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The Author Has Granted New College Of Florida The Nonexclusive Right To Archive, Make Accessible, And Distribute For Educational Purposes This Work In Whole Or In Part In All Forms Of Media, Now Or Hereafter Known. The Copyright Of This Work Remains With The Author., Alexandra Diliberti

Theses & ETDs

Indigenous women in Guatemala face disproportionate rates of maternal mortality, malnutrition, and reproductive health disparities compared to non-indigenous women. These disparities persist, even after the signing of the 1996 Peace Accords formally committed the government to indigenous rights and improved healthcare. This thesis argues that this is the result of coloniality, neoliberal privatization, and the epistemological exclusion of Maya health knowledge from the official health system. The theoretical framework is based on coloniality of power and knowledge (Quijano 2000), abyssal thinking and ecology of knowledges (Santos 2014), coloniality of gender (Lugones 2008), structural violence (Farmer 1996), and decolonizing methodologies (Tuhiwai …

Narrative And Video Games: How Mediums Can Expand Our Stories, Erin Hagy

Theses & ETDs

The objective of this paper is to examine the extent to which video games can be conceived as a narrative format, with specific regards to its consideration in the educational and social spheres. The paper outlines a variety of popular games for consideration, as well as some influencing technological factors, in arguments for the growing importance and inclusion of narrative within the field of gaming. It also exhibits a variety of case studies towards this point and concludes that while video games hold great potential in terms of narrative, the notable variation across the medium can make it difficult to …

Measuring Administrative Hiring Confidence Of Music Teachers In The Context Of Shallow Hiring Pools, Aaron M. Strum

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify and measure the confidence of K-12 administrators in hiring music faculty. This study also aimed to analyze administrators’ perspectives and confidence in key stages of the hiring process, including defining job expectations, posting, advertising, interviewing, and selecting highly specialized music teachers in K-12 settings. Confidence of K-12 administrators can be gauged through their understanding of how well an applicant aligns with the specific needs of the school’s program. Three research questions guided this investigation: (1a) How confident are K-12 administrators in their understanding of music teaching pedagogy when interviewing music teacher candidates …

A Simulation Assessment Of The 'Law Of One Price', Caleb Wilkins

Computational and Data Sciences (MS) Theses

The ‘law of one price’ is an appealing notion regarding pricing of tradeable commodities that are priced in different currencies. It states that the prices of the same good in different markets should be equal after adjustment for exchange rates and that equality should persist through exchange rate fluctuations.

My research simulates the market conditions that should precipitate the ‘law of one price.’ Data was obtained from the simulated trade between algorithmic artificial intelligence agents that operated under induced boundedly rational market behaviors. Trade took place in two initially separate markets, a high-price market with a higher equilibrium price and …

Why They Stay: A Qualitative Study Of Experiences Of Veteran Low-Incidence Self-Contained Special Education Teachers Who Remain In The Profession, Jessie Leyden

Dissertations

Persistent shortages of special education teachers in the United States have intensified the need to understand not only why some educators leave, but why others choose to stay. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the experiences of veteran special education teachers working in low-incidence, self-contained classrooms who choose to remain in the profession. With a particular focus on the factors that contribute to their retention beyond the first three years, the study involved a sample of ten low-incidence, self-contained teachers from a variety of states across the country. Using semi-structured interviews, the study explored how these …

Black Women Science Teachers’ Contextual Knowledge Shapes Technology Integration To Support Culturally Responsive Teaching In Secondary Science Classrooms, Ashley M. Thomas

Dissertations

The number of Black and Brown high school students entering college to study science and technology majors is declining. Because they encounter shared intersectional experiences in the science and technology fields, Black women have a unique connection with their students that builds on teaching practices grounded in culturally responsive teaching (CRT). The mixed methods study was bounded to one school district that had a CRT initiative and provided training to its teachers. The study used a pre-validated survey regarding the perceptions of CRT in a technology-supported learning environment and identified the tools and practices Black female science teachers (BFSTs) use …

History-Dependent Gain Control In The Paraventricular Thalamus: Neural Substrates Of Stress-Enhanced Fear Learning, Michael Martino

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by hyperarousal and heightened reactivity that generalize beyond the original traumatic event, yet the neural mechanisms by which prior stress experience biases future fear learning remain poorly understood. Stress-enhanced fear learning (SEFL) is a well-validated rodent model of this phenomenon, in which a severe stressor produces persistent sensitization of subsequent fear acquisition. This dissertation used a 30-day SEFL paradigm to identify the brain-wide functional signature of stress sensitization and to identify candidate neural substrates.

