Digital Commons Network^™

The Politics Of Influencing: The Demand For Political Transparency In The Digital Age, Riley N. Chapman

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

The goal of this research is to examine the relationship between influencers, party affiliation, and the desire for political disclosure. A desire for political disclosure is the preference for social media influencers to convey their political opinions to their audience to achieve connectedness. To research this, I examined the social media use of Generation Z students, as well as the uses and gratifications of their social media use. Two hundred and sixty-five students completed a Qualtrics survey assessing these variables. Results demonstrated that Gen Z feels indifferent about knowing the political views of the influencers that they follow. However, Democratic …

The Influencer Behind The Adventure: How Social Media Influencers And Ai Affect Consumer Travel Intentions, Preferences, And Behavior, Anna A. Buie, Jee Young Chung

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

Social media influencers have become powerful figures in shaping consumer decision-making, particularly within the travel and tourism industry. Utilizing parasocial interaction theory, this study investigates how various aspects of influencers and content types affect consumer attitudes and behaviors. Especially, a 3 (travel content: family, romantic couple, or solo travel) × 2 (influencer type: real vs. AI) × 2 (content type: emotional vs. logical) between-subjects design was employed. The study examines how these factors influence perceived influencer expertise and trustworthiness, credibility, parasocial interaction, attitude and intention to visit a travel destination. The findings offer insight into which influencer characteristics most effectively …

Predicting Steroid Concern Through Tiktok Use And Self-Esteem, Adam Lorio, Brandon C. Bouchillon, Sisi Hu, Jennifer Mortensen

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study examined student perceptions of steroid use through a survey of 154 participants. While self-esteem did not directly predict steroid concerns, specific TikTok engagement patterns revealed complex relationships. Using TikTok to pass time correlated with viewing steroids as a public health issue, whereas surveillance-based use was associated with lower self-esteem. Using the platform to interact was positively related to self-esteem, highlighting how different modes of engagement can shape perceptions about individual and collective health.

Food Security In Mauritius, Luke Hubbard

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Located over 600 miles off the East coast of Madagascar, Mauritius is an island nation with a population of over 1.2 million people. In the summer of 2023, I had the opportunity to travel to Mauritius and conduct a representative food insecurity survey alongside other University of Arkansas and University of Mauritius students and professors. With more than 400 surveys in over 80 locations, we gathered data in every district on the primary island of Mauritius. The group used a survey based on the standard USDA question list and compiled the results to find that the population of Mauritius had …

Modularity Resilience, Claudia R. Aker

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Every year, millions of people are displaced from their homes due to catastrophic flooding. According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), floods caused 9.8 million displacements in 2023 alone. Climate change is a primary factor driving the increasing frequency and intensity of storms and flooding worldwide.

This year, heavy rainfall has submerged villages and towns, destroyed homes and livelihoods, and imposed growing hardships on affected communities across regions such as Afghanistan, East Africa, Brazil, and the United States. These events have been intensified by a combination of storm surges, tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and record levels …

May 2025 Library & Learning Newsletter, Minnesota State University, Mankato. Library & Learning Dean’S Office Communications Team

Library & Learning Newsletters

PDF version of the May 2025 (Volume 3, Issue 7) Library & Learning Newsletter.

Beyond The Flow: A Critical Examination Of Engagement And Learning Outcomes In Game-Based Learning Through Bibliometric And Manual Literature Analysis, Daniel Ray Singletary

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the role of flow in game‐based learning and compares the effects of continuous flow states with those produced by structured cognitive interruptions. The research combines a bibliometric analysis of 2,466 peer‐reviewed articles (2004–2024) with a manual review of 106 studies using a custom Flow‐Impact Analysis Framework (FIAF). This framework was developed specifically for the review and may assist future investigations into flow in game‐based learning. FIAF categorizes studies based on how they define flow, the instruments used for its measurement, and the links between flow and cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning outcomes.

Findings show that most research …

Rectifying The Tephrostratigraphic Record Of The Pacific Northwest, Casey J. Crawford

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (~17-14Ma) marks the last time that Earth’s atmospheric CO₂ concentrations were as high as modern levels, correlating to a peak of significant warming during an otherwise cooling trend through the Cenozoic. To understand how modern ecological systems may respond to CO₂ -induced climate change, paleontologists are studying how plant type and diversity changed with the rise and fall of CO₂ concentrations over the ~3Ma interval, and utilize intercalated tephras amenable to radioisotope geochronology to bracket fossiliferous horizons in time. The legacy model for tephrostratigraphy in the Pacific Northwest utilized Fe and Ca concentrations …

The Role Of Multiple Stakeholders In Pesticide Safety Policy Compliance: A Mixed-Methods Case Study Comparison In Idaho, Oregon, And Washington, Carolyn B. Griswold

