Digital Commons Network^™

Seven Principles Of Effective Teaching: A Practical Lens For Evaluating Online Courses, Charles R. Graham, Kursat Cagiltay, Byung-Ro Lim, Joni Craner, Thomas M. Duffy

Faculty Publications

The "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education," originally published in the AAHE Bulletin (Chickering & Gamson, 1987), are a popular framework for evaluating teaching in traditional, face-to-face courses. The principles are based on 50 years of higher education research (Chickering & Reisser, 1993). A faculty inventory (Johnson Foundation, "Faculty," 1989) and an institutional inventory (Johnson Foundation, "Institutional," 1989) based on these principles have helped faculty members and higher-education institutions examine and improve their teaching practices.

We, a team of five evaluators from Indiana University's Center for Research on Learning and Technology (CRLT), recently used these principles to evaluate …

Annual Report 1 September 2000 - 31 August, 2001, Dublin Institute Of Technology

DIT Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Unaccompanied Minors: An Information Booklet, Dervla King

Other resources

Information booklet commissioned by the National Children's Resource Centre, Barnados, 2001.

“God Told Me To Kill”: Religion Or Delusion?, Grant M. Morris, Ansar Haroun

San Diego Law Review

This Article explores how, in assessing the motivation of those who kill because they believe they were directed by God to do so, society distinguishes religious-based decisions from delusional decisions that result from mental disorder. Part II discusses how religion is defined in our society, and Part III considers the extent to which religious conduct, as opposed to religious belief, is protected from governmental intrusion.

Sex Changes And “Opposite-Sex” Marriage: Applying The Full Faith And Credit Clause To Compel Interstate Recognition Of Transgendered Persons’ Amended Legal Sex For Marital Purposes

San Diego Law Review

This Comment argues that, in most cases, states are constitutionally bound to give full faith and credit to laws and judgments rendered in

sister states, including those that result in changes of the sex designated on birth certificates. The sex designated on the birth certificate controls gender identity for all legal purposes of the individual named therein. Therefore, unless a forum state demonstrates that allowing transsexuals and intersexuals to marry in their legal gender is contrary to an important state interest, that state must recognize “opposite-sex” marriages involving transsexuals and intersexuals.

Varieties Of Religion-Family Linkages, John R. Snarey, David C. Dollahite

Faculty Publications

The 4 articles in this special issue make important contributions to both family and religious studies as well as to their interface. This commentary begins by considering 4 unifying themes present across all of the articles, including meaningful religion-family linkages, the importance of gender differences in the faith-family interface, the significance of intergenerational relationships, and the need for better theory. The authors then discuss the unique major strength and secondary limitations of each study. Finally, the commentary focuses on two challenges inhibiting the contemporary study of religion and the family–a relative lack of racial and religious diversity in samples and …

Listening For A Change: The Courts And Oral Tradition, John Borrows

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Aboriginal oral history is a valuable source of information about a people's past. It can constitute important evidence as proof of prior events, and/or it can shed light on meanings groups give to their past. Despite its value, however, oral tradition presents particular challenges of admissibility and interpretation because of its unique source and transmission. This article outlines and discuses these challenges and suggests various approaches to better understand the insights contained within aboriginal history.

Secret Code: The Need For Enhanced Privacy Protections In The United States And Canada To Prevent Employment Discrimination Based On Genetic And Health Information, Patrik S. Florencio, Erik D. Ramanathan

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The collection of genetic and health information by employers for reasons that are unrelated to the health and safety of workers is an undue infringement of the right to privacy, and consequently should be firmly prohibited by statute. Comprehensive genetic and health information privacy requires the protection of at least three critical elements of the right to privacy--namely choice, secrecy, and confidentiality. While choice and secrecy protect the individual's right to privacy at the collection stage, confidentiality safeguards this right at the point of disclosure. Laws that focus on the inappropriate use of genetic and health information without addressing the …

New Modes Of Assessment, Greg Sergienko

San Diego Law Review

are extremely burdensome to grade. The purpose of this Article is to call attention to a variety of alternatives to this traditional format that are more accurate and less burdensome than traditional essay exams.2 Increasing accuracy makes it

possible to determine whether the instruction has been effective, allowing the instructor to address areas of weakness before the course ends and to improve future classes. Decreasing the burden of assessment of student learning allows for faster feedback, which is more effective.' Faster assessment also makes possible frequent assessment, and frequent assessment provides students with the information they need to improve, promoting …

