Digital Commons Network^™

Applying Theoretical Frameworks From Cognitive Psychology To Assess Faculty Professional Development And Student Reasoning In Physics, Alistair Mcinerny

Physics

Understanding human behavior and reasoning is essential for developing successful instruction. Discipline-based education researchers have examined how students learn, informing the development of successful instructional strategies. Researchers have also identified barriers to the successful implementation of such strategies. This work utilizes two theoretical frameworks from psychology to further examine: 1) efforts to enact instructional change and 2) the effectiveness of instructional approaches to improve students' reasoning in physics. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is used to assess professional development supporting the successful implementation of evidence-based instructional strategies. The Dual Process Theories of Reasoning and Decision-making (DPToR) are used to …

An Exploratory Study Of A Peer Mentoring Program For High School Students With Disabilities, Jordan Bentz

Human Development and Family Science

Many students with disabilities are isolated from general education classrooms and are restricted in the social opportunities that are available to them. With the shift toward more inclusive education settings, these students are given the chance to develop alongside their general education peers. The present study analyzed a peer mentoring program that partnered students with disabilities (i.e., mentees) and students without disabilities (i.e., mentors) with the goal of promoting inclusion at a high school. The study included a set of focus groups and surveys. The four focus groups included past mentors, teachers, and administrators who answered questions about their perception …

A Path To Reconnection: Using Architecture To Restore The Relationship Between Humankind And The Natural World, Elizabeth Kucala

Architecture Theses

Humans and the natural world once shared a profound connection through the reciprocal nature of their relationship. Due to the continuous changes in the technology and customs of society, as well as the apprehension of those who are different from us, humans have disconnected from each other, animals, and nature. This has led to the mistreatment and ignorance of groups such as the elderly and stray animals who have been cast out from society. This project aims to reconnect humankind and the natural world through the improvement of animal shelter design and the amalgamation of building programs including a memory …

Healing Through Humanitarian Design: Understanding The Refugee Crisis And Designing For The Future, Matthew Peikert

Architecture Theses

This project is an exploration into understanding the qualities of the built environment to attain a level of dignity for refugees in their healing process. Architecture cannot solve these social issues but seeks to understand the impact of the built environment on individual people. This research will focus on the humanitarian design response method and how it can be improved in the future. Can healing take place through design created by architects and does the design of a refugee camp have anything to do with that healing process? This research will use the global refugee situation as a vehicle to …

The Future Of Our Future: Designing Early Education For All, Anne Rebecca Manstrom

Architecture Theses

“Disability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society” (“About IDEA,” n.d.). Starting from a young age, children strive to be wanted, accepted and included. Elementary schools serve as a launching pad for the rest of everyone's lives. Making sure students, in all capacities, are thought of from the beginning is crucial to successful design. Often, students with learning disabilities are sent to different rooms with different teachers to learn at different rates. What if there was a way to keep all students together …

A Riverfront Revival: Transforming St. Paul's Downtown In Synergy With The Mississippi River, John Roman Meyer

Architecture Theses

St. Paul is the capital city of Minnesota and a very historical area. It is one of the biggest cities in the state and has started the birth of other cities in the metropolitan area. It has been a leader to other cities and is a very important location, but St. Paul still has many issues. The downtown area of the city is located next to the Mississippi River, but the connection is not as strong as it should be. With this, the skyline of the city is not very impressive and could do with some upgrades. While working with …

Genetic Variation In Black Gram And Guar For Phenology, Physiology, Growth, And Yield Under Irrigated And Rainfed Conditions Of Northern Great Plains, Saurabha Koirala

Plant Sciences

Field trials were conducted in 2022 and 2023 to evaluate the feasibility of growing black gram (Vigna mungo) and guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) and to identify superior accessions for semiarid conditions of Northern Great Plains, U.S. Significant genetic variability was observed among 21 black gram and 18 guar accessions under rainfed and irrigated conditions. Black gram accession PI425187 yielded the highest grain per plant (8.6 g) under rainfed conditions, while PI377397 and PI377406 performed best under irrigated (6.5 g). Number of pod per plant and seeds per pod were highly correlated with yield per plant. The highest guar yield per plant …

