Dissertations

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This collection consists of digital copies of doctoral theses submitted for degree at the colleges and departments of the Wichita State University. The collection includes dissertations beginning of spring 2005.

The complete set of all WSU dissertations may be found in the WSU Library Catalog. University Libraries has two paper copies of each dissertation submitted before 2006.

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The latest addition to this collection is dissertations defended in summer 2023

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 721
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    Modeling the melt pool during powder bed fusion additive manufacturing
    (Wichita State University, 2023-12) Murray, Ann Marie; Lu, Tianshi
    In powder bed fusion additive manufacturing properties of the melt pool are of deep interest to ensure the structure of the nal product is as desired. Speci cally of concern in this work is estimating the melt pool with regards to width and depth considering also maximum temperature. Because analytic estimation formulas require simpli ed assumptions, OpenFOAM is used to numerically simulate the melt pool as well. The approximation formulas are compared to the numerical simulations and experiment data to validate.
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    An investigation into cyano substituted polypyrazolylborate complexes of palladium, platinum and iron
    (Wichita State University, 2023-12) Oberley, Alan Joseph; Eichhorn, David M.
    Polypyrazolylborates, also known as scorpionates, have been important ligands in inorganic chemistry since their introduction in the 1960s by Trofimenko. Our research group has been working with cyanopyrazoles, which have a CN subsituent in the 4-position, and alkyl or aryl substituents at the 3-position, or 3-and 5-positions. Reactions of palladium and platinum with Tp and Bp scorpionates have produced pyrazole complexes of interest, which were subsequently synthesized rationally. While no scorpionate complexes were completely characterized, the pyrazole complexes give information about the effects of the cyano group on the structure of compounds, especially when compared to similar compounds without the cyano substituent. Two new iron(II) cyanoscorpionates, $(Tp^{Cypr,4CN})_2Fe$ and $(Tp^{Ethyl,4CN})_2Fe,$ were synthesized, isolated, and characterized. These complexes are the first non-isomerized iron(II) cyanoscorpionates. These both are high spin at room temperature, and appear to be high spin down to 100K. Comparison to similar non-cyano compounds gives insight to the effect of the CN substituent on the structural, magnetic, and electronic properties.
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    The impact of extradyadic relationship participation on trust and cooperation
    (Wichita State University, 2023-12) Moroney, Krystal J.; Clark, C. Brendan
    The purpose of this project was to examine the relationship between extradyadic behavior (EDB) and its behavioral economic and moral correlates. Literature on extradyadic behavior currently depends on self-report data which may lead to bias in reports. Due to the high prevalence of EDB and EDB’s negative impact on romantic relationships, many mental health professionals have patients who have engaged in or been victims of EDB. No studies to date have evaluated the behavioral economic or moral correlates of EDB. This study selected measures of relationship history, personality, moral beliefs, and behavioral economic games (i.e., The Prisoner’s Dilemma, The Trust Game) which were administered over videoconferencing. Performance on moral belief measures and behavioral economic games were compared between Midwestern University students who reported history of EDB and students who denied history of EDB. This study also explored whether performance on behavioral games differed between students who reported being a victim of EDB compared to students who denied victimhood. The results of this study found that performance on behavioral games did not differ based on history of EDB engagement or victimhood of EDB. There was also no significant relationship between moral beliefs and EDB engagement. Based on these findings, it will be important for future studies to address limitations of this study, including unexpected low self-report of EDB engagement and high levels of cooperation. It will also be important to explore other correlates of EDB engagement
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    An analysis of online law enforcement decision-making training and human performance research practices with law enforcement interactive video-based simulators
    (Wichita State University, 2023-12) Scott, Dakota; Suss, Joel
    This dissertation was based on a larger research effort—comprising a pretest, training intervention, and a posttest—with the main goal of testing a training intervention (i.e., cognitive-skills-training program) designed to develop adaptive expertise in law enforcement. This dissertation focused on several key aspects of the larger research effort—split into three studies. The first study was a scoping review that investigated the challenges and decisions researchers face when using an interactive video-based simulator (e.g., scenario selection, ratio of shoot/don’t-shoot scenarios). Forty-one articles met the inclusion criteria. Researchers often did not report their use of branching scenarios and scenario selection methods, potentially affecting research validity and generalizability, while many studies emphasized shoot scenarios over don’t-shoot scenarios, which may have unintentionally primed officers towards unrealistic use of deadly force. The second study assessed how firearm positioning during spontaneous-style attacks with an interactive video-based simulator—based on data from the pretest phase—impacted officers’ response time and accuracy. Through video analysis, the position of firearm immediately prior to the attack was coded. Officers who had their firearm in a drawn position have the potential to increase their survivability compared to officers who did not have their hand on their holstered firearm. However, there were no differences in accuracy based on firearm position. The third study compared two styles of cognitive-skills-training (i.e., cognitive vs. tactical) through analysis of officers’ responses to common questions, including their thoughts, attention management, perceptions of force, decision-making process, and main takeaways from a series of police–citizen encounters. The asynchronous delivery and the contents of the training intervention did result in successful and complementary mental model development for both training groups.
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    Innovative approaches to enhance student learning in chemistry laboratories: An independent study conducted in three distinct parts on solvatochromism, virtual reality and python programing applications
    (Wichita State University, 2023-12) Shahryari, Elaheh; Mitchell-Koch, Katie R.
    This dissertation is a three-component exploration into educational strategies aimed at enhancing student engagement and learning in chemistry courses. The first chapter proposes that we can significantly enhance students' understanding of complex phenomena such as solute-solvent interactions and solvatochromism. Utilizing the theoretical results and engaging in detailed experiments, students are anticipated to observe changes in the UV-Vis spectrum, vibrations frequency from FTIR and bond length of the carbonyl group (C=O) due to varying solvent polarities for Betanine 30 (B30) and Michler's Ketone (MK). The second chapter of this dissertation delves into the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) as an innovative approach to improve learning outcomes in chemistry lab experiments. In the process, we assess VR's effectiveness as a learning tool compared to traditional 2D video and conventional teaching methods to enhance comprehension of the titration process, increased confidence in burette reading, and improved accuracy in ascertaining the concentration of an unknown HCl solution. Chapter three of this dissertation focuses on coding programming to undergraduate students in physical chemistry classes. We believe that Python will help students understand programming better and use it for data analysis and visualization. We hope to see students get a deeper understanding of complex chemistry concepts, build their confidence, and answer difficult questions, like those about the Schrödinger equation. Ultimately, we believe that if students perform better on ACS exam questions, it shows that our teaching methods are effective in helping students understand complicated chemical concepts.


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