Digital Commons Network^™

Countries And Capitals, Lynita Hunt

Open Educational Resources

Students will be able to identify and label the countries and capitals of the Hispanic World.

European Trip, Sara Mangrich

Open Educational Resources

Students will learn about and present information about a country from Europe or Eurasia and compare it to another country.

Found Treasure Mural, Jessi Vickers

Open Educational Resources

Students will demonstrate how to use a GPS and a compass correctly to find various hidden "treasures" and then work together as a class to create a multimedia mural based on the found objects.

Frisbee Golf And Gps, Lane Gunderson

Open Educational Resources

To have the students integrate geography skills and concepts into a P.E. activity.

Geography And Government, Michelle Griffen

Open Educational Resources

Students will use geography to understand how people and the environment can work together. We have different local, state, and national governments that have authority over our lives. Specific academic vocabulary helps us communicate in science, social studies, and math.

Homeless Bird, Kelly Davidson, Natasha Cooper

Open Educational Resources

Students will use “Homeless Bird” to identify Indian geography and culture. Students will define vocabulary from the text. Students will locate important geographical places.

Developing An Open Access Croplands Research Database Through Global Collaboration, Tara Baillargeon, Livia Olsen, Harish Maringanti

Library Faculty Research and Publications

This article describes the processes, challenges, and outcomes of a project undertaken by Kansas State University (K-State) Libraries and a global community of researchers. The project, initiated by librarians in the newly created Faculty and Graduate Services Department, involved collaboration with a K-State agronomist. The initial concept was to create an open access database of croplands research submitted by researchers from the Global Research Alliance Croplands Research Group, a consortium of over 30 countries. Due to the project's complexity, it was determined that a more manageable approach would be to pilot the project by including research from only the United …

Introduction Through Latitude And Longitude, Tamara Tyrrell

Open Educational Resources

Students will be able to listen and speak English to describe about themselves and their native country. Students will be able to understand what latitude and longitude are while using geographical tools to locate information.

La Historia De Nuestras Vidas: A Cultural Awareness Lesson Through Immigration Stories, Dawn Shattuck

Open Educational Resources

Students will be able to identify cultural and/or economic conditions that influence one’s desire to migrate to or from a country. Students will become aware of cultural differences and will develop a non-judgmental attitude of acceptance, understanding that there is more than one way to behave or more than one way to organize society. Students will be able to empathize with one from another culture. Students will be able to respect the strengths and weaknesses of cultures.

Mapping The Crusades, Janet K. Wills

Open Educational Resources

Students will create a Google Earth Tour of the First Crusade to Jerusalem. Using a spreadsheet, students will calculate the distance between each of the cities including a final total.

Gram Stains: A Resource For Retrospective Analysis Of Bacterial Pathogens In Clinical Studies, Usha Srinivasan, Sreelatha Ponnalurl, Lisa Villareal, Brenda Gillespie, Ai Wen, Arianna Miles, Brigette Bucholz, Carl F. Marrs, Ram K. Iyer, Dawn Misra, Betsy Foxman

Faculty Work

We demonstrate the feasibility of using qPCR on DNA extracted from vaginal Gram stain slides to estimate the presence and relative abundance of specific bacterial pathogens. We first tested Gram stained slides spiked with a mix of 108 cfu/ml of Escherichia coli and 105cfu/ml of Lactobacillus acidophilus. Primers were designed for amplification of total and species-specific bacterial DNA based on 16S ribosomal gene regions. Sample DNA was pre-amplified with nearly full length 16S rDNA ribosomal gene fragment, followed by quantitative PCR with genera and species-specific 16S rDNA primers. Pre-amplification PCR increased the bacterial amounts; relative proportions of Escherichia coli …

Using A Thinking Skills System To Guide Discussions During A Working Conference On Students With Disabilities Pursuing Stem Fields, Audrey C. Rule, Greg P. Stefanich

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

Students with sensory or motor disabilities are often dissuaded from pursuing science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) careers. They are frequently underprepared to succeed in post-secondary STEM coursework because of inadequate high school preparation and limited post-secondary accommodations. A two-day working conference stimulated dialogue to improve attitudes toward, to better support, and to plan accommodations for students with physical disabilities in STEM areas. Discussion questions during the five small group dialogue sessions that followed panels of speaker presentations were based on Edward de Bono’s (2000) CoRT ten Breadth thinking skills. These thinking skills broaden perception so that thinkers might see …

Mystery Class Sites: Adapted From Journey North Mystery Class, Jan Hill, Anne Hoeper, Lori Stephens

Open Educational Resources

Students will know how sunrise and sunset times can be used to discover exact locations.

Nigeria And Africa: Using Mental Maps To Organize Information, Dr. Kay Weller

Open Educational Resources

Students will draw a mental map of the world from memory. Students will draw a mental map of Africa from memory. Students will generate a list of their life experiences and write an analysis of how those experiences contributed to their perception of Africa as seen on their map.

