Digital Commons Network^™

Formative Automated Writing Evaluation: A Standpoint Theory Of Action, Lynette Hazelton, Jessica Nastal, Norbert Elliot, Jill Burstein, Daniel F. Mccaffrey

Journal of Response to Writing

In writing studies research, automated writing evaluation technology is typically examined for a specific, often narrow purpose: to evaluate a particular writing improvement measure, to mine data for changes in writing performance, or to demonstrate the effectiveness of a single technology and accompanying validity arguments. This article adopts a broader perspective and offers a standpoint theory of action for formative automated writing evaluation (fAWE). Following presentation of the features of our standpoint theory of action, we describe our two study sites, and each instructor documents her experiences using the fAWE application (app), Writing Mentor® (WM). One instructor analyzes experiences using …

Reinforcement Learning With Auxiliary Memory, Sterling Suggs

Theses and Dissertations

Deep reinforcement learning algorithms typically require vast amounts of data to train to a useful level of performance. Each time new data is encountered, the network must inefficiently update all of its parameters. Auxiliary memory units can help deep neural networks train more efficiently by separating computation from storage, and providing a means to rapidly store and retrieve precise information. We present four deep reinforcement learning models augmented with external memory, and benchmark their performance on ten tasks from the Arcade Learning Environment. Our discussion and insights will be helpful for future RL researchers developing their own memory agents.

Girls Will Be Girls: Perceptions Of Sexuality And Friendship Based On Gender, Rachel C. Baltes

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Note from the Editor:

Most of the manuscripts that Intuition publishes are literature reviews and research papers. However, Intuition accepts a wide variety of manuscripts, including book reviews, essays, and psychology-themed creative works such as poetry. Thus, the following manuscript is an editorial article and will differ greatly in both content and tone from other pieces published in this issue.

Effects Of Whole Body Vibration On Inhibitory Control Processes, Bennett Alan Mortensen

Theses and Dissertations

Vibrations are often experienced in the workplace and may influence performance and executive function. Research has shown that vibrations may have an affect effect on drowsiness and tests related to inhibitory control. Previous work investigating whole body vibrations (WBV) and their effect was evaluated to inform the decisions for this study. WBV effects on cognitive abilities were examined and the different tests used in these studies were identified and compared. Electroencephalogram (EEG) and event related potentials (ERP) were selected to be used to measure inhibitory and cognitive processes. The N2 ERP, which reflects inhibitory control processes, was examined as well …

From Redemptive Suffering To Redemptive Reconciliation In The Authorship Of Johanna Spyri, Frederick Hale

Swiss American Historical Society Review

That Johanna Spyri (1827-1901), best known for her Heidi books, gained renown as one of Switzerland’s most popular and widely translated authors is beyond dispute. The two companion volumes Heidi’s Lehr- und Wanderjahre and Heidi kann brauchen, was es gelernt hat were published in Germany in 1880 and 1881, respectively, and have been reprinted and published in more abridgements, translations, and cultural adaptations than nearly all other works of their era. Several of Spyri’s many other books also enjoyed popularity and were read not only in German, but also in various other languages on both sides of the Atlantic.

"Out Of The Living Rock": The Assemblage Of Ruins In H. Rider Haggard's She, Rachel E. Rackham

Theses and Dissertations

H. Rider Haggard's imperial gothic novel, She, A History of Adventure (1887), is a narrative of ruins that speak of a vanished past and presage ends: of empire, of history, of culture. Haggard's novel follows two British adventurers as they travel to Africa in search of a mysterious woman that a potsherd--a ruin in miniature--tasks them with killing. There, they encounter ruin after ruin: pots, roads, caves, canals, sculptures, and more. These ruins serve as sentinels, as walkways, and as homes; they signal, warn, resist, witness, remind, and--not least--exist in a landscape that is anything but empty. Though seemingly inert, …

Full Issue

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

No abstract provided.

