2923 research outputs found
Sort by
Shared Voices: How PK-16 Leaders Perceive School University Partnership Alignment with CAEP Standards
No full textThis mixed-methods study examined PK–16 leaders’ perspectives regarding the alignment of an educator preparation provider (EPP) with the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) Standards 2 (Clinical Partnerships and Practice) and 5 (Quality Assurance System and Continuous Improvement). Data were collected through a researcher-designed survey and semi-structured interviews with principals, district administrators, and university leaders. Survey results provided descriptive insights into stakeholder perceptions, while interviews offered deeper contextual understanding of the strengths and challenges within school–university partnerships. Findings indicated that leaders valued residency programs and recruitment pipelines as key strengths, highlighting the mutual benefits of sustained clinical partnerships. Participants also emphasized the importance of authentic stakeholder engagement in program decision-making, consistent communication, and trust-building across institutions. However, limitations included reliance on self-reported perceptions, a single institutional context, and the absence of direct measures of teacher candidate or PK–12 student outcomes. The study contributes to the literature on partnership and stakeholder theory by underscoring the need for transparent feedback loops, differentiated roles for PK–12 leaders, and stronger accountability systems in alignment with CAEP standards. Recommendations for future research include comparative studies across multiple (EPP)s, longitudinal analyses of candidate and student outcomes, and expanded inclusion of diverse stakeholder voices to ensure continuous improvement and sustainable partnerships
Development of New Design Criteria for Coastal Highway Embankment under Wave-Induced Loading
No full textIn the face of intensifying hurricanes and rising sea levels, Louisiana’s coastal highways, lifelines for communities and commerce, stand increasingly vulnerable. This thesis introduces a pioneering methodology for designing geosynthetic-reinforced highway embankments capable of withstanding wave-induced loading and rapid drawdown scenarios, the most critical failure condition identified in coastal environments. By integrating statistical wave modeling, advanced numerical simulations using SEEP/W and SLOPE/W, and a comprehensive parametric analysis, the study develops a novel hybrid regression formula that accurately predicts optimal reinforcement lengths based on site-specific geotechnical and hydraulic parameters. Validated against Hurricane Katrina data and real-world soil profiles from Cameron Parish, the model achieves a high predictive accuracy (R² = 0.91), offering engineers a practical, performance-based design tool. This research not only challenges conventional static design assumptions but also redefines geosynthetics as essential structural elements in embankment resilience. The findings pave the way for smarter, safer, and more sustainable infrastructure in hurricane-prone coastal regions
Defying Gravity: Representation Matters and the Leadership Experiences of Black Leaders in the K-12 Educational Atmosphere
Full text linkThis study is a qualitative interpretive phenomenological single case study of Black leaders in an urban, public school district in the southern region of the United States. In this school district, demographic disparities existed between the student population and the leadership. This study analyzed the work of Black leaders and better understand how their leadership experiences shape the school environment for faculty, administrators, students, and community stakeholders outside of traditionally numerical accountability measures. The study was guided by a tri-fold theoretical framework that included applied critical leadership, social justice leadership, and culturally responsive leadership. Twelve Black educational leaders were interviewed to explore how their lived professional experiences impact their perception and practice of effective educational leadership within their district. The study used the constant comparative method of data analysis to reveal five themes that relate to (1) the necessity of diverse representation, (2) consistently “proving” competence for their leadership roles while exceeding expectations to combat bias, (3) embodying elements of each theoretical framework in an attempt to create balance in the school system, (4) maintaining a positive outlook while navigating systemic inequities, and (5) the need for the development of tailored support systems for Black educational leaders, especially Black males. Findings from this study show that Black educational leaders implement practices that align and intersect applied critical leadership, social justice leadership, and culturally responsive leadership. Additional findings from this study suggest that Black educational leaders must navigate systemic inequities, emotional labor, gaps in mentorship, and adverse responses to representation as they advocate for systemic changes that will transform their campus cultures and increase equity in the school systems
Evaluation of the Performance of the Traveling Wave Differential Element in Protective Relays
