Digital Commons Network^™

Holding Space: The Labor Of Being The Safe Instructor, Alexis M. Balmer

Feminist Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

The Dynamics Of Educational Change: A Complex Systems Perspective, Preethi Nanjundan, Lijo Thomas, Abith K. Sunil

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

The perception of university teachers toward educational reforms plays an important role in determining the success of changes introduced in the education sector. This study focuses on teachers’ attitudes toward change, their emotional responses, and their overall views on educational reforms. Across the world, many educational reforms have failed to achieve their expected outcomes in improving teaching practices and student learning. As education systems are highly complex, the approach toward implementing reforms has also changed over time. Some reforms are introduced gradually, while others involve major innovations within the system. Complexity theory provides useful insights and tools that help educators …

Transfer Of Learning From Simulation To Clinical Practice: Slp Graduate Student Experiences In Medical Externships, Karen D. Villanueva, Kerry C. Mandulak, Amanda Stead, Patrick Walden

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

The purpose of this project was to explore the impact of participation in simulation-based learning (SBL) with standardized patients on graduate speech-language pathology students’ clinical experiences in healthcare externships. This study aims to understand how students perceive the impact of prior SBL participation during clinical practice and how this perceived impact changes over time. Students chose to participate in SBL experiences centered on conducting a clinical swallow evaluation (CSE) with adult standardized patients prior to completing full-time medical externship placements. During their externships, students participated in two structured interviews and completed three anonymous critical incident technique (CIT) questionnaires over eleven …

Using The Grand Challenges For Sotl To Guide, Connect, And Extend Scholarship In Communication Sciences And Disorders, Jennifer C. Friberg-Fort

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

The International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) recently identified five Grand Challenges for SoTL, offering a shared framework for understanding and advancing inquiry into teaching and learning across higher education. This paper argues that these Grand Challenges provide a productive cross-disciplinary framework for communication sciences and disorders (CSD), where SoTL work is often locally grounded and dispersed across programs, institutions, and professional contexts. Drawing on existing CSD SoTL literature, the paper illustrates how each Grand Challenge can be used to frame, interpret, and extend disciplinary inquiry. These examples are intended to be illustrative rather than exhaustive, …

The Effect Of Weight Training With Blood Flow Restriction On Muscle Strength Development In Mma, Tomáš Kozák, Marek Kokinda, Pavel Ružbarský

Baltic Journal of Health and Physical Activity

Background: This study aimed to elucidate the effect of weight training with blood flow restriction (BFR) on explosive power and isokinetic strength in combat athletes. Materials and methods: The sample included 12 male MMA fighters divided into a control (19.50±0.50 years) and an experimental (18.00±1.00 years) group. Participants trained twice weekly for 8 weeks, with BFR in the experimental group. Explosive power was assessed using following tests by Optogait: countermovement push-up, kneeling countermovement push-up and kneeling squat push-up for upper limbs and countermovement jump, countermovement jump with free arms and squat jump for lower limbs. Isokinetic strength was measured by …

An Intelligent Packaging Materials Management And Optimisation For The Production Process, A. Abdulkareem, C. O. Ijagbemi, B. Kareem

The Journal of Engineering Research

An intelligent model was formulated to aid in the packaging materials management and optimisation for the production process. This was done after generating a 2D drawing using AutoCAD software for each of the popular packaging material shapes utilised in the production system. In modelling, uniform (regular) and non-uniform (irregular) packaging containers were considered in the determination of forces, areas, volumes, weights, densities, among other relevant parameters. Three packaging materials: ceramic glass, plastic and laminated cardboard containing processed water and other beverages in 75 cl, 50 cl, 33 cl and 1 litre respectively were considered during model testing. Results showed that …

Efficient Fault Detection In Nonlinear Industrial Processes: A Reduced Kernel Pca-Based Spectral Clustering Approach, Khadija Attouri, Majdi Mansouri, Abdelmalek Kouadri

The Journal of Engineering Research

Kernel Principal Component Analysis (KPCA) is a powerful tool for nonlinear process monitoring, yet its quadratic computational complexity (O( N² )) and high memory demands limit its applicability to large-scale industrial systems. This paper proposes a novel Reduced Kernel Principal Component Analysis based on Spectral Clustering (RKPCA_SpC) paradigm to efficiently address these limitations. For comprehensive comparison and to demonstrate the general efficacy of data reduction, an RKPCA_Kmeans variant is also developed and evaluated. The proposed and comparative methods are rigorously assessed through extensive case studies on two complex industrial processes: the Tennessee Eastman Process (TEP) …

