Digital Commons Network^™

Janesville Csd K-12 School Library: A Facility Design And Development Study, Christine Jacobs

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to research the planning procedures undertaken during the design and development of the Janesville Consolidated School District's K-12 School library facility. This research focused on the importance of building a new K-12 school library, in a small rural school setting, while emphasis on the planning procedures and the analysis of its layout/design, and overall effectiveness.

The methodology the researcher used for this study was a narrative design, in order to collect data that occurred over twelve months. The researcher interviewed fourteen key stakeholders that had adequate experience and/or a leadership role regarding the facility …

Classification Of Chemical Reactions: Stages Of Expertise, Marilyne Stains, Vicente Talanquer

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

In this study we explore the strategies that undergraduate and graduate chemistry students use when engaged in classification tasks involving symbolic and microscopic (particulate) representations of different chemical reactions. We were specifically interested in characterizing the basic features to which students pay attention when classifying chemical reactions at the symbolic and microscopic levels. We identified the categories that students create when classifying chemical reactions, and compared the performance in simple classification tasks of students with different levels of preparation in the discipline. Our results suggest that advanced levels of expertise in chemical classification do not necessarily evolve in a linear …

Visual Perceptions: A Study Of How Children Can Learn Through Pictures, Melody L. Gustas

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to team teach a third grade unit on Bettendorf city history using the minimal resources that are available to teachers. The focus was to increase assessment scores of students who were exposed to current up-to-date photographs of their city. The hypothesis for this research was: If third grade students are taught using current up-to-date photographs of their city then they will be more likely to remember places and landmarks that they study.

The students were divided into two groups. Both groups received the same lessons on Bettendorf history in their classroom. One group then …

A Comparison Of The Portrayal Of Evil In Fairy Tales And Contemporary Fantasy Fiction, Donna Gwinnup

Graduate Research Papers

Writing and publishing literature for children and young adults has become a rhizomorphic entity. There are thousands of books published each year. When you compare that to the little over two hundred stories Perrault and the Grimm brothers recorded you can see how the market has substantially grown. With the use of literature as a teaching tool it is imperative we keep a close watch on trends. This study was designed to look at the changes from fairy tales to contemporary fiction in order to ascertain what changes have taken place in three particular areas: has the gender of the …

Competition Between The Conditioned Rewarding Effects Of Cocaine And Novelty, Carmela M. Reichel, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Access to novelty might provide an alternative learning history that competes with conditioned drug reward. We tested this suggestion in rats using a place conditioning procedure with cocaine and novelty. In Experiment 1, rats were conditioned with cocaine to prefer one side of an apparatus. In a subsequent phase, cocaine exposure continued; however, on the unpaired side, separate group of rats had access to novel objects, cocaine injections, or saline with no objects. Pairings with novel objects or cocaine shifted a preference away from the cocaine-paired environment during drug-free and drug-challenge tests. Experiment 2 tested novelty’s impact when cocaine exposure …

Basic And Applied Issues In Eyewitness Research: A Münsterberg Centennial Retrospective, Brian H. Bornstein, Christian Meissner

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Whether memory research should emphasize fundamental psychological theory in well-controlled laboratory settings (i.e. “basic” research) or practical questions in naturalistic settings (i.e. “applied” research) is a recurrent question in the field. The debate became especially prominent with the advent of the “everyday memory movement” in the 1980s (e.g. Banaji & Crowder, 1989; Neisser, 1978, 1991), but it dates back to the origins of experimental psychology itself (i.e. the basic approach espoused by Wundt and Titchener vs. the more applied perspective taken by Külpe, Ebbinghaus, Binet, James and others). The debate is particularly relevant to the subarea of eyewitness memory, which …

Signs For The Future Of Civil Justice Research, Brian H. Bornstein

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The chapters in the present volume [Civil Juries and Civil Justice (New York: Springer, 2008)] provide a number of signs for the future of civil justice research. Many of the signs are favorable and point to continued fruitful collaborations between legal and psychological researchers on pressing topics in the justice arena with important policy implications; yet the contributions also highlight several gaps in the literature, data limitations, and false steps. In other words, some of the signs are not-so-favorable, and there is still much work to be done. In this concluding commentary, I identify the major portents for the …

