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Useful Tips For The First Year Science Teacher, Kate Ellen Harken

Graduate Research Papers

First-year science teachers can face daunting challenges in and out of the classroom. Determining your personal teaching style, establishing a classroom routine and becoming accustomed to your new job and surroundings can take a toll on teachers.

Ecological Niche Modeling Of Potential West Nile Virus Vector Mosquito Species In Iowa, Scott R. Larson, John P. Degroote, Lyric C. Bartholomay, Ramanathan Sugumaran

Faculty Work

Ecological niche modeling (ENM) algorithms, Maximum Entropy Species Distribution Modeling (Maxent) and Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Prediction (GARP), were used to develop models in Iowa for three species of mosquito – two significant, extant West Nile virus (WNV) vectors (Culex pipiens L and Culex tarsalis Coquillett (Diptera: Culicidae)), and the nuisance mosquito, Aedes vexans Meigen (Diptera: Culicidae), a potential WNV bridge vector. Occurrence data for the three mosquito species from a state-wide arbovirus surveillance program were used in combination with climatic and landscape layers. Maxent successfully created more appropriate niche models with greater accuracy than GARP. The three Maxent species’ …

'Fermenting' A Successful Business: Beyer's Wine Cellar, Connie J. Beyer

Honors Program Theses

Beyer's Wine Cellar will be a vineyard and winery located in Mitchell, Iowa. Donald and Lucinda plan to begin production in the Fall of 2011 and begin selling wine to customers in the Spring of 2012. The wines that Beyer's Wine Cellar produces will be sold through the tasting room. Furthermore, Donald and Lucinda also plan to offer wine and grape education classes for the eager wine consumers in the area.

New Media Globalization In Asia: The Online Game Industries Of South Korea, Singapore, And China, Peichi Chung

Iowa Journal of Communication

This paper examines the emerging media flow in the new media economy of Asia by focusing on the networking of media exchange among three growing production centers. It argues that the nation-state has come to play an increasingly important role in the development of a pan-Asian cultural economy in the online gaming industries of Asia. New cultural production centers have created a rising regional growth corridor between South Korea, Singapore and China. This paper concludes that this emerging growth corridor in Asia redefines the power relationship between core and periphery in the global media industry in ways that affect the …

Financialization Of The Asian Game Industry: A New Business Model, Dal Young Jin

Iowa Journal of Communication

This study is a historical documentation of the recent trends of financialization, mainly to ascertain whether these trends are confirmation that financialization plays a pivotal role in the game market in the midst of the global economic crisis in the early 21st century. The major focus will not only be on capital flow but also on financing, which means that the paper is to map out the way in which the Asian game industry has been part of the transnationalization process in order to fully understand the nature of globalization. Eventually, it examines whether the financialization of the online game …

Setting The Rules Of Play: Network Video Game Policies And Regulations In China, Zixue Tai

Iowa Journal of Communication

By situating online game regulations against the backdrop of the grand scheme of Internet information control, this paper offers a comprehensive, in-depth overview of the regulatory framework wherein the Chinese online video game industry operates. The topics analyzed include the bureaucratic regulatory structure, the ground rules for Web cafes operations, the complicated set of controversial market entry conditions and qualifications for online game distribution services as well as the multitude of concerted official measures and state-centered initiatives with the intent to foster particular genres of patriotic, morally-uplifting game titles and to build a core list of national production clusters.

Iowa Journal Of Communication, Volume 42, Number 1, Fall 2010 [Download Entire Issue]

Iowa Journal of Communication

No abstract provided.