Full text linkThis thesis evaluates the dependability, security, and limitations of the traveling wave differential protection function (TW87) in modern time-domain-based protective relays, using a combination of simulations and hardware testing in a laboratory environment. Fault transients are first generated using the electromagnetic transients program model of a real, 230 kV, 65.7 km long overhead transmission line, which are then played back on real time-domain-based protective relays. Various fault scenarios are chosen to evaluate the impacts of factors such as fault inception angle, distance to fault from line terminals, fault type, fault impedance, and external faults on the relay functions’ performance. Results indicate that even though their dependability is compromised under certain fault conditions, they nevertheless provide ultra high-speed protection in most practical fault scenarios
Personality, Self-Compassion, and Alcohol Use in College Students
Full text linkSubstance use has been occurring throughout history, and most individuals have been impacted by substance use in one way or another (Durrant & Thakker, 2003). The individual using substances is not the only one who faces the consequences of their usage. Their families and communities also pay a price (Lander et al., 2013; McLellan, 2017). College students are in a unique role in their lives where they are fighting for autonomy, trying to fit in with their peers, and facing new stressors they have never experienced before. Previous research has demonstrated that certain personality traits, including conscientiousness and agreeableness, are associated with the development of substance use (Dash et al., 2019). Self-compassion can act as a protective factor for the development of a substance use disorder (Phelps et al., 2018). This study aims to fill some knowledge gaps and explore whether self-compassion acts as a moderator between certain personality traits, specifically conscientiousness and agreeableness, and alcohol use among college students. This study consisted of 488 college students collected from a medium-sized southern university. The results of this study indicated that self-compassion does not moderate the relationship between conscientiousness or agreeableness and alcohol use in college students. Implications of the study’s findings, limitations, and future directions are discussed in Chapter 4
Emotional Armor: An Exploration of Emotion Regulation on Race-Related Stress and Well-Being
Full text linkScholars have examined at length the impact of stress on well-being. However, people of color experience an additional stressor called racism. Increased experiences with chronic discrimination and racism have been associated with increased hypertension, heart disease, anxiety and depression to name a few (Williams, 2018). Chronic experiences with racism leads to a phenomenon called race-related stress (Utsey & Ponterotto, 1996). The research has shown the impact of race-related stress on physical and mental health outcomes, particularly on individuals from an ethnic background (Williams, 2018). However, not much research has focused on potential moderators in this relationship. This study poses emotion regulation as a potential moderator. Emotion-regulation has been shown to be effective in increasing one’s well-being such as an increase in positive emotions (Gross & John, 2003), reduction in psychopathology (Gross & Jazaieri, 2014), and overall general life satisfaction (Keyes, 2002). It is hypothesized that emotion-regulation strategies will moderate the relationship between race-related stress and well-being. With this study we can learn from individuals who use emotion-regulation as a strategy for preventing race-related stress. Furthermore, typically research on race-related stress has focused on primarily African American participants (Williams, 2018), whereas this study will invite people from various backgrounds to participate. This study will also examine the role of everyday life stress as a covariate, and whether there are differences between everyday life stress and race-related stress
The Moderating Effect of Empathy on the Relationship between Psychological Reactance and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration
Full text linkIntimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a phenomenon found across cultures, genders, and sexualities. Those who are victimized are more likely to experience negative health and psychological outcomes than those who have not and are also at an increased risk for becoming perpetrators themselves. This has resulted in a significant need to identify the risk factors associated with perpetrators, so cycles of violence can be broken and violence can be prevented. Previous research has utilized a predominately feminist perspective to understand IPV perpetration risk factors and has focused predominately on exclusively male samples. Additional research is needed to develop a broader understanding of the interactive processes that lead individuals to become IPV perpetrators. Using psychological reactance theory as a framework, the purpose of this study was to investigate if empathy moderates the relationship between psychological reactance and IPV perpetration. This study surveyed 278 participants recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) survey platform. Results found verbal psychological reactance to be higher in those who did not endorse IPV perpetration and behavioral psychological reactance to be higher in participants who endorsed IPV perpetration. Empathy was not shown to be statistically significantly related to verbal or behavioral reactance and was also not found to moderate the relationship between reactance and IPV perpetration. Overall, the findings suggest that although there is a link between reactance and IPV perpetration, empathy does not strengthen or moderate the relationship between psychological reactance and IPV perpetration