The Wrong Line Between Freedom And Restraint: The Unreality, Obscurity, And Hcivility Of The Fourth Amendment Consensual Encounter Doctrine, Daniel J. Steinbock

San Diego Law Review

restraint is clearly one of the most important, and one the law should be most anxious to get right. On the one side lies freedom to move around physically-the essence of what most people mean by "liberty." While not explicitly defined in the Constitution, this liberty is protected by several of its provisions: the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments,' the right to habeas corpus, the Thirteenth Amendment's ban on slavery, and the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable seizures. Together they ensure against interference with personal freedom of movement in the form of bondage, incarceration, civil confinement, …

Smart Growth And Other Infirmities Of Land Use Controls, Bernard H. Siegan

San Diego Law Review

The great lesson of our time is that the forces of production, conservation, and creativity exist principally in the marketplace and not in government. To be sure, private entrepreneurs act largely in their own self-interest, but probably no more so than government officials, and their endeavors in the economic area are much more beneficial to the public.

Graduate Recital In Voice, Korey Barrett

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Korey Barrett, bass-baritone, presented his graduate voice recital on Thursday, April 19, 2001 at 6:00 p.m. in Davis Hall of the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center on the University of Northern Iowa campus. The recital was given in collaboration with pianist Nino Sanikidze and included works by Schubert, Liszt, Debussy and Rorem. This abstract discusses musical and historical features of the recital pieces.

School Playground Supervision Practices In The State Of Iowa, Heather Marie Bauer

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate what types of playground supervision practices were being performed in Iowa public elementary schools. More specifically this study included the following research questions:

1. What is the typical public elementary school in Iowa? 2. Do schools in Iowa have playground supervision plans?
3. Who supervises the children?
4. Do schools require the supervisors to have playground safety training?
5. Do schools perform a regular maintenance check on their playground?

A questionnaire was designed to answer the research questions posed in this study. The questionnaire was reviewed by a panel of experts for …

Effect Of Strength Training And Other Activities On Physical Self-Concept Of Females, Denise Cooksley Glew

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The past few years have seen an increased interest in the psychological benefits of exercise. The personality factor of self-concept typically remains relatively stable throughout adulthood unless a person's life experiences cause it to change. Physical self-concept, a dimension of self-concept, deals with how an individual views themselves and has been found to be affected by exercise. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of strength training on the physical self-concept of female college students. The study used a pretest, post-test, quasi-experimental design. The Physical Self-Concept Subscale of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale was used to measure physical …

A Four Week Intervention Program At Albert Lea Medical Center: An Investigative Study Of Employee Lifestyle Practices, Theresa Thorland

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of a four-week intervention program on the development of healthy lifestyle practices among employees at Albert Lea Medical Center. Specifically, the study was designed to investigate changes in subjects' predicted health risk age after participation in a four-week worksite health promotion program at ALMC. The intervention program consisted of the following wellness components: physical, emotional, occupational, intellectual, spiritual, and social. The study was designed to answer the question of how the "July Challenge" would effect the risk age of each participant.

Health risk appraisals were sent to randomly selected individuals …

Leisure Participation And Life Satisfaction Among Middle-Aged And Elderly Urban Chinese People, Jin Ye

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Society has entered a new millennium where quality of life is receiving more attention than ever before. In China, with the rapidly developing economy, the need for improving the quality of life has also increased. Research has shown that leisure can contribute to quality of life issues. It is very important to understand the characteristics of leisure participation and life satisfaction among middle-aged and elderly Chinese people. This can help leisure professionals to develop suitable leisure programs and improve the life satisfaction of Chinese.