Making It Happily Ever After: Rectifying The Inherent Contradiction Between Suicide And Hollywood Endings, Mitchell Zoelzer

Iowa Journal of Communication

Hollywood movies often struggle to present depressing ideas realistically. This rhetorical analysis, using narrative criticism, analyzes the presentation of suicide in five Hollywood films: Thelma and Louise, Seven Pounds, Milk, What Dreams May Come, and Dead Poet's Society. This analysis suggests a test to tell how Hollywood will present the suicide by simply knowing when the suicide is committed or by whom. If the suicide is presented at the end of the film or committed by the protagonist, Hollywood will be forced to portray it as positive and unrealistic. The only exception to this rule …

Purchasing Subscription Reference Databases In The Iowa Elementary Public School Library, Michaela B. Seeman

Honors Program Theses

With so many reference materials available for the elementary public school library, making subscription reference database purchasing decisions can be an overwhelming task. The purpose of this research study was to examine how the 15 participating Iowa teacher librarians made subscription reference database purchasing decisions and the use they observe of various reference materials by students and staff influencing these decisions. To answer these questions, I conducted a survey asking Iowa public elementary school teacher librarians how they decided what to purchase and criteria they used for examining reference materials such as subscription reference databases. The population used for this …

Fifth Grade Student Learning And Interest In The American Revolution Through Reading Graphic Novels Compared To Reading Biography Or Other Nonfiction Books, Kari Bosma

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to examine student recall of facts, along with enjoyment of reading and interest in the topic when using graphic novels as compared to illustrated nonfiction prose in social studies content area reading. Twenty-two fifth grade students (13 f, 9 m) in a public school in a Midwestern state participated in the study. Half of the students read about the Boston Massacre and Patrick Henry through graphic novels and read about Paul Revere and the Boston Tea Party with illustrated nonfiction texts, with the other half doing the opposite. The mean number of correct ideas …

Trends In Environmental Concern By Grade Level: A Study Of Elementary, Middle, And High School Students, Ryan David Lensing

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Environmental concern has been frequently measured since the 1970's, however, much of this research has focused on adults. Of the studies that look at students, the majority focus on high school with little attention given to middle or elementary grades. None of these studies have looked at elementary, middle, and high school students from the same population. This study uses the NEP Scale for Children in conjunction with free response questions to examine the trends in environmental concern from 120 Catholic elementary, middle school, and high school students from Des Moines, Iowa. The findings show no significant differences in levels …

Understanding Environmental Health Disparities Of Roma Populations In Romania, Jennifer L. Hall

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Roma are the largest and most marginalized minority group of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) with the highest number residing in Romania. Their problems and struggles are multi-faceted and deeply rooted in a long history of discrimination and stigmatization. Over the years, many strategies have been developed and implemented across CEE, yet very few studies have addressed their environmental and occupational health issues. Moreover, because the vast majority of these studies have employed quantitative methodology, they have had the unfortunate effect of dehumanizing and devaluing the Roma people through scientific reductionism.

The purpose of this study was to gain …

Helping Adolescents Forgive: The Use Of Forgiveness Education At An Inpatient Mental Health Facility, Tiffany R. Everding

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Understanding the concept of forgiveness has demonstrated to be a complex process (Walker & Gorsuch, 2004; McCullough & vanOyen Witvliet, 2002). Enright and the Human Development Study Group (1991) developed a process model of forgiveness as a way for people to constructively deal with their anger and improve overall psychological well-being after experiencing a deep hurt. Due to the reported benefits illustrated by forgiveness intervention studies, future research is needed to examine the effectiveness of forgiveness education with adolescents in a clinical setting. The current study implemented a forgiveness education intervention with adolescents at local inpatient mental health facility examining …

Leisure: Definitions, Patterns, And Constraints: A Study Of University Students In China, Shisi Zhou

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

China has witnessed tremendous social transformation in the last three decades due to the introduction of the "open door" policy and economic reforms in the late 1970s, which has resulted in great changes in Chinese culture and identity considerations. University students, as one of the most energetic and creative groups of individuals in the society, are playing and will play an important role in leading leisure lifestyles in China in the future. The purpose of this study was to examine the understanding of leisure (xiuxian in Chinese), leisure patterns, and constraints among university students in China.

