Digital Commons Network^™

A Faculty Development Handbook For Quality Online Instruction, Joan Carol Frese

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The offering of online classes has been growing at an incredible rate. Many institutions coerce their instructors into teaching online classes even if they are not prepared. If teachers are unprepared when they teach, there is a negative effect on the students and can jeopardize the reputation of the institution. In order to teach over the Internet, instructors need to learn new competencies. Students in online classes are usually not traditional students. In addition, there can be miscommunication in online classes, because there are no visual cues. Instructors need to learn new communication strategies as well as teaching strategies for …

Using Neural Networks To Develop A New Model To Screen Applicants For Apartment Rentals, Michael T. Furick

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Credit scoring is a mathematical means of summarizing a consumer's credit and financial history into a three-digit number. This number provides an easy means of identifying and sorting consumer behavior into categories based on their financial history. To select applicants for loans and to set interest rates on loans, banks and financial institutions routinely use credit scoring. Auto insurance companies also use scoring to decide which consumers will be offered auto insurance and to set the price for auto insurance. Despite success in these two industries, scoring does not appear to be effective in the apartment rental industry in picking …

Developing A Nisga'a Learning Objects Repository For Use In The Schools, Kim A. Hansen

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

The use of information technologies to develop, manage, access, and to use learning resources and content from a variety of sources has changed the academic and learning environment. There was a need to focus on the identification of tools and the development of skills to manage these resources, particularly in the kindergarten to grade 12 classrooms. For the students and educators of School District 92 (Nisga' a), there was also a need to provide access to important Nisga'a cultural and heritage learning objects as many preserved videos, pictures, historic documents, cultural teaching materials, and various printed matter were not available …

Group Report: What Is The Role Of Heuristics In Litigation, Callia Piperides, Ronald J. Allen, Mandeep K. Dhami, Axel Flessner, Reid Hastie, Jonathan J. Koehler, Richard O. Lempert, Joachim Schulz, Gerhard Wagner

Book Chapters

This chapter examines the role of heuristics in the Anglo-American and Continental litigation systems by considering two broad areas: heuristics that appear in legal rules and procedures, as well as heuristics used by various legal actors (e.g., judges, juries, lawyers). It begins with theoretical accounts of heuristics in psychology and law. Next, it explores the role that heuristics play in the litigation process from the selection and construction of cases to the appellate process. Although procedural rules are in place to ensure that legal decision processes are deliberative, the complexities and uncertainties inherent in legal judgments promote the use of …

2006 Best Student Paper Awards

Virginia Journal of Science

The recipients of the 2006 Best Student Paper Awards are listed, Virginia Academy of Sciences.

Why Does Policy Fail? Understanding The Problems Of Policy Implementation In Pakistan - A Neuro-Cognitive Perspective, Sajid Ali

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Education policy in Pakistan, as in other developing countries, faces the challenge of poor implementation. The article explores the history of education policy in Pakistan and describes the conventional accounts of policy failures. It particularly highlights the issues of unclear goals, political commitment, governance, centralisation, resources and foreign aid. Generally, it is assumed that overcoming these conventional challenges will result in better policy outcomes. Although this is partially true, Spillane, Reiser and Reimer (2002) direct our attention to the cognitive factors that play a critical role in policy implementation. They argued that implementing agents try to make sense of policy …

Fundamental And Applied Experimental Investigations Of Corrosion Of Steel By Lbe Under Controlled Conditions: Kinetics, Chemistry Morphology, And Surface Preparation, John Farley, Allen L. Johnson, Dale L. Perry

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

Advanced nuclear processes such as the transmutation of nuclear waste, fast reactors, liquid-metal-cooled reactors, and spallation neutron sources require advanced materials systems to contain them. The required structural materials must be stable in the presence of nonmoderating coolants. A prime candidate for such a coolant is Lead Bismuth Eutectic (LBE). Materials in these systems must be able to tolerate high neutron fluxes, high temperatures, and chemical corrosion. Unfortunately, LBE corrodes stainless steel.

