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Teachers’ And Parents’ Perception Of The Impacts Of Social Skills Education Among Learners With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study, Marian Baffoe Bonnie

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the perceptions of the impacts of social skills learning for teachers and parents at a preschool in a central African country. The theory that guided this study was Premack and Woodruff’s theory of mind as it provides a scholarly underpinning for understanding the social and communication deficits experienced by individuals with autism. The central research question that guided the study was: How do teachers and parents perceive the impacts of social skills education among children with autism spectrum disorders? A qualitative methodology using a phenomenological design was used. Purposive sampling was …

Odil Sharipov V. Attorney General United States Of America

2026 Decisions

Agency

The Impact Of Student Behavioral Demands On Teacher Burnout In Secondary Education, Adrienne J. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Teacher burnout is a growing concern in secondary education because it affects teacher well-being, instructional effectiveness, and retention (Anton & Ryzin, 2024; Madigan & Kim, 2021). This quantitative correlational study examined the relationship between behavioral demands and emotional exhaustion among 64 Texas secondary public-school teachers. Guided by the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, the study also examined whether teacher self-efficacy and school climate moderated this relationship. Behavioral demands were measured as a composite of student aggression, defiance, and inattentiveness. Pearson correlations and moderation analyses conducted in Jamovi indicated that behavioral demands were positively associated …

Unpredictability Is A Childhood Adversity That Contributes To Mental Health Problems, Laura M. Glynn, Sabrina R. Liu, Charles Golden, Michael Weiss, Candice Taylor Lucas, Louis Ehwerhemuepha, Hal S. Stern, Tallie Z. Baram

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Although adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase risk for mental illness at the population level, existing ACEs screens are less helpful in forecasting individual outcomes, suggesting they may not capture significant elements of childhood adversity. We have previously identified unpredictable parental and household experiences as an ACE that portends poorer cognitive and mental health. However, the contribution of unpredictability to established ACEs in real-world settings is unknown. Here, leveraging existing ACEs screening in California, we added the five-item Questionnaire on Unpredictability in Childhood (QUIC-5) in 19 pediatric clinics spanning broad sociodemographic constituencies and compared in ~30,000 children the link of each …

Health Literacy And Diabetes Self-Care Behavior, Eucharia Amaefule

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Limited health literacy is a significant barrier to effective diabetes self-management among adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), yet nationally representative evidence using comprehensive health literacy measures remains limited. Guided by the health belief model, the purpose of this quantitative, secondary data analysis using cross-sectional data was to examine the relationship between health literacy and diabetes self-care behaviors among U.S. adults with T2DM and determine whether education level moderated this relationship. Data from the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were analyzed for U.S. adults (N = 9, 535) with self-reported T2DM. Diabetes self-care behaviors included blood glucose monitoring, …

Effective Work-Life Balance Strategies That Small Business Owners Use To Increase Personal And Organizational Resilience, Anquinett Pope

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business owners frequently sustain their businesses at the cost of their personal health, which poses long-term threats to both organizational sustainability and resilience. The sustainability of a small business is often inseparable from the health, well-being, and decision-making capacity of its owner. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to identify and explore effective strategies employed by some small business owners to balance personal and professional obligations to enhance business sustainability. The study was focused on one small business owner from a consulting firm based in the United Kingdom. The project was grounded in the Baldrige excellence …

Gestational Exposure To Bisphenols And Perceived Stress Predict Dna Methylation Changes In Mothers And Newborn Infants, Samantha C. Lauby, Ariel Bellatin, Mariah L. Deserisy, Julianne C. Botelho, Antonia M. Calafat, Beatrice Beebe, Julie B. Herbstman, Amy E. Margolis, Frances A. Champagne

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Bisphenols, including bisphenol A (BPA) and “BPA-free” substitute chemicals (e.g., bisphenol S (BPS), bisphenol F (BPF)), are often used in the manufacture of water bottles, food storage containers, lining of tin cans, and thermal paper. Gestational exposure to bisphenols has been associated with poor neurodevelopmental and mental health outcomes in children that are often sex specific. Moreover, there is often a co-occurrence of chemical exposures and chronic stress, such that individuals living in the context of economic disadvantage and associated chronic stress often bear the burden of elevated chemical exposures. Changes in DNA methylation (DNAm) in response to environmental exposures …

Drifting Neurons, Stable Geometry: Population Representations Of Instrumental Behavior In The Dorsomedial Striatum, Arati Sharma