Whole-brain cFos mapping during acute fear acquisition revealed a predominant pattern of suppressed neural activity in sensitized animals, with limbic …

Supporting Occupational Engagement And Regulation For Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis, Robert E. Oehl 3rd, Zeida Gutierrez

Summer 2026 OTD Capstone Symposium

Children diagnosed with pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) can face cognitive, physical, and emotional symptoms. The symptoms they experience can be barriers to participation in occupations and activities of daily living. For occupational therapy, there is very limited resources for pediatric MS specifically, and it is almost an unknown diagnosis. Occupational therapy in management can help ensure that children reach their developmental milestones in mobility, grasp, social, cognitive, and academic circles. This capstone project was meant to improve awareness and comprehensive treatment and resources through program development. The capstone experience resulted in a project featuring a webinar about pediatric MS and …

Unleashing Potential: Educating Ot Practitioners On Animal-Assisted Therapy For Children With Cp, Karley B. Smith, Lakeisa Boykin

Summer 2026 OTD Capstone Symposium

The purpose of this capstone project is to develop and evaluate the efficacy of an animal-assisted therapy educational package for occupational therapy practitioners treating children with cerebral palsy. This educational package serves as an adjunctive occupational therapy service to address the ongoing need for engaging, holistic interventions that support motor development and participation. The primary focus of this project is practitioner education and training to promote safe, structured, and clinically sound integration of animal-assisted therapy into occupational therapy practice. The methods for this project included a literature review, informal needs assessment, development of an educational package, QR code video demonstrations, …

Before Urgent Fury: U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Grenada During The Ford And Carter Administrations, Nicholas Jake Durell

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

When the United States pulled out of Vietnam in 1973, it experienced a military and psychological defeat unlike any in its modern history. Following President Richard Nixon’s resignation from the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford, the House Minority Leader who had become Vice President, now assumed the presidency of a deeply fractured nation. As the Cold War persisted, Washington struggled to reassert its superpower status globally while desperately avoiding further foreign entanglements. Consequently, the Ford administration adopted a cautiously detached approach to foreign policy, a strategy vividly illustrated by its posture toward the Eastern Caribbean. This calculated ambivalence, continued by the …

Issue 25: Beyond Blame: Gender-Based Violence Prevention And African Diaspora Communities In The Waterloo Region, Halima Ahmed, Valdrin Dragusha, Stella Omonigho, Fadhilah Balogun

International Migration Research Centre

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) remains a critical social, public health, and governance challenge in Canada, particularly for migrant and refugee women (Tastsoglou, 2025). This is increasingly prominent at the local level in the Waterloo Region, particularly for African and racialized diaspora communities navigating settlement, integration, and institutional access. While multi-level governance and frameworks exist at the city, regional, provincial, and federal levels to address GBV, they tend to work in silos, and local implementation gaps persist. The gaps are shaped by cultural stigma, fragmented service delivery, precarious immigration status, formalinformal networks of support, and unequal access to culturally responsive support systems. …

Implementing Mindfulness Practices To Support Student Self-Regulation: A Qualitative Study Of Elementary Teacher Experiences, Shana Orr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to explore elementary teachers’ lived experiences of the implementation of mindfulness practices to support self-regulation in students. Although mindfulness practices have increasingly been incorporated into elementary classrooms, limited qualitative research has examined teachers’ experiences implementing these practices and their lived experiences of student engagement. While there is research on the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) competencies, the focus on schoolwide implementation of mindfulness strategies expand the literature to close a gap on elementary school teachers’ experiences implementing mindfulness practices in Tennessee.