The corrosive behaviors of structural materials in LBE are not well understood. The Russians have over 80 reactor-years experience with LBE coolant in their Alpha-class submarine reactors. The …

Theoretical Modeling Of Protective Oxide Layer Growth In Non-Isothermal Lead Alloy Coolant Systems, Yitung Chen, Jinsuo Zhang, Huajun Chen, Jichun Li

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The goal of this research project is to provide a basic understanding of the protective oxide layer behaviors and to develop oxide layer growth models of steels in non-isothermal lead alloys (lead or lead-bismuth eutectic) coolant systems. Precise studies and simulations of all hydrodynamics with thermal conditions encountered in practical coolant loop systems by use of different flowing conditions in the laboratory are difficult and expensive, if not impossible. Therefore it is important and necessary to develop theoretical models to predict the protective oxide layer behaviors at the design stage of a practical lead-alloy coolant system, to properly interpret and …

Finicky Fish Finish... Last! Pre-Visit Lessons -- Support Materials (Grade 5), Discover Mojave: Forever Earth

Curriculum materials (FE)

In “Finicky Fish Finish…Last!” students explore what has happened to the Colorado River and the reasons why it is so difficult for the razorback sucker to thrive in a changed environment. Working as ichthyologists (fish biologists) at Lake Mead, students collect water quality data such as temperature, pH, and clarity -- to determine whether current habitat conditions are sufficient for survival of young razorback suckers. Students observe and identify non-native fish in Lake Mead as they learn how the razorback sucker interacts with these neighbors. Students assess whether Lake Mead is still a good habitat for razorback suckers. Using the …

Flow Resistance Dynamics In Step-Pool Stream Channels: 1. Large Woody Debris And Controls On Total Resistance, Andrew C. Wilcox, Ellen E. Wohl

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Flow resistance dynamics in step-pool channels were investigated through physical modeling using a laboratory flume. Variables contributing to flow resistance in step-pool channels were manipulated in order to measure the effects of various large woody debris (LWD) configurations, steps, grains, discharge, and slope on total flow resistance. This entailed nearly 400 flume runs, organized into a series of factorial experiments. Factorial analyses of variance indicated significant two-way and three-way interaction effects between steps, grains, and LWD, illustrating the complexity of flow resistance in these channels. Interactions between steps and LWD resulted in substantially greater flow resistance for steps with LWD …

Flow Resistance Dynamics In Step-Pool Channels: 2. Partitioning Between Grain, Spill, And Woody Debris Resistance, Andrew C. Wilcox, Jonathan M. Nelson, Ellen E. Wohl

Geosciences Faculty Publications

In step-pool stream channels, flow resistance is created primarily by bed sediments, spill over step-pool bed forms, and large woody debris (LWD). In order to measure resistance partitioning between grains, steps, and LWD in step-pool channels we completed laboratory flume runs in which total resistance was measured with and without grains and steps, with various LWD configurations, and at multiple slopes and discharges. Tests of additive approaches to resistance partitioning found that partitioning estimates are highly sensitive to the order in which components are calculated and that such approaches inflate the values of difficult-to-measure components that are calculated by subtraction …

Legal History Meets The Honors Program, Robert B. Bennett

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

In this article, the author discusses the "Law and Culture" course that he developed to teach in the Butler University Honors Program. The course looks at some landmark periods or events in legal history and explores how those events were the product of their culture, and how they affected their culture. Among the events or periods that the author has looked at in iterations of this course were the survival instinct on display in "Regina v. Dudley and Stephens," the Nuremberg trials, the Scopes Monkey Trial, the modern American litigation explosion, and the events surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court decision …

Unusual Magnetization Reversal In [Co/Pt]4 Multilayers With Perpendicular Anisotropy, Xuemei Cheng, V. I. Nikitenko, A. J. Shapiro, R. D. Shull, C. L. Chien

Physics Faculty Research and Scholarship

Unusual magnetization reversal of [Co(4 Å)/Pt(10 Å)]₄ multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy has been revealed macroscopically by magnetometry measurements and microscopically by magneto-optical Kerr effect microscopy and magnetic force microscopy (MFM) imaging. During the first-order reversal process, the magnetization first decreases, then reaches a plateau, and finally rises back to saturation, corresponding to expanding bubble domains, stationary domains, and fading contrast but unchanged boundary domains, respectively. MFM imaging reveals the existence of many submicron-scaled unreversed channels within the boundary of the “bubble” domains. The magnetization reversal behavior can be accounted for by the evolution of the unusual domain structures …

Magnetic Properties Of One-Dimensional Quasiperiodic Co/Pt Multilayers, L. Y. Zhu, Xuemei Cheng, C. L. Chien

Physics Faculty Research and Scholarship

We have fabricated Fibonacci [Co/Pt] multilayers with two constituent Co/Pt bilayers, as well as periodic multilayers of the same Co/Pt bilayers, all of which exhibit perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Magnetic properties of the quasiperiodic and periodic [Co/Pt] multilayers have been studied macroscopically by vibrating sample magnetometry and microscopically by magnetic force microscopy. The Fibonacci [CoPt] multilayers show enhanced squareness in magnetic hysteresis loops compared to the corresponding periodic [Co/Pt]_n multilayers, due to a smaller density of isolated nucleation sites in the saturation state.

