Digital Commons Network^™

Message From The Editor, Richard F. Roadcap Dds

Virginia Dental Journal

No abstract provided.

Va Dent J April, May And June 2017

Virginia Dental Journal

No abstract provided.

Preliminary Geologic Assessment And Pfas Occurrence In Western Cheney, Washington, Sydney Frandsen

2026 Symposium

In 2021 Cheney Water Well #5 was closed due to toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) levels above the current State Action Limits and the National Drinking Water Protection Act (https://www.cityofcheney.org/207/Water), which is a concern since PFAS has been associated to types of cancer, birth defects, and other negative human and environmental health concerns (https://doh.wa.gov/communityand-environment/contaminants/pfas). The City of Cheney also tested two downgradient deep-groundwater-wells (Cheney wells #6 and 7) and halted investigation due to the wells being below state and federal drinking water standards. However, a local resident’s shallow groundwater well tested to be above federal and state levels of …

Opening Remarks - Integrating Aam Into Florida’S Transportation Future, Secretary Jared W. Perdue, P.E., President P. Barry Butler, Ph.D., Chief Operations Officer, Assistant Secretary William N. Watts, Jr., P.E.,

Florida Advanced Air Mobility Symposium

No abstract provided.

Closing The Global Skills Gap: Employer Panels As Partnership Tools For Industry And Higher Education, Dean Campbell, Emily Workman

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

This paper explores how employer panels function as partnership tools to close the global skills gap between higher education and industry. As workforce demands shift toward adaptability, critical thinking, and intercultural competence, institutions must prepare students with both technical and soft skills. Guided by Communities of Practice and constructivist learning frameworks, two community college case studies—a metropolitan branch campus (BCCC) and a rural college (RCC)—demonstrate how employer panels support workforce readiness. Panels engaged employers, faculty, and students in discussions informed by pre-session surveys and industry insights, highlighting skills essential for navigating a globalized economy. Outcomes show that panels foster collaborative …

Gross Domestic Product, David Obuchowski

Valparaiso Fiction Review

No abstract provided.

The Question Of Dinner, Colleen Olle

Valparaiso Fiction Review

No abstract provided.

Finding Your People, Finding Your Place: Institutional Collaborative Writing Groups As A Compassionate Approach To Developing A Professional Sotl Identity, Ruth L. Healey, Sean A. Morrissey, Mick Healey

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Practising the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has been shown to help staff from non-traditional backgrounds (e.g. professional backgrounds) develop a sense of belonging within academia. This article examines how institutional collaborative writing groups support inexperienced SoTL practitioners in finding their place within their institution. Drawing on literature about SoTL identity and collaborative writing groups (CWGs), we consider how these CWGs assist colleagues in shaping their professional identities. We found that some staff did not see themselves as ‘academics’ or ‘researchers’, especially when their job emphasised teaching, such as ‘Teaching Fellow’. However, they strongly desired recognition and appreciation for …

Fostering Partnerships: Lessons From A Collaborative Course Design Learning Community, Sarah M. Ginsberg, Shanna R. Callewaert, Jeffrey L. Bernstein

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

As partnerships between educators and learners become more common in teaching and learning in higher education, partners find themselves considering how to foster effective collaborations. Qualitative data for this study were drawn from the experiences of educators and learners who were part of a university learning community in which they engaged in the collaborative course redesign process to collaboratively design a course. Results revealed key facilitators of partnership work, finding communication, relationships, and mutuality as essential to promoting partnership success. A new model is presented which expands these factors, offering more distinct characteristics of successful educator-learner partnerships. With these specific …

"Better Than A Boring Textbook": Studying Development Through Middle-Grade Literature, Heidi A. Sackreiter

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

College students are sometimes reluctant to purchase textbooks for various reasons, but they still must study the necessary content in a course or academic program. This Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research project examined college students’ perceptions of reading middle-grade novels in place of a traditional, formal textbook within an Adolescent Development course. All participants were part of a teacher education program at a four-year, public institution in the Midwest United States. Questionnaires were administered at the conclusion of two semesters, and respondents shared impressions about the middle-grade reading. Response to studying middle-grade novels instead of a textbook was …

