Digital Commons Network^™

Globalization, Culture, And Online Learning: An Exploration Of The Sociocultural Perspectives Of Indian Students Participating In U.S.-Based Online Courses, Mitsue S. Shiokawa

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This study correlates the impacts of globalization on higher education and the generation of online learning programs offered to global audiences. Concomitantly, it examines the sociocultural experiences of international students participating in United States based online courses. Of specific interest is the socialized culture of learning students from India bring with them into an online learning course, and how that socialized culture is negotiated through strategies of acculturation alongside the student’s perceived American culture of learning. The overarching focus of the study explores the advent of cybercultures within online learning course environments as a potential result of the intermingling of …

Science In The School Library Inquiry Model (Sslim): A Mixed-Methods Case Study Of The Implementation Of A Science And Information Inquiry Curriculum In An Elementary Library, Bree L. Ruzzi

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Data indicate that students in the U.S. may start school with lower levels of science understanding and that these levels may consistently remain lower throughout their public-school career. With deficits in science achievement starting in the earliest years of students’ education, benefits may be gained by exploring alternate resources and alternative environments that can support young student’s science education and achievement. A largely unexplored area for science instruction is in the school library. This dissertation, a mixed-methods, case study, examined the creation and implementation of a novel information and science inquiry model and curriculum, SSLIM. This curriculum was created and …

Association Between Fiscal Effort Above Required Local Effort And Accreditation In Virginia Schools, Daniel C. Soderholm

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This study expands on previous research regarding the adequacy of educational funding in order to reach a desired academic outcome. Specifically, this study examines Virginia policies of Standards of Quality and Standards of Accreditation to see if local fiscal effort above the minimum required by Virginia has an association to the desired minimum academic outcome of school accreditation.

The research in this study shows that when using a linear regression analysis or an ANCOVA there is no relationship between effort above Required Local Effort (RLE) and the percentage of students attending an accredited school. However, when looking at the non-linear …

A Dual Nanostructured Approach To Sers Amenable To Large-Scale Production, Kory Brian Castro

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

A SERS device was made using a dual-nanostructured surface comprised of silver nanoparticle and silver nanowires. The ability of each nanostructure to produce a uniform surface was characterized and the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) response of the resulting surfaces were examined using the reporter molecule 4-aminothiolphenol (ATP) and a 638 nm excitation laser.

A synthetic method was developed to produce silver nanowires with lengths of ~20 μm and diameters of ~100 nm with a narrow size distribution. The method utilized a simple, one-pot synthesis that is amenable to large-scale production. A selective precipitation method was used to the isolate the …

Comparing Higher Order Value Differences By Religious And Spiritual Association And Implications For Counseling: An Exploratory Study, Gregory C. Lemich

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The spiritual but not religious (SBNR) population in the U.S. has grown into a significant minority demographic (27%; Lipka & Gecewicz, 2017). Despite this emergence, scant literature has addressed this population and how it differs in values from others, specifically, how SBNR groups differ from those who identify as spiritual and religious (SAR), religious but not spiritual (RBNS), and not spiritual or religious (NSOR). To help this deficiency, this dissertation study explored the intersection of spirituality, religiosity, spiritual and religious categories (SRC; i.e. SAR, SBNR, RBNS, NSOR), and the theory of basic human values (Schwartz, 1992, 1994; Schwartz et al., …

Expanding The Usage Of Web Archives By Recommending Archived Webpages Using Only The Uri, Lulwah M. Alkwai

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Web archives are a window to view past versions of webpages. When a user requests a webpage on the live Web, such as http://tripadvisor.com/where_to_t ravel/, the webpage may not be found, which results in an HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 404 response. The user then may search for the webpage in a Web archive, such as the Internet Archive. Unfortunately, if this page had never been archived, the user will not be able to view the page, nor will the user gain any information on other webpages that have similar content in the archive, such as the archived webpage http://classy-travel.net. Similarly, …

Principal Influence On Collective Efficacy: A Single Case Study Looking At Principal Efficacy Influence On An Elementary School Through The Perspective Of Teachers, Jennifer Anne Banks

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This study explored ways in which self-efficacy beliefs and actions of a principal contributed to the shaping of school’s collective efficacy through teachers’ perceptions. A general qualitative methods approach was used. The study featured a single embedded case design highlighting one high-poverty school achieving state accreditation standards for student proficiency levels in English and math. The study population consisted of 14 elementary school teachers in a district in a state in the mid-Atlantic region. Data were collected through a survey, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group to answer the following research questions: (1) What experiences/elements were influential in developing the …

Building Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy (Ese): How Undergraduate Students Make Meaning Of Their Entrepreneurial Experiences, Amy Kurfist

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative, interview-based research study explores how undergraduate students at a single research university make meaning of their experiences in curricular and co-curricular university entrepreneurship programming. The study focuses on the developmental relationship between entrepreneurship education and feelings of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) and how feelings of ESE relate to future entrepreneurial intentions. I explore three of Bandura’s (1977) predictors of self-efficacy: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, and social persuasion interwoven with the six dimensions of ESE developed by De Noble, Jung, and Ehrlich (1999) to determine how undergraduate students make meaning of their entrepreneurial experiences.

