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When I Was One-in-Twenty
Get PDFA poem by A.E. Housman inspired the engineer John R. Pierce to feel awe in the technological progress of telecommunications. Tangentially, Housman also evoked a strong emotion in me when making use of statistical p-values
Solving for...
Get PDFThis poem is about an appreciation of mathematics and its relationships to people and nature
Latinx STEM Students’ Sense of Belonging at an Urban Community College: A Phenomenological Study
Get PDFThis qualitative phenomenological study aims to understand how Latinx Community College Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) students experience sense of belonging in STEM majors/classrooms at an urban community college (CC) in Southern California 2024 through the lens of an integrative framework. Despite a considerable amount of research regarding factors that promote student success through a sense of belonging in the STEM field, research concerning the experiences of Latinx STEM students at urban CC’s remains underdeveloped (Garcia et al., 2021; Romero et al., 2023). The primary research question for this study is: What is the lived experience of Latinx community college students in the STEM field, and how do they define and experience a sense of belonging related to their school in general and STEM classes in particular? This research study was conducted using a phenomenological approach with interviews with 20 Latinx STEM students. The findings provided insights into the ways in which a sense of belonging was defined, promoted, and hindered by Latinx STEM students. I found that belonging for Latinx STEM students is, at its core, relational, cultural, and developmental. Students described belonging as being free to be their “full selves” in spaces where authenticity is encouraged/welcomed, non-judgment is the norm, and relationships with peers, mentors and faculty are supportive and available. Belonging was not an abstract emotion, instead, it was a daily practice that involved being acknowledged, accepted, and encouraged to contribute to the various campus communities (classrooms, labs and other campus spaces). This research contributes to the growing literature on Latinx community college STEM students
Social Capital of Urban School Counselors the Differences in Social Capital Between Counselors From Elite High Schools and Counselors From Public High Schools; and How That Capital Benefits Student Access to Selective Colleges
Get PDFThis study analyzed the differences in social capital between counselors from elite high schools in comparison to counselors from urban public schools and examined how that capital benefits student access to more selective colleges. Urban schools that serve more low-income population of students need support that appears to be commonplace to their counterparts at more elite high schools. Urban school counselors are considered a primary source of information, and they may not know what they do not know regarding college knowledge. The college application process is tedious; it can be characterized as a full-time job when persisting through the application season. Counselors from schools with a majority of under-represented students struggle to support their students due to constraints and misuse of their time on non-counseling duties. Because of this, their ability to build relationships with counseling peers to develop the social capital of college knowledge, specifically college knowledge pertinent to applying to selective colleges, is greatly diminished. This study surveyed college counselors from urban and elite high schools. The results reveal a significant discrepancy in social capital between the counselors surveyed. The counselor caseloads, duties, access to professional development, access to professional peers all play a role in the development of the valuable social capital needed to make an impact on student’s post-secondary options
Resisting Racial Oppression: Ethnic Identity & Critical Consciousness as Pathways to Thriving for Young Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
Get PDFYoung Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in the United States continuously defy the odds through resilience, resistance, and the pursuit of liberation, yet they are historically understudied as agents of their own positive development within the context of racial oppression (García Coll et al., 1996). This explanatory sequential mixed-method study examined how 393 BIPOC-identifying youth (ages 18-25) thrive amid racial oppression. Survey results initially indicated that higher levels of perceived racial discrimination were related to higher levels of thriving, as measured by the 5Cs model of positive youth development (Lerner et al., 2005). In alignment with previous theoretical postulations, results demonstrated ethnic identity development and critical consciousness were also related positive youth development (Christophe et al., 2018; Hope et al., 2019). Further, results revealed that ethnic identity development and critical consciousness fully mediated the relationship between perceived racial discrimination and overall levels of thriving. Interview findings ( N = 11) further explained how the process of developing ethnic identity and critical consciousness functions as a vital form of resilience to racial discrimination. These processes equipped young BIPOC with a critical understanding of racial injustice, a strong sense of connection to their community, and motivation to contribute to social change. Additionally, racial differences were captured by exploring relationships between racial discrimination, ethnic identity, and critical consciousness individually for groups of Latinx and Black youth. These findings provide evidence for the urgent need to foster the development of ethnic identity and critical consciousness among young BIPOC, while we simultaneously work to dismantle racial oppression
Localized Kernel Methods for Signal Processing
Get PDFThis dissertation presents two signal processing methods using specially designed localized kernels for parameter recovery under noisy condition. The first method addresses the estimation of frequencies and amplitudes in multidimensional exponential models. It utilizes localized trigonometric polynomial kernels to detect the multivariate frequencies, followed by a more detailed parameter estimation. We compare our method with MUSIC and ESPRIT, which are classical subspace-based algorithms widely used for estimating the parameters of exponential signals. In the univariate case, the method outperforms MUSIC and ESPRIT under low signal-to-noise ratios. For the multivariate case, we develop a coordinate-wise projection and registration approach that achieves high recovery accuracy using significantly fewer samples than other methods. The second method focuses on separating linear chirp components from time-localized signal segments. A variant of the Signal Separation Operator (SSO) is constructed using a localized kernel. Instantaneous frequency estimates are obtained via FFT-based filtering, then clustered and fitted with piecewise linear regression. The method operates without prior knowledge of the number of components and is shown to recover intersecting and discontinuous chirps at SNR levels as low as −30 dB. Both methods share an idea based on localized kernels and efficient FFT-based implementation, and neither requires subspace decomposition or sparsity regularization. Experimental results confirm the robustness and tractability of the proposed approaches across a range of simulated data conditions. Potential extensions include application to nonlinear chirps, adaptive kernel design, and signal classification using extracted features
