Digital Commons Network^™

Empowerment Or Oppression? College Students’ Interpretations Of Sex And Relationships In The Popular Media, Nicola Mcclung, Riana Pella

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Scholars have long emphasized the harmful effects of overtly sexist and oppressive media images on young people’s understandings of sex and relationships. Yet, this emphasis on explicit harm leaves a gap in understanding how college students interpret subtle, hidden, and ambiguous media messages. To address this gap, we asked 196 California college students at a large public university to critique a range of mainstream media content— from overtly oppressive, to affirming of nondominant gender identities, to containing mixed messages about empowerment and oppression. Responses were coded using our media literacy scoring guide for assessing students’ ability to critically analyze media …

Automated Media: Challenges And Opportunities For Media Literacy Education, Arnaud Claes, Jerry Jacques, Antonin Descampe, Victor Wiard

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This paper offers a theoretical reflection on the evolving landscape of automated media, focusing on how automation and so-called Artificial Intelligence (AI) are reshaping traditional media-related practices and the competences required for media literacy. It examines how automated media technologies, such as recommendation algorithms and generative AI, might reshape the critical skills necessary to navigate a complex digital ecosystem. By framing AI-driven media practices through a social-action perspective and treating media as human activities, we argue that media literacy models should encompass competences related to the operation of computational automata, particularly through the management of inbound and outbound information flows. …

Factors Associated With Health Literacy And Chronic Disease Services Performance Among Village Health Volunteers In Chiang Rai, Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study, Sunaree Tanapek, Saroj Nakju

Journal of Health Research

Background: The growing burden of NCDs in Thailand highlights the need for effective community management by Village Health Volunteers (VHVs). This study investigated factors associated with health literacy and chronic disease service performance among VHVs in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 325 VHVs via two-stage cluster sampling between June and July 2023. Data were collected using a validated five-part questionnaire (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.93–0.98). Data analysis included descriptive statistics, content analysis, Chi-square tests, and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient.

Results:VHVs demonstrated good health literacy (41.8%) and a high level of chronic disease service performance …

Exploring Successful Change Strategies For Small Business Owners To Remain Competitive, Omari Akuamoah Boateng

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses are vital to the U.S. economy but face significant challenges in implementing organizational change to remain competitive due to resource constraints. This problem is important to small business owners because ineffective change strategies limit growth, sustainability, and broader economic contribution. Grounded in the resource-based view of the firm and entrepreneurship theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry project is to explore the evidence-based organizational change strategies used by some small business owners in the United States to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage. The participants were 6 leaders from small businesses with fewer than 100 employees located …

Global Humanitarian Aid Sector Leaders’ Perceptions Of Leadership Development Programs To Support Humanitarian Aid Workers, Stephen J. Thomspon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed through this study is that current leadership development programs for global humanitarian aid sector (GHAS) leaders fail to adequately address the unique circumstances of humanitarian aid work. Grounded in trauma-informed care and adaptive leadership, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore GHAS leaders' perceptions of the essential components and opportunities for improving leadership development programs, as well as their recommendations on how to address the unique contexts of humanitarian aid workers. Semistructured interviews with eight GHAS leaders who had at least 10 years of sector experience were conducted. Through qualitative content analysis with a …

Dnp Final Report: Enhancing Self-Regulated Learning And Metacognition For First-Semester Undergraduate Nursing Students, Carla S. Biondillo

DNP Final Reports

Background. First-year undergraduate nursing students often struggle to adapt their learning strategies to the higher-order thinking and clinical reasoning demands of nursing education. Ineffective study habits, low academic self-efficacy, and limited self-regulated learning (SRL) skills are consistently identified as predictors of attrition, which ranges from 20–50% nationally and internationally.

Purpose. At an academic medical center in rural East Texas, first-semester students report academic overwhelm and inadequate study strategies, consistent with national trends. A structured, evidence-based faculty coaching intervention targeting SRL and metacognition was found to be feasible within the collaborative, student-centered organizational culture.

