Digital Commons Network^™

Lithological And Geochemical Characterization Of Ramp Sediments And A Depositional Model Of The Ordovicain Garden City Formation, Northeastern Utah, Kenneth W. Kehoe

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Ordovician Garden City Formation is a mostly marine limestone rock formation deposited in what is known today as the Northern Utah Basin in North America ~485.5 million years ago. Previous research on the Pogonip Group, a time equivalent rock formation located in the Ibex Basin south of the Northern Utah Basin, has identified nine cycles of sea-level fall and rise. However, these nine sea-level cycles have proven difficult to identify within the Garden City Formation due to the limited contrast between rock types within the rock formation. Previous research on the Garden City has approximated these sea-level cycles through …

Characteristic Of The Dynamics Of Disorder In Crystalline And Amorphous Materials, Amir Behbahanian

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This work provides the evidence to apply simulation methods that are applicable to systems with structural randomness to simulate crystalline materials at high temperatures. My work not only open the avenue to expand the simulation capability of materials but also provides insight to the physics of vibrations of atoms under different temperature and for different types of materials. I have also evaluated the reliability of Molecular Dynamics simulations at the frequency level and found that theses types of simulations, despite the previous belief, are reliable at low temperatures but up to a measurable frequency. In addition, the result of my …

An Investigation Into The Feasibility Of Streamlining Language Sample Analysis Through Computer-Automated Transcription And Scoring, Carly Fox

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of the study was to investigate the feasibility of streamlining the transcription and scoring portion of language sample analysis (LSA) through computer-automation. LSA is a gold-standard procedure for examining childrens’ language abilities that is underutilized by speech language pathologists due to its time-consuming nature. To decrease the time associated with the process, the accuracy of transcripts produced automatically with Google Cloud Speech and the accuracy of scores generated by a hard-coded scoring function called the Literate Language Use in Narrative Analysis (LLUNA) were evaluated. A collection of narrative transcripts and audio recordings of narrative samples were selected to …

Improvement Opportunities In The Two-Source Energy Balance Model For Et Using Uav Imagery And Point Cloud Information, Mahyar Aboutalebi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In recent years, satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide enormous amounts of spatially-distributed information for monitoring crop conditions by measuring crop’s reflected and emitted radiation at a distance. However, applications of high-resolution UAV imagery and its intermediate products for improving crop water use estimates are not well studied. In other words, the available approaches, methods and algorithms for determining how much water to apply for irrigation using remotely sensed data have been mostly developed at satellite spatial resolutions. High-resolution imageries that have been achieved by small UAVs open new opportunities for revisiting, re-evaluating, and revising available crop water use …

Sensitivity Study For Uav Gps-Denied Navigation In Uncertain Landmark Fields, Samantha D. Burton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This document provides two 2D simulation sensitivity analyses regarding a drone’s flight characteristic (state) errors within a GPS-denied region. The research focuses on a development and investigation of utilizing a camera to simultaneously determine a drone’s state while locating landmarks, where there is uncertainty in the landmarks’ exact positions prior to the mission (SLAM). This SLAM method is performed in regions with limited access to GPS. Furthermore, there is development and investigation of controlling the drone in conjunction with SLAM using potential error-reducing control parameters. Objectives are to quantitatively understand the UAV’s sensitivity of position errors to sensor grade and …

A Qualitative Review Of A Culturally Responsive Education Program For Native American Youth, Tamara Ellington

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research uses a qualitative case study approach and a culturally based framework to examine an educational program’s community for Native American youth. The purpose is to develop an in-depth understanding of an effective educational intervention’s community that increases graduation rates of Native American youth and how they incorporate culture. I use Tribal Critical Race Theory to describe the continuation of colonization and assimilation efforts Native youth face in education systems and to portray the indigenized efforts the Konaway program implements in educating from an Indigenous lens. The framework was constructed from the nine tenets of Tribal Critical Race Theory …

Faculty Senate Committee Agenda, November 29, 2021, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Approval of Minutes – November 1, 2021
• University Business
• Education Policies Committee
• Academic Freedom and Tenure Annual Report
• Libraries Advisory Council Annual Report
• Faculty Evaluation Committee Annual Report
• USUSA Annual Report
• Old Business
• Code 401 Track Changes | Clean 1st Reading
• Code 402 Track Changes | Clean 1st Reading

Faculty Senate Minutes, November 29, 2021, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Approval of Minutes – November 1, 2021
• University Business
• Education Policies Committee
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Academic Freedom and Tenure Annual Report
• Libraries Advisory Council Annual Report
• Faculty Evaluation Committee Annual Report
• USUSA Annual Report
• Code 401 Track Changes | Clean 1st Reading
• Code 402 Track Changes | Clean 1st Reading

