Digital Commons Network^™

The Need For Developing A Framework For Curriculum Evaluation, K.S. Saif Al-Jardani

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

The importance of developing a framework for curriculum evaluation will be highlighted in this article. This framework should be based on quality standards, made public and be able to be used to help different practitioners and people involved in any institution to know what their role is and the best way to evaluate the curriculum. The article will start by presenting the main theoretical issues about curriculum evaluation, the different purposes of curriculum evaluation, who should be involved in the evaluating process, the various types of evaluation, methods of gathering evaluation data, ways to show results and the keeping of …

The Writing Needs Of Omani Efl Students For The Development Of Grade 11 English Program: A Needs Analysis, S. Al-Saadi, M. Samuel

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

This article gave a detailed description of a national large scale needs analysis in the reform of the grade 11 English language curriculum in Oman. It highlighted the needs analysis practises of using triangulation of multiple sources (students, teachers, supervisors, heads of department, and textbooks) and multiple methods (questionnaires, interviews, content analysis) in the data collection stage to validate the study findings. The actual grade 11 English Language textbooks (n=4) were first analyzed for writing skills content and then contrasted with the perceived needs of 982 students, 64 teachers, 4 supervisors, and 3 heads of department. The findings revealed that …

Eagleville Times, Volume 9, Issue 12, Debbie Ryan

Eagleville Times

No abstract provided.

Making Sense When It Matters Most: Leadership In Extremis, Deirdre Dixon

Student Scholarship

Leading during in extremis situations when lives are in peril remains one of the least addressed areas of leadership research. In particular, although lives may depend on it, little is known about how leaders in in extremis situations make sense of their situation and communicate that sense to others. Because most of the literature on sensemaking and sensegiving in in extremis situations is theoretical, we sought empirical evidence of how it proceeds in actual practice. To address this gap in the literature, a qualitative study was conducted based on semi-structured interviews with thirty U.S. Army leaders at West Point who …

Identifying Lead-Lag Relationships In Illinois Soybean Basis, Nathan C. Kurfman

Research Papers

The purpose of this paper is to identify soybean basis relationships between differing regions of the state of Illinois. Time-series analysis using a Granger Causality framework is conducted to identify lead-lag relationships between seven geographical regions of Illinois. The regions are identified as Northern, Western, North Central, South Central, Wabash, West-Southwest, and Little Egypt. There has been considerable research describing the factors that influence grain basis; the most consistently identified being local production and consumption, stocks, storage capacity and cost, and transportation costs. However, there has been minimal inquiry into tracking grain basis relationships through time in different marketplaces. This …

Woody Biomass: A Renewable Resource For Southern Illinois, Alison M. Britt

Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Residential Water Conservation: A Cross Comparative Analysis, Jeffrey M. Cook

Master's Theses

This thesis will explore different water conservation strategies and systems in the residential home, using the city of Irvine as a basis. The thesis will compare the financial implications between the different systems and as a return on investment. The analysis will also account for ecological and social implications on the occupants, in particular their standard of living and lifestyle changes. The thesis will explore the ability to conserve water in new residential construction and will provide a sustainable and conscientious schematic water design for the particular area of concern.

This thesis will act as a preliminary case study for …

The Study Of The Individual Alternative Minimum Tax: Past, Present, And Reform, David E. Droessler

Honors Program Theses

The individual Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) imposed on individuals was originally created to ensure that the wealthiest Americans do not avoid paying income tax by taking advantage of certain deductions and exemptions. AMT was not indexed for inflation and when coupled with other inequities, many more Americans are now subject to AMT than ever before. By studying the past and present tax laws surrounding individual AMT, I will present a reformed approach of the AMT tax system for individuals.

Cultural Psychology Of African Americans, James M. Jones, Santiba Campbell

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

The cultural psychology of African Americans involves the evolution of African patterns of thought, feeling and behavior and their utilization as adaptive mechanisms in a context of racism and oppression. Assumptions about cultural psychology as the intersection of psyche and culture, and African American psychology as the multidimensional response to dehumanization and psychic conflict are discussed. Time, Rhythm, Improvisation, Orality, and Spirituality (TRIOS) are proposed as psycho-cultural mechanisms of adaptation, innovation, and psychological control for African Americans. Sources of variability among African Americans (both psychological and societal) are a basis for black subcultures within Black Culture. TRIOS is offered as …

