Utilizing Technology to Support Collaborative Problem-Solving of K-12 Students in STEM Education: A Multivariate Multi-level Meta-analysis

As classrooms in the 21st -century increasingly incorporate digital tools, educators and researchers have turned their attention to the promising potential of technology in enhancing essential competencies such as collaborative problem-solving (CPS) skills (OECD, 2017). CPS skills, including joint decision-making and coordinated problem resolution, are necessary for success in both academic and real-world contexts. While many studies have investigated individual problem-solving in technology-enhanced learning environments, the collaborative dimension remains underexplored (Graesser et al. 2018b). This dissertation addresses that gap by conducting a multivariate multi-level meta-analysis to examine the overall effects of technology use on K–12 students’ CPS skills in STEM education and to identify the instructional and learner-related variables that moderate these effects. A total of 23 empirical studies met the inclusion criteria, spanning a variety of educational technologies (e.g., simulations, games, collaborative platforms), grade levels, geographic contexts, and study designs. The analysis revealed a statistically significant and positive overall effect of technology use on CPS outcomes, indicating that digital interventions can support the development of collaborative competencies when implemented with intentional pedagogical design. Moderator analyses uncovered key trends. Structured and guided learning environments, including scaffolding, prompts, or scripts, tended to yield larger gains than minimally guided approaches, although differences across treatment types were not statistically significant. Interventions targeting cognitive outcomes showed the most reliable effects, while motivational and social outcomes demonstrated positive but less consistent gains. Studies incorporating teacher feedback yielded statistically significant gains, although the difference from interventions without feedback was insignificant. Learner- and context-related moderators also influenced outcomes: triads (3-member groups) demonstrated the most consistent benefits, and students with intermediate technology proficiency experienced statistically significant gains. Middle school learners showed the most reliable improvements, though all grade bands benefited. The study also applied the (M)UTOS framework to organize moderator variables across methodological, learner, treatment, outcome, and setting dimensions. This theory-driven approach enhanced the interpretability and conceptual clarity of the findings. While the study offers robust insights, limitations include the relatively small number of studies, variability in measurement instruments, and inconsistent reporting across primary sources. This dissertation contributes to the growing research on technology-enhanced collaborative learning by offering a quantitative synthesis and practical recommendations. It highlights the need for intentional instructional design, developmentally appropriate supports, and ongoing evaluation of technology integration. Recommendations for future research include examining emerging technologies such as AI-powered platforms, conducting longitudinal studies, and incorporating qualitative meta-syntheses to better understand students’ lived experiences in CPS contexts. Ultimately, this work aims to inform educators, instructional designers, and policymakers as they seek to foster meaningful collaboration through technology in K–12 STEM education

Development and Validation of the Mealtime Behaviors Self-Report Questionnaire

Disturbances in eating are a hallmark feature of eating disorders (EDs). However, these disturbances extend beyond dietary patterns, as clinicians have long observed aberrant mealtime behaviors in individuals with EDs. Despite these observations, research on aberrant mealtime behaviors has been limited to a small case study of individuals with anorexia nervosa. Clinically, however, individuals across all ED diagnoses appear to exhibit these behaviors. Notably, there is currently no existing measure designed to assess aberrant mealtime behaviors. Developing such an assessment could provide clinicians with valuable information to inform mealtime interventions. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the prevalence of aberrant mealtime behaviors across ED diagnoses and evaluate the psychometric properties of a newly developed mealtime behavior questionnaire in a sample of individuals with EDs (N = 498). A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Results indicated that the best-fitting model was an 18-item questionnaire with three factors. The questionnaire was significantly associated with ED psychopathology and behaviors, highlighting the clinical relevance of these mealtime patterns

Assessing Antiretroviral Therapy Prescribing Practices in New York State for Pregnant People Living with HIV