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Farming communities across the United States (U.S.) face significant challenges with occupational safety and health (OSH) policy noncompliance, resulting in injury, sickness, and even death. Various stakeholders, including federal and state governments, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, and farm employees, play a role in enforcing and promoting OSH policy compliance. This dissertation investigates whether compliance with pesticide safety policies exists, identifies factors influencing compliance or noncompliance, and explores why farm management and Latinx farmworkers located in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, choose to adhere to—or disregard—public rules and private recommendations about pesticide safety. The findings reveal varying levels of pesticide safety compliance …

Exploring Factors That Increase Self-Efficacy In Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (Stem) In Elementary Student Populations, Gina Kwid

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores gender and racial-minority perceptions that enhance self-efficacy in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) among elementary student populations using a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data were collected from 61 fifth grade students at a public charter school in Idaho through surveys. Qualitative data were gathered through interviews, observations, and field notes with 13 students, 2 teachers, and 7 parents to identify key themes. The study researches the constructs of family support, engagement and participation in STEM activities, and students’ perceived long-term value of STEM learning as key factors in developing self-efficacy. Despite increasing awareness of the need …

Regenerative Recreation: An Examination Of Recreational Trail Users' Environmental Attitudes And Willingness To Help Restore Ecological Systems, Ryan Peck

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Recreation on public lands has never been higher. Agency budgets dedicated to the ecological health of recreation areas have not kept pace with recreation growth. Recreation managers have been calling for a paradigm shift in recreation management. Using a social-ecological systems (SES) approach, I ask, can non-consumptive recreationists (i.e., hikers, runners, mountain bikers, and equestrians) improve ecological health asynchronously while taking part in their recreation endeavors? I call these asynchronous ecologically beneficial actions regenerative recreation.

This project examines non-consumptive recreation users' environmental attitudes as initially suggested by Dunlap and Heffernan (1975), and their willingness to take part in ecologically regenerative …

Improved Snow Distribution Estimates Using A Rapid-Response Lidar And Photogrammetry System, Naheem Idowu Adebisi

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Snow plays a critical role in global hydrology, climate systems, and human activities, particularly in mountainous regions where it is a primary source of freshwater, influences the energy balance, and impacts mobility and commerce. Despite its importance, accurately mapping and predicting snow distribution remains a major challenge due to the complex spatial and temporal variability of snowpack and the lack of an ideal observation system. This dissertation aims to advance our monitoring capability, understanding, and prediction capacity of snow distribution using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and photogrammetry techniques.

In chapter 2, I discussed the high-resolution LiDAR-derived datasets of multiple …

Ratemaking’S Trilemma And The Case For Time-Based Electricity Rates, Kyle J. Blasinsky

UC Law Environmental Journal

Ratemaking has a trilemma. How should utilities and policymakers balance the competing goals of ratemaking: sufficiency, efficiency, and equity? Sufficiency is principally a legal constraint that creates a revenue floor during ratemakings to address concerns about unconstitutional takings. The latter goals—efficiency and equity—have fewer legal limitations but compel important policy tradeoffs when designing rate structures for electricity consumers. Recently, technological ad-vancements and shifting social priorities have prompted a rebalancing of these seemingly conflicting goals. New technologies have made time-based electricity rates a viable means of demand response in many communities, reducing the need for expensive and polluting peaker plants and …

To Turn To Wind, Savannah Butler

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The thesis is a poetry collection, titled To turn to wind. Each poem is distinct but connected, in turn creating a narrative, serial poem that explores an individual’s relationship with poetry and nature. There are four sections where the speaker a metamorphic journey, and the end of each section leads to the beginning of the next. The poems are written in free verse, and each individual line is indicative of the poet’s breath and wind patterns to further develop the themes of unity and poetry, as well as “form as an extension of content”.

The poems are inquisitive and seek …

Housing Prices & Labor Shortages: The Role Of Land Use Regulation, Rhys T. Cooper

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In this analysis, I examine the impact of housing prices on labor shortages by estimating the effects of monetary policy shocks and land use regulation (LUR). In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, housing prices and labor shortages have increased across the U.S. Using regional data on job postings, available workers, housing prices, LUR, and nations monetary policy shocks, I estimate the relationship between LUR, monetary policy, and labor shortages though a difference-in-differences continuous treatment model estimated through local projections. The interaction between LUR and monetary policy is leveraged to address the endogeneity between housing prices and labor shortages. My …

The Impact Of Dimerization And Condensate Formation On Notch Signaling Outcomes, Tyler Michael William Lawton

