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Exploring Narrative Strengths In Animated Storytelling, Amelia Kretzer

Honors Theses

This thesis explores tactics for effective narrative development for animation through the analyses of key works of strong animated films synthesized with literature discussing narrative frameworks. This research resulted in a shortlist of animated storytelling best practices—six principles to reflect on in the creation of effective stories for animation. Additionally, an original 2D animated short film was created utilizing the principles on the shortlist in its development as an outpouring of this research.

2024 University Research Symposium Program Book, The Graduate School

University Research Symposium Programs

Program book for the 2024 University Research Symposium.

Activated Carbon Derived From Cucumber Peel For Use As A Supercapacitor Electrode Material, Meruyert Nazhipkyzy, Gulim Kurmanbayeva, Aigerim Seitkazinova, Esin Apaydın Varol, Wanlu Li, Balaussa Dinistanova, Almagul Issanbekova, Togzhan Mashan

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Biowaste conversion into activated carbon is a sustainable and inexpensive approach that relieves the pressure on its disposal. Here, we prepared micro-mesoporous activated carbons (ACs) from cucumber peels through carbonization at 600 °C followed by thermal activation at different temperatures. The ACs were tested as supercapacitors for the first time. The carbon activated at 800 °C (ACP-800) showed a high specific capacitance value of 300 F/g at a scan rate of 5 mV/s in the cyclic voltammetry and 331 F/g at the current density of 0.1 A/g in the galvanostatic charge–discharge analysis. At the current density of 1 A/g, the …

Arnaud Préot: Teacher, Composer, And President, Melonee Gray

Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Arnaud Préot (1818-1873) was the 8th president of Longwood University. He served between the years 1863-1869 and ran the institution during the Civil War. A Frenchman, Préot immigrated to America at the age of 19. In America, he served as a professor of language and music, and eventually served as president at three female colleges. Additionally, he composed music, including several piano compositions and many vocal pieces. His works are reflective of both the classical period and the French style. In this essay, two of his piano compositions and one of his vocal pieces are analyzed and discussed. Préot's pieces …

Implementing The Assking Pressure Injury Prevention Bundle With Palliative Homecare Patients In Kerala, India, Mackenzie Intlekofer

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Pressure injuries and wound deterioration frequently affect homecare patients. In a palliative care non-profit in Kerala, India who provides home care services, pressure injuries are a problem for their patients despite quality person-centered care.

Objective/Aims: The project objective was to implement the NHS aSSKINg bundle in the organization to prevent pressure injuries. Aim one was to create an organizational policy addressing the aSSKINg bundle. Aim two was to reduce pressure injury prevalence and incidence, with no new pressure injuries development. Aim three was to increase the pressure injury knowledge of 75% of the home care nurses through …

Addressing Mental Health Access With Collaborative Care: A Health Policy Analysis, Samantha Roche Msn, Pmhnp-Bc

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: There is a critical shortage of mental health providers in most areas of the United States. The Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) is an evidenced based model integrating behavioral health services into primary care. Where implemented, the CoCM has improved outcomes for people with common mental health issues. In Suffolk County, New York and across the nation there are a dearth of established CoCM programs despite an ongoing need for mental health services, largely due to startup costs. Legislation allocating federal funding to improve the uptake of CoCM programs was recently signed into law.

Objectives: The aim of …

Experiential Learning Enhanced In Agricultural Classrooms Using 360-Degree Video Technology, Morgan L. Barba

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Experiential or “hands-on” learning allows students to self-correct educational missteps and have live examples of core concepts registered in the brain as holistic experiences, which enhances their educational experience overall (Roland, M.A 2017). However, due to financial constraints and logistical barriers, it becomes more difficult for educators to give their students these field-based experiences. Using 360 video technology, educators have the opportunity to address these limitations and provide students with field experience anywhere (Clay, M. A. 2022). This presentation will highlight the opportunities 360 video technology can offer to animal and plant science education and the opportunities it can offer …

A Mixed-Method Inquiry Into Rural School Principal Perspectives Regarding Inclusion Through Social Justice Leadership, Amy J. Konz

PhD in Organizational Leadership

The purpose of this exploratory mixed-methods phenomenological study was to understand the perceptions of school building leaders (SBLs), also referred to as principals, regarding their facilitation of social justice leadership (SJL) and culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) practices to support student inclusion and belongingness within the K-12 educational setting in NYS. This research study fills the knowledge gap related to student belongingness through the principal's perspective and illuminates how SBLs support inclusion. First, nine high-need rural school principals participated in semi-structured interviews, and second, 101 SBLs from across NYS completed a survey using the Social Justice Behavior Scale (SJBS). Findings …

Building A Professional Community Of Practice Through Collaborative Inquiry, Christopher E. Stevens