Measurements Of The Gvd Of Water And Methanol And Laser Pulse Characterization Using Direct Imaging Methods, Timothy Scarborough, Chad Petersen, Cornelis J. Uiterwaal

C.J.G.J. Uiterwaal Publications

We report experimental values of the group velocity dispersion (GVD) of water and methanol at 800 nm. We find GVD^water ₈₀₀ = (25.71± 0.5) fs² mm⁻¹ and GVD^methanol ₈₀₀ = (33.56±0.5) fs² mm^-1. These were measured by sending 50 fs, 800 nm pulses with various amounts of chirp through a glass cell filled with a solution of fluorescein in these solvents and recording the production of visible light from the side using a commercial digital camera. This simple setup also gives quantitative information on the duration of our pulses and lets us check …

Examining The Cognitive Processes Used By Adolescent Girls And Women Scientists In Identifying Science Role Models: A Feminist Approach, Gayle A. Buck, Vicki L. Plano Clark, Diandra Leslie-Pelecky, Yun Lu, Patricia R. Cerda-Lizarraga

Diandra Leslie-Pelecky Publications

Women remain underrepresented in science professions. Studies have shown that students are more likely to select careers when they can identify a role model in that career path. Further research has shown that the success of this strategy is enhanced by the use of gender-matched role models. While prior work provides insights into the value of using role models, it does not explain the cognitive process involved in girls identifying role models from nontraditional careers for women. This feminist study addresses this gap by examining the cognitive process eighth-grade girls use in identifying a person as a science role model …

Managing California's Fiscal Roller Coaster, David Gamage

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article analyzes the causes of California's budget crises and prescribes institutional mechanisms for improving California's budgetary management.

Experimental Evidence Of Strain Relaxed Domain Structure In (100)/(001)-Oriented Epitaxial Lead Titanate Thick Films Grown By Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition, Hiroshi Nakaki, Yong Kwan Kim, Shintaro Yokoyama, Rikyu Ikariyama, Hiroshi Funakubo, S. K. Streiffer, Ken Nishida, Keisuke Saito, Alexei Gruverman

Alexei Gruverman Publications

Epitaxial (100)/(001)-oriented PbTiO₃ films with thickness of 2.8 μm were grown on Nb-doped (100) SrTiO₃ substrates by pulsed metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Complex domain structures consisting of c-domains (c1) and three types of a-domains (a1, a2, and a3) were observed by piezoresponse force microscopy in conjunction with high-resolution x-ray diffraction analysis. The obtained results suggest that (a2/a3) and (a1/c1) domain configurations represent mostly strain-relaxed structures. This conclusion is in good agreement with theoretical predictions made for thick films [Phys. State., Solidi 37, 329 (1976)].

Aharonov–Bohm Phase Shifts Induced By Laser Pulses, Brett E. Barwick, Herman Batelaan

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

An experimentally accessible scalar Aharonov–Bohm (AB)-effect is proposed using a ponderomotive potential induced by a pulsed laser. This ponderomotive AB (PAB)-effect is unique in that the time-averaged description is classified as type-I, whereas the underlying time-dependent theory is classified as type-II. Not only is the PAB-effect of fundamental interest, it may also be used to characterize ultrashort electron pulses (fs), using low power femtosecond lasers, which is important for ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy.

