Digital Commons Network^™

Can Middle School Students Learn Agriculture From Behind A Computer Screen? A Comparative Analysis Case Study Of Online Vs Traditional Middle School Agricultural Courses In Rural Georgia, Roseanna Volz

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Online education is growing in popularity. Traditional schooling is losing the monopoly of being the only teaching method available to students (Nguyen, 2015). Online learning has evolved throughout the development of online education (Sun & Chen, 2016). Many schools focus on the core content classes for online education like math, science, social studies, and English language arts, but school systems are starting to grow their curricula (Bedard & Knox-Pipes, 2006). This quantitative study was a comparative analysis of an online and traditionally taught agricultural education course. Middle school students completed 12 assignments throughout six weeks. The grades from the assignments …

Locos Años 20’S: Advertising Trends In Cromos, Maya Noonan

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

While the decade of 1920's are often noted for the global prosperity, much of the existing literature follows the Western World. The aim of this project is to demonstrate the global impact of the Western World's economic prosperity on other countries, such as Columbia. Through the analysis of the advertisements featured in the magazine Chromos, the influence of the United States can be tracked through the general increase in economic aid and in increased production.

Habitat Use And Diel Movements Of Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys Molitrix In Two Southeastern Reservoirs, Levi Umland

Honors College Theses

Bigheaded carp have spread rampantly throughout the Mississippi watershed and continue to spread by navigating through rivers, locks, and dams. The long-term effects these species will have on our ecosystems and natural resources is unknown. Their movements, behavior, and general seasonal patterns are well studied within rivers. However, their movements and behavior within reservoirs is poorly understood due to their initial numbers within reservoirs being lower than in rivers. To address this gap, I investigated the distribution and movement rates of Silver Carp within two reservoirs, Kentucky Reservoir and Barkley Reservoir, and possible correlative variables, including wind, temperature, residency, sex, …

Adding Equity To Transformative Agreements And Journal Subscriptions –The Read & Let Read Model, Arthur J. Boston

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

The transition towards open access to research articles has become a question of how, rather than why and the rise of transformative agreements has enabled publishers to strike agreements with large institutions and national research organisations to provide open access and authorship to their members. In this post, Arthur J. Boston puts forward an alternative Read & Let Read model, which could extend access beyond these limited groups and create a framework for more collaborative funding for access to open access research.

Adapting Network Theory For Spatial Network Externalities In Agriculture: A Case Study On Hemp Cross-Pollination, Jeffrey S. Young, Tanner J. Mccarty

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

Growers have increasingly expressed frustration over the negative externalities created by their neighbor's production practices. These spatial agricultural network problems include issues such as cross-pollination and herbicide drift. We develop novel methods for estimating parameters that allow us to adapt and apply general network diffusion models to these spatial agricultural network problems. Doing so allows us to calculate externality damage within a region and calculate cost-effective policies for alleviating that externality. We empirically illustrate, motivate, and test this approach by applying it to hemp. We find that network structure is an important factor in externality size and cost-effective policy response …

Occupational Therapy Program Research Seminar, Kelly L. Taylor Otd, Ms, Otr/L, Cbis

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Occupational Therapy Program Research Seminar

December 7, 2022 │ 8:30AM – 12:30PM

Murray State University, Paducah Regional Campus

The Importance Of Teaching Personal Finance, Ryan Brewer

Honors College Theses

Personal finance is a foreign concept to many, yet it is an essential concept for all. This research project considers the impact of a personal finance course being taught in an organized, non-profit setting. A community church offers a finance course to their congregants on an annual basis that is designed to teach short- and long-term personal finance concepts to individuals and families to encourage adequate budgeting and investment practices. This specific project will evaluate the participants skillset and confidence in their financial goals before and after they are involved with the course. The data of study will be collected …

A United Failure: The Failure Of The United Nations, United States, And Global Community In Preventing And Responding To The 1994 Rwandan Genocide, Josh Ratsch

Honors College Theses

The Rwandan Genocide represents a glaring failure of the global community to provide humanitarian protection to targets of ethnic violence and slaughter. The complete indifference displayed by the United Nations provided extremist Hutu leaders with an environment for killing without a threat of foreign intervention. Calls by the leader of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), Roméo Dallaire to reinforce the mission both before and during the slaughter fell upon deaf ears as UN leaders attempted to justify their inaction. Accounts from Rwandan representatives, who at the start of the genocide held a position on the UN Security …

