Digital Commons Network^™

Customers' Perceptions Of Customer Service After The Covid-19 Pandemic, Marissa Young

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how customers perceive customer service after the COVID-19 pandemic, using qualitative data from an open-ended survey to evaluate how expectations, experiences, and the meaning of service have shifted. The findings demonstrate that consumers view customer service as a holistic process influenced by interpersonal communication, operational efficiency, product availability, and pricing transparency. Participants emphasized both positive and negative encounters, stating that the COVID pandemic fostered lowered expectations due to staffing shortages and work stress, while also remaining observant of service inconsistencies. These results relate to theories of service quality, emotional labor, and organization-public relationships by illustrating how crisis …

Understanding Interculturality And Enacting Culturally Based Pedagogies: A Mixed Methods Study Of In-Service World Language Educators In Secondary Classrooms, Heather L. Sandy

Theses and Dissertations

This research study explored the relationship between an understanding of interculturality and culturally based pedagogies among world language teachers. The study examined the relationship between language teachers’ upbringing, their development of intercultural competence, and their self-efficacy in culturally responsive teaching practices. It addressed a practical knowledge gap concerning the intersection of interculturality and culturally based practices, specifically among secondary education teachers of Spanish and Mandarin Chinese in the United States.

The data sources focused on the qualitative aspects of interculturality, culturally based teaching practices, and world language pedagogy, with quantitative results to enhance qualitative data. The qualitative data collection included …

Parental Behavior, Attachment, And Sibling Outcomes In Asd Families, Bridget W. Mwaura

Theses and Dissertations

Neurotypical siblings of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often experience unique challenges, including increased familial stress and differences in parental treatment, which may affect the sibling bond. Grounded in the Attachment Theory and Siblings Embedded Systems Framework, this study examined relationships among attachment security, parenting behaviors and sibling relationship quality. It was hypothesized that secure parental attachment and helpful parenting behaviors would predict greater sibling closeness and lower conflict, and that attachment security would mediate the relationship between parenting behaviors and sibling relationship quality. Results from a sample of emerging adults (N=91) partially supported these hypotheses. Bivariate …

Theoretical Analysis Of Filtering And Smoothing Techniques In Stochastic Time Series, Kaosarat Bola Azeez

Theses and Dissertations

Polynomial-preserving linear filters are fundamental tools for smoothing and trend extraction in noisy time series, particularly when the objective is to reduce short-run variation without distorting underlying low-degree structure. This thesis develops a general framework for such filters based on local polynomial approximation and least-squares estimation. In particular, we establish that the resulting estimators can be represented as symmetric linear filters whose weights satisfy moment conditions that ensure exact polynomial reproduction up to a specified degree. Building on this framework, we derive explicit coefficient vectors for several classical smoothing filters, including the Savitzky-Golay filters SG(5,2) and SG(7,3), as well as …

Create Your Character: Application Of Identity Play Findings From Cosplay And Video Games Onto Tabletop Roleplaying Games, Farhia A. Osman

Theses and Dissertations

Tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) are collaborative, imaginative games in which players create and enact fictional characters within shared narrative worlds. Although research on roleplaying games has expanded in recent years, much of the empirical literature has focused on digital roleplaying games, particularly massively multiplayer online roleplaying games, leaving tabletop roleplaying comparatively understudied. I conducted a study with 173 adult TTRPG players to examine the relations among openness to experience, motivations for playing TTRPGs, and avatar identification. I also explored whether the individual facets to openness to experience predicted motivations for play and avatar identification, and whether players who had portrayed …

Tooth Ablation And The Jōmon - Yayoi Transition In Japan, Laura R. Erickson

Theses and Dissertations

The Jōmon – Yayoi period transition in Japan is marked by many migrants coming through the Korean Peninsula into Kyushu, sparking changes such as the introduction of wet-rice agriculture to the native hunter-gatherer-fisher Jōmon population and decreases in tooth ablation patterns and percentages. Ritual tooth ablation, or the removal of healthy front teeth, is typically seen as a coming-of-age practice, with the Jōmon having a diverse amount of ablation patterns. In this study, I explored how the rates and variation of tooth ablation changed throughout Japan after the arrival of Yayoi migrants from the continent. After calculating ablation rates per …

