Digital Commons Network^™

Casting A Line To The Land: Narratologies Of Embodied Rituals And Connectivity To Place, Zoe Latham

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

This research argues for a re-conceptualisation and extension of place within architectural praxis that is reflective of broader discussions of meaning and environmental experience. This study examines the alignment between place and ritual theory as a way to better understand phenomenon that inform a greater connectivity between embodied and meaningful experiences with the environment. This will be explored through the act of fly fishing. Fly-fishing is relevant as the focus of the study owing in part to the author’s own experience as a fly angler. The relationship between the act of fly fishing, being part of nature and being in …

Humanity Undone, A Practice Led Enquiry Into Self-Injury, Karen Abadie

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

This thesis enquires into my lived experience of self-injury (cutting my own skin), asking to what extent can moving image, sound and performance in the context of art installation reveal an understanding of the processes of self-injury. I employ an embodied onto-epistemological methodology that blends artistic enquiry with active engagement with phenomenological and new materialist feminist theory. This investigation reveals a dynamic yet subtle relationship between the body-as-object and the body-as- subject, as initially described by Husserl as Leib and Körper (1990). I use 16mm film and performance in a haptic immersive installation environment to articulate these dynamic subtleties. Merleau-Ponty …

Performance Writing, Objects And Millennial Precarity: A Co-Authored Par Exploration Between Friends, Katheryn Owens

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

This practice-as-research project uses performance writing to understand, illustrate and work through aspects of millennial experience, with a specific interest in precarious housing and labour. For us, experiencing precarity means that fundamental aspects of what is required to experience what Lauren Berlant calls ‘a good life’ (including secure working contracts, renters’ rights, access to leisure time) are not being met. This leads to a feeling of ‘living on the edge’ (Ahmed, 2017: 238), which in turn prevents us from being able to imagine alternatives. This performance writing takes the form of scores, instructions, maps, walking, knitting, zines, and audio recordings. …

An Analysis Of A Public Health Media Campaign In Switzerland, Eleanor Saskia Faulk-Antonakis

Plymouth Business School Theses

This multidisciplinary, grounded theory study analyses public health media communication for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) prevention in Switzerland. Health communication researchers measure the effects of media campaigns on populations to improve prevention. However, such effects may evade measurement due to complex interactions between audiences, media channels and ecology, message content, and targeting strategies. Competing theories explain media effects on health behaviours but there is a dearth of research examining upstream planning and stakeholder perceptions of media campaigns. In effect, interactions between communities, health officials, practitioners, and communication/media stakeholders are politically sensitive, and inaccessible to researchers. …

What Factors Influence Individuals’ Level Of Engagement In A Banking Relationship In Jordan?, Nawal Wafa Tarazi

Plymouth Business School Theses

In a study (NFIS 2018-2019), conducted by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, it was reported that 67% of people in Jordan above the age of 15 years do not have access to the formal financial system in terms of bank account ownership; 38.0% of adults are excluded from any formal financial services and 24.8% of adults are completely excluded from any formal and informal financial services. Only 33% of adults in Jordan, 27% of women, are financially included in terms of bank account ownership, which is a low percentage …

Transformational Leadership And Employee Innovative Behaviour In The Egyptian Travel Agents: A Mediation – Moderation Model, Ahmed Hammad

Plymouth Business School Theses

The tourism industry is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the world. Specifically, tourism is a vital industry in the Egyptian economy as it is an essential source of its national income. Unfortunately, since 2010, tourism has been severely affected in Egypt due to terrorist attacks, attacks against tourist areas, and recently, the devastating impact of COVID-19, impacting Egypt as a tourist destination. Accordingly, to encounter these challenges, frontline employees’ innovative behaviour (EIB) is significantly needed as they personally engage with clients and meet their needs, and so, their input is crucial to the tourism industry’s survival. …

An Exploration Of The Significant Issues At Work For People With A Diagnosed Mental Health Issue, From The Perspective Of Individuals And Line Managers., Lindsay Louise Rose Badger

Plymouth Business School Theses

This thesis presents findings from an exploratory, in-depth qualitative research project that focused upon surfacing and exploring the significant issues at work for people with diagnosed mental health issues, from the perspective of individuals and line managers. There is growing awareness of the number of people in work with mental health issues; an estimated one in six workers (Elliott et al., 2008; McManus et al., 2016) and the organisational costs: an estimated £42 to £45billion per year (Hampson & Jacob, 2020). The current research field of mental health issues at work focuses upon how work can shape individuals’ mental health …

The Perceived Value Co-Creation And The Degree Of Value Co-Creation Of Chinese Senior Travellers: A Case Study In Guizhou Province (China), Yu Lei

