Digital Commons Network^™

A City Club Report On Measure 86: Higher Education Bonds, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Vegetation Recovery Following Dam Removal At Hemlock Recreation Site, Washington, Greer Stewart Ramsey

Dissertations and Theses

Dam removals are becoming increasingly common as dams reach their life expectancy and face costly upgrades associated with relicensing. Though removal is often viewed as a success in terms of ecological restoration, it also represents a major disturbance to an area. Previous research has shown that native species do not survive as well at these disturbed sites, and invasive species often dominate. This study examines the vegetation response in the drained reservoir area after the removal of Hemlock Dam on Trout Creek, a tributary to the Wind River in southern Washington. Transects were established and quadrats were sampled to determine …

Benevolent Racism? : The Impact Of Race And Sexual Subtype On Ambivalent Sexism, Jean Marie Mcmahon

Dissertations and Theses

How does a woman's race influence perceptions of her sexual behavior? This study investigated how race and sexual behavior intersect within an ambivalent sexism framework. Benevolent sexism characterizes women as pure and defenseless, which contrasts with the cultural stereotype of Black women as aggressive and hypersexual. Gender and racial stereotypes may combine to produce different outcomes for women who behave according to negative (promiscuous) or positive (chaste) sexual subtypes. According to shifting standards theory, evaluations and treatment of these women should vary depending on whether the measured behavior is non-zero sum (limitless) or zero sum (finite). To test this hypothesis, …

It's Complicated: The Role Of Facebook In Romantic Relationships Concerning Relational Certainty, Attachment, And Self-Esteem, Jenna Rae Tucker

Dissertations and Theses

Facebook is among the top used websites in the world, and research has shown that Facebook use is related to individual personality characteristics such as well-being and self-esteem. This study builds on previous research, expanding to investigate attachment-related anxiety and avoidance and relational certainty. The current study examined relationships between Facebook use (both general and for surveillance) and relational certainty, attachment-related anxiety and avoidance, and self-esteem in undergraduate students (N = 261). Online methods were used for data collection, and individuals with their relationship displayed on Facebook reported more relational certainty; however, the more time they spent on the site, …

Predicting Bicyclist Comfort In Protected Bike Lanes, Nicholas Mark-Andrew Foster

Dissertations and Theses

Long popular in northern Europe, protected bike lanes, also known as "cycle tracks" or "separated bike lanes," are seeing increased interest in the United States. One of the primary benefits of protected bike lanes is that they may provide a higher level of comfort than a standard bike lane that is only delineated by an inches-wide painted stripe. Several methods exist for quantifying the quality of service provided by a roadway for a bicyclist; however, many of these models do not consider protected bike lanes and of those that do, none are based on empirical data from the US. This …

Optical Properties Of Nanostructured Dielectric Coatings, Brandon Giatti

Dissertations and Theses

Solar cells have extrinsic losses from a variety of sources which can be minimized by optimization of the design and fabrication processes. Reflection from the front surface is one such loss mechanism and has been managed in the past with the usage of planar antireflection coatings. While effective, these coatings are each limited to a single wavelength of light and do not account for varying incident angles of the incoming light source. Three-dimensional nanostructures have shown the ability to inhibit reflection for differing wavelengths and angles of incidence. Nanocones were modeled and show a broadband, multi-angled reflectance decrease due to …

The Effect Of Docosahexaenoic Acid (Dha)-Containing Phosphatidylcholine (Pc) On Liquid-Ordered And Liquid-Disordered Coexistence, Yongwen Gu

Dissertations and Theses

Plasma membranes are essential to both the structure and function of mammalian cells. The first unifying paradigm of membrane structure, the Fluid Mosaic Model, is no longer considered adequate to describe the many non-homogeneous lipid structures that have been observed in both natural and model membranes over the past approximately thirty years. The field of membrane biophysics now appreciates that the complex mixture of different lipid species found in natural membranes produces a range of dynamic, laterally segregated, non-homogeneous structures which exist on time scales ranging from microseconds to minutes.