PhD in Organizational Leadership

Little if any research has been conducted to determine the dynamics of and meaning derived by a group of professionals using collaborative inquiry (CI) to create a values and behaviors (VB) statement in the early stages of forming a community of practice (CoP). This case study involved individual interviews and other observational techniques to determine meanings derived from the inquiry and identify the value individuals and the group as a community may have gained from the CI. The research questions for this study addressed how using CI to establish the VB statement affected the development of the CoP, the meaning …

Personality Trait Theory And Combat Performance: A Retroactive Study Analyzing Combat Performance And Resilience Among Usaf Eod Veterans Of Iraq And Afghanistan, Michael C. Pasley

PhD in Organizational Leadership

The United States' national security depends upon high-performing leaders within select high-stress and high-risk military functional communities. However, research into the personality traits needed to perform well in these communities is lacking. This quantitative, retrospective, nonexperimental, correlational research aimed to determine whether relationships existed between the personality traits of Air Force EOD Team Leader Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and their combat performance and resilience. The theoretical foundation of this study encompassed personality trait theory, theories of human resource management and performance, and criterion measurement theories. The TAKE5 FC, a commercially available forced-choice five-factor model personality assessment, measured personality traits. …

Exploring The Impact Of Workplace Spirituality On Millennials’ Job Satisfaction And Organizational Commitment Using The Multidimensional Existential Meaning Scale, Nathan S. Gonzalez

PhD in Organizational Leadership

The aim of this research was to assess how meaning in life influences job satisfaction and organizational commitment among Millennials across diverse professions. Data were collected to examine these relationships comprehensively, employing the Multidimensional Existential Meaning Scale, Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and Organizational Commitment Questionnaire. Despite extensive research in workplace spirituality, research on Millennials and meaning in life remains scarce. Methodologically, this research adopted a quantitative cross-sectional design involving 131 participants from 24 industries in the United States. Reliability analyses demonstrated the trustworthiness of the employed scales, with strong correlations observed between job satisfaction and organizational commitment with the dimensions of …

The Banner - V. 159, No. 4 - (April 2024), Christian Reformed Church In North America

The Banner

No abstract provided.

Visualizing Routes With Ai-Discovered Street-View Patterns, Tsung Heng Wu, Md Amiruzzaman, Ye Zhao, Deepshikha Bhati, Jing Yang

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Street-level visual appearances play an important role in studying social systems, such as understanding the built environment, driving routes, and associated social and economic factors. It has not been integrated into a typical geographical visualization interface (e.g., map services) for planning driving routes. In this article, we study this new visualization task with several new contributions. First, we experiment with a set of AI techniques and propose a solution of using semantic latent vectors for quantifying visual appearance features. Second, we calculate image similarities among a large set of street-view images and then discover spatial imagery patterns. Third, we integrate …

Examining The Relationship Between Victim Self-Protective Behaviors And Sexual Assault Case Processing, Caralin C. Branscum

Criminology and Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

Sexual assault, a severely underreported crime in the US, is hindered by negative interactions between victims and criminal justice system actors’, contributing to high case attrition rates. Accordingly, understanding factors impacting case outcomes, such as criminal justice system actors’ perceptions of the victim and decision-making, is crucial. Victim self-protective behaviors—which are the range of actions, reactions, or strategies employed by individuals to mitigate or prevent harm from a crime, such as sexual assault—lack sufficient research on their impact on case processing. To fill this gap, this study analyzed 469 reported sexual assault cases, employing bivariate and multivariate analyses to assess …

Automated Reinforcement During Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing: Structural Assessment Of A Dual Approach, Hassan Ahmed, Ilerioluwa Giwa, Daniel Game, Gabriel Arce, Hassan Noorvand, Marwa Hassan, Ali Kazemian

Faculty Publications

Automated and seamless integration of reinforcement is one of the main unresolved challenges in large-scale additive construction. This study leverages a dual-reinforcement solution consisting of high-dosage steel fiber (up to 2.5% by volume) and short vertical reinforcements as a complementary reinforcement technique for 3D-printed elements. The mechanical performance of the printing material was characterized by measuring the compressive, flexural, and uniaxial tensile strengths of mold-cast specimens. Furthermore, the flexural performance of the plain and fiber-reinforced 3D-printed beams was evaluated in the three main loading directions (X, Y, and Z-directions in-plane). In addition, short vertical threaded reinforcements were inserted into the …

Development Of A Novel Biology Laboratory Course For Incarcerated Students, Elsa H.K. Spencer, Joanna R. Vondrasek

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Federal second chance Pell grants were recently made widely available to incarcerated students in the United States to fund undergraduate education. Piedmont Virginia Community College was a pilot site for this expansion and began full scale implementation of transfer-oriented associate degrees at three correctional centers in its service area. The college did not have a biology laboratory curriculum that would meet general education requirements and be feasible in a correctional center, where students do not have internet access or even reliable computer (word processing or spreadsheet) access and where materials are restricted for entry. This paper will serve to introduce …

