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On Improving Testing: A Student Evaluation Study, Marina Estabrook, Daniel L. Wick

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Method

Results

Number of Exams Students Take

Kind of Exams Students Take

Evaluation of Course Exams Depending on Test Format

Students' Best and Worst Testing Experiences

Best Test Experiences

Worst Test Experiences

Conclusion

Implications for Instructional Development Centers

TRC Student Evaluation of Testing

Cranes Of The World: Hooded Crane (Grus Monachus), Paul A. Johnsgard

Cranes of the World by Paul A. Johnsgard

Other Vernacular Names:
None in general English use; Huan-has (Chinese); Grue-moine (French); Monchskranich (German); Nabe-zuru (Japanese); Chernyi zhuravl (Russian); Grulla capachina (Spanish).

Range:
Breeding range not well known, but currently known to breed only in a few isolated areas of the USSR, including the Ussuri River and the lower Amur, in the basin of the middle reaches of the Vilyuy, and in the Olekma-Chara uplands. Breeding probably also occurs in the upper Nizhnaya Tunguska River and its tributary the Nyepa, along the Chona River, in the lower Amur along the In and Mukhen rivers, in the basin of the Evur …

4-H 133 Unit Iii Animal Health And Its Relationship To Our World : A Self-Study Course 4-H Veterinary Science, Duane Rice

Nebraska 4-H Clubs: Historical Materials and Publications

Nebraska Cooperative Extension Service 4-H 133. This is the third unit of animal health, and its relationship to our world. Topics include: environmental influence on animal health, the relation of animal health to public health, animal nutrition, the immune system, and what one can do at home.

Scaring Of Carrion Crows (Corvus Corone Corone) By Species-Specific Distress Calls And Suspended Bodies Of Dead Crows, Luzia Naef-Daenzer

Bird Control Seminars Proceedings

In Switzerland, carrion crows can cause considerable damage to sprouting corn fields when feeding on the germinated corn. I tried to evaluate a method to prevent these damages. The use of species-specific distress calls, for the first time described by Frings and Jumber (1954), seemed to be the most promising method. Agronomes and biologists have applied it in field studies to several different bird species causing damage in agriculture and on airports (e.g., Gramet, 1962; Brough, 1968). However, the literature either describes single actions or several different scaring devices being used together. To be able to judge the method, quantitative …

Introduction To The Symposium On Imported Fire Ants, Southeastern Branch, Entomological Society Of America, January 26, 1982, C. S. Lofgren

Entomology Papers from Other Sources

While there have been many exotic insect pests inadvertently introduced into the United States, only a few have had the dramatic impact that the imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta Buren and S. richteri Forel) have had on the southern states. Certainly this is understandable to anyone who has seen their small child receiving dozens of fiery injections of venom or to a farmer who suddenly realizes that his lush verdant pasture has become the mound construction site for hundreds of colonies of fire ants, each with 100,000 to 200,000 workers who are willing to attack anyone who disturbs their …

G83-684 Row Crop Planters: Equipment Adjustments And Performance In Conservation Tillage, Elbert C. Dickey, Paul J. Jasa

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This NebGuide discusses planters used in conservation tillage systems and gives recommendations for improving planter performance.

The planter's primary job is to place seed where it will germinate and grow. Proper seed spacing minimizes competition for the light, nutrients and soil moisture essential for crop growth.

Several factors influence planter performance, including adjustments and correct operation. Field conditions also are important.

Traditionally, producers used tillage equipment that created a well-tilled, residue-free seedbed for planting. Many producers now are adopting conservation tillage methods that have fewer tillage operations and leave a protective residue cover on the soil surface.

Human Adaptations In The Andes: A Look At Nutrition And Brain Function With Respect To Coca And High Altitude Physiological Adaptations, Barrett P. Brenton

Nebraska Anthropologist

Throughout the span of human evolution the brain has allowed itself to be controlled by nutritional intake. This correlation between nutrition and the brain has led me to believe that the human brain has allowed itself to be manipulated and controlled by an individual's dietary intake in order to successfully adapt to the environment. In looking at the indigenous peoples of the South American Andes, I found surprising parallels between human physiological adaptations to high altitude hypoxia and cold stress and the correlating control of neurotransmitters to the brain by dietary intake.

