Western University Open Repository

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Faculty and Staff Works 11797
Works by any staff member, including faculty, librarians, archivists, and post-doctoral fellows.
Graduate Student Works 17050
Scholarly works by graduate students, including theses and dissertations.
Undergraduate Student Works 1368
Scholarly works by undergraduate students. Undergraduate students must have faculty support and approval to post their work.

Recent Submissions

Access status: Embargo ,
Phosphorus and N-Heterocyclic Carbene Films for Area-Selective Patterning
(The University of Western Ontario, 2025-12-18) Lomax, Justin T.
This thesis explores the molecular design and vapour phase deposition of materials that enable precise control over surface chemistry. By combining self-assembled monolayer and deposition methodologies, this work established new phosphorus films and carbene monolayers for applications in nanoscale manufacturing. A custom-built deposition reactor was designed and constructed to facilitate the controlled growth of these materials. N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) were deposited onto metallic surfaces as stable monolayers for area-selective deposition processes, enabling selective passivation for subsequent depositions. Incorporating ferrocenyl substituents onto these NHC derivatives yielded redox-active monolayers. These surfaces exhibited well-defined electrochemical responses by cyclic voltammetry and functioned as area-selective conductive interfaces. Complementary studies with self-assembly of phosphorus-nitrogen cage molecules revealed their ability to sublime intact and form uniform monolayers on metal substrates. The second focus of this work explored molecular layer deposition routes for phosphorus-based thin films through phosphane-ene and phosphane-imine chemistries. The phosphane-ene films were formed with iBuPH2 and an alkene precursor, which acted as a barrier layer that scavenged oxygen. Phosphane-imine films were deposited from iBuPH2, diimines, and O2 as precursors that functioned as reversible phosphorus–nitrogen films that could be removed by H2 exposure. These methods all utilize molecular control to present promising methods to enable next-generation devices.
Access status: Open Access ,
Equity Beyond Access: Principals' Leadership in Ontario Virtual Public Schools
(The University of Western Ontario, 2025-12-05) Nielsen, Ruth
In September 2020, the Ontario Ministry of Education opened virtual-only public schools to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Principals were tasked with leading these new institutions while navigating a global health crisis and a rapidly changing policy environment. During this time, public discourse on equity in virtual schooling centred largely on students’ access to the resources needed to participate: a reliable computer, high-speed internet, and a safe space for learning. In contrast, little attention was given to how equity was supported for students participating in the virtual system. Such was the impetus for this study: to understand how equity was understood and promoted for students within the new virtual public schools. The investigation focused on the perspectives of school principals, as they held a unique vantage point between the socio-political context shaping the system and their own lived experiences as leaders within it. Therefore, this study examined how Ontario principals understood and promoted equity within virtual public schools. Using a critical constructivist theoretical framework and qualitative methodology, this investigation centred on the experiences of 14 Ontario principals, with data collected in early 2022. The findings demonstrated that principals engaged in a dynamic leadership process across three interconnected realms: the structural realm of policies and logistics, the community realm of relationships and belonging, and the individual realm of digital and social justice leadership. Principals moved between understanding and promoting equity as access, achievement, engagement, and social justice; however, their ability to enact these understandings was constrained by the virtual schooling structure, which was oriented around a narrow interpretation of equity as access. This study contributes to the field of educational leadership by conceptualizing principals’ leadership as a process of navigating the boundaries of structure, community, and individual practice. It contributes to practice by identifying strategies principals used to promote equity in virtual contexts, and to policy by providing insight into the policy gaps that exist in the context of leading for equity in virtual schooling. Ultimately, readers will take away a deeper understanding of how principals’ leadership can support a more equitable post-pandemic virtual schooling system, and where the limits of their leadership call for reform at the structural level.
Access status: Embargo ,
Caregiver-Implemented Interventions in Pediatric Speech-Language Pathology: Lessons Learned from Practice-Based Research
(The University of Western Ontario, 2026-01-13) Hatherly, Kathryn