Plymouth Business School Theses

Gifted with the reality that the number of aged people has been growing at a high rate of speed from year to year, China has great potential to benefit from the development of senior tourism. Besides, value co-creation has become a more and more attractive research topic in tourism context. However, although previous research (including both English and Chinese literature) has paid considerable attention to value co-creation, few studies have focused on senior travellers’ attitudes on value co-creation in tourism industry. As mentioned above, since more and more Chinese seniors show great interest in tourism-related activities, especially in the post …

An Empirical Study Of Crowd Dynamics And Managing Safety At Events, Kristin Finn

Plymouth Business School Theses

The UK live events market has long been considered to be a growth sector. Given the range of challenges linked to event crowd safety felt by the industry in recent years, and despite recent setbacks associated with new safety measures and public uncertainty following the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, event organisers remain optimistic about the future. Many authors have studied crowd dynamics and safety planning in recent years, but often the emphasis has been one of objective observation and expert opinion. The outcomes of this thesis are timely as it aimed to investigate attitudinal differences among event …

Strategies Are Needed To Support People With Alcohol Use Disorder And Alcohol-Related Liver Disease To Take Part In Randomised Clinical Trials: Results From The Mirage Pilot Trial Of Functional Imagery Training, A Dhanda, V Allgar, J Andrade, L Callaghan, B Hudson, W Ingram, A King, V Lavers, J Lomax, A Mccune, C Musicha, R Parker, C Rollinson, S Creanor

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Human-Centered Design For Strategic Organizational Shifts In Complex Times, Kristen Laviano Snow

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Nonprofit organizations are faced with unprecedented challenges as they seek to accomplish their lofty missions in a complex environment, ripe with uncertainty. The global COVID-19 pandemic brought forth new problems for communities and workplaces. As a result, some old ways of working may no longer be useful. To make meaningful progress on their social missions while navigating an unfamiliar post-pandemic context, nonprofits need new tools to help them understand and respond to changing community needs. Evidence has shown design thinking to be an effective approach to developing innovative strategies tailored to real needs, however, it has not been widely practiced …

Writing As Transformation: An Action Research Study On Trauma-Informed Curriculum, Nena L. Weinsteiger Guzman

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Trauma exposure is endemic, and this study seeks to address childhood trauma in a compassionate and restorative manner. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are serious childhood traumas that manifest as toxic stress which can damage the developing brain of a child and affect overall health. The implications are expressed dualistically: academic performance of youth is subdued & diminished, and behavioral interactions can range from unreceptive to erratic and aggressive. Trauma exposure is a predictor of adverse outcomes, which range from higher rates of suspension, expulsion, and incarceration, to dire outcomes, such as lower life expectancy and quality of life. Streamlining trauma-informed …

We're Listening: A Study Of Music Preference In Modern Society, Michael B. Glover

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the formation of music preference in an effort to identify specific ages when preferred music is likely to be discovered. One hundred one individuals participated in an online survey, answering questions about their listening habits, music preferences, and the social elements that contributed most to those preferences. Participants were asked to identify their current, second, and third favorite music at the time of the study and whether their preferences had changed over time. According to findings, males were likely to discover their current favorite music at the age of 12.46 years, and …

Identifying Success Strategies For Hmong American Students In Higher Education, Jason Xiong

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Hmong Americans' postsecondary completion rates remain low when compared to other Asian ethnic groups. As the Hmong population continues to grow, so does the need for intervention to increase the total number of postsecondary graduates. Many Hmong Americans are first-generation college students and continue to face challenges and barriers that prevent them from being successful in higher education. “Forty-seven and a half percent of Hmong adults (25 years or older) reported having attended college, but not earning a degree” (National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education, 2011). Without a college degree, Hmong Americans face limited resources …

Examining Attention To Leadership When Hiring School Administrators In A High Poverty, Ethnically Diverse School District: A Case Study, Veronica A. Tigert

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods case study was to understand the hiring practices of a school district when considering a principal and how the school district attends to leadership within those hiring practices. The central premise of the study was leadership matters and is second to teaching in student achievement. However, the historical record paints a picture of less than adequate attention to effective hiring practices and a limited scope when addressing leadership. A small school district in California was selected to participate in the study. The design incorporated mixed methods to analyze the hiring practices through a survey …

Evaluation Of Human Stem Cell-Derived Neurons In 2d And 3d Cultures For Neurodevelopmental Studies, Epilepsy Disease Modeling And Drug Discovery, Hamed Salmanzadeh-Dozdabi

