Digital Commons Network^™

An Exploration Of Student Performance, Utilization, And Attitude To The Use Of A Controlled Content Sequencing Web Based Learning Environment, Justin A. Brown

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Universities, traditionally places of teaching and research, have seen and are continuing to see radical changes occur in the area of teaching and the methods of teaching delivery. The World Wide Web, or ‘Web’ has begun to subsume the classroom as the preferred means by which students access their tertiary learning materials, and ultimately, how academic staff deliver those materials. The delivery of learning via the Web takes many forms and is generically, and usually inaccurately, referred to by such names as e-learning, online learning, web-based training and web based education, using such technologies as virtual learning environments, learning management …

Development Of A Generic Critical Appraisal Tool By Consensus: Presentation Of First Round Delphi Survey Results, Jeannie Burnett, Karen Grimmer, Saravana Kumar

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

The growing importance of evidence based practice is necessitating academics and clinicians to be able to make judgments about the quality of the body of research evidence pertaining to clinical questions. There are numerous critical appraisal tools to assist this process. These are mostly designed for specific research designs, and tend not to reflect the particular concerns of allied health professionals, such as accuracy of diagnosis, adequate description of intervention, and sensitivity and utility of outcome measures. This paper reports the findings of a study which sought expert opinion on the essential criteria for critical appraisal, and whether a generic …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Membrane Anchored Peptides, Eugenia Christine Tsamis

Honors Program Theses

ln KW ALP23 peptides containing Lysine and Trp, as the Trps were moved further in towards the center of the bilayer, Lys became the dominant anchoring residue (1). The goal of this project was to determine whether Arg exhibits snorkeling behavior similar to Lys, and is able to anchor the peptide in the membrane despite the repositioning of Trp in the RWALP peptides. Several candidate R W ALP23 peptides containing Tryptophan and Arginine with an alternating LeucineAlanine backbone were synthesized successfully. They were then studied by HPLC, CD, and MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry to investigate the anchoring roles of Arg and …

Using Space To Describe Space: American Sign Language And The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, Cindee Calton

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

My study sought to combine two topics that have recently generated much interest among anthropologists. One of these topics is American Sign Language, the other is linguistic relativity. Although both topics have been a part of the literature for some time, neither has been studied extensively until the recent past. Both present exciting new horizons for understanding culture, particularly language and culture.

The first of these two topics is the study of American Sign Language. The reason for its previous absence from the literature has to do with unfortunate prejudice which, for a long time, kept ASL from being recognized …

An Examination Of Tag-Questions And Ellipsis In English And Spanish, Tiffany Judy

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

In this paper, I will examine how tag-questions function in English and test if they function in the same way in Spanish. Then, I will compare the differences between the two languages and propose a structure and method for forming tag-questions in each language. Also, I will examine how ellipsis functions in each language and how it supports the analysis of the tag-questions. Finally, I will show that a few of the apparent differences between the two languages are incorrect and I will give my proposed solution.

Synthesis Of Nanomaterials: Magnesium Hydroxide Nanoparticles And Applications For The Catalyzed Decomposition Of Toxins, Travis Witte

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

Utilizing a modified sol-gel process, a series of Mg(OH)2 nanoparticles will be produced. Each series synthesized will utilize six different toluene/methanol solvent ratios to yield six samples of nanoparticles. each with a different surface area. The surface area is expected to increase as the toluene/methanol ratio is increased. After preparation is completed, the nanoparticles will be characterized by BET method nitrogen adsorption measurement, IR spectroscopy and thermal gravimetric analysis. The Mg(OH)2 will then be utilized in a simple photocatalysis experiment to determine its possible use as catalyst for the degradation of toxic substances.

Popular Portrayal Versus Historical Evidence Concerning Mary Of Magdala, Robin Ann Yoerger

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

ln addition to scholarly sources, I will explore representations of Mary Magdalene in popular culture, such as artwork, drama, and secular literature, to see how these portrayals compare and contrast with those in the texts. It is important to explore these sources because many people today receive their information primarily from secular portrayals, not scholarly studies. As is especially true when misinformation is present, such as in The Da Vinci Code, a reader with no prior factual background on the subject can easily be misguided in his or her understanding of the topic. A:fter considering all these factors, we may …

A Critical Analysis Of No Child Left Behind, Kelli Brooke Dostal

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of this thesis is multifaceted. First, I will provide an overview of the main provisions of the NCLB Act. For each provision, I will review a range of criticisms of the new legislation expressed by prominent scholars in the field of education. These criticisms include problems with: underfunding, accountability of testing requirements, expanded parental options, local control and flexibility, the validity of evidence-based practices, and the assessment of teacher quality. Finally, I will examine how these concerns have been addressed by the legislators and offer some thoughts on the on the appropriateness of NCLB.

