Digital Commons Network^™

Development And Optimization Of Aluminum-Water Reactors For Efficient And Sustainable Hydrogen Production, Guru Prasad Dhungel

Theses and Dissertations

Hydrogen is a promising clean energy carrier; however, safe, controllable, and on- demand hydrogen generation remains a significant engineering challenge. Aluminum– water reactions offer high theoretical hydrogen yield, but practical implementation is limited by oxide passivation and difficulty in maintaining stable thermal and pressure conditions.

This study investigates hydrogen generation from aluminum foam–steam reactions under controlled temperature and pressure using engineered reactor configurations. Three reactor designs, horizontal, vertical, and cylindrical—were experimentally optimized, developed and evaluated to enhance hydrogen production rate and pressure stability without chemical additives. The experiments focused on heat transfer behavior, steam management, pressure buildup, and reaction stability. …

“Get Out To Vote, No Time To Stay At Home”: Grassroots Pedagogy And Political Organizing Of The Johns Island Citizenship School, Anne Elizabeth Mineri

Theses and Dissertations

The 1957 Johns Island Citizenship School emerged from the everyday actions of local leaders like Esau Jenkins, Septima Clark, and Bernice Robinson as a foundational site of grassroots pedagogy and organizing that reshaped the political landscape of the South Carolina Sea Islands. Situated within the critical years between 1957 and 1961, a formative moment in the modern Black freedom struggle, the school demonstrates how local activism laid the groundwork for broader regional and national movements. In a state where literacy tests functioned as mechanisms of disenfranchisement, learning to read and write became a direct challenge to systems of exclusion. Through …

Rating Ai Models For Robustness Through A Causal Lens, Kausik Lakkaraju

Theses and Dissertations

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems become increasingly powerful and widely accessible, trustworthiness remains a major barrier to their adoption in critical domains such as finance and healthcare. With the advent of large language models (LLMs) that can perform multiple tasks with strong empirical performance, users increasingly rely on these black-box AI services to obtain recommendations, analyze text, and support everyday decisions. However, real-world incidents and empirical studies show that these systems can be overly sensitive to small changes in input, producing outputs that shift substantially under minor perturbations. In addition, models have been reported to exhibit stereotypical behavior and systematic …

Fostering High Achievement For Students Within And Beyond The Classroom – Building In Students Academic Language And Literacy Skills To Improve Standardized Test Scores In United States History And The Constitution. An Action Research Study, Amber Nicole Gant

Theses and Dissertations

The scores received on high-stakes tests throughout a student’s educational journey are an indication of the level of mastery of advanced content. Subsequently, these scores highlight their ability to access skills that reflect their likelihood to achieve success and become 21st century college and career-ready individuals. As an educator teaching in an underserved area, students’ inability to comprehend academic language and literacy skills negatively impacts standardized test scores and evidence of complete competency of learned materials. This research examines the effects and outcomes of building on students’ academic language and literacy skills to foster higher academic achievement on standardized tests …

Principals As Disciplinary Decision Makers: Ethical Tension And The Use Of Exclusionary Discipline For Students With Disabilities, Sarah Te Scaffe Tew

Theses and Dissertations

Students with disabilities are suspended and expelled at disproportionate rates. Previous research regarding principal decision-making has focused on decision-making broadly, and it has been predominantly qualitative in nature. School-level administrators frequently make disciplinary decisions for students with disabilities and report experiencing ethical tension in the process. Stakeholder, organizational, legal, and personal interests have been identified in the research as sources of ethical tension. The purpose of this study is to identify which factors cause the greatest level of ethical tension for administrators when making disciplinary decisions for students with disabilities and to examine the relationship between administrator’s perceived level of …

Examining The Impact Of Active Learning Strategies On Self- Efficacy, Attitude, And Perceptions Of Social Studies Students, Stephanie Aaron Doyle

Theses and Dissertations

Elementary social studies instruction is often characterized by teacher-centered teaching methods, driven by accountability pressures and standardized tests. This approach can cause student disengagement and a decrease in confidence among learners. This action research study explored the effects of selected active learning strategies, specifically cooperative learning, think-ink-pair-share, and project-based learning, on fourth-grade students' self-efficacy, attitudes, and perceptions of social studies. Based on a social constructivist framework and influenced by the gradual release of responsibility model, this study aimed to challenge passive learning structures and promote equitable, student-centered teaching.