Food Neophobia and Its Prevalence among College Students in the United States
No full textFood neophobia “the reluctance to try unfamiliar foods” may influence diet variety and cultural food acceptance among young adults. College students represent a critical group for studying this behavior, as they are developing independent eating habits that can persist into adulthood. This study examined the prevalence of food neophobia among U.S. college students and evaluated how academic background, travel, cultural exposure, and demographic factors influence openness to trying unfamiliar foods. A cross-sectional online survey was administered via Qualtrics to 264 college students across the United States. The Food Neophobia Scale (FNS; Pliner & Hobden, 1992) was used to assess reluctance toward unfamiliar foods. Descriptive statistics summarized participant characteristics. Group differences were analyzed using independent-samples t-tests, and correlations were examined with Pearson’s r. Statistical significance was set at p\u3c .05. The mean FNS score was 33.74 (SD = 13.32; range 10-65), indicating moderate food neophobia among most participants. Healthcare majors (M = 30.85, SD = 13.86) and nutrition majors (M = 27.15, SD = 13.16) reported significantly lower food neophobia compared with students in other fields (p\u3c .01). Regular consumption of ethnic foods was negatively correlated with food neophobia (r = –0.225, p\u3c .001), suggesting that repeated exposure promotes openness. However, travel frequency and cultural event attendance was not significantly associated with food neophobia, though they were positively correlated with each other (r = 0.256, p\u3c .001). No significant differences were found by gender, year in college, residence type, or international status. Students in nutrition and healthcare programs exhibited greater openness to unfamiliar foods, likely due to hands-on learning and repeated exposure to diverse cuisines within their curriculum. Frequent ethnic food consumption was the strongest predictor of lower food neophobia, indicating that direct sensory experiences are more influential than general cultural participation. Hypothesis 1 was partially supported, as cultural exposure and travel alone did not significantly reduce neophobia, while Hypothesis 2 was supported, confirming lower food neophobia among nutrition and healthcare students. These findings emphasize that experiential learning and repeated exposure may be key strategies to reduce food neophobia and promote dietary variety among college populations
A Human-in-the-Loop Framework for Scalable and Interpretable Event Triaging in Large-Scale Systems
Full text linkThis dissertation presents a comprehensive and scalable framework for real-time fault detection and event triage in industrial systems, addressing critical challenges such as class imbalance, ambiguous feature boundaries, and the prioritization of complex, high-dimensional event data. The proposed framework integrates advanced methodologies, including micro-batch processing, retrospective divergence-based event detection (DB-RED), association rule mining (ARM), clustering, and Dempster-Shafer Theory (DST) for conflict resolution. Together, these components enable the systematic stratification of events into actionable priority levels, ensuring robust and interpretable decision-making in real-time environments. DB-RED forms the cornerstone of the framework, leveraging KL-divergence and PE-divergence metrics to detect subtle and transient faults within high-frequency data streams. ARM techniques, including Apriori and FP-Growth, translate these detected events into structured relationships, providing the contextual basis for effective event triage. Clustering methods, such as K-Means and Hierarchical Clustering, further organize events into priority-based groups, while the integration of DST enhances classification precision by resolving ambiguities in boundary and transitional cases. Extensive experiments validated the framework’s efficacy across multiple test-tofailure datasets. Classifiers such as Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) consistently achieved high accuracy, precision, and F1-scores, demonstrating the framework\u27s adaptability to diverse fault scenarios. The inclusion of DST-based belief scores dynamically adjusted clustering behaviors, reducing false positive and false negative rates while preserving critical-event hierarchies. Results highlighted the framework’s ability to capture rare but impactful faults, enabling timely interventions and minimizing operational downtime. This research bridges gaps in real-time event monitoring by offering a novel combination of scalable algorithms and interpretable methodologies. Designed for industrial applications, the framework supports systems such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) by ensuring reliable event detection and actionable prioritization with human-in-the-loop oversight. Future work will explore the extension of these methodologies to broader industrial contexts, emphasizing scalability, automation, and integration with emerging predictive maintenance technologies. This dissertation contributes a significant step forward in advancing operational reliability and efficiency in high-stakes industrial environments