An Evolution Of Drag In Theatre: A Historical Reflection, Krista Peters

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will serve as an overarching analysis and historical discussion on the art of drag within the traditional theatrical space. By employing queer theory, I will analyze how the use of drag has evolved throughout the history of Broadway and the United States and how it is responding to the contemporary social attitude. Drawing from the arguments of Butler, Lorde, Rich, Foucault, and others, this thesis uses historical survey to examine the direct representation of drag in theatrical spaces in conjunction with each representation’s sociopolitical and cultural environments. Sociopolitical contemporary contexts of each representation influence not only the form …

Transforming Instructional Spaces: Professional Development And The Design Of Culturally Responsive Classroom Displays, Tisha M. Ortega

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative action research study examined how secondary teachers at a Midwest high school engaged in the process of designing classroom displays for culturally responsive teaching. The semester-long study explored how teachers’ understandings of culturally responsive teaching informed their design decisions, how they engaged students with display content, and how ongoing reflection and participation in a professional development study group shaped their practices over time. Data were collected through interviews, surveys, study group transcripts, and photographs of classroom displays.

Findings indicated that participation in the study group served as both validation and inspiration, supporting teachers in refining their approaches to …

Transgender Representation In Japanese Video Games And Their Corresponding American Fandoms, Aj Abad

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores transgender and gender non-conforming characters within Japanese media and their corresponding American fandoms. In this thesis, I use a methodology named trans negotiated readings, stemming from Stuart Hall’s theory of dominant codes and negotiated readings. Through focusing on two characters from two different Japanese media—Arashi Narukami from Ensemble Stars!! and Mizuki Akiyama from Project Sekai: Colorful Stage Feat. Hatsune Miku, I uncover some of the dominant codes encoded the original source material. After, I also examine their corresponding American fandoms, uncovering the negotiated readings from the fanbase. This thesis attempts to show different cultures’ interpretation of transgender …

Interactive Effects Of Bti Larviciding And Predation On Culex Pipiens And Its Ephemeral Pond Communities, Jaclyn S. Everly

Theses and Dissertations

Populations of adult vector mosquitoes can be controlled by reducing larval mosquito abundances in aquatic habitats. This can be achieved via predation by introduced or naturally-occurring enemies (i.e., biocontrol or conservation control) or by applying pesticides to larval mosquito habitats (i.e., larviciding). The larvicide Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) is commonly applied to ephemeral ponds to control populations of Culex pipiens mosquitoes that vector West Nile virus. However, there is concern that Bti may directly or indirectly harm non-target organisms such as dragonfly and damselfly naiads, which provide a natural source of mosquito biocontrol. Bti or predators may also induce positive …

The Effect Of Sex On The Signal Transmission Of Duetting Bay Wrens, Rachel C. Schinzler

Theses and Dissertations

During communication, senders send signals for their benefit to elicit a behavioral response from a receiver. Acoustic signals are efficient for long-distance signaling; however, they are influenced by environmental features, such as foliage density, humidity, temperature, and time of day. Individuals can overcome these challenges by using signals with a trajectory of peak frequency, frequencies, volumes, and timing best suited to signal transmission in their environment. Signal transmission has been studied at the species level; however, not much is known about sex differences within the same species. Duetting species provide a useful system for examining sex-specific challenges in transmission, as …

From Stage To Screen: Hamilton: An American Musical, Emotional Communication, And Digital Audience Discourse, Christopher J. O'Quinn Jr

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how musical theatre functions as a communicative and affective medium that extends beyond live performance into digital spaces where audiences actively construct and share meaning. Focusing on the Broadway musical Hamilton: An American Musical (throughout the thesis, I will refer to it as Hamilton), this research explores how audiences interpret, express, and create emotional responses through social media platforms. Using a modified digital ethnographic approach, data were collected from Instagram comments on posts from 2024 to 2026. Subsequently, a discourse analysis was employed to identify patterns in emotional expression, lived experience, meaning-making, performer appreciation, and shared …

Schiff Bases As Versatile Platforms: From Multinuclear Dysprosium Complexes To Halogen-Mediated Quasiracemic Crystal Engineering, Macy M. Michorczyk

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the factors that govern molecular assembly is fundamental in both coordination chemistry and crystal engineering. This thesis investigates these processes through two studies that employ single-crystal X-ray diffraction to elucidate the structural principles underlying the formation of multinuclear metal complexes and the crystal packing of quasiracemates.

