Digital Commons Network^™

Growing Minds: Planting A Lasting Seed Using The Learning Cycle, Jennifer Nicole Prindle, Lori Marie Ihrig

Iowa Science Teachers Journal

This article highlights modifying a common early elementary activity to move instruction beyond isolated activities into a full unit of instruction using the learning cycle. The unit is designed to tackle students' misconceptions and deepen their understanding of scientific inquiry and the growing requirements of plants. This activity promotes National Science Education Standards A and C, and Iowa Teaching Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

A Content Analysis Of American Civil War Historical Fiction For Upper Elementary Grades, Gwen L. Van Dee

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to analyze the treatment of complex issues of the American Civil War in a fifth grade social studies textbook and historical fiction novels, written for upper elementary readers. The study focused on slavery and racial issues, the stresses of war on families, and the aftermath of war.

A content analysis was conducted, using the fifth grade textbook information as a baseline for concepts to be learned. A sample of American Civil War historical fiction books was gathered using the following method: the H W Wilson's Middle School & Junior High Core Collection database was …

National Board Of Professional Teaching Standards Certification Portfolio Option, Tracy Lynn Bell Maxted

Graduate Research Papers

The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is an independent organization that encourages teachers to voluntarily examine and reflect on their teaching. Twelve teaching standards are used for the evaluation. For Adolescence and Young Adulthood Science the standards are to show teachers:

■ Understand Students;

■ Understand Science;

■ Understand Science Teaching;

■ Engage the Science Learner;

■ Sustain a Learning Environment;

■ Promote Diversity, Equity & Fairness;

■ Foster Science Inquiry;

■ Make connections in Science;

■ Assess for Results;

■ Reflect on Teaching and Learning;

■ Develop Collegiality & Leadership; and

■ Connect with Families & Community.

The Impact Of Computer-Assisted Sight Word Instruction On The Reading Skills Of Students With Significant Intellectual Disabilities, Colleen Frances Wood-Fields

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

There is a paucity of research identifying instructional methods that promote the reading development of students with significant intellectual disabilities (ID). This research study employed a single subject, multiple baseline design to evaluate the effects of computer-assisted sight word instruction employing constant time delay (CTD) procedures with incidental phonics and comprehension stimuli on the reading skill development of six elementary students with moderate ID and expressive language impairments. Study results suggest that the seven week PowerPoint slide show sight word intervention had very small to moderate intervention effects on receptive sight word identification. However, students learned some incidental letter-sound correspondences …

Student Achievement As An Investment In Human Capital: Using Longitudinal Patterns Of Per Pupil Instructional And Capital Expenditures, Socioeconomic Status, And Past Performance In Predicting Student Achievement, Charles Anthony Roberts

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Existing research illustrating a significant relationship between school spending and student achievement is expanding. However, research specifically investigating the relationships between capital expenditures (maintenance, renovations, and construction) and instructional expenditures (teacher quality, teacher salaries, textbooks, class size) with student achievement both individually, and as a function of overall school spending, is lacking. Recent studies have linked school spending to student achievement in an attempt to increase school funding as a response to No Child Left Behind Act (2001) mandates. This study attempts to augment this area of inquiry by providing feedback across the Commonwealth of Virginia on longitudinal patterns of …

Namaste: Pedagogical Methods For Designing Yoga & Art Experiences For/With Teen Participants, Tiffani Olivia Bryant

English Theses & Dissertations

Within this study, teens are asked to analyze yoga studio homepages in relation to their experiences with the practice of yoga. This dissertation research engages the teen girls as participants responsible for co-designing the learning constructs through which they make meaning out of their experiences. This research is rooted in informational design, experiential design, and design practices for a teen demographic through the artifact of yoga.

Participant observation is used to examine how eight teen girls understand yoga as a practice, internalize their experiences with yoga, and thusly communicate what they have learned about yoga and a sampling of digital …

Annual Report Of The Registrar 2010/2011, University Of Northern Iowa

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

Contents:

--- Definitions
--- Annual Report Data
--- Summary of Attendance
--- Attendance by Session
--- Full-time Equivalency Enrollment
--- Degrees Granted
--- Degree Summary
--- Program Certificates
--- Pupils in Price Laboratory School
--- Miscellaneous Enrollment Information
--- Degrees Granted by College, Degree Objective, and Racial/Ethnic Classification

Pre-Service General Education Teachers' Attitudes On The Education Of English Language Learners, Rachel Margaret Zidon

Honors Program Theses

Although increasing numbers of English Language Learners (ELLs) are joining native English speaking peers in general education classrooms, little research has been conducted to investigate general education teachers' preparation to work with ELLs in a classroom setting or their attitudes toward teaching ELLs. This research surveyed 260 pre-service general education teachers at a mid-sized university in the Midwest to explore their perceptions in the following areas: (1) their level of training and perceived preparedness to work with ELLs, (2) accommodations they would make for ELLs, (3) their expectations for ELLs, and (4) their attitudes toward including ELLs in general education …

