Digital Commons Network^™

Visual Literacy: How Do They Do It?, Shantelle Marie Ford

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Due to the dramatic increase of technology in our world today, in addition to being textually literate, students must learn to be visually literate as well. Visual literacy essentially consists of the ability to read images. As students become more visually adept at reading images, teachers must become aware of their visual literacy strategies in order to adjust their instructional practices to support the new visual and verbal learner. This research consisted of interviewing elementary age students about wordless comic strips in order to answer the fundamental question: How do they do it? How do students in a modern age …

The Noble Savage And Ecological Indian: Cultural Dissonance And Representations Of Native Americans In Literature, Brooke D. Mcnaughton

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This thesis provides a unique approach to understanding the historical origins and contemporary social ramifications of the use of the concepts of the Noble Savage and the Ecological Indian within literature. I first examine the history of the Noble Savage concept in literature by examining relevant social movements, and then its eventual transition into its modern counterpart, the Ecological Indian. Authors who employ the use of these concepts typically portray Natives in a way which provides an idealized alternative for white cultural woes. Consequently, this idealization creates problems with modern Native identity. In the second half of this project I …

Conservation From The Bottom-Up: Human, Financial, And Natural Capital As Determinants Of Resilient Livelihoods In Kigoma Rural, Tanzania, Yared J. Fubusa

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rhetoric of "community-based conservation" has gained prominence among development specialists and environmentalists, yet such projects are often implemented from the top-down in Africa. This dissertation contends that only a bottom-up approach can foster resilient livelihoods and environmental stewardship.

This study focused on determinants of household resilience within a poverty-stricken agricultural community near Gombe Stream National Park (GSNP) in western Tanzania. The research purpose was to explore: 1) relationships between villagers and GSNP management; 2) how groups and individuals view priority livelihood problems and solutions; 3) various attributes of households; and 4) perceived trends for household resilience and how these are …

Using Formative Student Feedback: A Continuous Quality Improvement Approach For Online Course Development, Kristy T. Bloxham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this study was to examine the use of frequent, anonymous student course surveys as a tool in supporting continuous quality improvement (CQI) principles in online instruction. The study used a qualitative, multiple-case design involving four separate online courses. Analysis methods included pattern matching/explanation building, time series analysis, and thematic analysis. Findings suggested that instructors used student feedback to make course changes that alleviated technical difficulties, added and clarified content, and contributed to future course changes. Students and instructors responded positively to the opportunity to give and receive anonymous feedback and felt that it helped improve the course. …

Latino Entrepreneurs In Nontraditional Destinations: The Case Of Northern Utah, Rebecca A. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A recent trend in immigration is the arrival of foreign-born Latinos to new destinations in the American West and South. The influx of these immigrants has been accompanied by growth in Latino-owned businesses. Although we know a great deal about ethnic entrepreneurship in traditional immigrant destinations, few studies have been conducted to examine this phenomenon in new immigrant destinations. The purpose of this study was to collect, analyze, and report the experiences of Latino entrepreneurs in one new immigrant destination, namely Cache County, Utah. The study finds that Latino entrepreneurs in the study draw heavily on family ties in their …

The Effects Of Pedagogical Agents On Listening Anxiety And Listening Comprehension In An English As A Foreign Language Context, Young-Ah Ko

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study aimed to explore the impact of pedagogical agents in computer-based listening instruction on EFL students' listening anxiety levels and listening comprehension skills. A total of 66 Korean college students received computer-based listening instruction. Students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: American agent condition, Korean agent condition, or no-agent condition. Additional data sources were included in the experimental design in order to investigate students' learning experience more thoroughly.

Results indicated that there were no statistical differences in listening anxiety levels and listening comprehension skills between students who worked with the agent and students who worked without the …

A Multi-Component School-Based Intervention Aimed At Increasing Vegetable Preference And Intake Among Elementary-Aged Children, Elizabeth Strasser

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study aimed to implement and assess a school-based multi-component intervention aimed at increasing elementary school-aged children's knowledge of, preference for, and intake of vegetables. The multi-component intervention included lunchroom exposure, nutrition curriculum in the classroom, after school program vegetable curriculum, family friendly nutrition newsletter, vegetable fair and parent cooking class. Lunchtime vegetable consumption was assessed by direct observation. Changes in preference, attitude, and knowledge were assessed using a pre- and post-intervention survey.

