Digital Commons Network^™

What Can We Learn About Teaching Excellence From Our Students? Lessons From Six Years Of Teaching Award Data, Christopher Shortell, Kris Henning, Carl Christiansen

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Teaching excellence in higher education can be defined and studied in different ways, but research efforts to date have often focused on institutional or instructor perspectives. This article uses a data set of over 500 open-ended comments submitted by Political Science undergraduates as part of a teaching award process to identify themes that matter most to students. We find that being supportive, bringing humor, enthusiasm, and passion to the classroom, and engaging students with relevant, challenging, and exciting activities are what defines teaching excellence from a student’s perspective. Building on these themes and using quotes to illustrate key concepts, we …

Borrowing Bronfenbrenner: An Argument For Increasing The Intersection Of Diverse Theoretical And Applied Models, Sean Woodland, Matthew Kahler, John Blue Star, Brandon K. Fielding

Public Affairs and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We have observed that as the theoretical landscape in behavioral science continues to proliferate and diversify, it is not uncommon that distance between subspecialties emerge, artificially accentuating differences between camps. This may occur at the risk of losing sight of the common ground, and worsening communication between subspecialties. In this paper, we propose conceptual “crosswalking” as a means to preserve interdisciplinary communication within the behavioral sciences. This is illustrated using Bronfenbrenner's Person-Process-Context-Time (PPCT) Model, mapped onto therapeutic modalities with a focus on ecological systems. Recommendations for future crosswalking are made.

Implementation Of A Realistic Artificial Data Generator For Crash Data Generation, Lauren Hoover, Md. Istiak Jahan, Tanmoy Bhowmik, Sudipta Dey Tirtha, Karthik C. Konduri, John Ivan, Kai Wang, Shanshan Zhao, Joshua Auld, Naveen Eluru

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper, a framework is outlined to generate realistic artificial data (RAD) as a tool for comparing different models developed for safety analysis. The primary focus of transportation safety analysis is on identifying and quantifying the influence of factors contributing to traffic crash occurrence and its consequences. The current framework of comparing model structures using only observed data has limitations. With observed data, it is not possible to know how well the models mimic the true relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Further, real datasets do not allow researchers to evaluate the model performance for different levels of …

Manga In Bookstores, Claire Curry

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

In recent years, manga has seen a surge in popularity. This research seeks to provide insights into the role of manga in U.S. bookstores and its implications for reader discovery. Through observations at bookstores in the Portland area, including Books with Pictures, Kinokuniya, Powell’s, and Barnes and Noble, it was examined how manga is presented to readers. Factors considered include manga’s physical placement in the store and surrounding sections as well as shelving methods and categorizations like genre labels, particularly for manhwa, manhua, and light novels. Display tables, end caps, and shelf talkers also demonstrate a unique way for bookstores …

Bridging Barriers To Digital Accessibility: An Opportunity For Technical Editors, Julian Luck

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

Digital content is overwhelmingly inaccessible across the web, and web accessibility is a particularly wicked problem. Technical editors with accessibility specializations serve as a part of the solution, however, the market for these professionals is emerging and poorly understood. The purpose of this research is to explore this emerging market and determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for these editors. Considering the limited body of knowledge surrounding this market, I utilize a variety of diverse web resources including peerreviewed journal publications, blogs, forums, and trusted web accessibility resources and organizations. The findings, contextualized by my identity as a disabled …

Prose By Any Other Name: Analyzing Changes To Translated Book Titles In Japanese And English, Angela Griffin

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

This research analyzed the ways in which book titles are changed in translation from English to Japanese and Japanese to English. The titles of one hundred books, fifty in Japanese and fifty in English, were sorted into three main categories of translation based on Tsukawaki’s research on translated sci-fi movie titles (2009): those using the Japanese katakana script, literal, and semantic. For Japanese to English titles, literal translations accounted for 68% of the data and semantic translations for 20%, while Japanese to English titles were literally translated only 48% of the time but semantically 34%. The changes made to translated …