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Human stem cells have revolutionized the study of early neural development, offering a powerful tool to investigate the complex processes involved in the formation of the nervous system. In this study, the human pluripotent stem cell line, TERA2.cl.SP12, was utilized to derive neuroglial cells and to determine their differentiation and functional maturation up to one year in culture; this model was then investigated as a new tool for the study of neurodevelopmental toxicity, for seizure modeling and as a screening method for the investigation of new anticonvulsants. Immunocytochemistry experiments determined that non-differentiated cells expressed the stem cell marker Oct-3/4 and, …

Exercise Behavior And Recreational Sports Participation Predicts Academic Success In University Students, Natalie Matian

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Most universities offer fitness and recreational opportunities. Few prospective studies have measured the effect of those services on academic outcomes. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of exercise behavior and recreational sport participation on student success. We tracked 1,507 students at a private D1 university for 4 years. Upon completion of the 2017-2018 academic year, we exported a registry of every undergraduate student who accessed the university fitness center. We documented how often students swiped into the recreation facility and participated in group exercise classes, personal training sessions, and rock tower usage; these served as independent …

An Evaluation Of Prompting To Teach Children To Ask For Help In A Virtual Classroom, Katherine Griffith Brock

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many students have been forced to learn online. However, more information is needed about effective strategies for promoting active engagement in the online classroom, particularly the impact of peer modeling. This study investigated peer modeling and behavioral skills training to increase hand raising and question asking/answering behavior in six elementary school students. The study employed a multiple baseline across participants design, with data collected live during Zoom sessions by three research assistants, one acting as the teacher and two acting as peer models. Latency to speech was also coded subsequently to the live session …

Singing In The Key Of Life, Georgia Braun Mcbride Agerton

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Singing is often used in music therapy sessions. It can provide physiological, psychological, and interpersonal benefits, and music therapists use it to address clinical goals including improved blood oxygenation, emotional expression, and increased interpersonal engagement between clients and their family members. Singing uniquely combines musicality, the body as the instrument, and meaningful words. Furthermore, the voice is a personal instrument, which makes musical engagement accessible to many people. Though singing can provide various benefits, many people experience singing negatively, especially when singing with an exposed voice, i.e., when others can hear their singing voice. Whidden (2015) found that one can …

Social Media: Are You Addicted? Examining The Role Of Social Media Platforms On Life Satisfaction, Personality And Generation, Alexzander Ponce

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The rise of social media has led to an increase in social media use and social media addiction. Research has found that social media addiction is influenced by various factors, and this study looks to examine the relation between social media addiction and users' life satisfaction, personality type and age group; and whether the type of social media platform moderates this relationship. This study dispersed survey questionnaires and conducted an ANCOVA to analyze the results. Results found that life satisfaction and social media addiction are negatively related, but the negative relation is larger for Twitter users. Results also found a …

Utilization-Focused Evaluation On The Impact Of A Sports-Based Youth Development On Unaccompanied Youth Students, Eric Cortez

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Unaccompanied immigrant youth (UIY) face obstacles that can hinder their education in their host countries. Given that educational attainment can help interrupt intergenerational cycles of poverty, the examination of support systems for UIY is critical. This study examined the role of sports-based youth development (SBYD) programs in supporting UIY students using a utilization-focused evaluation. To do this, two groups’ high school graduation rates were compared: (a) UIY participating in an SBYD program and (b) UIY not participating in a SYBD program. In addition to this quantitative analysis, UIY were surveyed and interviewed to contextualize the results of the graduation rate …

Inclusive Practices In Catholic Education: A Restorative Realignment, Carla Vellutini

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Catholic schools need to examine the barriers to, benefits of, and interventions needed when implementing inclusive practices into their institutions. Catholic schools are experiencing an increase in enrolled students identified with learning and behavioral needs; however, they frequently lack resources and expertise to provide the necessary support for these students and their families to succeed. Research studies identify teacher attitudes and perceptions regarding inclusive practices as vital factors to create successful culture change.