Assessment Of Acculturation: Issues And Overview Of Measures, Ozgur Celenk, Fons J.R. Van De Vijver

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

Publicly available acculturation measures are systematically reviewed based on three criteria: scale descriptors (name of the scale, authors, year, target group, age group, subscales, and number of items), psychometric properties (reliabilities) and conceptual and theoretical structure (acculturation conditions, acculturation orientations, acculturation outcomes, acculturation attitudes, acculturation behaviors, conceptual model and life domains). Majority of the reviewed acculturation measures are short, single-scale instruments that are directed to specific target groups. Additionally, they mainly assess behavioral acculturation outcomes than acculturation conditions and orientations. Regarding the psychometric properties; most measures have an adequate internal consistency; yet cross-cultural validity of the instruments have not been …

Systematics Of Protosteloid Amoebae, Lora Lindley Shadwick

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Because of their simple fruiting bodies consisting of one to a few spores atop a finely tapering stalk, protosteloid amoebae, previously called protostelids, were thought of as primitive members of the Eumycetozoa sensu Olive 1975. The studies presented here have precipitated a change in the way protosteloid amoebae are perceived in two ways: (1) by expanding their known habitat range and (2) by forcing us to think of them as amoebae that occasionally form fruiting bodies rather than as primitive fungus-like organisms. Prior to this work protosteloid amoebae were thought of as terrestrial organisms. Collection of substrates from aquatic habitats …

Crisis Communication Needs Assessment: A Delphi Study To Enhance Instruction For Agricultural Communicators And Other Stakeholders, Allyson Ceary Mcguire

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Agricultural communicators and industry stakeholders need to be able to develop, prepare and implement crisis communication plans to help assure the sustainability of the agriculture industry should a crisis event occur. A thorough exploration of possible options and needs for training crisis communicators is a needed study in the agriculture industry. Students learning to prepare for managing crises in real life situations are rarely taught in a hands-on, experiential manner. Students can read and analyze case studies pertaining to crises, but without having an actual crisis; little means exist for preparing students for real world situations. There is a need …

Mayas, Spirituality, And The Unfinished History Of Conflict In Guatemala [Los Mayas, La Espiritualidad Y La Historia Incompleta Del Conflicto En Guatemala], Servando Z. Hinojosa

Anthropology Faculty Publications

Maya spiritual practice in Guatemala has been actively challenged by mainstream religions and by pressures originating from other institutions. Many Maya ritualists have been directly reproached by religious leaders and have been targeted by a state apparatus that associates rural Maya life with insurgency. As a result, many Maya spiritual elements have been pushed to, and kept at, the margins of society. Focusing on the past two decades, this essay reviews how Mayas nevertheless maintain an active ritual life. They do this by engaging in a close relationship with the spirit-owners of the landscape, beings upon whom humans depend for …

An Investigation Of The Application Of Phase Change Materials In Practical Thermal Management Systems, David Ewing

All Dissertations

This work investigates the application of alternative cooling techniques to thermal management. In the first section, this work presents models and extensive simulation studies on an alternative cooling strategy based upon phase change materials (PCMs) for the thermal management system of a LED headlight assembly. These studies have shown that properly chosen PCMs, when suspended in metal foam matrices, increased the thermal conductivity of the PCM. The increased thermal conductivity can enhance the cooling characteristics of a practical thermal management system for a LED headlight system. To further enhance the advantages of using PCMs, nanoparticle enhanced fluids (nanofluids) are desirable …

An Examination Of Variables Which Influence High School Students To Enroll In An Undergraduate Engineering Or Physical Science Major, Christopher Porter

All Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the variables which influence a high school student to enroll in an engineering discipline versus a physical science discipline. Data was collected utilizing the High School Activities, Characteristics, and Influences Survey, which was administered to students who were freshmen in an engineering or physical science major at an institution in the Southeastern United States. A total of 413 students participated in the survey.
Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, two-sample Wilcoxon tests, and binomial logistic regression techniques. A total of 29 variables were deemed significant between the general engineering and physical …

Composition And Ecophysiological Proficiency Of Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands: Investigating Basin, Landscape, And Microtopographic Scales, Jamie Duberstein