Exploring Consent: An Analysis Of Consent In Dark Romance And Contemporary Romance Books, Janeth Hernandez

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

This research paper analyzes whether consent is found more frequently in dark romance or contemporary romance books by examining the language used, who speaks the phrases, and the contexts in which they are spoken. This paper explores the dominant sexual script in contemporary romance books and its influence on representations of consent, contrasting this with the absence of such a script in dark romance, which permits more varied incorporations of consent. This analysis was done through content analysis-- word frequency, consent analysis, and thematic coding. Word frequency provided evidence of consent use in the books, while consent analysis and thematic …

Evaluating Equitable Successes In Literary Spaces A Portland Book Festival (Pbf) Case Study, Tia-Theo Thompson

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

How do literary institutions achieve and evaluate successes in equity? Do certain factors expedite this transition? To understand the impact of Literary Art’s Discovery Model on diversity in literary spaces, data concerning all BIPOC Writers & Presenters at the Portland Book Festival 2023 was collected and analyzed by book placement, genre, and age category (among additional subcategories). Acknowledgement of publishing industry trends and activism within literary communities appear to be significant factors while curating authors with equity in mind.

An Introduction To Nanomaterials For Nanopackaging, James E. Morris

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The multiple purposes of an electronics “package” include the provision of mechanical support to the silicon chip, for example, and protection from the environment, the delivery of power in and the facilitation of heat out, and the reliable input and output of information signals, whether electrical or optical. In the age of heterogeneous integration, this includes the internal conversion of signal modes between multiple technologies within the package, while maintaining the traditional requirement of reliable information transmission between packages, e.g., on a traditional circuit board. This article presents some selected examples of nanopackaging, i.e., the application of nanotechnologies, (nanoparticles, carbon …

Varecia Rubra (Red Ruffed Lemur) Diel Activity And Calling At Andranobe, Masoala National Park, Madagascar, Hannah Elena Hilden-Reid

Dissertations and Theses

With respect to the natural variation in abiotic and biotic conditions present between daytime and nighttime periods, many animal species show evolutionary adaptations specialized for diurnality, nocturnality, or crepuscularity. Biologists have traditionally viewed categorizations of this kind as fixed within taxonomic groups, emphasizing how intricately species’ survival is contingent on the ability to adapt to low light, high light, or twilight conditions. However, movement away from such distinct temporal niche categories began within chronobiological studies following the discovery of more flexible patterns of activity in numerous taxa during the late 1970s. This shift generated increased interest in elucidating the complex …

The Complexities Of Irrigation Efficiency: Groundwater Data, Agro-Hydrology, And Water Decision-Making In Central Oregon, Rebecca Anderson, Alida Cantor

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Irrigation efficiency projects aim to conserve water for in-stream flow and agricultural use by reducing water losses throughout the system. Piping irrigation canals is a common irrigation efficiency method that results in trade-offs: while it increases efficiency of irrigation water conveyance, it reduces incidental groundwater recharge. This paper focuses on the data and decision-making of canal piping, focusing primarily on understanding the potential impacts of reduced canal leakage on shallow wells. By conducting a spatial analysis of shallow wells in the basin at risk of being impacted by canal piping, and combining this with interviews with water managers in central …

On Fire And Water: The Intersection Of Wetlands And Burning Strategies In Managing The Anthropogenic Plant Communities Of Yosemite National Park, Douglas Deur, Rochelle Bloom

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The existing literature confirms that Native American tribes historically enhanced culturally preferred plant communities through periodic burning in what is today Yosemite National Park; in turn, beginning with nineteenth-century park development, fire suppression contributed to conifer and shrub encroachment on anthropogenic meadows and other culturally significant habitats. However, we contend that traditional burning practices cannot be understood without considering the pronounced cultural role of wetland habitats and species, and the intersection between burning practices and wetland plant communities among tribes of the Sierra Nevada Range. Our ethnographic investigations revealed that a majority of culturally important plants identified by tribal members …

