Digital Commons Network^™

With Generative Ai, Do We Still Need Unis?, Lily Kong, Sun Sun Lim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In a commentary, SMU President Professor Lily Kong and SMU Vice President of Partnerships and Engagement and Professor of Communication & Technology Lim Sun Sun discussed why there is a need for universities even as generative artificial intelligence (AI) may increasingly cause job displacement. They believe a university education can make all the difference in a world infused with innovations like generative AI, as it allows people to hone their human instincts and people skills to augment the rich substantive knowledge they will acquire. They also shared how universities, with their diverse and stimulating learning environments, can prepare individuals for …

Does Watching Videos With Natural Scenery Restore Attentional Resources? A Critical Examination Through A Pre-Registered Within-Subject Experiment, Andree Hartanto, Nicole Lee Anne Teo, Verity Y. Q. Lua, Keith Tay, Nicole R. Y. Chen, Nadyanna M. Majeed

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Existing studies have shown that direct exposure to a real nature environment has a restorative effect on attentional resources after a mentally fatiguing task. However, it remains unclear whether virtual nature simulations can serve as a substitute for real nature experienced in the outdoors to restore executive attention. Given the mixed findings in the literature, the present study sought to examine if viewing videos with natural scenery (vs. a control with urban scenery) restores participants’ working memory capacity – measured by an operation span task – in a high-powered pre-registered within-subject experimental study. Overall, our within-subject experiment did not find …

Digital Literacy Among Older Adults In Singapore, Mindy Eiko Tadai, Micah Tan

ROSA Research Briefs

Singapore stands as the fourth most digitally competitive country, after Denmark, USA, and Sweden, in the latest edition of the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking (IMD World Competitiveness Center, 2022). This global ranking measures the capacities of 63 nations to adopt and explore digitally transformative practices across government, industry, and wider society. Among households in Singapore, an astounding 99% have Internet access and 92% have computer access (Infocomm Media Development Authority, 2023). Even within the eldest surveyed cohort, proportions of smartphone usage have risen from 28% in 2017 to 48% in 2021 among resident Singaporeans aged 75 and above, and …

Pecha Kucha: An Innovative Pedagogy To Cultivate Cultural Competency In 21St Century Nursing Students, Anne White, Kaitlyn Louis

Faculty Articles

Nurse educators are challenged to develop educational methodologies that meet the characteristics of today's learners. Millennial and Generation Z students often prefer to use technology and smartphones rather than traditional formats. An alternative teaching strategy for a written journal that may have a pedagogical advantage for this group of learners is the Pecha Kucha 20 × 20 method (Pecha Kucha). The Pecha Kucha's anecdotal structure paired with its use of technology support students' twenty-first-century literacies. This paper discusses using this learner-centered approach in a study abroad in Italy to foster reflection of their cultural encounters.

Returning Individual Research Results From Digital Phenotyping In Psychiatry, Francis X. Shen, Matthew L. Baum, Nicole Martinez-Martin, Adam S. Miner, Melissa Abraham, Catherine A. Brownstein, Nathan Cortez, Barbara J. Evans, Laura T. Germine, David C. Glahn, Christine Grady, Ingrid A. Holm, Elisa A. Hurley, Sara Kimble, Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, Kimberlyn Leary, Mason Marks, Patrick J. Monette, Jukka-Pekka Onnela, P. Pearl O'Rourke, Scott L. Rauch, Carmel Shachar, Srijan Sen, Ipsit Vahia, Jason L. Vassy, Justin T. Baker, Barbara E. Bierer, Benjamin C. Silverman

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Psychiatry is rapidly adopting digital phenotyping and artificial intelligence/machine learning tools to study mental illness based on tracking participants’ locations, online activity, phone and text message usage, heart rate, sleep, physical activity, and more. Existing ethical frameworks for return of individual research results (IRRs) are inadequate to guide researchers for when, if, and how to return this unprecedented number of potentially sensitive results about each participant’s real-world behavior. To address this gap, we convened an interdisciplinary expert working group, supported by a National Institute of Mental Health grant. Building on established guidelines and the emerging norm of returning results in …

