Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Minerva 2010, The Honors College

Minerva

This issue of Minerva celebrates the 75th anniversary of Honors at the University of Maine! It includes an article on the college's 75th anniversary celebration; a look into the inaugural Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR) symposium; and discussions on 2010 Honors Read, Persepolis, as well as 2011 Honors Read, The Omnivore's Dilemma. Other highlights include an article on Honors graduate and historian, Kristen Gwinn, and her book Emily Greene Balch: The Long Road to Internationalism.

Leaching Mechanism Of Semiconducting Minerals, Fathi Habashi

Fathi Habashi

The mechanism of leaching of semiconducting minerals such as PbS, ZnS, UO2, etc., has been the subject of intensive speculation by hydrometallurgists in the early 1950s. The electrochemical mechanism proposed in 1970 by the author in volume 2 of his Principles of Extractive Metallurgy avoids the assumption of forming intermediate complexes that cannot be isolated or identified.

Rademacher-Type Formulas For Restricted Partition And Overpartition Functions, Andrew Sills

Department of Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

A collection of Hardy-Ramanujan-Rademacher type formulas for restricted partition and overpartition functions is presented, framed by several biographical anecdotes.

The Update, December 2010, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts And Sciences.

Update

Inside this issue:

-- American Chemical Society, a student affiliate group
-- Department News
-- Iowa Writing Project
-- UNI School of Music to Host 50th Anniversary Celebration: Varsity Men's Glee Club Christmas Variety Shows
-- Communication Studies: Student Showcased on the Jay Leno Show
-- Dmitri Vorobiev: An All Beethoven Recital Series
-- Student Spotlight: Philosophy: Joel Anderson
-- Student Spotlight: World Religions: Elizabeth Wiedenheft
-- Student Spotlight: Industrial Technology: Hannah Loan
-- UNI Students attend and participate in sixth Annual Multicultural Conference
-- Student Spotlights Continued
-- School of Music Events
-- UNI Forensics
-- Communication Studies Students …

Voices, Echoes, And Narratives: Multidimensional Experiences Of Three Teachers Immersed In Ethnomathematical Encounters In Morocco, Mekyah Q. Mcqueen, Stanley F. H. Shaheed, Curtis V. Goings, Iman C. Chahine

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

How Is It That One Particular Statement Appeared Rather Than Another?: Opening A Different Space For Different Statements About Urban Mathematics Education, David W. Stinson

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

In this editorial, the author applies Michel Foucault's concept of "discursive formations" to examine fictions, fantasies, and power relationships in mathematics education research.

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2010, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge.

The senior design competition helps to focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects …

The Cohomology Of Modules Over A Complete Intersection Ring, Jesse Burke

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

We investigate the cohomology of modules over commutative complete intersection rings. The first main result is that if M is an arbitrary module over a complete intersection ring R, and if one even self-extension module of M vanishes then M has finite projective dimension. The second main result gives a new proof of the fact that the support variety of a Cohen-Macaulay module whose completion is indecomposable is projectively connected.

Does Socio/Economic Status Affect Environmental Awarness In Elementary School Children Interacting With School Gardens?, Grady C. Erickson

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This is a case study involving three elementary schools in the greater Lincoln, Nebraska area. These schools were chosen to provide insight to three different economic backgrounds. Saratoga and Randolph from Lincoln Public Schools, and Norris Elementary part of Norris Public Schools 160 was the third school involved in the study. This case study focused on seeing whether socio/economic background had any effect on environmental awareness. To do so, surveys were handed out to each school to help measure environmental awareness. These surveys also helped determine where the environmental literacy standards were in the elementary schools of Lincoln, Nebraska. The …

Educators' Attitudes Toward Outdoor Classrooms And The Cognitive Benefits In Children, Carlie Speedlin

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

A case study was organized at a K-5 elementary school in Lincoln, Nebraksa. This school is Saratoga Elementary School and is a United States Title I Distinguished School1 under No Child Left Behind. It has a population of 266 students, with 47% being minority, 1% gifted, and 28% special education (LPS School Profile Brochure). 80% of the student population is eligible for free/reduced meals, implying that it’s a school with a lower socioeconomic status. At this school a garden space was constructed and an after school garden club was implemented for this case study. The club had been running since …

Psychometric Properties Of Postsecondary Students' Course Evaluations, Michael J. Drysdale

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Several experts in the area of postsecondary student evaluations of courses have concluded that they are stable or reliable measures as well as being measures that provide ways of making valid inferences regarding teacher effectiveness. Often these experts have offered these conclusions without supporting evidence. Surprisingly, a thorough review of the literature revealed very few reported test-retest reliability studies of course evaluations and the results from these studies are contradictory. In the area of validity, the conclusions offered by scholars who conducted meta-analyses of mutlisection course studies are inconsistent. This leads to the following two research questions:

