Digital Commons Network^™

“I (Still) Need Help On Many Things”: A Writing Center Replication Study Of First-Generation College Students’ Writing Challenges And Cultural Capital, Red Douglas, Ashley Cerku, Isabelle Lundin, Mary Gallagher, Xavier Iriarte, Sophia E. Williams, Kaylie Williams

The Writing Center Journal

Research has increasingly addressed first-generation (FG) students both in and outside the center (Baelemian & Feng, 2013; Bond, 2019; Denny et al., 2018; Ward et al., 2012), but there remains a need to address this unique student population from the perspective of critical theory. In a replication study of Bond’s 2019 “‘I Need Help on Many Things, Please’: A Case Study Analysis of First-Generation College Students’ Use of the Writing Center,” we examined the needs and perceptions of self-reported FG students in a writing center at a large, regional, public R2 university in the Midwest. We gathered preexisting digital data …

Indiana At A Glance: County Trends, 2025 Edition, Roberto Gallardo

Purdue University Press Books

Indiana at a Glance: County Trends, 2025 Edition provides an overview of macro socioeconomic and demographic trends based on county-level data in ten-year periods in Indiana, the upper Midwest region, and the nation. Analyzing data primarily from 2013 through 2023, this book presents information that contextualizes the design and implementation of specific policies enacted by elected officials and community leaders, and reveals the impact these initiatives have on the public.

Inspired, in part, by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural America at a Glance reports, as well as the author’s more than twenty years of work in the field, …

Exploring The Efficacy Of A Source-Based Writing Tutoring Intervention For Multilingual Students In The Writing Center, Dana Lynn Driscoll, Osman Ozdemir

The Writing Center Journal

Source-based writing skills, which include evaluating, synthesizing, and citing sources, are skills that students are expected to acquire as part of college-level writing. Unfortunately, many multilingual writers (MLWs), especially those in advanced degree programs, lack programmatic support and instruction. Thus, writing centers represent a critical site to offer MLWs tutorial-based support. Our study examined whether or not writing centers can help MLWs develop—and transfer—source-based writing skills in a sequence of three tutorials. We recruited five advanced student MLW participants from different cultural backgrounds who were uncomfortable with source use. Through pre-and postwriting samples, interviews, writing process recording videos, and a …

“I Just Need Another Set Of Eyes”: Understanding Students’ Idea Of The Writing Center, Isabelle M. Lundin, Neal Lerner

The Writing Center Journal

In this article, we describe writing center clients’ “idea” of the writing center based on interviews with 26 writing center users and qualitative coding of interview transcripts. Participants’ constructs of the writing center provide a lens to better understand how they perceive writing as an activity, the “writing culture” of the institution, the role of the writing center in their writing processes, and, ultimately, if they see writing centers in the way we would expect them to. The tensions we derived from our data are (1) between who and what tutors are and offer: discipline-specific expertise (including the disciplines of …

“It Would Literally Take The World To End For Us To Do This”: Writing Center Consultants’ Affective Responses To Consulting Modalities, Anita Long, Destiny R. Brugman

The Writing Center Journal

This article discusses findings from semi-structured interviews with writing consultants about their affective experiences working across three different consulting modalities: in person, asynchronous, and synchronous. This study offers affect as a lens for understanding consultants’ responses to and strategies for consulting in multiple modalities and argues that by attending to affect, emotion, and disposition in consulting we can better support our consultants when they’re consulting in different modalities.

The Rhetorical Function Of Writing Center Employee Handbooks, Talisha Haltiwanger Morrison

The Writing Center Journal

In his award-winning book, Around the Texts of Writing Centers, R. Mark Hall (2017) asserts the importance of everyday writing center texts, claiming that these documents “both enact and forward writing center scholarship” (p. 3). It is Hall’s position that such “everyday” documents are essential to understanding the work of writing centers, but that their very ubiquity leads writing center scholars and administrators to ignore them or take their functions for granted. In this study, I take up Hall’s call for more scholarly attention to everyday writing center texts through a thematic rhetorical analysis of nine writing center employee …

Back Matter, Georganne Nordstrom, Isaac K. Wang, Sherry Wynn Perdue

The Writing Center Journal

Back matter for Writing Center Journal 43.2.

