Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Community-Building On Achievement, Motivation, And Engagement In Undergraduate Mathematics, Hannak Keith

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This 2 x 2 quasi-experimental study examined the effects of pedagogical method (i.e., direct instruction vs. 5E inquiry) and intentional community-building (i.e., absence or presence) on undergraduate student (N = 103) motivation, engagement, and achievement in mathematics. Conditions were randomly assigned to one of four different College Algebra classes with a one-time occurrence and taught by a trained expert teacher. Findings indicated that intentional community-building – regardless of pedagogical method – had the strongest effects on students’ motivation, engagement, and achievement. Although no differing pedagogical effects were discovered (most likely due to the one-time implementation of the lesson formats), …

Transforming The Wku Office Of Sustainability's Front Yard Into An Edible Landscape, Alexandra Hezik

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Since moving to 503 Regents Avenue in Fall 2013, the WKU Office of Sustainability has served as a sustainable best practices demonstration home for the WKU and Bowling Green communities. Not only does the house in which the Office of Sustainability is located serve as an educational tool for people, but also the landscape. In May 2014, the WKU Community Garden was established in the backyard. The transformation of the Office of Sustainability’s front lawn into an edible landscape began on April 1, 2015. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate an alternative to conventional lawns.

The Language Of Fashion: Communication, Conceptual Clothing, And The Runway Performance, Jarred Johnson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Scholars have long neglected the study of fashion as anything other than a socioeconomic and cultural phenomena that reflects the more substantial political and historical zeitgeist of a time period. This study takes up Gilles Lipovetsky’s plea for a “theoretical facelift” of the study of fashion. Using an original theoretical framework that delineates the communicative structures of fashion as fabric, drape, and accessory, this work analyzes the conceptual meaning of runway performances by designers Alexander McQueen and Marc Jacobs. Though conceptual fashion shows are often described as spectacles intended to stir up a label’s recognition and ultimately bolster sales, the …

Testing The Effects Of Professional Development On Elementary Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs About Mathematics Inquiry Instruction, Courtney Inabnitt

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In this study, a professional development (PD) seminar was designed and implemented with elementary pre-service teachers (n=20) enrolled in a mathematics content course at a small Midwestern university. The central focus of the PD was on bringing inquiry, specifically the 5E model, into mathematics instruction at the elementary level. The structure of the PD followed the 5E model format and participants learned about inquiry through inquiry. The study utilized a pre-post-test design and measured participants’ knowledge about the 5E model and beliefs about using inquiry in elementary mathematics instruction. Statistically significant growth from pre-test to post-test appears in …

Outcomes Of Speech And Language Pilot Program For International Students, Kelly Fussman

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Universities in the United States host a substantial number of international students every academic year. As of the 2015-2016 academic year, Western Kentucky University, located in south-central Kentucky, alone hosts over 1,400 international students. These students often face a number of challenges upon arrival in the United States, especially when it comes to language and cultural differences. A considerable body of research indicates that international students’ educational performance and outcomes are significantly impacted by their cultural identities, psychological and sociocultural experiences, and attitudes in relation to English-speaking societies. Many international students attribute academic and social difficulties to a lack of …

Tragedy And The Vicious: Moral Education In Aristotle’S Poetics And Future Applications To Contemporary Art, Erika Brown

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This project interprets Aristotle’s Poetics through a morally educative approach. More specifically, expanding on past research of Poetics by individuals such as Isaiah Smithson, this project will examine the affective influence of tragedy on morally unknowing audience members of vicious character types. Through the associations between the sensory experiences incorporated in a tragedy and moral messages portrayed in the plot, the vicious character can begin a process of becoming morally knowing subjects. In others words, this experience with morally charged tragedies can teach vicious characters what is morally good. Moreover, the vicious audience members can learn how what is morally …

Effects Of An Electronic, Motion-Activated Scarecrow On Foraging Time In Nocturnal Vertebrate Crop Pets In South Africa, Mallory Clouse

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The normal behaviors of animals can disrupt human activities, resulting in human wildlifeconflict. In South Africa, nocturnal crop raiders are a significant source of human wildlifeconflict for farmers. Major nocturnal pest animals are Cape porcupine (Hystrix africaeaustralis) and bushpig (Potamochoerus larvatus). Although methods of deterring animals from agricultural areas have been explored, nocturnal crop raiding remains difficult to mitigate. Most research studies focus on deterring non-human primates and elephants, but methods that may be successful in deterring such larger mammals are not necessarily effective at discouraging smaller, nocturnal crop raiders. This study examined the efficacy of …

Toward Autonomous Multi-Rotor Indoor Aerial Vehicles, Connor Brooks

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In this project, we worked to create an indoor autonomous micro aerial vehicle (MAV) using a multi-layer architecture with modular hardware and software components. We required that all computing was done onboard the vehicle during time of flight so that no remote connection of any kind was necessary for successful control of the vehicle, even when flying autonomously. We utilized environmental sensors including ultrasonic sensors, light detection and ranging modules, and inertial measurement units to acquire necessary environment information for autonomous flight. We used a three-layered system that combined a modular control architecture with distributed on-board computing to allow for …