1. What is …

Technology Capacity Development Through Oss Implementation: The Case Of Public Higher Education Institutions In Ethiopia, Nigussie Tadesse Mengesha

The African Journal of Information Systems

The Open Source Software (OSS) literature gives little attention to the study and practice of domain specific end-user OSS implementation in general and in the public sector of developing countries (DCs) in particular. This paper, however, investigates the trajectories of two OSS-based information systems (IS) implementation projects in a developing country (DC) context with the aim to uncover the practice-based learning and resource sharing evident among locally situated and globally dispersed developers and users. The result of the interpretative case study research shows that the OSS philosophy and practice of software development, implementation and ownership, facilitates for the emergence of …

Changing Mutual Perception Of Television News Viewers And Program Makers In India- A Case Study Of Cnn-Ibn And Its Unique Initiative Of Citizen Journalism, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

The Indian television system is one of the most extensive systems in the world. Terrestrial broadcasting, which has been the sole preserve of the government, provides television coverage to over 90% of India's 900 million people. By the end of 1996 nearly 50 million households had television sets. International satellite broadcasting, introduced in 1991, has swept across the country because of the rapid proliferation of small scale cable systems. By the end of 1996, Indians could view dozens of foreign and local channels and the competition for audiences and advertising revenues was one of the hottest in the world. In …

Education In The Environment: A Strategy For Continued Interagency Outdoor Education Programming: Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending November 30, 2010, Margaret N. Rees

Reports (PLI Education)

Highlights of the university’s focused efforts during the past three months include the following:

• Two Families in Nature events were held, benefitting approximately 100 people.
• The Nevada Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights was officially launched on October 9, 2010.
• A total of 18 people are finishing capstone projects and homework to complete requirements for the Nevada State Certification in Environmental Education and Interpretation.
• Forever Earth was scheduled for 35 days serving 965 people.
• Discover Mojave Outdoor World events were conducted for 253 people.

Education In The Environment: A Strategy For Continued Interagency Outdoor Education Programming: Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending November 30, 2010, Margaret N. Rees

Reports (PLI Education)

Highlights of the university’s focused efforts during the past three months include the following:

• Two Families in Nature events were held, benefitting approximately 100 people.
• The Nevada Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights was officially launched on October 9, 2010.
• A total of 18 people are finishing capstone projects and homework to complete requirements for the Nevada State Certification in Environmental Education and Interpretation.
• Forever Earth was scheduled for 35 days serving 965 people.
• Discover Mojave Outdoor World events were conducted for 253 people.

Technology Integration In Secondary Mathematics Classrooms: Effect On Students’ Understanding, Megan Sheehan, Leah Nillas

Scholarly Publications

Technology use in secondary mathematics courses has the potential to bring about broad changes in learning environment and teaching pedagogy, allowing students to communicate and collaborate in new ways and to conjecture, justify, and generalize findings. However, this potential is only realized when teachers use technology in ways encouraging these outcomes (Galbraith, 2006). The purpose of this study is to examine the integration of technology in secondary mathematics classrooms and to evaluate the effectiveness of its use in relation to students’ learning outcomes. This self study research was conducted in honors geometry and AP calculus classes. Data sources included transcripts …

Geosciences Newsletter - 2010, Department Of Geosciences

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol. 4, No. 1

• Faculty Updates
• Publications
• MGRRE
• Grants
• Graduate News
• Awards
• Field Trips
• Alumni
• Advisory Board

Technology Integration In Secondary Mathematics Classrooms: Effect On Students’ Understanding, Megan Sheehan, Leah A. Nillas

Leah A. Nillas

Technology use in secondary mathematics courses has the potential to bring about broad changes in learning environment and teaching pedagogy, allowing students to communicate and collaborate in new ways and to conjecture, justify, and generalize findings. However, this potential is only realized when teachers use technology in ways encouraging these outcomes (Galbraith, 2006). The purpose of this study is to examine the integration of technology in secondary mathematics classrooms and to evaluate the effectiveness of its use in relation to students’ learning outcomes. This self study research was conducted in honors geometry and AP calculus classes. Data sources included transcripts …

The Update, November 2010, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts And Sciences.