The first study examines the unexpected formation of multinuclear metal complexes. Structural characterization of a series of dysprosium complexes was used to compare molecular architectures and identify structural relationships that support a proposed pathway of formation. These findings shed insight into the assembly process that may have lead to their formation.

The second …

Does The Powder River Pass Shear Zone Exist? Geologic Map And Geochronology Of The Bighorn Mountains Caribou Creek 7.5-Minute Quadrangle, Lula G. Staley

Theses and Dissertations

This study produced a 1:24000-scale geologic map of the Caribou Creek 7.5-minute quadrangle in the Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming, by integrating field observation and U-Pb zircon age data. The results of this study will contribute to the USGS EDMAP program by subdividing the southern gneiss terrain. The quadrangle occurs almost entirely in the Bighorn National Forest and is in the drainage of Clear and Crazy Woman creeks. Elevations range from 6,800-9,400 ft. The quadrangle is dominated by Archean crystalline rocks of the Wyoming Province Beartooth-Bighorn Magmatic terrane, mainly granodiorite and tonalite gneiss with lesser migmatite. Several orientations and ages of mafic …

Interaction Of The Gram-Positive Human Pathogen Staphylococcus Aureus With Host Lipids, Sharanya Paul

Theses and Dissertations

Staphylococcus aureus is a prominent pathogen that is known to incorporate straight-chain unsaturated fatty acids (SCUFAs) into its lipids in addition to the normally biosynthesized branched-chain fatty acids (BCFAs) and straight-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Furthermore, it has recently been shown that the incorporation of oleic acid into S. aureus lipids significantly enhanced the growth of the organism at low temperatures due to the greater fluidity imparted to the membrane. Together with others in the Wilkinson and Dahl laboratory, I have shown that low-temperature growth is enhanced by various SCUFAs, including the human antimicrobial fatty acids sapienic acid, linoleic acid, and …

From Rocks To Rockets: How Mineral Wealth Fuels The Arms Trade, Samuel G. Majka

Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses a critical gap in the resource curse literature by examining how strategic mineral wealth, central to the global clean energy transition, influences international arms transfers. While the relationship between oil rents, militarization, and conflict is well-established, the role of non-hydrocarbon resources and conflict-related variables remains underexplored. This paper posits that mineral rents provide governments with unearned, discretionary income, relaxing fiscal constraints and creating powerful incentives for both resource-rich states and major power suppliers to increase arms flows to secure political control, suppress internal dissent, and maintain access to valuable deposits. Using a country-year panel dataset spanning 1990-2023 …

Comparison Of Basil (Ocimum Basilicum L.) Cultigens In A Controlled Environment Vertical Farm, Sarah R. Stevens

Theses and Dissertations

Vertical farming is the production of plants in a completely controlled, enclosed environment and represents an advanced, sustainable method to grow basil and other leafy crops. Vertical farming offers 365 days of continual production, using minimal input and efficient, low water usage. For this study we compared five different basil cultivars side-by-side under the same growing conditions in a controlled environment. The basil cultivars compared were, Sweet Thai, Genovese, Holy, Cinnamon, and Greek basils. During growth, data was collected three times for each cultivar including plant length, internode length, number of nodes, number of leaves per stem, SPAD (Soil Plant …

Examining Incidental Remembering Of Object Properties Specified By Different Invariants, Sanako Hishinuma

Theses and Dissertations

The ecological approach to perceiving and acting hypothesizes that perceiving object properties requires selective detection of invariants – patterns in ambient energy arrays that persist across transformations. Whereas perceiving some properties of wielded objects, such as length and heaviness, requires detecting the moments of inertia, perceiving other properties, such as grasp position, requires detecting the products of inertia. Previous research has shown that when participants perceived the length of wielded occluded objects, they incidentally remembered the heaviness of those objects (Thomas & Riley, 2015). The researchers proposed this occurred because perceiving either property requires detecting the moments of inertia. The …

