Student Engagement In High School Mathematics Blended Learning Classrooms, Therese A. Rinehart

Dissertations

Engagement is a student’s interest, participation, and motivation in the learning process and is a cornerstone of success in the classroom. The COVID-19 Pandemic overturned the traditional classroom, making the task of fostering engagement nearly impossible. Although pandemic-related research has largely focused on mental health and academic achievement, less attention has been given to instructional models promoting engagement in remote learning environments. Self-directed learning (SDL) is one model offering students digital autonomy and access to teachers and peers. This study examined the longitudinal data of student perceptions of their engagement through the COVID-19 Pandemic at an alternative high school and …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Administrators, Teachers, And School Personnel With Justice-Involved Students, Kandra Cosby

Dissertations

This hermeneutic phenomenological research study examined the experiences of six educational professionals, including administrators, teachers, and support staff, as they supported justice-involved students in their reintegration into traditional public schools. The study was based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, Hirschi’s social control theory, and Glasser’s choice theory. Semistructured interviews were used and revealed six themes: (a) fighting systems while trying to serve students, (b) relationships as safety nets, (c) protecting students from the stigma of judgment, (d) fighting bureaucratic silos, (e) philosophy wars in action, and (f) seeing the whole child. The findings indicated successful reintegration was less connected to …

Teacher Leadership And Specially Designed Instruction: A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Teacher Leaders And Special Education Teachers In Elementary Settings, Tangie M. Rahming

Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of teacher leaders and special education teachers as they implemented Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) in elementary school settings. Despite SDI being a federally mandated component of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), research consistently shows wide variation in how teachers interpret, deliver, and sustain SDI in real classrooms. Limited professional development, inconsistent coaching structures, and varying understandings of SDI across schools contribute to persistent gaps in implementation fidelity. To address these challenges, this study explored how teacher leaders support SDI implementation and how special education teachers make meaning of their instructional …

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In Teaching And Learning In High School Social Studies Curricula In Georgia: A Case Study, Sharon Ann Mcmeans-Lukiri

Dissertations

Despite increasing diversity within Georgia’s high school student population, it remains unclear to what extent social studies teachers incorporate Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) in the planning and implementation of their instruction. Recent research indicates that many educators continue to struggle with developing effective instructional practices that meet the learning needs of students from vulnerable communities (Liasidou & Symeou, 2018). Students from these communities often experience lower academic achievement (Ladson-Billings, 2009), and when the curriculum fails to reflect or respond to their cultural backgrounds, they are more likely to disengage from school (Ladson-Billings, 2009). This gap between students’ cultural needs and …

A Phenomenographical Study Of Rural Teacher Retention Before, During, And After The Covid-10 Global Pandemic, Stacey Lb Collins

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This phenomenographical study investigated rural teachers’ perceptions regarding their decisions to remain teaching in rural areas, with attention to experiences before, during, and after the COVID-19 global pandemic. The research was guided by two questions: (1) What experiences do rural teachers perceive impact their decision to remain teaching in rural school systems before, during, and after the COVID-19 global pandemic? and (2) How do rural teachers perceive the role of school administrators in retaining teachers in rural systems, before, during, and after the COVID-19 global pandemic? Participants were teachers who served in rural districts prior to, during, and after …

Civics Teachers’ Perceptions Of Disciplinary Literacy Strategies That Use Primary Sources: A Case Study, Whitney Williams

Dissertations

This study has been designed as a case study to examine teachers’ perceptions of document-based strategies when combined with primary sources as pedagogical tools. The participants were ninth grade civics teachers. Semi-structured interviews, focused observations, and artifact collection were the sources of collected data. As the researcher, my constructivism guided this study through the lens of Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory (SCT). Therefore, the participants’ perception will be interpreted through SCT concepts such as personal influences, behavioral influences, and environmental influences. Findings show a handful of disciplinary literacy strategies that occurred most often across all participants. Teachers valued an emphasis …

Factors Affecting Diet Selection In Sheep Fed Endophyte-Infected Toxic Fescue, Jordan Thomas

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tall fescue infected with endophyte‑producing fungi can induce fescue toxicosis in grazing ruminants, reducing performance and altering forage intake. Isoflavones—such as biochanin A, a major compound in red clover (Trifolium pratense)—have been proposed to mitigate these effects through improved palatability and vascular relaxation. This study examined whether inclusion of ground red clover (GRC)—either directly or combined with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and polyethylene glycol (PEG)—affected voluntary diet selection in lambs offered toxic fescue.

Thirty‑two lambs were housed individually and assigned randomly to one of four diets: (1) toxic fescue silage (CONT), (2) silage + 5% GRC (RC5), (3) silage + 10% …

2025 December - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

Hi All,

December was defined by quite a bit of temperature variability (though the temperature swings resulted in near-normal monthly averages) and an overall dry pattern.

