Digital Commons Network^™

Patterns In Impact, Publication And Themes In International Blended Learning, Kristian Joy Spring

Theses and Dissertations

This research has found that the field of international blended learning (BL) is prepared for stronger communication and collaboration. Collaboration is currently limited, and regions vary greatly in terms of citations. However, BL is growing worldwide and each region has much to offer to the community. Greater collaboration among researchers and practitioners can be profitable regardless of location. In the first article the authors compared the top cited BL articles to understand which articles from each region are the most cited, how the regions compare in terms of citations and which journals publish these highly cited articles. The authors used …

Ecological Humanist Mosaics: Dislocations And Relocations Of The Autobiographical Self In Terry Tempest Williams's Finding Beauty In A Broken World, Sharman Tullis Gill

Theses and Dissertations

Terry Tempest Williams, in Finding Beauty in a Broken World employs literary techniques that suggest dislocations and relocations of the human subject in ethical modes of being. Through narrative techniques, multidisciplinary language, and themes of conversation, gift-exchange, listening and response, Williams reflects ecological humanist mosaics, suggesting cooperative regeneration—an intersection of material beings facilitated by an ethical human imagination that listens, receives, and gives toward patterns of beauty, including, but not limited to, being human in a collective world. This eco-critical analysis of Williams’s work affirms the human being in post-humanist philosophy and repositions relational Romanticism for the 21st century.

A Unit On The Family And Traditions: For Middle School Spanish Classes, Rebecca A. Proper

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project for a Master of Arts in Spanish Pedagogy consists of a four-week, ten-lesson unit on culture in the family. This unit is designed for a middle school Spanish I class and is intended to supplement Chapter 5 in the Realidades textbook in the cultural aspect of learning a foreign language. The intention is to engage students to consider cultural perspectives, or the “why” cultures do what they do. The lesson plans from the unit are based on backward design and are structured around essential questions including, “What constitutes an ideal family?” An emphasis is placed on cultural …

Finnishness And Colonization In Akseli Gallen-Kallela's Representations Of Africa, Camille Kathryn Richey

Theses and Dissertations

Akseli Gallen-Kallela is often discussed as the national painter of Finland, as one who helped define Finnishness when Finland was still a colonized area of Russia. However, his trip to Africa from 1909-1911 shows where Gallen-Kallela acts as a pictorial colonizer himself, not only sympathizing with the Africans but representing them through a European cosmopolitan lens, as purer and closer to nature, but still inferior. The assumptions inherent in his representations of Africa reveal that Gallen-Kallela is not only a colonized subject but a colonizer of his own country.

Tethys Platform: A Development And Hosting Platform For Water Resources Web Apps, Nathan R. Swain

Theses and Dissertations

The interactive nature of web applications or “web apps” makes it an excellent medium for conveying complex scientific concepts to lay audiences and creating decision support tools that harness cutting edge modeling techniques. However, the technical expertise required to develop them represents a barrier for would-be developers. The barrier can be characterized by the following hurdles that developers must overcome: (1) identify, select, and install software that meet the spatial and computational capabilities commonly required for water resources modeling; (2) orchestrate the use of multiple FOSS and FOSS4G projects and navigate their differing application programming interfaces (APIs); (3) learn the …

Northern Range Extension Of The Figeater Beetle, Cotinis Mutabilis (Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae), Into Nevada, Utah, And Colorado, Frank-Thorsten Krell, Jeff B. Knight, Robert Hammon, Pamela Wheeler, Jeffrey Johns Roberts, Jason R. Eckberg

Western North American Naturalist

The native Figeater Beetle, Cotinis mutabilis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae), is known to occur from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California to northern South America. Here we present records from Nevada, where it became established in the late 1960s; from Utah, where it has been found since the late 2000s; and from Colorado, where it was found in 2012. These records indicate a recent northward range extension of the species, which circumvents the Colorado Plateau. The range extension of C. mutabilis has potential positive effects, namely the addition of a new pollinator to those areas, but also potential negative implications if …

Antioxidant Capacity Of Wyoming Big Sagebrush (Artemisia Tridentata Ssp. Wyomingensis) Varies Spatially And Is Not Related To The Presence Of A Sagebrush Dietary Specialist, Xinzhu Pu, Lisa Lam, Kristina Gehlken, Amy C. Ulappa, Janet L. Rachlow, Jennifer Sorensen Forbey