Colored Overlays And Symbol Identification In Pre-School Children With Disabilities, Edith A Naas

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if pre-school children, with and without disabilities, could identify symbols more accurately while looking at the symbols through colored overlays; The LEA Playing Cards and the LEA Near Vision Test were used to assess the ability to point to a symbol. To screen for the preferred color overlay the Cerium Colour Overlays were used; Eighteen children, aged 3 to 5 years participated. Nine were children with disabilities, nine were children without disabilities; A screening determined if each child could match four common symbols by pointing. Three groups were formed. Each group included …

Air Exchange Rate In A Horse Trailer During Road Transport, Joseph L. Purswell, Richard S. Gates, Laurie M. Lawrence, Jamey D. Jacob, Timothy S. Stombaugh, Robert J. Coleman

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Horses traveling by road commonly experience heat stress conditions and poor air quality, which may be caused by insufficient ventilation; however, there are few estimates of air exchange in a horse trailer during transport. Air exchange rate was measured at ten locations within a four-horse trailer (internal volume 18.5 m³) using tracer gas decay measurement to assess the adequacy of ventilation. Three vehicle speeds (13, 48, and 97 km h^-1) and three window configurations (all windows and roof vents closed, all windows open, all windows open and roof vents open forward) were tested with and without …

Typography Behind The Arabetic Calligraphy Veil, Saad D. Abulhab

Publications and Research

In the change from scriptural writing systems to textual mechanical systems and most recently to digital, computer generated text, some languages and their typographic representations have suffered. One such language, along with its visible language representation, that has not made a smooth transition is Arabic. The author argues that misinterpreting language tradition prevents what he calls Arabetic typography from embracing an appropriate technological adaptation. Putting forth an evolutionary argument, he critiques the notion that calligraphic styles must prevail and that legibility and readability of Arabic characters is objective. He further states that the resulting typefaces when abandoning the so called …

A Solidification Phenomenon In Random Packings, L. Bowen, R. Lyons, C. Radin, P. Winkler

Dartmouth Scholarship

We prove that uniformly random packings of copies of a certain simply connected figure in the plane exhibit global connectedness at all sufficiently high densities, but not at low densities.

The Sonic Representation Of Mathematical Data, Charlie Cullen

Doctoral

Conveying data and information using non-speech audio is an ever growing field of research. Existing work has been performed investigating sonfication and its applications, and this research seeks to build upon these ideas while also suggesting new areas of potential. In this research, initial work focused on the sonification of DNA and RNA nucleotide base sequences for analysis. A case study was undertaken into the potential of rhythmic parsing of such data sequences, with test results indicating that a more effective method of representing data in a sonification was required. Sonification of complex data such as DNA and RNA was …

Efficient Strategies For Robust Constrained Model Predictive Control, Marcin Tomasz Cychowski

Theses

Practical difficulties associated with the implementation of stabilizing robust model predictive control (MPC) laws are well known. The algorithms typically rely on the solution of the so-called min-max optimization problem. All such algorithms display a large online computational burden and often suffer excessive conservativeness. In this thesis, two original algorithms will be developed that address the conservativeness and complexity issues in min-max MPC.

The first algorithm is a min-max MPC based on the concept of closed-loop prediction. The synthesis procedure is realized using linear matrix inequalities and thus the implementation of the closed-loop min-max MPC control law can be performed …

Samats : Semi-Automated Modelling And Texturing System, Joe Hegarty

Masters

The creation of detailed 3D (three-dimensional) building models has become an area of considerable research over the last couple of decades. The accurate modelling of buildings offers LBS (Location Based Services) applications in planning, cultural heritage, tourism and e-commerce among others. The approach taken by the majority of contemporary modelling systems that use terrestrial imagery taken from arbitrary locations requires the user to carry out manual correspondences across the image set. These correspondences are used for two purposes. Firstly, the correspondences are used to determine the exterior orientation parameters (position and orientation) of the cameras used to capture each image. …