ABSTRACT Objective: The Panel on Treatment of HIV During Pregnancy and Prevention of Perinatal Transmission advises patient counseling to facilitate informed decision-making when evaluating changes in antiretroviral therapy (ART) during pregnancy and for patients to stay on suppressive regimens regardless of drug class. The purpose of this study was to investigate racial and ethnic disparities in the prescription of ‘preferred’ HIV drug regimens for pregnant people living with diagnosed HIV in New York State (NYS). This research also assessed whether prescribing practices for pregnant people on ART were consistent with Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) guidelines. Methods: A retrospective cohort study using NYS HIV Surveillance data from 2010 through 2019 was conducted to evaluate racial and ethnic disparities in prescribing practices of ART among pregnant people diagnosed with HIV. Data sources included 1) Maternal-Pediatric HIV Prevention and Care (MPPC) data, which contains abstracted prenatal, delivery, and newborn medical records, 2) Enhanced HIV/AIDS Reporting System (eHARS), and 3) New York Electronic HIV Management System (NYEHMS). A descriptive analysis was conducted to assess the distribution, variability, and missingness in the data among pregnant people diagnosed with HIV who were prescribed ART. A bivariate analysis utilizing chi-square tests was performed to examine the association between the prescription of ‘preferred’ ART and independent variables of interest, including race and ethnicity. A backward stepwise Poisson regression method with generalized estimating equations (GEE) was applied to model the relationship between race and ethnicity and the prescription of ‘preferred’ ART drugs. Results: Between January 2010 and December 2019, there were 4,183 live birth pregnancy events among people living with HIV. The final study population included 3,243 live birth pregnancy events from 2,520 pregnant people living with HIV. Over half of the pregnancy events (64.9%) included pregnant people prescribed ‘preferred’ ART regimens, while 35.1% included pregnant people prescribed ‘other’ ART regimens. In the bivariate analysis, Non-Hispanic Black [Risk Ratio (RR) 0.90; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.81-1.00], and Hispanic (RR 0.94; 95% CI 0.84-1.04) individuals were less likely than their Non-Hispanic White counterparts to be prescribed ‘preferred’ ART, but the difference was not statistically significant. In the multivariable analysis, receiving a ‘preferred’ ART regimen was associated with the year of delivery (adjusted Risk Ratio (adjRR) 0.97; 95% CI 0.96-0.98), prenatal care received in New York City (NYC) (adjRR 0.88; 95% CI 0.84-0.93), pregnancy events among pregnant individuals aged 40 years and older (adjRR 1.11; 95% CI 1.02-1.21), those on private insurance (adjRR 1.11; CI 1.01-1.24) or other forms of insurance (adjRR 1.22; 95% CI 1.08-1.37), those unsuppressed at their first viral load laboratory visit after conception (adjRR 1.22; 95% CI 1.16-1.29), and those diagnosed with HCB or HCV during pregnancy (adjRR 1.14; 95% CI 1.02-1.27). All these associations were statistically significant at an alpha level \u3c 0.05. Conclusion: Approximately two-thirds (65%) of the study population were prescribed ‘preferred’ ART, indicating a high compliance with DHHS guidelines. In addition, no significant associations were identified between race and/or ethnicity and the prescription of a ‘preferred’ ART regimen. The APR is a primary source of information on current antiretroviral therapies for maternal use employed by the Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents that monitors prenatal exposures to all marketed antiretroviral drugs for potential birth defect risks (Gliklich et al., 2014). Greater opportunities to advance treatment of pregnant people living with HIV can be achieved with improved prenatal conception care and greater awareness and use of the Antiretroviral Pregnancy Registry

Embracing the Unmanageable: The Critique of the Everyday and the Postwar Condition in Wallace Stevens’ and Robert Duncan’s Works circa 1950

My thesis is designed as an investigation of the ethical and political implications of the everyday in postwar American poetry. While recent scholarship of everyday life studies has clarified the centrality of the everyday or the ordinary to modernism and postwar literature, it does not elaborate enough on the impact of the political condition on literary expressions of everyday life in post-1945 period. Given U.S. military’s infiltration into everyday life of people living inside and outside the country after World War II, it is an important task to spotlight the way American postwar poets tackled U.S. war culture through their expressions of everyday life. Therefore, building on everyday life studies, Cold War studies, and studies of pragmatism, my thesis focuses on the works of two white American male poets—Wallace Stevens and Robert Duncan—circa 1950, when the United States was escalating its military commitments on a global scale. I demonstrate how Stevens’ concept of “the ordinary” and Duncan’s concept of “life” provide a key to understanding their efforts to examine the postwar condition through their meditations on the connection between everyday life at home and war abroad. With their respective projects’ strengths and limitations in mind, I argue that their expressions of the everyday give rise to a new idea of community and public space. My analysis will ultimately bring to the fore the significance of everyday life in postwar poetry as a topos by which one can reflect on war culture from one’s own personal perspective