Optimizing An Organizational Program For Halton Company, Chandler Clark

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

A team of WKU Mechanical Engineering students is collaborating with Halton Company to create an organizational system for their plant. Each job performed at Halton is custom, leading to several different processes needing to be accounted for at once. The team is designing a program in Visual Studio that will be used to control the progression of the plant as well as store data to optimize future processes involved. Visual Studio will be implemented by summer of 2016 in order to give the team and company time to troubleshoot the program and insert optimizing options into the c ode of …

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury, Suicidal Behaviors, And Body Investment In Heterosexual And Sexual Minority Young Adults, Emily Cox

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

College-aged individuals who identify with a sexual minority orientation are at high risk for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal behaviors. Research is lacking on identification of factors contributing to increased risk for this population. This study examined two facets of body investment, body protection and body feelings, as they relate to NSSI, individual and total suicidal behaviors, and sexual orientation. It was hypothesized that NSSI and individual suicidal behaviors would be more frequent in the sexual minority sample compared to the heterosexual sample, body protection and body feelings would be poorer in sexual minorities compared to the heterosexual sample, and …

Tipping The Scales: Is Right-To-Work Legislation On The Path To Prosperity?, Jessica Canada

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

With West Virginia having just become the twenty-sixth state to pass right-to-work (RTW) legislation, the U.S. labor relations movement is at a tipping point. Other policy makers are closely watching the recent revival of RTW laws that has occurred over the last five years and are analyzing relevant studies to determine whether passing legislation that would outlaw union shops in their states might be worth a second look.

With this paper I intend to examine one of the dominant arguments against enacting RTW legislation in a state, which is that this legislation results in a greater degree of state-level income …

Language Proficiency Benefits Of An Arabic Language Immersion House, John Bailey

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This study analyzed the language proficiencies of 25 students using the ACTFL “Can-Do Statements” and Oral Proficiency Interviews (OPI), examined responses of 33 language students throughout the US from a questionnaire to find behaviors they use in their language studies, and also studied results from questionnaires directed to 6 WKU language faculty and a faculty member for Denison University. The goal of this analysis was to find links between those behaviors exhibited by the students and their level of language proficiency to uncover what methods are most conducive to increasing second language (L2) proficiency and to find L2 proficiency benefits …

Tice Edwards For Wku Staff Council, Tice Edwards

Staff Council

Campaign email soliciting votes for Tice Edwards.

Kelly Scott For Wku Staff Council, Kelly Scott

Staff Council

Campaign email soliciting votes for Kelly Scott.

Meeting Agenda, Wku Staff Council

Staff Council

Agenda for meeting held August 3, 2016.

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 92, No. 3), Kentucky Library Research Collections

The Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Ua3/9/7 Fall Welcome Message / Convocation, Wku President's Office - Ransdell

WKU Administration Documents

Email from WKU president Gary Ransdell to faculty & staff regarding fall semester and convocation.

Exhibition And Travel In Korea, David Marquez

Grant Reports

The objectives of my exhibition, reception and visit to Korea were met with success. My work was packed and shipped out to Korea by Western Kentucky University. Over a half ton of art work was sent to Korea. The work arrived in South Korea and was delivered on time, May 25, to allow for installation at the Gail Art Museum, Gyeonggi-Do. During the exhibition local art patrons and students from area schools attended the exhibition. The exhibition ran from May 27 through June 26.

Duration Of Time Spent Playing Online Video Games, Interpersonal Skills, And Introversion Personality Traits As Predictors For Social Anxiety Symptoms, James D. Bender

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study sought to determine if time spent engaging in online gaming, interpersonal communication skills, and introvert personality traits are predictors of an individual’s likelihood of experiencing symptoms of social anxiety. A sample of 128 participants (82 males and 46 females) completed measures of demographics, interpersonal communication skills, problematic online gaming, social anxiety, and introversion. Participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. There were significant correlations among social anxiety and interpersonal communication skills, problematic online gaming, and introversion. There was no significant correlation among social anxiety and time spent playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG), a specific form of …

The Relationship Between Personal Factors, Work Factors, Ptsd, And Suicide Ideation In Emergency Medical Service Providers, Faith Joy Boldt

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

EMS providers work in a high-stress environment and are routinely exposed to critical incidents. Many providers are left to deal with the chronic stress on their own, either because of lack of effective employer-based programs or a culture that discourages its use. The extent to which these factors -- as well as personal characteristics such as resilience, PTG, and coping skills -- influence PTSD and suicide ideation among EMS providers has not been well studied among EMS providers. An online survey was administered to a convenience sample of EMS providers. Of the 2,683 respondents, more than one quarter (27.7%) met …

The Past Is Open To The Future: Lithuanian Folk Pottery 1861 - Present, Anthony E. Stellaccio

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In 2011, following several years of in-country research, I published a book on Lithuanian folk pottery. I enrolled in the Folk Studies master’s program at Western Kentucky University (WKU) in 2014, well after my research and book had been completed. In the present study, I use my newly acquired knowledge of folklore In my previous work to revisit Lithuanian folk pottery.