Diets Of Lesser Scaup During Spring Migration Throughout The Upper-Midwest Are Consistent With The Spring Condition Hypothesis, Michael J. Anteau, Alan Afton

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The spring condition hypothesis (SCH) states that the current decline of the North American scaup population (Lesser [Aythya affinis] and Greater Scaup [A. marila] combined) is due to a decline in quality or availability of scaup foods on wintering, spring migration, or breeding areas that has caused a reduction in female body condition and subsequent reproductive success. Our previous research indicated that forage quality in diets of Lesser Scaup (hereafter scaup) at two sites in Northwestern Minnesota was lower in springs 2000-2001 than that reported for springs 1986-1988, consistent with the SCH. Accordingly, we further tested …

A Two-Part Measure Of Degree Of Invasion For Cross-Community Comparisons, Qinfeng Guo, Amy Symstad

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Invasibility is a critical feature of ecological communities, especially for management decisions. To date, invasibility has been measured in numerous ways. Although most researchers have used the richness (or number) of exotic species as a direct or indirect measure of community invasibility, others have used alternative measures such as the survival, density, or biomass of either a single or all exotic species. These different measures, even when obtained from the same communities, have produced inconsistent results and have made comparisons among communities difficult. Here, we propose a measure of the degree of invasion (DI) of a community as a surrogate …

Comparing Local Vs. Global Visible And Near-Infrared (Visnir) Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (Drs) Calibrations For The Prediction Of Soil Clay, Organic C And Inorganic C, Joel B. Sankey, David J. Brown, Melisa L. Bernard, Rick L. Lawrence

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Local, field-scale, VisNIR-DRS soil calibrations generally yield the most accurate predictions but require a substantial number of local calibration samples at every application site. Global to regional calibrations are more economically efficient, but don't provide sufficient accuracy for many applications. In this study, we quantified the value of augmenting a large global spectral library with relatively few local calibration samples for VisNIR-DRS predictions of soil clay content (clay), organic carbon content (SOC), and inorganic carbon content (IC). VisNIR models were constructed with boosted regression trees employing global, local+global, and local spectral data, using local samples from two low-relief, sedimentary bedrock …

Limited Occurrence Of Denitrification In Four Shallow Aquifers In Agricultural Areas Of The United States, Christopher T. Green, Larry J. Puckett, John Karl Böhlke, Barbara A. Bekins, Steven P. Phillips, Leon J. Kauffman, Judith M. Denver, Henry M. Johnson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The ability of natural attenuation to mitigate agricultural nitrate contamination in recharging aquifers was investigated in four important agricultural settings in the United States. The study used laboratory analyses, field measurements, and flow and transport modeling for monitoring well transects (0.5 to 2.5 km in length) in the San Joaquin watershed, California, the Elkhorn watershed, Nebraska, the Yakima watershed, Washington, and the Chester watershed, Maryland. Ground water analyses included major ion chemistry, dissolved gases, nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes, and estimates of recharge date. Sediment analyses included potential electron donors and stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes. Within each site and …

Whole-Stream Response To Nitrate Loading In Three Streams Draining Agricultural Landscapes, John H. Duff, Anthony J. Tesoriero, William B. Richardson, Eric A. Strauss, Mark Munn

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Physical, chemical, hydrologic, and biologic factors affecting nitrate (NO₃^-) removal were evaluated in three agricultural streams draining orchard/dairy and row crop settings. Using 3-d “snapshots” during biotically active periods, we estimated reachlevel NO₃^- sources, NO₃^- mass balance, in-stream processing (nitrification, denitrification, and NO₃^- uptake), and NO₃^- retention potential associated with surface water transport and ground water discharge. Ground water contributed 5 to 11% to stream discharge along the study reaches and 8 to 42% of gross NO₃^- input. Streambed processes potentially reduced 45 to 75% of ground …

Comparative Study Of Transport Processes Of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, And Herbicides To Streams In Five Agricultural Basins, Usa, Joseph L. Domagalski, Scott Ator, Richard Coupe, Kathleen Mccarthy, David Lampe, Mark Sandstrom, Nancy Baker

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Agricultural chemical transport to surface water and the linkage to other hydrological compartments, principally ground water, was investigated at five watersheds in semiarid to humid climatic settings. Chemical transport was affected by storm water runoff , soil drainage, irrigation, and how streams were linked to shallow ground water systems. Irrigation practices and timing of chemical use greatly affected nutrient and pesticide transport in the semiarid basins. Irrigation with imported water tended to increase ground water and chemical transport, whereas the use of locally pumped irrigation water may eliminate connections between streams and ground water, resulting in lower annual loads. Drainage …

