The LAIR at East Texas A&M
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English Grammar Foundations
No full textEnglish Grammar for Undergraduate and Graduate students (Open Access
Virtual School Principals’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of Leadership Practices in the Virtual Environment: A Descriptive Qualitative Study
No full textAs the demand for virtual schools continues, understanding virtual school leaders’ practices essential to leading in the virtual environment can provide valuable insight to district leaders on how to properly prepare administrators and teachers of virtual campuses. The researcher examined existing literature of practices that lead to successful student performance, a positive campus culture, and effective strategic operations to highlight the need for a deeper understanding of essential leadership practices in the virtual environment. Previous research confirms that principals’ leadership practices look different in the virtual environment than in the in-person environment (Azukas, 2022; Gustafson & Haque, 2020). In this descriptive qualitative study, the researcher aimed to understand virtual school principals and virtual school teachers’ perceptions of essential leadership practices in the virtual environment. One-on-one, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four virtual school principals and six virtual school teachers. The findings emphasize the need for district leaders to have a more thorough understanding of the complexities involved in leading a virtual campus
Literacy Teacher Educators’ Knowledge About Developmental Dyslexia
No full textPreservice teachers cannot be adequately prepared for the classroom if literacy teacher educators lack the knowledge needed to address the needs of struggling readers. To prepare preservice teachers effectively, literacy teacher educators must have a strong understanding of the origin and prevalence of developmental dyslexia, its characteristics, the treatments and accommodations available, and methods for identification and diagnosis. Dyslexia is a widespread issue with approximately 32.4% of Americans experiencing some form of specific learning disability, and 85% of students have a reading-related disability (National Center for Education Statistics, 2022; International Dyslexia Association, 2017; Shaywitz et al., 2021; Wadlington & Wadlington, 2005). With as many as 1 in 5 elementary students struggling to read, teacher preparation programs must prioritize evidence-based training for supporting struggling readers.This study examined the scientific conceptions, misconceptions, and uncertainties of Texas literacy teacher educators regarding developmental dyslexia using the Dyslexia Knowledge Questionnaire-2 (Peltier et al., 2022). A total of 1,847 invitations were emailed to Texas preservice teacher educators from randomly selected Texas public and private universities, and 27 viable surveys were returned (1.46% response rate). Literacy teacher educators demonstrated the strongest knowledge in treatment and accommodations (61.5% correct). Identification and diagnosis emerged as the weakest area, with many responses reflecting uncertainty. Responses about dyslexia’s characteristics were evenly divided between accurate knowledge and misconceptions, and just under 60% demonstrated correct understanding of origin and prevalence. Total knowledge scores varied widely (−8 to 35), but participants with more training and higher confidence consistently scored better. Differences in knowledge were not statistically significant when comparing degree earned, years of experience, or certification status. These findings underscore the need for intentional, research-based professional development to strengthen literacy teacher educators’ knowledge and confidence. Equipping educators with accurate, evidence-based understanding is essential for preparing preservice teachers to recognize signs of dyslexia, initiate referrals, and implement effective interventions. Keywords: developmental dyslexia, teacher preparation, literacy teacher educators, conceptual change, scientific dyslexia conception
Knowledge Graph for Vulnerability Management
No full textAs software usage increases, so are cybersecurity threats, organizations are strug-gling to manage and prioritize vulnerabilities, as the number of new vulnerabilities de- tected per year is increasing rapidly. Traditional vulnerability management lacks inte- gration of the most interlinked security databases Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE), Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE), and Common Attack Pattern Enumera- tion and Classification (CAPEC). In this research, this study introduces a graph-model(semantic model) representa- tion of vulnerability knowledge which not only integrates the security databases provided by the MITRE, but also adds new inference knowledge using inference rules from knowl- edge graphs, which enables the organizations, security analysts to query the vulnerability data cumulatively, gaining complete insights of the vulnerability impact and prioritize it accordingly. Various research has been done to build an ontology, but no specific knowl- edge graph is currently available up to date to query and gain insights integrating the se- curity databases. This research explores the construction of knowledge graph using linked data frag- ments, which enable high availability of the server for querying at low costs. Experimental evaluation showed that the knowledge graph approach achieved a 68% decrease in average query execution time compared to traditional relational database queries, while also sup- v porting automated inference that uncovered over 15% more semantic relationships. Utiliz- ing the Linked Data Fragments (LDF) server further boosted scalability and kept resource usage low. Keywords: Vulnerability, CVE, CWE, Knowledge Graph
The Effect of Female Athlete Menstrual Cycles on Their Athletic Performance
No full textPrevious research studying the effects of the menstrual cycle on athletic performance has focused on women who do not participate in any athletic activity or participate at a recreational or professional level (Dupuit et al., 2023; Ekenros et al., 2022). Few studies have tested collegiate athletes and those which have examined theoretical effects or psychological impacts rather than direct performance outcomes (Carmichael et al., 2021). It is widely agreed upon that reproductive hormones have broad influences throughout the body including body composition, response to stress, appetite, energy expenditure, and blood-glucose regulation. These factors directly contribute to physiological abilities such as aerobic and anaerobic capacities, the ability to energize muscle cells, and muscle activation, all of which contribute to athletic performance, yet few studies have attempted to correlate them with specific phases of the menstrual cycle (Collado-Boira et al., 2021). This study aimed to answer how athletic performance is affected by the menstrual cycle and how the different menstrual phases influence performance outcomes. In order to evidence this correlation a series of 4 tests were repeated during each phase of the menstrual cycle and compared. It was found that athletic performance outcomes do vary in relation to menstrual cycle progression with rapid force generation, aerobic capacity, and anaerobic capacity all having optimal performance during the ovulatory phase, while muscular strength peaks during the luteal. However, due to the small sample size and limited examination window it is difficult to evidentially conclude that hormonal changes were the cause of differential performance. Therefore, additional research should expand upon this study in both size and scope