A …

Effects Of Disorder On The Magnetic And Electronic Structure Of Kagome Alloy Fe2mnsn., Thayne Dean

Theses

Iron-based magnets with the Kagome lattice are a rich set of materials due to their non-trivial topology combined with high magnetic ordering temperature (Tc). Previously, we identified and synthesized Fe2MnSn as a promising material with high magnetic anisotropy characterized by a high Tc. The desirable magnetic properties of ternary alloys are controlled by atomic-level antisite disorder and are sensitive to stoichiometry as well. To illustrate the role of disorder in Fe2MnSn, we performed DFT calculations using 64-atom supercells, which enabled us to probe changes in the density of states and magnetic moments by design. Our data show that substitution of …

Radiometric Dating And Isotope Analysis To Determine The Source And Timing Of Rare Earth Element-Bearing Fluid Mineralization At Hicks Dome, Hardin County, Illinois, Kristina M. Kohl

Theses

The Hicks Dome structure of Hardin County, Illinois, located within the Illinois-Kentucky Fluorspar District (IKFD), is one of the most perplexing geological features in the mid-continental U.S. Composed of uplifted Devonian strata intruded by a Ca-rich magma and ultramafic dikes, the dome is recognized as part of the Wauboukigou Igneous Province (WIP) and has been shown to host an abundance of rare earth element (REE) mineralization, particularly Dy, Y, and Sc. Despite extensive prior studies on REE concentrations and the link between fluorite mineralization in the IKFD and igneous activity at Hicks Dome, the absolute timing and relationship among REE …

Glioma Segmentation In Mri Using A 3d Hybrid U-Net With Adaptive Self-Attention And Multi-Modal Fusion, Evan P. Savaria

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Accurate glioma segmentation from multi-modal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is essential for diagnosis, treatment planning, surgical guidance, radiation targeting, and longitudinal monitoring. MRI modalities such as T1, T1Gd, T2, and FLAIR provide complementary information for identifying clinically important tumor sub-regions, including enhancing tumor (ET), tumor core (TC), and whole tumor (WT). However, many existing segmentation methods do not fully preserve modality-specific information, process all modalities and slices uniformly, and often rely on a single shared fusion strategy for all sub-regions. These limitations can reduce segmentation accuracy, increase computational cost, and limit clinical interpretability.

This dissertation addresses these challenges through three …

Simulations Of Inverse Compton Scattering With Radiation Reaction, Elizabeth Breen-Lee

Physics Theses & Dissertations

Inverse Compton scattering (ICS) is a versatile mechanism for producing bright, tunable, and quasi-monochromatic x-ray and gamma-ray radiation through the interaction of relativistic electrons with intense laser pulses. These sources have applications spanning medicine, archaeological studies, materials science, and fundamental research, motivating continued efforts to improve both their performance and the accuracy of theoretical models used to describe them. As nextgeneration laser and accelerator facilities continue to reach increasingly intense regimes, efficient and accurate simulation techniques have become essential for the design and optimization of ICS sources. This dissertation presents the development of analytical and computational methods for modeling inverse …

Autistic Students' Experiences With Hybrid Flexible Instruction In Higher Education: An Interpretive Phenomenological Study, Tracey Nicole Barr

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

During the twenty-first century, autistic learners have enrolled in colleges and universities in greater numbers; however, the majority of research focused on their experiences in higher education has found them to be less academically successful than their neurotypical peers. The academic skills that autistic students bring to higher education are often tempered by social, emotional, and self-regulative challenges. The body of research focusing on autistic learners’ experiences in higher education is currently limited and focused primarily on fully in-person and online course models. No extant research has focused on autistic students’ experiences with hybrid or blended course models.

This interpretive …

Parameter Dependent Chen-Fliess Series And Their Nonrecursive Interconnections, Natalie T. Pham

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In control theory, a Chen-Fliess functional series is a weighted sum of iterated integrals constructed from a given set of input functions. Such series can be used to represent nonlinear input-output systems. In applications, they have been employed to characterize interconnected nonlinear systems, to solve system inversion and tracking problems, and to design predictive and adaptive controllers.