The month started out cooler than normal, with a slight moderation in the second week of the month, before a strong cold front sent temperatures tumbling into the teens or single-digits and wind chills into the single digits or below zero on December 14 and 15 - with many locations stuck in the 20’s or even teens for high temperatures. Following this cold weather, temperatures quickly rebounded into the normal and then well above …

Detection Of Phase-Binning And Interpolation Artifacts In 4-Dimensional Computed Tomography Imaging Using Deep Learning And Rule-Based Approaches, Jorge Cisneros, Nathan H. Feldt, Yevgeniy Vinogradskiy, Richard Castillo, Edward Castillo

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) imaging is a crucial component to lung cancer radiotherapy planning and enables CT-ventilation-based functional avoidance planning to mitigate radiation toxicity. However, 4DCT scans are frequently impaired by acquisition artifacts that corrupt downstream analyses that depend on lung segmentation and deformable image registration, such as CT-ventilation and dose accumulation.

PURPOSE: This study develops 3D deep learning models to identify phase-binning artifacts at the voxel level and a heuristic, rule-based method to identify interpolation slices within 4DCT images.

METHODS: We introduce a generator that systematically inserts synthetic phase-binning and interpolation artifacts into any artifact-free breathing phase obtained …

(Wp 2025-06) Ramsey And Keynes...And Sraffa And Wittgenstein: Change In Interwar Cambridge Economics And Policy, John B. Davis

Economics Working Papers

The Ramsey-Keynes exchange regarding the nature of probability is investigated in connection with the development of interwar Cambridge economics and Ramsey and Sraffa’s influences on Keynes and Wittgenstein. First discussed are Ramsey’s criticisms of Keynes and Wittgenstein; then Sraffa’s criticisms of Marshall and Wittgenstein. Ramsey was influenced by Peirce and pragmatism and Sraffa by Gramsci and the theory of cultural hegemony. Ramsey died in 1930 but Sraffa continued to interact with both Keynes and Wittgenstein. After his critique of Marshall he participated in the ‘Cambridge circus’ and turned to recovering the Classical economics of Ricardo. Keynes’s General Theory statement of …

A Strategic Audit Of Live Nation Entertainment: Industry Position, Competitive Dynamics, And Long-Term Growth Outlook, William H. Wooden Iv, Owen B. Crone, Reece L. Flores, Grace A. Schaefer, Eric M. Jacob, Sydney A. Beck

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Live Nation Entertainment is the dominant global leader in the concert and live events industry, supported by a vertically integrated model that spans artist management, concert promotion, venue operations, ticketing, and sponsorship. This strategic audit evaluates Live Nation’s internal strengths, external threats, competitive position, corporate governance, and long-term strategic prospects based on comprehensive analysis of company reports, industry dynamics, and market trends. Live Nation benefits from unmatched scale, global venue ownership, exclusive artist relationships, and the substantial network effects generated by Ticketmaster, which collectively create high barriers to entry and sustained competitive advantage. The audit also examines significant challenges such …

The Impact Of Social Media Use On Postpartum Depression, Jaila Randle

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a serious form of depression that affects one in eight women. Symptoms include feeling sad all the time, being anxious, and having trouble bonding with their child. As social media sites like Facebook and Twitter become more important for moms to find support and health information, it has become a public health concern to learn how they affect mental health after giving birth. This literature review explores the positive and negative impacts of social media use on postpartum depression among mothers. A systematic search identified peer-reviewed studies published between 2014 and 2025. Studies were selected using …

Silent Cries: Analyzing The Psychological Profiles Of High School Shooters, Kayla N. Martinez

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

Over the past two decades, school shootings have increased in frequency and severity in the United States, leaving schools, families, and communities with long-lasting trauma. Despite experiencing school shootings for more than 20 years, protocols put in place regarding school shootings seem to only be reactive rather than proactively identifying and preventing the occurrence. The purpose of this thesis was to analyze behavioral patterns high school shooters tend to exhibit using multiple factors and propose potential preventative strategies to reduce the number of incidents. This study relies on secondary data analysis in which behavioral, mental, and environmental factors were examined …

Review Of Black Women Legacies: Public History Sites Seen And Unseen By A. Russell, Kashonda Murphy

LWLC Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Integrating Data Analytics: Exploring The Best Methods To Evaluate Players’ Performance To Help Gain A Competitive Advantage On The Football Field, Tanner F. Fountain

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

To succeed in the world of sports, leaders need to uncover and utilize any advantage possible in order to gain a competitive advantage over their competition. I discuss how leaders of a sports organization, specifically within the Arkansas Razorback football program, implement the use of analytics on and off the field, as well as how they use their data to create visuals, find potential strengths and weakness, and ultimately help them be more prepared for gameday. Using my personal experience as a Student Analyst for the Razorbacks, along with supplementary information, I share the latest tactics and the strategies for …

