Digital Commons Network^™

Misconceptions In Middle School Life Science And Strategies Teachers Can Use To Change Them, Jody L. Fairbanks

Graduate Research Papers

Misconceptions and alternative conceptions refer to students' "conceptions that are different from those held by the scientific community" (Sungur, Tekkaya, & Geban, 2001, p. 91). All students have misconceptions due to prior experiences they have had. Students' alternative conceptions are problems for educators because they can block new learning (Sewell, 2002). Therefore, teachers play a crucial role in helping students construct new knowledge upon whatever foundation that already exists. This review of literature examines the findings of research regarding misconceptions, common misconceptions that students have in life science, and how teachers can teach difficult concepts so students are more likely …

Determining Students' Working Conceptions Of Evolution Through Formative Assessment Probes, Danielle J. Burras

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Students entering a science classroom bring with them many ideas about science content and the nature of science. Some of those ideas are not congruent with current scientific explanations and can be called working conceptions. Working conceptions have the ability to impact how students respond to new information and whether or not they integrate it into their lives outside of the classroom. Identifying what working conceptions students have prior to instruction allows educators to determine how instruction should be formatted and what concepts may need extra focus. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effectiveness of formative assessment …

Examining The Use Of Collocations In Natural Language Processing, Patrick Anthony Burke

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Studies in Natural Language Processing are often dedicated to defining the lexicon and grammar rules of individual languages. It is a common understanding that virtually all statements that a language user encounters are unique constructions that have never been seen before. Because of this, there has been very little modem research regarding the use of repeated language when attempting to provide computers with language processing functionality. It seems reasonable that most statements we use on a daily basis are completely new when they are evaluated in their entirely. However, it is possible that smaller portions of these statements are reused. …

Increasing The Accuracy Of Protein Three-Dimensional Structure Comparison, Mauricio J. Arriagada-Benitez

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Structural alignment is an important tool for identifying structural and functional relationships between proteins. A typical protein structure alignment method is an iterative algorithm that computes an optimal residue-residue correspondence, once for each inspected spatial superposition of the input proteins. The significance of this study allows us to better understand how important it is to explore in deep the analysis of proteins structure using a residue pair distance as the way to align two proteins. We assess the extent of improvements in the accuracy of the existing methods that can be made by exploring the search space in a more …

The Social Origin Of Violent Behavior, Todd Arthur Mensink

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examines the social origins of extremely violent behavior. Numerous explanations of violent offenders have focused on biological, psychological, environmental or a combination of these factors to explain violence. Most explanations of violent behavior fail to take a holistic approach to understand the cause of violent behavior. This study is an analysis of the applicability of the violentization theory. Data was obtained through in-depth semi-structured interviews from six violent offenders in a residential treatment faciIity in the Midwest. Findings indicate that for most offenders, the violentization theory is consistent with their social experiences. However, two exceptions pertained to the …

The Role Of Work Environment On Employee Job Engagement, Micayla Michelle Evers

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Employee job engagement is an increasingly popular and important construct in organizations in the United States. Job engagement is widely considered to have a strong influence on employee job performance, turnover rates, burnout, etc. Many variables contribute to this important construct, and work environment encompasses one of these variables. This study addresses the impact of physical work environment and social work environment in predicting employee job engagement. The current study found that both physical work environment and social work environment were significant predictors of employee job engagement and that physical work environment had a slightly larger impact. Exploratory analyses were …

Using Novels In The Science Classroom, Hannah Llewellyn Haarhues

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Reading is a key factor in the success of students through their school years as well as their lives. With Americans reading less and falling behind in subjects as they progress through the school system, reading is the subject area that benefits all aspects of their schooling. Studies done from the 1990s on have shown successful reading programs improve standardized test scores of school age students. Trade books in place of textbooks had been explored, but only in middle school or younger. This study uses a survey to explore high school biology students' opinions on reading and science before and …

Barriers That Iowa High School Biology Teachers Face When Teaching Evolution In The Classroom, Joshua Michael Hanna

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

After decades of court cases, decided in favor of evolution being taught, legal decisions where the incorporation of teaching creationist ideas have been found unconstitutional, and recent strategies and attempts that would have teachers give "equal time" to creation-science ideas; there remains a disparity among Iowa's high school biology teachers when teaching evolutionary concepts in the classroom. Taking a look at what is being taught about evolution in Iowa classrooms, this study takes an in-depth look at what Iowa's biology teachers are teaching when educating their students about evolution, where emphasis is being placed and who is putting the most …

