Digital Commons Network^™

Direction Of The Musical Seussical Jr., Amanda Will

All Graduate Projects

This project encompasses pre-production research and conceptualization, direction of Seussical Jr. (including casting and rehearsal of student actors and coordinating technical elements), post-production reflection, and evaluation. The documentation includes research and textual analysis of the play, notes on rehearsal and direction, and post-production critical reflection.

Direction Of The Musical: Chicago (High School Edition), Sharon White

All Graduate Projects

This project encompasses the selection, research, casting, production and post-production process of the musical, Chicago (High School Edition) for the all-school musical at Strasburg High School. Documentation includes analysis of the play as a production vehicle, research, script analysis, a record of the production period and a post-production evaluation.

Direction Of The Play 'Art', Kathryn Young

All Graduate Projects

The following documentation includes the conceptualization, research, implementation, and reflection of the entire production process of ‘ART’ in May 2021. The documentation includes character and visual production research, historical context and significance, as well as the evaluation of the play as a vehicle for production in the community of Etna, California.

Direction Of The Play: Another One, Chris Hansen

All Graduate Projects

Another One

Written and Directed by Chris Hansen, Spokane Falls Community College Theatre Department

Produced November 2020

This project encompasses the selection, research, casting, production, and post-production process of the play, Another One, for Spokane Falls Community College Theatre Arts Department. Documentation includes: analysis of the play for our program, research, script analysis, scenic and technical challenges of our time, a record of the production period and a post-production evaluation.

Direction And Technical Supervision Of "By The Water", Brian Mcmanimon

All Graduate Projects

This project documents the conceptualization, research, implementation and reflection of the production process of By the Water at Wellesley High School from October 2018 through January 2019 by Brian McManimon and the students involved in By the Water. The document includes character and visual production research, historical context and significance, and the evaluation of the play as a vehicle for speaking to larger social issues beyond the local community, as well as documentation of the production period and post-production evaluation.

Using Cuda To Enhance Data Processing Of Variant Call Format Files For Statistical Genetic Analysis, Heather Mckinnon

All Graduate Projects

Utilizing the power of GPU parallel processing with CUDA can speed up the processing of Variant Call Format (VCF) files and statistical analysis of genomic data. A software package designed toward this purpose would be beneficial to genetic researchers by saving them time which they could spend on other aspects of their research. A data set containing genetics from a study of trichome production in Mimulus guttatus, or yellow monkey flower, was used to develop a package to test the effectiveness of GPU parallel processing versus serial executions. After a serial version of the code was generated and benchmarked, OpenACC …

Direction Of The Play: The Importance Of Being Earnest, Sabrina Haesche

All Graduate Projects

The following documentation includes the conceptualization, research, implementation, and reflection of the entire production process of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST in February 2020. The documentation includes both character and visual production research, historical context and significance, as well as the evaluation of the play as a vehicle for speaking to the community of Moses Lake.

Space Use And Nesting Ecology Of Common Ravens (Corvus Corax) In Central Washington State, Brandon A. Rossi

All Graduate Projects

The ecology and space use of Common ravens (Corvus corax; hereafter ravens) is not well understood in the shrub-steppe of central Washington State. Raven populations have increased by more than 254% since 1990 in Washington State (North American Breeding Bird Survey; www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/). Ravens in central Washington are implicated as top predators of a small endemic population of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Researchers have related increased raven populations to anthropogenic subsidies such as landfills, agriculture, and livestock operations. Analyzing movement can help researchers understand the characteristics of habitat that are important and potentially drive population fluctuations. …

Direction Of The Musical: The Drowsy Chaperone, Jed Broberg

All Graduate Projects

This project encompasses the selection, research, casting, production, and post-production process of the musical, The Drowsy Chaperone for Ogden High School's Theatre Arts Department. Documentation includes analysis of the play as a production vehicle for our program, research, script analysis, a record of the production period and a post-production evaluation.

Direction Of The Imaginary Invalid By Molière Translated By Charles Heron Wall Adapted By Kimberly Dorman, Kimberly S. Dorman

All Graduate Projects

This project comprises of the selection, research, casting, adaptation, production and post-production process of The Imaginary Invalid. Documentation and research include adaptation, analysis of the play as a production vehicle for our program, research, script analysis, outcome goals, a record of the production period, and a postproduction evaluation.

Small Group Reading Instruction For English Language Learners In Grades 3-5, Emily Peters

All Graduate Projects

This project highlights best practices for small reading group instruction for third through fifth grade English language learners in the general education classroom. By completing a literature review, a journal article was developed to report the pros and cons of heterogeneous and homogeneous groupings for reading instruction. Data from the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) and the OSPI Report Card were used to discuss a need to raise student reading proficiency scores.

