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The Effects Of Scheduling On Criterion-Referenced Assessments In Arkansas High Schools, Sheila Marie Trinkle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in achievement on the end of course assessment in Geometry and the Grade 11 Literacy exam administered to students in Arkansas during the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years. The three main types of scheduling are the traditional schedule with seven or eight periods; the A/B, or the alternating block; and the 4 x 4, or accelerated block. The traditional was utilized by 90% of schools in Arkansas during this time frame. The A/B block and 4 x 4 block were used almost equally, each representing approximately 5% of Arkansas schools. …

Early Hearing Detection And Intervention: Diagnostic Hearing Assessment Practices, Karen F. Muñoz, Lauri H. Nelson, N. Goldgewicht, D. Odell

Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education Faculty Publications

Purpose

To gain an understanding of practice patterns for infant diagnostic hearing services at pediatric audiology facilities.

Method

The authors used a cross-sectional survey design. From August to November of 2009, surveys were mailed to 1,091 facilities in 28 states and the District of Columbia. One survey was completed per facility, and responses were anonymous.

Results

The return rate was 33% (356 surveys). The results revealed that the comprehensiveness of the test batteries used varied among facilities. Over half of the respondents, 146 (55%), reported using a limited test battery, 94 facilities reported using a comprehensive test battery but lacked …

Dynamic Partial Reconfiguration For Pipelined Digital Systems— A Case Study Using A Color Space Conversion Engine, Ryan Toukatly

Theses

In digital hardware design, reconfigurable devices such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) allow for a unique feature called partial reconfiguration PR). This refers to the reprogramming of a subset of the reconfigurable logic during active operation. PR allows multiple hardware blocks to be consolidated into a single partition, which can be reprogrammed at run-time as desired. This may reduce the logic circuit (and silicon area) requirements and greatly extend functionality. Furthermore, dynamic partial reconfiguration (DPR) refers to PR that does not halt the system during reprogramming. This allows for configuration to overlap with normal processing, potentially achieving better system …

Specters In The Archive: Faculty Digital Image Collections And The Problems Of Invisibility, Joan E. Beaudoin

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This paper argues that the devaluation of visual information in favor of textual information will result in a loss of visual information in a digital form that has personal, institutional and cultural ramifications. Framing this discussion is a study of the digital preservation practices among two faculty user groups, archaeologists and art historians. The study examined the faculty users’ knowledge, perception, emotions and processes surrounding the digital images they had created and, or collected to support their professional activities. What was discovered is a worrisome situation where an important part of the cultural record is at serious risk of being …

Probabilistic Framework For Image Understanding Applications Using Bayesian Networks, Mustafa Jaber

Theses

Machine learning algorithms have been successfully utilized in various systems/devices. They have the ability to improve the usability/quality of such systems in terms of intelligent user interface, fast performance, and more importantly, high accuracy. In this research, machine learning techniques are used in the field of image understanding, which is a common research area between image analysis and computer vision, to involve higher processing level of a target image to "make sense" of the scene captured in it. A general probabilistic framework for image understanding where topics associated with (i) collection of images to generate a comprehensive and valid database, …

Optimal Economic Planning And Control For The Management Of Ecosystems, Kevin Macksamie

Theses

In recent years the interest on sustainable systems has increased significantly. Among the many interested problems, creating and restoring sustainable ecosystems is a challenging and complex problem. One of the fundamental problems within this area is the imbalance between species that have a predator-prey relationship. Solutions involving management have become an integral player in many environments. Management systems typically use ad hoc methods to develop harvesting policies to control the populations of species to desired numbers. In order to amalgamate intelligence and structure, ecological systems require a diverse research effort from three primary fields: ecology, economics, and control theory. In …

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Information Technology For Service Innovation: The Impact On Business Productivity And Channel Disruption From Cloud Computing And Smart Device Computing, Insoo Son

