Digital Commons Network^™

Better Emergency Care For The Deaf Population Through Improved Communication, Noelle Anderson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This piece outlines the elements that were involved in my project designed to improve communication between the Deaf population of Bowling Green, KY and the Fire Department, Police Department, and Medical Center. This was done by placing the burden of facilitating communication on the emergency response teams through creating training for them in essential American Sign Language (ASL) signs as specified by the Deaf community. These ASL signs were collected from the Deaf Community through standardized interviews and then utilized to create a training video, poster charts, and brochures.

Hispanic Health Initiative: Creating A Sustainable Health Fair For An Immigrant Community, Chaz Arnold

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Previous demographic and social interest research conducted in Bowling Green, Kentucky has prompted concern for access to quality healthcare for immigrant populations, specifically for the Hispanic community. The missions of the preliminary investigation and subsequent implementation of a sustainable health fair for the Spanish-speaking community were to assess the primary health concerns that many Hispanics face and offer long-term solutions to collectively resolve these health issues. Preliminary investigation involved researching population-specific health statistics in order to quantify prevalence of certain conditions which were, in turn, prioritized in terms of necessity to address. Further research reflected personal concern from the target …

The Echo: May 16, 2014, Taylor University

2013-2014 (Volume 101)

End of an Era – Senior sojourner – Top five news events of the week – Seniors enter MAHE program – In The Loop – School’s done, but summer’s just begun – Weather Forecast – Lost in space? – The merit myth – Around The World – Zombies, hackers and antigravity karts – Nerdster – The road ahead – The market equation – An ‘au pair’ summer – Ask Angelina – Editor’s Note – Graduates extend community through sports and service – DC Recipe of the week – Echograms #TaylorU -- #TaylorU’s Top Tweets – Narratives set to roll – …

Emergencies: Risk And Personal Preparedness Measures, Charleen C. Mcneill

Nursing Theses and Dissertations

Personal emergency preparedness efforts that increase the resiliency of individuals and communities and decrease the risk for poor outcomes after an emergency are increasingly of interest to health care leaders, policy makers, and governmental entities. The limited capacity for external aid to provide relief in the first 72 hours after an emergency dictates that individuals and communities become prepared to sustain themselves for this initial period. Failure to prepare for an emergency can result in a multitude of negative outcomes. Those who are economically vulnerable are particularly at risk, including a high risk for negative health outcomes. An initial review …

Les Villes Jumelées: Finding Bowling Green A Francophone Sister City, Sarah Kinnicutt

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The Villes Jumelées Project seeks to encourage the study of French language and culture in Bowling Green by creating a relationship with a francophone country. To do this, we have paired with a French-speaking high school in Porrentruy, Switzerland. WKU students of French are participating in virtual exchanges via a class webpage. Eventually, a cultural exchange of regional products and perhaps historical documents will take place. Ultimately, this project could serve as the groundwork for a new sister city relationship between Bowling Green and Porrentruy. As Western Kentucky University strives to become a university with international reach, it is important …

Adding Vision To A Quadrotor: A Design-Build-Test Adventure, Darren Tinker

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Quadrotors are small and exceptionally agile vehicles with maneuverability that permits both indoor and outdoor flight. The vast majority of quadrotors are flown autonomously as drones or remotely by a human-operator. Applications of quadrotors range from commercial deliveries, to military and law reconnaissance as well as research tools for various fields. Our lab at Western Kentucky University built a quadrotor in 2013, and we have been exploring various modifications to refine its performance and various applications in which it could be productively employed. Recently, research has focused on the addition of a camera to add capabilities for first person view …

The Influence Of Cultural And Social Capital On Post-Baccalaureate Students’ Decision To Enter And Complete Graduate School, Kelly L. Alig

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Despite increased diversity noted in undergraduate education in recent years (Antonio, 2003), students from non-majority groups continue to be underrepresented in graduate school. Many research studies (Perna, 2000, 2004; Perna & Titus, 2005; Rowan-Kenyon, 2007; Walpole, 2003, 2007b) have used measures of cultural and social capital to increase the explanatory power of the traditional econometric framework in college choice models, but have not used these sociological variables as a primary focus. The purpose of this correlational study was to explore the influence of cultural capital and social capital on the decision of bachelor’s degree completers to enter graduate school and …