Assessing The Ssrn-Based Law School Rankings, Theodore Eisenberg

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

One noteworthy feature of the SSRN-based rankings is the high correlation between them and other rankings. Black and Caron report correlation coefficients between their two Social Science Research Network (SSRN) school rankings (one based on downloads from SSRN and one based on the number of papers posted on SSRN) and six other published rankings. The correlations provide a useful and creative measure of consistency across studies. If ranking studies are highly correlated, then the least expensive and most efficient study to conduct can be used without incurring the expense and delay of the more labor-intensive ranking methods. SSRN has a …

An Empirical Analysis Of Ceo Employment Contracts: What Do Top Executives Bargain For?, Stewart J. Schwab, Randall S. Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

What Do We Value? Research On Technology Education Problems, Issues, And Standards In The United States, Philip A. Reed

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Technology education has seen significant changes since the early 1990's. The paradigm shift from industrial arts has been widely received. Communication tools have merged the global community and standards have helped unify content. While many of these changes have been positive, there are compelling calls for research to support technology education practice. How are we addressing this need? More importantly, is the research we are conducting adding value to technology education practice? This study presents a review and synthesis of published research, as well as graduate research, to address these questions. Specifically, research that has addressed recognized problems and issues …

A Holistic Self-Identity Model, Jacquelyne R. Joens

Graduate Research Papers

Parents, educators, business leaders, political leaders, and mental health professionals all appreciate the impact positive self-esteem has on a person's ability to strive and grow. Self-esteem is a complex, multifaceted component of human existence. It is possible to identify and observe the result of a healthy self-esteem or even the outcome of a damaged self-esteem, but the term self-esteem may be antiquated and no longer exemplary of a complete picture of self. This paper examines research and attempts to define a multi-dimensional model of self-esteem, a Holistic Self-Identity Model, which will help to bring into focus the concept of self-identity …

Investigating The Male-Driven Evolution Hypothesis Using Human AluRepeat Elements, Sridhar Ramachandran

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Thousands of copies of short interspersed repeats (SINEs) are scattered essentially ran-domly through the human genome. Although copies of each repeat subfamily are identical at the time of their insertion, they become subject to individual substitutions after insertion. As the relative time of insertion is known for many of these repeats, such "junk DNA" can be used to provide a sizeable number of time-series data points for studying substitution effects in a variety of genomic contexts. This dissertation specifically discusses the usefulness of the Alufamily of SINE repeats towards addressing open problems in genomics, population genetics, and biology in …

A Computational Framework For Analyzing Chemical Modification And Limited Proteolysis Experimental Data Used For High Confidence Protein Structure Prediction, Paul E. Anderson

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Prediction of protein tertiary structure based on amino acid sequence is one of the most challenging open questions in computational molecular biology. Experimental methods for protein structure determination remain relatively time consuming and expensive, and are not applicable to all proteins. While a diverse array of algorithms have been developed for prediction of protein structure from amino acid sequence information, the accuracy and reliability of these methods are not yet comparable to experimental structure determination techniques. Computational models of protein structure can, however, be improved by the incorporation of experimental information. Relatively rapid and inexpensive protein modification experiments can be …

Rapid Prototyping Of Microfluidic Packages, Michael Pepper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the area of MEMS there exists a tremendous need for communication between the micro-device and the macro world. A standard protocol or at least multiple standards would be of great use. Electrical connections have been standardized for many uses and configurations by the integrated circuit industry. Standardization in the IC industry has created a marketplace for digital devices unprecedented. In addition to the number of "off the shelf" products available, there exists the possibility for consumers to mix and match many devices from many different manufacturers. This research proposes some similar solutions as those for integrated circuits for fluid …

Mgt 4340 : Strategic Quality Management, Business

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Journey To The Center Of The Core: Computers And The Internet In The Core Curriculum, Jorge Pérez, Meg C. Murray

Faculty Articles

Computers, digitalization and the Internet have transformed modern society. Commerce, education, communication and socialization will never be the same. Surprisingly, many universities do not require a computing course in the core curriculum. Critical information technology (IT) competencies are often taken for granted, to the detriment of students who lack computing and Internet skills. This paper describes an initiative undertaken by a computer science and information systems department to assess and remediate IT skills needed by all university students, regardless of major. The project is evolving along several dimensions: identification of discipline-independent IT competencies, assessment of IT skills among current and …