Effects Of Confinement On Opposed-Flow Flame Spread Over Cellulose And Polymeric Solids In Microgravity, Ankit Sharma, Yanjun Li, Ya-Ting T. Liao

Faculty Scholarship

Opposed-flow flame spread over solid materials has been investigated in the past few decades owing to its importance in fundamental understanding of fires. These studies provided insights on the behavior of opposed-flow flames in different environmental conditions (e.g., flow speed, oxygen concentration). However, the effect of confinement on opposed-flow flames remains under-explored. It is known that confinement plays a critical role in concurrent-flow flame spread in normal and microgravity conditions. Hence, for a complete understanding it becomes important to understand the effects of confinement for opposed-flow flames. In this study, microgravity experiments are conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS) …

Integrating Sport’S Vision Training Into Vision Therapy: The Role Of Occupational Therapy, Emily M. Beaird

Capstone Projects

Sports vision training (SVT) is a specialized area of vision therapy focused on enhancing an athlete's visual skills for peak athletic performance. Vision training is vital for athletes because “athletic performance can be one of the most rigorous activities for the visual system” (Khanal, 2015) and is responsible for upward of 80% of the sensory input received during an athletic performance. However, it is often overlooked in traditional training regimens. Focusing on advanced clinical practice and program development, an unmet need for SVT at Origami Rehabilitation was achieved. The main goal was to create an SVT program that catered to …

Mindful Teaching In Adolescent Dance Educaton: Prioritizing Mental Health, Camille Chimner

Capstone Projects

Mental health continues to be a concern for all ages, especially those within the period of adolescence. Adolescence is a time of great physical, cognitive, social, and emotional change that can be positively facilitated with support and strong coping skills. Adolescent dancers have additional demands placed upon them within the dance space. Adults can play a large role in this support, especially adults who serve as educators and coaches. Dance educators have the opportunity to work closely with dancers and can have great influence on both their physical and emotional health, but are not often trained to be mindful of …

Evaluating Sensory Processing And Functional Outcomes Of Children Participating In A Therapeutic Horseback Riding Read And Ride Program: A Single-Subject Research Study, Samantha Dunleavy-Shotsberger

Capstone Projects

Therapeutic horseback riding (TR) can be beneficial to various populations, such as individuals with disabilities, trauma, behavioral problems, anxiety, developmental delay, depression, and learning challenges. However, individuals come with a variety of complex needs and diagnoses, therefore more research is needed to determine how TR impacts the individual. Specifically, there is a lack of understanding of how the individual’s behavior, learning, and sensory processing is affected by TR intervention. Therefore, this study examined the effects of TR on childhood sensory processing and at-risk academic occupational performance in reading as it relates to behavior and attention. A single subject ABA design …

Promoting And Sustaining An Adaptive Sports Program On A College Campus Through Outreach And Resource Developmen, Morgan E. Otero

Capstone Projects

Participation in physical activity is essential for an individual’s health and well-being. However, persons with disabilities have limited access to physical activity due to personal, environmental, institutional, and/or social barriers. This limited access increases a disabled individual’s likelihood of developing secondary health conditions, decreased mental health outcomes, and feelings of social isolation. To combat this, it is important that these individuals have equitable access to and knowledge of adaptive physical activity opportunities such as adaptive sport, recreation, and fitness. To address this need, this capstone project focused on promoting and sustaining an existing adaptive sports and recreation program through the …

Pediatric Developmental Milestones And Surveillance; Understanding Pediatrician, Ot, Slp, Bcba, And Respective Pre-Professionals’ Current Knowledge, Roles, And Confidence, Gabrielle A. Jones

Capstone Projects

Limited literature exists on developmental surveillance, particularly occupational therapist’s role, and clinicians’ current knowledge and understanding of the CDC milestones. A pilot study was conducted to better understand the current knowledge, role, and confidence of primary care pediatricians, Speech and Language Pathologists, Board Certified Behavior Analysts, Occupational Therapists and respective pre-professionals regarding utilization of updated CDC developmental milestones and developmental surveillance. My objectives involved gaining knowledge and collaborating to create, administer, collect data, and analyze data using an anonymous survey. This also included collaborating to create, edit, and submit an HSIRB application. Results of this study provide supporting evidence that …

Utilizing The Functional Mobility Assessment/Uniform Data Set (Fma/Uds) Registry To Conduct Research Related To Wheelchair Repair Frequency, Brooke Wilson