In a study of this type it becomes …

Manioc And Fish: A "Methiononian" Compromise In Amazonia?, Tom Langdon

Nebraska Anthropologist

Protein as a limiting factor in Amazonian diet has met with considerable discussion and argument (e.g., Beckerman 1979; Chagnon and Hames 1979; Johnson 1982; Gross 1975, 1982; Spath 1978, 1981; Werner et al. 1979). The intent of this paper is to continue the discussion of protein as a limiting factor in Amazonia with respect to two dietary staples, manioc and fish. More specifically, does bitter manioc become a factor in determining aquatic resource utilization in Amazonia?

Water Current, Volume 15, No. 1, January/February 1983

Water Current Newsletter

1983 Nebraska Water Conference
Kremer Lecture Series
Hamon Speaks at Seminar
Water Bills Introduced
Missouri Basin Planning Seminar
Energy Conservation in Irrigation
Water and Soil Conservation Needed
Federal Water Research Funds

Avian Associations Of The Northern Great Plains Grasslands, Harold A. Kantrud, Russell L. Kologiski

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The grassland region of the northern Great Plains was divided into six broad subregions by application of an avian indicator species analysis to data obtained from 582 sample plots censused during the breeding season. Common, ubiquitous species and rare species had little classificatory value and were eliminated from the data set used to derive the avian associations. Initial statistical division of the plots likely reflected structure of the dominant plant species used for nesting; later divisions probably were related to foraging or nesting cover requirements based on vegetation height or density, habitat heterogeneity, or possibly to the existence of mutually …

The Relative Contribution To Meaning Of Verbal And Nonverbal Channels Of Communication: A Meta-Analysis, Jeffrey S. Philpott

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The current study is grounded in the psychological approaches to the mechanics of communication, somewhere between cybernetics and attribution.

The integration of information available in different channels is the focus of the present study. To what extent do people rely on the different channels of communication to assign meaning to their world? More specifically, what is the relative importance of the verbal and nonverbal channels of communication in the meaning creation process?

This question of channel reliance is of central import to the study of the role of information in social/psychological systems. If it can be assumed that meaning is …

Physiology Of Male Reproduction, R. P. Amann, B. D. Schanbacher

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The major advances over the past 25 yr in male reproductive physiology of cattle, sheep, swine and horses are reviewed. Those findings which have allowed efficient culling of subfertile males and exploitation of the reproductive capacity of genetically superior sires are emphasized.

Hormones secreted by the male gonad early in gestation induce regression of potentially female structures and development of the male reproductive tract. Compartmentalization of the testis and formation of the bloodtestis barrier during prepubertal development permit the steroidogenic and gametogenic activities of the adult testes to proceed normally. The role of the central nervous system, hypothalamus and anterior …

Reproductive Effects Of Immunizing Heifers Against Androstenedione And Oestradiol-17Β, T. H. Wise, B. D. Schanbacher

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Heifers were treated with saline (Group I, N = 10), keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH ; Group II, N = 10), androstenedione-KLH antigen (Group III, N = 14), or oestradiol-17β-KLH antigen (Group IV, N = 14). Booster injections were given to produce binding of > 10% at dilutions of 1:100 to 1:1000 (50% binding = 14·4pg androstenedione and 9·5pg oestradiol). The heifers were mated and killed at ~46days of gestation to establish ovulation rates, calf numbers, blood hormone relationships and ovarian morphology.

Ovulation rate in animals immunized against androstenedione (Group III) was significantly greater than in the other groups; 4 of the …

Miocene Burrows Of Extinct Bear Dogs: Indication Of Early Denning Behavior Of Large Mammalian Carnivores, Robert M. Hunt Jr., Xue Xiang-Xu, Joshua Kaufman

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Partial skeletons off our species of extinct carnivores have been found in their dens excavated in the floodplain of an early Miocene ephemeral braided stream at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Nebraska. Bear dogs (Carnivora: Amphicyonidae) were the principal occupants; their den dimensions and body size are similar to those of living wolves and hyenas. Discovery of this predator community extends the record of denning behavior of large mammalian carnivores to the early Miocene, 20 million years ago.