One hundred fifty subjects (69 males and 81 females) living in China participated in this study. …

Demographics, Treatment Approaches, Experience And Knowledge Of The Certified Substance Abuse Counselors In Iowa, Michelle R. Vogt

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study was designed to describe selected characteristics of certified substance abuse counselors in the state of lowa. Specifically, the following characteristics were considered: education, age, gender, length of time in profession, salary range, and if the counselor considers himself/herself recovering or not. Also, substance abuse treatment approaches, knowledge, and experiences of the substance abuse counselors were compiled. A questionnaire was designed and sent to 224 substance abuse counselors in Iowa. Sixty useable questionnaires were returned yielding a 26. 78% return rate. The results of this study indicated a majority (95.0%) of the respondents were over the age of 30 …

The Role Of Goal And Identity In A Youth Development Framework, Megan L. Coleman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In the early 1990's there were over 17,000 youth development programs in the United States (Quinn, 1999). The overwhelming number of these organizations causes problems in defining, describing, and interpreting these types of organizations. The current definition describes these programs as opportunities and support to help youth gain the competencies and knowledge they need to meet the increasing challenges they will face as they mature. This definition is accurate, however, it does not fully describe how youth learn and grow nor does it describe how youth can gain this competency and knowledge. The limitations of Kohlberg and Mayer (1972) and …

Graduate Recital In Voice, Rebecca Grady

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Rebecca Grady, soprano, presented her graduate voice recital on Thursday, April 12, 2001, at 6:00 in the evening in Davis Hall of the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, on the University of Northern  Iowa campus, in partial fulfillment of the Master of Music degree. Her program included works by Handel, Dvorak, Liszt, and John la Montaine. The recital was presented in collaboration with pianist Korey Barrett. This abstract includes a discussion of the backgrounds and musical highlights of the recital pieces.

Adolescents’ Perceived Notions About Divorce Across Cultures, Dana Lynn Holtz

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Adolescents' perspectives of their parents' divorce were studied to gain an understanding of the impact of parental divorce on adolescents. Subjects from three ethnicities, European-American, Latino-American, and African-American, were recruited by school counselors. Subjects were placed in homogenous groups by ethnicity and two one-and-a-half hour semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted. Interviews were audio taped and transcribed. Transcripts were evaluated by three independent readers, resulting in the identification of eight themes relating to the impact of parental divorce on subjects. Identified themes were (a) general feelings/thoughts about the idea of divorce, (b) impact of divorce on beliefs/ideas about current or …

Coping Responses Among Aged Home Health Care Clients : A Qualitative Study, Bobbie Kay Grother

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

As people age, they are faced with roles and activities that challenge their intellectual or physical capabilities. People, however, are pragmatic by nature; they seek to use what "works" when faced with predicaments that test their mettle. The purpose of this research has been to understand how aged home health care clients try to maintain valued selves in the face of their declining functional abilities. Data were drawn from qualitative methodological techniques (e.g., participant observation, observational data, and unstructured interviews). In order to provide some structure to this data, a theoretical orientation grounded in symbolic interaction was used in lieu …

Mary Mccarthy Writes Her Truth: Memories Of A Catholic Girlhood And The Expansion Of The Autobiographical Tradition, Roxanne H. Hughes

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Modernist and postmodernist writer Mary McCarthy was a unique feminist writer. Throughout her writing career, which spanned nearly fifty years, McCarthy authored three autobiographical volumes, nine volumes of fiction, two books about art, and numerous essays and reviews. Regardless of the critical response to her writing, McCarthy wrote her truth her way. McCarthy did not capitulate to traditional patriarchal notions of autobiographical content and form; rather, she challenged patriarchal autobiographical traditions in her texts. This thesis examines McCarthy's first autobiographical volume, the 1957 Memories of a Catholic Girlhood, which describes McCarthy's orphanhood in post-World War I America. The introductory chapter …

Japanese Women With A U.S. Education: Lives In Japan After A U.S. Sojourn, Yukiko Ebara

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study is to examine Japanese women's experiences, to interpret the data within a feminist and sociological framework, and, finally, to develop a theoretical understanding of Japanese women who have studied in the United States, and returned to Japan. Unlike groups in the majority of earlier studies, these women are neither children of Japanese corporate employees nor their wives. They came to the United States for the sole purpose of pursuing English study or higher education. The research was conducted through qualitative research methods: a survey with open-ended questions via e-mail and telephone interviews. The data were …

