Digital Commons Network^™

The Bp Spill And The Meaning Of "Gross Negligence Or Willful Misconduct", Patrick H. Martin

Louisiana Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Cross-National Analysis Of The Nutrition Habits Of Hispanic Mothers And Daughters, Monica N. Ramirez

Nursing Theses and Dissertations

The rates of obesity in Hispanic women increased significantly between 1994 and 2008 from 35.3% to 45.1% (National Center for Health Statistics, 2010). Poor nutritional habits and obesity have longterm negative health ramifications that warrant targeted efforts to stem this growing epidemic. Two articles are included in this portfolio. The first article discusses the state of the science in relation to cultural aspects of nutrition choices of Hispanic women. The aim of this article is to set the context for the cross-national study which is the focus of the second article. This study examines current eating habits, weight history, health …

A Montage In Its Leaves, Andrew S. Nicholson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation consists of a series of lyric poems preceded by an introduction to those poems. The introduction gives a background to the method of composition and historical precedents to the poems, connecting the lyric poems to the writing and thoughts of William Blake, Martin Heidegger, and Robert Creeley. The poems are presented in three parts, and cover a variety of subjects, frequently favoring the presentation of subjective experience over an imagined objectivity.

Learning Middle School Mathematics Through Student Designed And Constructed Video Games, Camille M. Mccue

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mathematics achievement is an area in which American precollege students are faltering. Emerging research suggests that making mathematics instruction relevant and applicable in the lives of youth may impact math achievement, especially when it capitalizes on high-interest technologies such as video games.

Employing a quasi-experimental and descriptive approach, this study examined the mathematics (i.e., numbers and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and probability) that middle school students employed during their design and construction of video games. First, it examined the mathematics content learned by 19 sixth and seventh graders during their analysis, synthesis, and programming of three video game projects over …

A New Socialist World In Latin America?, Dana R. Ramos

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During the last decade, the left-turn, or pink tide, in Latin America has caused many scholars to seek to explain what has fueled the political gains of leftist parties in this region. One of the main challenges is to try and define what constitutes a leftist party or a left agenda. There is a wide spectrum when it comes to classifying left-right placement ideologies and the distinction may be based on both economic and social values' differences. This study will examine a number of competing theories concerning left-right placement of three case studies: Bolivia, Venezuela, and Colombia. These three case …

“Change” In The 2008 Presidential Campaign: A Study In Rhetorical Definition, Graciela Saez Kleriga

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Every election cycle, the major party candidates accept a nomination for the presidency and launch the general campaign. These rhetors not only weave a narrative about themselves as qualified candidates; they also forward an argument about how the public should choose between two candidates. In particular, the 2008 presidential campaign's central question asked Americans about the type of change the nation should undertake. By tracing the definitional arguments utilized at the outset of the general election, this project analyzes how Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain utilized this desire for "Change" as a strategic theme.

Cognitive Load Of Critical Thinking Strategies, Hanem Shehab

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Critical thinking is important for today's life, where individuals daily face unlimited amounts of information, complex problems, and rapid technological and social changes. Therefore, critical thinking should be the focus of general education and educators' efforts (Angeli & Valanides, 2009; Oliver & Utermohlen, 1995). Despite passively agreeing or disagreeing with a line of reasoning, critical thinkers use analytical skills to comprehend and evaluate its merits, considering strengths and weaknesses. Critical thinkers also analyze arguments, recognizing the essentiality of asking for reasons and considering alternative views and developing their own point of view (Paul, 1990). Kuhn and Udell (2007) emphasize that …

Bilingualism And Math Cognition, Michelle M. Guillaume

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Within cognitive psychology, the fields of bilingualism and math cognition have been investigated relatively separately from one another. Although there has been a substantial amount of research conducted in both areas, few studies have examined mathematical processes as they relate to bilinguals. A couple of the traditional effects found in the math cognition literature, the problem size and associative confusion effects, have been studied with bilinguals; however, bilingual categorization was not carefully controlled for in those studies. There have also been mathematical models applied to bilingual samples; one such model is the encoding-complex model, which has been extended to Chinese-English …

Exploring The Factors That Influence Adequate Yearly Progress Within Elementary School Settings, Shannon Marie Hennrich

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the recent past, standards and access to resources for accountability and equity have been implemented nationally in schools. For example, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, was a federal mandate designed to raise the academic expectations and accountability of all learners. In addition, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 were created to protect the rights of all individuals with disabilities in programs that receive federal funds and ensure equal access to knowledge. Additionally, English language learners (ELL) must be included in the general …

Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Family Perspectives On Home-School Connections And Family Engagement: A Case Study Of Four Middle Class Latin American Families, Janet Elizabeth Pierce Clark

