The National University System Repository exists to increase public access to research and other materials created by students and faculty of the affiliate institutions of National University System. Most items in the repository are open access, freely available to everyone.
Recent Submissions
Item Secondary Traumatic Stress and the Lived Experiences of Secondary Victims(2026-04)The problem addressed in this study was the negative impact of secondary traumatic stress on interpersonal relationships and the lack of perceived support for victims of STS post-trauma. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of STS victims, the perceived effects of secondary traumatic stress on relationships, and the victims’ perceptions of available support. Bowen’s family systems theory was used as the framework to examine how traumatic stress impacts the entire family unit. The study was guided by 3 research questions: 1. What are the lived experiences of those suffering from STS after learning of a primary victim’s trauma? 2. How do those who suffer from STS experience changes in interpersonal relationships? and 3. How do those suffering from STS feel about specific barriers to seeking the appropriate support post-trauma? Ten participants who experienced STS symptoms, had a close family member that was a primary victim of trauma, had no primary trauma in the last five years and no experience in the mental healthcare field were recruited using purposeful sampling. Those qualifying participation in semi-structured, open ended interviews, giving the researcher the opportunity to get the best possible understanding of their lived experiences. Utilizing Moustaka’s transcendental analysis approach, results revealed 7 codes that were grouped into 8 themes supporting current research on STS and relationships. Findings showed the majority of participants experienced a deterioration in their personal relationships as well as symptoms of depression and anxiety. Additionally, participants reported a lack of perceived support post-trauma. This study implies the important role perception plays in the lives and family relationships of the SVs post-trauma. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations for practice include promoting support for secondary victims in addition to the primary victims. Additionally, support sessions should also focus on the entire family unit in addition to the PV. Future research should narrow the scope on the SVs relationships outside the family unit as well as focus on the differences gender or sexual orientation play in changes in relationships post-trauma.Item Addressing Accessibility Barriers in Online Learning: A DDR Model Use Study Augmenting the R2D2/C3PO Model(2025-08)Creating accessible online courses starts with accessibility in mind, but addressing barriers to online learning represents a challenge for educators. The problem addressed in this study is that online educators and instructional designers experienced challenges with accessibility guidelines and their application when creating usable, accessible, and inclusive online courses due to limited and differing guidance at various levels. The purpose of this qualitative design and development model use case study was to enhance the existing R2D2/C3PO instructional design model by integrating accessibility strategies across all eight model components. The study involved 10 participants: six instructional designers and four accessibility experts. A purposeful sampling technique was used, supplemented by snowball sampling and an internet volunteer sample. An iterative three-phase approach—analyze, design, development, and evaluation, was implemented to address the three research questions. Data collection occurred iteratively among these phases through document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and a model accessibility enhancement questionnaire. The iterative analysis was conducted using NVivo and included a deductive thematic analysis using a predetermined list of start codes, an inductive thematic analysis, and a descriptive analysis using Excel for the ranking. The enhanced R2D2/C3PO/A model was iteratively developed and refined using expert feedback from the data collection and the themes generated. A final focus group and a nominal group technique were utilized to validate the model. The results indicated that a revised version of the R2D2/C3PO model, augmented to the R2D2/C3PO/A model, was successfully created, incorporating accessibility strategies for each model component. The experts' perspectives were pivotal in defining these strategies, which were further validated through a focus group and nominal group technique. The final model provides practical, actionable steps for integrating accessibility into the instructional design process and addressing many learner needs. This study's findings have significant implications for improving accessibility in various educational contexts, including K-12, higher education, and corporate training. The R2D2/C3PO/A model offers institutions a framework for embedding accessibility throughout the course development process, with recommendations for professional development. The recommendations for future research include exploring this model in real-world course design, gathering learner feedback, particularly from individuals with disabilities, to assess its effectiveness in removing barriers.Item Enhancing Aircraft Type Matching Across Data Sources Using Entity Resolution(2026-03)This study addresses the challenge of merging aviation safety data from