When sphingomyelin (SM), POPC and cholesterol are all present in …

Testing The Ecological And Physiological Factors Influencing Reproductive Success In Mosses, Erin Elizabeth Shortlidge

Dissertations and Theses

As non-vascular, early land plants with an aquatic ancestry, mosses do not regulate internal water conditions separate from that of their environment and as a result, evolved mechanisms to survive in a terrestrial world out of water. Yet, there is a widely accepted dogma that moss reproductive success is solely dependent on rainfall events carrying swimming, bi-flagellate sperm across the landscape to reproductively mature and receptive female mosses--but this classic view of moss reproduction may be too simplistic. In this dissertation I test the assumptions of reproductive limitation in mosses and present novel findings in a basal, yet understudied terrestrial …

A City Club Report On Measure 91: Marijuana Legalization, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

Women’S Representation In The Highest Court: A Comparative Analysis Of The Appointment Of Female Justices, Melody Ellis Valdini, Christopher Shortell

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The presence of women justices in the highest court varies significantly from country to country. Using an original data set of women’s representation in the highest constitutional courts in 50 democracies, we assess the causes of this variation. We find, contrary to the prevailing view, that the strength of the institution is not significantly related to the number of women on the court. Instead, we find that the existence of a “sheltered” versus “exposed” selection mechanism is the critical determinant of women’s presence. That is, when the selectors are sheltered from electoral accountability, they are less likely to select women …

Regulations Of E-Bikes In North America, John Macarthur, Nicholas Kobel

TREC Final Reports

Throughout the world, the electric bicycle (e-bike) industry is growing very quickly. The North American market has been somewhat slow to adopt this technology, which is still considered to be in the “early adopter” phase (Rose & Dill, 2011; Rose, 2011), but in recent years, this has begun to change. But as e-bike numbers increase, so too will potential conflicts (actual or perceived) with other vehicles and non-motorized devices, bicycles and pedestrians, causing policy questions to arise. Indeed, conflicting user groups are petitioning state legislatures and local governments for permission to operate legally on roadways and paths or to ban …

Research & Strategic Partnerships: Quarterly Review, Volume 1, Issue 4, Portland State University. Research & Strategic Partnerships

Portland State Research Magazine

This fourth issue of the Research and Strategic Partnerships (RSP) Quarterly Review highlights both the outward- and inward-facing aspects of PSU’s research enterprise. Ours is a university built on partnerships, and nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the just-opened Collaborative Life Sciences Building in South Waterfront, conceived, designed and executed in close coordination with OHSU and OSU. Some of the largest biomedical breakthroughs to come from the CLSB may be discovered at the smallest scales using electron microscopy techniques advanced by our Center for Electron Microscopy and Nanotechnology. PSU is a player in nanoscience in large part because Portland …

International Reserves Before And After The Global Crisis: Is There No End To Hoarding?, Joshua Aizenman, Yin-Wong Cheung, Hiro Ito

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We evaluate the global financial crisis (GFC) and the structural changes of recent years that have been associated with new patterns of hoarding international reserves. We confirm that the determining factors of international reserves are evolving with developments in the global economy. From 1999–2006, the pre-GFC period, gross saving is associated with higher international reserves in developing and emerging markets. An outward direct-investment effect is consistent with the view of diverting international assets from the international reserve account, the “Joneses’ effect” lends support to the rivalry hoarding motivation, and commodity price volatility induces hoarding against uncertainty. During the 2007–2009 GFC, …

Equality, Trust And Universalism In Europe, Canada And The United States: Implications For Health Care Policy, P. Christopher Palmedo

Dissertations and Theses

A number of theoretical explanations seek to describe the factors that have led to the position of the United States as the last industrialized Western nation without a universal health care program. Theories focus on institutional arrangement, historic precedent, and the influence of the private sector and market forces. This study explores another factor: the role of underlying social values. The research examines differences in values among ten European countries, the United States and Canada, and analyzes the associations between the values that have been seen to contribute the individualism-collectivism dynamic in the United States. The hypothesis that equality and …

Potential Ramifications Of Common Core State Standards Adoption On Information Literacy, Jacob Paul Eubanks

Communications in Information Literacy

In the United States, the decline in jobs for high school educated workers and the proliferation of jobs for post-secondary educated workers is driving the development of the Common Core State Standards. The Common Core State Standards theoretically shift K-12 pedagogy towards ability development of critical and extended thinking skills, preparing high school graduates for college and career readiness. This literature review explores the reasoning behind the shift to the Common Core State Standards and asks questions regarding the potential ramifications their adoption might have on post-secondary information literacy instruction.

The Flipped Classroom Teaching Model And Its Use For Information Literacy Instruction, Sara Arnold-Garza

Communications in Information Literacy

The "flipped classroom" teaching model has emerged in a variety of educational settings. It provides many advantages for students and exploits the affordances of modern technology. This article describes some of the pedagogical and logistical characteristics of the flipped teaching model. It situates the flipped classroom in higher education and library instruction, and make the case that there are characteristics of information literacy instruction that fit well with the flipped teaching model, in addition to providing some unique challenges.