Taxonomic Limits Of The Genus Nagelus (Thorne And Malek, ]968) Siddiqi, 1979 With A Description Of Nagelus Borealis N.Sp. From Alaska, Thomas O. Powers, James G. Baldwin, A. H. Bell

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Tire genus Nagelus (Thorne and Malek, 1968) Siddiqi, 1979 is modified and a new species from Alaska is described. The combination of scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy permits the characterization of Nagelus spp. as having a broadly oval face pattern, no longitudinal striations on the lip region, deirids surrounded by six incisures, and an irregularly tapering tail with a large hyaline region. Nagelus leptus (Allen, 1955) Siddiqi, 1979, N. alpensis Doucet and Luc, 1981, N. camelliae (Kheiri, 1972) Siddiqi, 1979, N. jamelensis (Nesterov, 1973) Siddiqi, 1979, and N. obscurus (Allen, 1955) n. comb. are retained on this basis. Nagelus …

Heligmosomoides Thomomyos Sp. N. (Nematoda: Heligmosomidae) From Pocket Gophers, Thomomys Spp. (Rodentia: Geomyidae), In Oregon And California, Scott L. Gardner, Douglas Jasmer

Scott L. Gardner Publications

The nematode Heligmosomoides thomomyos sp. n. is described from the small intestine of Thomomys bulbivorus and T. bottae. This is the first report of Heligmosomoides from rodents of the family Geomyidae.

Nematodes of the genus Heligmosomoides Hall, 1916 occur most commonly in arvicolid rodents. Of the 26 known species of the genus, 11 have been recorded from Nearctic rodents (Rausch and Rausch, 1973). In North America, Heligmosomoides spp. have been recorded not only from voles, but also from cricetids and murids. Heligmosomoides spp. characteristically inhabit the small intestine or cecum of their host, where they usually are found …

Expression Of A Streptococcus Mutans Glucosyltransferase Gene In Escherichia Coli, James P. Robeson, Raul G. Barletta, Roy Curtiss Iii

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Chromosomal DNA from Streptococcus mutans strain UAB90 (serotype c) was cloned into Escherichia coli K-12. The clone bank was screened for any sucrosehydrolyzing activity by selection for growth on raffinose in the presence of isopropyl- β-D-thiogalactoside. A clone expressing an S. mutans glucosyltransferase was identified. The S. mutans DNA encoding this enzyme is a 1.73-kilobase fragment cloned into the HindIII site of plasmid pBR322. We designated the gene gtfA. The plasmid-encoded gtfA enzyme, a 55,000-molecular-weight protein, is synthesized at 40% the level of pBR322-encoded β-lactamase in E. coli minicells. Using sucrose as substrate, the gtfA enzyme catalyzes …

Effects Of Tillage On Soil Erosion In A Wheat-Fallow Rotation, Elbert C. Dickey, C. R. Fenster, J. M. Laflen, R. H. Mickelson

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Erosion from alternative tillage systems in winter wheat-fallow rotations was measured using a rainfall simulator. The Nebraska study, conducted at the High Plains Agricultural Laboratory, showed that during the fallow period between harvest and tillage, soil erosion was not affected by the tillage systems studied. However, erosion following tillage was different for the systems evaluated and moldboard plowing with the slope had the largest amount. The no-till system reduced erosion by about 95% during this period. Although contour plowing was effective in reducing erosion when compared to plowing with the slope, no differences were measured between with the slope and …

Yield Comparisons Between Continuous No-Till And Tillage Rotations, Elbert C. Dickey, Thomas Peterson, J. R. Gilley, L. N. Mielke