The Value Of Leisure In Coping With Natural Disaster: A Case Study In The Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina, Germaine Jackson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have witnessed more than their share of cataclysmic events, both natural and human-made. Most notable is Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 storm that ravaged the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi. The infamous history of Hurricane Katrina's devastation stems from a couple of factors. First, the death toll reached what, for Americans, was a shockingly high figure of 1,577 people. Second, and more socially and politically relevant, was the federal government's mismanagement of the crisis.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of leisure services available to adolescents following the traumatic …

Defining The “Good” Mother: Examining The Myths Of Motherhood And The Hierarchical Construction Of Femininity In Weeds And Weekly Magazines, Johnanna Joy Ganz

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Throughout this thesis  investigate how images of motherhood in popular culture rely on specific ideological "myths" to convey implicit messages about appropriate femininity. To examine the depictions of motherhood I performed a textual analysis of the contents of the first two seasons of the television program Weeds as well as randomly sampled issues of the following celebrity gossip magazines: People Weekly, US Weekly, In Touch Weekly, and Life & Style Weekly. In order to make sense of the data, I rely on the theoretical concept of hegemonic femininity, as developed by Mimi Schippers. Additionally, I offer a more nuanced argument …

Effects Of Environmental Variables On Food Consumption, Denise Eslinger

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Overweight and obesity is a growing epidemic among adults, adolescents, and children in the United States. Since 1980, rates of obesity have doubled among adults and tripled among children, and college students are not immune to this trend. This may be due, in part, to portion sizes that exceed individuals' caloric needs. Although many studies have demonstrated that people's food consumption is highly influenced by environmental factors ( e.g., the size of a portion that is given), there has been very little theoretical work exploring the reasons for this influence. To determine if portion size would affect consumption when a …

Transforming Lives: Exploring The Impact Of Transitioning On Female-To-Male Transpersons And Partners Of Female-To-Male Transpersons, Megan Marie Tesene

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Recent trends in gender scholarship point to an increased research focus on transidentified persons. However, the majority of it revolves around the experiences of transpersons as individuals while ignoring the influence that transitioning has on intimacy in personal relationships. Furthermore, while previous research on FtM transpersons tends to emphasize the benefits that transmen receive from transitioning, the current study focuses on some of its negative implications. Through ten semi-structured, in-depth interviews, this research explores the experiences of four transmen and six partners of transmen who were involved in a romantic relationship during the transition process. My findings indicate that transitioning …

An Analysis Of Parent Evaluations Within The 360° Holistic Evaluation System Of Camp Adventure Child And Youth Services, Michelle Therese Bafunno

Graduate Research Papers

Evaluation is a key component to the success of any organization. It allows an organization to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the various programs they offer and identify areas for improvement. Evaluation can be a beneficial tool for an organization to grow when used effectively. Utilizing a holistic evaluation system allows an organization to evaluate from different perspectives. Camp Adventure™ Child and Youth Services employs a 360° holistic evaluation system that gains feedback from multiple stakeholders in order to include multiple points of view when evaluating the organization.

This study focused on one group of stakeholders within the Camp …

National Board Of Professional Teaching Standards Certification Portfolio Option, Tracy Lynn Bell Maxted

Graduate Research Papers

The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is an independent organization that encourages teachers to voluntarily examine and reflect on their teaching. Twelve teaching standards are used for the evaluation. For Adolescence and Young Adulthood Science the standards are to show teachers:

■ Understand Students;

■ Understand Science;

■ Understand Science Teaching;

■ Engage the Science Learner;

■ Sustain a Learning Environment;

■ Promote Diversity, Equity & Fairness;

■ Foster Science Inquiry;

■ Make connections in Science;

■ Assess for Results;

■ Reflect on Teaching and Learning;

■ Develop Collegiality & Leadership; and

■ Connect with Families & Community.