Integrating An Information Literacy Quiz Into The Learning Management System, M. Sara Lowe, Char Booth, Natalie Tagge, Sean Stone

Communications in Information Literacy

The Claremont Colleges Library Instruction Services Department developed a Quiz that could be integrated into the consortial learning management software to accompany a local online, open-source IL tutorial. The Quiz is integrated into individual course pages, allowing students to receive a grade for completion and improving buy-in at the faculty and student level. Piloted in nine first-year classes in Fall 2012 then revised and launched in Spring 2013, the Quiz has given the Library valuable assessment data on first-year student IL skills and enhanced the ability of teaching librarians to tailor their instruction to student performance.

Peering Into The Writing Center: Information Literacy As Collaborative Conversation, Janelle M. Zauha

Communications in Information Literacy

This column focuses on the conceptual and practical aspects of teaching information literacy. Column co-editor Patrick Ragains and I write about trends and issues that have come to our attention, but we also solicit contributions to this space. Readers with ideas for Teaching Matters may contact Patrick Ragains at [email protected], or the editors of Communications in Information Literacy at [email protected].

Wikipedia And The Wisdom Of Crowds: A Student Project, Greg Barnhisel, Marcia Rapchak

Communications in Information Literacy

Students examined the question of whether the 'wisdom of experts' or 'the wisdom of crowds' is more reliable and useful in a writing course by engaging in a parallel Wikipedia project. Each student either created a new entry or made significant changes to an existing Wikipedia entry, tracked changes to their contributions, and then wrote a paper and gave a presentation reflecting on what they learned; simultaneously, the class as a whole collaborated on a Wikipedia entry about a local landmarks controversy. Background readings familiarizing students with Wikipedia's procedures, as well as critical and philosophical interpretations of Wikipedia's significance, provided …

Developing An Information Literacy Assessment Rubric: A Case Study Of Collaboration, Process, And Outcomes, Christina Hoffman Gola, Irene Ke, Kerry M. Creelman, Shawn P. Vaillancourt

Communications in Information Literacy

A team of four librarians at the [Institution Name] ([Institution Initials]) Libraries partnered with the [Institution Initials] Office of Institutional Effectiveness and its Director of Assessment & Accreditation Services for General Education to conduct a campus-wide, exploratory assessment of undergraduate information literacy skills. The project evaluated a selection of graduating, senior-level student papers using a rubric developed as part of the collaboration. This paper describes and discusses the collaborative rubric development and rating process, the practical implications for other librarians seeking to conduct a similar assessment, and the impact the project is having on the library instruction program.

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Tools For Online Database Instruction, Yvonne Mery, Erica Defrain, Elizabeth Kline, Leslie Sult

Communications in Information Literacy

The intent of this study was to evaluate the Guide on the Side (Gots), an online learning tool developed by the University of Arizona Libraries, and a screencast tutorial for teaching information literacy and database searching skills. Ninety undergraduate students were randomly assigned into three groups: group 1 completed a GotS tutorial; group 2 viewed a screencast presenting identical content; and a control group. Each group completed an identical 16-item post-test. An analysis of variance revealed statistically significant differences between the control group and both treatment groups, however there was no statistical difference between treatment groups. Limitations of the study …

More Than Words: Survey Software For Active Learning, Flipped Instruction And Formative Assessment, Meredith Farkas

Library Instruction West 2014

Survey software is used in many libraries for creating needs assessments, in-class quizzes, and more. Tools like Google Forms, Survey Monkey, and Qualtrics are not only useful for collecting information from students, but can also be powerful tools for learning. Most survey software these days allow you to insert text, images, video and links, enabling you to provide instruction within the context of an online worksheet. In this session, you will hear from a librarian -- who has used survey software to create pre-assignments, flipped instruction, full tutorials, and, yes, surveys -- how to capitalize on the sophisticated features of …

Badge It! Using Digital Badges To Certify Information Literacy Skills Within Disciplinary Curriculum, Emily Ford, Betty T. Izumi, Jost Lottes, Dawn Richardson

Library Instruction West 2014

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to discuss the collaborative learning outcomes-based approach taken by a librarian and disciplinary faculty members to improve information literacy (IL) curriculum within disciplinary courses. To this end, the team aimed to award badges to certify IL skills.

Design/methodology/approach – This article considers relevant literature on competency-based curriculum, technological innovation in higher education, collaboration between library and disciplinary faculty and badges. This literature is used to frame the approach to plan a successful and sustainable project to embed IL in disciplinary curriculum using digital badges. The approach includes mapping learning outcomes and engaging …

Teaching “Format As A Process” In An Era Of Web-Scale Discovery, Kevin Seeber

Library Instruction West 2014

Purpose- Advancements in online discovery require academic librarians to develop new means of teaching and assessing information literacy, with an emphasis on having students employ critical thinking to evaluate sources.