Using a convergent parallel mixed methods action research design, both quantitative and …

The Metacognitive Shift: Reshaping Student Attitudes And Adaptive Reasoning Through Error Analysis In Eighth-Grade Mathematics, Samantha Lynn Graves

Theses and Dissertations

This study utilized an action research framework to address students’ lack of adaptive reasoning skills in a mathematics classroom in South Carolina. These students often focus on procedural fluency without understanding the reasoning behind the steps. Using a mixed methods design, this study examined the impact of implementing student- led error analysis as a metacognitive strategy on the adaptive reasoning skills and attitudes of 20 eighth-grade mathematics students. The study took place over 6 weeks at a Title I public charter school, and the intervention required students to identify, correct, and explain errors in various problem types, including fractions, applied …

Supporting Stem Self-Efficacy Using Culturally Relevant Pedagogy For Historically Underserved Black Female Students, Rajdeep Young

Theses and Dissertations

The underrepresentation of Black women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields remains a persistent concern in education and the workforce. Research suggests that students’ beliefs about their ability to succeed in STEM, referred to here as STEM self-efficacy, may play a critical role in shaping STEM interest, persistence, and career pathways. Grounded in Bandura’s self-efficacy theory and informed by Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Intersectionality, this study examined the impact of a targeted intervention designed to support and strengthen STEM self-efficacy among Black middle school girls. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study investigated changes in participants’ STEM self-efficacy following …

Clarifying Educator Roles To Strengthen Inclusive Practices For Students With Disabilities, Anastasia Sara-Nicholas Theophelis

Theses and Dissertations

This Dissertation in Practice (DiP) focuses on improving inclusive instructional practices in Clarkston Community Schools by increasing clarity and shared understanding of educator roles. Despite a strong district commitment to inclusion, data and teacher feedback revealed that role ambiguity between general and special education staff limited collaboration led to inconsistent implementation of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and contributed to educator frustration. Research supports that role clarity is foundational to effective co-teaching, collaboration, and sustained inclusive practices (Friend & Cook, 2016; Scruggs et al., 2007).

Guided by the principles of improvement science, this study tested a structured Action Plan and Role …

The Affects Of Purposeful Play, Computer Based Instruction, And The Utilization Of Rotational Learning Stations, As An Intervention For The Academic Development Of Early Childhood Children, Jennifer Fanning Long

Theses and Dissertations

This case study explores how purposeful and structured play and computer-based instruction impacts the academic development of young children. Purposeful play and computer-based instruction positively impact children in so many ways. It impacts their cognitive, social, emotional, and academic development. Students are active learners who learn best while playing and participating in their learning. Play is often left out of Early Childhood classrooms due to time constraints and vast academic goals. This can negatively impact the social and academic development of young students. The following dissertation will examine how the intervention of purposeful or structured play and computer-based instruction positively …

Semi-Supervised Galaxy Morphology Classification Using Convolutional Vision Transformers, Emily Miller Christen

Theses and Dissertations

Galaxy morphology classification is an essential task for understanding galaxy evolution, but modern high-redshift surveys such as JADES produce a large number of unlabeled images that cannot be handled with traditional manual or supervised learning methods. This work explores a semi-supervised transfer learning framework that leverages labeled data from Galaxy Zoo 2 to classify morphologies in James Webb Space Telescope JADES observations. A pretrained Convolutional Vision Transformer is adapted to the new imaging domain and refined using pseudo-labeling on unlabeled data. Experiments simulating JADES imaging conditions show that reduced resolution and noise significantly impact the separability of certain morphology classes, …