Leadership And Communication As Opportunities For Growth: Refining Discipline With Cross Cultural Relationships Beyond The Classroom, Sabrina D. Sanchez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Overt disciplinary tactics disproportionately affect scholars of color. This field project aims to shed light on discipline policies across a variety of learning environments and provide scholars of color with the opportunity to self-advocate. I utilize a culturally relevant pedagogy in my framework component to stress the need for reciprocal relationships based on dignity and mutual respect. I provide effective alternative strategies, framed by culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) and Gregory and Mosely’s theory of culturally relevant discipline (CRD), for addressing misconduct that emphasize stronger communication and greater leadership opportunities. My project consists of three parts: a modified communications policy in …

Expedition, Evan M. Crankshaw

Graduate School of Art Theses

Exoticism presents fantasy constructs of Otherness which make up a discourse of problematic “truths.” This discourse is reflected and perpetuated in culture-items (art, literature, music, etc.) which can be identified as “exotica.” On one level, exotica simply reinforces these “truths,” but it also offers potential revelations relating to the exotic construct itself, a collection of fictions so elaborate and vast that it may be said to have its own history. Exotica can be described as the reflexive form of that alternate history; it is also a fantasy zone which reveals a desire on the part of the exoticizer to escape …

Educational Policies Committee Program Proposal, Emma Eccles Jones College Of Education And Human Services, May 16, 2014, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Utah State University requests approval to offer a specialization in Audiology within the existing Disability Disciplines PhD Program.

In Between The Dots And Dashes: Telegrams And The Mediation Of Intimacy In The Golden Bowl, Sean Jemison

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Using a poststructural and reader-response theoretical framework, the author explores competing ideas of interpretation, epistemology, and the problematic nature of truth and meaning in Henry James’s novel, The Golden Bowl. The author analyzes the ways in which emergent nineteenth century communication technologies, specifically how telegraphy both mediates and facilitates intimacy in a modern landscape. James anticipates modern forms of social media by exploring the nuances and the potential erotic nature of mediated communication and knowledge.

A Face With A View, Cassie S. Jones

Graduate School of Art Theses

This thesis serves to examine my practice as a visual artist. In its contents I consider both the internal image and the external image and the constant negotiation that happens between these two sets of images. What comes to represent the internal is my own image, in particular, my face. What comes to represent the external are prevailing images of socially idealized beauty. Likewise, I argue that the face becomes especially important in this negotiation as it is the intersection between the internal and the external; the self and the social. Using artists such as Vito Acconci, Orlan, and Andy …

In Pursuit Of Distant Horizons, Whitney Polich

Graduate School of Art Theses

Our lasting human desire to rationalize the phenomena of nature manifests as ceaseless attempts to fix fluid landscapes within the rigid boundaries of an image. Each landscape with its own physical language, rooted in the temporal and subjective particularities of sense—taste, touch, smell, sound, and sight—requires a lived immersion to be read and as such, eludes static interpretation or expression. The physical horizon provides both a physical and metaphorical reminder of the limits we constantly find ourselves confronted with—those limits of perception, language, and knowledge—as we seek to expresses the immediate experience and profound vastness of a world far exceeding …

Se Puede Y Se Debe: Educating Heritage Students, Edward Pinto, Itzia Luna, Isaac Meza

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

Teaching heritage students requires a wide variety of best practices that focus on the development of the students’ vocabulary, cultural competence, and grammar, in addition to the four language skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking). I will focus on the best practices of encouraging students to read many genres, providing a range of writing topics, assigning oral interviews with the community, and granting students the freedom to speak both English and Spanish in the classroom. Another effective teaching strategy for heritage language learners is using a macro-approach.