The First Amendment on Trial: Hate Speech, Free Speech and College Campuses

This thesis examines the tension between the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and the harmful impact of hate speech on college campuses. As incidents of targeted, discriminatory rhetoric rise in academic settings, the need to reevaluate what constitutes protected speech has become increasingly urgent. Through legal analysis, including case law such as Brandenburg v. Ohio and Schenck v. United States, this paper argues that the Supreme Court must distinguish between constitutionally protected speech and harmful hate speech. The thesis uses contemporary case studies from college campuses across the country. It includes firsthand accounts from the University at Albany to demonstrate how hate speech, particularly racially and religiously motivated rhetoric, has compromised students’ emotional, psychological, and physical safety. It critiques the inaction of the Supreme Court and compares American policy to Canada’s precedent in R. v. Keegstra, suggesting that legal definitions and limitations on hate speech are both necessary and possible. The paper concludes by calling for the Supreme Court to modernize its interpretation of the First Amendment to ensure that free speech no longer enables discrimination and harassment in academic spaces

Limitations of the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh Gust Algorithm

ABSTRACT: Accurate wind and gust forecasts are crucial in operational meteorology, yet there is a distinct gap in the literature regarding the verification of operational gust forecasts. In the present work, we assess the performance of the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh\u27s (HRRR) gust potential, verifying it against the Automated Surface Observing System\u27s (ASOS) observed gusts across the Continental United States (CONUS). The HRRR gust\u27s diurnal cycle reveals a significant underprediction of the gust during daylight hours and a slight overprediction of the gust during hours of darkness. The daytime underprediction undermines the assumption that forecasts represent a potential that tends to overpredict the gust. These underpredictions result from the gust algorithm\u27s failure to appropriately respond to surface roughness and dominant land-use type. Each vegetation type, including its associated surface roughness, is found to have a distinct relationship with the observed gust that is not reflected in the forecasts. We also question the gust algorithm\u27s reliance on planetary boundary layer (PBL) diagnostics. It is found that no relationship exists between the predicted PBL height and that of the forecast gust while one does exist with the observed gust. We also consider possible replacements or additions to the PBL diagnostics, such as sensible heat flux and surface lapse rate. Both predicted sensible heat fluxes and unstable lapse rates have a moderate negative correlation with gust forecast bias, suggesting they have information that can be used to improve the algorithm. The result of this work is an understanding of the limitations of the current algorithm so that a new and better one can be implemented

Towards Human Explainable Digital Forensics: Generating Human Interpretable Evidence for Semantic Understanding in Manipulated Images and Text

Detecting and characterizing manipulations in digital media continues to pose a significant challenge within the field of digital forensics. Despite notable advancements, the discipline often remains in a reactive stance against emerging threats. Current state-of-the-art methods, typically evaluated within academic settings, fails to mirror the complexities of real-world disinformation scenarios. These methods generally prioritize high performance based on quantitative metrics, yet they demonstrate a considerable dependency on training data and lack adaptability to new novel attack signatures. With the rapid evolution of attack methodologies, the dependency on highly accurate models that do not generalize or adapt well to unseen threats proves inadequate for safeguarding today\u27s media landscape. We propose that the forensic community reevaluate methodological design from a threat assessment perspective. Approaches that prioritize explainability, adaptability, and independence from specific data sets are crucial as a primary line of defense. If new disinformation signatures remain undetected, defending against them becomes a formidable challenge. We advocate for a shift within the community towards developing models capable of producing actionable evidence that semantically explains the rationale behind identified manipulations. This shift is imperative as machine learning models become increasingly accessible to the public and all future media inevitably incorporates some synthetic elements. Identifying whether such alterations pose a semantic threat through a comprehensive threat assessment framework is essential to maintaining the integrity of the media we consume

Friend or Foe: Exploring the Biological Function of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis RecA Intein