Recreation Visitor Attitudes Towards Management-Ignited Prescribed Fires In The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, Montana, Katie Knotek, Alan E. Watson, William T. Borrie, Joshua G. Whitmore, David Turner

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Research at the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex in Montana explored differences in recreation visitors’ attitudes towards the use of management-ignited prescribed fires in the wilderness. A mail-back survey of visitors (n = 291) during the 2004 season revealed that over half of visitors would accept prescribed fires in wilderness. This support did not vary by ignition purpose: (a) to restore the natural role of fire or (b) to reduce hazardous fuels and potential for fire escaping to non-wilderness lands. Local visitors, however, were significantly more accepting of prescribed fires than non-local visitors across both ignition purposes. A smaller proportion …

Individual Decision Making And The Evolutionary Roots Of Institutions, Richard Mcelreath, Robert Boyd, Gerd Gigerenzer, Andreas Glöckner, Peter Hammerstein, Robert Kurzban, Stefan Magen, Peter J. Richerson, Arthur Robson, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Just as many aspects of individual decisions are sometimes called "unconscious" or "automatic," we know that some institutions have evolved through "unconscious," nondeliberative mechanisms. Their function can also be largely nondeliberative, as in the case of some institutions that may structure behavior without requiring any reflection on the part of the participants. On the other hand, political institutions exist for the purpose of bringing deliberative mechanisms to bear on institutions in the hope of changing them for the better. The immense project of building an integrated explanation of institutions from individual brains to nations-has only barely begun. In this chapter, …

The Roles Of Accumbal Dopamine D1 And D2 Receptors In Maternal Memory In Rats, Mayte Parada, Samantha King, Ming Li, Alison S. Fleming

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Female rats show enhanced maternal responsiveness toward their young if they have had maternal experiences before. This kind of maternal experience-based memory is critically dependent on the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system, especially the nucleus accumbens (NA) shell. However, the relative contributions of the two main DA receptor systems (D₁ and D₂) within the shell have not been delineated. This study investigates the roles of dopamine D₁ and D₂ receptors in maternal memory by infusing a selective D₁ antagonist, SCH-23390; a selective D₂ antagonist, sulpiride; or a combination D1/D2 antagonist, cis-Z-flupenthixol, into the NA …

Babbling, Chewing, And Sucking: Oromandibular Coordination At 9 Months, Roger W. Steeve, Christopher A. Moore, Jordan R. Green, Kevin J. Reilly, Jacki Ruark Mcmurtrey

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose: The ontogeny of mandibular control is important for understanding the general neurophysiologic development for speech and alimentary behaviors. Prior investigations suggest that mandibular control is organized distinctively across speech and nonspeech tasks in 15-month-olds and adults and that, with development, these extant forms of motor control primarily undergo refinement and rescaling. The present investigation was designed to evaluate whether these coordinative infrastructures for alimentary behaviors and speech are evident during the earliest period of their co-occurrence.
Method: Electromyographic (EMG) signals were obtained from the mandibular muscle groups of 15 typically developing 9-month-old children during sucking, chewing, and speech.
Results: …

Regional Volumetric Change Of The Tongue During Mastication In Pigs, Z. J. Liu, B. Yamamura, V. Shcherbatyy, Jordan R. Green

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Structure and movement of the tongue have been studied extensively, but little study has been carried on its 3D deformation and ensuing volumetric changes during various functions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the volumetric changes of a regional section of the tongue during feeding. Four 12-week-old Yucatan miniature pigs were used. During natural mastication and water drinking, the width, length, thickness and volumetric changes were measured using six implanted ultrasonic crystals, which circumscribed a wedge-shaped volume in the region of the tongue body. Jaw movements were videotaped and digitized. Signals from these two sources were synchronized to …