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Continuous use of no-till planting systems may result in reduced yields, especially on finer textured soils that tend to be poorly drained. Soil compaction and poor soil aeration have been identified as possible factors contributing to the lower yields. Research conducted to evaluate tillage rotations on these soils shows that periodic use of the moldboard plow can result in statistically higher yields as compared to continuous no till. However, use of chisel plow and disk tillage systems following three years of continuous no-till did not result in yield increases. A relationship between cone penetrometer index and yield indicates a trend …

Optimal Foraging Theory And The Psychology Of Learning, Alan Kamil

Avian Cognition Papers

The development of optimization theory has made important contributions to the study of animal behavior. But the optimization approach needs to be integrated with other methods of ethology and psychology. For example, the ability to learn is an important component of efficient foraging behavior in many species, and the psychology of animal learning could contribute substantially to testing and extending the predictions of optimal foraging theory.

The Transmission Of Learned Behavior: An Observational Study Of Father-Child Interactions During Fishing, Judy Diamond, Alan B. Bond

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

Mechanisms of transmission of learned behavior were described in terms of the behavioral interactions between fathers and their children as they fished from a pier on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Verbal and nonverbal behaviors were analyzed using hierarchical cluster analysis and the patterns of association in the behavioral repertoire were described in detail. Groupings of associated behaviors ranged from clusters suggestive of modeling or simple showing to complex combinations of behaviors involved in teaching. There were indications that the transmission behaviors varied with the content of the transmitted information and the role of the performer. Role differentiation in the transmission behaviors …

Visual Search And Selection Of Natural Stimuli In The Pigeon: The Attention Threshold Hypothesis, Alan B. Bond

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

During visual search for samples of varying proportions of familiar, natural food grains displayed against a complex gravel background, pigeons exhibited “matching selection,” a tendency to overselect the more common grain. The matching selection effect was decreased at low levels of stimulus/background contrast and reversed when the grains were highly conspicuous. The results were consistent with the hypothesis that stimulus detectability should be enhanced by recent experience with a particular grain type, but they showed no convincing indications of a corresponding effect on the response criterion. An explanatory model, termed the attention threshold hypothesis, argues that the mean latency of …

Nickel: A Micronutrient Element For Hydrogen-Dependent Growth Of Rhizobium Japonicum And For Expression Of Urease Activity In Soybean Leaves, Robert V. Klucas, F. Joe Hanus, Sterling A. Russell, Harold J. Evans

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Soybean plants and Rhizobium japonicum 122 DES, a hydrogen uptake-positive strain, were cultured in media purified to remove Ni. Supplemental Ni had no significant effect on the dry matter or total N content of plants. However, the addition of Ni to both nitrate-grown and symbiotically grown plants resulted in a 7- to 10-fold increase in urease activity (urea amidohydrolase, EC 3.5.1.5) in leaves and significantly increased the hydrogenase activity (EC 1.18.3.1) in isolated nodule bacteroids. When cultured under chemolithotrophic conditions, free-living R. japonicum required Ni for growth and for the expression of hydrogenase activity. Hydrogenase activity was minimal or not …

Reversible Dark-Induced Senescence Of Soybean Root Nodules, N. E. Pfeiffer, Nasir S.A. Malik, Fred W. Wagner

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Nodule senescence was induced in intact soybean Glycine max. (L.) Merr., cv Woodworth plants by an 8-day dark treatment. Dark-induced senescence resulted in the complete loss of acetylene reduction activity, a 67% loss of total soluble protein, and an almost complete loss in total leghemoglobin of nodule extracts. Isoelectric focusing gels demonstrated a preferential loss of certain proteins, which was correlated with an increase in endoprotease specific activity toward azocasein. Nodules were completely green after the 8-day dark treatment. If plants were returned to a normal photoperiod after 8 days in the dark, nodules recovered from the dark treatment in …

Proteolytic Activity In Soybean Root Nodules: Activity In Host Cell Cytosol And Bacteroids Throughout Physiological Development And Senescence, Nancy E. Pfeiffer, Cecilia M. Torres, Fred W. Wagner