diverse sources that lack shared identifiers, which limits the ability to combine safety events and utilization information for risk assessment. Inconsistent aircraft type representations make it difficult to align records across systems at scale. The purpose of this constructive research study was to develop and evaluate an aircraft type entity matching capability that supports normalization to a common aircraft type reference representation. A manually curated gold dataset was constructed by mapping aircraft type taxonomies from the Federal Aviation Administration and the International Civil Aviation Organization. Using this labeled dataset, a deterministic baseline matcher was implemented using feature similarity scoring and thresholding. Then, a deep learning matcher was trained using a transformer-based pairwise classification approach that serializes record fields into a textual representation. Experiments evaluated negative sampling strategies, schema variation across sources, and multi-source union training. Performance was assessed on held-out test partitions and a top-1 linkage selection strategy. In-domain transfer was assessed on additional “dirty” aviation datasets using make-constrained candidate generation, manual audits, and a fully labeled Bureau of Transportation Statistics case to quantify transfer versus source-specific fine-tuning. Results showed that the deep learning approach outperformed the deterministic baseline, remained effective under schema variation, and showed promising transfer behavior. The findings indicate that deep learning approaches provide a practical foundation for aircraft type normalization across heterogeneous sources, enabling cross-source safety analyses that were previously difficult to conduct. Future work should prioritize automated blocking and standardization, broader labeling for additional in-domain sources, and systematic study of negative candidate selection under deployment-like candidate distributions.Item Supporting Neurodivergent Children and Youth Through Affirming Practices(2026-05-01)The focus of this capstone project explores the application of neurodiversity-affirming practices in counselling and education settings with the goal of providing support to neurodivergent children and youth. A neurodiversity-affirming approach will be discussed through a literature review to address the research question: How does using a neurodiversity-affirming approach help to promote positive mental health and academic performance in neurodivergent children and youth? Traditional views of neurodevelopmental differences have used a deficit-based model which focuses primarily on creating normalcy and behavioural compliance. In contrast, the neurodiversity paradigm conceptualizes neurological variation as a range of natural ways in which humans can function. Additionally, it emphasizes the environmental and systemically based influences on the experiences of neurodivergent individuals. A synthesis of current literature from the fields of counselling and education was done to explore how neuroaffirming practices can be applied in various contexts. Important results of these studies indicated that the establishment of relational safety, strengths-based approaches, epistemological humility and flexible environments were important support for neurodivergent children’s self-regulation, identity development, and ability to participate meaningfully. The results of this research propose a neuroaffirming social story that can assist children in learning about what it means to be neurodivergent, and develop supportive environments for them through clinical, academic, and familial settings.Item Restoring the Body's Rythym: Polyvagal Theory and the Healing Potential of Yoga for Trauma(2026-03-17)Trauma is increasingly understood as embodied and neurophysiological in nature, characterized by impaired autonomic and emotional regulation, a reduced sense of safety and connection, and physiological and body-based impairments. This capstone examines the integration of polyvagal theory (PVT) and yoga as frameworks for understanding and supporting embodied trauma healing. This project is guided by two questions: How does PVT deepen therapeutic understandings of yoga as an embodied intervention for trauma healing? And how might an integrative framework support autonomic regulation, a sense of safety, and embodied healing in trauma affected individuals? Through critical review and synthesis of relevant literature, this capstone suggests that both PVT and yoga are strong frameworks for understanding and supporting trauma recovery from both a neurophysiological and embodied lens. There is a significant convergence between PVT and yoga; both frameworks share a trauma-informed emphasis on regulation, safety, and embodied awareness. While yoga literature describes the healing capabilities of experiential body-based practices, it lacks articulation of neurophysiological mechanisms. PVT provides a framework for understanding the neurophysiology of trauma and offers an interpretive lens for embodied trauma healing, yet this theory only very recently encompassed applied interventions. Building on these understandings, this capstone presents a restorative, polyvagal and trauma informed yoga practice as an applied contribution. This integrative approach positions yoga within an applicable neurophysiological framework that grounds its therapeutic potential and clinical relevance in trauma recovery.
Communities in National University System Repository
Select a community to browse its collections.