An Analysis Of Managing Waste And Decreasing Lead Time In A Medium Sized Manufacturing Company, Tahir Murgic

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The importance of managing waste and reducing lead time in manufacturing cannot be denied. This study provides knowledge about both topics in a medium sized manufacturing company. The methodology that is used in this research is mixed methodology. Interviews were done with managers, and they were analyzed qualitatively. The next part is the quantitative research part that is done by asking employees via questionnaire. This study provided the close concepts of JIT (Just in Time) and waste management. Management must be committed to change, to train everyone to the new culture, to ensure that the organization's culture fosters employee participation, …

Is She Real Or Is She Wonder Woman? Finding The Authentic Woman In Graphic Novels And Comic Strips, Michael Welch

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study is to discover whether or not women are portrayed in an authentic manner in comic books and graphic novels. This study provides a brief history of comic books and graphic novels from the late 19th Century to early 21st Century. The study then reviews qualitative studies on the gender roles of women in graphic novels, women in prime time television, collection development and graphic novels, children's animated television, young adult's perceptions of televised women heroes, gender and racial stereotypes in newspaper comics, and "wonder women" or women in heroic roles in comic books and television. …

A Manual For The Implementation Of Service Learning Into Collegiate Outdoor Recreation Programs, Nicholas Robert Kilburg

Graduate Research Papers

This manual contains the information needed to design service learning projects for implementation into collegiate outdoor recreation departments. The program manual describes how to design, fund, implement and evaluate service learning programs in an outdoor recreation program. The theories of behavior change and their relation to service learning, the benefits of service learning for university students, how successful service learning projects are structured and the benefits service learning programs can also be found in this manual.

Many colleges and universities have outdoor recreation programs that offer adventure trips with the goal of providing participants with a memorable experience that allows …

Examining The Cause-Related Marketing Relationship Between Children’S Miracle Network And Walmart: Initial Development Of An Ethical Decision Making Framework, Taryn L. Kuntz

Graduate Research Papers

Cause-related marketing relationships have often been identified as win-win-win partnerships for the consumer, nonprofit organization and for-profit corporation. Critics suggest this is not always the case and that in fact, some for-profit organizations participate in such relationships to cover up unethical or illegal behavior. Focusing on Walmart's relationship Children's Miracle Network affiliated children's hospitals, this literature review explores the nature of cause-related marketing relationships and takes a psychological approach to ethical decision making as it relates to philanthropy in order to evaluate whether nonprofit organizations have a concern as a partner in a cause-related marketing relationship. Ethical decision making models …

Post-Graduate Settlement Patterns: Tuition Reciprocity And Its Impact On Graduate Retention In Iowa, Minnesota, And Wisconsin, Andrew Miles Duggan

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research project sought to discover the potential role participating in a tuition reciprocity program had on affecting a state's ability to stem the impact of brain drain. In order to do this, alumni records were analyzed from the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), Minnesota State University-Mankato (MSU), and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UWEC). They were chosen because these schools serve as regional institutions, and realistically would be expected to compete for the same prospective students. Datasets were collected for general locations (ZIP codes), gender, and degree majors for those who graduated in 1999 and 2004 - five and …

Decolorization Of Dyes And Distillery Waste Effluent: Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Several Biological And Physico-Chemical Processes, Mylène Godin

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Dyes and pigments are used extensively in many important industries. They are also important environmental contaminants and must be removed in a cost-effective manner from wastewater. The present investigation focuses on the use of several inexpensive physico-chemical and biological systems. The goal is to assess and compare their ability to decolorize water containing a representative triphenylmethane dye ( crystal violet), a representative azo dye (Congo red), and a rum distillery waste effluent, also known as still bottoms. The selected processes were photodegradation, ozonation, adsorption and bioremediation. Photodegradation was studied with three light sources, namely a commercially available 42 Watt fluorescent …

Factors Controlling Hop Flowering And Their Potential For Use In The Brewing And Pharmaceutical Industries, Margaret Nicole Crain

Honors Program Theses

Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) is a dioecious, perennial vine grown in temperate regions across the world (Stevens et al., 1997). Today hop is being used for two purposes. The first and most prolific is its use in beer brewing. The other is a recent development, but ever growing interest in the use of hops for pharmaceuticals.