The Relationship Between International Migration And Regional Integration, Christopher C. White

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation challenges prevailing assumptions of a strong connection between international migration and regional integration by arguing there is no substantial relationship between them and that these issues should not be conflated. International migration and regional integration are extraordinarily important forces shaping the current international system and the recent wave of globalization has brought with it a new level of fear and uncertainty surrounding these critical issues. Migration and integration are highly contentious and divisive subjects in and of themselves, but the relationship between them is largely misunderstood and tends to skew toward panicked hyperbole by publics and policymakers alike. …

Helping International Students Succeed Academically Through Research Process And Plagiarism Workshops., Yu-Hui Chen, Mary K. Van Ullen

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

Workshops on the research process and plagiarism were designed to meet the needs of international students at the University at Albany. The research process workshop covered formulating research questions, as well as locating and evaluating sources. The plagiarism workshop focused on acknowledging sources, quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing materials, citation styles, and avoiding plagiarism. The effectiveness of the workshops was measured by administering pre-and post-tests and by interviewing students several months after the workshops. The results showed that students achieved significant improvement for both the research process and plagiarism by attending the training, and they continued to apply new skills several …

A Comparative Study Of Selected Saxophone Quartet Repertoire From The Mule, Rascher And Apollo Saxophone Quartets Between 1928 And 1995, Jesse G. Deane

Theses : Honours

This research will investigate the nature of saxophone quartet repertoire that has resulted from the careers of the Mule, Rascher and Apollo saxophone quartets, who have played important roles in creating a base of concert repertoire for the ensemble. This research aims to identify trends in the styles of repertoire produced, along with the techniques that are required of the performers. This research will discuss nine works that have been commissioned by, or dedicated to, three professional saxophone quartets; the Marcel Mule Quartet, the Rascher Saxophone Quartet, and The Apollo Saxophone Quartet. The quartets have been chosen as they have …

Sport Tourism: An Exploration Of The Motivations And Tourism Experiences Of Australian Football League Interstate Sport Tourists Travelling To Western Australia, Grace Rinaldi

Theses : Honours

Sport tourism is a growing sector within both the tourism and sport industries. The majority of research into sport tourism has focussed on definitions, the benefits and impacts associated with hosting a sport event and exploring who these sport tourists are. The motivations behind these sport tourists have been considered, however the associated tourism experience tourists have while at a destination has not been widely explored. There is also a lack of research into the motivations and tourists activities of fans who travel interstate to support a team in a professional national sport league like the Australian Football League (AFL). …

The Improvisation Of Structured Keyboard Accompaniments For The Ballet Class, Simon Frosi

Theses : Honours

This dissertation explores the question of how a pianist can learn to improvise accompaniments for a ballet class. It aims to examine the background knowledge required in order to embark upon such a task and to provide a theoretical tool kit for pianists to use in improvising. Additionally, this dissertation makes a detailed case study of notated improvisations by Michael Brett, an expert exponent of this genre. A thematic catalogue is provided of Brett’s improvisations for a forthcoming publication, examining accompaniment figurations and rhythmic structures. A more detailed harmonic and phrase analysis is then made of three complete pieces, examining …

Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Carers' Perceptions Of The Cultural Appropriateness Of Carer Support Services: An Exploratory Study, Andrea Creado

Theses : Honours

Research on service utilisation by primary family carers has highlighted that carers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds face specific barriers in accessing services, such as lack of culturally appropriate services, communication issues, prejudice, feelings of failure and misunderstanding of mental illness. However, little is known about how to best overcome these factors from the carers' perspective. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions CALD carers had of the cultural appropriateness of carers' support services available in Perth. Ten primary family carers from CALD backgrounds participated in a semi-structured interview to explore their perceptions of existing …

An Exploratory Study To Develop A Geotourism Typology Model Based On The Experience And The Importance Of Geotourism In The Decision To Visit A Destination, Hasoly P. Hurtado

Theses : Honours

This study develops a typology model for geotourism to address the existing gap in the literature regarding who is participating in geotourism. As geotourism is a new concept, the literature is not only lacking in this area, but there is also a conflict of definitions available from scholars and organisations. This study defines geotourism in accordance to the definition of Newsome and Dowling (2010). It also aims to reduce the gap in literature by providing a starting point to the development of future geotourism typology models through the adaptation of McKercher's Cultural Tourism Typology Model (2002). Participants eligible for this …

Recalibrate: Models Of Successful Youth And Young Adult Ministry, Steve Case

All Books

This resource shares the top 10 models for Youth and Young Adult Ministry. These were presented at the 180 Symposium sponsored by the Center for Youth Evangelism in the fall of 2010. Also included are seven additional models and 19 papers that were presented. A wealth of knowledge from Youth and Young Adult Ministry practitioners.