Methods. A quality improvement (QI) design …

Identifying Symbolic Modeling Of Grooming Precursors In Social Media, Heath Landress

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Short-form video platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels increasingly circulate dating and lifestyle advice that may normalize coercive relational scripts. A key challenge for preventing technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation is that early grooming precursors can be communicated through audiovisual design choices, such as tone, pacing, setting, and editing, that make manipulative narratives appear benign. The purpose of this qualitative multimedia content analysis was to identify recurring observable patterns that provide a form of symbolic modeling, through which relational and boundary-shaping cues associated with early-stage sexualized grooming are framed as ordinary dating or lifestyle advice in public TikTok and Instagram …

Preparing Tomorrow’S Providers: A Simulation Addressing Workplace Violence In Clinical Settings, Julie Kurkowski, Danielle Yocom, Nancy Barker, Patrick Heagey, Alexa Moran, John Fisher

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Workplace violence is a growing global problem, with healthcare and social service professionals experiencing the highest rates, reaching epidemic levels in the United States (Emergency Nurses Association (ENA),n.d.; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024). Academic institutions must prepare students for these realities by integrating workplace violence education into prelicensure curricula, especially as students are also at risk during their clinical rotations (Johnston & Fox, 2020).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an interprofessional high-fidelity simulation to increase prelicensure healthcare students’ confidence in managing aggressive behaviors within the simulated clinical environment.

Methods: Nursing, Physician …

The Mediating Role Of Resilience Between Anxiety And Depressive Symptoms, Marivic Torregosa

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Objective: This study examined the mediating effect of resilience between anxiety and depressive symptoms while controlling for alcohol intake, anxiety, and selected demographic variables.

Method: After obtaining IRB approval, data were collected from a sample of n = 514 students at a Hispanic-serving institution located on the United States-Mexico border from 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, through 2023. The instruments used were the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) to measure anxiety, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) to measure depressive symptoms, and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) to measure resilience. Path analysis was used to analyze the mediating effect of …

A Curricular Approach To Enhancing Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Attitudes Toward Research, Brenda Moore, Elif Isik

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Method: An introductory BSN research course was redesigned using competency-based education strategies within the foundations of adult learning theory. Competency-based education focused on ethics while adult learning theory emphasized nursing practice applicability and student interest. Students completed course evaluations comparing their research attitudes from the start of the semester to the end.

Results: Of the 331 students, 327 (98.2%) responded to a reflective question at the end of three consecutive semesters. Among them, 25% (n=82) reported a positive shift, selecting “I did not like research at the start of the semester, but I like it now.” An additional 24.6% (n …

Depressive Cognitions, Resourcefulness, And Sleep In Informal Caregivers Of Persons With Dementia, Rayhanah R. Almutairi

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Family or informal caregivers always provide support to their family members or others who are diagnosed with dementia. The increase in the aging population has led to a growing reliance on family members, often informal caregivers, who are increasingly responsible for providing care for older adults. Poor sleep and high levels of depressive cognition experienced by caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD) can negatively affect their physical and psychological health, which can lead to declining caregiver health, which can diminish their ability to provide optimal care. Currently, there are limited empirical studies supporting the usefulness of non-pharmacological sleep interventions …

Voice-Activated Technology Intervention And Well-Being In Older Adults Living Alone: A Meta-Analysis, Yu Shin Park, Dahye Hong, Min Kyung Park, Sikyeong Park, Suyeon Jeong, Dayoung Lee, Minsub Kim, Seojin Kim, Bada Kang

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Older adults living alone are particularly vulnerable to declines in their physical, psychological, and social well-being (1). Voice-activated technology (VAT) has emerged as a promising approach to enhance accessibility, social connectedness, and independent living among older adults. This holds significant potential for nurses to optimize care delivery systems and support the overall well-being of older adults (2). However, evidence on its impact on multidimensional well-being, particularly for those living alone, remains limited. (3, 4). Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effects of VAT interventions on the multidimensional well-being of older adults living alone.

A meta-analysis was conducted in accordance …

Culturally Responsive Teaching And Practices Of Online Faculty, Oluwatoyin Okafor, Deanna L. Howe

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Online teaching and learning continue to expand across U.S. institutions (Martin et al., 2020). Online courses often attract even more diverse students than traditional classrooms, including individuals from varied racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, linguistic, religious, and gender backgrounds (Ballenger & Jiang, 2023). To enhance learning and promote success, instructors must address these cultural differences (Kumi-Yeboah et al., 2022; Shonfeld et al., 2021). Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) draws on students’ cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance styles to make learning more relevant, engaging, and effective (Abacioglu et al., 2020).