The Effects Of Myd88 Inhibition On Bovine Lung Endothelial And Epithelial Cell Cytokine Expression, Cassandra Kay Hayne

Honors Program Theses

Bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) has major economical implications on the beef industry due to the severe health problems it produces in calves. Although several organisms are associated with it, Mannheimia haemolytica induces the severest amount of damage to the lungs. It has previously been demonstrated that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) produced by this bacterium causes significant permeability increases and cell apoptosis in bovine lung endothelial cells (BPMEC) but not bovine lung epithelial cells (TBPE). The purpose was to determine whether the main signaling pathway for cells that respond to LPS signaling, the Myeloid Differentiation 88 Pathway (MYD88), is present and functional …

The Effects Of Hypergravity On Xenopus Embryo Growth And Cardiac Hypertrophy, Bryce Joseph Duchman

Honors Program Theses

All life on earth has developed and evolved in a 1 G environment. Therefore, any deviation below or above unit gravity will likely have an effect on the development of organisms, including the migration of cells and the dispersion of nutrients. The purpose of this research project is to analyze the effects of hypergravity on the overall body length and cardiac growth of Xenopus laevis embryos. I predict that cardiac hypertrophy will occur in embryos subjected to hypergravity because of the increased force required from the heart to adequately circulate blood and, thus, disperse nutrients. Upon reaching early gastrulation, embryos …

Implementing A Natural Language To Structured Query Language Translator, Kevin J. Shannon

Honors Program Theses

Since the beginning of computing, humans have been trying to make computers understand each other more completely. Humans have always had difficulties encoding their thoughts and computational problems and in tum, computers have had difficulty understanding the subtle nuances of the human mind. The first computers were nothing more than large calculators, but as time went on, they became become more sophisticated. Various technologies and techniques have been created that add features and capabilities to modern computer systems, and many of these will be discussed in this paper.

This paper describes my Honors Thesis project to design and implement a …

Effect Of Egg-Incubation Temperature On Growth And Selected Temperature Of Apalone Spinifera, The Spiny Softshell Turtle, Amy L. Klopfenstein

Honors Program Theses

In order to survive, turtle hatchlings must be able to choose optimal thermal locations that promote growth and activity through thermoregulation. In some softshell turtle species, embryonic incubation conditions may influence post-hatching phenotypic characters, such as growth rates and temperature preference. I tested the effect of egg-incubation temperature on growth and thermal preferences of Apalone spinifera hatchlings, from Butler County, Iowa. Eggincubation temperature did not affect growth of 10 juvenile Apalone spinifera (Reptilia: Testudines: Trionychidae). After 5 months, hatchlings incubated at 30°C did not differ in size from the turtles incubated at 25°C. In an aquatic thermal gradient from 14-34°C, …

Communicating During A Crisis: An Analysis Of H1n1 Documents, Ian Patrick Hopkins

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In April, 2009 a mysterious illness started to spread from Mexico City into the United States and quickly through out the rest of the world. Initially known as Swine Flu, it was quickly became known by its scientific name novel H 1 N 1. The H 1 N 1 pandemic is of particular note because of the rapid spread throughout the world. Additionally, the H 1 N 1 pandemic provides a way to study organizational responses during a health pandemic. Previous literature has explored how organizations have responded during pandemics, but have not examined pandemics from an organizational level. This …

Psychopathy: Correlates Of The Mmpi-2-Rf And Ppi-R, Katherine Achsah Lisa Hall

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The present study sought to examine the utility of the MMPI-2-RF (Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008) in assessing psychopathic personality traits. In past studies, the Restructured Clinical scales (RC4, RC9, RC7, and RC2) have been positive predictors of psychopathic characteristics. The aim of this study is to validate and build upon the previous research by re-examining the Restructured Clinical scales (RC4, RC9, RC7, and RC2) and investigate the MMPI-2-RF fear scales (Behavioral-Restricting Fears & Multiple Specific Fears), High-Order Scale (Behavioral/Externalizing Dysfunction), Externalizing Scale (Juvenile Conduct Problems and Substance Abuse) and the Personality Psychopathology Five scales (Negative-Emotionality/Neuroticism-Revised & Introversion/Low Positive Emotionality-Revised). It …

Variables Affecting Crime Rate, Jaime Zeigler

Honors Program Theses

The Federal Bureau of Investigation releases data about crime statistics. They publish the raw data and provide factors that influence the crime rate. They provide the general public with a few variables that they deemed most influential, but do not provide the statistical analysis to support. After performing a statistical analysis, I support or disprove their claims. Another way to question the validity of regression is comparing the current regression to a previous regression performed two years ago by myself with the same variables from the same source. An additional aspect that this paper explores the history of factors affecting …

Fall Commencement [Program], December 18, 2010, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Commencement Programs

The program of the commencement ceremonies, including a list of institutional leadership, a list of the departments by college, awards given at the ceremonies, and a list of undergraduate and graduate degree candidates.

Ists, November 2010, Iowa Academy Of Science

ISTS Newsletter

In this issue:

--Notes and News

--Opportunities