Concept-Driven Multi-Modality Fusion For Video Search, Xiao-Yong Wei, Yu-Gang Jiang, Chong-Wah Ngo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

As it is true for human perception that we gather information from different sources in natural and multi-modality forms, learning from multi-modalities has become an effective scheme for various information retrieval problems. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-modality fusion approach for video search, where the search modalities are derived from a diverse set of knowledge sources, such as text transcript from speech recognition, low-level visual features from video frames, and high-level semantic visual concepts from supervised learning. Since the effectiveness of each search modality greatly depends on specific user queries, prompt determination of the importance of a modality …

Real-Time Road Traffic Prediction With Spatio-Temporal Correlations, Wanli Min, Laura Wynter

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Real-time road traffic prediction is a fundamental capability needed to make use of advanced, smart transportation technologies. Both from the point of view of network operators as well as from the point of view of travelers wishing real-time route guidance, accurate short-term traffic prediction is a necessary first step. While techniques for short-term traffic prediction have existed for some time, emerging smart transportation technologies require the traffic prediction capability to be both fast and scalable to full urban networks. We present a method that has proven to be able to meet this challenge. The method presented provides predictions of speed …

Phylogeographic Structure Of Teretrius Nigrescens (Coleoptera: Histeridae) Predator Of The Invasive Post Harvest Pest Prostephanus Truncatus (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae)., B. A. Omondi, J. Van Den Berg, D. Masiga, F. Schulthess

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The invasive larger grain borer Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) is the most important pest of farm-stored maize in Africa. It was introduced into the continent from Mesoamerica in the late 1970s and by 2008 had spread to at least 18 countries. Classical biological control using two populations of the predator Teretrius nigrescens Lewis achieved long-term and cost effective control in warm-humid areas, but not in cool and hot-dry zones. The present study investigated the phylogenetic relationships between geographical populations of the predator. Ten populations of T. nigrescens were studied using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR), sequence analysis of …

Improving Service Through Just-In-Time Concept In A Dynamic Operational Environment, Kar Way Tan, Hoong Chuin Lau, Na Fu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper is concerned with the problem of Just-In-Time (JIT) job scheduling in a dynamic environment under uncertainty to attain timely service. We provide an approach, based on robust scheduling concepts, to analytically evaluate the expected cost of earliness and tardiness for each job and also the project. In addition, we search for a schedule execution policy with the minimum robust cost such that for a given risk level (epsilon), the actual realized schedule has (1 - epsilon) probability of completing with less than or equal to this robust cost. Our method is quite generic, and can be applied to …

Lightweight Delegated Subset Test With Privacy Protection, Xuhua Zhou, Xuhua Ding, Kefei Chen

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Delegated subset tests are mandatory in many applications, such as content-based networks and outsourced text retrieval, where an untrusted server evaluates the degree of matching between two data sets. We design a novel scheme to protect the privacy of the data sets in comparison against the untrusted server, with half of the computation cost and half of the ciphertext size of existing solutions based on predicate only encryption supporting inner product.

Would Price Limits Have Made Any Difference To The 'Flash Crash' On May 6, 2010, Wing Bernard Lee, Shih-Fen Cheng, Annie Koh

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

On May 6, 2010, the U.S. equity markets experienced a brief but highly unusual drop in prices across a number of stocks and indices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (see Figure 1) fell by approximately 9% in a matter of minutes, and several stocks were traded down sharply before recovering a short time later. The authors contend that the events of May 6, 2010 exhibit patterns consistent with the type of "flash crash" observed in their earlier study (2010). This paper describes the results of nine different simulations created by using a large-scale computer model to reconstruct the critical elements …

Maintaining And Enhancing The Integrity Of Adr Processes: From Principles To Practice Through People, Kellam, Nadja Alexander, Nadja Marie Alexander, Andrew Bickerdike, Andrew Greenwood, Margaret Halsmith, Norah Hartnett, Ian Hanger Hanger, Tom Howe, Elizabeth Kelly, Stephen Lancken, Gaye Sculthorpe, Lindsay Smith, Warwick Soden, Tania Sourdin

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Nadja Alexander was contributor to the Report as council member of National Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Council.In this Report, the National Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Council (NADRAC) canvasses particular issues that support the integrity of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes, and that are identified in the Terms of Reference. These are: conduct obligations, rules about confidentiality and inadmissibility of communications within ADR processes, and immunity of ADR practitioners from being sued. The Report explains NADRAC’s understanding of the breadth of the concept of integrity as it applies to ADR processes, canvasses the views of interested parties about the integrity of …