The multi-component intervention was implemented at Canyon Elementary during the 2008-2009 school year. Classroom teachers provided 20 minutes of nutrition education to students in grades one through …

Toward The Validation Of Depth-Averaged, Steady-State Simulations Of Fluvial Flows Using Three-Dimensional, Steady-State, Rans Turbulence Models, Pedro Abdiel Mateo Villanueva

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Calculations of fluvial flows are strongly influenced by geometry complexity and large overall uncertainty on every single measurable property, such as velocity and shear. Moreover, a considerable portion of the data obtained from computational simulations arose from two-dimensional, steady-state models. The present work states a different approach to perform computer-based simulations and analyze fluvial flows. For the first part, the suitability of OpenFOAM to be used as the main CFD solver to analyze fluvial flows is studied. Initially, two well documented channel configurations are computationally studied using OpenFOAM. Finally, these results are compared to the output obtained from one of …

Young's Schema Theory: Exploring The Direct And Indirect Links Between Negative Childhood Experiences And Temperament To Negative Affectivity In Adulthood, Mark S. Jesinoski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Young's schema theory offers a theoretical approach that relates negative childhood experiences, temperament, and early maladaptive schema, to the experience of negative affect and/or depression in adulthood. However, despite the widespread use of schema therapy in clinical practice, little research has explored the pathways theorized by Young. This study explored the pathways posited by Young and colleagues looking at the direct and indirect relationships among negative childhood experience, temperament, early maladaptive schema, and the experience of negative affect in adulthood. Self-report data were collected from 365 undergraduate students. Results demonstrated consistent and robust direct relationships between temperament and negative affect, …

Spatial Epidemiology Of Birth Defects In The United States And The State Of Utah Using Geographic Information Systems And Spatial Statistics, Samson Y. Gebreab

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Oral clefts are the most common form of birth defects in the United States (US) and the State of Utah has among the highest prevalence of oral clefts in the nation. The overall objective of this dissertation was to examine the spatial distribution of oral clefts and their linkage with a broad range of demographic, behavioral, social, economic, and environmental risk factors through the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial statistics. Using innovative linked micromaps plots, we investigated the geographic patterns of oral clefts occurrence from 1998 to 2002 and their relationships with maternal smoking rates and proportion …

The Rhetoric Of Space In The Design Of Academic Writing Locations, Amanda Nicole Metz Bemer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation explores the rhetoric of space as it relates to academic computer writing locations--specifically, computer labs, computer classrooms, and writing centers. Using observation, surveys, interviews, and textual analysis, the author discusses seven rhetorical principles of design for these spaces, including designing for specific audiences, attention, clarity, enthymematic flexibility, identification, pathos, and shared ethos. Ultimately, applying a rhetorical gaze to these areas can help us to design more effective computer spaces in academia.

Can The "Peasant" Speak? Forging Dialogues In A Nineteenth-Century Legend Collection, William Pooley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The folklore collections amassed by Jean-François Bladé in nineteenth-century southwestern France are problematic for modern readers. Bladé's legacy includes a confusing combination of poorly received historical works and unimportant short stories as well as the large collections of proverbs, songs, and narratives that he collected in his native Gascony. No writer has ever attempted to study any of Bladé's informants in detail, not even his most famous narrator, the illiterate and "defiant" Guillaume Cazaux.

Rather than dismissing Bladé as a poor ethnographer whose transcripts do not reflect what his informant Cazaux said, I propose taking Bladé's own confusion about authenticity …

Correspondence Of Job-Preference And Job-Matching Assessment With Job Performance And Satisfaction Among Youth With Developmental Disabilities, Julie Hall

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study investigated the effects of job preference and job match on job performance among four 19-to 20-year-old young adults with developmental disabilities placed in community-based job conditions. Prior studies have examined the effects of job preference on community-based job performance without the job-matching component. The researcher identified high-preference, high-match and low-preference, low-match job conditions and tasks using a video web-based assessment program. Each participant was subsequently placed in a randomized sequence of 30-min sessions on one high-preference, high-match job condition performing a preferred task and one low-preference, low-match job performing a non preferred task. Job coaches instructed and prompted …

The Essential Structure Of Compulsive Buying: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Letty Workman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

While many jokes and sales of specialty merchandise have been made that make light of consumers who frequently shop and buy (e.g., "When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping," or "I am a shopaholic"), for 18 million Americans suffering from compulsive buying, the process of shopping and buying has caused their lives to literally go out of control. The outcomes of this disease for individuals, families, and business are all negative. In a marketing era of social responsibility, if marketers either knowingly or unknowingly encourage increased consumption among compulsive buyers, potential negative outcomes stand to impact others well …

Utah Kindergarten Teachers' Challenges And Concerns About Teaching Kindergarten, Ruth Jane Liebschutz Moore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This qualitative study was an exploration of 55 Utah kindergarten teachers' perceptions of challenges in teaching. It investigated written concerns teachers expressed in a statewide survey of kindergarten teachers. Study findings indicated that two main issues were communicated by teachers: a disparity between their developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices in the classroom, and concerns about children's kindergarten readiness and transition to school. About 56% of teachers felt a struggle in implementing their developmentally appropriate beliefs about education, for a variety of reasons: large class sizes, district and state mandates, and lack of resources, particularly time. Furthermore, 53% of educators conveyed …

Environmental And Developmental Indicators In Early Childhood: Relations To Second-Grade Reading Comprehension, Gina A. Cook

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Reading success has been linked to high school completion, future job success, and future generations of children who can read. Unfortunately, children who are unable to read on grade level by the end of first grade are at a great disadvantage and unlikely to catch up later. Without the ability to read and comprehend text, all aspects of schooling become progressively more difficult and the challenge of poor reading ability can be so difficult to overcome that many poor readers will not complete high school. For these reasons, it is important to identify early experiences in a child's family environment …