Update

Inside this issue:

-- Working to Recover: Geology Professor, Community Actor Becomes 'Super Volunteer'
-- Department News
-- Graphic Communications Name Change
-- Film Screening: Living Downstream
-- Action is Eloquence
-- Color and Camouflage
-- Regents Award
-- Student Spotlights
-- Get Your Green On
-- WCF Symphony & School of Music Events
-- UNI Art Students Study Abroad in Berlin
-- UNI's Cyber Defense Team
-- Student Spotlights Continued...
-- Students and Faculty Attend Major Graphics Trade Show in Chicago
-- UNI Teacher Wins Prestigious Award

-- WCF Symphony & School of Music Events Continued...
-- UNI Forensics …

Teaching Research: Encouraging Discoveries, Francis E. Su

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

What does it take to turn a learner into a discoverer? Or to turn a teacher into a co-adventurer? A handful of experiences—from teaching a middle-school math class to doing research with undergraduates—have changed the way that I would answer these questions. Some of the lessons I’ve learned have surprised me.

Note On Gradient Estimates Of Heat Kernel For Schrödinger Operators, Shijun Zheng

Department of Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Let H = -Δ+V be a Schrödinger operator on Rⁿ. We show that gradient estimates for the heat kernel of H with upper Gaussian bounds imply polynomial decay for the kernels of certain smooth dyadic spectral operators. The latter decay property has been known to play an important role in the Littlewood-Paley theory for L^p and Sobolev spaces. We are able to establish the result by modifying Hebisch and the author’s recent proofs. We give a counterexample in one dimension to show that there exists V in the Schwartz class such that the long time gradient heat …

Ua35/1 Doers & Deeds Vol. 7, No. 17, Wku Provost

WKU Archives Records

Newsletter created by the WKU Provost & Vice President of Academic Affairs to highlight the activities of faculty, staff and alumni.

Multiple Visions Of Teachers' Understandings Of Mathematics, Ann Kajander, Ralph Mason, Peter Taylor, Edward Doolittle, Tom Boland, Dan Jarvis, Wes Maciejewski

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In this dialog, the notion of mathematical understanding as might be needed by classroom teachers is critically examined by mathematics educators, mathematicians, and a classroom teacher, based on the outcomes of recent work with expert classroom teachers. Terminology, assumptions and examples are discussed and analysed from a number of points of view. Ultimately, the goal is to construct common ground from which appropriate mathematics courses for future teachers might be developed and taught. The need for common terminology and a unifying framework from which to work becomes apparent as multiple interpretations and visions are discussed.

A New Approach To Community Flood Education, Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.

An Attempt To Get And Keep Women Involved In Physics, Jim Crumley, Kristen Nairn, Lynn Ziegler

MapCores Faculty Publications

In this talk I will briefly review some of the obstacles to the full participation of women in the STEM disciplines. In order to increase the number of women in physics, computer science, and mathematics we have started a cohort-based program with curricular and scholarship components for women in these majors. I will present the results of our program so far and offer some advice based on our experiences.

Pre-Service Physics Teachers And Physics Education Research, David Rosengrant

Faculty and Research Publications

Training pre-service teachers requires, among other things, content knowledge, pedagogical skills and pedagogical content knowledge. Teacher preparation programs have little, if any spare time to add more courses/activities to their program. However, I argue in this paper that we, as educators, must enhance the amount of physics education research in our pre-service physics teacher training programs. In this study, I analyze the results of two different types of exposure to physics education research (PER) from two different groups of pre-service physics teachers in our masters of arts and teaching program. The preliminary results show, for example that the PER helped …

Determining Optimal Storage Arrangements For Open Access Data Sets, As For Nsf Data Management Plan Requirements, David B. Lowe

Published Works

Document is a proposed draft of a decision tree to be used in determining what approach to take for making data available in order to comply with open access requirements for data management, as per National Science Foundation requirements.

Community Radio:History,Growth,Challenges And Current Status Of It With Special Reference To India, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

Community radio is a type of radio service that caters to the interests of a certain area, broadcasting content that is popular to a local audience but which may often be overlooked by commercial or mass-media broadcasters. Modern-day community radio stations often serve their listeners by offering a variety of content that is not necessarily provided by the larger commercial radio stations. Community radio outlets may carry news and information programming geared toward the local area, particularly immigrant or minority groups that are poorly served by other major media outlets. Philosophically two distinct approaches to community radio can be discerned, …

Walking Box Ranch Planning And Design Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending October 10, 2010, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• UNLV Public Safety is assisting in identifying security methods needed to guarantee safety and security at the ranch after project completion. This effort will involve the assistance of Metro CPTED program officers as design proceeds.
• UNLV IT is determining the extent to which they can assist with networking and technology issues as project design moves forward. They may assist in identifying consultants to hire to assist with technology.
• We have solicited research/education proposals from UNLV faculty for projects to be initiated in the coming year. The goal is to provide seed funding for projects that will expand as the facilities …

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering October 5, 2010 – January 4, 2010, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• The Hector’s Helpers program with the Clark County School District continued curriculum development.
• The team was selected to serve on the litter and recycling work group for Keep Las Vegas Beautiful.
• The team continued to develop the GIS database.
• A total of 12 clean-up events were conducted this quarter.