Caregiver-implemented interventions are often used by speech-language pathologists to support children’s early language development by empowering caregivers to facilitate children’s language learning in everyday contexts. The Hanen Centre is a globally recognized organization that trains speech-language pathologists to deliver caregiver- implemented interventions. Two Hanen programs focus on supporting the language development of children with more general communication needs – Target Word and Learning Language and Loving It. The Target Word program aims to improve the language and communicative participation skills of children who are late-to-talk. The Learning Language and Loving It program engages early childhood educators in supporting children’s language learning in childcare contexts. This dissertation explored the effectiveness, feasibility, and cultural appropriateness of these programs in applied contexts. Study 1 evaluated the effectiveness of the virtual Target Word program. A constrained longitudinal data analysis approach was used to examine differences in vocabulary, morphology, phonology and communicative participation for children in immediate and waitlist control groups. Clinically meaningful gains in communicative participation and statistically significant gains in phonology were associated with families’ program involvement, however most other scores in expressive vocabulary, morphosyntax, and communicative participation were not statistically different between groups. Study 2 assessed parent-child interaction quality during video-recorded play-based interactions for the same families who participated in Study 1. Parent-child interactions were coded using the Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO) and data were analyzed using constrained longitudinal data analysis. No group differences were observed at any point. Study 3 aimed to understand Red River Métis Early Childhood Educators’ perceptions of the feasibility and the cultural appropriateness of the strategies recommended in the Learning Language and Loving It program. A think aloud interview approach was used to capture participants’ views. A thematic analysis revealed three themes related to the feasibility of program strategies, and two themes identified suggested cultural adaptations and considerations for Red River Métis childcare centres. This dissertation provides insight into the effectiveness of caregiver-implemented interventions and key cultural considerations for those working with Red River Métis children and their caregivers. Practical implications for research and practice in pediatric speech-language pathology are also identified.
Access status: Open Access ,
Multilevel Determinants and Spatial Patterns of Hypertension: An Eco-Social and Intersectionality-Informed Analysis Using 2016- Nepal Demographic and Health Survey
(The University of Western Ontario, 2025-12-17) Sharma, Ishor
Hypertension is a major contributor to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in South Asia, where its prevalence continues to rise amidst rapid demographic, nutritional, and epidemiological transitions. Despite its public health importance, research often fails to explore the multilevel and spatial determinants of hypertension, especially in low- and middle-income countries like Nepal. This study aims to address these gaps by integrating regional evidence with empirical data from Nepal to explore how individual, and contextual factors shape hypertension risk. A systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based studies published between 2010 and 2020 estimated the pooled prevalence of hypertension in South Asia and explored multilevel risk factors. Complementary empirical analyses were conducted using the 2016 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, guided by an integrated multilevel conceptual framework. These included: 1) Spatial analyses to identify hypertension hotspots. 2) Develop a tool to examine contextual influences, a 15-item Area-Level Deprivation Index was developed and validated. 3) Examine the hierarchical relationships between individual, and contextual characteristics and hypertension risk. Additionally, 4) explore potential mediating pathways through which area-level deprivation influences hypertension using multilevel structure equation model. The meta-analysis estimated the pooled prevalence of hypertension in South Asia at 28.5%, with significant variation across and within countries. Risk factors included individual-level characteristics (older age, male sex, low education, tobacco and alcohol use, physical inactivity, and high salt intake), biomedical factors (obesity, central adiposity, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and family history of hypertension), and contextual factors, including household wealth, media exposure, food insecurity, indoor air pollution, urbanization, land use, and climate-related exposures. Most of these studies seemed to neglect macro-social and structural determinants and showed a disconnect between theoretical frameworks and analytical models. Empirical analyses found that, in Nepal, prevalence of hypertension was 22.9%. Spatial analysis revealed significant clustering, with hotspots in Central and Western Nepal. Individual-level factors such as age, sex, obesity, and behaviors were significant predictors, as were contextual factors like deprivation. Interestingly, hypertension was more common in less deprived areas, with 70% of the area-level effect mediated through nutritional status. These findings highlight that hypertension in South Asia is shaped by complex, intersecting factors operating across multiple levels. Addressing this growing burden in Nepal and similar settings requires integrated, context-specific, and spatially targeted interventions.
Access status: Open Access ,
Interpersonal Forgiveness and Trust Perceptions
(Huron University College, 2023) Jiang, Jiayue
Two types of forgiveness, which are emotional forgiveness and decisional forgiveness, have been distinguished by previous studies. However, there was few research that has investigated in depth the presentation of these two kinds of forgiveness in transgression. This study aimed to examine whether perceptions of the perpetrator differ between first parties (victims) and third parties (observers) of an interpersonal transgression and whether these perceptions can influence different types of forgiveness. In the background of a hypothesized scenario of transgression, results indicated that an apology offered by the perpetrator enhances perceived trust and forgiveness. It is also suggested that perceived trust mediates the relationship between apology and forgiveness. Implications for the role trust plays in the forgiveness process and future research directions are discussed.