Capstone Projects

Issues with wheelchair equipment is a common experience for users, but access to repairs and maintenance isn’t always the most efficient process. A large portion of occupational therapy’s (OT) patient population includes wheelchair users, so it’s important to consider the impact of wheelchair breakdown on a patient’s daily function. There has been a lack of research on wheelchair repair frequency during the first year of ownership, so this capstone project focused on developing a manuscript for journal submission on this topic. This was achieved utilizing data from the Functional Mobility Assessment/Uniform Data Set (FMA/UDS) Registry. Client characteristics were extracted from …

Wild Wheels: Meaningful Art Program Designed For Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Alexis Bailey-Lauchie

Capstone Projects

The Wild Wheels program was designed to offer adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) an opportunity to engage in meaningful and purposeful art-based activities. The aim supports the distinctive value of occupational therapy (OT) defined as enhancing the health and quality of life (QOL) of individuals by promoting participation and engagement in meaningful daily activities. Typically, for individuals with IDD options for meaningful engagement are limited due to various physical/mental limitations and increased need for assistance. The Center for Disability Services (CDS) at Western Michigan University (WMU) introduced the Wild Wheels program to enable participants to create unique artwork …

Combating Social Isolation Among Older Adults Through Intergenerational Relationships With Children; Facilitating Meaningful Connection During Intergenerational Interactions By Improving Sensory Environment And Increasing Engagement During Group Activities, Lillian John

Capstone Projects

The following capstone project focused on the enhancement of meaningful engagement among all participants of an intergenerational care center. The interventions implemented within the intergenerational program were put in place to facilitate communication, improve behavioral regulation, modify sensory environment, create the just right challenge for group activities, and increase independence to promote meaningful engagement and social connection. The implementation of the interventions was completed through on-site education to the employees, the creation of various educational binders to support the participants individually, and adjustments to the environment and group activities. This capstones projects’ primary goal was to improve the efficacy of …

Development Of Carf Accreditation Requirements For A Vocational Rehabilitation Program For Individuals Independently Living With Post-Traumatic Brain Injury, Samantha Kowalczyk

Capstone Projects

The purpose of this capstone project was to assist a vocational rehabilitation program at Community Connections in Sterling Heights, Michigan with developing requirements for CARF Accreditation for individuals independently living with post-traumatic brain injury. This work program site is unique in the fact it is primarily run by Occupational Therapists and Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants. Achieving CARF Accreditation, which stands for Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, demonstrates that standards are being met and provides greater satisfaction and the possibility for reimbursement and funding for a program. The overall aim was to assist in the development of the primary materials …

Reimagining Comfort: Designing For Climate Resilience, Dissinger

Capstone Projects

In a world undergoing constant transformation, driven by factors like extensive CO2 emissions since the Industrial Revolution, the impacts of greenhouse gases are irreversible, necessitating innovative solutions to confront global warming. Adapting to a progressively warmer planet presents unforeseen challenges, from shifting ecosystems to heightened vulnerability to natural disasters, and rising global temperatures.

The solution lies in the creation of a harmonious structure that fuses nature and technology, fostering self-sufficiency and compassion for the climate crisis. This structure aspires to be a paragon of eco-consciousness, adorned with entirely recyclable materials and integrated green systems, promoting sustainability. In a departure from …

Designed Memories: How Can The Built Environment Affect Memories, Jared Schneider

Capstone Projects

Memories have served as a fundamental conduit for transmitting history across generations, whether shared around a dining room table or by the flickering flames of a campfire. These memories serve as our bridge to the past, offering invaluable lessons from prior experiences. The process through which information is transformed into lasting memories is known as encoding.

Encoding, in essence, relies on our sensory faculties, encompassing taste, smell, touch, vision, and hearing. These senses enable us to capture and preserve information within the intricate framework of our brains. An exploration of the individual strengths and weaknesses inherent in each sensory modality …

Dipl 3850 / Core 3850 Church, State, And Politics In Latin America, Benjamin Goldfrank Phd

Diplomacy Syllabi

This course has two central objectives: to provide students with an understanding of the evolving role of religion in Latin American politics, with a primary emphasis on the role of Catholicism and the Catholic Church from the period of the Second Vatican Council until the present; and to provide students an opportunity to reflect on the normative questions of how religious beliefs and religious institutions should affect politics and of how different political systems and state policies should affect the practice of religion. Major themes, examined through both Catholic and non-Catholic perspectives, include the institutional relationship between the Catholic Church …

Survival Labor, Yvette Butler

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Article makes one simple, novel claim: crime is labor when it generates income, allows individuals to pursue self-sufficiency, or allows them to fulfill societal expectations of providing for or caring for dependents. When individuals engage in survival crimes, instead of seeing them as criminals, we should see them as workers engaged in survival labor.

The carceral system continues to disproportionately harm racial minorities and people living in poverty. The foundations of many laws regulating racialized bodies and the policing of those bodies has created a culture where blackness is equivalent to criminality. While a penal abolitionist framework is helpful …