In my previous work, I had sought to create a picture of “authentic” Lithuanian folk pottery that was confined to the narrow temporal borders of 1861-1918. Here I deconstruct conventional ideas about authenticity, as well as culture and heritage, …

Modalities Of Injustice In The Subaltern Discourse, Theresa M. Mcclary-Jeffryes

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Subaltern persons continue to be most negatively impacted by the hegemonic practices of institutions. Subaltern populations are the furthest removed from political agency, not only by the insecurities of their lived experiences, but also by academic and agency discourses that recreate the subaltern political citizen-subject in modes representing the “Other” through lenses of elite scholarship and high theory. The subaltern agent is not present in her own political making. The considerations of social justice require both the underpinnings of a global ethics of caring and a commitment to center the subaltern citizen subject’s account of herself as corresponding privileged record. …

Birth Of A Powerhouse: How One University Reimagined, Restructured, And Revived Outreach, Slone H. Cansler

Dissertations

Today’s modern higher education landscape presents myriad challenges to higher education leaders and administrators. Among those challenges is how universities respond to demands for accountability, growth of alternative models of postsecondary education delivery, the need to serve and increasingly diverse society, and reduced state and federal appropriations. Research suggests that the biggest changes for American higher education are imminent and will necessitate new business models, new forms of collaboration and partnerships, and innovative about the enterprise of higher education. This study sought to gain understanding about the development process and structural framework that allows a university’s outreach unit to be …

The Influence Of Happy Faces On Spatiotemporal Vision, Siera Nicole Bramschreiber

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Past research demonstrates that fearful faces lead to an increase in temporal and a decrease in spatial gap detection, an effect proposed to be caused by a flow of input to the magnocellular pathways from the amygdala to the visual system (Bocanegra & Zeelenberg, 2009). The amygdala is also active for positive and arousing stimuli, including happy faces. The current study extends past research by presenting happy facial cues just before a gap detection task. Facial stimuli (i.e., happy/neutral faces) were presented in the periphery of the receptive field and quickly followed by a Landolt circle. Half of the participants …

Ua61/1 Student Handbook, Wku School Of Nursing

WKU Administration Documents

Student handbook created by the WKU School of Nursing.

A Study Of The Academic And Personal Impacts Of A Literacy Intervention Course: Stories From Stakeholders, Jeremy Ray Logsdon

Dissertations

This study aims to illuminate, via the qualitative method of portraiture, the academic and personal impacts of both faculty and student stakeholders of a literacy intervention course, offered as an alternative to the traditional developmental reading model, taught at a regional southeastern United States four-year public university. Students who enrolled in the course from the semesters of fall 2012 to fall 2015 were given the opportunity to complete a survey about their experiences with the literacy intervention course. Faculty stakeholders were interviewed for their perspective on course creation, implementation, and delivery, focusing on the six curricular core competencies of reading …

Ua51/1 Collections & Connections, Jennifer Wilson Editor

Collections & Connections

Collections & Connections is a bi-annual publication of the Western Kentucky University Libraries featuring the Libraries' events with a view of reaching out to the Libraries supporters in the community. This issue highlights SOKY Book Fest, Special Collections exhibits on Gemini Jazz Bands, David Garvin, Leap Year and Tiny Treasures.

Traces Volume 44, Number 2, Kentucky Library Research Collections

Traces, the Southern Central Kentucky, Barren County Genealogical Newsletter

Traces, the South Central Kentucky Genealogical Society's quarterly newsletter, was first published in 1973. The Society changed its name in 2016 to the Barren County Historical Society. The publication features compiled genealogies, articles on local history, single-family studies and unpublished source materials related to this area.

Action Items, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Overview of action items handled by the Graduate Council.

Multiplexed Detection Of Double-Stranded Pathogenic Dna With Engineered Zinc Finger Proteins, Juhwa Kim

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The development of a new technology for the detection of doublestranded (ds) DNA enables multiple biomedical applications including identifying multiple pathogens simultaneously. We previously employed colorimetric SEquence-Enabled Reassembly with TEM-1 β-lacatamase (SEER-LAC) to detect specific bacterial DNA sequence. SEER-Lac consists of the two inactive β-lactamase fragments which of each attached to a zinc finger protein (ZFP) would reassemble into an active full-length enzyme upon ZFPs binding to its target DNA. Here, we engineered two pairs of ZFPs which of each recognizes shiga toxin in E. coli O157 and staphylococcal enterotoxin B in Staphylococus Aureus, respectively. Biotin was simply conjugated to …