Modeling Injury Severity Of Truck-Involved Crashes Under Covid-19 Regulatory Changes, William Mckenzie

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

At the start of the pandemic the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued declaration No. 2020-002 which included a long list of goods given temporary emergency relief (deregulation) from national statutes 49 CFR Parts 390-399 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations that oversee trucking. In particular, this granted emergency relief from Title 49 CFR § 395.3: maximum driving time for motor carriers or their drivers, regarded as hours-of-service (HOS), and subsequently further expanded to include short-haul trips, adverse driving conditions, break requirements, and sleeper berths. Regulations which play a crucial role in establishing the safe operation and management of …

Comparison Of Emissions Across Tobacco Products: A Slippery Slope In Tobacco Control, Ahmad El-Hellani, Ayomipo Adeniji, Hanno C. Erythropel, Thomas Lamb, Qixin Wang, Vladimir Mikheev, Robert Strongin, Multiple Additional Authors

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this narrative review, we highlight the challenges of comparing emissions from different tobacco products under controlled laboratory settings (using smoking/ vaping machines). We focus on tobacco products that generate inhalable smoke or aerosol, such as cigarettes, cigars, hookah, electronic cigarettes, and heated tobacco products. We discuss challenges associated with sample generation including variability of smoking/vaping machines, lack of standardized adaptors that connect smoking/vaping machines to different tobacco products, puffing protocols that are not representative of actual use, and sample generation session length (minutes or number of puffs) that depends on product characteristics. We also discuss the challenges of physically …

What Can We Learn About Teaching Excellence From Our Students? Lessons From Six Years Of Teaching Award Data, Christopher Shortell, Kris Henning, Carl Christiansen

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Teaching excellence in higher education can be defined and studied in different ways, but research efforts to date have often focused on institutional or instructor perspectives. This article uses a data set of over 500 open-ended comments submitted by Political Science undergraduates as part of a teaching award process to identify themes that matter most to students. We find that being supportive, bringing humor, enthusiasm, and passion to the classroom, and engaging students with relevant, challenging, and exciting activities are what defines teaching excellence from a student’s perspective. Building on these themes and using quotes to illustrate key concepts, we …

A Memoir Of My Reading, Bennett B. Gilbert

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

Surveying nearly seven decades of habitual and obsessive reading, I consider how my character and psychology used reading to shape philosophical questions that move me into forms in which I could pursue them by reading. This became both the method and the substance of my philosophical work. It preserved some core emotional issues but also gave me the way to integrate them into scholarship and into my life.

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet April 2024, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The April 1, 2024 monthly packet includes the April agenda, appendices, and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held April 1, 2024.

Digital Comics Subscription Service Usage And Its Impact On Printed Comic Buying Habits: The Digital Comics Subscription Loop, Isaac Swindle

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

This study developed a digital comics subscription loop that borrows from consumer loyalty research done in publishing and marketing studies. The proposed loop uses comic publisher’s proprietary subscription platforms as a “book showroom” to allow consumers to sample titles, driving physical sales. Original survey data was then gathered about comic book consumers’ usage of digital subscription platforms and what drives them to make physical purchases. The data was then compared to the proposed model, finding significant cross-medium consumption, as well as many reported completions of the Digital Comics Subscription Loop. The survey data found that over 80 percent of respondents …

Language Representation Diversity In Independently Translated Literature, Cecilia Too

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

The purpose of this survey is to determine the diversity of language representation in translated literature. Specifically, this study will examine three independent presses and one imprint that publishes literary works, both fiction and nonfiction. This paper surveys the languages represented in the translated works published by these presses over the course of five years, from 2018 to 2022. A case study of one independent press, Other Press, is conducted to further study the genre and country representation in translated literature. This study finds that European languages, particularly Western European languages, are overrepresented in translated literature by more than a …