Judicious Vulnerability: How Humility, Teachability, And Awareness Impact Teams In Organizational Settings, Mac Strachan

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

In some professions, such as medicine, law enforcement, athletics, and education, maintaining high performance standards while being emotionally stoic often leads to work fatigue and burnout. This state of being can be detrimental to the health of both the professionals and the organization that employs them, bringing into question the necessity of a culture driven by competition and ego. As such, this paper explores the concept of vulnerability as a means to explain cognitive and emotional processes that positively affect relational behavior and organizational culture. Judicious vulnerability sits at the intersection of humility, teachability, and awareness and has the capacity …

Assessing The Health Effects Of Police Violence On Black Communities In America: A Literature Review, Darian Hannig

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Police-related mortality rates are disproportionately higher among Black populations than among any other racial group in the United States. While official data on non-fatal encounters with police is lacking, current evidence suggests these encounters are more common among Black individuals and often result in signs of immediate psychological and physical damage, as well as triggering long-lasting physiological stress responses and psychological trauma among these individuals and their communities. The aim of this literature review is to assess if police interactions are associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes among Black Americans. Using scholarly electronic databases, 13 articles were analyzed …

Exposure To Nature: An Underutilized Component Of Student Mental Health, Jeremy S. Bekker

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Nature-exposure interventions on university campuses may serve as an effective addition to overburdened counseling and student support centers. Nature-exposure interventions can work as a preventative health measure on campuses, which can be used adjacently with existing health resources. This paper outlines the potential benefits of nature exposure for students’ physical health, mental well-being, and academic success. Previous research has demonstrated that nature exposure may help reduce cognitive load, decrease negative psychological symptoms, increase psychological coping ability, and lead to better physical health. Many campuses already contain green spaces, defined as any part of an environment that is predominately made of …

Predictors Of Psychosocial Functioning Following Pediatric Neuropsychological Assessment, Benjamin D. Eschler

Theses and Dissertations

Pediatric neuropsychological evaluations are often used to help with diagnostic clarification, aid with treatment planning, and propose recommendations. Yet, little is known about the effects that a neuropsychological evaluation may have on psychosocial outcome and functioning. The present study sought to replicate customer satisfaction results and recommendation adherence results from previous studies while including a longitudinal measure of psychosocial functioning to determine change over time in a pre-test post-test design. Parents of children who underwent a neuropsychological evaluation between May 2016 and December 2020 were invited to complete a survey including the consumer satisfaction questionnaire and treatment adherence questions. They …

Professional Development And Change In Teachers' Beliefs And Practice For Teaching English Language Learners, Kerong Wu

Theses and Dissertations

To provide quality education to all students, including ELLs, teachers need professional development designed and enacted according to best practice. However, a common problem for professional development is that teachers' practices often do not change. Implemented through the partnership collaboration with university, education, and public school faculty, the professional development designed in this study focused on educating teachers about needed content and engaging them in ways that would increase the likelihood they would enact such practices in their classrooms (Desimone, 2009; Opfer & Pedder, 2011; Penuel et al., 2007). The professional development program comprised six courses that adhered to the …

Effects Of Psychosocial Support Interventions On Survival In Inpatient And Outpatient Healthcare Settings: A Meta-Analysis Of 106 Randomized Controlled Trials, Timothy B. Smith, Julianne Holt-Lunstad

Faculty Publications

We evaluated randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychosocial support interventions in inpatient and outpatient healthcare settings reporting survival data, including studies reporting disease-related or all-cause mortality. LOdds ratio (OR) and hazard ratio (HR) data were analyzed separately using random effects weighted models. Of 42,054 studies searched, 106 RCTs including 40,280 patients met inclusion criteria. Across 87 RCTs reporting data for discrete time periods, the average was OR = 1.20 (95% CI = 1.09 to 1.31, p < 0.001), indicating a 20% increased likelihood of survival among patients receiving psychosocial support compared to control groups receiving standard medical care. Among those studies, psychosocial interventions explicitly promoting health behaviors yielded improved likelihood of survival, whereas interventions without that primary focus did not. Across 22 RCTs reporting survival time, the average was HR = 1.29 (95% CI = 1.12 to 1.49, p < 0.001), indicating a 29% increased probability of survival over time among intervention recipients compared to controls. Among those studies, meta-regressions identified 3 moderating variables: control group type, patient disease severity, and risk of research bias. Studies with patients having relatively greater disease severity tended to yield smaller gains in survival time relative to control groups. In this meta-analysis, OR data indicated that psychosocial behavioral support interventions promoting patient motivation/coping to engage in health behaviors improved patient survival, but interventions focusing primarily on patients’ social or emotional outcomes did not prolong life. HR data indicated that psychosocial interventions, predominantly focused on social or emotional outcomes, improved survival but yielded similar effects to health information/classes and were less effective among patients with apparently greater disease severity.