Diversification Of Suffering: An Analysis Of The Historiography Of The Home Fronts Of First World War Germany And Austria-Hungary Of The Past Quarter-Century, Gage Overton

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The scholarship analyzing the home fronts of Germany and Austria-Hungary during the First World War has grown sharply in the past quarter-century. These studies revealed many details that were scarcely known to many historians and introduced perspectives of the home front that were largely ignored beforehand. The scholars highlighted in this analysis all provide discussions which have deepened our understanding of the war, like the German government's punishment of women for "sexual treason," the extent of Vienna's devastation caused by hunger and disease, and the relationship between theatre and Austrian identity. Overall, the recent scholarship on this subject has demonstrated …

2022-12-02, Board Of Regents, Murray State University

Board of Regents Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Exploring Sleep Knowledge And Predictors Of Sleep Hygiene In College Students, Mirielle Erpelding

Honors College Theses

Sleep: something so crucial to successful daily functioning, yet also something so easily discarded in turn for something more stimulating. In college, there are late nights, early mornings, use of electronic devices, and the constant “always-on” mentality, all of which impacts student sleep hygiene. To define, the American Academy for Sleep Medicine (AASM) considers “sleep hygiene” as a pattern of healthy sleep behaviors that improve one’s ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, and awake more refreshed (2020). The current study has two goals: 1) assess knowledge of recommended sleep practices in the college population, and 2) identify predictors (among sleep …

Around The World In Two Days: Walt Disney's Epcot Center And The World's Fair Tradition, Annie Davis

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

This work views the performative and consumerist traditions of the World's Fair and how Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center was essentially created to exist as a "permanent World's Fair" in theme park form. From viewing the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis and the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair alongside Epcot Center (1982) the similarities in the visitor experience are analyzed. Walt Disney's presence at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair seems to work as testing grounds for ideas with lower stakes than presenting permanent attractions, some of which would later be moved to the parks. Epcot Center offered …

Defining Heroinism: Heartthrobs Refining Heroines In 18th And 19th Century Women's Literature, Grace M. Gibson

Honors College Theses

This project will explore the emergence of “heroinism,” a uniquely feminine way in which early female authors approached the heroine’s journey. Barred by male expectations of female conduct both in society and literature, eighteenth and nineteenth century women daring to “attempt the pen” forged stories of heroines with conventions and tropes distinctly, though not entirely, separate from those told of centuries of heroes. I intend to track the ways in which these early tales of heroines told by women strayed from the traditional heroic plot, with unique motivations, mentors, trials, and rewards, but also how they were shaped and confined …

Seroprevalence And Titer Concentration Testing For Leptospirosis In Equine, Ashley Himmelsbaugh

Honors College Theses

The most common best management practice used to combat diseases in horses is vaccination, which can decrease the incidence or severity of illness. However, the duration of immunity will vary for each vaccination and must be considered for revaccination purposes. Titer concentration, which evaluates antibodies in the blood, may be a helpful way of determining how long an animal has immunity to a disease. Leptospirosis, a zoonotic, bacterial disease, can result in uveitis, potentially leading to blindness, and abortion in mares. One serovar, Leptospirosis pomona (L. pomona), is associated with most cases of clinical disease in horses in North America. …

You Can Be Anything You Want: An Analysis Of Gender Stereotypes In Early Childhood Literature, Emily Renee Marshall

Honors College Theses

The theme of gender roles is present in many genres of literature. In early children’s literature, the vast majority of these stories portray the most common gender stereotypes, such as girls who wear pink and play with dolls, while boys wear blue and play with cars and trucks. The families’ roles are also seen in these books. For example, the mother figure is usually seen at home with the children, working in the kitchen or outside in the garden, while the father is often portrayed coming home from a long day of work in a suit and tie. These gender …

The Forgotten Subjects: Implementation Of Science And Social Studies Into Elementary Education, Kayla Wendler, Kayla M. Wendler