Plasma Dynamics And Chemistry In Atmospheric Pressure, Ayoub Al Wahaibi

Theses and Dissertations

Atmospheric-pressure plasmas are attractive for practical chemical and energy applications because they can be generated without vacuum systems and can produce reactive environments under relatively mild bulk conditions. However, these discharges are often non-uniform and highly sensitive to operating conditions, especially when water or multiphase flows are introduced. This dissertation investigates how atmospheric- pressure plasma behavior and plasma-driven chemistry change in three challenging but application-relevant regimes: water-mist dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs), multiphase plasma-assisted fuel reforming, and striated AC glow discharges. The work combines optical and electrical diagnostics, imaging, chemical analysis, and time-dependent analysis to connect discharge characteristics with measurable chemical …

Laser-Based Wideband Guided Ultrasonic Wave Inspection Of Isotropic And Anisotropic Materials, Andrew Philip Campbell

Theses and Dissertations

Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) and structural health monitoring (SHM) have experienced significant growth in both capability and utility as material evaluation and damage detection methods for structural components throughout various industries over the past two decades. Evaluating a structure throughout its life cycle or on demand as needed can identify critical weaknesses that impact safe operation and may prevent failures. Various NDE/SHM methods have been shown to be effective; among them, guided ultrasonic waves (GUW), particularly Lamb wave-based methods, have been intensively studied due to their capability to interrogate internal defects and their relatively larger coverage. With the advancements in new …

Meeting The Needs Of Students With Disabilities In School Crisis Plans, Christine L. Montesi

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine crisis preparedness among educators in public schools across York County, SC. More specifically, the study explored how prepared educators believe they are to meet the needs of students with disabilities during and after a school-based crisis. While a majority of public schools report having written crisis plans in place, less is known about crisis preparedness for students with disabilities. Respondents were asked to provide input on ways to address the needs of students with disabilities during a crisis and report their own perceptions of preparedness.

Data were collected through a survey and …

Microbial Ecology Of Fungi And Prokaryotes In Marine Environments, Madeleine Ann Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

Microorganisms are the primary drivers of carbon and nitrogen cycling in marine ecosystems, yet the ecological roles of marine fungi and their interactions with prokaryotes remain poorly understood. This dissertation investigates the diversity, interactions, and functional contributions of fungal and prokaryotic communities across coastal and open ocean environments, with a focus on estuaries and oxygen minimum zones (OMZs). By integrating community-level, interaction-based, and functional analyses, this work addresses key gaps in understanding how fungi contribute to organic matter degradation and nutrient transformations in marine systems. Size-fractionated metabarcoding in the eastern tropical North Pacific OMZ reveals distinct free-living and particle-associated microbial …

Rethinking Career-Pathway-Based Programs In Career Technical Education Utilizing Improvement Science, Michael J. Parry

Theses and Dissertations

Career technical education (CTE) has traditionally been organized around distinct career pathways designed to develop deep technical expertise within a single occupational field. While this model has been effective in preparing students for entry- level employment, it increasingly limits students’ opportunities to develop transferable technical and professional skills that span multiple pathways—skills now essential in a dynamic, interdisciplinary workforce. This dissertation in practice examined how a career technical education system could redesign pathway-based programming to support cross-pathway skill development while preserving pathway-specific technical rigor.

Guided by improvement science, this improvement work was conducted at Grant Career Center (GCC), a rural …

Bridging The Gap In First Grade: Community Perceptions Of Standards-Based Grading And Literacy Communication In A Rural Virginia School Division, Kristin Janssen

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative action research study explored the perceptions of parents, guardians, and teachers regarding standards-based grading (SBG) in first-grade literacy instruction and examined community buy-in toward its implementation in a rural Virginia school district. Although state-level mandates such as the Virginia Literacy Act emphasize evidence-based literacy instruction and foundational reading skills, traditional grading practices remain common in early elementary classrooms. These practices often lack alignment with instructional standards and may obscure students’ literacy progress, creating challenges for communication between schools and families.