Intersectionalities Of Systematic Barriers Set Upon Underrepresented Students In Stem: Capturing The Potential Benefits Of Online Modality, Raiyasha Aiyanna Paris

University Honors Theses

The prevalence of racism and microaggressions in STEM disciplines within colleges presents significant hurdles to the academic success and well-being of underrepresented students. Microaggressions, encompassing subtle biases and stereotyping, have a cumulative impact, inducing heightened stress, diminished motivation, and reduced self-efficacy among minority students, thereby impeding cognitive functioning and hindering academic progress (Ogunyemi et al., 2020). The existence of these negative emotional responses creates a less conducive learning environment for academic achievement. Additionally, structural inequalities within STEM institutions contribute to disparities in resource access, limited mentorship opportunities, and support networks crucial for success in STEM fields (Atkins et al., 2020). …

Floodplain Restoration And Its Effects On Summer Water Temperature And Macroinvertebrates In Whychus Creek, Oregon (Usa), Wesley N. Noone, Patrick M. Edwards, Yangdong Pan, Colin R. Thorne

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Stream restoration is a proposed climate adaptation tool; however, outcomes of floodplain restoration on stream temperature have been debated. Despite a growing number of studies that investigated water temperature in restored streams, few have quantified temperature variations in new habitat types created by restored hydrogeomorphic processes to explore the effects on aquatic macroinvertebrates. We evaluated the hypotheses: (1) restoration increases habitat diversity, (2) habitat diversity increases water temperature variability, and (3) restoration increases the diversity of macroinvertebrate assemblage and temperature associations. In August 2021, we collected environmental data to describe the aquatic habitats, water temperature and quality (continuous and discrete), …

Gut Feelings: A Literature Review On The Gut-Brain Axis And Its Potential Influence On Mood, Grace Johnson

University Honors Theses

In recent decades, research on the gut-brain axis has evolved due to an increasing interest in the connection between gut health and mental health. The gut-brain axis presents a new frontier of health for both medical professionals and psychologists as there is expanding evidence illustrating the comorbidity of gut disorders and mood disorders. Due to the complex nature of studying the gut-brain axis and the myriad of influences on mood disorders such as depression, research has yet to find significant results definitively tying the two together. Nonetheless, the current body of literature on the topic provides a promising outlook on …

Risk Factors Of Dental Anxiety And Exploration Of Interventions, Katelin Hancock

University Honors Theses

Within this literature review, the root causes of dental anxiety, current intervention methods, and possible preventative interventions are discussed. Dental anxiety affects millions of individuals across diverse backgrounds and can be detrimental to oral health. This issue can arise from various sources, however, different socioeconomic and sociodemographic factors can contribute to an individual's risk of developing dental anxiety. Understanding what predisposes certain populations to become more likely to develop dental anxiety is imperative to holistically address the concern. Investigating the relationship between lack of access, oral health, and anxiety levels allows for an understanding of the root causes of anxiety. …

Contralateral Second Dose Improves Antibody Responses To A 2-Dose Mrna Vaccination Regimen, Sedigheh Fazli, Archana Thomas, Abram E. Estrada, Hiro A. P. Ross, David Xthona Lee, Steven Kazmierczak, Mark K. Slifka, David Montefiori, William B. Messer, Marcel E. Curlin

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

BACKGROUND. Vaccination is typically administered without regard to site of prior vaccination, but this factor may substantially affect downstream immune responses. METHODS. We assessed serological responses to initial COVID-19 vaccination in baseline seronegative adults who received second-dose boosters in the ipsilateral or contralateral arm relative to initial vaccination. We measured serum SARSCoV-2 spike–specific Ig, receptor-binding domain–specific (RBD-specific) IgG, SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid–specific IgG, and neutralizing antibody titers against SARS-CoV-2.D614G (early strain) and SARS-CoV-2.B.1.1.529 (Omicron) at approximately 0.6, 8, and 14 months after boosting. RESULTS. In 947 individuals, contralateral boosting was associated with higher spike-specific serum Ig, and this effect increased over time, …