Perceptions Of Legitimacy In Three Forms Of Probation Supervision For People With Serious Mental Illness, Sophia Sarantakos, Emily Claypool

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"In the context of criminal-legal community supervision, standard and specialized probation officers are often tasked with coordinating services for adults diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) on their caseloads. The coordination of services varies across different programs including traditional probation, specialty probation, and mental health court. Given the proliferation of programs focused on mental health in the criminal-legal system, the perspectives of front-line workers or street-level bureaucrats in criminal-legal agencies are a rich source of information about what is happening on the ground and could provide insights into the potential translational barriers of policy to practice. A deeper examination of …

From Acrimony To Forgiveness: How Adolescents Make Sense Of Childhood Maltreatment, Katherine Irwin

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"This paper examines 16 adolescents’ narratives about the abuse they experienced during childhood. To date, most research examining child abuse (CA) survivorship and recovery has been conducted with adults who look back on their early experiences. Consequently, this study fills gaps in our knowledge by offering a youth-centered view of survivors’ efforts to cope with CA. The data come from a 12-year qualitative study of a group counseling program for high school students in Hawaiʻi. The findings revealed that a minority (n = 2) of the teens had negative views of their lives and futures, while the majority (n = …

A Content Analysis Of The Sutherland Address, 2001-22: A Qualitative Exploration, Phillip Shon

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Previous indicators of scholarly influence have been primarily quantitative, measuring a scholar’s influence through citation counts. This body of literature has overlooked the reflections of distinguished scholars, such as the recipients of the Sutherland Award, in the discipline as a form of scholarly influence. The current paper examines the Sutherland Address from 2001 to 2022. The key findings indicate that the majority of Sutherland Addresses reproduced existing sociological canons, while a minority of Sutherland Award winners explicitly rejected Sutherland’s sociological assumptions and their influence on criminology. Such findings suggest that Sutherland exerts a hidden influence on the recipients of the …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Gender Inequality In Southeast Missouri Law Enforcement Agencies, Madeline Marie Whistler, Christopher Bradley, H. Hamner Hill

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Does gender inequality impact the careers of female law enforcement officers in the Southeast Missouri region? Using a qualitative single instrumental case study, seven cis-gendered female law enforcement officers who were employed at local law enforcement agencies within the Southeast Missouri region were interviewed to investigate the central research question. Four themes emerged from the data that illustrated their experiences: sexual exploitation and harassment, a lack of work-life balance, the presence of gender stereotypes, and patriarchal hierarchy and male dominance in the workplace. The findings suggest that the experiences of female law enforcement officers are heavily impacted by the behavior …

A Plea For Open Access To Qualitative Criminology: With A Python Script For Anonymizing Data And Illustrative Analysis Of Error Rates, Scott Jaques, Andrew Wheeler

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Qualitative researchers are expected, sometimes required, to publish their data open access (OA). This is for the sake of science, impact, and social justice. Yet, understandably, qualitative criminologists are worried about what this means for their workload and their ability to protect subjects’ confidentiality. To be solutions-oriented, we developed an open-source Python script for anonymizing qualitative data. It uses named-entity recognition and fuzzy-rule based merging to identify and replace personally identifiable information (PII) with unique pseudonyms. This tool doesn’t eliminate the need for manual work, but it reduces the cost and associated risk. In this article, we describe and explain …

The Kashmir Conflict After The Abrogation Of Articles 370 And 35a Of The Indian Constitution: Geopolitical Dynamics And Human Security Implications, Rizwan Ali

Dissertations and Theses

The abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution on August 5, 2019, revoked the special autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) under the Indian administration. It further bifurcated it into two Union Territories under central Indian control. The move came amid a severe security lockdown and communication blackout that lasted for months. It was followed by instrumental legal, social, and economic developments that directly affected the area’s disputed status and the human rights of its residents. This research examines the geopolitical and human security implications of the abrogation and subsequent developments through a qualitative, analytical design, integrating Edward …

Exploring Moral Distress In Pediatric Residents: Impact Of Structured Debriefing And Insights From Qualitative Interviews, Aashish Shah, Sarah Fleishaker, Danielle Key, Linda Tewksbury, Ami Shah, Kelley Groves

Journal of Wellness

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Chokepoints: American Power In The Age Of Economic Warfare, Jared Massie

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Edward Fishman

Reviewed by: Major Jared Massie

Economic tools are reshaping global power in ways military professionals cannot ignore. From sanctions to tech controls, modern statecraft is increasingly defined by financial and industrial leverage.