A single group pretest-posttest design, incorporated into this action research study, measured the attitudes and stress of teachers before and after a 14-week long intervention for eight …

African American Males, The Achievement Gap And The Impact Of Social Skills And Classroom Climate On Educational Aspirations, Latoya Seawood

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

There is a gap in the academic achievement of African American males when compared to their peers, this gap has been maintained for many years. The purpose of this study is to conduct a quantitative non-experimental secondary analysis utilizing a national data set focusing on African American male students from the 4th through the 6th grade. To test the hypothesis that, all things being equal, social skills positively affect academics in African American boys and that social information processing, school commitment, and work habits mediate this effect. In total, 60 African American male students in 4th through 6th grades who …

“I’M Listening, Auntie” A Study On The Experiences Of Black Women Earning A Doctorate Degree In Education At A California State University, Parker Rugeley-Valle

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Black women face barriers to higher education that include systemic racism and sexism that lead to self–doubt, discrimination, and familial and community support. They battle barriers to and within academia through the intersectionality of their sex and racial identity groups. As a response to the barriers they face in higher education, the purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of Black women navigating a doctoral program in education at a California State University. To explore the experiences of the participants, I used a qualitative study with a Heideggerian phenomenological approach and a Black feminist lens. A three­–question interview, …

Caregiver Acceptability Of Differential Reinforcement Procedures For Honest Reports Of Transgressions, Stephanie C. Bowar

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

When measuring social validity, many researchers rely exclusively on subjective measures, such as questionnaires or surveys; however, these measures may fail to capture the variables that control later intervention adoption by stakeholders, and objective measures may capture these variables more accurately. Moreover, few researchers have investigated the adoptability of differential reinforcement (DR) interventions to increase children’s honesty about transgressions. We taught caregivers to implement the DR procedures reported in Lehardy et al. (2023) and measured the acceptability and adoptability of procedures using three measures: (1) a social validity questionnaire and rating scale immediately following training, (2) a concurrent-chains preference assessment …

Influence Of Female Sex Hormones On Ghb Toxicokinetics And Regulation Of Mcts And Smcts, Hao Wei

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) is an endogenous shorty chain fatty acid that is used clinically as Xyrem to treat narcolepsy. GHB is best known for its illicit use and abuse due to its sedative/hypnotic and euphoric effects. It is used in body building, for recreational use and sexual assault. Nonlinear toxicokinetics of GHB has been described in humans and rats with decreased total clearance at higher doses due to capacity-limited metabolism resulting in a higher plasma exposure. Renal clearance increases with increasing dose and becomes the major route of GHB elimination in overdose cases due to saturation of GHB metabolism. Proton- …

The Mediating Effect Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Relationship Between Technology And Organizational Performance: Evidence From Ghana Banking Industry, Manaseh Tsekpo, Williams Kwasi Peprah

Faculty Publications

This study aimed to investigate the mediating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the relationship between technology and organizational performance, using evidence from the Ghana banking industry. The study adopted a correlation and mediation research design, with 232 respondents conveniently sampled from eight indigenous Ghanaian Banks. The data were analyzed using correlation, regression, and mediation techniques. The results show that technology serves as a catalyst for improving organizational performance and alleviating the negative effects of COVID-19 on organizational performance. The findings also revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic highly mediates technology and organizational performance with a significant positive relationship between technology …

An Evaluation Of The Psychosocial Benefits For Children Experiencing Homelessness Arising From The Introduction Of An Integrated Community Care Project Across The City Of Cork, Traolach O' Callaghan

Theses

The purpose of the research is to evaluate an intervention within a new model of family support being delivered in Cork City, on addressing child and family homelessness. This new model is being delivered for the first time in Ireland during ‘Youth Club’ and strives to act as an intervention to assist children experiencing homelessness. The model was first developed by Tusla Springboard Child and Family service and Good Shepherd Services Cork in 2016 in response to the alarming rise in child and family homelessness in Cork city, and the resulting impact of same. The research investigates the model and …

A Different Perspective: An Exploration Towards The Emancipation Of Practice Within Social Care, Jonathan Condon

Theses

In Ireland today, it is recognized that the Reflexive Practitioner is the dominant paradigm within the district of Social Care and the approach of professionals is obtained through the traditional ways; whilst Social Pedagogy is still a relatively new import with only a couple of organizations operating across the country. Both disciplines work with the same general clientele and have similar goals for the clients with whom they work (Lalor and Share, 2013). The professional approach of both disciplines was unfastened and discovered throughout this study. Social care professionals focus on the protection of those in their care. Along with …

Crime, Illness, & Abolition: An Exploration Through The Connective Tissue Within The Pic/Mic Matrix, Laila Kent

Scripps Senior Theses

This two part zine illuminates the shared mechanisms that construct and respond to ‘crime’, also define and treat illness in the US. Part 1 uncovers the status quo of our prison and health care system via the emergence of the The Prison-Industrial Complex (PIC), and The Medical-Industrial Complex (MIC). Through an exploration of the respective and overlapping histories, logics, and realities underlying the function of these systems, the mechanisms of individualism, objectification, and profiteering become strikingly clear. Part 2 breaks free of the status quo outlined in Part 1 by introducing abolition as the vision and strategy to heal from …