Digital Commons Network^™

Learning With A Purpose: Academic Service-Learning Curriculum, Dale Rice, Kathy Hurst, Joanne Caniglia

Curriculum

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program is authorized under Title II of P. L. 103-382. It provides institutions of higher education the opportunity to partner with K-12 teachers and administrators to assist with professional development through sustained, high-quality professional development activities in mathematics, science, reading, and other areas of the core academic curriculum.

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development project shared here was undertaken by Eastern Michigan University and Romulus Community Schools to provide Romulus teachers professional development to integrate the teaching methodology of academic service-learning into their mathematics and science curriculum. The goal was to increase academic achievement …

Electronic Commerce Application Development: A Comparison Of User And It Professional Perspectives, Douglas Havelka, Deepak Khazanchi

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Based on the theory of reasoned action and previous research identifying differences in beliefs between IS specialists and IS users, this paper outlines a proposed study to investigate differences/similarities in beliefs of users and developers in the context of electronic commerce application development projects. The authors are currently in the process of collecting data to address research question posed in this proposal.

Vortex-Defect Interactions In High-Temperature Superconductors, Valentina Tobos

Dissertations

The topics covered in this thesis are related to two objectives: one refers to the search for methods of improving die critical current density of high-temperature superconductors, a subject which remains of continuing interest for its importance in technological applications. The other direction is aimed at clarifying the phase diagram of high-Tc materials.

The interaction between the structural defects and the vortex system plays a significant role in the capability of these materials to carry large electrical transport currents. Through proton irradiation induced defects we follow the evolution of the critical current density, and its enhancement with increasing point-like defects …

Empirical Spectral Analysis Of Random Number Generators, David Zeitler

Dissertations

Computer simulation procedures have become a staple of research and development in many fields, including statistics. The generation of pseudo random number sequences is the core of computer simulation procedures. Validity of research results often depend on the underlying validity of the generator being used.

In this work we develop the machinery for a class of tests of spatial uniformity based on a multi-dimensional Fourier transform of the empirical probability density function. The test can be adapted to specific requirements and has the added advantage that it has computational complexity that is relatively independent of the number of data points …

Learning To Construct Proofs In A First Course On Mathematical Proof, Peter R. Atwood

Dissertations

This study examined the conceptions o f proof that undergraduate students have upon entry to a transition course on mathematical proof how they develop skill in planning and reporting proofs, obstacles encountered, and effects of instruction on their performance in solidifying schema in proof-planning and proof-reporting.

The subjects were sophomores and juniors (n=16) in a transition course at a large midwestern university. The course was taught by one o f the co-authors o f the text, "Mathematical Proofs" (Chartrand, Polimeni, and Zhang, 1999, in press). Assessment of learning to construct proofs was through quizzes and a final exam developed by …

Utb/Tsc This Week 2001-08, University Of Texas At Brownsville And Texas Southmost College. Office Of News And Information

UTB/TSC Archives - This Week Newsletter

No abstract provided.

A Children's Realm: An Experiment Using Life-Sized Manipulatives To Expand Exploring And Learning Opportunities For Children, Robert E. Drake Iii

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

In this synthesis I describe a "Children's Realm" in which middle school children can safely explore and interact with a variety of physical phenomena typically reserved for the adult world, such as building and driving a car. A Children's Realm is an experiment. It is an attempt to not only design, but engineer a unique environment for middle school students to explore and learn. It is based on providing the complex tools I feel children need to do this kind of learning on their own. These complex tools I call Life-Sized Manipulatives or simply LSM. I highlight the importance of …

Development Of An Arc View™ Extension To Measure Local Fractal Dimension, Christopher Page Caird

Masters Theses

Texture is defined as the visible cue suggesting the smoothness or coarseness associated with image tone or color (Emerson, 1999). Fractal dimension (D) offers insight towards understanding texture in the spatial as well as spectral context of an image (Mandelbrot, 1982). Fractal dimension is best understood as a range of values between two and three that are used to quantitatively describe a surface. (D) values near 2.0 represent a uniform area containing similar pixel values. In contrast, (D) values near 3.0 represent a domain that is spectrally complex. This complexity stems from light and dark pixels in close proximity to …

A Qualitative Investigation Of The Polymerization Process In The Ihss Humic Substances Extraction Procedure Using Model Phenolic Compounds, Roger J. Germay

Masters Theses

Achard (1786) extracted peat with alkali and reported obtaining dark compounds now called humic substances. These are complex, high molecular weight, polyphenolic compounds naturally occurring in soil, in fresh-water and in marine environments. They are biodegradation products of plant materials.