Surveys with closed and open-ended questions yielded data from first- grade teachers and parents or guardians to illuminate …

Instructional Design To Support Math Identity Growth In Middle School, Sarah A. Foster

Theses and Dissertations

Middle school mathematics classrooms often emphasize performance and correctness in ways that contribute to negative student beliefs, disengagement, and persistent underachievement, particularly among students enrolled in on-grade-level courses. In this action research study, a targeted math identity development intervention was implemented to examine how instructional practices designed to affirm student thinking influenced eighth-grade students’ math self-efficacy, growth mindset, academic performance, and self-perception as mathematics learners. The study also explored teachers’ perceptions of student identity shifts and the instructional strategies they viewed as most effective in fostering positive math identity.

Guided by Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy, Dweck’s growth mindset theory, and …

Thank You For Being A Friend: Exploring Positive Peer Influence In Black Friendships Toward Academic And Social Success, Trini Victoria Woods

Theses and Dissertations

In this focus group study the researcher interviewed seven Black, Title I high school students to understand their experiences with positive peer influence within their friendships. In an effort to present a counternarrative to the majoritarian narrative that Black students are operating at a deficit and need policing, this research provides insight to the academic and social experiences of participants positive peer influence. This research responds to three questions: what do Black students believe is meaningful in friendship and how do they describe the impact of positive peer influence; how do Black students feel their friends’ behaviors and attitudes influence …

You Want A Fight? You Found It: Amplifying High School Students’ Voices To Combat Book Banning’S Silencing Effect, Alicia Sue Weaver

Theses and Dissertations

As a high school English teacher in South Carolina, I was concerned about the silencing of teachers and students through book banning, which limited students’ agency and threatened their perceptions of themselves and others. This mixed-method, embedded-design, action research dissertation tells the story of my effort to resolve this problem of practice and provides recommendations to practitioners facing similar challenges. To better understand the root of the problem, I examined research related to policy, self-censorship, loss of teacher autonomy, and harmful rhetoric. The theoretical framework grounding this study came from two primary lenses: treating literature as windows, mirrors, and sliding …

Leading Improvement In Physical Therapist Assistant Education: A Practice-Based Improvement Science Study, Carl Joseph Swearingen

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the persistent problem of poor first-semester success rates among Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) students at the Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL). In the past five years, 25% of students entering the PTA program have been unsuccessful, either due to academic failures or non-academic withdrawals. Even more concerning, over 80% of these students did not persist past the first semester. A root cause analysis using the five whys, fishbone diagramming, empathy interviews, local data, and scanning outside the organization was used to help broaden our understanding of the problem and guide further research.

Based on the results …

Teaching English As A Living Language: An Action Research Study Of Communication And Learner Confidence, David Lawrence Brian Levy

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study examines the disconnect between language learning in schools and the ability to use the language as a communication tool. Unfortunately, many educational institutions teach language with an emphasis on grammar rules, written exams, and rote memorization instead of as a living language used for everyday communication. This results in students receiving grades which do not reflect their ability to speak the language effectively. The purpose of this study was to explore how instructional practices influence both students’ communicative competence and confidence levels. It also intends to examine ways to redesign classroom instruction to better support real-world …

Soft Skills As The New Hard Skills In The Industry 5.0 Era, Miria Zangirolami Munoz

Theses and Dissertations

As technological advancement reshapes educational and professional landscapes, the human dimensions of teaching have become increasingly critical. This action research study examines the gap between the strong academic preparation of Teachers of English as a Second Language (TESL) pre-service teachers and their readiness to meet professional workplace expectations. Situated within the context of Industry 5.0, where human-centered skills are emphasized alongside digital competence, the study explores how soft skills, punctuality, digital etiquette, presentation skills, and professional attire, can be intentionally developed within teacher education. Guided by the strength model of self-control and achievement goal theory, a targeted workshop intervention was …

Exploring The Efficiency Of Logistic Models With Opt-Out Designs In Discrete Choice Experiment And Their Applications, Dai Fang

Theses and Dissertations

A discrete choice experiment is usually conducted in economics background to measure how consumers would like to trade off attributes of a product, service, or policy. In this experiment, respondents are provided different hypothetical combinations of varied components by using an experimental design such as the full factorial design, which fully represents the all combinations of attributes and levels. The mathematical background of a discrete choice experiments is based random utility theory, in which either positive or negative values are given each characteristic and the weighted sum values of each choice given in the experiment will be compared. This experiment …