Student Experience Of Ai-Driven Discussion Boards In An Undergraduate Course, Blake C. Colclasure, Jamie Greig, Taylor K. Ruth, Victoria Beasley

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Instructional platforms that incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) are emerging in higher education. Scholarship of teaching and learning should not only examine student learning outcomes from the use of novel AI technologies but should also investigate student perceptions of these technologies. We employed the user experience (UX) framework to investigate students’ UX of the instructional AI-driven platform, Packback, as a mode for online discussion boards. A survey using the User Experience Questionnaire was developed and employed in a general elective arts and humanities undergraduate course offered online and in-person. Data from 96 undergraduate student responses were analyzed and large variability was …

The Growth And Influence Of Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning Publications, Duane Knudson

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Limited narrative reviews and bibliometric studies of SoTL were extended by a study of the size, growth, and bibliometric performance analysis of published research using three of the most comprehensive, next-generation database services. Multiple searches of Google Scholar, Dimensions, and OpenAlex were performed using nine keyword search combinations. Additional searches of ScopusÒ and Web of ScienceÔ were also performed. There has been exponential growth in indexed SoTL research since the early 2000s with up to 110,000 articles, chapters, and books indexed by Google Scholar. This body of research is larger than previously documented by reviews …

Deep Or Surface? Understanding Learning Approaches Among Undergraduate Students, Kelzang Tentsho, Jigme Wangchuk, Kencho Pelzom

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Student approaches to learning (SAL) have a significant impact on the quality of their learning and academic achievement. In this study, we examined the preferred learning approaches of undergraduate students and how these approaches change over time. The Revised Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) was administered to 75 students enrolled in the Anthropology program to evaluate students’ preferred learning approaches. The qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions involving 20 participants. Results showed a significantly higher deep score than surface score. Final year students had the highest deep approach score compared to other cohorts. The results also indicated that students …

Magazine Excerpt

Lloyd Clark Papers

Pages from the Alumni Notebook of the UTA Magazine, in spring/summer 2000, showcasing recent news and alumni spotlights.

Program For Friends Of Uta

Lloyd Clark Papers

Program for Friends of The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries and registration form.

Supporting Student Use Of Artificial Intelligence Technologies, Deborah A. Mcallister, Jennifer R. Lynberg, Jason R. Gordon, Mary L. Buehner, Anna Grace L. Sorrells, Taylor L. Behrman

UTC Spring Research and Arts Conference

This project has a focus of preparing presentations, regarding various artificial intelligence (AI) topics, for use by middle and high school students participating in a science enrichment program at a local school. The project is funded through a supplemental grant to the National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Noyce Track 2 grant. In a separate project, the middle and high school students submitted a project to the Presidential AI Challenge (AI.gov, n.d.). The presentations created through this funding supplement will support student learning as the students continue to improve and expand skills with AI technologies. Topics for the …

Continuing To Assess The Programming Self-Efficacy Of Teachers Through Professional Development With Drones, Deborah A. Mcallister, Jennifer R. Lynberg, Anna Grace L. Sorrells, Taylor L. Behrman

UTC Spring Research and Arts Conference

This project focused on work with the Robolink (n.d.) CoDrone EDU, which is programmable through block-coding or Python, or can be flown with a controller. Each teacher self-evaluated knowledge and skills, before and after a 2-day workshop. This project served as a replication of a previous study (McAllister et al., 2023) with a different educational drone. CoDrone EDU was selected to familiarize teacher participants with a drone used for student competitions. Menkhoff et al. (2022) discussed a college course that taught students how to use drones so that they could be used effectively in an educational setting. Walach and Harrell …

Assessing The Programming Self-Efficacy Of Teachers Through Professional Development Using The Ozobot Evo Robot, Deborah A. Mcallister, Jennifer R. Lynberg, Anna Grace L. Sorrells, Taylor L. Behrman

UTC Spring Research and Arts Conference

This project focused on work with the Ozobot (Ozo EDU, Inc., 2025) Evo robot, which is programmable through block-coding and color-coding. Ozobots have been consistently proven to enhance student learning. Improvements in student motivation, engagement, collaboration skills, and computational thinking have all resulted from the implementation of Ozobots (Eure, 2023). A study by Powers et al. (2025) supports a co-design approach through the use of interdisciplinary teams to advance STEAM integration into the classroom. However, the students’ knowledge on robot concepts (coding, programming, and building) through the use of Ozobots was mixed, with a wider range of reported perceived knowledge. …