The Economic Argument Against Estate Tax Repeal, Stephen Paul Skram

Honors Program Theses

The estate tax is scheduled for repeal in 2010 and will be reinstated the following year. Congress is trying to make the repeal permanent, but is running into opposition. The public is becoming aware that only the wealthiest Americans would reap the benefits of estate tax repeal to the detriment of everyone else. This paper finds that estate tax repeal may not have any economic benefits, does not impose high compliance and administrative costs, taxes wealth that would remain untaxed without the levy, does not endanger the ability of small business owners and farmers to survive, encourages charitable bequests, and …

Brothers' Foundings, Bradley M. Strouse

Honors Program Theses

In 1776, twelve of the thirteen colonies simultaneously but independently declared their independence from Britain. New York, whose delegate had yet to obtain permission to do so from the capital, declared independence shortly after learning the other twelve had done so. In the coming months and years the revolutionaries would fight a tough and bitter war together and . draft the infant nation's first formative document. In this period of great trial and turmoil, the colonies banded together like never before, fighting side by side for their dream of freedom and independence.

The Equip Model And The New Horizons Program, Yi-Lang Chao

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The New Horizon Program mainly offers services to juveniles to correct their deviant behaviors and cognitive distortions, including substance abuse assessment and counseling, anger management, medication support, individual and group counseling, mental health counseling, and social skill development training. The EQUIP model is the main element in the in-custody service of the New Horizons Program. We already know that the EQUIP program (1996 in Ohio State) was effective; however, after being implemented in Humboldt County, does the EQUIP model still can provide the New Horizons Program positive functions and assistance? CAFAS and YSR were adopted as indicators to measure intermediate …

Is It Too Late For Title Vi Enforcement? - Seeking Redemption Of The Unequal United States' Long Term Care System Through International Means, Ruqaiijah A. Yearby

All Faculty Scholarship

Permeating every facet of life including health care, racial segregation has been a part of the history of the United States since its creation. In fact, the history of African-Americans has been one of tragedy, laced with the hope of equality. This tragedy is a result of three hundred years of slavery, one hundred years of the limited freedom of segregation, three years of the promise of equality granted from the civil rights struggle, and thirty-seven years of resegregation through white flight and institutional racism. Hence, African-Americans have been fighting for the right to freedom, equality, and human dignity for …

Approaches To Brown V. Board Of Education: Some Notes On Teaching A Seminal Case, Joel K. Goldstein

All Faculty Scholarship

During the past year, dozens of American law schools commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education.¹ The attention was appropriate because Brown is one of the Supreme Court’s seminal decisions. By all appearances, the fiftieth anniversary of Brown attracted much more attention than did, say, the 200th anniversary of Marbury v. Madison² in 2003 or the centennial of Lochner v. New York³ this year. Brown’s unique significance resides in part in the fact that it changed America’s constitutional norm regarding race, our most embarrassing and vexing problem. In effectively overturning the doctrine of Plessy …

The Politics Of Infertility: Recognizing Coverage Exclusions As Discrimination, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

Infertility affects approximately ten percent of the reproductive-age population in the United States, and strikes people of every race, ethnicity and socio-economic level. It is recognized by the medical community as a disease, one with devastating physical, psychological, and financial effects.

In 1998, the Supreme Court held in Bragdon v. Abbott that reproduction is a major life activity within the meaning of the ADA. Many lawyers, activists and scholars thought that coverage for infertility treatment would follow soon after. In fact, in 2003 in the first major case applying Bragdon to health benefits, Saks v. Franklin Covey, the Second Circuit …

The Allure And Danger Of Practicing Law As Taxonomy, Marcia L. Mccormick

All Faculty Scholarship

In this article, I hope to contribute to the ongoing debate on how our society treats the problem of discrimination. Many scholars have criticized the types of antidiscrimination statutes we have enacted as well as the ways in which the courts have interpreted those laws. While I agree with many of these critiques, rather than tackle those very large issues at the outset, I focus on the test the courts currently use to evaluate the evidence to determine whether an inference can be made that discrimination has occurred. I argue that lawyers and courts have become so caught up in …