Everyday Positive Identity Experiences Of Spiritual And Religious Lgbtq+ Bipoc, Elizabeth Grace Wong, Renee V. Galliher, Hay Pradell, Tyus Roanhorse, Hanna Huenemann

Psychology Student Research

This study examines the everyday positive identity of spiritual/religious lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+), Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). By enriching our knowledge about the positive developmental processes (e.g., strengths, resilience, protective factors) that multiply marginalized and underrepresented populations employ to navigate their identity, we can better understand the impact and dynamics of systemic oppression on an individual’s expression and development of self. Ten individuals from Canada and the US provided diarized voice entries to a daily prompt in an experience sampling method (ESM). We analyzed voice clip entries collected over a period of two to four weeks …

General Education Subcommittee Minutes, November 16, 2021, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Course Approvals/Removals/Syllabi Approvals
• HIST 4260 (DHA)
• MUSC 3040 (DHA)
• Courses with multiple Gen Ed attributes
• Gen Ed proposal process improvements
• Other Business

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Minutes, November 15, 2021, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• University Business
• Information
• Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee Annual Report
• Libraries Advisory Council Annual Report
• Faculty Evaluation Committee Annual Report
• USUSA Annual Report
• New Business
• Code 401 Track Changes | Clean 1st Reading
• Code 402 Track Changes | Clean 1st Reading

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, November 15, 2021, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Approval of Minutes – October 18, 2021
• University Business
• Education Policies Committee
• Academic Freedom and Tenure Annual Report
• Libraries Advisory Council Annual Report
• Faculty Evaluation Committee Annual Report
• USUSA Annual Report
• Old Business
• Code 401 Track Changes | Clean 1st Reading
• Code 402 Track Changes | Clean 1st Reading

The Utah Statesman, November 15, 2021, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Geodetic Model For Teaching Motion On The Earth's Spheroidal Surface, Boyd F. Edwards, John M. Edwards

All Physics Faculty Publications

We explore the forces that shape our spheroidal Earth and the forces that govern the motion of a puck that slides without friction on its surface. The Earth's stable spheroidal shape (apart from small-scale surface features) is determined by balancing the gravitational forces that hold it together against the centrifugal forces that try to tear it apart. The motion of a puck on its surface differs profoundly from motion on a sphere because the Earth's spheroidal deformations neutralize the centrifugal and gravitational forces on the puck, leaving only the Coriolis force to govern the motion. Yet the Earth's spheroidal deformations …

Rural Teachers' Cultural And Epistemic Shifts In Stem Teaching And Learning, Colby Tofel-Grehl, Kristin A. Searle, Andrea Hawkman, Beth L. Macdonald, Mario I. Suárez

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This article focuses on the ways in which integrated curriculum can improve STEM teaching and learning within rural spaces. Using a design-based research approach, this study focuses on rural teachers' experiences of professional learning and development training as they learn to engage computing and maker technologies in their elementary classrooms as tools for teaching students about difficult histories of immigration, migration, and forced relocation across the United States.

The Utah Statesman, November 8, 2021, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Using Dyadic Observation To Explore Equitable Learning Opportunities In Classroom Instruction, Alyson L. Lavigne, Thomas L. Good

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Because of poverty, many children do not receive adequate prenatal care, nutrition, or early childhood education. These inequities combine to ensure that many students enter school with considerably less academic content knowledge and skills for learning than their peers. Teachers and schools did not create these gaps, but they must address them. The impact of schools in reducing gaps has been explored for decades only to yield inconsistent findings. One possible reason for these contradictory results is because these studies ignore classroom process. We argue for the inclusion of process in research on opportunity and achievement gaps to better articulate …

Managing Water Stored For The Environment During Drought, Sarah Null, Jeffrey Mount, Brian Gray, Michael Dettinger, Kristen Dybala, Gokce Sencan, Anna Sturrock, Barton Thompson, Harrison Zeff

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Storing water in reservoirs is important for maintaining freshwater ecosystem health and protecting native species. Stored water also is essential for adapting to the changing climate, especially warming and drought intensification. Yet, reservoir operators often treat environmental objectives as a constraint, rather than as a priority akin to water deliveries for cities and farms. Reservoir management becomes especially challenging during severe droughts when surface water supplies are scarce, and urban and agricultural demands conflict with water supplies needed to maintain healthy waterways and wetlands. In times of drought, most freshwater ecosystems suffer.