Gamestopped: How Robinhood’S Gamestop Trading Halt Reveals The Complexities Of Retail Investor Protection, Neal Newman

Faculty Scholarship

Should brokers have the unfettered right to restrict investor trading? GameStop, a brick-and-mortar video game retailer, had been experiencing declining revenues since 2016. However, GameStop saw its share price climb almost 1000 percent in the span of a one- week period from January 21, 2021 to January 27, 2021 due to retail investors buying significant amounts of GameStop shares during that period. Melvin Capital, a hedge fund, ended up losing billions as they were betting that GameStop shares would lose value instead of increase—a practice referred to as short selling. On January 28, 2021, brokers inexplicably halted trading on GameStop …

A Focus On Followers: Examining Relationships Between Elements Of The Leader-Follower Relationship From The Follower’S Perspective, David James Ross

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines followership style, leadership behaviors, and LMX-quality from the follower’s perspective. This research used Kelley’s followership framework, the full range leadership model, and the LMX-6 instrument to analyze each dimension of the leader-follower relationship. Using a sample of 89 followers from various backgrounds, the study collected data regarding each of the followers’ unique relationships with their leader. These data provided insights into the followers’ current followership style (i.e., their current levels of independent critical thinking and active engagement), their leaders ‘behaviors, and the quality of their individual leader-follower relationship. The researcher used the statistical program JASP to measure …

Flight Test Evaluation Of The B-1b Lancer For The Heavy Bomber Mission, Robert William Gates

Theses and Dissertations

Copyright held by author

Ask About Culture: Training School Psychologists To Deliver A Cultural Formulation Interview During Functional Behavior Assessments, Margarida B. Veiga

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Decades of empirical research has demonstrated that exclusionary discipline is a racialized mechanism through which schools systematically remove Black and brown children from the learning environment. Although development of Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) and linked behavior support plans has been identified as a solution to exclusionary practices, school psychologists do not ask questions about the cultural and contextual factors that may influence student’s behavior during FBA interviews with caregivers. As a result, FBAs conducted in schools privilege the perspective and voices of (often White) school staff, while dismissing the perspectives of (often Black or brown) students and families. FBA procedures …

Impact Of Alcohol Use On Academic Outcomes For First-Generation College Students: Roles Of Mental Health, Social Support, And Self-Efficacy, Sophie W. Schuyler

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Alcohol use is widespread among college students. Previous studies have shown that stress and mental health conditions are common risk factors for college student alcohol use, while social support and self-efficacy have demonstrated a protective effect against college student alcohol use. Research has also demonstrated that alcohol use can have a significant negative impact on college students’ academic outcomes, including their GPAs and graduation rates. It appears that alcohol use may be particularly detrimental to the academic success of students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, such as first-generation college students and racial/ethnic minority students. Due to limited research and mixed findings, …

What Explains The Behavior Of Chinese Companies In Africa? Exploring The Nature Of African Agency In Focac Platforms And On The Ground, Woldemedhin N. Aklilu

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

What explains the nature of environmental cooperation and the environmental behavior of Chinese companies in Africa? Have African actors been oblivious and agnostic whilst Chinese actors are driving and dominating the space? The research endeavored to address these questions by conducting three studies. The first study explored negative impacts of Chinese engagements in Africa, and how African and Chinese actors have responded to it. The second study examined the nature of environmental cooperation under the FOCAC framework and whether FOCAC has been used to shape environmental behavior of Chinese companies. The final case study examined the role and nature of …

Consciousness And Context For Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (Crp): A Case Study Of White Faculty Working To Learn About And Implement Crp In Their Teaching Practice, Isabelle A. Jenkins

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Pedagogical practices traditionally used by faculty in U.S. higher education tend to value and center white students and their success, simultaneously disregarding the learning strengths of Students of Color. The misalignment of pedagogical practices with how Students of Color may learn best could be contributing to completion gaps between white students and Students of Color. To close these gaps, it is imperative for faculty to shift their pedagogical practices to ones that uplift, honor, and resonate with Students of Color, particularly white faculty who continue to be the majority among the professoriate. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) is a pedagogical practice …