Violence Against Separated, Divorced, And Married Women In Canada, 2004, Douglas A. Brownridge, Diane Hiebert-Murphy, Janice Ristock, Ko Ling Chan, Kimberly A. Tyler, Suzy C. Santos

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine violence against separated, divorced, and married women using Statistics Canada's 2004 General Social Survey. Based on a subsample of 6,716 heterosexual women (429 separated; 614 divorced; 5,673 married), available risk markers were examined in the context of a nested ecological framework. Consistent with past research, the results indicated that there may be differences in the dynamics of violence across the 3 groups. Separated women reported 7 times the prevalence of violence and divorced women reported twice the prevalence of violence than married women in the year prior to the study. Young age …

Respiratory Treatment History Predicts Suck Pattern Stability In Preterm Infants, Meredith Poore, Steven M. Barlow, Jingyan Wang, Mereditch Estep, Jaehoon Lee

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Sensory deprivation and motor restriction associated with extensive oxygen therapy may lead to poor oromotor control in preterm infants. Non-nutritive suck is one of the first complex oromotor behaviors infants perform. This study determined the spatiotemporal variability of non-nutritive suck (NNS) pressure trajectories in three preterm groups with differing oxygen histories—one control group with minimal or no O₂ therapy, and two Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) groups with either a mild/moderate (RDS1) or moderate/severe (RDS2) O₂ history. The Non-nutritive Suck Spatiotemporal Index (NNS STI) quantifies spatial and temporal variability across kinematic trajectories, and was calculated from digital representations of …

Mentoring Honors Thesis Students: A Lawyer’S Perspective, Linda Vila

Honors in Practice Online Archive

As a mentor of thesis students in an honors program, I find that students acquire tremendously helpful substantive knowledge through courses they take during college but rarely develop a honed skill set necessary to succeed in graduate or professional education or employment in the real world. These skills range from problem solving to effective communication to analytical thinking. To address these weaknesses, I constructed an approach, borrowed from my law school days, for engaging students in an active, student-centered learning process during the thesis stage of their honors curriculum. My purpose is to provide them the opportunity to cultivate, if …

Using External Review In The Honors Project Process, Joyce W. Fields

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Understanding the competitive nature of applications to graduate programs, Ferrari and Davis (2000) surveyed psychology faculty to discover their level of awareness of resources for undergraduate research publication. They found that most of the psychology faculty members they surveyed were unaware of such resources. Their finding made me curious about how many honors directors, faculty, and advisors are aware of such resources for their students not only in psychology but in all disciplines across the curriculum. Most of us realize the importance of helping our students become competitive for graduate work, and we know that publication and/or presentation of research …

Editorial, Volume 4 - 2008, Ada Long, Dail Mullins

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Table of Contents:

Editorial Policy

Submission Guidelines

Dedication to Elizabeth C. Beck

Editor’s Introduction by Ada Long

Determining the Significance of Honors by Katherine E. Bruce

Portable Widgets and Techie Tattoos: Honors of the Future by Rosalie C. Otero

Honors in 2025: Becoming What You Emulate by Craig T. Cobane

Honors 2025: The Future of the Honors College by Richard Ira Scott and Philip L. Frana

Majoring in the Minor: A Closer Look at Experiential Learning by Bernice Braid

Cultural Studies as the Foundation for an Honors Program: Documenting Students’ Academic and Personal Growth by Sara E. Quay and Amy …

Review Of Texas Women On The Cattle Trails. Edited By Sara R. Massey, Judy Alter

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

It's been almost twenty years since Patricia Limerick debunked myths of the Old West and forced us to look at the role of women, Native Americans, and minorities in the American West. But if the new history brought women to prominence, it was as stoic homemakers in difficult, almost impossible circumstances. We see them walking patiently beside wagon trains, collecting buffalo chips for fuel, hoeing rock-hard ground for a vegetable garden, but never on cattle drives, never on horseback. Men-Anglo men-drove those cattle north. This book demonstrates that many women in the Great Plains, specifically Texas, did indeed work and …

Annual Index

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

ANNUAL INDEX