Through the analysis of data collected …

Sponge Community Biocomplexity, Competition, And Functional Significance In Hard-Bottom Habitats Of The Florida Keys, Fl (Usa), Marla Maxine Valentine

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Sponges can have powerful effects on ecosystem processes in shallow, tropical marine ecosystems and are an integral component of the bentho-pelagic cycle of nutrients, via filtering of dissolved and particulate organic matter from the water column. The diversity of marine communities is thought to play a determining role in intensity of ecosystem processes; thus the loss of taxa alters community function and by extension ecosystem processes. Coastal sponge populations worldwide are increasingly exposed to declining water quality that in several regions has resulted in mass sponge mortalities and reduced sponge diversity. In the Florida Keys (Florida, USA), for example, frequent …

Political Culture And Policy: The Impact Of Culture And Values On School Choice Legislation, Heather Leigh Neal

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Policy actors unite political culture, power, and values to make substantial decisions which are often subjective in nature. Politics and policy are about collective decisions, which rely on the arrangement of a group of people. As values can influence policy actors in their attempt to solve problems, it is important for policymakers to establish a balance among the most essential values. A qualitative case study approach was used to investigate how, and what ways, political culture influenced how state stakeholders interpreted or implemented policy. Power and values were explored as both can connect for the implementation of policy. If values, …

Study Of The Effects Of Silver Ions And Silver Nanoparticles On Embryonic Development, Martha Sharisha Johnson

Biomedical Sciences Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the study of the toxicity of metal nanoparticles (NPs) and their ions on the development of zebrafish embryos, aiming to understand unique biological effects of NPs and ions, and design new in vivo assays to characterize the toxicity of these metal NPs and metal ions. Currently, the underlying molecular mechanisms of biological effects of nanomaterials are partially understood. Some studies assume that the toxic effects of NPs can be attributed to the release of their ions. We investigate the effects of silver NPs (Ag NPs) and silver ions (Ag+ ions) on the embryonic development of zebrafish …

Measuring And Modeling Bare Desert Wind Erosion From Steppe Grassland Of Northern China As Affected By Soil Moisture And Climate, Nicholas Morgan Potter

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Soil erosion by wind has been found to be negatively related to soil water content, as evidenced by that for a given area, such a soil erosion can be much less in a wet than a dry year. However, few studies have examined the functional relationship between wind erosion and soil moisture, primarily due to lack of field measured data. The objectives of this study were to: 1) measure wind erosion in field using a portable wind tunnel devised and made by the author; 2) use the measured data to calibrate/validate a wind erosion model previously developed by the author; …

A Utility Framework For Selecting Immersive Interactive Capability And Technology For Virtual Laboratories, Shuo Ren

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

There has been an increase in the use of virtual reality (VR) technology in the education community since VR is emerging as a potent educational tool that offers students with a rich source of educational material and makes learning exciting and interactive. With a rise of popularity and market expansion in VR technology in the past few years, a variety of consumer VR electronics have boosted educators and researchers’ interest in using these devices for practicing engineering and science laboratory experiments. However, little is known about how such devices may be well-suited for active learning in a laboratory environment. This …

Examining The Relationship Between Expectancy-Value Motivation, Barriers, And Physical Activity Engagement Among Adults With Visual Impairments, Tiffany Nicole Kirk

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Despite the documented benefits associated with physical activity, adults with visual impairments tend to participate in insufficient physical activity for health promotion. Current literature suggests that barriers to physical activity, or factors that constrain participation in physical activity, may inform the physical activity participation of adults with visual impairments. The purpose of the first study was to develop and validate a brief scale designed to measure the magnitude of barriers to physical activity for use among adults with visual impairments. Expectancy-value theory may offer insight into physical activity by examining adults with visual impairments’ expectancy beliefs and subjective task values …

Sugartown, Emma Moore

English Theses & Dissertations

Ren Baggarly, the seventeen year old foster daughter of a local minister and his wife, goes missing the day of her boyfriend’s high school graduation. Sugartown is an examination of a small, strange, sometimes spiteful Southern town and its demons. It is told through the eyes of the three women who are inadvertently charged with piecing together the story Ren left behind.