Xylan Fast Pyrolysis: An Experimental And Modelling Study Of Particle Changes And Volatiles Release, F Cerciello, E Freisewinkel, A Coppola, C Ontyd, D Tarlinski, Martin Schiemann, Osvalda Senneca, Pierro Salatino, C Allouis, Victor Scherer, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

Biomass char particles produced by pyrolysis may have different morphologies, which has important implications on burning mode, conversion rate and boiler efficiency. These features are difficult to address due to the complexity of biomass structure and pyrolysis reaction models. The present work reports preliminary results on the morphological changes and volatile release that solid particles of Xylan experience upon fast heating in a Drop Tube Reactor (DTR) and in a Heated Strip Reactor (HSR) in a range of temperature between 1100 and 1573 K under inert atmosphere with heating rate in the order of 10³ K/s. Two different Xylan …

Understanding And Addressing The Individualized Emotional Impact Of Aphasia: A Framework For Speech-Language Pathologists, Tyson G. Harmon

Faculty Publications

Emotion plays an integral role in communication and has long been considered relevant to aphasia rehabilitation. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs), however, may sometimes wonder how or whether to address emotional responses. The purpose of the present tutorial was to (1) present a framework that clinicians can use to understand individualized emotional responses in aphasia and (2) discuss examples of how the framework informs practical strategies that SLPs can use to provide emotional support to PWA. Drawing upon a cognitive-motivational-relational theory of emotions perspective combined with emerging research in aphasia, I show that emotion impacts and is impacted by both language processing …

The Naci Way: Connecting Native Groups And Teachers Through Culturally Responsive Instructional Design, Stephanie West, Heather Francis, Cally Flox, Brenda Beyal, Emily Soderborg, Jason K. Mcdonald

Faculty Publications

In 2018, the BYU ARTS Partnership Native American Curriculum Initiative (NACI) was developed in response to teacher questions regarding the teaching of Native topics. Despite increased movements towards reconciliation, Native groups continue to be marginalized in Westernized educational settings. Additionally, teachers lack clear guidelines regarding the respectful teaching of Native topics. Describing the challenges we, the NACI team members, faced in our six-year journey partnering with Native groups in Utah, we outline key instructional design decisions we made and identify the culturally responsive principles that guided those decisions. We also advocate for the application of culturally responsive principles and practices …

Effects Of Cognitive And Social Demands On Linguistic Production For People With Moderate, Mild, Or No Aphasia, Tyson G. Harmon, Emily Mcdonald, Kyle Steele

Faculty Publications

Background

Most everyday communication occurs in situations where cognitive and social demands are present. These types of situations may compound language deficits for people with aphasia (PWA). An understanding of the language interference that may occur from cognitive and social demands is an important precursor for assessment and intervention that addresses everyday communication situations.

Aims

To determine how cognitively and socially demanding conditions affect micro- and macrolinguistic production for people with moderate, mild, or no aphasia during narrative discourse and to compare effects among groups.

Method

Thirty participants with mild (n = 9), moderate (n = 9), or no (n …

Graph Two-Sample Test Via Empirical Likelihood, Ting Zou

Statistics

In the past two decades, there has been a notable surge in network data. This proliferation has spurred significant advancements in methods for analyzing networks across various disciplines, including computer science, information sciences, biology, bioinformatics, physics, economics, sociology, and health science. Graph two-sample hypothesis testing, aimed at discerning differences between two populations of networks, arises naturally in diverse scenarios. In this paper, we delve into the essential yet intricate task of testing for equivalence between two networks. There are many testing procedures available. For instance, the t-test based on subgraph counts is one of the methods. In this paper, we …

The Contracts Word List: Integral Vocabulary For Reading And Writing English Contracts, Elizabeth Hanks, Brett James Hashimoto, Jesse Egbert