This blog post examines 2021 water year actions …

Passive Acoustic Monitoring And Automatic Detection Of Diel Patterns And Acoustic Structure Of Howler Monkey Roars, Leandro A. Do Nascimento, Cristian Pérez-Granados, Karen H. Beard

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Nighttime studies are underrepresented in ecological research. Even well-known behaviors, such as the loud call of howler monkeys, are rarely studied at night. Our goal was to help fill this knowledge gap by studying the 24 h vocal behavior of the Guianan red howler monkey (Alouatta macconnelli) and to compare the acoustic structures of howling bouts made during the day to those made at night. We used passive acoustic monitoring coupled with automatic acoustic detection to study three groups of howlers over three months in the Viruá National Park, Roraima, Brazil. The automatic classifier we built detected 171 …

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, November 4, 2021, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Curriculum Subcommittee Report
• Academic Standards Subcommittee Report
• General Education Subcommittee Report
• Other Business

Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes, November 4, 2021, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of 6 October 2021 Minutes
• Program Proposals
• Semester Course Approval Reviews
• Other Business

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda, November 4, 2021, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of 6 October 2021 Minutes
• Program Proposals
• Semester Course Approval Reviews
• Other Business

Educational Policies Committee Minutes, November 4, 2021, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of 6 October 2021 Minutes
• Curriculum Subcommittee Report
• Academic Standards Subcommittee Report
• General Education Subcommittee Report
• Other Business

The Utah Statesman, November 1, 2021, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Comparison Of Charge Deposition Profiles In Polymers Irradiated With Monoenergetic Electrons: Pulsed Electroacoustic Measurements And Af-Numit3 Modeling, Zachary Gibson, Jr Dennison, Brian Beecken

Physics Student Research

Successful spacecraft design and charging mitigation techniques require precise and accurate knowledge of charge deposition profiles. This paper compares models of charge deposition and transport using a venerable deep dielectric charging code, AF-NUMIT3, with direct measurements of charge profiles via pulsed electroacoustic (PEA) measurements. Eight different simulations were performed for comparison to PEA experiments of samples irradiated by 50 keV or 80 keV monoenergetic electrons in vacuum and at room temperature. Two materials, polyether-ether ketone (PEEK) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), were chosen for their very low conductivities so that minimal charge migration would occur between irradiation and PEA measurements. PEEK was …

Faculty Senate Minutes, November 1, 2021, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Approval of Minutes – October 4, 2021
• University Business
• Educational Policies Committee – October 6, 2021
• PRPC Update
• Athletic Council Annual Report
• Honors Program Annual Report
• Old Business

Faculty Senate Agenda, November 1, 2021, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Approval of Minutes – October 4, 2021
• University Business
• Educational Policies Committee
• PRPC Update
• Athletic Council Annual Report
• Honors Program Annual Report
• Format for Faculty Senate meetings

Voting And Civic Engagement Among Utah Women: A 2021 Update, Susan R. Madsen, D. Candice Pierucci, Robbyn T. Scribner

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

In 2016, the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) released a research snapshot called “Voting and Civic Engagement Among Utah Women.” At the time, despite having a strong history of women’s political and civic involvement, Utah had fallen to the bottom of national rankings in terms of women’s political participation. In 2019, UWLP released an update of this report, which showed some improvement in voter participation rates for both the United States and for Utah women. Since 2016, the level of political engagement among women in Utah and the United States has grown, and civic engagement—a critical element of change …

Formulating An 'Epic Religiosity': The Mahābhārata And Contemporary Hindu Traditions, Frank R. Chappell

Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies

The polysemous quality of the Mahābhārata has not only contributed to its timeless popularity across the globe, but also to its evolution as a religious and moral sourcebook for over a millennium. As the "fifth Veda," it continues to prove efficacious in contemporary ethical and spiritual discourses for multiple Hindu traditions in the diaspora. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the reception-history of the epic as an evolving narrative and its applicability to the formulation of contemporary Hindu ethics.

Theory Of Mind Acquisition In Children Who Are Deaf: The Importance Of Early Identification And Communication Access, Kimberly A. Peters, Jessica Beer, David Pisoni, Ethan Remmell

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare Theory of Mind (ToM) acquisition in typically-hearing preschool-age children (TH), and deaf children of hearing parents (DCHP) who received a cochlear implant by 18 months of age, to determine if early access to spoken language via a cochlear implant affected ToM acquisition.

Methods: Participants included 25 children with cochlear implants ages 3.0 to 6.5 years and 25 age-matched children with TH all of whom were enrolled in preschools with typical peer models. The test battery included measures of expressive and receptive language and ToM.

Results: There were no …