Simulation Modeling For Robust And Just Public Policy Decision-Making, Jack Mitcham

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Public policy decision-making is challenging for several reasons. First, the outcomes of pulling a public policy lever are often deeply uncertain because of the complexity of the social and physical systems involved. Second, even if outcomes can be predicted, there are multiple points of view to consider, and the same outcome can be viewed anywhere from very positively to very negatively by different stakeholders. Because of this, public policy decisions should be both robust and just. Robustness helps with the uncertainty in outcomes and justice helps with differences in worldview. In this dissertation, I employ system dynamics and agent-based simulation …

An Actionable Step: Evaluating The Impact Of A Text-Based Vocabulary Intervention To Support Middle School Emergent Bilinguals’ Vocabulary Growth, Annisha R. H. Susilo

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Research over the last two decades has shown middle school EBs are at risk for academic failure due to compounded systematic challenges that prevented them from acquiring reading proficiency level required to succeed in academic setting (Bowman-Perrott et al., 2010; Deussen et al., 2017; Sheng et al., 2011; Slama, 2012). EBs face shortages of qualified teachers, lack of access to quality instruction, and lack of appropriate assessment tools (Carnoy & Garcia, 2017; Sanchez, 2017; Umansky, 2016). This crisis is particularly acute for middle schoolers, as academic content often requires extensive reading. Middle school EBs are falling behind academically in comparison …

Acculturation And Health Services Utilization Among Older Asian Americans: The Roles Of Social Support And Psychological Distress, Mei Chen

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

There are relatively few studies about health services utilization among older Asian Americans. Historically, Asian Americans have been treated as one homogenous race group, and the underlying heterogeneity among specific ethnic groups was underappreciated and neglected. This dissertation investigates the relationship between acculturation and health services utilization among older Asian Americans and several specific Asian ethnic subgroups, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese Americans. In addition, South Asian Americans and members of other Asian groups were also examined.

This study employed two samples of older Asian Americans based on the specific healthcare resources evaluated. The first sample employed five …

E-Quality: An Analysis Of Digital Equity Discourse And Co-Production In The Era Of Covid-19, Kelsey E. Edmond

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The digital divide refers to the social stratification due to an unequal ability to access, adapt, and create knowledge via information and communication technologies (Andreasson, 2015). Digitally disadvantaged individuals have inadequate access to services and resources, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities. The COVID-19 pandemic instigated a new model of digital equity policymaking that leverages co-production between numerous actors. As citizens faced new financial and community constraints and governments reached administrative capacities, both the digital divide and the policymaking process evolved.

This inductive study explores how digital equity policymaking shifted to a co-production model (Ostrom, 1996) amid the pandemic. Using a sequential mixed-methods …

Complexity At The Science-Policy Interface In Ethiopia’S Policy Spaces, Wondemagegnehu W. Sintayehu

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The mechanics of interaction between science and policy in the context of complex policy spaces has remained a subject of scholarly debate. Recent focus is shifting towards promoting science-policy interfaces as spaces for integration of science into decision making. However, the question of what these spaces are and how they function remains a puzzle. While existing literature agrees on the apparent disruption of communication between knowledge generation and policy; or offers suggestions on factors that facilitate or inhibit communication, it often fails to present a comprehensive understanding on the mechanisms of actual interchange. Besides, research tends to sideline considerations of …

Impacts Of Attribution Style On Academics, Personal Relationships, And Extracurricular Activities: A Mixed Methods Study Of Learned Helplessness In Secondary Students, Joslyn Vendola

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The phenomenon of learned helplessness is the state in which an individual no longer views their outcomes as contingent upon their effort in response to previous failure outcomes and stressful events which were out of their control. Learned helplessness symptoms are often observed amongst students who experience other challenges simultaneously, such as low academic achievement, emotional disability (ED) diagnosis, and/or low-socioeconomic status (low-SES). The existing LH research focuses on identification, labeling, and offering interventions, such as learned optimism (LO) and attribution retraining. The lack of qualitative data, specifically student input, is a gap in the current body of research that …