Insights From A Simple Mathematical Model Of Autism Spectrum Disorders, Charles F. Babbs

Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Faculty Working Papers

This preliminary report explores insights about mechanisms of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) gained from a mathematical model of interconnected clusters of excitatory neurons. This local, integrate-and-fire, spiking neural network is subjected to random noise from other populations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons outside the network. Its emergent behavior in response to different ratios of inhibitory to excitatory noise mimics several aspects of ASDs. The spiking neural network functions according to rules of classical neurophysiology, involving resting membrane potential, threshold potential, excitatory or inhibitory post-synaptic potentials, action potential, and refractory period. Key parameters include the incremental change in membrane potential, p …

Quantifying Interest In And Sentiment Of Online Media About Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Cattle Production In The United States, Michael L. Smith, Jinho Jung, Nicole Olynk Widmar, Danielle J. Ufer, Maria Berikou, Jayson Lusk

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

The public is paying increased attention to the environmental impacts associated with cattle production systems in the US. Thus, cattle producers are increasingly exploring ways to communicate their efforts to reduce those environmental and climate impacts. This study uses online and social media data from 2018 to 2022 to examine public interest in and sentiment about beef and dairy cattle production when discussed within the context of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Variation in mentions and net sentiment over the reporting period is quantified and analyzed. Over the period of data collection, which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we find …

Machine Learning Based Analysis Of Industrially Produced Concrete, Bassey Etim, Mzakwan Arab, Nabil El Mocayd, Mohammed Seaid, M Shadi Mohamed

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

Machine learning (ML) has proven effective for predicting the compressive strength of laboratory-produced concrete, but industrially produced concrete exhibits greater variability and uncertainty, and remains less studied. This work analyses a dataset of 2,617 industrial concrete samples from a UK ready-mix supplier, spanning a full year of supply and demand. The study evaluates the impact of both mix proportions and categorical features—including cement type, admixture type, and mix specification—on model accuracy. A holistic model incorporating all curing ages outperforms single-age models, and the inclusion of categorical features, particularly mix specification, significantly enhances predictive performance. Five ML models were considered: CatBoost, …

Effect Of Using Recycled Returned Concrete Aggregate On The Strength And Durability Aspects Of Concrete, Saugat Humagain, Ashish Bista, Prabir Kumar Sarker

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

A considerable amount of concrete is returned from construction sites due to various reasons such as excess quantity remaining after casting, not meeting the site specifications and cancellation of orders. In this study, the hardened returned concrete was crushed and used as recycled aggregate to produce new concrete. However, due to young age and inadequate compaction, the properties crushed returned concrete aggregate (CRCA) are different from those of commonly used recycled aggregates obtained from construction and demolition wastes. CRCA was used as 50% and 100% replacements of natural coarse aggregate (NCA). The effect of CRCA was evaluated by workability, strengths, …

Performance Optimisation And Field Application Research Of Emergency Repair Mortar In High-Cold And High-Altitude Areas, Tiejun Hou, Hao Jing, Chenchen Zhang, Shuxuan Bai, Yuan Yuan, Leqing Liu, Pengkun Hou

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

Qinghai Province is located in a high-cold and high-altitude area, with low average annual temperature, large daily temperature difference, strong ultraviolet irradiation, and arid climate with little rain in some places, which greatly exacerbates the deterioration of the material and structural performance, especially the frequent occurrence of earthquakes, mudslides, landslides, and other geologic hazards have also resulted in structural damage. However, common emergency repair materials have decreased strength at low temperatures and require complex maintenance conditions to harden, which increases the difficulty of repair. Based on the characteristics of high-cold and high-altitude areas, this study systematically investigated the working performance, …

Challenges And Opportunities In Concrete Precast Sector And Its Transition To A Net-Zero Future, Sreejith Nanukuttan, Rory Doherty, Daniel Mcpolin, Marios Soutsos, Mark Russell