Western North American Naturalist

Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) in North America is an abundant native plant species that is ecologically and evolutionarily adapted to have a diverse array of biologically active chemicals. Several of these chemicals, specifically polyphenols, have antioxidant activity that may act as biomarkers of biotic or abiotic stress. This study investigated the spatial variation of antioxidant capacity, as well as the relationship between a mammalian herbivore and antioxidant capacity in Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata wyomingensis). We quantified and compared total polyphenols and antioxidant capacity of leaf extracts from sagebrush plants from different spatial scales and at different levels …

Transferring Hypothetical Deductive Reasoning, Jordan Hatch, Jamie L. Jensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of our project was to understand if hypothetical deductive (HD) reasoning skills exist in each discipline and if so, whether they are transferable between disciplines. HD reasoning is the method of scientific investigation used most commonly by scientists. It includes formulating hypotheses, devising experiments, making predictions, and analyzing results (iSTAR 2013). Many science classes boast scientific reasoning as a main learning outcome, but does reasoning transfer between disciplines and thus benefit the person as a whole? We hypothesized that most, if not all, disciplines use HD reasoning. In addition, we hypothesized that because this skill is context independent …

A Collaborative Conceptual Aircraft Design Environment For The Design Of Small-Scale Uavs In A Multi-University Setting, Joseph Samuel Becar

Theses and Dissertations

In today's competitive global market, there is an ever-increasing demand for highly skilled engineers equipped to perform in teams dispersed over several time-zones by geography. Aerospace Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering (AerosPACE) is a senior design capstone program co-developed by academia and industry to help students develop the necessary skills to excel in the aerospace industry by challenging them to design, build, and fly an unique unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Students with little to no experience designing UAVs are put together in teams with their peers from geographically dispersed universities. This presents a significant challenge for the students …

The Effectiveness Of Alternative Dissertation Models In Graduate Education, Rebecca Arlene Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, the doctoral dissertation has had two purposes: to train young scholars in proper research methodology, and to contribute original findings to research. However, some feel that the traditional dissertation format falls short of these goals for two reasons. First, the majority of dissertations never get published in academic journals, and dissertations are unlikely to get cited in academic articles. Second, many students in doctoral programs see little authenticity in traditional dissertations because the writing style and process differ from that of academic articles. In response to these concerns, many Instructional Technology programs have implemented alternative dissertation formats. This study …

The Effects Of Open Educational Resource Adoption On Measures Of Post-Secondary Student Success, Thomas J. Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether the adoption of Open Educational Resources had a significant effect on student learning outcomes in seven courses taught at seven post-secondary institutions. The use of open educational resources (OER) is increasing in the United States. Initiatives focusing on expanding the use of OER as a replacement for traditional textbooks at the post-secondary level include OpenStax, Project Kaleidoscope, Open Course Library, and others. While researchers have begun to explore OER, few have sought to evaluate the quality of OER as a function of student academic success. In this dissertation, I examined measures …

Large Developments And Light Rail Stops: An Analysis Of Development And Transit In The Sacramento Metropolitan Region, Chelsea Bakaitis, Michael Clay

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The traditional downtown and suburban form of a metropolis is becoming an obsolete model to describe the Sacramento region. The region has five commercial centers among the communities (described as “edge cities”) surrounding the traditional downtown of the City of Sacramento (Garreau 1991). Developers of the region have been building and are building large (over 100,000 square feet) units to house multiple uses from medical offices to shopping malls. These buildings are a part of the urban form of Sacramento and are primary to the landscape of the region. The road system is central to landuse practice of the region, …

Mentored Student Research In The Study Of Ancient Maize Agriculture In Mesoamerica, Richard E. Terry

Journal of Undergraduate Research

For the past two years, Richard Terry, his graduate students, Zachary Larsen and Jacob Horlacher have mentored twenty two undergraduate majors in Environmental Science in the collecting, preparation, and analysis of soil samples from the rural surroundings of ancient Maya cities in Guatemala and Mexico. Corn (called maize in Mesoamerica) has been very important to both the ancient and contemporary Maya. The Maya creation story as recorded in the Popol Vuh tells of the creation of man from the ground maize. Many of the Maya view themselves as “people of the maize”. The actions of planting the seeds, harvesting, preparation …

Cybersecurity And The Future International Competitiveness Of The United States, Tai Gray

Student Works

Cybersecurity is inseparably connected to the future international competitiveness of the United States and must play a more significant role in both governmental and private spheres of American society. To increase the strength of U.S. cybersecurity and defend against future attacks, the government should devote more resources to providing cybersecurity tools and information to the public, promoting the implementation of secure forms of communication and purchasing, as well as researching and developing both offensive and defensive cyber tools. By focusing efforts on these three key areas, the U.S. government can better prepare for future cyberattacks and minimize risk to both …

Microbial Pretreatment Of Waste For Anaerobic Digestion, Braden Myers, Jaron Hansen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This project will demonstrate the technical feasibility of microbial pretreatment of lignocellulose for enhanced production of biogas when coupled with secondary anaerobic digestion as well as optimize the entire process.