Honors College Theses

The content areas of science and social studies are areas that students in today's elementary education classrooms do not interact with daily. In many general education classrooms, literacy and mathematics take up a majority of the instructional time leaving students missing out on important skills that help them grow and flourish in society. The importance of science and social studies within the classrooms goes beyond simple means of expanding their knowledge. For example, these "forgotten subjects" allow students to connect with the world around them and incorporate the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. The content areas are used to deepen …

Personality Traits In The Workplace: Examining The Light Triad And Its Relationship With Job Satisfaction, Sarah Catherine Overton

Honors College Theses

The expanding psychological research into several “dark traits” of one’s personality (Moshagen et al., 2018) has presented a void in examining more positive characteristics. In recent years, Kaufman and colleagues (2019) developed the “Light Triad” to provide a more holistic perspective on humankind. The Light Triad is a construct encompassing benevolent personality traits, including humanism, faith in humanity, and Kantianism. Most relevant to the current study, Kaufman and colleagues (2019) found a significant relationship between the Light Triad and life satisfaction. Furthermore, life satisfaction is also positively correlated with job satisfaction (Rice et al., 1980). Given these relationships, it was …

Bread & Butter, Katlyn Indalecio

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

Katie Indalecio | Bread & Butter

A dash of joy and a pinch of whimsy. Ingredients of my ever-evolving design approach. As if instinctual, I find my thoughts wandering to food for subject matter. Food and Design parallel one another in many ways, through bold colors, interesting textures, and unique flavors; they are both subjects that are consumed on a massive scale daily. What better way to represent my interest in food, and also display my versatility in illustration, layout, and typography than in the form of a magazine?

Bread & Butter is a simple, forthright title for both the …

Pick Your Plate: A Nutrition Education Study, Emmalyn Tucker

Honors College Theses

Childhood obesity has become a cause for concern among many nutrition experts. Childhood obesity can contribute to several health problems such as type 2 diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure. The large percentage of children affected with childhood obesity suggests a lack of essential nutrition education in our country. Junk food consumption and inadequate intake of the USDA’s MyPlate food groups have become essential areas for intervention. Multiple school-based nutrition education interventions have been explored to improve both children’s nutrition knowledge and improve healthy eating behaviors. “Pick Your Plate” is a nutrition education study designed to improve nutrition knowledge regarding junk …

Retrieve, Race, Release, Karamello Young, Paige Mccord, Madison Morrison, Emily Fitzgerald

Scholars Week

Title: Retrieve, Race, Release

by: Paige McCord, Karamello Young, Madison Morrison, Emily Fitzgerald

Abstract: This poster represents a service-learning project that was done for our conservation biology class. Our main goal is to educate the public about the negative impacts of turtle derbies. We did this by using educational materials to raise awareness about turtle races and the impact of painting them with toxic substances before releasing them into a habitat that is not their natural one. We did not seek out to prohibit or stop the races as that would cause people to shut down and not listen as …

Research Proposal To Measure Student Attitudes Toward Social Media As A Learning Mechanism In College Courses, Mersadies Starks-Lopez

Scholars Week

In this day and age, social media is a part of most everyone’s day to day life. For many, this includes social media being used in their learning process. This exploratory experimental design is aimed to discover what attitudes students have toward social media being used as a tool in the classroom, by using specific objectives and proposed tactics. A group of juniors and seniors from the College of Business at Murray State University will be tested to measure attitudes toward social media and its place in their college courses. The proposed hypothesis is that students will react positively to …

Using Music As A Messaging Strategy For Conservation Education, Frances Hincks

Scholars Week

Given the frequently negative effects each person imposes on their environment (e.g., resource

consumption, use of private and public land, and waste production), the public needs to be

included in conservation messaging to sustain a healthy, functioning planet. However, there is a

disconnect between conservation research and presenting such information to the public in a

coherent, accessible format. People are generally not informed about conservation topics, which

creates difficulties in creating a conservation mindset. Thus, conservation education messaging

strategies need to be evaluated to determine what is most effective in conveying important

topics. The objective of this research is to …

Implementing The Option For 8-Hour Shifts Compared To 12-Hour Shifts To Protect The Well-Being Of Nurses And Patients, Savannah G. Bison, Madison R. Harden