People On The Move, Noel Hansen, Allison Hendrickson

Open Educational Resources

Students will be able to define the movement terms: internal displaced person, refugee, and migrant. Students will be able to categorize simulated situations (skits performed by the teachers) of people on the move. Students will be able to identify real-life situations using the terms.

Population Pyramids, Anne Hoeper

Open Educational Resources

Students will be aware of population growth in India compared to the United States.

Rice: It Feeds The World, Kelly Davidson

Open Educational Resources

Students will identify countries mentioned in the text and locate them on a world map. Students will use an atlas to identify the climatic conditions necessary for growing rice. Students will explain the movement of cultural traditions from a country or origin to a new country.

Southeast: A Region Of Cultural Diversity, Deloris Ryan

Open Educational Resources

This lesson is the first lesson introducing culture for each of the regions that will be taught throughout the year. For this lesson we will introduce culture to the students by first of all creating a student friendly definition. Then the students read several informational books for them to create a graphic organizer for each of the cultures that they read about.(#1) The students then do a compare and contrast organizer to compare these cultures.(#2) The final part of the lesson is that the students use this organizer to write an opinion paper with evidence to justify their opinion.(#3) We …

Marshalltown, Ia Landmarks Past And Present, Jill Brockman

Open Educational Resources

In this lesson, students will:

-Discover past and present Marshalltown Landmarks and discuss changes in both

-Use Google maps to locate important Marshalltown landmarks

-Write an opinion paragraph that sites evidence behind the reasoning for location of selected landmarks.

How ‘Bout Them Hawks!, Julie Tremmel

Open Educational Resources

Students will learn about the Ioway Indians and others who lived and thrived here while considering the influence of Iowa’s geography on them and on all of us who have followed. The value of primary and secondary resources will be studied.

Teaching The Five Themes Of Geography: One Grain Of Rice At A Time, Kim Daughetee

Open Educational Resources

Students will be able to identify and explain the 5 themes of geography.

The 5 Themes Of Geography: Mystery Colonies, Rebecca Menard

Open Educational Resources

Students will be able to identify each of the 13 colonies using clues based on the 5 themes of geography.

The Irish Immigrant Experience And The Potato Famine: Ireland, 1845-49, Jennifer Broders

Open Educational Resources

Students will understand how the potato blight had an impact on the population of Ireland and affected immigration.

The Silk Road: The Trans-Eurasian Movement Of Goods, Ideas, Art, Science, And Innovation, Lisa Senne

Open Educational Resources

Students will diagram the “route” and identify geographical hardships travelers endured along the Silk Road. Students will be able to explain the purpose of the Silk Road, the impact it had on early trading, and it’s modern day relationship to international trade. Students will be able to visually track the spread of goods and ideas across Eurasia.

Understanding The Wisdom Of A People, Kathy Sundstedt

Open Educational Resources

Students will compare Yoruba and United States values.

Positive Religious/Spiritual Coping Among African American Men Living With Hiv In Jails And/Or Prisons, E. James Baesler, Valerian J. Derlega, James Lolley

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Justice For All, Rebecca K. Lee

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tracing The Evolution Of Chiropractic Students’ Confidence In Clinical And Patient Communication Skills During A Clinical Internship: A Multi-Methods Study, Mark Hecimovich, Simone Volet

Faculty Publications

Background: Anecdotal evidence points to variations in individual students’ evolving confidence in clinical and patient communication skills during a clinical internship. A better understanding of the specific aspects of internships that contribute to increasing or decreasing confidence is needed to best support students during the clinical component of their study.

Methods: A multi-method approach, combining two large-scale surveys with 269 students and three in-depth individual interviews with a sub-sample of 29 students, was used to investigate the evolution of change in student confidence during a 10-month long internship. Change in levels of confidence in patient communication and clinical skills was …

International Competition For Satellite-Based Navigation System Services, Robert F. Donnelly

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The goal of this work is to review the current state of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) development and its potential impact on the social, economic, and political dynamics of the various states fielding the systems. The most recognizable GNSS is the US GPS. It is the only operational system functioning at the time of this writing and has become part of the global commons. GPS, by virtue of its uniqueness, is considered the 'gold standard' of satellite based positioning, navigation, and timing systems. This uniqueness has also enabled the US to fully capitalize on the sizable economic dividends gained …

Moving The Archivist Closer To The Creator: Implementing Integrated Archival Policies For Born Digital Photography At Colleges And Universities, Brian Keough, Mark D. Wolfe

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

This article discusses integrated approaches to the management and preservation of born digital photography. It examines the changing practices among photographers, and the needed relationships between the photographers using digital technology and the archivists responsible for acquiring their born digital images. Special consideration is given to technical issues surrounding preservation and access of image formats. It explores how integrated policies can enhance the success of managing born digital photographs in an academic setting and illustrates the benefits and challenges to acquisition, description, and dissemination of born digital photographs. It advocates for the archivist’s active involvement in the photographer’s image management …