Effects Of Psychosocial Support Interventions On Survival In Inpatient And Outpatient Healthcare Settings: A Meta-Analysis Of 106 Randomized Controlled Trials, Connor Workman, Caleb Andrews, Bonnie Barton, Matthew Cook, Ryan Layton, Alexandra Morrey, Devin Petersen, Julianne Holt-Lunstad

Faculty Publications

Background

Hospitals, clinics, and health organizations have provided psychosocial support interventions for medical patients to supplement curative care. Prior reviews of interventions augmenting psychosocial support in medical settings have reported mixed outcomes. This meta-analysis addresses the questions of how effective are psychosocial support interventions in improving patient survival and which potential moderating features are associated with greater effectiveness.

Methods and findings

We evaluated randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychosocial support interventions in inpatient and outpatient healthcare settings reporting survival data, including studies reporting disease-related or all-cause mortality. Literature searches included studies reported January 1980 through October 2020 accessed from Embase, …

Facilitating Effective Utilization Of Water Science Research Among Emergency Flood Responders, Whitney E. Henson, Richard Garth, Christopher Franklin

Open Water Journal

Emergency management practitioners, at all hierarchical levels, consider a communication gap to exist between the critical applied knowledge and understanding among emergency first responders (i.e., in the "social cloud" domain) of the scientific data and derived information available from water science research (i.e., in the "science cloud" domain). We posit that this communication gap and information transparency (i.e., synthesis) does not represent an engineering or hydrologic science problem but rather a translation and interpretation problem. The keys to understanding and resolving this chasm are efficiently and effectively sorting, organizing and synthesizing scientific information into useable, "personalized" packets for first responders …

Exploring The Physical Attributes Of 21st Century Large Dams: A Descriptive Study From Ecological And Sustainability Perspectives, Atal Ahmadzai

Open Water Journal

In response to growing energy needs and emerging water insecurity, countries around the world have resorted to building dams of unprecedented size. This dynamism emerged following a global consensus at the end of the 20th century that vowed to transform the large dam industry into one that was sustainable and ecologically sensitive. The consensus evolved due to years of popular anti-dam activism on a global scale and the emergence of new knowledge on various aspects of large dams. Although the number of large dams built has sustained its descending pattern that has initiated in the late 1970s, hundreds of dams …

Low Immunization Rates In The United States, Asia Haslam, Harper Forsgren

Ballard Brief

Vaccination hesitancy has been a concern for some time in the United States, but it is an issue that has become increasingly prevalent in the past 20 years. This hesitancy and mistrust of vaccinations has translated into lowered immunization rates for children and adults. The reduction in vaccination rates is driven mainly by concerns over safety, perpetuation of misinformation about vaccinations, and the increased polarization of immunizations in the United States. Low vaccination rates can cause serious consequences including re-emergence of dangerous diseases, economic consequences for communities. and furthered perpetuation of political divides. The US government and many public health …

Discrimination Against Muslims In The United States, Samuel Neptune

Ballard Brief

The United States is a cultural melting pot of numerous unique religions. One religion that has gained increased attention in the United States over the years is Islam. This increased attention on members of the Islamic community is often negative. For this reason, it is increasingly important for American citizens to understand that the majority of faithful followers of Islam do not identity or approve of extremist groups that commit atrocious acts in the name of Islam. Hate and improper views of Muslims are being propagated by biased media depictions of Muslims, by the heightened fear and concern for safety …

Educational Disparities Among Racial And Ethnic Minority Youth In The United States, Lauren Bushnell