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The advancement of IT has brought great deal of impact to both businesses and individuals such as increased business productivity and new type of digital communications and entertainment. Yet, IT is still in need of developing itself to enable firms’ requirement of enhancing business competence and satisfy customers’ growing expectations for new IT products and services. In line with the situation, there have been two emerging IT innovations that take more evolutionary features for both business and individual computing. For business computing, the concept of cloud computing has recently emerged and become commercialized to meet firms’ budget constraint and improve …

Kovesi And The Formal And Material Elements Of Concepts, T. Brian Mooney, Mark Nowacki, John N. Williams

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In his seminal work Moral Notions, Julius Kovesi presents a novel account of concept formation. At the heart of this account is a distinction between what he terms the material element and the formal element of concepts. This paper elucidates his distinction in detail and contrasts it with other distinctions such as form-matter, universal-particular, genus-difference, necessary-sufficient, and open texture-closed texture. We situate Kovesi’s distinction within his general philosophical method, outlining his views on concept formation in general and explain how his theory of concept formation is applied in moral philosophy.

African American Male Students' Perceptions Of Factors That Contribute To Their Academic Success, Gertrude Rolland

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study sought to understand African American high school males' perceptions of factors contributing to academic success. The researcher gathered information by interviewing students and collecting their demographic profile data. This qualitative research method enabled the researcher to learn directly from students what factors African American male students associated with academic success as well as challenges to academic success and solutions for achieving academic success. Participants were three junior and three senior African American high school male students attending a rural high school in Georgia. Data collection occurred during the spring semester of 2011. Each participant was asked 16 questions …

Biological Analysis Of Prebiotics In Various Processed Food Matrices, Kristina Elise Moore

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The addition of prebiotic to a variety of food products has become a more common occurrence in recent years. Although research on the stability of prebiotics has been conducted, knowledge of the stability of prebiotics in processed foods is limited. The purpose of this research was to determine the biological stability of five prebiotics in a variety of food matrices when processed under various conditions. A biological test, the prebiotic activity assay, was used to test for stability of six food products (muffin, cookie, granola bar, breakfast cereal, sports drink, and bread) containing five different prebiotics (fructooligosaccharides (FOS), inulin, galactooligosaccharides …

Insect Abundance And Variability In An Urban-Rural Landscape And Comparison To Foraging Habitat Selection Of Bats, Nicole M. Oehler

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I conducted a study of the relationship between prey availability and foraging habitat selection of Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis), big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus), eastern red bats (Lasiurus borealis) and evening bats (Nycticeius humeralis) in an urban-rural landscape matrix of southwestern Indianapolis. Insects were collected from nine different habitat types found within the range of these species. Insect data were collected from 2006 to 2008 using sticky traps placed in each habitat type. Habitat types were ranked by importance to each bat species (based on previous studies) and then compared to the average number of prey insects captured per habitat …

New Theories And Methods For Technology Adoption Research, Robert J. Kauffman, Angsana A. Techatassanasoontorn

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This special issue includes six articles on different aspects of technology adoption that represent the development and application of different theoretical and methodological approaches to the business problems that they treat. In terms of theory, three of the articles use behavioral and organizational theories, including adaptive structuration theory, management fashion theory, the unified theory of technology acceptance, the technology acceptance model, and diffusion of innovation theory. The other two are based on economic theory, including network effects theory, and economic growth theory. The methods used are also dramatically different in each of the studies. Three studies use field research and …

Capir: Collaborative Action Planning With Intention Recognition, Nguyen T., Hsu D., Lee W., Tze-Yun Leong, Kaelbling L., Lozano-Perez T., Grant A.