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the leading source of death due to a single infectious agent, and increasingly drug resistant strains threaten to quash progress in battling tuberculosis (TB) disease. Three of Mtb’s genes, the iron-sulfur cluster assembly protein sufB, the DNA gyrase dnaB and the recombinase recA, have been invaded by an intervening protein, or intein. Inteins are translated in frame with their host gene. The resulting precursor consists of the intein flanked by each half of the invaded protein, termed the N- and C-exteins (NE and CE). This hybrid protein is non-functional until the intein splices itself out, with concomitant ligation of the NE and CE to produce mature host protein, also called ligated exteins (LE). Splicing is coordinated by two catalytic residues: the first residue of the intein, which can be a cysteine or serine, and the first residue of the CE, which can be a cysteine, serine or threonine. In addition to productive splicing, off-pathway cleavage products can occur when the NE or CE are liberated (also called N-terminal or C-terminal cleavage: NTC and CTC respectively). Inteins were thought to be mobile genetic parasites that provided no benefit to the host, but recent evidence suggest that this paradigm is untrue for some inteins. Rather, they act as important post-translational regulators of their host proteins, generally by splicing in response to specific environments such as pH, temperature, or DNA damage. The RecA protein is an important hub for two DNA repair pathways: 1) as a regulator for the SOS DNA repair response, which has been implicated in generation of drug resistance, and 2) as the driver of homologous recombination, the high-fidelity double-strand break repair pathway. Mtb RecA is provided with a unique opportunity for post-translational regulation through the intein, which is specific to Mtb complex mycobacteria. Despite being the first bacterial intein discovered and well-studied in vitro using non-native expression systems, the role the Mtb RecA intein plays in Mtb biology is unknown. I leveraged the non-essentiality of Mtb’s recA to study the impact of the recA intein on regulation and production of RecA protein in Mtb. I followed RecA species production in various conditions (LE, intein and NE) via western blot analysis, and recA transcription via a green fluorescent protein-based recA transcriptional reporter. DNA damaging therapeutics mitomycin C and ofloxacin increased the amount of recA transcription, RecA splicing and NE production. Non-DNA damaging therapeutics isoniazid and rifampicin did not increase transcription, splicing or NTC. Treatment of cells grown in hypoxia impacted RecA splicing and NTC. Copper, a heavy metal used as an antimicrobial by macrophages, had no effect on RecA in ambient air conditions, but increased splicing and decreased NTC in hypoxia. Cisplatin, a chemotherapeutic that has been suggested as a potential splicing inhibitor and anti-Mtb therapeutic, had no effect on RecA in ambient air, but increased splicing in hypoxic conditions. This is the first report of NTC of a WT intein in its native environment and notably, NTC was affected by various conditions. I explored if NTC was biologically important. The NE retains all features needed to activate the SOS response: the ssDNA binding motifs, ATP binding motifs, interfaces for multimerization with other RecA monomers, and the key residues for activating cleavage of the SOS transcriptional repressor, LexA. By using western blot analysis, I found that the NE retained LexA-activating capability when heterologously expressed in E. coli. Interestingly, unspliced RecA precursor was not detected in Mtb under any environment tested, including those, such as copper and cisplatin, that inhibit RecA splicing in vitro. This runs counter to the initial paradigm that post-translational regulation by an intein would involve producing a pool of precursor protein, which could then have splicing triggered by specific environmental signals. RecA precursor was only detectable in Mtb when one or both catalytic cysteine residues were mutated, suggesting rapid splicing of the WT RecA intein. Rapid splicing was specific to the Mtb RecA intein, as splicing of a second Mycobacterial RecA intein, intein B, did not occur when expressed in Mtb. Rapid splicing of intein B could be induced by moving intein B to the position of the Mtb RecA intein. I also provide preliminary data on recA regulation in hypoxic air conditions and non-replicating persister populations, and how RecA may interact with the NucS mismatch repair system. These results provide the first evidence of how the Mtb RecA intein impacts regulation of RecA, and that regulation of the Mtb RecA intein in Mtb proper differs from previous in vitro results

Non-profit Hospital Spending on Community Health Improvement: Catalysts, Impediments, and Opportunities in New York State

This dissertation assesses the distribution and determinants of spending by non-profit hospitals in New York State on community health improvement services and community benefit operations. Utilizing the Social Ecological Model of Health, this study considers multiple levels of influence on this spending, including organizational and community characteristics. Using quantitative analysis, it examines cross-sectional, spatial, and longitudinal patterns in spending and identifies organizational and community-level factors influencing it. Qualitative analysis investigates operational factors affecting spending, including individual and interpersonal influences. The results of this mixed-methods study can inform hospital administrators, public health officials, policymakers, and communities in optimizing policies and decision-making to better support public health and health care in New York State

Benjamin’s estranged Heim

This paper examines Walter Benjamin\u27s engagement with the motif of Heim (home) as it interweaves with his intellectual and personal experiences during the early 1920s. Through an analysis of Benjamin’s writings and correspondence, including his plans for the journal Angelus Novus and reflections on his friendship with Fritz Heinle, the study explores Heim as both a real and rhetorical space. Initially conceived as an idealized site of intellectual and spiritual communion, Heim is transformed by personal tragedy and historical crisis into an unattainable, speculative ideal—a rhetorical atopos. This evolution parallels Benjamin’s philosophical pursuit of “pure language” and his reimagining of translation as a generative act in the face of catastrophe. By situating Heim within Benjamin’s broader philosophical and political tensions, this paper argues that his work reflects a yearning for new forms of community while grappling with the irreducible fragmentation of language, memory, and belonging