Sustaining Community Health Through Impactful Snap-Ed Initiatives In Utah, Lacee Jimenez, Kristi Strongo, Lea Palmer, Lendel K. Narine, Heidi Leblanc

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

Create Better Health (CBH), Utah’s SNAP-Ed program, addresses food insecurity and chronic disease prevention through nutrition education, policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) initiatives, and social media marketing. From 2024 to 2025, CBH reached over 13,500 Utahns through direct education and 81,000 through community interventions. Evaluation results showed significant improvements in nutrition behaviors, including increased fruit and vegetable intake, food resource management, and label use. Follow-up surveys showed sustained behavior change. CBH’s comprehensive approach demonstrates measurable public health impact and points to the importance of continued investment in nutrition education and food access programs to build healthier, food-secure communities.

Empower Yourself Through Self-Defense: Enhancing Personal Safety Through Self-Defense Education, Stephanie Carlson, Naomi Brower, Aaron Hunt

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

The Empower Yourself Through Self-Defense program, developed by Utah State University faculty in 2024, builds participants’ confidence by equipping them with self-defense knowledge and skills. Participants reported reduced fear, increased preparedness, and strong interest in continued training. The program enhances personal safety by empowering individuals with practical skills for self-protection.

Outcomes And Impact Of An E-Commerce Extension Program In Rural Utah, Amanda D. Ali, Paul Hill

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

Utah State University Extension’s E-commerce Accelerator (ECA), a mentoring service of the Rural Online Initiative, provides hands-on e-commerce training to small rural businesses in Utah. From January 2024 to July 2025, thirty-five (35) businesses have successfully created online sales websites, with 27 (68%) reporting increased sales revenue.

Covering The Care: Impacts Of Labor And Delivery Unit Closures On Maternal Health Outcomes, Bridget Green, Deborah Fournier, Susy Hawes

All Materials

In 2022, more than half of rural hospitals and one-third of urban hospitals in the United States lacked obstetric services, reflecting an escalating trend of hospital labor and delivery (L&D) unit closures across the US. Despite some large-scale studies reporting negligible impacts of L&D closures on maternal health, an analysis of the literature presents a clear net negative impact for vulnerable women, including those who identify as members of a racial or ethnic minority, those who have low-income, and those who are Medicaid members. For many families, the disappearance of local obstetric care is not merely an inconvenience but instead …

Who Counts As A "Reasonable Employee"? The Third Circuit's Bungling Of Section 8(A)(1) Violations, Ben Milstein

Washington Law Review

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects private employees’ right to unionize and collectively bargain with their employers. Section 7 of the NLRA guarantees employees the right to self-organize labor unions, while section 8 outlines numerous unfair labor practices. Specifically, section 8(a)(1) bans employer interference, coercion, or restraint of any section 7 rights. In a 2022 case, FDRLST Media v. NLRB, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finding that FDRLST Media’s executive officer’s tweet constituted a section 8(a)(1) violation. This Comment examines the history of section 8(a)(1) violations, specifically discussing the widely …

Floodplain Lake Hydrodynamic And Morphodynamic Connections Through Hydraulic Modeling Along The Pee Dee River, Sc, Charles Cj Mina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rivers have been essential in the success of humankind. This reliance has created a vested interest in studying the rivers' environmental history through using floodplain deposits, with the assumption that coarser sediments correlate to higher discharge floods. However, shifting hydrological connectivity and hydrodynamics can complicate this correlation in primary repositories of flood deposits, oxbow lakes, by altering the texture of sediments delivered to them. Studying these complications is essential for quantifying paleoflood magnitude using the sediment record, but has been difficult, as the currently used index of hydrological connectivity relies on water stage, which does not reflect the sediment flux …

Collective Action Under Repressive Conditions: Integration Of Individual, Group, And Structural Level Research, Recommendations, And Reflections, Arin H. Ayanian, Aya Adra, Fouad Bou Zeineddine, Rim Saab, Johanna Vollhardt, Nicole Tausch

Psychology

Social scientific research from different traditions on collective action under repressive conditions is fragmented across different levels of analysis. The current paper takes a first step toward remedying this fragmentation by reviewing research findings on repression and collective action and organizing them into a multilevel framework. We describe the impact of repression on antecedents of collective action at the (a) individual level (including grievances, emotions, efficacy beliefs, politicized identity, and individual differences), (b) group level (including community cohesion and norms), and (c) structural level (including political opportunities and socioecological conditions). We then present an integrative summary reflecting on the broad …