Distributed parameter systems exhibit spatial dependence along with temporal dependence. Such systems are typically represented in terms of partial differential equations. In control theory, there appears to be no existing method for representing the input-output map of a distributed system via a Chen-Fliess …

Sabin Center For Climate Change Law Annual Report 2025-2026, Tiffany Challe

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Over the past year, the Sabin Center continued to translate complex legal and scientific questions into practical tools that advance climate action and climate justice across climate litigation, renewable energy, local climate action, model climate laws, carbon management and greenhouse gas removal, climate law and science, and climate and business law.

Explore our 2025–2026 Annual Report to see the research, engagement, and impact behind the numbers — and what’s ahead.

Exploring Discretionary Benefits’ Impact On Michigan Public Sector Employees, Sydnie N. Smith

Master of Public Administration Capstone Papers

Productivity, well-being, and retention are factors that impact organizational success and goal attainment; in the public sector in Michigan, employees are the most valuable asset. This research paper seeks to answer the following question: How does the adoption of unlimited PTO policies shape workforce morale, productivity, and retention in public sector employment? Current research into paid leave policy’s impact on employees is scant, it is further limited in the scope of public sector employees. This paper believes that research is needed to determine the relationship between paid leave benefits and employee productivity, well-being/morale, and retention as it could improve public …

Ai-Ready Libraries Require Ai-Ready Librarians: Building Organisational Capability For Digital Transformation, Salihin Mohammed Ali

Research Collection Library

Academic libraries worldwide are rapidly experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance research, learning, discovery, operations, and user engagement. However, many institutions continue to approach AI adoption primarily through isolated pilots, individual experimentation, or technology-centric initiatives. While these efforts generate innovation, they often struggle to scale sustainably without corresponding organisational capability development. This presentation argues that AI-ready libraries require AI-ready librarians and proposes an organisational capability approach for sustainable AI transformation in academic libraries. Drawing from the development of a library-wide AI strategy plans at Singapore Management University, the presentation explores how AI capability-building can be operationalised across diverse functional …

Improving Knowledge Of Obesity-Related Risks And Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors In Adolescents, Tehroop Notra, Samreet Kaur, Karina Heredia

ELMSN E-Portfolio. A collection of Scholarly and Creative Works

This quality improvement project evaluated the effectiveness of a school-based educational intervention aimed at improving ninth-grade students’ knowledge and understanding of obesity prevention, nutrition, and physical activity. Adolescent obesity remains a significant public health concern, showcasing the need for early, evidence-based education. A total of 57 students participated in the two classroom sessions. Of these students, 49 completed the pre-intervention survey, and 48 completed the post-intervention survey. The intervention included an interactive presentation, group discussions, and educational materials. Student knowledge was assessed using a six-item survey administered before and after the session. The results demonstrated improvements across multiple knowledge areas, …

Business Responsibility And Sustainability In India : A Comprehensive Analysis Of Brsr Disclosures Of India’S Top 1,000 Listed Companies For Fy 2024–25, Rajeev Ranjan Tripathi, Aditya Gupta, Mohan Krishna, Sonika Gandhi

Monograph and Other Reports

The intersection of capital markets, corporate governance, and sustainable development has, over three decades, given rise to a transformative shift in management practice: the systematic disclosure and evaluation of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. Once confined to niche ethical investment circles, ESG reporting has evolved into a mainstream imperative, shaping investment decisions, regulatory frameworks, and stakeholder expectations across both developed and emerging economies. Today, ESG performance is no longer an addendum to financial reporting but a substantive dimension of enterprise value and long-term organisational legitimacy. India’s ESG reporting journey reflects a trajectory of incremental but decisive policy evolution. The …

The Black Student Union At Northern Michigan University: Leadership, Community, And Institutional Change Through Student Activism, Marlanaysia Rosser

