Digital Commons Network^™

An Analysis Of Factors Influencing The Success Of Dual-Enrollment Students Through The Perspectives Of Faculty And Counselors, Starlett Mack

Student Theses and Dissertations

“An Analysis of Factors Influencing the Success of Dual-Enrollment Students Through the Perspectives of Faculty and Counselors” is a qualitative study. Dual enrollment has increased enrollment by offering opportunities to a broader audience. However, portions of this broader audience may be unprepared to face the challenges of being dual-enrollment students. A lack of preparation could cause increased anxiety, feelings of inadequacy, and failure to complete classes. This qualitative case study explored the perceptions and practices of counselors and teachers who staffed a dual-enrollment program at a Texas community college. In particular, it sought to understand the collective impact of community …

Professional Development Considerations: Social Studies Standards Which Diverge From A Singular Cultural Script, Jacqueline D. Costales

Student Theses and Dissertations

With New Mexico’s release of new K-12 social studies standards, the problem considered in this qualitative case study was teacher perception regarding their needs for professional development (PD) that is adequate to prepare them to teach the new standards which diverge from a singular cultural script. The purpose of this study was to catalogue the needs that teachers identify as necessary to support their standards implementation. Analysis of data included cataloguing teacher perceptions based on three concepts from the literature: the use of critical pedagogy, culturally relevant teaching through a responsive approach, and teacher guidance of students toward being prepared …

Examining The Influence Of Student Autonomy, Competence, And Student-Teacher Relatedness On Student Performance On High-Stakes Tests, Jennifer Gaston

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental cross-sectional study was to examine the possible relationship between students’ autonomy, students’ competence, and student-teacher relatedness, and their performance on ELA and math high-stakes tests. The self-determination theory was employed to guide the study. This study collected self-reported data from a sample of 116 5th through 8th grade students using the Basic Psychological Needs in the Classroom survey. This 5-point Likert-type survey determined to the extent that students’ perceived levels of the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness influence their test performance. Self-reported test scores from the 2022 administration of the Mississippi …

Student Engagement In The Asynchronous Learning Model: A Qualitative Study Of K-5 Arkansas Public School Caregiver Perspectives, Angela Maize

Student Theses and Dissertations

In 2019, a coronavirus strand, SARS-CoV-2, caused a global pandemic of respiratory illness, also referred to as the coronavirus (Covid-19). The U.S. government implemented massive school closures as a non-pharmaceutical intervention to mitigate the spread of the virus. The abrupt pivot to the asynchronous learning model resulted in low levels of engagement for many students. As a result of the pivot, students were expected to return to onsite instruction with a fraction of the learning gains, compared to a pre-pandemic school year. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore caregiver perspectives of the level of engagement exhibited …

Novice Teacher Retention And The Partnership School Model, Pamela Mangrum Everitt

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to examine the qualities novice teachers find valuable when determining whether or not they want to stay in their schools and districts after their first years of teaching. This case study also included undergraduate teacher preparation programs and whether or not graduating from a program with a partnership school model better prepares novice teachers for the classroom. Applying Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, this study involved the analysis of eight teachers’ questionnaires and interviews to determine what job satisfaction looked like to novice teachers from the same school district and whether or not …

Factors That Influence Third-Grade Reading Performance On The State Of Texas Assessments Of Academic Readiness (Staar), Angela Monette Long

Student Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study aimed to research factors that influence third-graders’ reading performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness is a standardized test used to measure the proficiency of students in various subjects. The independent variables of this study were student attendance, teacher’s professional background, and campus implementation of the Effective Schools Framework. Three years of data were collected from twenty elementary schools in the same North Texas School District. The theoretical framework used to explore the impact of the Effective Schools Framework was organizational learning theory. The theory explored …

Developing Decision Support Tools To Optimize Crop Production Using Uav-Based Multispectral Imagery, Fared Farag

Student Theses and Dissertations

Multispectral imagery collected through unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) holds promise for optimizing crop production to meet the rising market demands. This study aimed to enhance the main two facets behind the UAV data pipeline: data collection and data analysis. Chapter II addresses data collection challenges by presenting a software tool designed to assist UAV operators in validating and identifying potential errors in the collected images. Through beta testing, the software effectively reduced operational costs and laid a solid foundation for subsequent data analysis. Chapter III delves into the data analysis facet to develop advanced modeling approaches for accurate and robust …

Examining The Influences Of Professional Learning Communities And The Data-Driven Decision-Making Process On Elementary Teachers’ Instructional Practices, Arrica Chandler