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

The brain reliably supports learned behaviors over long periods of time despite continual biological changes that alter the activity of individual neurons, and the connections between them. For learned behaviors to persist, the information stored in neural populations must remain accessible even when the activity of individual neurons changes. Understanding how the brain achieves this is a fundamental challenge in neuroscience. The dorsomedial striatum (DMS) is critical for instrumental behavior, encoding information about actions, outcomes, and their relationships. Although extensive work has characterized the role of the DMS during learning and performance, less is known about how task-related information is …

Exploring Nursing Students' Experiences Of Simulation-Based Learning In Developing Critical Thinking, Clinical Reasoning And Clinical Judgment In The Management Of Mental Health Patients: A Qualitative Case Study, Irene Bellew

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to explore how simulation-based learning experiences shape the development of critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgment for associate degree nursing students when caring for patients with mental health needs. It addressed the need to narrow the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application in clinical settings, enhancing the preparedness of novice nurses. By positioning nurse educators as facilitators of innovative strategies, this study advocates for the integration of simulation-based learning within nursing curricula. Roy’s adaptation model guided the study, and data were collected through observation of simulation sessions, semi-structured interviews, and reflective …

Lived Experiences Of Faculty Working In Recently Consolidated Public Secondary Schools In Rural Southeastern United States Of America: A Phenomenological Study, Mary Elizabeth Baker Vick

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of faculty members of a consolidated secondary public school within a rural district in the southeastern United States. The theory guiding this study was Lewin’s theory on institutional change as it explains how individuals experience the unfreezing, changing, and refreezing phases during organizational transitions. The Central Research Question was, what are the lived experiences of secondary public school faculty during and following the consolidation of their secondary public school in rural Southeastern United States of America? This qualitative research study utilized a transcendental phenomenological approach to investigate …

How Christian Beliefs Shape Long-Term Recovery In A 12-Step Program, Decarol L. Gulliford

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe how individual Christian beliefs play a role in long-term recovery in a 12-step program. The findings from this study, focusing on this purpose, addressed the problem recognized as having a lack of research related to the Christian spiritual beliefs associated with the 12-step program and its successes or failures. Logotherapy provided the lens for the theoretical framework with data collected from a sample of seven individuals who had been sober for at least 10 years. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed for themes using Braun and Clarke’s six phases …

Stuck In A Paradox: Loving An Unseen God While Hating The Neighbor That Is Visible: A Quantitative Correlational Study, Felisha A. Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Racism within the Christian church is a persistent concern that may influence interpersonal relationships and spiritual development. Although research has examined this broadly, there has been limited research on the relationship between perceived racism and spiritual maturity in a Christian church setting. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between racism and spiritual growth amongst Christians, assess the perceived prevalence of racism in the church, and explore perceptions of responsibility for addressing racism in the church. It was hypothesized that a negative relationship would be found between racism and spiritual maturity. Data was collected from …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Faith-Based Advocacy Experiences Of Leaders Of Christian Academic Libraries, Melanie Lewis Croft

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the faith-based advocacy experiences for library leaders at Christian institutions of higher education. The theory guiding this study is spiritual leadership theory, which demonstrates how library leaders connect library resources and services to the advancement of the mission and goals of a Christian institution of higher education. The central research question asked, What are the lived experiences of library leaders in Christian institutions of higher education who have engaged in faith-based advocacy? Participants in this study were those who served as the primary administrator of an academic library within a …

A Strategic Guide To Understanding How Leadership Motivation Creates A Productive Work Environment In The Service Sector, Sakina Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative case study explored the challenges leaders face in motivating employees in the service sector that threaten a productive work environment in the educational sector. The problem to be addressed is the challenges leaders face in motivating employees within the service sector that threaten a productive work environment. The purpose of this study is to explore how leadership strategies influence employee motivation and productivity, particularly within the education industry, where leaders often contend with stressors such as workplace change, low morale, and burnout. Guided by a constructive constructivist paradigm, the research employed a qualitative multiple-case study design, using semi-structured …

Associating Herzberg’S Motivation-Hygiene Two-Factor Theory And Influential Factors On Turnover Intentions Within The U.S. Federal Government Agencies: An Ex Post Facto Quantitative Method Approach, Beatrice Nadine Sibug Fant

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The study examined the critical issue of employee turnover in U.S. federal government agencies and the challenge of retaining highly qualified individuals amid competition from private-sector companies offering employees multiple benefits. It follows Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Two-Factor Theory and measures the impact of employee satisfaction, engagement, work-life balance, and performance on turnover intentions. Additionally, the study considered demographic and occupational variables, such as gender, supervisory status, military service, and years of service in the federal government. Using data from the 2022 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), which received responses from 557,778 participants (a 35% response rate), the study investigates how employee …

Moral Injury And Spiritual Healing Among Missouri Male Combat Veterans Of Operation Iraqi Freedom: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Rebekah Mills