“You’Re On Your Own”: Examining The Wellbeing Of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Who Have Transitioned Into Adulthood In The United States, Hannah E. Taverna

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The United States' Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) Program, which has served around 13,000 foreign-born children since the 1980s, aims to incorporate unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) in need of international protection into the child welfare systems of 15 individual states. Despite the fact that children accepted into the URM program have access to the same benefits as those in state custody, URMs face unique challenges from their non-refugee peers. Limited research exists regarding the wellbeing of URMs who have transitioned out of the URM program and into adulthood. This study aimed to explore the experiences of participants who have transitioned out …

Negotiating Acculturation: A Qualitative Study Of Muslim American Women, Noor N. Tahirkheli

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The estimated population of Muslims in the United States ranges from 3 to 7 million (Bukhari, 2003; Pew Research Center, 2017; Strumm, 2003), with an estimated 69-75% of Muslim Americans being 1st or 2nd generation immigrants (defined as those born abroad and those with immigrant parents, respectively), hailing from over 80 countries (Bukhari, 2003; Pew Research Center, 2017). Thus, most Muslims are navigating the complex processes of acculturation, which is the adaptation of behavioral, cognitive, and affective aspects of one’s cultural functioning, which result from consistent contact with different cultural contexts and groups (Driscoll & Wierzbicki, 2012). Research has noted …

Steps Toward Healing From The Possessive Other: The Vital Role Of Fantastical Literature In Trauma Theory, Rebekah Izard

English (MA) Theses

Fantastical narratives such as fairy tales and magical realist literature utilizes fantastic and intangible spaces to unpack that which is often beyond the limitations imposed on our understanding by reality: the stunting experience of individual and generational traumas. This study aims to contribute to the current literary discourse’s understandings of fantastic literature and its subgenres as a tool for healing from trauma through the application of ontological notions of Selfhood and Otherness supplied by 20th century philosopher, Paul Ricoeur, and the notion of Orientalism by postcolonial scholar, Edward Said. The dialogue generated by these schools of thought provide a space …

Mental Health Educational Program For Law Enforcement Officers, Elizabeth Allen

Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstones

A mental health educational program was created to educate corrections officers on various mental health diagnoses, psychiatric treatments , mental health law, cultural sensitivity, and deescalation skills. The purpose of the program was to enhance mental health knowledge in corrections officers and increase the health and wellness outcomes of the inmates. Mental health resources given at the end of the program could be utilized by the inmates after leaving the facility and by the corrections officers if they required services, as well.

Development Of Life Skills Training Modules For Adolescents With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Nicole Jones

Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstones

The purpose of the capstone project was to develop occupation-based life skills training modules to increase self-efficacy, self-advocacy, role competency, and well-being of transition-age youth to promote better outcomes throughout the transition process into adulthood. The life skills training modules were developed at diverse learning levels and implemented at Camp BOLD to meet the needs of adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Micrornas Mir-29a, Mir-29b, And Mir-29c As Novel Regulators Of Nk-Cell Immune Response In Neuroblastoma, Anup Pathania

Child Health Research Institute Pediatric Research Forum

Background: Neuroblastoma is a challenging cancer to treat in pediatric patients. Despite intense treatment regimens, the prognosis for high-risk pediatric neuroblastoma patients remains poor, with less than 40% survival.

Significance of the Problem: One of the major obstacles to effective immunotherapy in neuroblastoma is the defective immune cells. Neuroblastoma tumors generally have impaired T-cell anti-tumor activity due to restricted MHC class I expression on tumor cells. This makes natural killer (NK) cells an attractive alternative for neuroblastoma immunotherapy, as they are not restricted by MHC class I expression on tumor cells. However, the overexpression of immune checkpoint molecules like B7-H3 …

Do Additional Pulses Per Second In Pediatric Deglutition Studies Increase The Rate Of Aspiration Detection?, Lincoln Wong

Child Health Research Institute Pediatric Research Forum

Background: Deglutition studies are fluoroscopic procedures that utilize swallowed barium with concurrent x-ray imaging to diagnose swallowing disorders. The x-ray images during these studies can occur at variable pulses per second (p/s) depending on the institution and its available fluoroscopy equipment. At many institutions, radiologist preference is the main factor in determining which of the p/s settings is used.