This mixed-methods study entailed revising the Culturally Responsive Teaching Knowledge and Practices of …

When Should You Worry About Pediatric Snoring?, Sarah Gubara, Samira Naime

Pediatrics in Practice: A CME Podcast

My child snores — when is it a problem? Snoring and obstructive sleep apnea are the focus here. Samira Naime, MD, Pediatric Pulmonologist and Sleep Medicine Physician at Children's Mercy, explains how to spot worrying signs, when to try allergy treatment or nasal steroid and when to consider a sleep study. She also covers which labs allow outside ordering and when referral to sleep medicine is appropriate.

Click here to stream the podcast episode.

“I Started Healing Myself”: Black Mothers’ Grief Journeys After Stillbirth, Carrie J. Henry, Sara Kaylor, Mallory Scogin

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Introduction: Stillbirth (fetal death after 20 weeks gestation) occurs twice as often for Black mothers compared to White in the United States (Gregory et al., 2024), yet limited research has explored how Black mothers cope with stillbirth-related grief and distress (Boyden et al., 2014; Henry et al., 2023). Evidence suggests coping behaviors after perinatal loss differ across cultural and racial groups (Henry et al., 2024; Moore et al., 2022), yet most studies reflect mostly White samples. Understanding how Black mothers navigate the grieving process is essential to inform culturally responsive care and bereavement support (Fenstermacher & Hupcey, 2019; Henry et …

Tiktok Vs. Instagram: How Audiences Engage With James Charles, Kristina M. Hart

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This study examines how audiences engage with beauty influencer content across social media platforms, with a focus on James Charles on TikTok and Instagram. While existing research highlights the importance of authenticity, content strategy, and influencer characteristics in driving engagement, less attention has been given to how engagement varies across platforms and how users express interaction qualitatively. To address this gap, this study employs qualitative content analysis to examine 100 audience comments, with fifty comments collected from each platform.

Using thematic coding, comments were categorized into four primary forms of engagement: audience participation, product interest, entertainment, and trust/credibility. In addition, …

Perancangan Media Pembelajaran Papercraft Minecraft Pada Materi Kemasan Dari Kertas Untuk Seni Budaya Smp, Ruqunia Rahmatuti, Iriaji Iriaji

Journal of Innovation and Teacher Professionalism

Learning Cultural Arts, particularly the topic of paper packaging, requires concrete learning experiences to help students understand the relationship between object shape, dimensions, net structure, and packaging function. However, observations conducted during the teaching assistance program revealed that classroom instruction was still dominated by conventional learning media, causing some students to experience boredom and difficulties during practical activities. This study aims to describe the design process of a Minecraft Papercraft learning medium for teaching paper packaging in junior high school Cultural Arts using the Design Thinking approach. The study employed a qualitative descriptive approach involving 64 seventh-grade students from classes …

Trust, Participation, And Power: Community Perspectives From The Equity In Public Health Initiative, Shaniece Criss, Roger S. Abim-Karmon, Jody Teel, Vanessa Rodríguez, Adia Bennon, Sally Wills, Sarah Gonzales, Dalmondeh D. Nayreau, Vaishnavi Bharadwaj, Hannah G. Kim, Jennifer Woollery, Melissa Fair

Health Sciences Publications

Health disparities arise from unequal power relations shaping resource allocation, governance, and community agency. Community power is a key mechanism for addressing disparities. This study examines how visible, hidden, and invisible power operate within a U.S. county to inform inclusive governance. We conducted seven focus groups with Black and Hispanic residents (n = 68) and sixteen semi-structured interviews with elected officials, government staff, and advocacy leaders in Greenville County, South Carolina. Data were collected between March and December 2024. Transcripts were collaboratively coded in NVivo and analyzed using thematic analysis guided by Heller et al.’s Three Faces of Power …

Effectiveness And Ethics Of Biometrics In Homeland Security, Aaron Akintayo Akindiya

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Homeland security agencies increasingly deploy biometric technologies, including facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, to enhance identity verification and threat detection at airports and borders. However, these technologies raise ethical concerns regarding privacy, algorithmic bias, data protection, and civil liberties. Limited research captures the perspectives of frontline professionals who implement these systems. This study explored how homeland security professionals perceive the balance between effectiveness and ethics. Guided by the technological determinism theory, semistructured interviews were conducted with 13 professionals from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Transportation Security Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Thematic analysis revealed four themes: effectiveness in enhancing …

A Multimodal Approach To The Treatment Of Primary Chronic Pelvic Pain In Adult Women: The Positive Impact Of Shared Decision Making On Health Outcomes, Kylie Freese

Summer Interdisciplinary Research Symposium

Objective:

The goal of this paper was to assess approaches to management of idiopathic chronic pelvic pain (ICPP) in females to improve health outcomes.