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of moral injury and spiritual well-being among male Operation Iraqi Freedom combat veterans ages 35 to 55 in Missouri. The theory guiding this study was Park’s Meaning-Making Model, with moral injury theory providing conceptual context for understanding morally injurious experiences. The questions guiding the study are: How do male combat veterans between the ages of 35 to 55 of Operation Iraqi Freedom describe their lived experiences of moral injury and spiritual well being? How do the veterans understand the relationship between morally injurious experiences and their spiritual well-being? …

Flexible Concurrent Training In Remote Settings, Christopher Bonilla

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a trainee-driven flexible concurrent training program to a traditional fixed concurrent training program over 16 weeks of remote training in recreationally trained individuals. Participants were randomized into a flexible group that selected workouts based on daily perceived readiness or a control group that followed a fixed training schedule. The primary outcome was a total fitness score derived from a three-repetition maximum deadlift, a two-minute push-up test, and a two-mile run, assessed every four weeks. A secondary analysis used multilevel modeling to examine whether self-reported sleep duration predicted perceived readiness …

Exploring The Leadership Experiences Of Black Males At Four-Year Public Universities: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study, Demario Levon Preston

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the school leadership experiences for Black male students at four-year public universities. At this stage in the research, leadership experiences were defined as the lived experiences of Black male students in universities' leadership roles, including the barriers they encountered and the strategies they employed to navigate these challenges. The theory guiding this study was Astin's (1984) theory of involvement, which posits that student engagement influences academic success and leadership development. The central research question asked: What are the lived experiences of Black males in four-year public universities who engage in …

Secondary Traumatic Stress: Lived Experiences Of Urban Educators, Stephanie R. Booker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and interpret the lived experiences of urban educators who experienced secondary traumatic stress resulting from exposure to the traumatic events of their students. Teachers in urban school settings serve students with high exposure to poverty, violence, and trauma, and these shared experiences often result in the urban educator experiencing secondary traumatic stress (STS). The theory guiding this study was Hans Selye's Stress Theory. Data were collected through interviews with ten secondary urban educators from five states and eight cities with varying years of experience, grade levels, and racial and ethnic backgrounds. …

Where Containment Was Born: Greece And The First Battlefield Of The Cold War, Christos Vourtsas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation examines the origins, implementation, and consequences of United States intervention in Greece during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949), situating the conflict within the broader development of early Cold War strategy. It argues that American involvement in Greece represented the first fully realized application of containment policy and established precedents that shaped subsequent United States foreign interventions throughout the Cold War. The study begins by tracing the political and military fragmentation of Greece during the Axis occupation (1941-1944) and the subsequent breakdown of political reconciliation following the Varkiza Agreement in 1945. It demonstrates how the resurgence of political violence …

Arete In Education: A Phenomenology On Virtue Cultivation In Classical Christian Schools, Jeffrey D. Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of educational leaders in classical Christian schools with the cultivation of virtue as the primary purpose of education. The concept guiding this study is Aristotelian virtue ethics, from which spring virtue theory and positive organizational scholarship. The Aristotelian worldview drives the assertion among classical Christian educators that education is defined as the cultivation of virtue. The central research question for this study is “What are the lived experiences of classical Christian educational leaders in cultivating virtue in their students?” The study of classical Christian educational leaders’ views about …

Interpreting Workforce Readiness: Student Perceptions Of Academic–Industry Alignment Through A Cultural Historical Activity Theory Lens, Timothy Marshall Flohr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The gap between academic preparation and industry expectations in hospitality, tourism, and culinary education represents a persistent challenge for higher education programs and industry stakeholders alike. Despite growing attention to workforce readiness, relatively few studies have examined this gap from the student perspective using a validated, hospitality-specific measurement instrument. The purpose of this study is to examine undergraduate and graduate students' perceptions of academic–industry alignment and self-reported professional readiness within hospitality, tourism, and culinary programs at accredited colleges and universities in the United States. Grounded in Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), this study frames student perceptions as products of engagement …

Understanding Manifested And Generative Resilience In Bereaved Youth: A Scoping Review And Path Analysis, Kari Nicole Thomsen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Bereavement, the objective occurrence of losing someone significant through death, is a universal experience that can impart psychosocial and developmental consequences, but there is also evidence of resilience. The literature has conceptualized resilience in myriad ways, which has led to difficulty in defining this construct and concretely understanding what promotes it in bereaved youth. This dissertation, which is guided by the Multidimensional Taxonomy of Individual Resilience (MTIR; Miller-Graff, 2022), addressed these research gaps. In study 1, a scoping review identified 69 articles and synthesized their findings regarding resilience among bereaved youth. Results showed a general trend towards more strengths-based definitions …

