At Minnesota State University, Mankato, every graduate student completes a capstone for their program. Most programs include a thesis/dissertation or alternative plan paper (APP) option, but many programs provide other capstone opportunities.
This is a collection of theses submitted by graduate students from various programs.
A thesis is an extensive original research paper resulting in a significant contribution to new knowledge.
Theses/Dissertations from 2012
Program Notes for a Graduate Recital in Piano, Amy Jun Ming Chin
Health Care Providers' Intention to Provide Culturally Competent Health Care to Somali Based Upon the Indirect Measures of the Integrated Behavioral Model, Amanda Kaye Ciesinski
Identifying Organizational Factors that Moderate the Engagement-Turnover Relationship in a Healthcare Setting, Stevie Ann Collini
Adult Children's Perceptions Of Critical Caregiving Conversations With Their Aging Parents: A Pilot Study, Wendy S. Cregg
Connecting Future Teachers to Study Abroad, Kyle John Crimi
Manning Up: A look at Women in the Military and their Sense of Self, Kari Elizabeth Davis
Memory Priming in Elderly Individuals Diagnosed with Dementia, Jessica Lee Deselms
A Case Study of Four High School ESL Students' Oral Reading Fluency and Affect, Katie Devaney
In-Depth Analysis and Program Notes on a Selection of Wind Band Music, Benjamin James Druffel
Organizational Wellness Programs: Who Participates and Does it Help?, Justin Michael Dumond
The BackPack Food Program's Effects on Self-Reported Hunger and On-Task Behavior, Meghan E. Ecker
Effective Pedometer Programs: Determining the Motivational Factors Primarily Responsible for the Physical Activity Increases being made by Participants, Britne Engelking
Coping with Economic Stressors: Religious and Non-Religious Strategies for Managing Psychological Distress, Jonathan Karl Feil
We're "Fed" Up and Tea'd Off: Frame Analysis of the Tea Party Movement, Daniel Peter Flaaen
The Creation and Validation of a Pilot Selection System for a Midwestern University Aviation Department, Jacob William Forsman
The National Survey of Student Engagement as a Predictor of Academic Success, Paul Michael Fursman
Relationship Between Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents, Joshua Ganz
Middle School Student Perceptions of Teacher and Adult Caring Behaviors, Jonathon William Graff
Perceptions of a Text-Based SJT versus an Animated SJT, Amanda Helen Halabi
The Impact of Dakota Missions on the Development of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, Daphne D. Hamborg
Exploring the Two-Year College Faculty Work Experience: The Active Job, the Evolving Institution and the Changing Effort-Reward Bargain, Jacobs Wayne Hammond
Investigation into the Usability of Micromechanical Models to Predict the Behavior of a Nanocomposite Polymer, Jason Handlogten
Who Needs a Plow-Zone? Using a Common Site Mapping Method in a New Way at the Silvernale Site (21GD03), Kyle Gary Harvey
Communication Effectiveness and the Emerald Ash Borer Mitigation Campaign, Jonathon Heide
An Exploratory Study of a User's Facebook Security and Privacy Settings, Brandon Charles Hoffmann
An Examination of the Social Acceptability of Elderspeak by College Students and Community Dwelling Older Adults, Kasie Lynn Hummel
Vestige, Gina Hunt
Zen Communication - A Cross Cultural Approach to Mindfulness, Appropriate Response, and Flow in Dyadic Interactions, Gregory Husak
Determining Musical Preferences in Persons with Dementia: Comparing Caregiver Options to Stimulus Preference Assessment, Eva Christine Igler
The Moderating Effects of Work Control and Leisure Control on the Recovery-Strain Relationship, Jason Nicholas Jaber
Exploration of Weight Gain in Female Breast Cancer Survivors, Mary Kay Johnson
The Relationship Between Religiosity & Selected Health Behaviors of African Americans of the Pentecostal Faith, Caprice Jones-Agunbiade
The Intercontinental Railway Project, Jeremy Joseph Kaler
The Role Social Influence Has On Dormitory Residents' Responses to Fire Alarms, Michael Otting Leytem
Identifying Patient's Reasons or Rationales for Choosing to Skip or Shorten Hemodialysis, Linda Marie Lindberg
Search for an Interlocutor in Carmen Martin Gaite's Short Stories and Novels, Mark Lindberg
The Impact of Culture, Industry Type, and Job Relevance on Applicant Reactions, Olivia Martin
Exploring Gerotranscendence and How it Relates to Depression and Attitudes about Death, Adam Duane Massmann
Spring-Block Models of Earthquake Dynamics, Ashley E. McCall
"What's That Noise?": Paying Attention to Perception, Excess, and Meta-Art in David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp, Christopher McCarthy
Effect of Low Maternal Aldosterone on Offspring Cardiovascular Development, Travis Dean McKee
Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk: Do a Federal Agency's Women-Centered Services Match a Women-Centered Organizational Culture?, Sally Anne McShane
Someone Who Understands: The Effect of Support on Law Enforcement Officers Exposed to Disturbing Media, Jessica Morales
Trust in the Mentor-Youth Relationship and its Correlates with Frequency of Contact, Parental Involvement, and Academic Improvements, Emily Jane Ness
The Effects of Task Ambiguity and Individual Differences on Personal Internet Use at Work, Hitoshi Nishina
Comparing AI Archetypes and Hybrids Using Blackjack, Robert Edward Noonan
Teaching Children How to Like Balanced Meals, Harumi Norasakkunkit