Corporatizing Violence: Targeted Repression Of Indigenous Dissent In Democratic States, Laikaika Layne Rivera

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores state repression of disruptive protests against private development projects in democracies. Using a mixed methods approach, including logistic regression and case studies, the research identifies key factors influencing repression. Indigenous leadership, fragmented public opposition, and private elite influence increase the likelihood of violent repression. The findings suggest that when public resistance is insufficient against powerful private interests, coercive institutions resort to violent strategies to quell disruptions and signal increased costs for future dissent. State repression is more likely when the protest movement is comprised of Indigenous groups than compared to those of the general public. The study …

A Survey Of North American Electric Bicycle Owners, Cameron Steven Bennett

Dissertations and Theses

Rapid recent growth in the popularity of electric bicycles (e-bikes) has captured the attention of transportation researchers and policymakers seeking safe, sustainable, and active alternatives to conventional transportation modes. This thesis presents an investigation of e-bike owners in North America, complementing previous efforts in 2013 and 2017, and suggests implications for North American transportation planning.

An online survey was distributed to e-bike owners in the United States and Canada through email outreach, purchase incentive programs, and social media. The survey included questions on the respondents’ demographics, e-bikes, purchase decisions, travel behavior, perceptions of e-bikes, crash experience, maintenance needs, and receipt …

Edna Study Of The Kellogg-Mt. Scott Watershed, Amy D. Van Riessen

Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver

The Kellogg Creek Restoration and Community Enhancement Project is an exciting effort occurring in the heart of downtown Milwaukie. The project encompasses many elements, including:

• providing fish passage to 15 miles of habitat by removing the barrier at Kellogg Dam
• restoring 17 acres of high-quality habitat behind the dam
• providing public access and viewing points to encourage nature-based recreation and outdoor education
• increasing flood storage capacity to reduce flooding in lower Kellogg Creek
• modernizing the existing Oregon State Highway 99E bridge with an alternative that increases seismic resiliency and establishes a safe bike/pedestrian undercrossing
• providing interactive learning, scientific research and …

Supporting Private Property Owners In Tree Selection For Future Climate, Lea Wilson

Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver

Collectively, trees on private property provide broad watershed and human health benefits. The planting and maintenance of these trees, however, is reliant on the knowledge, resources, and stewardship ethics of a multitude of individual property owners. At the same time, climate change will both threaten these existing trees and necessitate a shift in the planting palette of future trees. We use a municipal tree planting program in Portland, OR (Treebate) as a case study for understanding how property owners value, select, and care for their trees. We found that while many property owners claim to have considered future climate in …

Proceedings Of The 22nd Annual Urban Ecology & Conservation Symposium (2024), Lori Hennings

Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver

These proceedings document the agenda and abstracts for presentations and posters from the 22nd annual conference (2024) organized by the Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver (UERC). The UERC is a consortium of people from various universities and colleges, state and federal agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations and independent professionals interested in supporting urban ecosystem research and creating an information-sharing network of people that collect and use ecological data in the Portland/Vancouver area. The annual conference has an open call for abstracts. The UERC organizing committee selects the final oral and poster presentations, along with 2 invited keynote presentations

Teaching In A Kenyan Refugee Camp: A Critical Ethnography Of The Impact Of Teacher Preparation And Cultural Experience On Pedagogy, James Adiok Mayik

Dissertations and Theses

This research involved an investigation of the classroom experiences of formally unprepared refugee teachers in Kakuma Refugee camp. The purpose was to understand how refugee teachers with no preservice preparation in accordance with the standards of Kenya Teacher Service Commission (TSC) perceive and interact with pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and cultural relevancy in their daily classroom experiences with students in a refugee camp-based school in Kenya. What informed this study was the view that refugee teachers bring with them their respective and diverse cultural knowledge--ontology, epistemology, and axiology. To gain better understanding of the experiences and perspectives of these educators, …