Trimerotropis Aberasturii (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Oedipodinae), A New Species Of Band-Winged Grasshopper From North Central Nevada, Timothy J. Mcnary

Western North American Naturalist

Trimerotropis aberasturii, a new species of band-winged grasshopper, is described from the mountains of north central Nevada. It appears most closely related to T. suffusa and T. verruculata. Trimerotropis aberasturii is distinguished from the other 2 species by a more extensive black hind wing band, features of the male genitalia, and geographic distribution.


Se describe una nueva especie de saltamonte de alas con banda, Trimerotropis aberasturii, de las montañas del centro-norte de Nevada. Ésta parece más estrechamente relacionada con T. suffusa y T. verruculata. Trimerotropis aberasturiidistingue de las otras 2 especies por una más amplia banda de ala …

Geographic And Elevational Distribution Of Fringed Myotis (Myotis Thysanodes) In Colorado, Mark A. Hayes, Rick A. Adams

Western North American Naturalist

Fringed myotis (Myotis thysanodes) is considered a bat species of conservation concern in Colorado and in western North America. The purpose of our research was to describe the geographic and elevational distribution of fringed myotis in Colorado and consider the potential influence of the Southern Rocky Mountains on the distribution of this species. We documented, mapped, and analyzed 729 Colorado capture and occurrence records for this species, and used 546 records in a 2-way ANOVA comparing elevational distribution among sex and reproductive classes. Mean elevation of occurrence was significantly different among reproductive classes (F = 7.03, P …

The Happy Warrior: Wordsworthian Reception And The Georgian Tradition Of Siegfried Sassoon’S War Memoirs And Poems, Shane Peterson

Student Works

The following thesis analyzes how the poetry and aesthetic values of William Wordsworth inspired the Georgian poets who served in World War I and influenced the writings of Siegfried Sassoon.

The first section focuses on how Wordsworth became an essential part of the national literary character as a result of the war and how many Edwardian writers used his more nationalistic poems to defend England’s imperial interests and the war effort against Germany. The following section compares the Edwardians to the Georgians, who were essentially neo-romantics that adopted Wordsworth’s poetic style, particularly the Romantic lyric and the pastoral mode. Georgians …

Marriage And The City: Fatal Displacement In La Maison Du Chat-Qui-Pelote, Laurel Cummins

Theses and Dissertations

The following is a meta-commentary of the article, “Marriage and the City: Fatal Displacement in La Maison du chat-qui-pelote,” co-authored by Dr. Anca Mitroi Sprenger and myself, Laurel Cummins. The article will soon be submitted for publication, and this commentary contains an annotated bibliography of all our primary and secondary sources as well as an account of the origin of the argument and the process of writing the article. Our article is based upon an analysis of La Maison du chat-qui-pelote, a story authored by Honoré de Balzac within his seminal collection La Comédie humaine. In the …

Prototype For Zion: The Original Provo Tabernacle And The Construction Of Mormon Zion In The American West, Ryan W. Saltzgiver

Theses and Dissertations

During the winter of 2011–2012, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and Office of Public Archaeology (OPA) at Brigham Young University (BYU) conducted archaeological explorations in urban Provo, Utah. The purpose of the research was to uncover and document the extant remains of the Original or Old Provo Tabernacle (OPT; 42UT1844). The data recovered from that excavation was the impetus for the current study. Through a combination of documentary and archaeological evidence, and using Mormon theology as a lens through which to interpret the actions of nineteenth century Latter-day Saints, this thesis demonstrates the important role …

Influenza, Heritage, And Magical Realism In Katherine Anne Porter's Miranda Stories, Katherine Snow Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the devastating scope of the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918, curiously few references to the flu exist in literature. Katherine Anne Porter offered one of modernism's only extensive fictional treatments of the pandemic in her short novel “Pale Horse, Pale Rider,” decades after her own near-death encounter with the flu. Porter was able to give voice to an experience that had traumatized others into silence by drawing on an early form of magical realism. Magical realism's ghosts—everyday presences rather than otherworldly beings to be feared—are of particular relevance to “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” since ghosts “haunt” Porter's semi-autobiographical Miranda …