An Investigation Of The Relationships Between Visual Perceptual Expertise For Music Notation, Dyslexia Risk, And Musical Experience: A Pilot Study, Janel Kathleen Long

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Musicians who are also dyslexic often report various challenges related to reading music notation. Researchers have identified perceptual expertise, as measured via visual fluency, as one of the key predictors of musical sight-reading abilities. Yet, individuals who are dyslexic often perform worse on measures of visual fluency in the domains of words and faces when compared to non-dyslexic individuals. Consequently, the primary purpose of this pilot study was to explore potential relationships between perceptual expertise for music notation, musical experience, and traits of dyslexia.  To that end, this pilot study was a repeated measure within-subjects design with continuous covariates. The …

Instructional Slides From Molten Salt Electrochemistry Symposium (Moses) 2026, Devin Rappleye, Carlos Mejia, Alex Peroff

Faculty Publications

This instructional slide set was developed for the 2026 Molten Salt Electrochemistry Symposium (MoSES) as an introduction and review of fundamental electrochemical concepts and methods used in molten salt systems. The material is intended for students, researchers, and practitioners seeking to better understand and interpret electrochemical measurements in high-temperature molten salts.

Topics include electrochemical thermodynamics, kinetics, mass transfer, electrode potentials, cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry, chronoamperometry, square-wave voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and common approaches for analyzing electrochemical data. Emphasis is placed on building physical intuition, understanding underlying assumptions, recognizing common experimental artifacts, and connecting electrochemical signals to real chemical and transport …

"Distributed Voice" During Deliberations: What Real Juries Tell Us, Mary R. Rose, Shari S. Diamond

DePaul Law Review

Juries are supposed to represent the views of their community,

but securing representative bodies will not meet fair cross-section

aims if deliberations fail to actually produce contributions from a

wide variety of voices. This Essay develops the concept of

“distributed voice,” or the ability of a jury to spread out talk across

more jurors. Analyses examine what factors predict a jury’s

likelihood of producing more egalitarian distributions of speaking

turns and of words spoken. Data from actual deliberations of fifty

civil juries demonstrate that talk patterns on juries are more widely

distributed when there is a greater diversity of views …

Legal Analysis After The Behavioral Revolution, Russell Korobkin, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

DePaul Law Review

The incorporation of behavioral economics and cognitive

psychology has profoundly challenged traditional legal

scholarship’s understanding of human decision making. This Article

explores how insights from the behavioral sciences have

fundamentally recast the academy's approach to legal doctrine in

the private law subjects that have long been the foundation of legal

training. By demonstrating systematic cognitive biases and

heuristics that deviate from rational choice theory, behavioral

research has upended the rational choice assumption that anchored

consequentialist analysis of law and left in its wake a more

contingent and context-dependent, and thus a fragmented,

normative landscape.

Procedural Justice And Body Worn Cameras, Yael Granot

DePaul Law Review

The extensive and rapid roll out of body cameras across

American police forces in the past decades was intended to improve

issues of accountability and transparency in policing. Trust and

perceptions of fairness of police are shaped, in large part, by how

one is treated by officers and departments—the fundamental

interpersonal work of procedural justice. This Article reviews

findings on public and police support for body cameras, as well as

research connecting body cameras to perceptions of procedural

justice. It then elaborates on past research with a vignette

experiment, aimed at isolating the unique and interactive effects of

just policies, …

What We Should Know About The Reliability Of Empirical Legal Studies, Kathryn Zeiler

DePaul Law Review

The findings of replication studies conducted in the early 2010s

led many to declare that science was in the midst of a “replication

crisis.” Since then, a growing number of reforms have been

proposed and tested. The field of empirical legal studies seems

behind other fields such as psychology, economics, political science,

medicine, biology, and others that have taken significant steps

toward uncovering the general reliability of the field’s empirical

work, investigating the causes of observed unreliability, and

instituting and testing the effects of various reforms. The purpose of

this Article is to summarize what we know about the reliability …

Reconstructing Reasonableness With Social Science, Kevin Tobia

DePaul Law Review

The social science of legal decision making often emphasizes

judgment bias. That empirical project reflects the legacy of legal

realism and grows in the shadow of law and economics, both of

which embody skepticism about legal concepts. These theoretical

influences encourage empiricists to “deconstruct” legal concepts by

identifying illicit, improper, or pernicious influences on judgment.

For example, empiricists demonstrate hindsight bias in judgments

of reasonableness and recommend interventions to remove that

bias. Identifying legal biases, their sources and remedies are

critically important. But these are not the only social scientific

questions one could ask of legal concepts. This Essay poses …