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Communication between cells is the cornerstone of multicellular life. This communication is facilitated through signal transduction, wherein an environmental que activates a transducer on the surface of the cell or within it. This signal is recognized and transmitted in a way that integrates every other signal that the cell is receiving at the time, culminating in a dynamic dance of molecular components producing finely tuned responses to the cellular environment. Notch signaling facilitates direct communication between neighboring cells, as well as response to various microenvironmental stimuli, to influence cell differentiation and fate. As insinuated above, these communication pathways do not …

Effects Of Changing Winter Precipitation Phase On Streamflow Magnitude In Mountainous Regions, Josh Morell

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Snowmelt-produced streamflow (Q) is the dominant water source for a large portion of the global population. This is especially true in higher elevation regions in the Western United States. Precipitation is highly variable and seasonal in this region of the world. Generally, most precipitation occurs in winter and comes as snow in higher elevations. However, due to climate change, precipitation and temperature patterns are changing. It has been observed in many areas across the Western United States that the fraction of precipitation falling as snow (S_f) is declining because of a warming climate. In addition, …

Some Sonnets, Caleb Merritt

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis, titled some sonnets, is an exploration of generative practices, language gathering, and experimental fragmentation that manifests in a “cacophony of voices.” Parallel to and estranged from the traditional sonnet form, these poems emerge from a collaged and sculpted approach to Poetry, which places the work more on the side of conceptual art than traditional collection of verse.

The sonnets are recursive, referencing their own making, their own debatable status as “poems,” and the language that populates them. Here, meaning is offered in fragmented ways, inviting a small readership to attempt to parse these quasiautobiographical viewings and compositions. The …

The Wicks They Stimulate, Adam Ray Wagner

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The Wicks They Stimulate is a collection of poems and translations. Through a variety of forms and images, the poems were written with a predominant attention to concentration, clarity, and persona. The poems use tone and rhythm to work through different phenomenological perspectives to see words or phrases from changing angles, often employing spare language and short lines, but sometimes using longer, more prosaic forms.

Engaged with the philosophies of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Emmanuel Levinas, these poems pair subtly changing rhythms with shifting pronouns to engage questions about rhythm and alterity. Fragmented syntax and heavy enjambment draw attention to the …

Secondary Public School Teachers' Perception On Professional Learning Experiences That Influence Their Beliefs And Feelings Of Ease With Integrating Technology, Daquita Pounds

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to examine secondary teachers’ perceptions on the role of others and the role of their professional learning experiences as influencing factors on their belief in their ability to and feelings of ease with integrating technology. A basic qualitative design is used for the current study. A total of six secondary, in-service teachers provided evidence for this study across a total of three semi-structured interviews that occurred during the second semester of the 2023-2024 academic school year. The teachers in this study were given the opportunity to share how they selected their learning experiences for technology integration …

Resilience Webtool: Engaging Community Partners To Humanize Data For Use In Local Resilience Planning In Valley County, Idaho, Sabrina Akther

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Advancements in technology have made hazard data increasingly available. However, officials in rural communities with limited resources often face challenges in accessing, interpreting, and applying these data to assess vulnerabilities and plan future development. Furthermore, when hazard data is not paired with relevant population and infrastructure, data vulnerability assessments become increasingly difficult. To address this challenge, this project aims to co-create a web tool with decision makers in Valley County, Idaho following a user-centered design approach, consolidating hazards, social vulnerability, and infrastructure data to help local officials with risk management, decision-making, and resilience planning. The project started with listening sessions, …

Advancing Snow Cover Observations In Glacierized And Alpine Environments Using Optical Remote Sensing, Rainey Aberle

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Warming air temperatures in recent years have led to declines in seasonal snow pack across western North America. These changes have profoundly impacted communities that depend on seasonal snow melt for water resources, as well as glaciers that act as critical long-term reservoirs in the region. While global snow cover extent products are available, they often fail to reliably distinguish between snow, glacier ice, and clouds, which are prevalent in western North America. Additionally, water managers in the region typically rely on point-based observations of snow mass for decision-making, despite the pressing need for comprehensive, watershed-scale estimates. To address these …

Teacher Motivations To Voluntarily Participate In K-12 Microlearning Professional Development: A Mixed Methods Study, Mary-Elizabeth Lubeskie

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Professional development (PD) is crucial for improving teaching effectiveness, but state mandates and traditional models often fail to engage teachers by meeting their diverse needs, fitting into busy schedules, offering choices, or fostering meaningful instructional changes. The mixed methods study addresses this gap by investigating the specific motivations of K-12 public school teachers to voluntarily engage in microlearning professional development (mLPD) as an alternative to traditional PD approaches. Guided by Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Adult Learning Theory (ALT), the research examines how intrinsic and extrinsic motivations influence participation, exploring the appeal of microlearning’s brevity, relevance, and autonomy. Quantitative data from …