A Diachronic Analysis Of North And South Korean Monophthongs: Vowel Shifts On The Korean Peninsula, Jessica M. Morgan

Theses and Dissertations

The linguistic situation on the Korean peninsula is one ripe for research. For the past 70 years the two halves of the peninsula have been isolated from one another, thus creating two very different environments for development and change within the Korean language. It is hypothesized that due to conflict, divide, and social turmoil on the peninsula, the Korean language will have undergone a period of change in the last 70 years. This particular investigation looks at North and South Korean monophthong systems for evidence of a phonological shift. Studies of North Korea's language planning (Yong, 2001; Kumatani, 1990) will …

The Greco-Roman Water Catchment Theater: Identification And Distribution, Allison Nicole Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Water has always been a necessity for human beings. How individuals and populations have reacted to, adapted, and manipulated water is apparent in the archaeological record. Ancient urban water systems often utilized a number of components, including aqueducts, siphons, underground tunneling, and cisterns. This thesis proposes that Greco-Roman theaters were utilized as components of ancient urban water systems in specific environments, and that this theater type may be identified in the archaeological and literary record as a water catchment theater. The goal of my thesis was to define, describe, identify, and plot the distribution of water catchment theaters in …

The Terrifying And The Beautiful: An Ecocritical Approach To Alexandre Hogue's Erosion Series, Ann K. Hartvigsen

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the work of Texan painter Alexandre Hogue, and specifically how his 1930s Erosion Series, paintings of wind-ravaged farms during the Dust Bowl, promotes environmental attitudes long before America had a well developed ecological language. It analyzes the Erosion Series in the context of Hogue's personal land ethics and those of his artistic contemporaries, showing that the 1930s series strives to depict the devastation caused by both drought and aggressive farming practices. A comparison of Hogue's work to Regionalist artists like Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood reveals that Regionalists' depictions of land during the 1930s created an …

Hispanics At The Starting Line: Poverty Among Newborn Infants In Established Gateways And New Destinations, Daniel T. Lichter, Scott R. Sanders, Kenneth M. Johnson

Faculty Publications

High rates of Hispanic fertility raise an important question: Do Hispanic newborn babies start life's race behind the starting line, poor and disadvantaged? To address this question, we link the newborn infants identified with the new fertility question in the 2006–2010 American Community Survey (ACS) to the poverty status of mothers. Our results document the disproportionately large share (40 percent) of Hispanic babies who are born into poverty. The prospect of poverty is especially high in new Hispanic destinations, especially those in rural areas. For Hispanic newborn babies, poverty cannot be reduced to supply-side explanations that emphasize maladaptive behavioral decision-making …

Energy Process Enabled By Cryogenic Carbon Capture, Mark Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

Global climate change concerns help shape current environmental regulations, which increasingly seek to reduce or capture CO2 emissions. Methods for capturing CO2 emissions from energy processes have been the focus of numerous studies to provide support for those seeking to reduce the environmental impact of their processes. This research has (1) simulated a baseline case of energy-storing cryogenic carbon capture for implementation on a 550 MWe coal fired power plant, (2) presented a novel cryogenic carbon capture process for removing CO2 from natural gas down to arbitrary levels, (3) presented a natural gas liquefaction process that has the ability to …

Book Reviews

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Religious Dissent And The Aikin-Barbauld Circle 1740-1860: Book Review, Nigel Aston

Religion in the Age of Enlightenment

There has been a remarkable rise of interest during the last decade in Anna Letitia Barbauld's (nee Aikin) significance in the formation of Romantic literature, and Religious Dissent and the Aikin-Barbauld Circle 1740-1860 places her appropriately within the thriving nexus of her intellectually creative Dissenting family. This volume of nine essays has its origins in a conference at Dr. Williams's library, currently the engine room of many initiatives into British dissenting history. The Aikins were a talented, hardworking, group of men and women down several generations, sparking off each other, inspired by their non -trinitarian Christian faith, and making complex …

The Treason Of The Geographers: Mythical “Mesoamerican” Conspiracy And The Book Of Mormon, Matthew Roper

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The claim that God revealed the details of Book of Mormon geography is not new, but the recent argument that there was a conspiracy while the Prophet was still alive to oppose a revealed geography is a novel innovation. A recent theory argues that the “Mesoamerican theory” or “limited Mesoamerican geography” originated in 1841 with Benjamin Winchester, an early Mormon missionary, writer, and dissident, who rejected the leadership of Brigham Young and the Twelve after 1844. This theory also claims that three unsigned editorials on Central America and the Book of Mormon published in the Times and Seasons on September …

Front Matter

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

No abstract provided.