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

The purpose of this case study was to explore the context, perceptions, and understandings of school-home connections and family engagement of four middle class Latin American families who have children in U.S. public schools. Because family engagement with schools correlates with student success, the participants’ perspectives were examined in depth. The study was guided by two major research questions and associated sub questions:

1. How do four middle class families from Latin America perceive that their child’s school makes efforts to connect with them?
a. What factors contribute to the development of connectedness between home and school for four middle …

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes: Vocal Production In Infant Siblings Of Children With Asd, Rhea Paul, Yael Fuerst, Gordon Ramsay, Kasia Chawarska, Ami Klin

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Background: Younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at higher risk for acquiring these disorders than the general population. Language development is usually delayed in children with ASD. The present study examines the development of pre-speech vocal behavior in infants at risk for ASD due to the presence of an older sibling with the disorder. Methods: Infants at high risk (HR) for ASD and those at low risk, without a diagnosed sibling (LR), were seen at 6, 9, and 12 months as part of a larger prospective study of risk for ASD in infant siblings. Standard clinical …

Enhancing Self Efficacy In The Hispanic High School Biology Student: Getting Students To Believe In Their Ability To Master Science Curriculum, Ashley Marie Merian

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Many high school Hispanic students display passivity and a lack of confidence with regards to their abilities to master science curriculum, setting them up for failure with both current course grades and future success in a healthcare field. The purpose of this study is to determine more effective techniques a high school biology teacher could use to eliminate passivity and establish self confidence in Hispanic student's abilities to master science curriculum. Literature overwhelmingly suggests that incorporating Hispanic culture into the science curriculum and having more cooperative learning activities in class will help to improve the confidence of Hispanic students. Experimental …

The Geozoic Supereon, M. Kowalewski, J. L. Payne, F. A. Smith, Steve C. Wang, D. W. Mcshea, S. Xiao, P. M. Novack-Gottshall, C. R. Mcclain, R. A. Krause, A. G. Boyer, S. Finnegan, S. K. Lyons, J. A. Stempien, J. Alroy, P. A. Spaeth

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Moon Landing, Jennifer Ann Marquardt

Dissertations

The following short stories began and were finished—at least as finished as they appear here—during my time at the Center for Writers.

The Efficacy Of Dynamic Written Corrective Feedback For University Matriculated Esl Learners, Norman W. Evans, K. James Hartshorn, Diane Strong-Krause

Faculty Publications

Truscott’s (1996) indictment on error correction in second-language (L2) writing has ignited much discussion and research on the appropriateness of written corrective feedback (WCF) in L2 contexts. Out of this has emerged a body of research that suggests that WCF can positively impact the linguistic accuracy of student writing. However, these studies have examined only one or two error types. A central aspect of the efficacy of any corrective measure has to do with using feedback that is appropriate for the learner and the learning context. This paper builds on previous studies of dynamic WCF, which targets all linguistic errors …

Infants At Risk For Asd Show Aberrant Preferences For Speech At Six To Nine Months, Rhea Paul, Gerald Mcroberts, Katyrzyna Chawarska

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Purpose: To examine auditory preferences for speech stimuli in infants at risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder due to the presence of a diagnosed sibling.

The Association Between Body Mass Index And Dental Caries In Hispanic Elementary School Children, Mary Creske

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background: Dental caries is the most common chronic disease of children ages 6 to 11. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 41% of the children in this age group experience decay in their primary teeth. Since 1980 the number of overweight children ages 6 to 11 has doubled. Childhood obesity is currently the most prevalent nutritional condition of children in the U.S.

Purpose: The purpose of this observational study was to determine if there is an association between childhood dental caries and childhood obesity. The study also explored the effects of diet and other covariates.

Method: …

Constitutional Amendment Rules: A Comparative Perspective, Rosalind Dixon

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Les Trois Visionnaires: The Narrative Of Balzac, Flaubert, And Zola, Jonathan C. Landwer

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

The focus of this study concerns the critical analysis and interpretation of three nineteenth-century French novels: La Cousine Bette by Honoré de Balzac, one of the pair of Les Parents Pauvres novels and last of La Comédie Humaine; Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, his first complete and successful novel; and, Nana, Émile Zola’s ninth novel in the Rougon-Macquart series. The voice of the authors is of particular interest to this study: how they, as writers, manipulate their creations through effective narrative to convey action to the character, suspense in a scene, and conflicts in plot. It is through the authors’ …

The Incautious Media, Free Speech, And The Unfair Trial: Why Prosecutors Need More Realistic Guidance In Dealing With The Press, Andrew E. Taslitz