Scholars Week

This project addresses the negative aspects of twelve hour shifts within the nursing profession and how a change to eight hour shifts leads to decreased burnout, increased job satisfaction, and a more positive work-life balance. The term ‘nursing shortage’ is often improperly used to imply only a deficit in registered nurses across the country; however, it is instead due to practicing nurses leaving the profession before retirement, especially in bedside positions. Nurses are searching for different paths for multiple reasons, but a common factor among all of them is burnout caused by the current system in place. This project addresses …

83 On The Brink The Dangers Of Rhetoric In A Nuclear Armed World, Andrew Dubois

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The early 1980s, as described by Mikhail Gorbachev, were marked by escalating tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan's declaration of the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" in 1983 intensified geopolitical tension, notably followed by the Soviet Airforce mistakenly shooting down a civilian airliner. The release of "The Day After" highlighted the horrors of nuclear war, coinciding with a war scare during the Able Archer military exercise. These events underscored the dangers of Cold War paranoia and Reagan's foreign policy shortcomings, emphasizing the need for diplomacy to thaw relations and mitigate the threat of nuclear …

Generation Onlyfans: Examining The Effects Of "Raunch Culture" On Depression Via Social Media Use And Social Comparisons, Grace Sinclair, Duncan Jordan

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

"Raunch culture" is a term describing the promotion of overtly sexual representations of women. This concept may provide people opportunities to engage in positive social comparisons, but also negative social comparisons. As such, this concept could also relate to the phenomenology of depression in women. In an attempt to further investigate the effects of raunch culture, this study examined relationships between raunch culture, depression, and social media use in undergraduate students. Participants (N = 199) from a moderately-sized university in the Midwest completed measures of raunch culture, depression, social comparison, and social media use via an online platform. Primary hypotheses …

Marital Satisfaction And Dissatisfaction Among Ghanaians, Esther Malm, Mabel Oti-Boadi, Nana Ama Adom-Boakye Kanyi, Aba Andah

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

This study examined factors associated with marital satisfaction/dissatisfaction among Ghanaian couples living in Ghana and abroad. Using a correlational design, data from a convenience sample of 231 married participants from Ghana and abroad were collected via an online survey. Results from regression analyses revealed that four positive behaviors - affection, companionship, commitment to the family, financial support - and one negative behavior, beatings/slaps, were significantly associated with marital satisfaction. Three negative behaviors - annoying habits, selfishness, and disrespect - were significantly associated with marital dissatisfaction. Participants in Ghana reported significantly higher rates of beatings in marriage compared to those abroad. …

2022-09-09, Board Of Regents, Murray State University

Board of Regents Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

2022-09-08, Board Of Regents, Murray State University

Board of Regents Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Interpersonal Consequences Of Adverse Childhood Experiences In College Students, Jessica Criddle, Thomas B. Sease, Esther Malm

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

The Interpersonal Process Model of Intimacy characterizes intimacy as dyadic interpersonal interactions in which vulnerable behaviors are displayed and reinforced by suitable listeners. We posited that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) would foster avoidance of vulnerable speaker behaviors in dyadic exchanges, as seen in self-concealment, and that lower levels of ACEs would be associated with more self-disclosure. Correspondingly, we examined whether self-concealment and self-disclosure simultaneously mediated the relationship between ACEs and relationship closeness in college students. Results revealed that ACEs were significantly associated with more self-concealment only. After removing self-disclosure from the model, self-concealment mediated the relationship between ACEs and relationship …

Sugar Shenanigans: Curbing The Added Sugar Epidemic In Children And Adolescents, Amy Krazl, Tonia Mailow

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

Background: The consumption of added sugar is one of the most dangerous problems regarding the health of society’s youngest generation. Children today consume added sugar at an alarming rate, on average surpassing the daily limit recommended by the American Heart Association. This study aims to educate and empower the child and adolescent population for the purpose of increasing knowledge and improving dietary practices. Methods: An educational program, entitled “Sugar Shenanigans” was delivered to groups of children between the ages of 8 and 13. Data was gathered from pre- and post-tests and “Impact Level Questionnaire” surveys for both participants and parents/guardians …