Stimuli-Responsive Hybrid Materials: From Fundamental Photophysics To Tunable Properties, Grace C. Thaggard

Theses and Dissertations

Photochromic materials exhibit properties that can be dynamically tailored as a function of light exposure and represent a rapidly expanding field driven by applications ranging from molecular computing, nanotechnology, or photopharmacology to programable heterogeneous catalysis. For example, the possibility to tune a material’s catalytic activity “on demand” through exposure to a noninvasive stimulus is a transformative concept that could shift the paradigm in chemical industry by allowing for in-situ suppression of byproduct formation, isolation of reactive intermediates, and even control over product yield and selectivity. Development of the mentioned photochromic materials is based on stimuli-responsive molecular building blocks which undergo …

From The Public To The Pentagon: How Polarization Shapes Support For Service, Votes For Veterans, And Senior Military Rhetoric, Matthew Wallace Fryman

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how contemporary political polarization affects the US military across three critical democratic touchpoints: public support for military service, voter behavior toward veteran candidates, and the rhetoric of the nation’s most senior uniformed officer, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS). Although the military remains one of the most trusted public institutions, partisan conflict increasingly draws it into political debates, raising concerns about the health of civil–military relations and the sustainability of the All-Volunteer Force.

Chapter 2 investigates whether polarization reduces citizens’ willingness to recommend military service, a key driver of recruitment in a highly competitive, …

Examining Role-Play Simulation Effectiveness In Reducing Student Skill Gaps In An Interpreter Education Program, Nicole Nadine Morris

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods action research study was to identify students’ skill development in an interpreter education program using authentic role-play simulations. Three research questions guided this study. Two questions guiding the quantitative data collection centered on skill development during foundational interpreting courses and through the practicum semesters. The third research question guided the qualitative data collection, which focused on the participants’ perceptions of the usefulness of the role-play simulations in preparing them for their practicum placements. Together, the data indicate that the simulations provide significant benefits for students in interpreter education programs in terms of their professional readiness. …

Examination Of Metacognitive Strategies As An Intervention Supporting College Readiness For Students In Large Enrollment Introductory Biology Courses, Angela S. Mohrman

Theses and Dissertations

Students who meet traditional definitions of college readiness based on prior coursework, grades, and standardized test scores often continue to struggle in large-enrollment introductory STEM courses. These struggles are particularly evident in introductory biology, where high cognitive demands, rapid pacing, and content volume require learners to regulate their own studying in ways many students have never been taught. This action research study examined whether sustained, explicit instruction in metacognitive regulation—planning, monitoring, and evaluating learning—could support introductory biology students’ college readiness and learning of biology content.

Using a mixed-methods action research design, the study investigated a 15-week co-curricular metacognitive intervention taken …

El Mal, Miedo, Y Caos Urbano: El Neogótico Latinoamericano En El Siglo Xxi Como Estrategia Para Analizar La Violencia Transpolítica En La Narrativa De Mario Mendoza, Andrés Felipe Arroyave

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how the core concern of Mario Mendoza’s work is the notion of evil and how the Latin American neogothic genre provides an apt framework for its exploration. His narrative exposes the eruption of evil, fear, and psychological terror in urban life, portraying a chaotic and desolate Bogotá. Mendoza’s novels conceive evil as an internal human condition that emerges in the minds of both protagonists and secondary characters, becoming a mirror of the city’s social reality. The study analyzes Satanás (2002), Diario del fin del mundo (2018), and Akelarre (2019) to show how these works articulate emotions such …

Majority Vote Consensus Via Over-The-Air Computation, Davis Jianmin Mo

Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, we explore the reliability consensus algorithms using non-coherent Over-the-Air Computation (OAC) Majority Vote (MV) for multi-agent stochastic bias systems under ideal conditions with only sensor variance, and with both sensor noise and frequency selective fading channels. In this investigation, we will analyze the reliability data for the combination of these two concepts, such as observing computation error rate, and convergence.