The International Humic Substances Society (IHSS) adapted Achard's method to separate humic substances into three fractions: (1) humic acids (HA), soluble only at high pH; (2) fulvic acids (FA), water-soluble at any pH; and (3) humin, insoluble at any pH. The IHSS method involves contact of soil with 0.1N.NaOH solution, followed by acidification with HCl.

In this study, 0.01 N. …

Alkyl Nitrates In Dickson During The Sos 1999 Field Campaign, Mei Ma

Masters Theses

Measurements of alkyl nitrates were performed during the Southern Oxidants Study (SOS) 1999 Summer Field Campaign in Dickson, TN from June 10 to July 15, 1999. The developed GC-ECD method was tested and used successfully. Nine alkyl nitrates were measured and six alkyl nitrates were quantified. The measured alkyl nitrates expect methyl nitrate showed higher mixing ratios under northeasterly and southeasterly wind, which brought anthropogenic sources to the measurement site, and lower mixing ratios when wind came from northwest and southwest, which brought NOx and clean air, respectively. The contribution of the measured alkyl nitrates to the total oxidized nitrogen …

Release Of Mercury Vapor From Coal Combustion Ash, Loreal V. Heebink, David J. Hassett

EERC Publications, Papers, & Presentations

The long-term stability of mercury in coal combustion by-products (CCBs) was evaluated at ambient and near-ambient temperatures.

Using Software Engineering Metrics In Ap Modularization., Kwaku Owusu-Tieku

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Significant amount of work has been done in software engineering in terms of reuse. With the use of object-orientation and design patterns that support the development of reusable modules, it appears that the development and reuse of software modules in creating new systems is becoming more and more common. The software engineering world, however has taken reuse more seriously than database; more research and improvement in reuse has been made in software engineering than in database. This paper investigates how software engineering metrics can be applied in the development of reusable database modules. This research provides a model for predicting …

Socioeconomic, Demographic, Attitudinal And Involvement Factors Associated With Math Achievement In Elementary School., Jennifer N. White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which socioeconomic factors, demographic factors, parent and student attitudes, and parent involvement were associated with math achievement. Students in Grade 5 were selected as the population for this study. Random sampling procedures were used to select the sample. Students in the sample completed a modified version of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales. Normal Curve Equivalent Scores (NCEs) from the math scales on the TerraNova Standardized Achievement Test were obtained for all students from the individual school records. Parents of the students also participated by answering questions pertaining to …

On "Messianism In The Christian Kabbalah" By Elliot Wolfson, Kris Lindbeck

Journal of Scriptural Reasoning

No abstract provided.

Dynamic Torsional Modeling And Analysis Of A Fluid Mixer, Joel Berg

Theses

Mixers and agitators are used in a variety of processing industries. Each application has its own uniqueness requiring a high degree of customization in process design and mechanical design. Many of the processing and mechanical performance characteristics of mixers are derived from torque cell and tachometer measurements usually located between the motor and speed reducer. This thesis deals with the development of a dynamic modeling and analysis procedure to simulate the torsional response of mixers. This procedure will allow for the characterization of the torsional response at any point within the system, as well as relate the response as observed …

Heavy-Atom Quenching Of 9-Ethylcarbazole In Heterogeneous Matrices: Micelles And Latexes, Paul Conrow

Theses

The fluorescence quenching of 9-ethylcarbazole was studied in solution and heterogeneous dispersions. A heavy-atom quencher, 4-iodotoluene, was used to quench the fluorescence of 9-ethylcarbazole. Polymer analogs of 9-ethylcarbazole and 4-iodotoluene were incorporated into separate latex solutions, and quenching experiments were carried out with non-polymer and latex-bound analytes. Quenching in micellar solutions and latex dispersions was 20-1000 times more efficient than in homogeneous solutions. The diffusion of analytes into the dispersed phase of heterogeneous matrices created high local concentrations of the fluorescing species and quencher, while the global concentrations remained relatively low. The fluorescence quenching in latex solutions of poly[(methyl methacrylate)-co-vinylcarbazole] …