Significance of the Problem: Increasing the p/s setting increases the patient's exposure to ionizing radiation, and the risks of radiation exposure have been well-established in literature for both children and adults. Exposure to radiation has been linked to increased rates of …

Vigabatrin Toxicity Mimicking Bilateral Thalamic Strokes, Trevor Lockard, Geetanjali Rathore

Child Health Research Institute Pediatric Research Forum

A 20-month-old female with past medical history of tuberous sclerosis, epilepsy and infantile spams treated with vigabatrin presented for surveillance Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for multiple brain hamartomatous lesions and subependymal nodules. MRI showed new restricted diffusion to bilateral thalami and globi pallidi. This finding was concerning for bilateral thalamic strokes, however, due to the patient being asymptomatic with a normal exam, the differential was expanded to infection, metabolic etiologies, or toxic injuries. Without focal or diffuse neurologic symptoms or additional MRI lesions to suggest an acute or chronic pathology, it was determined the MRI signal changes were likely vigabatrin …

Studying Grey's Anatomy: A Look Into The Demographics Of Cases Presented On Prime Time Medical Dramas, Emily Ambler, Cassie Papproth, Terence Zach

Child Health Research Institute Pediatric Research Forum

Background: Medical dramas are defined as a television show or movie that is centered on a hospital or other medical facility. Popular medical dramas like Grey's Anatomy and Chicago Med have a significant following, with 4.21 million and 6.52 million viewers, respectively, in their most recent seasons.

Significance of the Problem: Previous studies have shown that medical dramas can influence individuals' views and expectations of the healthcare system. One aspect of medical dramas that could potentially affect viewers are the demographics of patients represented and their respective health outcomes.

Objective: Analysis of patient demographics depicted in medical dramas has not …

Parental Well-Being And Children’S Internalizing Symptoms During The Beginning Of The Covid-19 Pandemic In The United States, Diana Duran

Theses and Dissertations

During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders in the U.S., many parents of school-age children faced new challenges, such increased child-care demands (Adams, 2021). Prime et al. (2020) theorized these negative pandemic impacts would decrease parents' well-being and thereby impact children's psychological adjustment. This study hypothesized that higher number of negative pandemic impacts would predict worsened stress and relationship satisfaction levels among parents, and that this would in turn predict worsened child internalizing symptoms. 595 U.S. parents of school-age children were recruited online during May 2020. Higher number of negative pandemic impacts predicted worsened parents' stress and relationship …

Evaluating Readiness To Teach Online By Examining The Relationship Between Faculty’S Perceptions Of Importance Of Course Design, Course Communication, Time Management, And Technical Competency, And Their Readiness To Teach Online, Francisco Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine faculty’s perceptions of the importance of online teaching competencies and their perceptions of their ability to teach online. Two aspects of readiness are focused on in this framework: 1) faculty attitude on importance of online teaching competencies and 2) faculty perception on their ability to confidently teach online, and four competencies were utilized in this study: Course Design, Course Communication, Time Management, and Technical Competency. A quantitative research design was utilized to analyze data and show the degree of correlation between importance and ability in the four competencies. MANOVA was used to …

Estimating The Functional Consequences Of Intra-Specific Trichome Variation Of Tomato, Solanum Lycopersicum On The Specialist Herbivore, Manduca Sexta, Satinderpal Kaur

Theses and Dissertations

Chapter 1: Plants have a wide array of defenses against herbivores and hence they must confer trade-offs between growth and defense related traits. By using Solanum as a model genus, the major plant defense fitness trade-off hypotheses are reviewed in this chapter along with their assumptions and examples.

Chapter 2: This chapter provides an overview of the enormous intra-specific diversity in trichome morphology in tomato, Solanum lycopersicum. Also, the trichome sub-types are analyzed for the variations in density and dimensions in 10 varieties of tomato by using desktop scanning electron microscope.

Chapter 3: This chapter examines the functional consequences …