Post Reformation Ecclesiology And Missiology--From The Radicals To Wesley: Moving Out Of The Shadow Of Luther And Calvin, Woodrow W. Whidden

Faculty Publications

Whidden’s essay compares the key theological/ecclesiological factors of the Magisterial Reformation tradition with the Radical and Wesleyan ethos and their respective visions of discipleship, theology, ethics, and mission. He then argues that movements which are Arminian in their soteriology; functional, not institutional, in their ecclesiology; and emphasize discipleship (including strict discipline), sanctification, and Gospel ethics are more likely to have a missional bent.

Progressive Consumption Taxes, Mitchell L. Engler

Articles

Recent intellectual and political forces have moved the consumption tax to the forefront of tax policy debate. Since traditional flat-rate consumption taxes like the VAT raise serious distributional concerns, tax scholars have responded with innovative progressive consumption taxes. Two such taxes - the Hybrid Approach and the X-tax - were independently analyzed in a recent symposium on fundamental tax reform. These two proposals contain striking similarities. Both would tax individuals at progressive rates on their wages, with a separate tax on consumption less wages. Important differences exist, though, regarding the latter tax. The Hybrid Approach would impose such tax on …

Could Distributed Curriculum Improve The Itbs Scores Of Non-Proficient Students?, Lesli Lancey-Wensman

Graduate Research Papers

Will the use of a distributed math curriculum improve the outcomes of students who consistently score between the 20th and 30th percentile on ITBS tests? That question and others are addressed in this paper. The purpose of this study was to determine what strategies were being used for math instruction, if those strategies were working for all students, and whether a distributed curriculum would improve the math outcomes of students with disabilities who were not working at their current grade level.

Reading Motivation In The Elementary Classroom, Maria E. Youngblut

Graduate Research Papers

This literature review offers suggestions on how to increase reading motivation in the elementary classroom. This review will look at ways to influence students to read. Reading motivation can affect a students' ability to learn how to read. Also, it will examine different aspects and techniques, and discuss how these components affect reading motivation in the elementary classroom setting. Overall, examples of ways to increase reading motivation will be investigated.

Effective Thinking Strategies, Wendy Trainer

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to determine if teaching efficient thinking strategies would increase students learning of basic addition math facts as measured by timed tests, student interviews, interviews with teachers, and the districts basic facts data. Basic addition facts are facts that are a single digit plus a single digit. The efficient thinking strategies include "count on to add," use "doubles to add," and "make ten." The research suggests that basic facts need to be improved. Students should be reasoning, problem solving, communicating, and making connections in math to learn the basics. These strategies will .help students understand …

Surface Reconstruction From Medical Imaging For Use In A Computer-Aided Design (Cad) Environment, Gregory M. Sturgeon

Masters Theses

A method was developed to create Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) models for bones of the human body utilizing medical imaging data. The human hand was chosen as the subject of the research.

Computed Tomography (CT) imaging was chosen to provide a volumetric data set. This data set was visualized through an isosurfacing technique utilizing the marching cubes algorithm. The original CT data set contained slices that were not aligned with the natural orientation or long axis of the bones. Transformation matrices and linear interpolations were used to generate a data set of slices oriented along the natural axis of the bones.

Contours …

Lessons Learned With Arc, An Oai-Pmh Service Provider, Xiaoming Liu, Kurt Maly, Michael L. Nelson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Web-based digital libraries have historically been built in isolation utilizing different technologies, protocols, and metadata. These differences hindered the development of digital library services that enable users to discover information from multiple libraries through a single unified interface. The Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) is a major, international effort to address technical interoperability among distributed repositories. Arc debuted in 2000 as the first end-user OAI-PMH service provider. Since that time, Arc has grown to include nearly 7,000,000 metadata records. Arc has been deployed in a number of environments and has served as the basis for many other …

Dangerous Criminals Or Dangerous Courts: Foreign Felonies As Predicate Offenses Under Section 922(G)(1) Of The Gun Control Act Of 1968, Aron J. Estaver