Ordinary Spirits In An Extraordinary Town: Finding Identity In Personal Images And Resurrected Memories In Lily Dale, New York, Mary Catherine Gaydos Gabriel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Every summer, Lily Dale, New York, a community founded on spiritualist beliefs and steeped in an eccentric explosive past, hosts thousands of visitors seeking to communicate with dead friends and relatives, while the residents lead ordinary lives in the midst of the supernatural hype permeating their town. Their stories are considered by most to be secondary to the illustrious trappings of the community in which they occurred. My research employs oral histories prompted by personal photographs to showcase the residents' everyday experiences amidst the town's infamy, illuminating the undervalued individual experience of those living in communities of such extraordinary repute. …

Integrating Digital Technologies In The German Language Classroom: A Critical Study Of The Technology-Integration Experiences Of Three Secondary German Teachers, Stephen Van Orden

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

German language teachers are gaining increased access to smart classrooms and digital technologies that offer teachers and students greater access to authentic cultural and language materials and enable more student target language communication. Teaching with technology changes the teaching and learning environment in many ways. Little is known about how integrating technology into the daily German-language-teaching curriculum changes the implicit power structures embedded in all classroom interactions. Because of the central, decision-making role of the teacher, this study uses a critical theory of technology lens to examine the daily technology integration experiences of three secondary German language teachers. This study …

Facilitator Assessment Following A Stepfamily Education Course, Heather Sparks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of the facilitators of a stepfamily education course, based upon facilitator self-report as well as participant report. Agencies in northern Utah that provide services to low-income minority families were used to recruit a sample of 152 facilitators and 1,134 participants of which 519 of the participants were male and 613 of the participants were females. Additionally, 21 of the facilitators were male and 131 of the facilitators were female. Requirements for participants included having been previously married with no children or having children from a previous relationship that formed a current …

Pekaresque Adventures: Aesthetics And Identity In "American Splendor", Tim Madigan

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

"When considering the ontological status of the comic book, it was once natural to think of superheroes battling all-powerful villains, Archie and Jughead battling wits with Principal Weatherbee, or Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig battling Elmer J. Fudd in the forest. In short, the assumption was that comic books were kids‘ stuff, and not to be taken seriously by world-weary adults. Much has changed in the last 20 or so years, with the rise of the so-called graphic novel, but many of these – including such seminal works as …

The Moon Agreement In The 21st Century: Addressing Its Potential Role In The Era Of Commercial Exploitation Of The Natural Resources Of The Moon And Other Celestial Bodies, Fabio Tronchetti

Journal of Space Law

No abstract provided.

What Lawyers Need To Know About Science To Effectively Make And Address Laws For Remote Sensing And Environmental Monitoring, Fermín Romero Vázquez, Sergio Camacho Lara

Journal of Space Law

No abstract provided.

Remote Sensing Issues As They Relate To Korea, Jae Gon Lee

Journal of Space Law

No abstract provided.

Japanese Law And Regulations Concerning Remote Sensing Activities, Setsuko Aoki

Journal of Space Law

No abstract provided.

Remote Sensing Data Distribution And Application In The Environmental Protection, Disaster Prevention, And Urban Planning In China, Yan Ling

Journal of Space Law

No abstract provided.

Legal Aspects Of Reducing Green House Gases Emitted By Aircraft Registered In Korea: A Ripple Effect Of Eu Initiatives, Won-Hwa Park

Journal of Space Law

No abstract provided.

Announcements, Vol.46 No.2 2010

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Back Matter, Medieval Feminist Forum, V.46 No.2 2010

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Online Gaming: Prohibition Vs. Regulation, Andrew Montgomery

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Since online gaming began in 1995, the industry has been unsettled. Despite online gaming being viewed as illegal by the United States government, revenues generated from players in the U.S. grew consistently and rapidly from 1995 to 2006. U.S. lawmakers believed they clarified the legality issue by passing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006 (UIGEA); however, this legislation did little to discourage people in the U.S. from engaging in online gambling. U.S. lawmakers have long debated prohibition vs. regulation of the industry. Given the apparent ineffectiveness of online gaming prohibition via UIGEA, lawmakers favoring legalization and regulation of …

“You Can’T Change What You Don’T Acknowledge”: A Content Analysis Of The Dr. Phil Show And Implications For Marriage And Family Therapists, Barbara Ann Spanjers

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Marriage and family therapists work from an ecological perspective, which includes the influence of mass media. The current study, a quantitative content analysis of The Dr. Phil Show, draws from communication studies, specifically cultivation theory. A content analysis is a first step to understanding how television messages affect client expectations of psychotherapy. Coding categories adapted from the common factors of psychotherapy literature are employed to determine how well the messages of The Dr. Phil Show correspond with practices related to positive psychotherapeutic outcomes. Common factors specific to the field of marriage and family therapy are utilized. The Dr. Phil …