UC Law Journal

The ABA has proposed a new Standard for the Prosecution Function, Standard 3-1.7, which addresses how prosecutors should communicate with the media. The core portion of that proposal prohibits a prosecutor from making a statement raising a substantial risk of materially prejudicing a criminal proceeding or of unnecessarily heightening public condemnation of the accused. But this proposal is unrealistic. Recent findings in cognitive science suggest that media information overload and its fast pace result in media coverage of high-profile trials that heightens audience’s negative emotions while compromising their critical faculties. Audience members thus are enraged at accused offenders and ill-equipped …

Autobiographical Memory And Culture, Qi Wang

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

Autobiographical memory encompasses memory for significant personal experiences and knowledge of the self and, consequently, is critical for personal identity and psychological wellbeing (Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000; Pillemer, 1998). Although autobiographical memory, like many other cognitive faculties, has been traditionally viewed as an individual matter and a product of the mind or brain, research in the past two decades has revealed the central role of culture in human cognition and remembering. Recent theories of autobiographical memory have increasingly emphasized the constructive nature of memory in the cultural context, and empirical findings have further accentuated the influence of culture on autobiographical …

2011 Literary Review (No. 24), Sigma Tau Delta

The Greenleaf Review

No abstract provided.

Epistemic Contextualism: A Defense And Analysis, Sruthi R. Rothenfluch

Department of Philosophy: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Epistemic contextualists maintain that the truth conditions of knowledge ascriptions and denials change according to the context of utterance.  In this dissertation, I defend this view against one of its main rivals, classic invariantism, which holds that the contents of such statements remain fixed across contexts.  While epistemic contextualists provide a straightforward semantic account of the variability in our knowledge-ascribing behavior, classic invariantists cannot, and therefore must offer some explanation as to why it seems as though the standards for ‘knowing that p’ shift from one context to the next.  To this end, classic invariantists draw a distinction between what …

Clustering Digital Ink Content To Assist With The Grading Of Student Work., Jared Hatfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years the use of Tablet PCs in education has received a great deal of attention. Improved note-taking and lecture presentation have been the main focus of Tablet PCs in education. Currently, grading of student work collected as digital ink using Tablet PCs is still done mostly as it would be done if collected as pencil on paper. However, having content stored as digital ink provides an opportunity to perform analysis that is neither practical nor possible with pen and paper student content. Once student work is collected using DyKnow Vision, an interactive Tablet PC based classroom software tool, …

Ucc Minutes, May 10, 2011, University Curriculum Council

UCC Agendas/Minutes

No abstract provided.

“The Skunk At The Garden Party Of The Language Arts”: Students Weigh In On What Grammar Means To Them, Sarah Caroline Olson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I work to add new voices to an old conversation. While instructors and scholars alike have argued about the efficacy of various methods of grammar instruction, about whether grammar instruction should even be included in the English composition classroom, and about how to define grammar for more than a century, student voices have rarely entered this discussion. For this reason, I conducted a survey of student grammar conceptions within the First Year Writing Program at Boise State University, as well as follow-up focus groups. From these findings, I work to construct a denotative and connotative definition of …

Confabulation: Photographs, Memory, And Painting, Erin Cunningham

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is in regards to paintings created by Erin Cunningham for the completion of her MFA in Visual Arts at Boise State University in the spring of 2011. She primarily discusses the tenuous connection between photography and memory. Examining ideas developed by Roland Barthes, she set out to prove that while there is a distinct difference between the factual language of photography and the fictive language of memory, that the two have a type of symbiotic relationship. Particularly in regards to familial photography, the paintings she has developed from this concept examine the construction of memoir using images that …

The Size Of The Risk: An Environmental History Of The Nuclear Great Basin, Leisl Ann Carr Childers

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Throughout the twentieth century, Congress has managed the nation's public lands for the greater good of the country under a multiple-use construct. Land-use decisions based on serving the nation's public interest entailed federal land management agencies finding the utility of the land in order to put as much of it as possible into some kind of economic production and provide equitable access, as much as was feasible, to all the various public land users. But every federal program enacted on the nation's public lands has had an associated cost; not everyone or every environment has benefited from multiple-use public land …

Ucc Agenda, May 10, 2011, University Curriculum Council

UCC Agendas/Minutes

No abstract provided.

Youth At The Nexus: Ideology In Hiv Prevention In Nairobi, Kenya, Zohra Ahmed

Scholarly Works

In the fight against HIV/AIDS, the Behavior Change Communication (BCC) model stands as international best practice in preventive education. Ideally, a BCC intervention aims to changes behaviors and attitudes by facilitating group negotiation and introspection, with a resultant improvement in health. However, introducing this best practice model to a group of youth in Nairobi resulted in suboptimal outcomes: they were unaccustomed to expressing themselves in the ways prescribed by the class. To explain this failure, I examine how local discourses produced by parents and teachers communicate agency, sexuality and health, and highlight the diverging practices invoked at home, school and …