Student Theses and Dissertations

Data-driven decision-making (DDDM) requires educational leaders and teachers to monitor and evaluate programs and processes and link results to individual and organizational outcomes. A classroom teacher’s ability to collect and review data, analyze data to identify trends and strategies for student achievement, and use data to determine and implement instructional practices that influence student achievement is important to school improvement. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate whether elementary teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, human agency, participation in professional learning communities (PLCs) on DDDM, and their implementation of the DDDM process influence teachers’ instructional practices. The theories that served …

Teacher Perceptions Of Reading And Mathematics Achievement Gaps Among Elementary Students Resulting From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kayla Lynn Caprio

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this descriptive qualitative case study was to discover Second through Fifth Grade rural North Texas teacher perceptions focusing on reading and mathematics student achievement gaps resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores how the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown affected students not only academically but also socially as well. Through a qualitative case study design, this study collected qualitative data by interviewing seven-Second through Fifth Grade teachers through semi-structured interviews, a focus group, and MAP data by analyzing MAP data collected in the beginning and middle of the year from the 2019-2023 school years. The social learning theory …

Exploring Teachers' Participation In A Literacy-Focused Professional Learning Community, Kerri Gentry

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological investigation was to explore teachers' experiences as they engage in reading literacy discussions and planning using the PLC process. The study targeted the large number of ninth-grade students entering high school with below basic Lexile scores and the lack of professional development for teachers in literacy to support the rise in low-level readers. Situational Learning Theory was this study's guiding theoretical framework, using professional learning communities as a lens to explore how teachers work collaboratively to develop literacy instructional practices and experiences to improve student literacy skills. This study explored nine secondary teachers from a …

Factors Influencing The Selection And Change Of Major For Students At Historically Black Colleges And Universities, David Allen

Student Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative exploratory study investigated the selection and change of majors for nine HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) students. The study included individual structured interviews that provided data that answered the following research questions: 1) what factors influenced the initial selection of major, and 2) what factors influenced the change of major? Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory (BET), utilizing each of the five layers, was used as the theoretical framework to understand how the students’ backgrounds or their ecology influenced major choices. Participants were asked at the end of the interviews how their change of major impacted their graduation timing. Results …

Advanced Transistor-Based Dynamic Equivalent Circuit Modeling Of Mesostructured-Based Solar Cells, Eman Farouk Sawires, Sameh O. Abdellatif

Electrical Engineering

This study introduces a pioneering transistor-based equivalent circuit model explicitly tailored for mesostructured-based solar cells, primarily focusing on dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and perovskite solar cells (PSCs). By incorporating the experimental data spanning various inorganic, organic, and hybrid solar cell technologies across different optical injection levels, the model aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the electrical behavior of these advanced photovoltaic devices. In addition to the circuit schematic, a Verilog-A script was created to elucidate the behavior of the cells, facilitating the utilization of such a block by the research community in developing interfacing circuits and implementing dc–dc converters …

An Integral Approach To Philosophy Of Nature, Carol Richardson

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Abstract

Quantum physicists and quantum biologists enjoy a mathematically-inspired romance with the wonders of nature at the quantum level. Recognizing the romance of mathematics and the quantum-to-cosmic level relational energetics of Nature can lead to a more integral, romantic, and even embodied phenomenology of the intelligence inherent within Nature’s relational and embodied energies. Approaching this quantum nature of Nature from the more romantic, wholistic views of the right hemisphere of the brain, rather than from the fragmenting views of the left hemisphere of the brain, one can begin to discover the self-organizing abilities of the energies of Nature at all …

Nick May, Saxophone, September 11, 2024 [Program], University Of Northern Iowa. School Of Music.

Music Recital Programs

Program of a music recital given by faculty, students, or guest artists from the School of Music at the University of Northern Iowa.

Fuzzy Pid Design For Rotating Speed Of Rolling Drum Of Tea Twisting Machine Based On Stm32, He Yuchi, Chen Yongle, He Liang, Wu Ruimei, Ling Xuelong, Xiong Aihua

Food and Machinery

[Objective] To meet the requirements of constant and adjustable rotation speed of rolling barrel and constant rotation speed of rolling barrel when tea is rolled. [Methods] The 6CR-55 single-column disc twisting machine was used as the research object in this paper. Fuzzy control algorithm and PWM closed-loop control method were investigated to study the stable control of rotating speed of rolling drum, and established the mathematical model of rotating speed control system of rolling drum based on the STM32 single-chip microcontroller. The simulation experiments of uncorrected, PID and fuzzy PID algorithm control system were carried out by MATLAB. [Results] Compared …