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Root nodules were harvested from chamber-grown soybean (Glycine max L. Merril cv Woodworth) plants throughout development. Apparent nitrogenase activity (acetylene reduction) peaked before seeds began to develop, but a significant amount of activity remained as the seeds matured. Nodule senescence was defined as the period in which residual nitrogenase activity was lost. During this time, soluble protein and leghemoglobin levels in the host cell cytosol decreased, and proteolytic activity against azocasein increased. Degradative changes were not detected in bacteroids during nodule senescence. Total soluble bacteroid protein per gram of nodule remained constant, and an increase in proteolytic activity in …

Seed Predation And Seedling Mortality In The Recruitment Of A Shrub, Haplopappus Venetus (Asteraceae), Along A Climatic Gradient, Svata M. Louda

Svata M. Louda Publications

Haplopappus ventus is a characteristic shrub of the coastal sage scrub of southern California. Its relative frequency decreases rapidly and significantly from the coast to the central valleys of southern California. Insect damage to developing flowers and seeds is high (35-61%). Experimental exclusion of predispersal flower and seed predators caused a significant increase in the number of viable seeds released because of: (1) a decrease in insect-caused abortion of flower heads ( 11%), (2) an increase in pollination success (19%). and (3) a decrease in damage to developing seeds (104%). A significant and proportionate increase in the number of seedlings …

Gastrointestinal Helminths Of The Cougar, Felis Concolor L., In Northeastern Oregon, Robert L. Rausch, C. Maser, Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Helminths of nine species were identified from 39 cougars obtained in northeastern Oregon (Walbowa, Baker, and Union counties), viz., Taenia omissa Lühe, 1910 (100%); T. ovis krabbei Moniez, 1879 (61%); T. hydatigena Pallas, 1776 (10%); Mesocestoides lineatus (Goeze, 1782) (5%); Toxascaris leonina (von Linstow, 1902) (69%); Toxocara cati (Schrank, 1788) (15%); Physaloptera praeputialis von Linstow, 1889 (13%); Pterygodermatites affinis (Jagerskiold, 1904) (ca. 2%); and Trichinella sp. (larvae) (ca. 2%). In addition, undeveloped cestodes of the genus Taenia in 26 animals had lost rostellar hooks and could not be identified. Host-records, prevalence, and biological characteristics of some of the helminths are …

An Rna Virus In Autographa Californica Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus Preparations: Gross Pathology And Infectivity, P. V. Vail, Thomas Jack Morris, S. S. Collier

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The pathology and infectivity of an RNA virus infectious to Trichoplusia ni larvae was investigated. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and weight depression were used as criteria for virus concentration in larval homogenates and live larvae, respectively. Infected larvae were severely stunted, weighing as little as 13 times less than uninfected individuals of the same age , yet appeared normal morphologically. The virus was found to cause only slight mortality at high concentrations. Infected larvae displayed the pathological stunting response down to a dose of 0.1 ng of virus. Larvae infected with doses 100 times lower did not show the …

Mammals Of The Northern Great Plains, J. Knox Jones Jr., David M. Armstrong, Robert F. Hoffmann, Clyde Jones

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

For the purposes of this book, the Northern Great Plains are defined as the states of Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. As a physiographic concept, the northern part of the great interior grasslands of North America is, of course, much broader in geographic extent than the Dakotas and Nebraska, but the three states lie in the heart of the region, and thus the title for this work seems appropriate. Our expectations in writing Mammals of the Northern Great Plains were to provide a comprehensive, yet semitechnical, treatmeat of free-living mammals that would prove useful to specialist and nonspecialist alike. …

An Unusually Small Egg-Carrying Callinectes Sapidus In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Robin M. Overstreet, Harriett M. Perry, Gerald Adkins

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

This communication reports the smallest verified egg-carrying specimen of Callinectes sapidus. With a carapace 20 mm long by 47 mm wide, the female measures considerably less than most other mature individuals, but about the same as an average-sized individual infected with an adult specimen of the rhizocephalan Loxothylacus texanus.