Faculty Publications

Both Business English as a Lingua Franca (BELF) and Legal English as a Lingua Franca (LELF) users engage with legal contracts regularly. However, contractual language is notoriously complex, due in part to the vocabulary it contains. To help mitigate the challenges related to learning the vocabulary of contracts, this paper introduces a word list of American English contracts called the ContractsWord List (CWL).We describe the compilation of the Corpus of English Business Contracts (CEBC) that represents six major contract types in 48 million words. The extraction of prevalent and specialized words from the CEBC is described, following validation procedures in …

Here-, There-, And Every Where-: Exploring The Role Of Pronominal Adverbs In Legal Language, David Chandler, Brett James Hashimoto

Faculty Publications

Many have claimed that pronominal adverbs, such as hereby, thereafter, and wherein, are a frequent, distinctive, and problematic in their use in legal language (Tiersma, 1999; Mellinkoff, 2004). The purpose of this study is to examine those claims empirically. In the present study, the prevalence of PAs in legal registers is compared to more general registers of contemporary American English to determine the extent to which these words are distinctly legal. The study will also explore why different types of PAs may be (in)frequent in specific legal registers to better understand their use. The frequency of PAs was extracted from …

Identification, Investigation, And Spatial Analysis Of Various Contributing Factors To Crash And Injury Severity In Different Crash Types, Ihsan Khan

Transportation Logistics and Finance

This dissertation had three main objectives related to improving road safety by investigating factors that contribute to injury severity in different types of single-vehicle crashes. The first objective was to develop a generalized ordered logit model to examine factors affecting injury severity of occupants in single-vehicle rollover crashes using 5 years of U.S. crash data from 2012-2016. Results showed likelihood of serious/fatal injuries increased in rollovers with occupant ejection, speeding, higher speed limits, roadside/median rollovers, undulating terrain, blacktop surfaces, rural roads, evenings, weekdays, older drivers, lack of occupant protection, previous driver crashes, distracted/aggressive driving, and passenger cars. Airbag deployment reduced …

Does Leaving Faith Mean Leaving Family? Longitudinal Associations Between Religious Identification And Parent-Child Relationships Across Adolescence And Emerging Adulthood, Justin J. Hendricks, Sam A. Hardy, Emily M. Taylor, David C. Dollahite

Faculty Publications

The present study investigated the parent-child relational repercussions of converting to religion, switching, or de-converting from religion. Qualitative research indicates that these religious changes may negatively affect parent-child relationship quality, however, few quantitative studies investigate this issue. Subsequently, we utilized structural equation modeling to test if changes in religious identification during adolescence and emerging adulthood predicted worse parent-child relationship quality using three waves of the National Study of Youth and Religion (N = 2,352). We found that deconversion between Waves 1–2 significantly predicted poorer parent-child relationship quality at Wave 2 and father-child relationship quality at Wave 3. Further, deconversion between …

Demographic Change, Migration, And The African American Vowel System In Georgia, Jon Forrest, Margaret E. L. Renwick, Joseph A. Stanley, Lelia Glass

Faculty Publications

The theme of this volume is generational trends in language change, with an emphasis on the Baby Boomer to Gen X transition as an important period of time. Many studies have found sharp changes in vowel systems in communities after the Baby Boomer Generation on the East Coast (Thiel and Dinkin 2020) and in the Midwest (Nesbitt 2021). Though we know a great deal about the geographic consistency of the Baby Boomer to Gen X transition, in all of these cases, the focus has been on White speakers and regional varieties. Besides the general importance of including a breadth of …

Academic Communities Of Engagement: Exploring The Impact Of Online And In‑Person Support Communities On The Academic Engagement Of Online Learners, Kristian J. Spring, Charles R. Graham, Courtney N. Hanny, Sara Tuiloma, Kamal Badar

Faculty Publications

Institutions of higher education are interested in supporting the academic success of their students in the most effective ways possible. Increasingly, this means engaging students in a blend of both online and in-person learning activities as well as connecting students with supportive communities in both modalities. This research explores the efforts of an institution that is trying to create positive post-secondary learning experiences for thousands of adults who have experienced significant barriers to accessing higher education through traditional routes. Students around the world are supported through both online and local, in-person communities created to support their academic engagement. In this …

Regulating Gender Diversity: Evidence From California Senate Bill 826, Abigail Allen, Aida Wahid