Design And Manufacture Of An Inertial Cascade Impactor For Industrial Hygiene Purposes, Hector Joel Gortaire

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Inertial cascade impactors are devices commonly used for industrial hygiene and pharmaceutical studies. Their main purpose is to separate particulate matter suspended in aerosols according to their sizes, which can vary from over 10 µm to 0.5 µm. Their versatility and ease of operation make them suitable for on-site sampling; however, designing them requires a careful consideration of the different geometric parameters that characterize them.

In this thesis, a 5-stage inertial cascade impactor was designed, modelled, constructed, and tested. The main design parameter was the volumetric flow rate, 40 l/min, which was provided by a vacuum pump. By continuous iterations, …

Uncovering Hegemony In Higher Education: A Critical Appraisal Of The Use Of “Institutional Habitus” In Empirical Scholarship, Derria Byrd

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

This article critically examines the empirical scholarship that applies institutional habitus, a conceptual extension of Bourdieu’s theory of practice, to investigations of higher education. Given Bourdieu’s extensive scholarly focus on higher education as well as the field’s undertheorization of its own exclusionary history, application of institutional habitus to higher education is particularly apt. This critical appraisal finds that the reviewed scholarship corroborates the concept’s value by drawing attention to the role of institutional habitus in differentially privileging and rewarding students based on their possession of institutionally legitimized knowledge, values, and behaviors. Nevertheless, this review reveals a series of missed opportunities, …

Smart Solutions To Control Air Pollution In Dubai - Al Qouz Area, Anwar Alshamsi, Lateefa Almarzooqi

Theses

Air pollution is a major concern, both in industrial and developing countries. Measuring and monitoring air pollution is mandatory to have a smart and clean environment. By the recent developed technology such as Internet of Things (IoT), levels of poisonous gases (GHG) are measured and controlled, which will help in having healthier atmosphere and help people whose life are endangered from living near polluted areas. The project proposes to use smart sensors to sense and measure the percentage of polluted gases like CO, CO2, SO2 and NO2. Since Dubai aims to achieve the best results of having the least effect …

Creating A Safer Running Experience: Reducing Runner And Vehicular Traffic Incidents, Chad A. Cooper

Theses

A routine run can turn into a final run in a matter of seconds. Runners and drivers are exposed to a variety of distractions that hinder their ability to safely react to potential incidents. With the help of Augmented Reality and wearable technology, runners can help reduce traffic related incidents by staying focused on the road and their surroundings. This project looks to investigate how AR technology can be leveraged to offer the safest run without diminishing the running user-experience.

Maximum Iv Tpa Dose For Obese Patients Is Associated With Greater Likelihood Of Hemorrhagic Conversion And Worse Functional Outcome At Discharge, Amy Starosciak, Felipe De Los Rios La Rosa

All Publications

No abstract provided.

Improving Developer Profiling And Ranking To Enhance Bug Report Assignment, Andrew Distasi

Theses

Bug assignment plays a critical role in the bug fixing process. However, bug assignment can be a burden for projects receiving a large number of bug reports. If a bug is assigned to a developer who lacks sufficient expertise to appropriately address it, the software project can be adversely impacted in terms of quality, developer hours, and aggregate cost. An automated strategy that provides a list of developers ranked by suitability based on their development history and the development history of the project can help teams more quickly and more accurately identify the appropriate developer for a bug report, potentially …

Re-Imagining Downtown Rochester Creation Of An Equitable Urban Master Plan, Douglas Templeton

Theses

Downtown Rochester, New York has seen a renewed interest in the past decade. However, most of that interest and reinvestment has occurred within the eastern half of the downtown area. The western half, which is roughly bordered by the Genesee River to the east and Interstate 490 and the Inner Loop to the west, has only been lightly touched by developers. Most new building projects tend to center around creating residential apartments, many of which have price points that may exclude many populations in Rochester.