Ballard Brief

While the gap in high school completion has narrowed over time. the percentage of Black and Hispanic high school graduates is still significantly less than that of their White counterparts. Throughout the nation, minority students experience disparities in their educational experience that directly impact their long-term learning and success. The most significant contributors to educational disparities amongst the nation's racial and ethnic minorities include poverty, segregation and racial school districting, inadequate language resources for English language learners. bullying. and lack of access to health resources. The consequences of educational disparities among these minorities include continued poverty, decreased college enrollment and …

Disenfranchisement And Suppression Of Black Voters In The United States, Derek Hill, Madison Coleman, Erica Bassett

Ballard Brief

The disenfranchisement of Black Americans has long outlasted the end of the Civil War, with modern instances of voter suppression in the form of limitations on absentee and early voting, stricter voter ID requirements. restrictions on voter registration. and other systemic barriers that decrease the voting engagement of minority populations. Today. Black voter disenfranchisement primarily takes the form of voting restrictions for incarcerated individuals. Systemic barriers such as gerrymandering, voting regulations for imprisoned persons. voter ID laws, lack of access to polling locations, and other examples contribute to the disenfranchisement of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. This …

Diverging Identities: The Juxtaposition Of Palestinians In Israel And The Occupied Territories, Micah Russell

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Sigma: Journal Of Political And International Studies

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Determining The Constitutionality Of Public Aid To Parochial Schools After Espinoza, Anna Bryner

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Power Brokers: Three Revolutionaries Who Shaped Post-Revolutionary Egypt And Tunisia, Dan Harker

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Lgbt Film Exposure On Policy Preference, Grant Baldwin

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Gender Equality And Democratization: How Greater Gender Equality Helps Explain Tunisian Success In The Arab Spring, Hannah Miller

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Public Confederate Markers In The United States, P. Makoto Hunter

Ballard Brief

As of May 2021, 736 physical monuments and over 1000 other state-sponsored memorials to the Confederate States of America remain in the United States. Most of these markers were built as terror tactics targeting Black Americans during the post-Reconstruction and Civil Rights Movement eras of the twentieth century, long after the end of the Civil War and the Confederacy. Some of the reasons why Confederate markers and support for them persist in the public square are general unfamiliarity with Civil War history, widespread negationist history narratives, and state laws prohibiting local governments from altering Confederate monuments. Although Confederate markers ostensibly …

Announcing Immortal Performances’ New Release Of Roméo Et Juliette: Notes For Roméo Release, Richard Caniell

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

Jussi Björling is particularly celebrated for his singing in Roméo et Juliette and La bohème, especially for a mixture of refulgent passion and much refinement in the characterizations sung in tones of such resplendency that we can scarcely believe such sound could be uttered by the human voice. These two roles are memorably represented by performances sung in his youth (in 1940) at the Royal Opera Stockholm. In March 2020 we are presenting our restoration of the complete 1940 Roméo et Juliette as well as a complete 1943 Act II. In addition the set includes the world premiere commercial …

Jussi’S Three Debuts At The Stockholm Opera, Nils-Göran Olve

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

As readers of this journal may know Jussi Björling’s first role in opera was the tiny part of the Lamplighter in Manon Lescaut, a role which is only 18 bars long – but most of them solo – in that opera’s third act. That was on 21 July 1930, and the venue was of course the Stockholm Opera, or as it says on the poster “Kungl. Teatern” — an abbreviation for “Kungliga Teatern” — The Royal Theatre. If you can master rudimentary Swedish you can find it and much of the data that I will cite in this article on …

Empowering Nurse Practitioners To Make Health Policy Change: A Guide To Successful Passage Of Legislation In Utah, Heather Merrill, Lacey Eden, Karlen Beth Luthy

Student Works

Introduction: There is growing political apathy among nurses. This trend must be reversed to make meaningful change in healthcare. In 2017, the authors championed a bill, House Bill 308 Substitution 2 (HB 308 Sub 2), which passed in the Utah Legislature.

Guide: This health policy paper details the process of enacting HB 308 Substitution 2 to guide Nurse Practitioners in enacting legislation. The steps detailed to enact legislation are based on the acronym CHANGE which stands for collecting data, hinge, associations, negotiate, gather, and expect to be the expert. Basics of the legislature are also explained such as timing, the …