Automated Generation And Dynamic Insertion Of Image Alternative Text Via Generative Models, Benjamin Albert Azose

Defensive Publications Series

Missing or low-quality alternative text, or alt text, frequently impedes web and document accessibility. Alt text includes descriptive information attached to an image that screen readers use to describe visual content to visually impaired users. A deficiency in alt text creates a barrier for users who depend on screen readers to interpret visual content on webpages. The disclosure describes a method whereby a web browser or document viewer utilizes a generative model to analyze the content of an image to be displayed. If the image is not associated with alternative text that describes the image adequately, the web browser or …

Linguistic Transformation And Multimodal Content Simplification Logic, Robert Gerhard Rudolf Brauer, Isabelle Evelyn Joswig

Defensive Publications Series

A system for linguistic transformation performs modification of an unstructured data payload. The system comprises a content ingestion module, a linguistic transformation module, a multimodal interpreter, and a content output module. The content ingestion module identifies textual elements and non-textual elements within the unstructured data payload. The linguistic transformation module applies standardized parameters to the textual elements, modifying syntax and vocabulary. The multimodal interpreter generates descriptive text strings from the non-textual elements. The linguistic transformation module applies the standardized parameters to the descriptive text strings. The content output module aggregates the modified textual elements and the modified descriptive text strings …

Holographic Data Sharding For Cross-Jurisdictional Storage And Ephemeral Edge Reconstruction, Mohsin Alam

Defensive Publications Series

A waveform security model may use a holographic sharding process to transform a data object into a set of mathematically incomplete and individually unintelligible interference patterns. An orchestration engine can distribute these shards across multiple storage providers and/or jurisdictions, configured to prevent a single entity from possessing sufficient information for reconstruction. The complete data object can be reconstituted, for example, ephemerally within a secure processing environment on an authorized client device (e.g., a smartphone, a laptop computer) at a time of use. This process can render data non-local, disaggregated, and mathematically incomplete at rest, potentially improving data sovereignty and secrecy …

Hardware-Decoupled Composition Of Live-Data Overlays On A Dedicated Graphics Plane For A Television Os, Richa Gupta

Defensive Publications Series

A system is described for displaying persistent, live-data overlays on a computing device, such as a smart television or media streaming device, which can reduce interruption to a primary, full-screen viewing experience. The system may use hardware-decoupled composition, where a method can include rendering a primary video stream onto a video plane and a data widget onto a separate graphics plane. These hardware planes can then be combined by a hardware composer. This architecture can utilize an asynchronous, low-frequency refresh mechanism for the widget and a javascript object notation (to vector) data pipeline. This approach may allow the overlay to …

Unified Probabilistic Model For Robot Calibration Fusing Kinematic, Sensor, And Manufacturing Priors, Taemin Kim

Defensive Publications Series

Robot calibration methods that rely on external sensor measurements may face challenges with accuracy and robustness, for example, in the presence of sensor noise, occlusions, or geometric singularities. A disclosed technology can utilize a unified probabilistic model, which may be implemented as a factor graph, to fuse heterogeneous data sources. This model can integrate data sources, such as high-frequency robot control inputs like encoder trajectories and manufacturing specifications like computer-aided design tolerances, as probabilistic priors with sensor measurements. A reliability gating mechanism may help manage geometric degeneracies, for instance, by dynamically weighting data sources based on observability. This approach may …

Determining Whether To Enter Incognito Mode Based On Ai Agent Request, Benjamin Albert Azose, Jonathan Jerome Azose

Defensive Publications Series

Incognito states or modes can be managed automatically during the execution of agentic browser flows to address data management concerns during sensitive tasks. When a user requests an AI agent to perform a task, a sensitivity level of the task can be determined based on stored confidentiality preferences. These confidentiality preferences can be derived, with user permission, from on-device analysis of historical behavior by the user or from global data that includes, with user permission, numerical features describing the preferences of other users. If the task, the execution plan of the task, or specific Universal Resource Locators (URLs) associated with …

The Living Memory System: A Framework For Transforming Death Care Infrastructure Into A Perpetual Relational Ecosystem For Memory Preservation, Family Continuity, And Citizen-Governed Memorial Stewardship, Joseph Jm Walker

Defensive Publications Series

The death care industry operates under structural conditions that systematically disadvantage grieving families through information asymmetry, compressed decision timelines, relationship termination at the point of transaction, fragmented archival systems, and the absence of citizen-governed transparency standards. Simultaneously, the digital era has created a second layer of fragmentation in which human lives generate vast quantities of meaningful material that remains structurally disconnected from permanent physical memorial locations and inaccessible across generations.