All Dissertations

A hierarchical approach to forest community assessment was conducted by first focusing on landscape associations to edaphic factors among major tidal freshwater forested wetland basins in the Southeast. Four general tree communities exist along coastal rivers in the southeastern United States, based on the most prominent species in each: Water Tupelo, Swamp Tupelo, Dwarf Palmetto, and Cabbage Palm. Microhabitat usage and preference by trees were then examined, both across all species and within species, as related to such factors as coast, presence on rivers with dams, tree community assemblage, relative distance from the river, specific river basin, and microsite availability. …

Probabilistic Approaches To Stability And Deformation Problems In Braced Excavation, Zhe Luo

All Dissertations

This dissertation is aimed at applying probabilistic approaches to evaluating the basal-heave stability and the excavation-induced wall and ground movements for serviceability assessment of excavation in clays. The focuses herein are the influence of spatial variability of soil parameters and small sample size on the results of the probabilistic analysis, and Bayesian updating of soil parameters using field observations in braced excavations.
Simplified approaches for reliability analysis of basal-heave in a braced excavation in clay considering the effect of spatial variability in random fields are presented. The proposed approaches employ the variance reduction technique (or more precisely, equivalent variance method) …

Development Of A Design Method To Reduce Change Propagation Effects, Prabhu Shankar

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT
This dissertation presents a design method to reduce engineering changes caused due to change propagation effect. The method helps designers to systematically plan a verification, validation, and test (VV&T) plan. The rationale behind such a method is founded on a well-accepted principle that a robust validation plan can reduce design changes. However, such method has not yet been developed in mechanical engineering domain, so a method from software engineering has been adopted and extended to address the limitations in the existing design evaluation tools.
Tools extensively used in industry, such as FMEA, and in academia have been reviewed to …

Computational Approaches To Understand Phenotypic Structure And Constitutive Mechanics Relationships Of Single Cells, Scott Wood

All Dissertations

The goal of this work is to better understand the relationship between the structure and function of biological cells by simulating their nonlinear mechanical behavior under static and dynamic loading using image structure-based finite element modeling (FEM). Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are chosen for this study due to the strong correlation of the geometric arrangement of their structural components on their mechanical behavior and the implications of that behavior on diseases such as atherosclerosis.
VSMCs are modeled here using a linear elastic material model together with truss elements, which simulate the cytoskeletal fiber network that provides the cells with …

Arsenic Represses Myogenesis And Neurogenesis Through Epigenetic Mechanisms, Repressed Transcription Factors, And Altered Wnt Signaling Pathway, Gia-Ming Hong

All Dissertations

Arsenic is a toxicant commonly found in water systems around the world. Evidence from epidemiological studies indicates that chronic arsenic exposure can result in cancer, central nervous system and sensory deficits, effects on development, and neuromuscular deficits. However, the molecular mechanism of arsenic's toxicity remains largely unclear. In this study, both C2C12 mouse myoblast cells and mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) were used as models of arsenic mediated developmental toxicity in humans to investigate the effects of sodium arsenite on cellular differentiation.
Results from our first and second studies indicate that exposure of 20nM sodium arsenite to C2C12 mouse myocyte …

Avoiding Engagement With 'Invisibles:' Religious Issues And The Field Of English Education, Robert Bruce

All Dissertations

This study used content analysis of selected documents representing the three dimensions of the field of English Education (curriculum, teacher preparation and development, and research) to ascertain how the field was responding to the larger societal problem that religious intolerance and ignorance pose, especially given the growing religious diversity of American society. Data from the documents were classified into four categories derived from various proposals for the incorporation of religious issues into the public school curriculum: religious literacy, religious concerns related to personal development, religious aspects of multiculturalism, and religious issues related to improved civic engagement.
The documents related to …

ú`ÒIng: From Globalization To Glocalization---What The Impacts Of Globalization On Chinese Document Design Tell Us About International Professional Communication (Note: The First Two Chinese Characters Are Not Displayed Correctly. Please See The Actual Document.), Xiaoli Li

All Dissertations

How people from different cultural backgrounds represent themselves and communicate with each other is an intriguing topic in the age of globalization. Using a grounded theory approach, this work investigates how Chinese individuals and companies introduce themselves to a global audience via resumes and annual reports.
To better understand the features of professional communication practices in China today, this work compares and contrasts current resume writing and annual report writing with those in the past, especially before Chinafs entry into the WTO, in order to understand the changes as well as the cultural contexts and cultural motives of these features. …

Impacts Of Psychotropic Pharmaceuticals On Hybrid Striped Bass: Altered Predation Behavior As A Function Of Changes In Brain Chemistry, Joseph Bisesi