Shelf-Life Prediction Model Of Premna Microphylla Turez Jelly, Wang Wei, Zhao Wuqi, Tian Yuan, He Liucheng, Chen Yueyuan

Food and Machinery

[Objective] The influence of different storage temperatures on the quality and total number of microbial colonies of Premna microphylla Turez jelly was studied, and the shelf-life prediction model based on quality indexes and the total number of colonies were established. [Methods] P. microphylla Turez jelly were stored at temperatures of 1, 4, 10, 15, 20 and 25 ℃, and the hardness, adhesiveness, springiness, chewiness, water holding capacity and total number of colonies were regularly measured. The influence of different temperatures on the quality indexes and the total number of colonies were discussed, and the fitting equations of each monitoring index …

Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou), Draft Residential Metals Abatement Program Construction Completion Report (Non‐Residential Parcels – Indoor Dust) –East Middle School (Dated March 29, 2024), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Senate Meeting, September 11, 2024, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Detection Of Sub-Healthy Apples With Watercore Based On Visible/Near-Infrared Transmission Spectroscopy, Wang Chenchen, Zhai Mingcan, Li He, Mo Xiaoming, Zha Zhihua, Wu Jie

Food and Machinery

[Objective] Achieving non-destructive testing of sub-healthy watercore apples. [Methods] First, the logarithmic function method and the power function method proposed by this study were used to correct the sample spectra. Subsequently, the corrected data were converted into different images of gramian angular difference field (GADF), gramian angular summation field (GASF), markov transition field (MTF), recurrence plot (RP), symmetric dot pattern (SDP). Then, the ResNet50 network model with the convolutional block attention module (CBAM) was used to mine the deep image features related to the degree of watercore, which were downscaled by the t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) …

Interoperability In Deep Learning: A User Survey And Failure Analysis Of Onnx Model Converters, Purvish Jajal, Wenxin Jiang, Arav Tewari, Erik Kocinare, Joseph Woo, Anusha Sarraf, Yung-Hsiang Lu, George Thiruvathukal, James C. Davis

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Software engineers develop, fine-tune, and deploy deep learning (DL) models using a variety of development frameworks and runtime environments. DL model converters move models between frameworks and to runtime environments. Conversion errors compromise model quality and disrupt deployment. However, the failure characteristics of DL model converters are unknown, adding risk when using DL interoperability technologies. This paper analyzes failures in DL model converters. We survey software engineers about DL interoperability tools, use cases, and pain points (N=92). Then, we characterize failures in model converters associated with the main interoperability tool, ONNX (N=200 issues in PyTorch and TensorFlow). Finally, we formulate …

Ion-Induced Cloud Modulation Through New Particle Formation And Runaway Cloud Condensation Nuclei Production, Kamal Kant Chandrakar, Will Cantrell, Raymond Shaw

Michigan Tech Publications

Cloud formation in the Pi Convection-Cloud Chamber is achieved via ionization in humid conditions, without the injection of aerosol particles to serve as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Abundant ions, turbulence, and supersaturated water vapor combine to produce new particles, which grow to become CCN sized and eventually are activated to form clouds. Coupling between the new particle formation and cloud droplets causes predator-prey type oscillations in aerosol and droplet concentrations under turbulent conditions. Leading terms are identified in the budgets for Aitken and accumulation mode aerosols and for cloud droplets. The cloud coupling is proposed to be a result of …

Implementing Reactivity In Molecular Dynamics Simulations With Harmonic Force Fields, Jordan J. Winetrout, Krishan Kanhaiya, Josh Kemppainen, Pieter J. In ‘T Veld, Geeta Sachdeva, Ravindra Pandey, Behzad Damirchi, Adri Van Duin, Gregory Odegard, Hendrik Heinz

Michigan Tech Publications

The simulation of chemical reactions and mechanical properties including failure from atoms to the micrometer scale remains a longstanding challenge in chemistry and materials science. Bottlenecks include computational feasibility, reliability, and cost. We introduce a method for reactive molecular dynamics simulations using a clean replacement of non-reactive classical harmonic bond potentials with reactive, energy-conserving Morse potentials, called the Reactive INTERFACE Force Field (IFF-R). IFF-R is compatible with force fields for organic and inorganic compounds such as IFF, CHARMM, PCFF, OPLS-AA, and AMBER. Bond dissociation is enabled by three interpretable Morse parameters per bond type and zero energy upon disconnect. Use …

Exploring The Impact Of Conceptual Bottlenecks On Adversarial Robustness Of Deep Neural Networks, Bader Rasheed, Mohamed Abdelhamid, Adil Khan, Igor Menezes, Asad Masood Khatak