Undergraduate students (N = …

Molecular Effects Of Metolachlor Exposure On Human Cells, Sean Hartnett

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Metolachlor is one of the most commonly used herbicides in the United States of America. Numerous studies have shown that exposure to this herbicide results in decreased cell proliferation, growth and reproductive ability in different organisms. However, pervious studies used high concentrations of metolachlor to see molecular effects. In the study presented here, we investigated the effects of metolachlor on human cells. Previous cell proliferation analysis from our laboratory has shown that metolachlor is capable of significantly inhibiting the growth of normal human fibroblasts and HepG2 cells at 1.6 parts per billion (ppb) and 50 ppb. We assessed cellular effects …

Locating Henry In The “Un-”: Proto-Postmodern Negation Of Character, Allusion, Narrative And Structure In John Berryman’S The Dream Songs, Joseph Russell Hendryx

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

John Berryman's The Dream Songs encompasses an extensive and complex negation of characterization and structure, offering a method of interpretation that focuses on the negations and the absences expressed in and presented by the song cycle. Through his nonlinear account of his life and through the historical and literary allusions he uses to express himself, Henry obscures any effort for readers to discover a stable, absolute identity. Like Henry himself, his unnamed companion unsuccessfully fulfills a variety of roles that critics have attempted to prescribe for him; he fails to perform any notable thematic or structural purpose for the poem, …

Improving The Instruction And Learning Of Topographic Maps Through The Use Of Geospatial Technologies, Troy Dean Schwemm

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Geographic information technologies (GIT) are spatially based technologies that include geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and global positioning systems (GPS). Though GIT has been used in society for decades, and has grown tremendously in the last 10 years as advancements in technology have become available, its inclusion into the K-12 curriculum has not kept pace. As the educational reform movement places an ever increasing amount of pressure on schools to produce technologically literate, workforce ready graduates, school districts are scrambling to find creative, innovative ways to accomplish this task. Rather than learning passively, GIT allows students to construct their …

The Relationship Between Aggression And Measures Of Neuroticism And Agreeableness In College Students, Ashley Alexandra Buol

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Past studies on aggression have typically focused on physical aggression (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). Recently, however, researchers have started to look at a subtle form of aggression known as relational aggression (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). There have also been few studies that have focused on perceptions of aggression, as well as the personality traits that may be associated with these perceptions. Thus, the current study was designed to explore the relationship between personality characteristics, specifically agreeableness and neuroticism, and perceptions of aggression. The relationship between the levels of aggression and perceptions of aggression was also examined. Four questionnaires were utilized …

Race, Colonialism, Gender And The Rwandan Genocide, Jessica Patrice Braccio

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In 1994 Rwanda erupted in a genocide, which targeted primarily the Tutsi and any of their sympathizers. At the end of the conflict an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were dead and some Hutu offenders still face prosecution today. Proponents of the genocide justified their violence by asserting that the Tutsi had privileged lot in life, compared with the Hutu. These ideas can be seen as a reaction against ideas of Tutsi racial superiority over the Hutu which originated in European, specifically German and Belgian, colonial thought about race and gender. Even though very little is known about Rwanda prior to European …

Identification Of Virulence Genes In The Corn Pathogen Fusarium Verticillioides, Divya Chouhan

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Fusarium verticillioides is a pathogenic fungus that causes infection of crops and vegetables such as corn, wheat, potato, cassava, banana, potato and sorghum. It causes various diseases in corn such as seedling blight, root, stalk, and ear rot. Pathogenic Fusarium species have caused billions of dollars of damage through reduced yield. F.verticillioides also produces mycotoxins such as fumonisin. Consumption of contaminated grain can cause various diseases in animals such as pulmonary oedema in pigs and leukoencephalomalacia in horses, and may be associated with esophageal cancer in humans. Identification of virulence genes in F. verticillioides will help in understanding its biology …

Kurt Vonnegut, Authorship And The Purpose Of Literature: A Study Of Kilgore Trout, Danielle M. Benesh