Master of Public Administration Capstone Papers

This paper explores how the Black Student Union (BSU) at Northern Michigan University (NMU) has influenced and contributed to the development of support systems for Black students in alignment with broader historical movements. Through archival records and four interviews with former BSU leaders, this study examines the impact of student activism on institutional change, leadership development, and community. The findings revealed that student activism at NMU reflected many of the concerns and strategies occurring across the nation during the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. While the experiences of BSU members and institutional support shifted across generations, BSU remained a …

Prediction Of Pasture Condition In The Kimberley Rangelands Of Western Australia Using Simple Classification Tree Models, Ben Nestor, Kath Ryan, Charles Martin, Philip Thomas, Chris Hetherington, Matthew Fletcher, Robert Sudmeyer, Karyn Reeves

Natural Resources Research Articles

Pasture condition assessments assist pastoralists, regulators, and policy makers in making informed decisions around livestock production and the preservation of natural resources in the Kimberley rangelands of Western Australia (WA). Reliable qualitative assessments of pasture condition require assessors with extensive expertise, which means frequent and reproducible assessments can be difficult to achieve. To develop a quantitative approach that can complement existing qualitative assessment approaches in the Kimberley, we investigated the use of simple classification tree models to predict pasture condition using assessment data from the Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System (WARMS). Quantitative traits were derived from WARMS observation data for …

Id-More Vision: Real-Data Machine-Learning Assessment For A Digital-Twin-Inspired, Xr-Ready Rehabilitation Prototype, Rickey L. Clark

Master's Theses

Rehabilitation assessment often relies on periodic observation, while many XR prototypes show scripted rather than recorded-motion evidence. iD-MORE Vision is an offline pipeline trained on KIMORE and IRDS and linked through JSON packets to a two-mode Unity desktop prototype. Both datasets include controls and rehabilitation participants with neurologic, musculoskeletal, or mobility impairments. This improves relevance but does not clinically validate the system.

Under fixed subject-wise splits, the primary five-seed Random Forest predicted KIMORE clinician scores with MAE 6.087 ± 0.044 cTS and R² 0.568 ± 0.006; the subject-level R² interval crossed zero. The primary IRDS five-run CUDA GRU averaged 0.877 …

More Than A Profession: A Calling In Social Work, Paulette Lingle

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Pre-Post Changes In Physiological, Cognitive, And Motivational Outcomes Following An Active Video Game Intervention In Adolescents And Adults: A Pilot Study, Ashley Williams, Danielle D. Wadsworth, Thaangiah Geetha

Publications

Active video games (AVG) are emerging as a promising home-based strategy to increase physical activity by integrating movement into interactive gameplay. However, evidence remains limited regarding their effectiveness across physiological, cognitive, and motivational outcomes in adolescents and adults within household settings.

Advantages Of Dynamic Representation For Related Rates Problems In Calculus, Eri Osuna

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Related-rates problems are a standard yet persistently difficult topic in first-semester calculus. Research increasingly recommends dynamic visualization tools such as GeoGebra, but direct comparisons of static and dynamic representations in related-rates settings remain scarce. This qualitative study examines how representation type shapes the quality of students' reasoning and their perceived experience during related-rates problem solving. Six mathematics students who had completed Calculus —a group of four undergraduates and a pair of graduate students—completed a static sliding-ladder task and a dynamic airplane-and-camera task supported by an interactive GeoGebra applet, followed by an interview. Findings indicate that the two representations supported reasoning …

Geodesic Completeness And The Hopf-Rinow Theorem, Christopher Farias

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Differential geometry is concerned with the properties of calculus and geometry on curved n-dimensional manifolds. As a result, thinking about such a space often runs counter to the Euclidean geometer's intuition of distances, angles, and transformations. This thesis aims to build up to proving an important result in the study of Riemannian manifolds: the Hopf-Rinow theorem.

In Chapter 2, we begin by defining what a manifold is and showing that the collection of directional derivatives at a point on the manifold spans a tangent vector space. After defining a basis and a metric for this space, in Chapter 3, we …