Hispanic/Latinx Faculty Members’ Experiences Within Academia, Sarah Muñoz

Dissertations

This dissertation research was written and pursued to explore the experience of Hispanic/Latinx faculty within academia. A phenomenological, qualitative methodology was utilized to explore this phenomenon. The researcher used listservs, Facebook groups, and snowball sampling to recruit participants. Potential participants completed a prescreening questionnaire and were then contacted to participate in the interview portion of the study. Ten individuals thoroughly described their experiences holding a Hispanic/Latinx faculty identity within academia. The following six themes emerged from data analysis of the interviews: a) Impacts of the Lack of Representation of Diverse Faculty, b) Challenging Experiences of Hispanic/Latinx Faculty, c) Positive Experiences …

Perceptions Of Undergraduate Nurse Faculty Regarding Social Emotional Learning Within Nursing Academia, Nicole Claire York

Dissertations

The growing nursing shortage is a critical issue for healthcare systems worldwide. The demand for nurses and an urgent need for workforce stability require nursing students to be equipped with both knowledge and social and emotional skills for resiliency and coping before graduation. The social and emotional learning (SEL) framework provides specific competencies that emphasize the development of skills such as self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and relationship skills. Incorporating SEL that emphasizes these skills into nursing education might provide the necessary tools not only for sustainability in the discipline, but academic and overall social-emotional competence.

The purpose of …

Understanding The Cybersecurity Knowledge And Cybercrime Experiences Of Older Adults Using A Learning Game, Richard Conrad West

Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was two-fold. First, it was intended to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching internet safety to older adults through a fun, internet-based learning game. Second, it was carried out to understand the experience of internet fraud on older adults so that fraud prevention techniques can be refined and tailored to the online threats they face. Five adults over 60 who were previously online fraud victims participated in this study, which was carried out over three phases.

First, participants played a learning game that assessed their understanding of key cybersecurity topics, provided lessons explaining the risks, …

Franz Schubert’S Composition Process Seen Through His Autograph Manuscripts, With A Focus On The “Arpeggione” Sonata, Ahmad Kandari

Dissertations

This scholarly inquiry provides an in-depth analysis of Franz Schubert’s distinctive approach to music composition, offering a nuanced understanding that emerges from a detailed examination of his manuscripts. By placing a special emphasis on the autographic evidence left behind by Schubert, this study contrasts his intuitive and rapid compositional style with the more methodical processes of his contemporaries, such as Ludwig van Beethoven.

Schubert’s manuscripts show a composer who often worked directly from mental concepts to full musical expressions with minimal reliance on detailed sketches or iterative revisions. This approach is starkly different from Beethoven’s, whose extant sketches display a …

The Paraprofessional-To-Teacher Experience: Moving From The Margins To Front And Center, Joanna Kerster Ross

Dissertations

This study outlined a qualitative case study research of paraprofessionals from marginalized communities. The purpose of this case study was to investigate the barriers that nontraditional students enrolled in the Metropolitan School of Teaching program experience when earning a teaching degree and working as a paraprofessional, as well as the sociocultural influence(s) that help them develop their teaching philosophy, with a focus on Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP). Paraprofessional hiring pools have tended to be more diverse than teacher hiring pools and changing demographics across the nation could highlight the importance of CRP approaches in education (U.S. Department of Education, 2023; …

Evaluating The Indirect Effect Of Microaffirmations On Intersecting Marginalized Identities And School Sense Of Belonging Among School Psychology Graduate Students, April Pratt

Dissertations

There is a discrepancy between the proportion of school psychologists identified as racially, ethnically, or linguistically diverse (REL) in the United States and the proportion of REL students they serve (Blake et al., 2016; Proctor & Owens, 2019). Current data estimates over 80% of school psychologists identify as white (Goforth et al., 2021), whereas more than 50% of U.S. public school students have non-white racial/ethnic identities (Irwin et al., 2024). In addition to increased recruitment of REL students to school psychology graduate programs, trainers in these programs must implement effective strategies to ensure retention. One method is to increase students’ …

Jazz Composition Approaches Of John Williams: A Film Score Analysis Of The Knight Bus From Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, Matthew Stuart Towsey

Dissertations

“The Knight Bus” scene is a jazz-infused comedic scene from the movie score of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004). The scene’s musical cues, composed by John Williams, ingeniously blends elements of jazz within a predominantly cinematic framework tailored for the film.

This research explored how these elements harmoniously coexisted within a prototypical orchestra format, skillfully blending symphonic and jazz orchestration techniques. The analysis spotlighted the intricate jazz composition techniques, showcasing the utilization of bebop language and the seamless integration of quintessential jazz harmonies and rhythms throughout the composition.

The jazz cues from “The Knight Bus” scene contain …