Randomly Projected Kd-Trees With Distance Metric Learning For Image Retrieval, Pengcheng Wu, Steven Hoi, Duc Dung Nguyen, Ying He

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Efficient nearest neighbor (NN) search techniques for highdimensional data are crucial to content-based image retrieval (CBIR). Traditional data structures (e.g., kd-tree) usually are only efficient for low dimensional data, but often perform no better than a simple exhaustive linear search when the number of dimensions is large enough. Recently, approximate NN search techniques have been proposed for high-dimensional search, such as Locality-Sensitive Hashing (LSH), which adopts some random projection approach. Motivated by similar idea, in this paper, we propose a new high dimensional NN search method, called Randomly Projected kd-Trees (RP-kd-Trees), which is to project data points into a lower-dimensional …

Payroll Taxes, Wealth And Employment In Neoclassical Theory: Neutrality Or Nonneutrality?, Hian Teck Hoon

Research Collection School Of Economics

The theoretical proposition that temporarily below-normal tax rates on labor this year, when merged with the prospect of reversion to normal rates next year, will encourage households to squeeze more work into this year and to work less in future years is well-founded. This proposition was recently tested anew on Icelandic data and performed well empirically (Bianchi, Gudmundsson, and Zoega 2001). But would a permanent cut in tax rates on labor encourage more work permanently—with no diminution of effectiveness? Conversely, does a permanent increase in tax rates on labor cause a permanent decline in hours worked?

Monetary Policy In Singapore And The Global Financial Crisis, Hwee Kwan Chow, Peter Wilson

Research Collection School Of Economics

Prior to the crisis the consensus amongst central bankers in advanced economies was that price stability, in the form of low and stable price inflation, was a top priority for monetary policy and could best be achieved by targeting interest rates (usually overnight) or monetary aggregates, such as Narrow Money (M1) and Broad Money (M2). Liquidity in the banking system could be flexibly adjusted on a daily basis through open market operations to increase or decrease the monetary base which would be transmitted to the rest of the economy through financial intermediation. Financial markets would then adjust longer-term interest rates …

Nmr Study Of Borohydrides For Hydrogen Storage Applications, David Shane

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

There is great interest today in developing a hydrogen economy, and hydrogen powered vehicles to replace vehicles powered by fossil fuels. This presents many challenges for researchers, and one of the biggest is developing materials that could be used to store the hydrogen on-vehicle. We used nuclear magnetic resonance to study the atomic motions in many hydrogen storage materials, including sodium magnesium hydride, lithium borohydride, and magnesium borohydride. We also examined the effects of nanoscaffold incorporation on the latter two materials.

Processing Speed And Executive Abilities In Children With Phenylketonuria, Alicia Janos

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Objective: Phenylketonuria: PKU) is a hereditary metabolic disorder that often results in neuropsychological impairment, even in individuals treated early and continuously. This study was conducted to examine processing speed, variability in processing speed, and the relationship between processing speed variables and executive abilities in children with early- and continuously-treated PKU. Method: Participants were 42 children with PKU and 81 typically-developing children ranging from 7 to 18 years of age. Children completed three computerized reaction time: RT) tasks: simple reaction time, go/no-go, stimulus-response compatibility) and seven tasks assessing various aspects of executive abilities: working memory, inhibitory control, strategic processing). Results: The …

Three Essays In Macroeconomics, Kyoung Jin Choi

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The scope of the dissertation is: broadly-defined) general macroeconomics. The first essay is on optimal taxation and capital structure, the second essay is on firm dynamics, and the third essay is on financial crises. The first essay clarifies the role of the corporate income tax: as a form of double taxation) for achieving socially optimal allocations in the Mirrlees framework when the government cannot tax unrealized capital income at the individual level. Use of the corporate tax requires changes in the individual capital tax. The novelty of the paper is that the sophisticated tax system is designed to influence the …

Well-Defined Molecular Brushes: Synthesis By A "Grafting Through" Strategy And Self Assembly Into Complicated Hierarchical Nanostructures, Zhou Li

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This dissertation focuses on the development of a "grafting through" methodology to synthesize molecular brushes with well-defined structures, as an attempt to construct nanostructures by covalent bonds totally. Detailed synthetic procedures for and characterization of molecular brushes, as well as complicated hierarchical nanostructures resulted from their self-assembly are reported. The synthesis of molecular brushes is achieved by combining orthogonal living polymerization techniques rationally, such as living/controlled radical polymerization, ring opening polymerization and ring opening metathesis polymerization. Generally, the strategy can be divided into two steps: the first step involves the preparation of linear macromonomers whose chain ends are functionalized with …