Faculty Publications

Do gender diversity quotas enhance firm value? This broad question has sparked significant debate because while diversity is generally thought to improve board functioning, prior research in international settings suggests mandating diversity may have adverse consequences if it moves firms away from market equilibrium. Exploiting the political events leading up to the passage of California Senate Bill 826 as an exogenous shock to assess the market implications of board gender composition, we document either significantly positive or insignificant 2-day abnormal returns for California firms across a variety of model specifications. Importantly, this finding contradicts the strong claims of contemporary studies …

Costs And Benefits Of A Risk-Based Pcaob Inspection Regime, Brant E. Christensen, Nathan J. Newton, Michael S. Wilkins

Faculty Publications

We investigate the costs and benefits of the PCAOB’s risk-based inspection regime by studying how auditors respond to engagement-level inspection risk. Using an established inspection selection model, we find evidence that auditors behave consistent with accountability theory when auditing clients with elevated ex-ante inspection risk. Specifically, we observe an increased propensity to report material weaknesses, a decreased propensity to assert that previous material weaknesses have been remediated, increased audit effort, and a decreased likelihood of subsequent financial statement restatement. In general, these outcomes reflect auditors’ attempts to minimize negative inspection outcomes in a way that could be beneficial to investors. …

The Impact Of Chief Audit Executive Turnover In Taiwan, Kenneth L. Bills, Hua-Wei Huang, Yi-Hung Lin, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

This study adds to the emerging body of research showing the importance of internal audit to improve corporate governance and firm performance. Specifically, we test how the market reacts to the announcement of a turnover to the head of internal audit (i.e., the chief audit executive (CAE)). We find negative cumulative abnormal returns in the days surrounding the announcement of a CAE turnover and that the market holds a relatively negative perception of CAE turnover regardless of the reasons for the turnover event. We then study two reasons for why the market would react negatively to the CAE turnover and …

Artificial Intelligence’S Capabilities, Limitations, And Impact On Accounting Education: Investigating Chatgpt’S Performance On Educational Accounting Case, Xu (Joyce) Cheng, Ryan Dunn, Travis Holt, Kerry Inger, J. Gregory Jenkins, Jefferson Jones, James Long, Tina Loraas, Mollie Mathis, Jonathan Stanley, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

This study evaluates the capabilities of ChatGPT models 3.5 and 4 to provide solutions to eight educational accounting cases. We find that ChatGPT’s ability to provide accurate solutions varies depending on the type of case requirement and topical area of accounting, with better performance on tasks requiring elements that require explanation, application of rules, and ethical evaluation. However, ChatGPT performs poorly on tasks that require financial statement creation, journal entries, or software use. Our study also finds that detection tools provided by ChatGPT's developer are ineffective in identifying text created by Artificial Intelligence Text Generators (AITG). We suggest ways in …

Automating Evaluation Of Skill Assessment To Promote Skill Acquisition In The Area Of Data Analytics Automation, Joshua G. Coyne, Scott L. Summers, Brigham Villanueva, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

As accounting increasingly embraces automation and data analytics, proficient skill assessment remains a challenge. We introduce an automated tool that streamlines the evaluation of Alteryx workflows. Utilizing the design science methodology, our tool effectively executes and compares Alteryx workflows against a solution, providing score and feedback. Validation demonstrates remarkable gains; our tool is error-free and 9 to 146 times faster than manual evaluation. The tool’s efficiency, accuracy, and user-friendliness make it much more feasible to assign unstructured Alteryx assignments for student development. Enhanced technology skills will promote hiring and productivity gains associated with automation in accounting.