The Supreme Court Of India's Use Of Inherent Power Under Article 142 Of The Constitution: An Empirical Study, M. P. Ram Mohan, Sriram Prasad, Vijay V. Venkitesh, Sai Muralidhar, Jacob P Alex

National Law School of India Review

The Constitution of India under Article 142 grants the Supreme Court of India broad inherent powers to do complete justice. The contours of these inherent powers and what it means to achieve complete justice were left to the Supreme Court to determine on its own. In this paper, we empirically examine all the Supreme Court cases from its inception in 1950 till 2023 which use the term “Article 142” or “complete justice.” We found 1579 cases, which were then hand-coded for many variables such as the nature of the case, where the case was appealed from, the temporal distribution, the …

Actual Uses Versus Paper Owners: The Ontario Court Of Appeal’S Decision In Kosicki V Toronto (City) In Context, Sarah E. Hamill

UBC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Essays On The Economics Of Farmland Valuation And Investment In U.S. Agriculture, Colson Tester

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents three empirical essays that collectively advance the understanding of farmland valuation in key U.S. agricultural regions, emphasizing the critical advantages of comprehensive, transaction-based data over traditional survey methods. Farmland represents a significant portion of agricultural wealth, and its accurate valuation is crucial for farmers, investors, and policymakers, influencing everything from credit access to investment strategies. Historically, research has often relied on subjective survey data, which can suffer from biases, inaccuracies, and insufficient granularity. This dissertation addresses these limitations by leveraging extensive datasets of arm’s-length farmland transactions, offering a more precise and market-driven perspective on land values. The …

Computational Fluid Dynamics Based Optimization Method Applied To Hydrokinetic Turbine Devices, Stuart Glenn Fletcher

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a computational investigation of optimal kinematic operating parameters governing various hydrokinetic turbines (HKT) systems for the use of power generation within river and tidal environments. Two separate studies are performed. The first study investigates optimal cycle parameters for simple and complex kinematic modes governing the motion of oscillating foil energy harvesters (OFEH). An iterative gradient-ascent optimization method is used to search for local efficiency optima based on an initial set of kinematic parameters. To search the operational space for up to eight degrees of freedom (DOF), a maximin space filling condition was implemented to efficiently compute initial …

Validation Studies Of A Dynamic Hybrid Rans-Les Turbulence Modeling Strategy For Cfd Simulation Of Gas Turbine Component Film Cooling, Cole Simmonds

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Computational prediction of the flow physics associated with gas turbine film cooling is important for ensuring effective heat transfer design. These flow fields are highly turbulent and anisotropic, making the accuracy and efficiency of the chosen turbulence model an important aspect of performing high quality computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based analysis. Current industry standard Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence models such as RANS k-ω SST, while computationally efficient, are subject to relatively high levels of uncertainty in their ability to predict these turbulent flow fields. In contrast, high fidelity methods such as Large Eddy Simulation (LES) are computationally very expensive, while …

Twim #261: Overwhelming Microbial Greatness, Jenny Stoval, Briana Lanzarotta, Luke Boseman, Nicole L. Podnecky, Angela Wilson

School of Medical Diagnostics & Translational Sciences Publications

Podcast annotation TWiM #261: Overwhelming Microbial Greatness from the weekly podcast series "This Week in Microbiology" (TWiM), a podcast where experts in microbiology discuss academic papers in their field in an informal way.

“Starlight Suite”: A Compositional Exploration Of The Argo Navis Constellations In Three Movements, Adam Miller

Student Publications

This thesis explores a compositional technique in which stellar constellations are arranged upon musical staves in a variety of iterations to create a basis from which to draw melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic material. These raw extrapolations of unaltered notes are then arranged and orchestrated into thematic music for full orchestra, centered around elements from the mythological background behind the constellations used. An accompanying analysis explains the specific applications of this technique within each movement of the work, the significance of each, and the variety of ways in which musical inspiration was drawn from the raw materials. The objective of this …

Dielectric Properties Of Surface-Doped Partially Stabilised Zirconia With Ceramic Nanomaterials, Lara Al-Hakeem, Shihab Zaidan, Wafaa Khalef

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

The microstructural and dielectric properties of Yttria-partially stabilized zirconia (Y-PSZ) were studied before and after sintering with BaTiO3 and WO3 doping. After sintering, FE-SEM analysis revealed increased grain coalescence and growth, with BaTiO3 causing 300 nm grain expansion and WO3 promoting uniform grain distribution without significant grain size increase (~200 nm). These microstructural changes dramatically altered dielectric behavior. All sintered samples had higher dielectric constants than pre-sintered ones between 100–1000 kHz due to reduced porosity and enhanced homogeneity. Dielectric constant was highest in BaTiO3-doped Y-PSZ at lower frequencies, while WO-doped showed superior frequency stability and lower dielectric loss across the …