"I Could Kill You Quite Easily, Bella, Simply by Accident": Violence and Romance in Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" Saga, Samantha Amber Oakley
The Hyperactive Fan: Characteristics of Online Fantasy Football Players, Christopher Patera
Older, Wiser, Novice: An Autoethnographic Study of Nontraditional Students' Participation in Collegiate Forensics, Laura Kathleen Pelletier
Struggling While Managing Chronic Illness, Amy M. Perkins
Theatre of the Oppressed: Transitioning Feminist Pedagogy from Theory to Praxis, Megan Mary Rae
Trap Efficiency of a Silted Prairie Reservoir: Rapidan Reservoir, Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Katherine Brosch Rassmussen
Tying It All Together: An Autoethnographic Exploration of LGBTQ Forensic Competitors, Alyssa Barrie Reid
Grave Exclamations: An Analysis of Tombstones and Their Use as Narrative of Self, Lacey Jae Ritter
The Family Experience of Participating in an ICU Support Group: A Pilot Study, Rebecca Marie Scharpe
Perceptions of Risk Associated with Unintended Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections among University Women attending Minnesota State University, Mankato, Jessica Maria Seide
The Health Impacts of Nursing Shift Work, Amanda Maria Cason Shandor
Deviant Desires: Gender Resistance in Romantic Friendships Between Women during the Late-Eighteenth and Early-Nineteenth Centuries in Britain, Sophie Jade Slater
I Had an Abortion: Midwest Women, Stigma and Disclosure, Katie Stack
Nurses' Knowledge of Heart Failure Education Topics at a Regional Midwestern Hospital, Catherine Joy Standfuss
The Effect of Exercise on Endothelin and Endothelin Receptor Levels in SHR and WKY Male and Female Rats, Lacey Stiller
College Age Female Smokers and the Efficacy of Smoking Cessation on College Campuses, Gretchen Suzanne Strobel
La mentira como una estrategia de cortesía verbal: estudio pragmalinguístico de la telenovela La Saga, Maria Carolina Torres
A Feminist Content Analysis of Seventeen Magazine, Brittany Marie Trimble
Mental Illness and Stigmatization, Struther Louise Van Horn
Forensics and the Basic Communication Course: A New Path to Satisfying Learning Outcomes, Benjamin Walker
"I Now Pronounce You...Uhh": A Qualitative Autoethnographic Exploration of Women's and Men's Marital Surname-Choice Experiences, Julie Louceil Germain Walker
"Not Our Population to Serve": An Examination of Resources for Women with Physical Disabilities Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence, Kristen Lea Walters
Influences of Adjacent Land-Use on Avian Community Structure in Sub-Boreal Peatlands of the Midwest, Lucas J. Wandrie
Access and Barriers to Diabetic Self Care Education and Support Groups in a Rural Southern Minnesota Community, Elizabeth Waters
The Roles of Self-Efficacy and Self-Deception in Cheating on Unproctored Internet Testing, Christopher Adam Wedge
Refugee and Immigrant Services: An Investigation of Social Service Organization's Mission and Intercultural Interactions, Bethany J. Wenell
Negotiating the Ideological Boundaries of "The Four Freedoms": An Analysis of African American Rhetoric from World War II, Jansen Blake Werner
Electronic Portfolios as Job Search Tools: Perspectives from Students, Career Counselors, and Human Resource Professionals, Emily Werschay
Deconstructing "Chappelle's Show": Race, Masculinity,and Comedy As Resistance, Lyndsey Lynn Wetterberg
The Effectiveness Of An Incentivized Program To Increase Daily Fruit And Vegetable Dietary Intake By Low Income, Middle-Aged Women, Rebecca White
Effect of Process-Oriented Guided-Inquiry Learning on Non-Majors Biology Students' Understanding of Biological Classification, Breann Marie Wozniak
Theses/Dissertations from 2011
Assessing Transfer Student Performance, Hyderhusain Shakir Abadin
Evaluation of a Health Newsletter Intended for SagePlus Participants, Karen Lynn Anderson
Evaluation of the SagePlus Steps Program to Promote Physical Activity and Decrease Cardiovascular Risk in Low-Income Women, Callie Anne Avis
Determining a Patient Recovery from a Total Knee Replacement Using Fuzzy Logic and Active Databases, Robert Azarbod
Nonmetric Trait Correlation: A Look at Environmental and Biological Influences on Third Trochanter Formation Among Pre-Contact Upper Midwest Populations, Sarah Jean Binkley
Should You Hire fluffybunny61@yahoo.com?: An Analysis of Job Applicants' Email Addresses and their Scores on Pre-Employment Assessments, Evan Blackhurst
Defining Success: Examining What it Means to be Good in Forensics, David J. Brennan
Evaluating Changes in Families with Members on Military Deployment, Jill Brink
Floristic and Environmental Characteristics of Sub-boreal Peatlands of Minnesota and Western Wisconsin, Kevin Douglas Clement
A Multi-Method Approach to Risk Assessment among Women with Sexual Abuse Histories, Susan Elizabeth Drevo
Assessing Students' Risk Factors for Type II Diabetes at a Midwest Public University, Nicole DeCourcy Ferrian
A Duality Theory for the Algebraic Invariants of Substitution Tiling Spaces, Jeffrey Myers Ford
An Evaluation of Writing Samples by English Learners in Special Education, Brett Patrick Frayseth
La búsqueda de identidad y toma de conciencia de los cuatro personajes principales en las obras Demasiados héroes y La multitud errante de Laura Restrepo, Mauricio Garcia Vargas
The Illusion of Transparency and Public Speaking: A Study of Social Anxiety, Chelsea Gloth