Visualizing Incongruity: Visual Data Mining Strategies For Modeling Humor In Text, Andrew Smigaj

All Graduate Projects

The goal of this project is to investigate the use of visual data mining to model verbal humor. We explored various means of text visualization to identify key featrues of garden path jokes as compared with non jokes. With garden path jokes one interpretation is established in the setup but new information indicating some alternative interpretation triggers some resolution process leading to a new interpretation. For this project we visualize text in three novel ways, assisted by some web mining to build an informal ontology, that allow us to see the differences between garden path jokes and non jokes of …

Visual Data Mining, Syeda Sadiya

All Graduate Projects

Occlusion is one of the major problems for interactive visual knowledge discovery and data mining in the process of finding patterns in multidimensional data.This project proposes a hybrid method that combines visual and analytical means to deal with occlusion in visual knowledge discovery called as GLC-S which uses visualization of n-D data in 2D in a set of Shifted Paired Coordinates (SPC). A set of Shifted Paired Coordinates for n-D data consists of n/2 pairs of common Cartesian coordinates that are shifted relative to each other to avoid their overlap. Each n-D point A is represented as a directed graph …

The Effects Of Assessment Preparation For The Improvement Of Course Placement And Student Satisfaction At Tacoma Community College, Kari Twogood

All Graduate Projects

There is significant focus on graduation rates and persistence of students in higher education. Lengthy sequences of developmental education have been shown to have detrimental effects on the persistence and graduation rates of students. This study reviewed the research that has been performed concerning persistence in developmental education. A survey of incoming or current students was conducted to study the effects of offering an ACCUPLACER® preparation workshop at Tacoma Community College. The survey collected 733 unduplicated responses. The data indicated that students feel more anxiety as a result of attending the workshop prior to taking the ACCUPLACER® assessment. The data …

The Opinions Of Education Professionals On The Common Core State Standards, Katina Henderson

All Graduate Projects

This project examined the beliefs of education professionals about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Using an internet survey comprised of 21 questions, 13 of which were specific to beliefs about the CCSS, the project reports on the perceptions of between 48 and 52 education professionals as to their opinions about whether the CCSS will create college and/or workforce ready high school graduates.

The Dyslexic Issue: Resources For Parents, Teachers, And Related Professionals, Shawn D. Murphy

All Graduate Projects

This handbook and website project gives a thorough explanation of dyslexia, the history of dyslexia, and the latest resources available for parents, teachers, and related professionals who support students with dyslexia. The handbook and webpage will provide parents, teachers, and related professionals information which they may access in order to support students with dyslexia throughout their academic career. These resources will offer much-needed support for parents, teachers, and related professionals in learning how to properly identify the characteristics which are most often associated with dyslexia. Furthermore, they will provide an important myriad of resources for intervention for students with dyslexia …

Implementing Technological Change: Effects On Student Learning Through Implementation Of A Learning Management System For Enhanced Two-Way Communication Between School, Students And Parents, Courtney Lynn Curtis

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to determine whether or not a blended learning environment that focuses mainly on incorporating core-subject standards into a current 7th grade Fundamentals of Information Technology (FIT) course can help to increase 7th grade student core-subject, academic performance. If such performance is distinguishable, the curriculum materials used to develop this project may then be used for curriculum development within the Bethel School District, 7th grade FIT program. The product or end result of this project is an online curriculum guide titled: "Fundamentals of Information Technology Project: An Online Curriculum Guide for Bethel School District Middle …

Connecting With Families Of Poverty Handbook, Rebecca Christine Oren

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project is to create a handbook describing services available in the Sumner School District and researched based practices for elementary administrators and teachers to use when working with students and families of poverty. The McKinney-Vento Act in the United States protects families to ensure that all students have immediate access to school-linked services, including free breakfast and lunch, as well as transportation needs for getting to and from school. This handbook includes descriptions and contact information for local support organizations that administrators and teachers can additionally partner with to create supportive learning environments within their school …

Creative Multi-Disciplinary Learning Incorporating Da Vinci-Style Thinking For Gifted Students, Amelia Melissa Ferrell

All Graduate Projects

This project reviews the merits of interdisciplinary study with a focus on creative thinking, using the foundational knowledge of the life studies of Leonardo da Vinci to teach students concepts in math, science, art, and social studies. From these learnings, students will develop projects of interest that show their basic learning extended into creative student-developed projects.

Engaging Literacy Activities A Case Study, Tiffanie Dawn Meridth

All Graduate Projects

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) in Washington State has adopted Common Core Standards. The reading curriculum given to teachers most often reflects the appropriate grade level materials, but does not necessarily meet common core standards, engage students in learning, or prepare students to pass the end of year exams. In this study, engaging classroom literacy activities will be developed and aligned with learning targets associated with common core standards for sixth grade students. A variety of materials will be used for activities to include: novel sets, picture books, social studies curriculum, and additional teacher resources. It …

A Playground Plan For South Shore Prek-8 School, Barbara J. Mann

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to create a comprehensive playground safety manual of procedures for South Shore PreK-8 School, that can possibly be implemented at other K-5 schools. The manual will make it clear to both students and staff playground safety procedures for students and instructions for staff in supervision. The information gathered finds that when students play in safe manners with specific rules and expectations, that the number of incidents from injury and conflict are reduced. Children need to be taught rules for games, instead of expected to figure out rules for games they do not know how …

Effectively Teaching Students With Autism In Inclusive Elementary Classrooms, Christine Angelica Mcdowell