Additionally, street networks and connections tend to reinforce usage of private automobiles and dissuade the …

Tva: A Requirements Driven, Machine-Learning Approach For Addressing Tactic Volatility In Self-Adaptive Systems, Jeffrey Palmerino

Theses

From self-driving cars to self-adaptive websites, the world is increasingly becoming more reliant on autonomous systems. Similar to many other domains, the system's behavior is often determined by its requirements. For example, a self-adaptive web service is likely to have some maximum value that response time should not surpass. To maintain this requirement, the system uses tactics, which may include activating additional computing resources. In real-world environments, tactics will frequently experience volatility, known as tactic volatility. This can include unstable time required to execute the tactic or frequent fluctuations in the cost to execute the tactic. Unfortunately, current self-adaptive approaches …

Atomistic Simulation For Transition Metal Dichalcogenides Using Nemo5 And Medea-Vasp, Udita Kapoor

Theses

This thesis is an attempt to understand and delve into the realm of atomistic simulations, using it to understand a novel set of materials called Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs). We use NEMO5 and MedeA-VASP to calibrate and characterize a few selected TMDs and to validate our understanding of atomistic modeling we simulated a tunnel field-effect transistor with monolayer TMD as a channel using NEMO5. TFETs offer great advantages over MOSFET (metal oxide field-effect devices) like, sub-60 mV/dec sub-threshold swing, minimal leakage current, high switching speed, and small power requirements. Low drive current has prevented TFETs from becoming a mainstream device …

Improving Energy Efficiency Performance Of Existing Residential Building In Northern China, Zhengyu Kang

Theses

China has replaced the U.S. as the world’s largest consumer of energy. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD)’s latest data shows that China’s building sector accounts for around one-third of its final energy consumption (MOHURD, 2016). Particularly in northern China, the cold climate exerts pressure on its central heating system, which is responsible for a total energy consumption of about four hundred million tons of standard coal equivalent (TCE) (National Development and Reform Commission, 2017). Due to the growing population, economic development, and increasing standards of living, China expects that building energy use will escalate in the coming …

Performance And Durability Of High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells Operated On Propane Reformate, Yang Yue

Theses

As supplies of petroleum and natural gas are constrained in many regions, and the emissions associated with fossil fuel combustion appear to be strongly connected to climate change, the development of renewable energy systems has become one of the urgent research directions. Fuel cells, with extremely low CO2 emissions, high energy density, efficiency and reliability, are now being considered as one of the most important alternatives to fossil fuel-based energy systems. In the field of new power sources for automotive, portable and residential applications, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have gained more attention in the last decade due to …

Segmentation And Classification Of Multimodal Imagery, Sankaranarayanan Piramanayagam

Theses

Segmentation and classification are two important computer vision tasks that transform input data into a compact representation that allow fast and efficient analysis. Several challenges exist in generating accurate segmentation or classification results. In a video, for example, objects often change the appearance and are partially occluded, making it difficult to delineate the object from its surroundings. This thesis proposes video segmentation and aerial image classification algorithms to address some of the problems and provide accurate results.

We developed a gradient driven three-dimensional segmentation technique that partitions a video into spatiotemporal objects. The algorithm utilizes the local gradient computed at …

Utilizing Mobile Technology To Improve Accessibility For Museum Visitors With Autism, Felicia Dianne Swartzenberg

Theses

What if museums could provide an app that makes interaction easier for visitors with autism and allows them to enjoy the museum any day of the week like their neurotypical counterparts? This research discusses how museums can utilize downloadable apps for personal devices to provide easily accessible resources for children on the autism spectrum and their families to use so they can have a more inclusive and sensory-friendly museum experience. To determine the feasibility of this, I worked in collaboration with an app developer, Peter Laurin, to create a prototype-app called SenseEase: Strong Museum for the Reading Adventure Land exhibit …

The Role Of 3d Printed Facsimiles In Fulfilling Museum Visitors’ Desire To Touch, Elizabeth Carr

Theses

By nature, humans have a desire to touch the things they encounter in daily life. Museums are no exception to this desire, even though museum objects are rarely available for visitor handling. This thesis explores the question: “can accurate 3D printed facsimiles help fulfill the desire of visitors to touch museum objects?” For this project and case study, I selected, and 3D scanned a museum object, which was then recreated via 3D printing. The reproduction was then put on display alongside the original object, and a visitor study was conducted to see if interacting with the facsimile while seeing the …

Effects Of Ink, Substrate, And Target Line Width On The Quality Of Lines Printed Using A Dmp 3000 Inkjet Printer, Mihir R. Choudhari

Theses

This thesis is concerned with the image quality analysis of inkjet lines printed on substrates. ISO 24790 compliant lines are designed and printed on a substrate with a drop-on-demand inkjet printer. This study analyzes three print quality attributes of line: width, blurriness, and raggedness.

The research used cyan, magnetic and standard inks to print the same design on various substrates having differences in gloss and texture. The chosen inks were measured using a rheometer to determine a viscosity range. The effects of substrate structural parameters, such as texture, finishing, weight, and ink type on line quality, are discussed. The printed …