Leveraging Chatgpt For Enhancing The Internal Audit Process – A Real-World Example From A Large Multinational Company, Scott Emett, Marc Eulerich, Egemen Lipinski, Nicolo Prien, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

We discuss how the internal audit function (IAF) of a large multinational energy company, Uniper, is starting to use ChatGPT to improve automation of internal auditing. We investigate the benefits and challenges of integrating ChatGPT into internal audit processes and assess its impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the IAF. Uniper has implemented ChatGPT into parts of audit preparation, fieldwork, and audit reporting. On their initial tests, they estimate efficiency gains ranging from 50 to 80 percent for various processes. We report key risks and challenges with using ChatGPT in internal auditing as well as the initial key practices …

Is It All Hype? Chatgpt’S Performance And Disruptive Potential In The Accounting And Auditing Industries, Marc Eulerich, Aida Sanatizadeh, Hamid Vakilzadeh, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

ChatGPT frequently appears in the media, with many predicting significant disruptions, especially in the fields of accounting and auditing. Yet research has demonstrated relatively poor performance of ChatGPT on student assessment questions. We extend this research to examine whether more recent ChatGPT models and capabilities can pass major accounting certification exams including the Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and Enrolled Agent (EA) certification exams. We find that the ChatGPT 3.5 model cannot pass any exam (average score across all assessments of 53.1%). However, with additional enhancements, ChatGPT can pass all sections of each …

The Dark Side Of Robotic Process Automation, Marc Eulerich, Nathan Waddoups, Martin Wagener, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

Prior research on Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has largely focused on how it benefits firms and employees. In contrast, we interview 26 high-profile RPA stakeholders at a Fortune 500 firm to ascertain challenges, drawbacks, or pitfalls of using RPA. We identify five key problems related to RPA usage: (1) RPA is often used as a quick-fix band-aid instead of fixing core system issues, (2) RPA can cause serious control and security issues, (3) the true cost of RPA is often misunderstood and understated, (4) RPA governance is complicated and challenging, and (5) RPA usage can lead to a loss of …

Improving The Production And Reviewing Of Design Science Research In Accounting, Noah Myers, Mason Snow, Nathan Waddoups, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

Design Science Research (DSR) is a rigorous research methodology widely used in other fields like computer science and engineering, but its application in accounting is still relatively limited. This paper reviews the implementation of DSR published in accounting journals and provides recommendations to improve the authoring and reviewing processes. We review 51 DSR articles published in accounting journals between 2011 and 2023. The analysis identified areas where papers excelled and fell short, leading to recommendations in the following key aspects: adherence to a research framework, validation of research questions, defining objectives of artifacts, developing a more diverse set of artifacts, …

Reassessing Assurance In An Automated World: Insights From Board Members, Executives, And Internal Auditors, Scott Emett, Marc Eulerich, Jeffrey Pickerd, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

Technological advances that automate work continue to transform the accounting profession. We examine whether automation impacts resource allocation within the internal audit function (IAF), a unique setting that allows us to compare demand for assurance activities with demand for consulting activities. We conduct an experiment in which experienced board members, executives, and internal auditors make budget recommendations for a company’s IAF that developed automations that improved the efficiency of the IAF. Results show that across all groups, participants respond to these efficiencies by decreasing the IAF’s total budget but retaining the productive capacity of the IAF. The budget cuts are …

The Intellectual Structure Of Audit Committee Research: A Bibliometric Analysis (1969 – 2020), Joel Behrend, Marc Eulerich, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

The audit committee is a widely recognized mechanism of effective corporate governance. We advance prior literature reviews by using bibliometric analysis techniques that comprehensively process large bodies of bibliometric information. We base inferences on citation patterns of 1,173 articles to identify concepts that “shine through” within the scientific understanding of audit committees. Using content analysis, we then analyze these concepts and explore existing interrelationships. We document a declining influence of audit committee research, as well as a widening gap between the quantitative and qualitative research camps. While the former is mostly derivative in nature, the latter produces innovative insights on …

In Memoriam: Fred R. Gowans (1936-2023), Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Historian, Jay H. Buckley

Faculty Publications

Fred R. Gowans is the proverbial American original – or, better yet, Western American original. Fred talked and wrote convincingly about the American West and the fur trade because he spent so much time in it, exploring or retracing old trails. Fred made no pretenses. He dressed for class, public talks, or academic presentations the same way he dressed for working with his horses: Western hat, Western shirt, Levis, cowboy boots, and on the rare occasion a sport coat and bolo tie. He lived with his wife Gloria in a log home that he and his father Floyd had built …