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

This article explores key factors shaping the transition of the precast concrete sector toward net-zero carbon. While not exhaustive, it highlights areas of scientific and technical interest for a specialist audience. The discussion is structured around priority themes: beginning with cement and clinker replacement, followed by production efficiency improvements, rethinking steel usage, carbon sequestration strategies, and, finally, structural optimisation or volume reduction. These areas are often interdependent: for instance, clinker replacement, production efficiency, and structural optimisation are all influenced by the 16 – 18 hour production cycle typical of precast manufacturing. Unlike the readymix sector, precast operates on a fast-paced, …

Effect Of Carbonation On Rebar Corrosion In Mgo-Sio2 Binder Concrete, Bharati, Dirk Engelberg, Cise Unluer

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

MgO-SiO2 binders are a promising alternative to Portland cement (PC) offering comparable strength performance to the conventional PC concrete. However, their application in reinforced concrete has been limited due to the inherently low pH of these binders. This study investigated the mechanical, microstructural, and corrosion performance of MgO-SiO2 binder concrete after carbonation. MgO-SiO2 concrete samples were subjected to 14 days of carbonation and subsequently tested after one year. The degree of carbonation was evaluated using thermogravimetric analysis while corrosion assessment was done using Wenner four-probe resistivity meter, half-cell potential and a handled device called Rapicor. The results showed that MgO-SiO2 …

Decalcification Of Calcium Silicate Hydrate By Sulfate Attack: Material Degradation By Heterogeneous Charges, Muhan Wang, Xiangming Zhou, Chengbo Liu, Pan Wang, Dongshuai Hou

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

Sulfate attack is a key factor limiting the durability of concrete in aggressive environments, primarily through the degradation of calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H), the main binding phase of cement. This study investigates the molecular mechanisms of C–S–H decalcification under sulfate exposure by combining semi-empirical Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) with density functional theory (DFT). A C–S–H model with a Ca/Si ratio of 1.5 was simulated in aqueous environments with and without sulfate ions. BOMD trajectories revealed that while C–S–H remained largely stable in pure water, sulfate ions rapidly promoted Ca²⁺ desorption, leading to silicate chain fragmentation and Q²→Q¹ transitions. Electronic structure …

Utilisation Of Semi-Naturally Carbonated Steelmaking Slag As Concrete Aggregate, Sumire Nakamura, Yuichiro Kawabata

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

Steelmaking slag has emerged as a promising material for low-carbon concrete, owing to its ability to sequester CO₂ through carbonation. However, CO2 sequestration by steelmaking slag and its utilisation is still far from practical application due to the high energy consumption and cost of the accelerated carbonation process. Anticipating that optimising the pre-natural carbonation during storage would reduce the energy and cost for accelerated carbonation, this study focused on the natural carbonation potential of steelmaking slag. In addition, the applicability of naturally carbonated steelmaking slag as aggregate for concrete was investigated. The long-term exposure experiment simulating outdoor storage demonstrated that …

Recent Advances In Geopolymer Feedstocks Activation For Sustainable Cement Production, Oluyemi Kehinde, David J. Hughes, Emeka H. Amalu, Dali Bondar

International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures

The growing environmental and safety issues posed by human activities have underlined the importance of Ordinary Portland Cement production, which is a major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions that impede Net Zero goals. The urgent need to produce cement substitutes with reduced carbon footprints has prompted research on geopolymers formed from industrial mineral wastes. These materials provide promising sustainable development solutions, but the selection of appropriate activation methods remains a significant constraint to their widespread industrial and economical application. A systematic review using the PRISMA protocol included 302 recent and relevant papers, identifying four principal activation strategies and their combinations …

Incorporating An Innovative Kennel In A Guide Dog Program Based On The Health And Welfare Of Dogs And Humans, Naoko Koda, Miwa Murata, Sakura Mizuta

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

During guide dog training, dogs live in kennels and lack house training. The demand for guide dogs that can live easily with their users who are visually impaired is increasing. The Kansai Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (KGBDA) in Japan built an innovative wooden kennel (Mokka Terrace) that is more similar to homes than general kennels and that efficiently controlled dogs and reviewed their operations. This study conducted a literature survey, participant observations, and semi-structured interviews with staff to clarify the background and consensus-building process involved in creating the Mokka Terrace, corresponding efforts, and its strengths, issues, and prospects. …

Reference At A Remote Field Station: A Case Study Of Ecology, Environmental Science And Geology Fieldwork At An Embedded Library, Thomas Gerrish

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Purpose Field station libraries, particularly those serving biological and marine research stations, represent a unique but understudied class of special libraries. This case study investigates reference services at the remote University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) to provide a baseline assessment of how such services support the information needs related to research in ecology, geology and environmental science.