©2026 Jared Massie

Rethinking Interpreter Training: The Role Of Microlearning In Boosting Knowledge Retention, Hicham Boughaba

Al-Kīmiyā

This study examines the effectiveness of microlearning interventions in enhancing knowledge retention and interpreting performance among trainee interpreters. A quasi-experimental design was employed, with interpreting students divided into two groups: an experimental group receiving targeted microlearning modules on specialized terminology and a control group relying on general knowledge only. Their performance was evaluated according to four criteria: accuracy, clarity and fluency, terminology usage, and cultural and contextual understanding. Results indicate that participants who were exposed to microlearning modules achieved significantly higher scores across all evaluation criteria, with notable gains in accuracy and terminology usage. These findings suggest that microlearning constitutes …

Discursive Analysis Of Authoritarian Islamist Populism: The Case Of The Justice And Development Party (Morocco), Youssef Aboudi

Al-Kīmiyā

This article analyzes the linguistic modalities constitutive of political populism, with particular attention to its contemporary authoritarian-leaning manifestations. Conceived as a discursive construction or a style of communication (Taguieff, 1997), populist discourse is organized around a charismatic figure who claims a direct relationship with an idealized people, set in opposition to an elite deemed illegitimate and inherently malevolent (Breton, 2009). The study advances the hypothesis that the staging of charismatic power, grounded primarily in conspiratorial logics that generate an atmosphere of insecurity and fear (Wodak, 2015), contributes to reinforcing mechanisms of symbolic and political domination while inhibiting critical reflexivity (Weber, …

Queer, Hybrid Participatory Design: Relational Practices And Norms For Coalition Building With Rural, Lgbtq+ Communities, Luettamae Lawrence, Maureen Boyle, Chasity Mayo, Catherine A. Rushworth, Moira Anderson, Dorothy Wallis, Jayme Walters

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper examines the first year of collaboration between the Bear River Region LGBTQ+ Community Coalition and queer residents in rural northern Utah, United States, using a hybrid participatory design (PD) approach. Using Yep’s queer relationality theory, we examine how hybrid spaces were designed and iteratively adapted to support inclusion, care, and collective agency among LGBTQ+ community members. Drawing on Community Coalition Action Theory and queer PD, we analyze four cases from May 2024 to June 2025 including workshops and regular meetings to explore how relational practices evolved across different formats and phases of coalition development. In this paper, we …

Balancing Our Capacity To Serve: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Black Women Navigating Personal, Professional, And Community Leadership Roles, Shemeka K. Brathwaite

Student Theses

This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of Black women community leaders as they navigate a balance between their professional, personal, and community leadership roles. The research design uses the theoretical frameworks of Black Feminist Intersectionality and Role Theory, specifically addressing the cultural burdens imposed by the Strong Black Woman archetype, which adds additional role strain. The study began with a questionnaire completed by 54 Black women community leaders, followed by 20 in-depth, semi-structured interviews selected from this pool. The study’s key findings are illustrated in a Black Women’s Sustainable Community Leadership Framework. Black women community leaders exude high self-efficacy, …

Understanding The Relationship Between Community Violence Exposure, Self-Compassion, And Ptsd In Chicago, Hadeel Hasan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Think-Pair-Share Strategy In Performance The Offensive Skills (Serving And Setting) In Volleyball, Najlaa Abbas Al-Zuhairi, Nihad Mohammed Alwan, Liza Rustum Yaqoob, Missaa Nadem, Yousra Juma Al-Sinani

Modern Sport

The primary objective of this study was to identify the effectiveness of the Think–Pair–Share strategy in volleyball, particularly with regard to the two skills under investigation. The study was conducted on a sample of female students from the College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences for Women, University of Baghdad. Concerning the methodology, the researchers adopted an experimental approach. The research population consisted of 93 female students distributed across five sections, and the study sample comprised 40 students selected randomly. Of these, 20 students were assigned to the experimental group and 20 to the control group, representing 43% of the …

