooms. Grounded in culturally responsive pedagogy, translanguaging, funds of knowledge, and critical thinking theory, the study examined how teachers made sense of instructional decision-making and EB students’ scientific reasoning within accountability-driven educational contexts.

Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with elementary teachers serving emergent bilingual students in South Texas public schools. Phenomenological analysis was used to identify shared meanings across participants’ descriptions of instructional practices, language use, …

Chronicles Of A Caliche Road: Lessons From The Monte Through A Poetic Currere Of Language, Memory, And Identity, Brenda Ochoa

Theses and Dissertations

This autobiographical study explores how language, memory, and identity are shaped through lived experience in the South Texas brushland known as the monte. Situated within the cultural and linguistic landscape of the Rio Grande Valley, the study examines how land, native plants, and regional wildlife function as an informal curriculum that shapes voice, silence, and ways of knowing beyond formal schooling. Grounded in autobiographical inquiry, the study uses poetic currere as both an analytic process and a mode of representation to illuminate the relationship between language experience, memory, and identity across time. Data sources include personal memories, reflective journals, original …

Use Of Complementizer That Among English-Spanish Bilinguals, Aziz Abraham Quenun

Theses and Dissertations

Languages vary in how they signal the presence of an embedded clause. Both English and Spanish use what are termed complementizers—that in English and que in Spanish—but in English, the complementizer is often optional while in Spanish, it is generally required. This thesis tested if the presence of que in a Spanish sentence could induce a bilingual speaker to insert a previously omitted that into an English sentence using a syntactic priming task. The results of these trials showed that this was the case, finding a statistically significant priming effect, supporting the idea that syntax is cognitively shared across languages …

A Testimoniando On Tutoring Practices In A Predominantly Latine Writing Center: How Drawing From Tutors’ Memories Fosters Reflective Practices, Emily Michelle Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

The student body of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) consists primarily of Latine students, a population that is reflected in the Writing Center’s tutor demographics. Tutor practices connect to the training sessions that are based on disciplinary expectations but also incorporate each tutor’s epistemology, cultural beliefs, and lived knowledge experiences. To reflect on the practices, memories, and experiences that tutors collected at the Writing Center, the concepts of testimoniando and testimonios will serve as the praxis and means of sharing the experiences and lived knowledge of tutors who identify as part of a marginalized group; this allow …

Morphological Evolution And Sediment Budget Of A Flood-Tidal Delta On The Rio Grande Delta Plain: Bahia Grande, Texas, Usa, Aleen Pertuz Paz

Theses and Dissertations

The Isabel Delta is a recently formed flood-tidal delta within the restored Bahia Grande system on the Rio Grande Delta Plain, Texas, USA, where renewed tidal connectivity has created conditions for rapid sediment buildup and landform evolution. This study quantified morphological changes from 2008 to 2025 using satellite imagery. It assessed sediment retention by comparing the effective sediment discharge required to reproduce observed delta growth with field-based estimates of sediment supply derived from channel hydrodynamics, cross-sectional area, and suspended sediment concentration. The delta expanded steadily throughout the study period, with increases in bar, channel, and total surface area, and an …

La Panza: Un Acto De Rebeldia Para Los Atravesados Y Los Que Siguen Despues / The Panza: An Act Of Rebellion For The Inbetweeners And Those Who Follow After, Abigail Guadalupe Cantu

Theses and Dissertations

Our ancestors, family members, and ourselves that live in the borderlands have embodied knowledge, and/or an innate intuition that comes from the pit of our soul, particularly from our “panza”; hence, the creation of a panza consciousness as the focus for my thesis. I’m trying to “rediscover” the embodied knowledge that has been taken from us and how we can learn to harness these forms of knowledge into a societal shift ( i.e. how we interact with others, how we see our bodies, how see the creation of knowledge, and how we see the world). Although, Eurocentric ideals sought to …

A Case Study Of One-To-One Mobile Teaching And Learning Environments Measuring Creativity In A Rural Elementary School In Deep South Texas, David Warren Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study examined how creativity is enacted within rural one-to-one mobile teaching and learning environments in Deep South Texas. Grounded in the frameworks of mobile learning affordances (Klopfer et al., 2002), the Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework, and the SAMR model, the study explored how instructional practices, student agency, and contextual conditions influenced creative learning experiences in an elementary school setting. Data were collected from five elementary teachers at a rural South Texas district and included semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and samples of student-created artifacts. Data analysis followed a systematic process of first-cycle coding, second-cycle axial …

Developing Bilingual Expressive Language Tools For Spanish-Speaking Families In The Rio Grande Valley, Edessa Xcarlet Reyes

Theses and Dissertations

This pilot study examines the development of dialect-sensitive expressive language tools for bilingual children in the Rio Grande Valley. A cross-sectional survey design was used to examine Spanish-speaking caregivers’ confidence, language use, and perceptions of communication support across home, school, and medical settings. The study focuses on culturally and linguistically responsive practices that account for regional Spanish dialectal variation. Findings from this research are intended to inform the development of family-centered expressive language resources and contribute to equitable assessment and intervention practices for bilingual children in speech-language pathology.

The Rio Grande Valley In Text: Exploring The Borderland Within Social Studies Textbooks Via Synoptic Text, Ana Laura Escobar Fuentes

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative, synoptic text inquiry examines how fourth-grade Texas history social studies textbooks portray Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and the U.S-Mexico border, specifically the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). This research sought to answer the following questions: How do Texas history social studies textbooks portray Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and the US-Mexican border in three South Texas school districts? Within these portrayals, what historical representations/content are included, diminished, or excluded regarding the vast majority of the Mexican or Mexican American community?

Guided by the conceptual framings of Miller and Almaraz and Valerio-Jiménez (consensual history), Garza and his colleagues (critical histories), Anzaldúa’s geography of …

The Application Of Natural Language Processing Towards Auditing Of Unstructured Data: A Design Science Approach, Dennis K. Amoatey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Financial auditors must manually review large volumes of unstructured text that may include contracts, internal policies, footnotes, and journal entry descriptions. This time-intensive process introduces risk of human error and inconsistency. Despite advances in automation, no systematic approach exists for applying Natural Language Processing (NLP) to this problem at scale. Using a design science approach, this study develops a framework that demonstrates how NLP techniques can be incorporated across key phases in the audit process, including planning, internal controls evaluation, evidence gathering, and reporting. Initial evaluation through expert feedback had a mix of responses. While some argued difficulty with data …

“The Distance And Time Difference Aren’T Helping”: Family Communication Practices Of African Graduate Students Adapting To A New Country, Hummuh Abubakar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined how international graduate students maintained long-distance communication with family members while adapting to life in the United States. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with seven international students, the research explored how participants sustained emotional closeness, manage disclosure, and select communication media across geographic distance. Guided by Communication Privacy Management Theory and Media Richness Theory, the study analyzed how students regulated private information and strategically used video calls, voice calls, and messaging platforms to meet relational and emotional needs. Findings revealed four primary themes: reliance on digital communication technologies; the emotional and psychological functions of family communication; structural …