All Graduate Projects

Inclusion is a step in the right direction for providing equal opportunities for those with disabilities. Inclusion is the integration of special education students in general education classrooms to the maximum extent which is appropriate for the individual. Court cases throughout history have paved the way for equality for all students. Great movements such as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2001 began to make a change in the education of students with disabilities. IDEA paved the way for the creation of individualized education plans (IEP) and free appropriate public education (FAPE) for all students and the least restrictive …

A Hub Website Of Online German Learning And Teaching: Resources For The Development Of 21st Century Skills, Carrie Christensen

All Graduate Projects

Rapid technological developments and relaxed international trade agreements have created increased global competition in the job market (Committee for Economic, 2006). In this global society and economy, a new set of skills will be required of the United States workforce. These 21st century skills include autonomous learning skills, communication skills, and technological literacy (Partnership, 2008). In order to support the development and instruction of these skills in the high school German classroom, a hub website of online resources for German teachers and students has been created. The resources available on the hub website include teacher resources, reference resources, instructional websites, …

A Handbook Of Learner-Centered Projects To Suppliment Fifth Grade, Social Studies Curriculum, Charre Margaretha Burnum

All Graduate Projects

This handbook has been created in an effort to assist teachers with establishing a hands-on, learner-centered environment. The purpose of this handbook is to assist educators with teaching fifth grade, Social Studies curriculum. This handbook will help teachers to organize fifth grade expectations into thematic, learner-centered, intrinsically motivated projects that will allow for a well-planned, teacher facilitated, and educational experience. This is more than just a how-to manual; it includes the theoretical and empirical basis thesis for using thematic, cross-curricular projects, to enhance student retention, motivation and independent learning.

Strengthening Student Achievement Through Family Learning Events, Jacquelin Ann Charlton

All Graduate Projects

Families and educators both have a great influence on a student's academic success. When the relationship between home and school is strained, students miss out on some of that success (Harris & Goodall, 2008). Parental influence is an important factor in a child's education, but parental engagement in their learning is even more important (Ho Sui-Chu & Williams, 1996). However, some parents may feel unwelcome or unneeded at school (Williams, Williams, & Ullman, 2002), so it's the educator's responsibility to understand and encourage parents to become more engaged in student learning. Hosting family learning events at school can build a …

Kindergarten Diagnostic Toolkit, Mayra Yuridia Navarro Gomez

All Graduate Projects

This project was used for multiple purposes. The first was the identification of supplemental intervention activities in attempt to treat reading difficulties. The second was the creation of a Kindergarten Diagnostic Toolkit (KDT) as a means for early detection of learning deficits. Upon completion of beginning of the year assessments and use of the KDT checklist, instructional suggestions for remediation were made with a focus on explicit/systematic alphabetic, phonemic, and decoding skills. The need for such specific diagnostic assessment of early reading skills is further required with such high stakes testing requirements. Strategies specific to early literacy skills are connected …

Moving Forward In P-3 Alignemnt: Building Bridges In Public-Private Partnerships, Rachell Maza Foster

All Graduate Projects

Reauthorization of the Head Start Act in 2007 called for new standards of quality education and evidenced-based practices for gathering child outcomes and assessment data. Furthermore, the act stipulates partnerships between public education K-12 and preschools; a relationship that traditionally held its distance due to age eligibility. With the recent acquisition of the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant, Washington state is now recognized for its leadership in this field. This paper will take into consideration these efforts and further explore options for creating seamless transitions for children and families as they enter the public school system. This …

Response To Intervention, Michelle Lynn Huguenin

All Graduate Projects

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a three-tiered program designed to deliver individualized intervention services early in a child's academic career. Prior to 2004, the education system had a "wait to fail" system in place for students. RTI is a model designed to change this by providing intervention before the child experiences academic failure. By providing students with this three-tiered intervention program, students may be less likely to be referred for special education services in the future (Boucher, n.d.). The goal of this project is to provide educators for grades K-4 with a manual of tips, tools, resources and strategies about …

Student Behavior With And Without Principal’S Presence In The Cafeteria Setting, Derek Raymond O'Konek

All Graduate Projects

The relationship between the number of student referrals in the cafeteria and whether or not the principal was present during the infractions was being studied. The data were taken from two lunches at three different schools. The first lunch contained approximately 150 second and fourth grade students, while the second lunch had about the same number of third and fifth graders. During the study, the referral data and the principal's presence were recorded. The principal of each school randomly supervised the two lunches so that kids would not be able to catch on to his/her attendance patterns. The results supported …

A Toolkit For Including Students With Autism Into The General Education Classroom, Annika Winter Bibby

All Graduate Projects

This project will benefit many teachers in the elementary setting, especially those working in a school classroom with students with autism. This toolkit is designed to inform teachers about autism, introduce resources about autism and effective teaching strategies and to provide tools to accommodate and support students with autism in the general education setting. Teachers need extra training and instruction in the area of inclusion. They often feel unprepared and under supported when dealing with students with autism in their classroom. In this toolkit, teachers will find resources, learning strategies and will acquire tools for successful integration in their classroom. …