This disclosure presents the Living Memory System — a modular, globally applicable framework repositioning memorial infrastructure from a primarily transactional service category into a long-term continuity ecosystem serving families, communities, …

Spectragrid Vision Transformer, Johny Manuel-Devadoss, Deepthi Prasad

Defensive Publications Series

Vision Transformers have become the dominant paradigm for visual learning due to their ability to model long-range dependencies through self-attention. However, dense pairwise attention introduces quadratic computational complexity with respect to token count, severely limiting scalability in high-resolution and long-duration perception tasks. Existing efficiency improvements reduce attention overhead but preserve the underlying assumption that global visual understanding requires explicit token interaction.

This paper introduces the SpectraGrid Vision Transformer (SG-ViT), a unified architecture that replaces dense self-attention with structured perceptual computation, sparse routing, persistent latent world modeling, and autonomous action-driven reasoning. Instead of recomputing dense token interactions at every timestep, SG-ViT …

Transforming High-Level Intent Into Detailed Directorial Scripts For Generative Video, Evgeny Sluzhaev, Ágoston Weisz, Aleksander Bulski, Asya Fadeeva, Giorgos Vernikos, Xingyu Federico Xu

Defensive Publications Series

Generative video systems can produce generic or incoherent output when given vague user prompts. A creative rewriter (CR) system may function as an automated script-generation system that can transform high-level user intent into a comprehensive, structured script. The CR system is configured to analyze minimal inputs, such as a short text phrase or a static image, and can generate detailed instructions specifying elements like plot, narrative arc, camera cinematography, pacing, character actions, and sound design. This process can provide a downstream video synthesis model with a detailed blueprint, which may improve the generation of narratively coherent and cinematically detailed video …

Subaltern Alternatives: Reclaiming Agency Through Spatial Articulation, Nadirah Ali

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The concept of the subaltern, introduced by Antonio Gramsci to describe populations excluded from political, social, and economic power while still being used to sustain dominant systems. Today, migrant construction workers often occupy this condition: essential to urban growth, yet denied dignity, visibility, and participation in the cities they build. Their housing is frequently reduced to an instrument of control—spaces designed to contain labor rather than support life. This thesis proposes an architectural alternative.

The project examines contemporary cases of labor exploitation in the United States, Qatar, and Singapore, where migrant workers have faced unsafe conditions, wage theft, …

“Am I Truly Getting Prepared To Be A Good Teacher?”: Pre-Service Teachers’ Barriers In The Absence Of An Education Living Learning Community (Llc), Daisy Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

“A teacher is an important element of an education system because the impact of the teachers on the students and education programs is known much higher than other elements” (Kadi et al., 2015, p. 1). This study seeks to further understanding of the challenges pre-service teacher experience through their collegiate careers, and how institutions can implement resources such as Living-learning communities in their college campus residence halls to support their students and contribute to the long-term success of teachers post college. A quantitative study was done surveying pre-service teachers at Rowan University to gather knowledge about their different experiences with …

Worldbuilding A Place For The Deaf: An Encyclopedic Approach To Writing Inclusive Narratives, Frederick Scott

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

This honors capstone project centered on existing deaf literature sets the stage for further storytelling projects using creative worldbuilding details written in an encyclopedic informational text. Across a fledgling life spent reading hearing fiction, a shortage of deaf literature has not gone unnoticed. To start addressing this shortage, this project collects necessary information to support further writings/publications of deaf literature. A review of American Signed Language and deaf/disabled representation in literary format shows that various strategies are employed to represent the language and people within their culture. The review identified examples of unique or distinct approaches used for various characters' …