Methods:

A structured literature search was conducted in the MEDLINE and CINAHL databases. Studies were included if they evaluated therapeutic interventions for primary/idiopathic chronic pelvic pain in adult females and reported treatment outcomes. Studies with adolescents, males, non-treatment topics, diagnostics, or unrelated conditions were excluded.

Results:

Myofascial therapy resulted in relief of anxiety and depression (-4.0+/-3.2, p< 0.001; -3.4+/-2.5, p< 0.001) and female sexual function index (FSFI) (7.8+/-6.4, p< 0.001). Psychological approaches had similar results regarding pain improvement, however showed worsening of FSFI (-0.31 [ -0.95, 0.34]; -1.95 [-3.63, -0.28]). Duloxetine and amitriptyline trials displayed improvement in pain, with amitriptyline impacting urinary symptoms and duloxetine resulted in lower pain scores. Cannabidiol improved pain, sleep, and mood disturbances (p≤0.001). Multimodal treatment resulted in greater improvement in pain (-2.19, [-3.17, -1.22], p=0.002) and FSFI (2.47, [1.06,3.88], p=0.030). No study showed statistically significant data displaying improvement/worsening quality of life.

Conclusion:

Each individual treatment resulted in improvements in the measured outcomes. Multimodal treatment approaches result in greatest outcomes when …

Military Culture And The Student Veteran: A Mixed Methods Study Of Service Members Transition Into Higher Education, Joanna Fagan

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Military veterans are entering higher education spaces at a steady rate. While their visibility on U.S. campuses is increasing, these veterans face various challenges in entering higher education. This mixed-methods study examined the relationships among military identity, trauma exposure, and psychological functioning in student veterans, with a focus on meaning in life, life satisfaction, and social engagement. Quantitative data was used to assess correlations and associations between meaning making, military identification, satisfaction with life, and college involvement, while qualitative data were used to contextualize and extend statistical findings. Results indicated that military identity was positively associated with meaning making but …

Creative Independent Work As A Tool For Professional Skill Development In Students, Zhanna Mussina, Gulnar Kazhikenova, Murshida Nurgaliyeva, Klara Smatova, Bakyt Kuanysheva

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the implementation and impact of students’ creative independent work in English language lessons at Toraighyrov University in Pavlodar.

Methods: The research employed a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, including logical analysis, functional analysis, and formal legal approaches, supplemented by deductive and inductive reasoning. The empirical phase involved a pedagogical experiment with two student groups (n = 37) to evaluate the effectiveness of creative independent work methods.

Results: Results demonstrated that incorporating creative independent work significantly enhanced both English language competency and broader professional skills, including critical thinking and autonomous learning capabilities. Students …

``Is That What It Means?'' Performative Storytelling In Early Childhood Education: Meaning-Making Through Interaction, Fathia Anggriani Pradina, Untung Yuwono, Bernadette Kushartanti

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

Early childhood education is inextricably linked to the role of adults in every aspect of its process. In addition to formal classroom learning, storytelling with a storyteller is another activity that involves adults. The dialogic interaction between storyteller and children fosters the creation of meaning. This study examines how storytelling, as an interactional practice, can dynamically construct meaning together between storyteller and children. Sixty-one kindergarten children participated in this study during a one and half hour storytelling activity. The qualitative and interactional approach used in this study focused on moment-to-moment exchanges during the naturally occurring storytelling event. The findings indicate …

The Case For Virtual Prison Games In The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Colleen M. O'Toole, Calvin V. Nguyen

Journal of Science & Technology Law

This paper, a shortened version of an article which will be published in the Northern Illinois University Law Review in Fall 2024, aims to reframe the debate over how best to address the enormous financial and social costs of a criminal justice system which relies on traditional, brick-and-mortar prisons to control criminal behavior.