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We apply decision theoretic techniques to construct nonplayer characters that are able to assist a human player in collaborative games. The method is based on solving Markov decision processes, which can be difficult when the game state is described by many variables. To scale to more complex games, the method allows decomposition of a game task into subtasks, each of which can be modelled by a Markov decision process. Intention recognition is used to infer the subtask that the human is currently performing, allowing the helper to assist the human in performing the correct task. Experiments show that the method …

The East Texan, 2011-12-01, Texas A&M University-Commerce

All Issues

Volume XCVI, number 11 of The East Texan, a student newspaper published at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Separating The Sheep From The Goats: Celebrity Satire As Fair Use, Nicholas D. Sirabella

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

From Facebook To Gradebook: An Examination Of The Relationship Between Teen Use Of Social Networking Sites And Academic Achievement, Melody Dickerson Swang

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of The Benefits And Costs Of Sabbatical Leave For General Higher Education, Industry, And Professional-Technical/Community College Environments, Linda R. Otto, Michael Kroth

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Crushed Rock-Concrete Interface Behavior Through The Parallel Gradation Technique, Domenica Cambio, Xin Kang, Louis Ge

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The response of a soil-structure system subjected to monotonic or cyclic loading is influenced significantly by the mechanical behavior of soil-structure interface. in this paper, the friction characteristics of the crushed rock-concrete interface and the role of the crushed rock deformability were examined through a series of monotonic and cyclic direct shear tests. the physical modeling technique of parallel gradation was adopted where two parallel gradation curves of the crushed rocks were prepared and used in the tests. the tests were carried out in dry condition and with two initial void ratios representing both loose and dense states. Two concrete …

Teacher Candidates' Digital Literacy And Their Technology Integration Efficacy, Rona Lynette Tyger

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceived digital literacy levels and technology integration efficacy of preservice teaching (PST) candidates. The sample was comprised of PST candidates from two universities and one college in the southeastern United States that differ in size and culture. The study used a quantitative approach. PST candidates self-rated their digital literacy levels and technology integration efficacy using an online digital literacy survey. The relationship between PST candidates' perceptions of their digital literacy level and their level of technology integration efficacy was investigated. The existence of a digital divide has recently been of concern to …

A Psychoanalytic Inquiry Into Social Aggression As A Form Of Bullying Among Female Students, Tina Martin Debevec

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Bullying among children and adolescents, particularly within the school setting, has drawn much attention in recent years as a reaction to an onslaught of high profile school violence in the 1990s. While much attention and research focused upon physical violence that was prevalent among male students, very little research covered indirect, relational, and social forms of aggression. Research into the covert manners of aggression that involved the manipulation of relationships revealed them to be salient among female students, demonstrating that female students were predominantly aggressive in a different manner than their male counterparts. Psychoanalytic theories of attachment and aggression guide …

Reading The Word And The World Through Graphic Novels: A Graphic Portrayal Of Young Adult Literacy Development In A Ninth Grade English Literature Classroom, Sandra Jane Greene

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study presents a view of reading instruction based on investigating motivation and engagement related to adolescent literacy practices through graphic novels. A case study utilizing the graphic novels grounded in the theoretical approach of critical literacy demonstrated increases in motivation toward reading from a more critical social lens. Participants in this case study were chosen from a set of ninth grade literature classes in a rural high school. The students were placed as a result of the random selection of heterogeneously mixed student abilities providing a rich mix of perspectives and motivational levels among the students. Allowing students to …

Reaping What You Sow: Southern Cultures, Black Traditions, And Black Women, Cynthia Mikell

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This is an inquiry into Southern cultures, Black traditions, and Black women with a focus on the life of one Black woman educator. Drawing upon the works of Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning African American woman, novelist, and master storyteller, Toni Morrison (1970, 1973, 1976, 1987, 1988, 1993, 2003, & 2008); activist and Black feminist protest thinker and writer, bell hooks (1981, 1984, 1995, & 2000); the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, activist, and womanist, Alice Walker (1983); the Black feminist thinker and writer, Patricia Hills Collins (1998, 2000), and the critical race theorist and the first tenured African-American professor of Law …

Credit Rating And Assignment Of Naics Codes Using Lsi Method, Jerome Ouedraogo

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The objective here is first, to improve automatic assignment of industry codes using LSI (lexical processing) by increasing the algorithm efficiency (both computationally and in term of input requirements), then quantify the lender's risk as "distance to default" (higher distance to default indicates default is less likely to occur), estimate the distance to default for each company and combine the results to obtain an estimate of the distance to default for each NAICS code.