All Works

Deep neural networks (DNNs), while powerful, often suffer from a lack of interpretability and vulnerability to adversarial attacks. Concept bottleneck models (CBMs), which incorporate intermediate high-level concepts into the model architecture, promise enhanced interpretability. This study delves into the robustness of Concept Bottleneck Models (CBMs) against adversarial attacks, comparing their original and adversarial performance with standard Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). The premise is that CBMs prioritize conceptual integrity and data compression, enabling them to maintain high performance under adversarial conditions by filtering out non-essential variations in input data. Our extensive evaluations across different datasets and adversarial attacks confirm that CBMs …

Could A Carbon Tax Improve Utah's Air Quality And Mitigate Climate Change?, Rose Cameron, Kendall Becker, Alexi Elizabeth Lamm, Scott Hotaling

All Current Publications

Urban areas in Utah have suffered from poor air quality since Euro-American settlement in 1847. Because today’s harmful air pollutants and carbon dioxide—the most significant driver of contemporary climate change—are often emitted together, a carbon tax could improve air quality while also mitigating climate change. Here, we explore how Sweden has successfully implemented a carbon tax and consider the viability of a similar approach for Utah. While a carbon tax would pressure Utah’s transportation and energy sectors to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, revenue from the tax could finance renewable energy infrastructure to support companies transitioning away from fossil fuels …

Malware Classification Through Abstract Syntax Trees And L-Moments, Anthony J. Rose, Christine M. Schubert Kabban, Scott R. Graham, Wayne C. Henry, Christopher M. Rondeau

Faculty Publications

The ongoing evolution of malware presents a formidable challenge to cybersecurity: identifying unknown threats. Traditional detection methods, such as signatures and various forms of static analysis, inherently lag behind these evolving threats. This research introduces a novel approach to malware detection by leveraging the robust statistical capabilities of L-moments and the structural insights provided by Abstract Syntax Trees (ASTs) and applying them to PowerShell. L-moments, recognized for their resilience to outliers and adaptability to diverse distributional shapes, are extracted from network analysis measures like degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality of ASTs. These measures provide a detailed structural representation …

Assessing The Adequacy Of A Prediction Model, Abhaya Indrayan, Sakshi Mishra Ms

COBRA Preprint Series

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Rising Interest Rates, Bank Deposit Betas, And Credit Risk, Abby Craig, Jarrett Grose, Justin Tersoglio, Noah Vanhoy, Brooke Vivenzio

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Inflation of the U.S. dollar drove the Federal Reserve Board to enact four interest rate hikes of 0.75% and additional smaller hikes between March 2022 and April 2023. This paper examines how interest rate hikes affect bank deposit betas and credit risk for community banks, hot money banks, and alternative lending institutions based on data from March 2022 to April 2023. After analyzing data from the Federal Reserve Economic Database, this research found that bank deposit betas increase as interest rates rise, that community banks’ betas increase at a slower rate than hot money banks’ betas, and that the level …

Augmented Reality In Higher Education: Perspectives Of Telecommunication Engineering Students, Kifaya Sabbah, Allam Mousa, Fayez Azez Mahamid

An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities)

Objectives: The paper presents a novel experiment in Palestinian higher education that uses augmented reality technology. The study employs qualitative methods. Methods: The experiment was carried out on 15 students enrolled in microwave engineering course at An-Najah National University's telecommunication engineering department. With the research sample, semi-structured interviews and surveys were conducted, and the obtained data was analysed using theme coding. Findings: The qualitative analysis and thematic coding produce seven major topics, including benefits, future hope, challenges, reflections, initial impression, attitudes, and prior experience. The highest frequency was for benefits with 34.6% and the lowest frequency was for prior experience …

An Exploration Of Cognitive Benefits Of Efl Learning In A Monolingual Jordanian Context, Mohammad Hamad Al-Khresheh, Sali Karmi

An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities)

Objective: This study examined the cognitive benefits of English language learning in Jordan’s predominantly monolingual context, an area that remains largely unexplored. Methodology: A methodically crafted, literature-based survey was administered to a representative sample of 365 Jordanians, selected through random sampling, utilizing a quantitative research design. Findings: The analysis underlined several pronounced cognitive benefits of English language mastery. Key enhancements spanned domains such as attentional control, memory retention, overall health, and creative thinking. Furthermore, the linguistic journey often translated into socio-cultural advantages, facilitating richer intercultural exchanges, fostering deeper friendships, and broadening global perspectives. Interestingly, urban residency and higher educational attainment …

Faculty Senate Minutes 2024-09-10, The University Of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.