Preserving The Womb Of The Unknown Species With Hotspots Legislation, John Charles Kunich

UC Law Journal

The concept of "hotspots" is a cutting-edge biodiversity topic that has never received scholarly legal analysis until now. Recent credible scientific research indicates that most of the species on earth are concentrated within only a few ecosystems called hotspots. However, the current global extinction crisis, raging without any effective legal control, threatens these hotspots and the species they harbor. It is a matter of the highest importance to preserve the hotspots in the face of increasing threats from development, pollution, and other pressures.

This Article begins by tracing the history and science of extinction, including evidence as to the magnitude …

Groundwater Study Of The Beacon Townsite, F Lewis

Resource management technical reports

A hydrogeological investigation and a flood risk analysis were carried out for the town of Beacon with the aim of accelerating the implementation of effective salinity management options.

Design And Analysis Of A Hybrid Steel/Composite Pipe For High-Pressure Applications, William Jennings Briers Iii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Once limited almost exclusively to aerospace applications, the use of composite materials has become widespread among many high performance industries. Today's petroleum industry is requiring piping systems to sustain high pressures, impact, rugged handling, and harsh environmental conditions such as corrosion and temperature. Advances in the last decade of engineered materials have opened the way for more conversions from metal to composites.;The objective of this research is to develop a lightweight composite pipe that meets the performance requirements of an existing high-pressure steel pipe. This development is crucial to the petroleum industry where hydraulic-fracturing services are demanding lighter weight materials …

Dynamic Coloring Of Graphs, Bruce Montgomery

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this dissertation, we introduce and study the idea of a dynamic coloring of a graph, a coloring in which any multiple-degree vertex of the graph must be adjacent to at least two color classes.;As parts of the overall research, we study (for some interesting subjects of colorings) the corresponding subjects of dynamic colorings, we compare the chromatic number and dynamic chromatic number, and we study some problems unique to dynamic colorings. Also, we introduce and briefly study a generalization of dynamic coloring.;The interesting subjects of colorings we consider are the chromatic number of important graphs, upper bounds of the …

Changes In Stand Structure And Species Diversity Following Clearcutting In Central Appalachian Hardwoods, Mark Benjamin Brashears

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The clearcutting of second-growth Appalachian hardwood forests may cause a reduction in species diversity of the new cohort. This study measured changes in species composition, diversity, and stand structural characteristics following clearcutting of a second-growth hardwood forest. To evaluate the temporal changes in importance of central Appalachian hardwood tree species, thirteen clearcuts on good excellent sites in West Virginia were inventoried before harvesting and 2--26 years after harvesting. Shannon-Weaver's diversity index (H'), Pielou's evenness index (E), and species richness (S) were calculated before and after clearcutting. Species diversity and evenness has decreased, and species richness has remained stable following clearcutting. …

Green-Ampt Infiltration Model Parameter Determination Using Scs Curve Number (Cn) And Soil Texture Class, And Application To The Scs Runoff Model, Elena Viktorovna Brevnova

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS CN) method is a simple and widely popular technique of estimation of direct runoff volume for design and natural rainfall events in small watersheds. The SCS CN procedure is incorporated into such computer programs as TR-20 and TR-55. Although the method reliably predicts 24-hr runoff volume, the predicted distribution of runoff during a storm event is not realistic. This shortcoming of the SCS CN method is due to weakness in the infiltration concept of the method. Use of a physically realistic and distributed Green-Ampt infiltration model can significantly …

Hybrid Arq With Parallel And Serial Concatenated Convolutional Codes For Next Generation Wireless Communications, Naveen Chandran

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research focuses on evaluating the currently used FEC encoding-decoding schemes and improving the performance of error control systems by incorporating these schemes in a hybrid FEC-ARQ environment. Beginning with an overview of wireless communications and the various ARQ protocols, the thesis provides an in-depth explanation of convolutional encoding and Viterbi decoding, turbo (PCCC) and serial concatenated convolutional (SCCC) encoding with their respective MAP decoding strategies.;A type-II hybrid ARQ scheme with SCCCs is proposed for the first time and is a major contribution of this thesis. A vast improvement is seen in the BER performance of the successive individual FEC …