Children’S And Adult Perspectives On Mental Health In Children’S Youth Literature And Media, Edcel J. Cintron-Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation extends existing work on mental health in children’s literature to examine the different narratives strategies that text, film, and media for young audiences use to connect childhood, caregiving, and emotional wellbeing. Three areas of scholarship—children’s literature scholarship, health humanities work, and feminist care ethics—inform my project. Overall, I am interested in how a variety of genres for young readers represent mental health not only as an individual experience, but also as something shaped by family, culture, community, and adult-child relationships. It is therefore important to delineate the different concepts and frameworks that help make sense of how mental …

Why Make Books In Art Class Or Art In Reading Class? How Storytelling Impacts Youth Literacy And Cultural Dialogue, Holly Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

Given complex factors affecting reading literacy and students’ need for empowerment through creativity, this thesis project will investigate possibilities for combining artmaking with written narrative. Creative solutions, such as integrated and project-based learning activities, are documented as having some of the best positive impacts on overall learning growth (Laur, 2021; Aydin & Mutlu, 2023). Therefore, my thesis includes a discussion on Arts Integration initiatives and an illustrated book for students ages 10-15, which can be used as an example for their own studies into personal narrative. While the research presented here touches on multiple factors affecting students’ self-esteem and willingness …

Reconceptualizing Instructional Supervision For Stem Education In The Digital Age, Armen Alvarez

Theses and Dissertations

This conceptual thesis reconceptualizes instructional supervision for AI-enabled STEM teaching in the Digital Age. Traditional supervision models, including clinical, developmental, and cognitive coaching, emphasize human-centered observation and feedback but lack guidance for supervising AI-mediated instruction, interpreting algorithmic outputs, and addressing neurodiverse learner variability. Using integrative literature review methodology, this thesis synthesizes scholarship across five theoretical foundations: epistemic perspectives, the neurodiversity paradigm, Universal Design for Learning, human-centered AI and educational leadership, and supervision literature.

The resulting conceptual framework organizes supervisory attention into four interconnected domains:

• human-centered AI use in teaching and assessment,
• neurodiversity- and UDL-informed pedagogy,
• relational and compassionate classroom climate, …

Prevalence Of Grip And Leg Strength Asymmetries In U.S. Youth, Elyse M. Deschryver

Theses and Dissertations

Early-life physical activity is important for building muscular strength, supporting healthy growth and disease prevention, and for establishing physical activity and strength habits that often track into adulthood. Although grip strength asymmetry is a well-documented risk factor in older adults, evidence in children and adolescents is limited and largely based on small, sport-specific samples. PURPOSE: To describe grip and leg extension strength asymmetries in a nationally representative sample of U.S. youth aged 6–15 years using the National Youth Fitness Survey (NNYFS). METHODS: The analysis included 1,214 participants (606 boys, 608 girls) with valid grip or leg extension data. Age, sex, …

Effects Of Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Strategies On Job Attitudes And Well-Being, Kara Cannon

Theses and Dissertations

Interpersonal emotion regulation involves using social interactions to influence their own or another’s emotions (Gross, 1998). Although previous research has examined the relationships between intrapersonal emotion regulation and workplace outcomes, there is a lack of research on interpersonal emotion regulation in the workplace context. The current study extends this research by examining the relationships between interpersonal emotion regulation strategies, co-rumination, well-being, and job satisfaction, and examines which interpersonal emotion regulation strategies are better predictors of the outcome variables than others. Positive correlations between interpersonal emotion regulation strategies and well-being and between co-rumination and well-being were found. Perspective taking and enhancing …

Turning 30 In 600 Feet, Tate Lewis-Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a poem; it records fourteen consecutive months of the poet’s life through rigorous, daily typing habits with nonoptimal tools and material: a typewriter and 600 feet of receipt paper. Through the adoption of these conditions, and through the dailiness of the habit, this thesis crips and deploys a poetics of chronic impediment for accessing constraint and its role in making. This thesis includes a critical preface which explores some of the poet’s specific relationships to chronic pain, both physical and emotional; forgetfulness and dissociation; and disruption by remembering a decade-long flare of chronic illness and abuse. With …