All Dissertations

Advances in Analytical Chemistry have led to the detection of low concentrations of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in wastewater treatment plant effluents as well as their receiving waters. Antidepressants are routinely found among these contaminants, but have been shown to be relatively non-toxic at environmentally measured concentrations using traditional toxicity testing techniques. The neurochemical mode of action of antidepressants warrants investigation of the effects these chemicals may have on fish behavior due to the highly conserved nature of neurotransmitter transporter targets. Using a predator prey bioassay designed in our laboratory, previous studies has shown that the antidepressant fluoxetine …

Spectral Engineering Of Optical Fiber Through Active Nanoparticle Doping, Tiffany Lindstrom-James

All Dissertations

The spectral engineering of optical fiber is a method of intentional doping of the core region in order to absorb/emit specific wavelengths of light therby providing enhanced performance over current fibers. Efforts here focused on developing an understanding of optically active nanoparticles based on alkaline earth fluorides that could be easily and homogeneously incorporated into the core of a silica based optical fiber preform and result in efficient and tailorable spectral emissions.
Doped and undoped calcium, strontium and barium fluoride nanoparticles were successfully synthesized and characterized for their physical, chemical, and optical behavior. Distinct spectroscopic differences as a result of …

Characterizing Mechanical Heterogeneity In Cardiovascular Cells, Sandra Deitch

All Dissertations

Most tissue-level mechanical models assume homogeneous mechanical properties within a single cell type. However, measurements of cellular mechanical properties show large variability in whole-cell mechanical properties between cells from a single population. This heterogeneity has been observed in many cell populations and with several measurement techniques but the sources are not yet fully understood. Cell mechanical properties are directly related to the composition and organization of the cytoskeleton, which is physically coupled to neighboring cells through adherens junctions and to underlying matrix scaffolds through focal adhesion complexes. As such, we believe that this high level of heterogeneity can be attributed …

Song Cycles For Soprano By Richard Pearson Thomas, Laura Faith Bateman

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Theoretical Approach To Legitimizing Collaboratively Constructed Knowledge: A Content Analysis Of Wikipedia Science Articles Based On Accidental Collaboration, James Patrick Hutchinson

Dissertations

This study involved an analysis of 147 Wikipedia science articles using content and social network analysis to explore authorial relationships between articles and test a theoretical approach to using accidental collaboration as a tool to legitimize collaboratively constructed knowledge. Contrary to Wikipedia’s tagline of “anyone can edit,” this study found that articles had a small number of prolific contributors and that these contributors had educational background and edit history suggesting they were knowledgeable about the topics to which they contributed. Results also showed that articles found via accidental collaboration tended to be scientific in nature and often had direct subject …

An Ethnography Of Early Childhood Temperament And Goodness Of Fit In The Classroom, Tiffani Sue Martin

Dissertations

A number of researchers have examined temperament as it relates to goodness of fit. Limited qualitative research however, has been conducted in this area. This study is a type of qualitative research called an ethnography with prolonged engagement occurring over a full cycle, one school year in a Kindergarten/1st grade combined classroom. The participants included the teacher and 15 of her students. The researcher’s role in the classroom was that of a participant observer as she conducted observations in the natural setting and gathered information from a number of sources including researcher field notes, teacher field notes, three teacher interviews, …

A Bridge Over Troubled Waters: The Development Of Medical Malpractice Litigation In Brazil, Eduardo Dantas

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This paper aims to demonstrate how medical malpractice litigation is developing in Brazil, and how the Brazilian legal system is dealing with the increase of demands against health care professionals. A brief overlook on the legal structure is provided, highlighting the most important issues being discussed today in Brazilian courts, regarding autonomy, consent, choice, the definition of moral damages, and the influence of the Consumer's Defense Code in litigation regarding health law.

Malpractice In Scandinavia, Vibe Ulfbeck, Mette Hartlev, Mårten Schultz

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The article describes the special Scandinavian patient insurance system which secures compensation for patients in malpractice cases. For all practical purposes, the insurance based systems have replaced ordinary tort law rules in malpractice cases in Scandinavia. Thus, the basic feature of these systems is that proof of fault is not a requirement for obtaining compensation. Other criteria which are more favourable to the patient are applicable. The article concludes that in general the compensations systems have been successful in making it easier for the patients to obtain compensation. However, the systems also face challenges, some of which stem from the …