People Who Use Opioids’ Encounters With Criminal Justice Personnel: A Qualitative Analysis, Barbara J. Costello

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

There is little research in the U.S. on the interactions of people who use opioids (PWUO) with criminal justice personnel, from their perspective. This study reports on the experiences with police and criminal justice personnel of 27 men and women in treatment for substance use disorder. In-depth interviews revealed that many respondents had had aversive experiences with the criminal justice system, including both physical and verbal abuse. Very few report receiving information on treatment from police. The evidence suggests that many police officers do not view opioid use disorder as a medical condition, and instead stigmatize PWUO. This study reveals …

Community - Volume 11

be Still

No abstract provided.

Stronger Together: Healing Through Joy, Archana Banda, Nupur S. Kumar

be Still

Volunteering as Family Pals at Boggy Creek throughout medical school has reinforced the profound impact of communities united under a shared vision of uplifting one another. This organization cultivates a supportive camp environment for children with chronic medical conditions. One of the most meaningful aspects of these weekend adventures has been meeting children with conditions such as Type 1 Diabetes and VACTERL courageously navigating the challenges of their diagnoses while discovering new passions through activities including woodcraft, air hockey, boating, fishing, and archery.

Many times these children are excluded from normal camp experiences due to their special needs such as …

(Re)Claiming Homeplace: Dance As Embodied Resistance & Healing For Health & Spatial Justice, Preeya G. Kannan

University Honors Theses

This thesis argues that dance functions as both an upstream public health intervention and a form of radical spatial resistance; creating healing, agency, and belonging among historically marginalized communities. Drawing on bell hooks' concept of homeplace, Jasbir Puar's assemblage theory, Nancy Krieger's eco-social theory, and Katherine McKittrick's Black geographies, I position the body as both an ecological and political landscape shaped by histories of colonialism, racial capitalism, displacement, and resilience.

Through this community-based participatory research study, Homeplace, I explore dance as a form of social prescription that centers liberation rather than pathology. Movement is often reduced in public health discourse …

Increasing Fifth-Grade Students’ Motivation To Read Through The Use Of Thematic Units, Irina Anatolyevna Belikova Erickson

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Elementary students’ motivation to read decreases as they advance to upper elementary grades. Reading motivation impacts students’ reading achievement. Only 31% of American fourth-grade students demonstrated proficiency on NAEP, the nation’s report card, in 2024. A need for research-based instructional strategies exists, as teachers can directly affect students’ motivation to read with carefully selected interventions. This action research study examined thematic units as an instructional intervention. In their instructional implementation of thematic units, teachers relied on the constructs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness originated from the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2017). Satisfying the basic …

Perceptions Of Teachers In Inuit Nunangat On The Benefits Of Life-Promotional Activities On Inuit Youth To Reduce Suicide In Nunavut, Aramide Owoaje

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Exploring Workplace Wellness Programs From A Correctional Officer’S Perspective, Lolita Jeaneen Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Provocation In Philosophical Practice, Kathryn Elizabeth Cook, Sara Dorrego Carreira, Anca-Cornelia Tiurean

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

Challenging conventional notions of comfort and safety in philosophical practice, this article argues for the primacy of reason in the work to provoke and exercise thinking. Exercising thinking involves problematization and conceptualization of cherished ideas and attitudes. Consequently, philosophical consultations can be uncomfortable; rather than seeking to alleviate this discomfort, this article examines it directly. Assumptions that discomfort is harmful, consultation is dangerous, philosophers are therapists, or success is mandated are actively problematized. The authors appreciate the growth promoting role of discomfort, see the beauty of exercising the thinking capacity, and respect the thinking competence of all people. The authors …

The Experience Of Newly Formed Syrian Female-Headed Households Refugees In Egypt: Challenges And Opportunities, Wasim Dia

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the lived experience of Newly Formed Syrian Female-Headed Households in Egypt. It focuses on how the extended displacement reshapes gender roles, decision-making, and survival strategies. Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, extensive family separation, death, disappearance, and male migration have occurred, leading to a significant rise in female-headed Syrian refugee households. As a result, displacement has intensified women’s vulnerability, generating new responsibilities and limited spaces for agency, especially within restrictive legal and socio-economic environments.

Based on in-depth qualitative interviews conducted in 2023, this research explores how Syrian refugee women navigate everyday life in Egypt …