The Influence Of Family Dynamics On Women’S Pay Expectations, Kelly Kristine Fredericks

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Several reasons for why the gender wage gap exists have been proposed. These include differences in education between men and women, differences in career paths, and bias against women in the workplace. Another potential explanation is that women simply expect to earn less than men do and they enter a job with lower pay expectations than men. This lower pay expectation may result in lower actual pay for women because they will be less likely to engage in pay seeking behaviors, such as asking for higher pay at hire and aggressively seeking raises than men. The present study was done …

Developing, Marketing And Evaluating Web-Based Library And Information Skills Tutorials At Old Dominion University, Cynthia Wright Swaine

Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

Confronted with an expanding distance learning program, a growing set of student expectations, and recent changes in general education requirements, the Library Instruction Team at Old Dominion University is addressing the related needs for new approaches to library instruction by creating a series of web-based tutorials.Confronted with an expanding distance learning program, a growing set of student expectations, and recent changes in general education requirements, the Library Instruction Team at Old Dominion University is addressing the related needs for new approaches to library instruction by creating a series of web-based tutorials.

Typographic Legibility For Retinitis Pigmentosa Readers, Carla Benedetti

Masters

Although numerous papers have been written on the subject of legibility, there appears to be a lack of research into the relationship between printed matter and visual impairment in this context. The research aim of this thesis is to conduct a comprehensive study on the reading performance of those suffering from a particular impairment, namely Retinitis Pigmentosa and to identify typographic considerations that would improve this performance. The work confirms the importance of specially designed material and the need for specific guidelines to ensure optimum legibility for particular eye deficiencies.

An Investigation Of Cooperative Consciousness-Raising As An Innovative Teaching Practice, And Of Reactions To Its Introduction Into A High School, Sahoby Solo Raharinirina

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The language pedagogy literature stresses the importance of the quality of second/foreign language teaching/learning in learners' acquisition, development of communicative competence, or both. The change literature equally emphasizes the importance of the quality of innovation in change audience’s resolution to reconceptualize current practices and espouse the new practice being advocated. Both literatures underline the need to use multiple research strategies in order to depict the product and process of learning and/or shifting experiences. To contribute to the educational literature in these areas, the present research incorporated two different but interrelated studies.

Study One utilized both between- and within-method approaches (Denzin, …

The Effects Of Individual Factors On Punitive Attitudes Toward Juvenile Offenders, Jennifer Keely Mac Connell

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between individual factors and punitive attitudes toward juvenile offenders. The individual factors examined were attributional style, authoritarianism, anxiety, self-esteem, the Five-Factor model of personality, and gender. It was hypothesized that possessing a punitive attributional style, maintaining authoritarian beliefs, and being male would predict punitive attitudes toward adolescent offenders. I also examined the effects of age of the offender and severity of the crime on attributions and punishment decisions. College students (N = 185) at a Midwestern university completed questionnaire packets in partial fulfillment of their introductory psychology course requirements. …

A Study Of Important Content For Undergraduate Graphic Communications Programs, Tsung-Yu Hao

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study was an investigation of important content for undergraduate graphic communications programs in four-year colleges and universities. The findings of this study can help educational professionals as they design curriculum, equip laboratories, and recruit faculty.

Subject categories and content items were initially identified by a review of literature. These content items were then further refined and rated on level of importance by a panel of experts. Modified subject categories and content items were then sent to the panel a second time for rating. Through this process, 15 subject categories and 68 content items were identified.

A questionnaire was developed …

Use And Effectiveness Of Decision Support Systems (Dss): Study Of The Saudi Private Sector, Ibrahim A. Alhunaishel

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In the industrialized world today, management is characterized by extensive use of computers to manage rapid change, information overload, and complex decision-making. Literature suggests that Decision Support Systems, computer packages offering information retrieval, problem-structuring models, decision alternatives, and other types of decision support, are effective extensions of human decision-making and offer substantial benefits to organizations utilizing them.

In spite of overwhelmingly positive reviews for DSS, empirical literature has produced inconsistent results regarding DSS effectiveness, and definitions of “effectiveness” and of DSS itself are varied and sometimes contradictory. Distinguishing DSS from MIS (management information systems) and other types of managerial computer …