The Right To Read: Opposing The Censorship Of Young Adult Literature On Grounds Of Sexually Explicit Content, Kate Fortner

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I use intersections between sexuality studies, feminism, queer theory, and theories of children’s and young adult literature to examine and historicize the prevalence of book bans and challenges between 2020 and 2025 that target young adult literature on the basis of sexually explicit content. To understand the opposition to portrayals of underage heterosexuality, I analyze John Green’s Looking for Alaska, considering its history of censorship as well as the author’s response to those bans. To understand the challenges to depictions of LGBTQ+ identities aimed at young people, I look at Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer and Juno …

Investigating Phosphorus Load Trends And Driving Factors In Illinois Watersheds Using Machine Learning Algorithms, Hannah Lartey

Theses and Dissertations

Phosphorus (P) pollution in Illinois watersheds has become a significant water quality concern. Recent studies have shown increasing concentrations in streams and rivers, leading to eutrophication, which damages aquatic ecosystems and threatens human health. This study examines temporal trends in total phosphorus loads across 79 monitoring stations in Illinois from 1979 to 2020 and identifies the main environmental factors that influence P load variability. Trend analyses were conducted using the nonparametric Mann-Kendall and Sen’s slope methods. GIS-based climate, hydrology, and soil property datasets were assembled for each monitoring station. These datasets were used to build machine learning models using the …

Exploring The Role Of Racial Microaggressions And Campus Climate In Fostering Sense Of Belonging For Black Latiné College Students, Lourdes D. Concepción Cabán

Theses and Dissertations

Racial microaggressions are subtle verbal or nonverbal behaviors that convey hostility and exclusion toward People of Color (Sue et al., 2007). These acts negatively impact the well-being, perceptions of inclusivity, and sense of belonging of marginalized groups in higher education (Solórzano & Pérez Huber, 2020). Black Latiné college students face unique challenges at the intersection of anti-Blackness and racialized Latinidad, compounding the effects of racial microaggressions in historically white institutions (Torres et al., 2012). I conducted a study with 77 Black Latiné undergraduate students from Midwestern universities to examine the relation between racial microaggressions, perceptions of campus climate, and sense …

Tensions And Possibilities: A Study Of International Graduate Students' Encounters With Critical Pedagogy In The United States, Munchuree Kaosayapandhu

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the question, “How do international graduate students experience and negotiate their encounters with critical pedagogy across time and educational contexts?” The research was motivated by the researcher’s own experience in encountering critical pedagogy and prior studies focusing on critical pedagogy from the teacher perspective. This left a gap in understanding the student experience. The research used the phenomenology paradigm. The participants included six international graduate students in education studies programs. Using the phenomenological interview approach, each participant was asked over a series of three interviews about past experiences of education, their initial encounters with critical pedagogy and …

The Victimization Of Immigrant Adolescents, Stephanie Vargas

Theses and Dissertations

Immigrant adolescents may experience social and structural challenges that increase their vulnerability to victimization and influence long-term developmental outcomes. However, there is little longitudinal research has examined whether immigration generation is associated with adolescent victimization and adult behavioral outcomes using nationally representative data. This study used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to examine the relationships among immigration generation, adolescent victimization, and adult criminal justice, mental health, and substance use outcomes. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine whether first- and second-generation immigrants differed from third-generation respondents after controlling for race/ethnicity, family structure, …

Digital Truth Making, Creative Resistance, And Power Negotiation Through Social Media: A Digital Ethnography Of The 2024 Gen Z Uprising In Bangladesh, Mustafizurrrahman Rahat

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates how social media shaped political participation during the 2024 July Uprising in Bangladesh, focusing on the production and negotiation of political truth, legitimacy, and resistance through everyday digital practices. Rather than conceptualizing social media solely as a communication tool, the study analyzes digital platforms as contested spaces where activists, state-aligned actors, and other participants constructed, circulated, and challenged competing political narratives throughout the uprising.

Drawing on digital ethnography, this study integrates netnographic observation of Facebook groups, pages, hashtags, memes, and protest-related visual content with content analysis, reflexive participant observation, and semi-structured interviews with Generation Z participants. The …