Design/methodology/approach The study recorded, coded and analyzed 209 reference transactions from the 2022 and 2023 summer sessions, revealing trends in patron inquiries and the role of the reference desk. Further, the case study examined the organizational structure, community interaction and mission of …

Public Perceptions Of Universities As Public Entities During The Covid-19 Pandemic Era, Jinho Jung, Laura Barrett, Nicole Olynk Widmar, Mario Ortez

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Higher education institutions are facing challenges in navigating social, cultural, and political issues. The online presence of higher education presents a new set of opportunities and challenges; knowledge, news, and continuing education are increasingly disseminated online. Additionally, the public, student bodies and stakeholders are increasingly looking at reviews or seeking opinions via online and social media to form opinions on institutions. This analysis uses online and social media to analyze and compare perceptions of two public universities in Indiana, namely Purdue University and Indiana University. These two Indiana institutions are located in the same state, allowing for comparisons of public …

Improvement Of Lithium-Metal Electrode All-Solid-State Batteries Performance By Shot Peening And Magnetron Sputtering, Atsuro Okumura, Manabu Kodama

15th International Conference on Shot Peening

To enable fast charging in lithium-metal anode all-solid-state batteries, suppressing lithium dendrite formation at the solid electrolyte (SE) interface is critical. Increasing fracture toughness via shot peening (SP) and improving interfacial contact with Au sputtering can inhibit dendrite growth. However, conventional sputtering may reduce toughness due to localized thermal damage. This study investigated magnetron sputtering as a low-damage, plasma-based Au deposition method. SEs with and without SP were fabricated and coated via normal and magnetron sputtering. Critical current density (CCD) and fracture toughness were evaluated. Without SP, CCD improvement was limited regardless of sputtering method due to poor bonding. With …

E-Strip® Peening Intensity Sensor - Linearity, Variability And Connectivity, Sylvain A. Forgues, Brigitte Labelle, Ramzi Ben Moussa, Sebastien Beaugrand, Raphael Sarraillon, Sergio Amaya

15th International Conference on Shot Peening

This paper presents the E-Strip®, a novel electronic sensor developed by Shockform to digitally measure shot peening intensity at the part level. Motivated by the limitations of traditional Almen strips—namely, manual handling, time consumption, and susceptibility to human error—the E-Strip® offers a faster, more reliable, and connected alternative. Extensive testing confirmed the E-Strip® output maintains excellent linearity with Almen intensity across a wide range of media and impact levels (R² > 0.997), and its adjustable sensitivity ensures compatibility from low to high intensities. Variability studies showed the E-Strip® provides similar or better consistency than Almen strips at low intensities, although higher …

Hands-On Stem In Ghana: Inspiration For Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Globally, Alhassan Issifu, Mawuena A. Hanson, Heather R. Beem

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

Many educators are increasingly seeking culturally relevant pedagogies they can employ to effectively engage their students. In Ghana a substantive set of hands-on STEM content has been created, incorporating locally available materials and cultural approaches while maintaining alignment to the national curricula. Against a backdrop of almost no public primary or junior high schools in the country containing any lab equipment, this approach leverages and celebrates the abundance of what is available within the locality. This challenges narratives of what is considered “good” and recenters power back with those in the classroom. Three sample activities and three firsthand stories are …

Community Survey Report: The Rebuild Survey Conducted In Response To The January 2025 Palisades Fire And Eaton Fire In Los Angeles County, Andrew J. Whelton, Cristiane Ferrarezzi, Lauryn Spearing, Anna Hoover, Mónica Palomo, Caitlin Proctor, Jianxi Su, Joseph Toland

Resilience to Emergencies and Disasters

No abstract provided.