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The works of Kurt Vonnegut demonstrate the author's lifelong interest in the purpose of literature and the role of the author in a postmodern society. Through the use of his most frequently recurring character, the science-fiction writer Kilgore Trout, Vonnegut questions the ways in which an author's works influence readers and ponders the relationship between society and art. These themes are explored in detail in the four novels which feature Kilgore Trout most prominently: God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of Champions and Timequake. A study of these novels reveals a progressive personification of the Trout figure, as …

Motivation Factors As Indicators Of Academic Achievement: A Comparative Study Of Student-Athletes And Non-Athletes Academic And Social Motivation, Jonell Pedescleaux

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate non-cognitive motivational factors as indicators of academic achievement of male athletes and male non-athletes as measured by a secondary data analysis of the College Student Inventory (CSI) from Fall 2003 to Fall 2005. Deci and Ryan's (2000) self-determination theory provided the conceptual framework for this study.

The CSI was administered through a survey technique. Participants in the survey sample were selected from 142 first semester freshman male athletes and male non-athletes enrolled at a Midwestern University.

The data gathered from the CSI provided information on non-cognitive variables of academic and social motivation …

Regional Differences In Jurors’ Attitudes And Knowledge, Heather M. Caspers

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Dynamic social impact theory (DSIT; Latane, 1996) suggests that social influence leads to four phenomena: clustering (regional differences in attitudes), correlation (emergent relationships between attitudes), consolidation (reduction in attitude variance), and continuing diversity (whereby minority opinions persist). These phenomena have been shown in a variety of settings (Harton & Bourgeois, 2004; Harton & Bullock, 2007), but geographic clustering in attitudes about crime have not been examined. These attitudes have the potential to affect a verdict in a trial if a defendant has a change of venue to a different area of the state or the country. Two datasets, the National …

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Agenda, November 30, 2009, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting agenda from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

Making Cereal Box Dioramas Of Native American Historic Homes And Culture, Audrey C. Rule, Lois A. Lindell

Open Educational Resources

Hands-on projects such as creating a three-dimensional diorama are among the most memorable of positive elementary school experiences, yet they are generally uncommon because these complex projects are daunting to undertake. Therefore, it is important to prepare preservice teachers with the skills to lead children in creating these types of projects. This document is a compilation of preservice teacher work completed during a social studies methods class that assists instructors in teaching students to create unique dioramas. After the preservice teachers had constructed dioramas and assisted elementary students in making their own, they reflected on previous social studies projects from …

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Agenda, November 9, 2009, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting agenda from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

Excerpt Testimony Of Sholom Rubashkin, Sholom Rubashkin

Postville Project Documents

The testimony of Sholom Rubashkin concerning the Agriprocessors immigration raid in Postville, Iowa.

The Verdehr Trio, October 3, 2009 [Program], University Of Northern Iowa. School Of Music.

Music Recital Programs

Program of a music recital given by faculty, students, or guest artists from the School of Music at the University of Northern Iowa.

University Of Northern Iowa Today, V93n2, Fall 2009, University Of Northern Iowa Alumni Association

UNI Today

Inside This Issue:

-- Greetings from President Ben Allen
-- Celebrations: The President's House: Celebrating a Century
-- Building history
-- Alumni Association: Alma mater affinity
-- Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center: A decade of discovery
-- Maucker Union: Forty years of serving students
-- UNI Foundation: Making an impact for 50 years
-- UNI Welcomes new Provost
-- 108 countries or bust! Grandmother's lifetime adventures inspire UNI alumna
-- Racing Ahead: UNI alumnus heads Iowa's larges, most prestigious racetrack
-- Tame your home's energy hogs
-- Taking UNI on the road
-- UNI Recipe Roundup: Strawberry (Shrimp) Spinach Salad
-- …

Cardinal, Others Discuss Faith-Based Forces Aligning On Immigration, Patricia Zapor

Postville Project Documents

Catholic News Service article from Sept. 22, 2009: The next phase in the drive for comprehensive immigration reform is taking root in parish basements, church sanctuaries and Jewish summer camps.