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

There is currently a split among U.S. Circuit Courts regarding 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), a provision of the Gun Control Act of 1968 that makes it a crime for any individual "who has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year to possess or receive a firearm in interstate or foreign commerce or affecting interstate commerce." The U.S. Supreme Court will examine the split later this year when it hears the case of United States v. Small. The Author argues that the Supreme Court should determine that Section 922(g)(1) of the …

Improving The Appellate Process Worldwide Through Maximizing Judicial Resources, Honorable J. Clifford Wallace

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

As the number of cases filed each year has surged, U.S. federal appellate courts have evolved in order to fulfill their core functions of deciding appeals and setting guiding precedent. Many of the challenges created by overwhelming caseloads are also being tackled in foreign judicial systems. In this Article, Judge Wallace offers the approach of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit as a possible model of reform, although he also points out that each judiciary will need to tailor reform efforts to its particular circumstances. In Part II, Judge Wallace details several of the case management …

The "Privilege Of Speech" In A "Pleasantly Authoritarian Country", Hans C. Clausen

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Giving credence to Alexis de Tocqueville's argument that in democratic societies the love of equality is greater than the love of freedom is a recently emerging trend among Western nations to legally proscribe speech critical of homosexuality. Such laws, in various forms, now exist in a large and growing minority of countries in Europe and North America. The goal of these laws is much grander than preventing discrimination against homosexuals; rather, the objective is seemingly to promote the social acceptance of gay and lesbian lifestyles. These laws provide for civil remedies and in some instances even criminal sanctions for speech …

Law And War: Individual Rights, Executive Authority, And Judicial Power In England During World War I, Rachel Vorspan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this-Article Professor Vorspan examines the role of the English courts during World War I, particularly the judicial response to executive infringements on individual liberty. Focusing on detention, deportation, conscription, and confiscation of property, the Author revises the conventional depiction of the English judiciary during World War I as passive and peripheral. She argues that in four ways the judges were activist and energetic, both in advancing the government's war effort and in promoting their own policies and powers. First, they were judicial warriors, developing innovative legal strategies to legitimize detention and other governmental restrictions on personal freedom. Second, they …

Constitutional Conversations And New Religious Movements: A Comparative Case Study, Leigh H. Greenhaw, Michael H. Koby

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Using the metaphor of a constitutional conversation to compare the treatment of a relatively new and unpopular religion by the legal systems of the United States, Russia, and Spain, this Article examines the methodology by which laws affecting religion are made and enforced. It uses as a case study the interaction of the Jehovah's Witnesses with the legal system of the United States, comparing it with more recent interactions in Russia and Spain. The Authors argue that while the experience in the United States was profoundly influenced by a common-law methodology, the experience in two civil-law countries, Russia and Spain, …

Enlisting The U.S. Courts In A New Front, Debra M. Strauss

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The time has come to extend the national approach that has been used successfully to dismantle the infrastructure of hate groups to the international realm against terrorist groups. The foundation of this approach is a private right to a cause of action apart from any military or diplomatic efforts by the government. In this Article, Professor Strauss analyzes case precedents under several federal statutes--the Antiterrorism Act of 1991, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the Torture Victim Protection Act, the Alien Tort Claim Act--as well as state common-law tort claims, including aiding and abetting liability. Professor Strauss …

The Importation Of Sexism: A Cost-Benefit Approach To The U.S.-South Korea Friendship, Commerce And Navigation Treaty, Jennifer D. Fease

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The U.S.-South Korea Friendship, Commerce and Navigation Treaty was entered into by the signatory countries following World War II and governs the actions of corporations operating in a foreign country. One provision of the Treaty allows foreign corporations in the United States to choose executives "of their choice," arguably without regard to the statutory protections that the United States affords in the hiring process. In this Note, the Author contends that the U.S.-South Korea Friendship, Commerce and Navigation Treaty results in discrimination against women in the United States because South Korean employers tend to choose South Korean men to fill …

The Roles Of Precaution And Political Accountability In The Regulation Of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers, Danielle Brim

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The differing approaches used in the United States and the European Union to regulate toxic chemicals have been highlighted by debates about a group of chemicals called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs. PBDEs act as flame-retardants and are added to consumer products to increase their safety. Questions about the continued use of PBDEs have been raised, however, because of concerns that PBDEs may be dangerous to human health and the environment. The European Union has decided to ban two types of PBDEs, while the United States has not issued similar restrictions. In this Note, the Author argues that neither decision …