The Potential Benefits Of Co-Design In Dog-Assisted Treatment Programs For Veterans Seeking Mental Health Care, Parvin (Pary) Bahmanyari, Pauleen Bennett, Tiffani Howell

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Veterans are more likely than the general population to experience a range of mental health problems. While many veteran mental health support programs are available, veterans may struggle to access and engage with these services for various reasons (e.g., a stigmatized perception of mental health disorders, mistrust). Animal-assisted services have become more popular in civilian and military health care settings where traditional therapies (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy) may not always be effective. Assistance dogs, for example, which live with veterans to provide disability support, have been successfully employed for veteran mental health. Unfortunately, a subgroup of veterans may miss out …

Novel Biomolecule-Infused Gelatin Injectable For Treatment Of Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Injury, Ananya Tadikonda, Sunjay Anekal, Lena W. Chen, Gabriel Sobczak, Troy Wesson, Carmilya Jackson, Marisa A. Egan, Julie C. Liu, Patrick R. Finnegan, Stacey Halum

School of Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications

Objective

Unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) due to recurrent laryngeal nerve injury (RLN) is a major cause of voice disorders. We have recently identified three biomolecules (agrin, acetylcholine, and neuregulin) with the potential to promote reinnervation after RLN injury. This study aimed to determine if a gelatin injectable with the reinnervating biomolecules will induce site-specific amplification of neurotrophic factor release and reinnervation after RLN injury in unilateral vocal fold paralysis.

Methods

C57BL/6 mice underwent RLN transection with the following treatment allocations: saline control (N = 16), biomolecule cocktail only (N = 16), and biomolecule-infused gelatin (N = …

A Feasibility Study Into The Usability And Application Of An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle For Aircraft Inspection And Quality Assurance Inspections, Reece P. Bhave

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

The global aviation industry is often characterized as one of the safest modes of transportation in the modern world. With an abundance of quality assurance inspections and checks to determine operations safety, modern-day commercial aircraft that are utilized for passenger and cargo flights are held to a higher safety standard defined by regulatory bodies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States of America and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in the European Union. While these quality standards are maintained via a series of inspections, checks, and preventative maintenance procedures, they are limited to only visual or …

Hmongcentric Niche Charter Schools: The Role Of Social Capital On Students’ Perceived Academic Competence, Zha Blong Xiong, Ting Xu, Kyle Nickodem, Malina Her

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

Using Coleman’s (1988) social capital theory, this study investigated the connection between family and school social capital and the perceived academic competence of students enrolled in Hmongcentric niche charter schools. The study analyzed 124 participants consisting of third, fourth, and fifth-grade students residing in Minnesota, with 93% identifying as Hmong. Results of structural equation modeling showed that school social capital, as measured by school attachment and school connection, is significantly linked to students’ perceived academic competence. Further analyses suggested that school attachment, especially in charter schools that focus on culture and language, plays a more crucial role in shaping students’ …

A Framework For Test Planning Of A Vision System Supporting Aerial Refueling, Jonathon K. Parry, Donald H. Costello, Michael D. M. Kutzer, Charles J. Doherty, Sarah M. Hubbard

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

This essay presents a framework for evaluating a computer vision system providing perception for an uncrewed aircraft completing the automated air-to-air refueling (A3R) task. As the Department of Defense acquires capabilities that exhibit increasing levels of autonomy, the test and evaluation community must adapt the current framework to provide airworthiness officials the information required to accurately access the risks associated with the system underdoing testing. Following a brief introduction to A3R, this essay lays out a testing framework that leverages dendritic analysis and effectively deconstructs the critical issue into measurable data elements that can be used to support test and …

Use Of Eagala Model–Based Psychotherapy For Youth Psychological Disorders, Kimberley D. Ryan, Tammy L.B. Mckenzie

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Global youth psychological disorder prevalence has increased exponentially. Therefore, a drastic increase in mental health care utilization is expected. Since traditional approaches to the treatment of adult psychological disorders are ineffective with youth, alternative approaches to treatment of youth psychological disorders must be considered. One such approach is equine assisted psychotherapy (EAP), a person-centered, experiential approach using horses during the treatment of psychological disorders and the basis of the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (Eagala) model–based programming. This article presents the quantitative research findings of a study investigating the effectiveness of the Eagala model–based EAP programming in the treatment …