Numerical Modeling Of Cold Flow And Hot Gas Desulfurization In A Circulating Fluidized Bed, Neeraj N. Pugalia

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Section I. This work was carried out to understand the behavior of the solid and gas phases in a CFB riser. Only the riser is modeled as a straight pipe. A model with linear algebraic approximation to solids viscosity of the form, mus = 5.34epsilons, (epsilon s is the solids volume fraction) with an appropriate boundary condition at the wall obtained by approximate momentum balance solution at the wall to account for the solids recirculation is tested against experimental results. The work done was to predict the flow patterns in the CFB risers from available experimental data, including data from …

Mobile Agent-Based Attack-Resistant Architecture For Distributed Intrusion Detection System, Sentil Kumar Selliah

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The majority of the Distributed Intrusion Detection systems lack measures for providing security and integrity to their own components. The hierarchical organization and the static nature of the intrusion detection components in a largely distributed environment make them the likely targets of attacks. By disabling few operationally critical components along the hierarchy, an attacker can succeed in disabling the system's capability to correctly detect intrusions. One solution to this problem is to eliminate the system components' static nature by wrapping them as mobile agents. Through mobility we achieve an attack resistant architecture for the hierarchical distributed intrusion detection components. As …

Factors Contributing To College Freshmen Placed On Academic Probation, Lee Ann Vecellio

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The responses of college freshmen placed on academic probation to a survey examining the factors leading to their poor academic performance were studied to ascertain the perceived problem areas. One hundred and seventy-two college freshmen selected factors concerning motivation, time management, social, and financial components, which they believed contributed to their poor academic performance during their freshman year. For males, inadequate balance between time and other activities was perceived as the number one factor contributing to their demise. On the other hand, females selected lack of academic motivation as their number one factor. Interestingly, these factors were reversed when identifying …

Black-White Segregation, Discrimination, And Home Ownership, Kelly Derango

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The effect of discrimination on black-white racial segregation is studied using a confidential supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Audit studies reveal that the rate of discrimination in rental housing is substantially higher than in owner-occupied housing. Thus, a variable indicating home ownership is used to proxy for the discrimination rate faced by blacks. The fixed-effects estimates of segregation imply that home ownership is associated with a decline in black-white segregation. This effect decreases slightly at higher income levels but increases substantially with the education of the head of household. Evidence is presented that the effect of …

The Returns To Education And Basic Skills Training For Individuals With Poor Health Or Disability, Kevin Hollenbeck, Jean Kimmel

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper examines linkages between disability and health status and the returns to education and basic skills training. It bases analyses on two separate data sources: wave 3 from the 1993 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS). The data sets have been used to estimate standard wage equations with education and basic skills training among the independent variables. The NALS data set allows us to control for prose, quantitative, and document literacy. The wage equations rely on Heckit corrections for labor force participation, and we stratify by sex. …

Role Of Use Case Diagram In Requirement Analysis, Keng Siau, L. Lee

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Since its debut and acceptance as a de facto standard of the object-oriented paradigm, UML has receivedcontroversial reviews. The most controversial diagramming technique in UML is undoubtedly the Use Casediagrams. Some claim that Use Case diagrams do not play a valuable role in requirement analysis. Othersargue that Use Case diagrams captured neither the static nor the dynamic aspects of the systems. The objective of this study is to investigate the role and value of Use Case diagrams in requirement analysis. We will investigate the information content of Use Case diagram and its role in requirement analysis.

Research Issues In Human-Computer Interaction In The Web-Based Environment, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, Sid Davis

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The Internet and WWW are revolutionizing our daily lives and the way business is conducted. Since 1997, the Web has gradually evolved into a true economy and a new frontier for business. In this new Internet age, the design of a quality Web site is critical to the success of businesses. To attract and retain visitors, Web sites need to be human-centered, easy and quick to navigate, and speak the visitor’s language. User experience with the Web site is also important. The experience should be in line with the user’s goal and should feel natural to the user. Unfortunately, principles …