Work In Progress - Exercises In Squeak Smalltalk For Pre-College Education, Steve Eugene Watkins, Nicolette Kowalewski, Kathryn N. Rodhouse, Benjamin Cooper

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Computer programming education helps to prepare pre-college students to function in a technology-based society and to promote technical careers. However, opportunities are limited for pre-college students to learn computer programming and effective programming instruction can be difficult. A set of introductory, self-paced tutorials in Squeak Smalltalk has been developed for students in high school and middle school. This work describes two supplementary exercises that address the needs of new learners, especially those at younger ages. Students are given tools for drawing and image manipulation. The optional exercises integrate basic concepts while allowing more interactivity and customization through creative "play." © …

Work In Progress - Virtual Facilitation And Procedural Knowledge Education, Ray Luechtefeld, Steve Eugene Watkins

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Engineering students acquire both conceptual and procedural knowledge as part of their education. While conceptual knowledge, such as understanding why certain design practices are required or having knowledge of the general principles of engineering development, is essential, procedural knowledge to enact specific engineering practices is also needed. This kind of knowledge, such as balancing chemical equations, solving calculus problems, or finding Thevenin-Norton equivalents, is usually taught through rote problem solving, sometimes with the guidance of teaching assistants or aid from the instructor if students find themselves "stuck". However, a Virtual Facilitator, designed to help students develop team skills, can also …

Leveraging New Media In The Scholarship Of Engagement: Opportunities And Incentives, Chris Labelle, Mark Anderson-Wilk, Robert Emanuel

Journal of Extension

This article looks at how Extension faculty and administrators perceive digital scholarship in relation to their institutions' reward systems. Our survey data suggest that even when land-grant institutions have policies in place to reward alternative or new forms of scholarship, these policies are often unclear or inaccessible, are not reflected in job descriptions, and do not provide enough detail to ensure consensus among colleagues. Clear policies that reward digital scholarship and recognize the prominent role of technology in university-wide engagement efforts have become increasingly crucial because of budgetary constraints and the changing behaviors and preferences of Extension clients.

Using Information Technology To Forge Connections In An Extension Service Project, Sandra B. Schneider, Donna-Jean P. Brock, Crystal Duncan Lane, Peggy S. Meszaros, Barbara B. Lockee

Journal of Extension

A hybrid Extension project is introduced that uses a traditional Extension delivery model without the complete infrastructure of Cooperative Extension Services. The absence of this local organizational support and infrastructure necessitates new thinking regarding how Information Technology (IT) can support this project and hybrid Extension projects in general. The reciprocal relationship between offline and online tasks and how an Internet portal can serve as a centralized location for project continuity is offered as one solution. How IT facilitates the implementation of hybrid Extension projects such as this one can further promote the interdisciplinary adoption of the Extension model.

Extension Is Unpopular—On The Internet, Heidi B. Rader

Journal of Extension

The first Extension-authored link in Google Search (2011a) for "how to garden" was ranked an abysmal 82nd. Worse, Internet users selected the top-ranked site significantly more often than they selected the second-ranked one, and they rarely selected any site ranked lower than #10 (Granka, Joachims, & Gay, 2004). An Extension-commissioned poll in Alaska found only 16% of the "Net Generation" had even heard of Extension, compared with 73% of those 60 years or older (Dittman Research & Communications Corporation, 2010). Extension's websites are so unpopular, those who seek research-based, unbiased information will likely not find it. This article proposes solutions.

Place-Based Learning And Mobile Technology, Chris Labelle

Journal of Extension

When delivered on a mobile device, interpretive tours of a locale afford powerful learning experiences. As mobile devices become more powerful, content for these devices that is individualized and location-specific has become more common. In light of this trend, Oregon State University Extension developed a GPS-enabled iPhone tree tour application. This article discusses lessons learned during the design, development, and evaluation of the application and suggests locale-specific instructional content delivered on a mobile device can be an effective instructional approach for Extension educators.