The first part of the paper presents a comparison of the current system of incarceration and the system of electronic monitoring that exists alongside it.  It first evaluates the type of offenders any alternative solution would be appropriate for.  It then compares the cost of the current …

Genetic Equity: How Crispr Gene-Editing Technology Will Reshape Society And Healthcare, Aaron Cranston

Journal of Science & Technology Law

No abstract provided.

From The Forests With Hopes Of Paradise: Malay Muslims In The Victorian Imagination In Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim, M Irfan Zamzami, Rifka Pratama

Journal of Language, Literature, and Arts

This article examines how Lord Jim constructs and reconfigures Muslim identities within the discourse of British imperialism. While previous scholarship has explored the novel’s colonial politics, less attention has been paid to how its representations of Malay Muslims reveal the instability of Orientalist categories. Using Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism and Homi Bhabha’s theory of colonial ambivalence, the study applies close textual analysis of two key narrative moments: the omniscient narrator’s description of the Muslim pilgrims aboard the Patna and the depiction of Malay Muslims in Patusan. The analysis demonstrates that the Patna pilgrims are initially represented through familiar Orientalist …

Determinants Of Waste Management Behavior And The Potential Role Of Doorstepping As An Intervention, Nurdiana Darus, Maya Tamimi, Nuraeni Nuraeni, Khairunnisa Syafira Dumbi

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

This study aims to evaluate factors associated with community participation in Waste Bank activities and waste management behavior, while exploring the potential role of doorstepping interventions to improve community engagementThis study was conducted in South Jakarta, a densely populated area with a large volume of daily waste. A quantitative approach with a cross-sectional design was used. The study involved guided interviews with 201 respondents who were customers of Gesit Main Waste Bank. Binary logistic regression was used to evaluate the influence of independent variables on waste management behavior as the dependent variable. The results showed that 42.8% of respondents had …

Ƒ(Enlightenment): A Complex Adaptive Systems Model Of Recursive Causality And Human Meaning-Making, Daniel Lambert

Dissertations and Theses

Conflict Resolution has developed as a richly interdisciplinary field; however, its theoretical architecture remains fragmented across distinct bodies of scholarship. Existing approaches offer valuable but often isolated explanations of conflict behavior, limiting their ability to account for its complexity. This thesis addresses this limitation by advancing systems science as an organizing framework for integrating these perspectives. It introduces the Human-Complex Adaptive Systems (H-CAS) framework, which conceptualizes human behavior as a recursive adaptive process operating across interconnected regulatory domains. Within this model, conflict is not treated as a discrete event or purely deliberative process, but as an emergent property arising from …

Parental Enculturation And Child Well-Being In Immigrant Families: Examining Peer Relationship Difficulties And Emotional Symptoms In Asian American Youth, Yuxin Yu

LSU Master's Theses

Parents with immigration backgrounds face the dual challenges of maintaining their heritage culture while supporting their children’s adaptation to the mainstream culture. Although previous studies stressed both acculturation and enculturation, these two processes can compete and even conflict, leading to the important question for parents: Does parental enculturation influence children’s peer relationships and emotional functioning? This study examines the associations between parental enculturation and the social and emotional adaptation of Asian American youth by focusing on peer relationship difficulties and emotional symptoms. Participants included 75 Asian American parents of children aged 4 to 17, who completed measures of parental enculturation …

The Undergraduate Students' Rate Of Bisexuality And Its Acceptance In Their Own And Others' Romantic Relationships, Na'ni Machenry Caliste

SMU Journal of Undergraduate Research

This research explores SMU’s undergraduate students in their own identities and romantic relationships in the realm of the bisexuality spectrum using the Kinsey Scale. I developed a 46-item online survey comprised of six component parts, which incorporated previous scales of Kinsey, Consensual Non-Monogamy, Self-Acceptance of Sexuality Inventory, and Experience in Close Relationships scales, to measure respondents’ sense of attraction and preferences as well as attachment scales and assess the participants’ relationship beliefs pertaining to consensual non-monogamy. A total of 312 undergraduate students started the survey, but only 250 consented and completed it. I present descriptive and inferential statistics on participants’ …