Child Benefit Cash Transfers in Ireland and Canada: A Comparative Analysis of Welfare Policy
Get PDFChild benefit programs involving periodic cash transfers to parents have become increasingly embraced by governments worldwide. This paper investigates policy variance between child benefit cash transfers in Ireland and Canada, two countries with ostensibly similar welfare states. While Canadian child benefits shrink as household income grows, in Ireland cash transfers are set at a universal flat rate that is irrespective of family circumstance. On the other hand, Canadian parents receive far more generous payouts than their Irish counterparts despite means-testing. To determine the drivers of such policy divergence, I empirically test six theoretical paradigms from literature by leveraging several cross-national datasets. I identify culture, descriptive representation, framing, and interest groups as potential explanations for the gaps in Irish and Canadian child benefits observed today. My findings complicate Esping-Andersen’s original hypothesis that states clustered under the same regime-type will necessarily have similar welfare policies
Expanding ODE Examples: Introducing Gene Regulation Dynamics through Hill Functions
Get PDFGene regulation is a fundamental biological process that controls gene expression. It can explain phenomena such as cell differentiation, circadian rhythms, disease progression, and metabolic control, among many others. Despite their importance in mathematical biology, gene regulation models are rarely featured in traditional ODE textbooks, which focus mainly on examples from engineering, physics, chemistry, and population biology. This article introduces gene regulation dynamics as a valuable addition to ODE curricula, presenting the models from a mathematical perspective and building on properties of the Hill function. These models deepen the understanding of biology-inspired ODE applications, provide accessible research opportunities for students, and foster interdisciplinary collaboration for faculty
Behavior or Diagnosis? Comparing Explicit and Implicit Biases of School-Based Professionals Towards ADHD and ASD
No full textPrevious research shows bias against people with ADHD and ASD both in and outside of the classroom and demonstrates that access to a diagnosis impacts educator’s beliefs about a child. ADHD and ASD have a high level of diagnostic co-occurrence, as well as symptom overlap beneath the clinical threshold. The current study uses a vignette-length description of a student, an explicit bias questionnaire, and an Implicit Association Test to assess the relationship between implicit and explicit bias, as well as how educator bias is impacted by the diagnosis they have access to. Results suggest no statistically significant differences between explicit bias conditions and no relationship between levels of implicit and explicit bias. Presence of a diagnosis in the vignette (vs. control condition) was found to be predictive of a lower level of explicit bias. Participants shared concerns about the level of expected institutional and financial support influencing their responses on the Explicit Bias Questionnaire, raising the issue of a potential overemphasis on individual bias and underemphasis on system-level problems in education research. Future directions for research include further examinations on the impact of co-occurring symptoms on educator ratings of bias and an investigation of the quantitative impact of varied levels of institutional support on different explicit bias measures
The Impact of Terminology in Persuasive Messaging: An Evaluation of the EQUIP Model, Vested Interest and Terminological Variations on Young Adult ENDS Prevention Efforts
No full textElectronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), frequently referred to as “e-cigarettes” or “vapes,” have become a significant area of concern for substance use prevention and intervention research. National studies have reported significant year-over-year usage rate increases in adolescent and young adult populations. With this rise, new prevention and education campaigns have been launched on the national and state levels aimed at curbing the increase in use. These campaigns range from short videos on social media to educational talks, full video clips, and commercials on television and YouTube. Past research has shown that these types of national and state level campaigns often are ineffective as the campaigns frequently do not apply theory and best practices drawn from persuasion research. In addition, there is increasing evidence that previous estimates of use rates in young adult populations may not be accurate due to the types of questions used in national surveys. The current studies were designed to examine how language variations in surveys may account for some of these discrepancies in measurement, to learn how matching target audience terminology may improve the effectiveness of persuasive messages, and to test the efficacy of a new model for the efficient and effective creation of persuasive messages, the EQUIP model. This model, created by Crano and colleagues (2019), combines key elements and findings from the past 80 years of persuasion research into a series of steps for creating effective persuasive messages and advertisements. In addition, this series of studies will measure vested interest to test how the hedonic relevance and perceived importance of outcomes presented in persuasive messages significantly moderate the attitude-intention-behavior relationship (Ajzen, 1985, 1991; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1972). Study 1 (N =307) investigates how preferred terminology (e-cigarette vs. vaping language) may be associated with self-reported measures of ENDS use, important others’ use, and several key psychosocial measures (attitudes, normative beliefs, intentions, and vested interest) while also serving as a trial for an ELM-based manipulation to establish preferred terminology and randomize participants into incongruent or congruent terminology conditions. Study 2 (N = 642) expands on the findings of study 1 by testing the efficacy of the EQUIP model by comparing advertisements built with the EQUIP to existing ads while examining differences based on incongruent vs. congruent terminology (E-cig vs. Vape), usage status of the participants, and the potential moderating effects of vested interest and user-status based on the tripartite model (Crano et al., 2008). This series of studies is designed to test the efficacy of the EQUIP model in a young adult population, while also demonstrating the importance of tailoring message content (terminology and persuasive arguments) to the target audience. Findings supported the importance of language congruence in persuasive prevention communications, with main effects of the congruent/incongruent language manipulation and advertisement condition (EQUIP vs. Standard FDA messages) across multiple psychosocial variables, along with significant interactions of language condition, advertisement condition, and tripartite user-status, supporting the efficacy of the language manipulation and how persuasive prevention communications may be improved by following the EQUIP model and tailoring the terminology used to match the target population