Vector Field Embedded Into Images, as Well as Into Gradient and Laplace Processed Images for Neural Networks Classification
No full textIn this thesis, we developed a vector field called and investigated its features when embedded into both original and modified images. We applied two operators for modifying images: gradient and Laplacian. We then applied vector field to original and modified images to generate singular points and study the differences between the singular points of a vector field embedded into two kinds images. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) were applied to classify both the original and embedded images across three public datasets: COIL-100, Fashion-MNIST, and Digit-MNIST. These datasets provided diverse testing environments: COIL-100 contains 2D images of 3D objects, Fashion-MNIST presents clothing items, and MNIST focuses on handwritten digits.The classification accuracy of the original databases and their embedded versions were evaluated with multiple statistical metrics and CNNs. The obtained results validated that the images with embedded vector field increased the machine learning statistics
Women in Period Costume
No full textA black and white negative of people in period costume to celebrate the centennial of East Texas State University. Linda King is pictured on the far left.https://lair.etamu.edu/scua-univ-photos-browse-all/2684/thumbnail.jp
Milk Composition Variability in Texas Dairy Farms Over Time
No full textThe composition of milk plays a vital role in determining the quality of dairy products. However, there has been limited research on how key milk components have changed over time in the diverse production regions of Texas. This thesis seeks to achieve two main goals: first, to quantify long-term trends from 2007 to 2022 in butterfat percentage, protein percentage, and somatic cell count (SCC) across the ten Texas Dairy Marketing regions, and second, to assess whether the differences observed in these indicators across regions are statistically significant. Data from the USDA Southwest Milk Marketing Area provided insights at the regional level regarding butterfat, protein, SCC, and total milk production. I analyzed descriptive statistics for each variable to examine regional variations in milk composition and average milk production per producer on a computer software called SAS. The results indicated that, on a statewide level, there has been a significant increase in butterfat and protein percentages, while SCC has decreased, which reflects improvements in overall milk quality. Despite a nearly 30% reduction in the number of producers, the average output per producer has risen, suggesting productivity gains through consolidation. The ANOVA results confirmed significant regional differences (p \u3c 0.05): the High Plains region consistently outperformed others in butterfat and protein yields while maintaining the lowest SCC, whereas regions like the Trans-Pecos showed slower improvements
The Impact of Quiet Quitting on University Students: A Phenomenological Investigation Providing Student Perspectives and Institutional Implications
No full textThis study explored the potential phenomena of quiet quitting in higher education among college students and how they approached their role as a student. The researcher sought to understand if the disconnect observed in current students resembled quiet quitting behaviors and to determine if there was a phenomenon beyond student disengagement. The research questions investigated whether a phenomenon was occurring among college students independent of disengagement, if college students engaged in behaviors indicative of quiet quitting, and if students perceived that quiet quitting had any impact on their educational outcomes such as grades, involvement, graduation, or job prospects. Data collection included responses to structured questions in a questionnaire and open-ended inquiries during interviews. Using a qualitative research design with a phenomenological study method, information was gathered through individual interviews with college students at East Texas A&M University. Five cluster sections emerged from the survey: emotions regarding university, transferring and delaying work, additional effort in studies, communication with students and professors, and disengagement. Five additional themes identified from the interviews included dissatisfaction with university practices, lack of negative and positive consequences, college as a career prerequisite, exhausted academic stamina, and connection to school. Based on foundational studies and the research collected through surveys and interviews, a prominent theme emerged among university students of this generation as they shifted their perspective of higher education from a place to gain knowledge beyond what secondary school could provide to a necessary experience that provides tools strictly for building a career
A Case Study: Crisis Response and Violence Prevention Programs at East Texas A&M University
No full textThis dissertation is a qualitative exploratory case study that examines the structure and level of awareness by students, faculty, staff, and administrators regarding crisis response and campus violence prevention programs and policies established and actively implemented at East Texas A&M University (ETAMU); formerly known as Texas A&M–Commerce. The research provides an understanding of the crisis response and violence prevention policies and procedures currently in place for the ETAMU campus community, and includes a baseline understanding of how well publicized the crisis response and violence prevention programs are to the campus community. The literature explores preventative and intervention methods for student aggression and campus violence at the post-secondary level. However, to conduct a comprehensive analysis, an investigation surrounding the historical and current perspectives and policies by primary and secondary level institutions is an important factor to consider. Much of the literature focuses exclusively on one of the two components, rather than how both parts are necessary for complete and effective crisis response procedures and violence prevention programs. The study design was chosen because the intent of the study was to explore the combination of crisis response protocols and violence prevention programs available on campus, and determine how they work together to combat campus violence. Participants, including faculty, staff, and students, were intentionally recruited for the study. Data were collected from several mediums, including interviews, educational materials physically located on campus, as well as materials available digitally on the university the website, myLeo Portal, and the Lion Safe App. Findings indicate that the university has strong established crisis response procedures and a heavy police presence, which promotes feelings of safety and security throughout campus. However, the knowledge of those procedures has not necessarily trickled down to the larger population of faculty, staff, and students. Additionally, student resources that aid in violence prevention are not freely available, or advertised extensively, to the general campus. Findings indicate those potentially valuable resources have been restricted to students who have been directly referred to access them. However, that does not appear to directly correlate to feelings of being less secure on campus