Design/methodology/approach- This conceptual paper analyzes how the threshold concept “format as a process” could be incorporated into information literacy instruction sessions which address web-scale discovery services and other online search tools. General guidelines for applying this concept are included, along with potential classroom activities and assessments.

Findings- Format as a process provides a valuable framework for evaluating information, though librarians need to be mindful of how they present the concept …

Let Wikipedia Through The Gates!: A Trojan Horse Approach To Information Literacy, John Thomas Oliver

Library Instruction West 2014

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate which learning targets can be achieved by using Wikipedia as a tool for teaching information literacy within the context of brief one-shot library instruction sessions.

Design/methodology/approach – In this case study, a Wikipedia-editing activity was incorporated into 2-hour one-shot instruction sessions. A variety of qualitative data were collected during these sessions: Student reflections during a facilitated discussion, student responses to exit-survey questions and instructor observations about the extent to which students completed Wikipedia-editing tasks.

Findings – Students found Wikipedia-editing activities and Wikipedia-related discussions engaging, and as a result they seemed …

Playing Well With Others: Research Studios At The Cornish College Of The Arts, Bridget Nowlin, Megan Smithling, Heather Jean Uhl

Library Instruction West 2014

Cornish College of the Arts offers a distinctive blend of visual and performing arts grounded in a core curriculum of humanities and sciences. Cornish offers a Bachelor of Music degree and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in art, dance, design, music, performance production and theater.

With a focus on the visual and performing arts, and a faculty/student population of visual/aural/kinesthetic learners, our patrons’ interests are often "making and doing," rather than engaging in conventional academic research. Consequently, our librarians collaborate with faculty to align students’ own practices in the studio/performance space with more traditional academic research processes.

This interactive panel …

Learning Information Literacy Through Drawing, David Brier, Vicky Lebbin

Library Instruction West 2014

Drawing is an excellent lo-fi teaching method for students to interact with and demonstrate their competence (or ignorance) of information literacy concepts beyond traditional text dominated methods. This program explores the use of drawing as a tool to teach library instruction and information literacy. This includes examples of drawing exercises and an examination of student illustrations made in library instruction workshops. Attendees will work together on a hands-on drawing exercise. Participants will:

• Be able to describe the opportunities and challenges of drawing activities in library instruction workshops

• Be able to design drawing activities for their own workshops

The …

Digital/Critical/Media Literacies: Designing Transformational New Literacies Assignments For A Sustainable Instruction Program, Felicia Palsson

Library Instruction West 2014

Some students, and some disciplines, naturally gravitate toward text as a medium. Not everyone does anymore. Why is the research paper (or another written product) still standard for information literacy assignments? For a sustainable instruction program – relevant for students, demonstrating value to administrators – at SSU Library we are implementing a new definition of "information literacy" as a metaliteracy, a skillset that encompasses many "new literacies" (as they’re often known). Grounded in the latest research in the LIS field and beyond, this presentation will share practical ways to transform research-based assignments using new (many free) multimodal tools. Empower your …

Sustainable Decision Making For Emerging Educational Technologies In Libraries, Richard Hayman, Erika E. Smith

Library Instruction West 2014

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to discuss approaches to sustainable decision-making for integrating emerging educational technologies in library instruction while supporting evidence-based practice (EBP).

Design/methodology/approach – This article highlights recent trends in emerging educational technologies and EBP and details a model for supporting evidence informed decision-making. This viewpoint article draws on an analysis of recent literature, as well as experience from professional practice.

Findings – Authors discuss the need for sustainable decision-making that addresses a perceived lack of evidence surrounding emerging technologies, a dilemma that many library educators and practitioner-researchers will have faced in their own library …

Flashlight: Using Bizup’S Beam To Illuminate The Rhetoric Of Research, Kate Rubick

Library Instruction West 2014

Purpose: This paper demonstrates how a librarian at a liberal arts college partnered with a professor of rhetoric and media studies to teach methods students to classify sources using Bizup’s BEAM.

Design/ Methodology Approach: Students in rhetorical criticism, read the Bizup article on BEAM. The library instruction included a discussion of the article and an application exercise where students classified cited references in a peer reviewed journal article using BEAM.

Findings: BEAM was a valuable addition to the rhetorical criticism course. The application exercise used in the library instruction session introduced BEAM as a tool to use in reading and …