Se Puede Y Se Debe: Educating Heritage Students, Isaac Meza, Itzia Luna, Edward Pinto

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

There are many challenges in teaching heritage language learners because of the different levels of linguistic proficiency, cultural competence and identity. In the case of Spanish heritage speakers in the Central Washington region, most of them share a common background: their families come from rural areas in Mexico, and therefore, speak a Spanish vernacular that stigmatizes them. While some critics argue that it is important to teach a formal variety of Spanish and improve students’ writing skills, Kim Potowski (2002) contends that error correction should not be the framework. It would be more beneficial if heritage language teachers expanded their …

Bob Or Bop? A Phonological Investigation Into The Markedness Differential Hypothesis And The Subset Principle, Clara Hodges

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

This paper investigates the predictive powers of the Markedness Differential Hypothesis (MDH) and the Subset Principle (SP), two important hypotheses in second language acquisition. MDH examines the markedness values of different cross-linguistic forms and predicts that second language learners will acquire unmarked forms before acquiring marked forms, while SP predicts the opposite. To test these hypotheses, production of word-final voiced obstruent stops and fricatives by Indonesian learners of English was examined. Because previous studies of a phonological nature seem to point to the MDH as an explanation for directionality of difficulty, similar results were expected here. The findings suggest that …

“L'Homme En Animal,” Human Animals, Michael Johnson, Lyndsey Burkette, Natalie Andrus, Victoria Zencak

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

In conjunction with World Languages Day (May 2, 2014), students from the French program will be staging a bilingual French-English performance of The Complete Fables of Jean de la Fontaine with musical interludes from Isabelle Aboulker's adaptation of the fables for a children's opera. La Fontaine wrote during the reign of Louis XIV and was a keen observer of social dynamics at the court of Versailles; his fables contain valuable lessons on the nature of power that still hold true today. Moreover, La Fontaine's observations about the continuities between animal nature and human nature fly in the face of his …

Explorers Of The Caribbean : The TaíNo People And Their History - An Original Resource For Social Studies In Upper Elementary Grades, Razi Abdur-Rahman

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Presents a study of taíno history and society in the Caribbean for upper elementary grade levels.

What Will You Remember Most? Part Ii : A Comparative Analysis Of Elementary School Student Responses Based On Single-Visit Tours At The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Kelsey Mcmillan

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This thesis analyzes and compares two different types of distribution processes of response cards that are filled out by students at the end of single-visit tours at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, NY.

Folk Music : Connecting Young Children And Their Families To American Roots, Liana Stampur

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper will uncover the similarities between American folk music and Central and South American songs of revolution as a way to connect new immigrants to American culture.

The Academic And Cultural Adaptation Of Chinese International Students At Umass Boston: The Struggles And Progress From The Perspectives Of Students And Professors, Pingping Chen, Theodora Chocos, Lorena Fuentes

English Faculty Publication Series

This panel will articulate the struggles and progress of Chinese international students in their learning processes at UMass Boston. Additionally, the challenges some professors have faced in teaching Chinese international students and the pedagogical practice they have used to engage these learners in their courses will be addressed.

This panel was presented as part of the 2014 8th Annual University Conference on Teaching, Learning, and Technology on May 15, 2014. The theme of the conference was "Teaching both What and How for Deep Learning at Every Level."

Ergonomically Designing Art Objects, Ambika Subramaniam

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

The following thesis examines the work of Ambika Subramaniam, in particular her thesis installation Ergonomically Designing Art Objects, for the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture at Washington University in St. Louis. Based within a discussion of semiotics, the thesis researches furniture signification and tracks its evolution through traditional form, ergonomic function, and consumed product. Major points include the ways in which objects are capable of collapsing and retaining the semiotic divide between a sign and referent, and how that signification relates to contemporary design-oriented products. Using the chair as the exemplifying object, the thesis installation questions how objects have …

Genre Fusion: A New Approach To History, Fiction, And Memory In Contemporary Spain, Sara J. Brenneis

Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures

Although the boom in historical fiction and historiography about Spain's recent past has found an eager readership, these texts are rarely studied as two halves of the same story. With Genre Fusion: A New Approach to History, Fiction, and Memory in Contemporary Spain, Sara J. Brenneis argues that fiction and nonfiction written by a single author and focused on the same historical moment deserve to be read side-by-side. By proposing a literary model that examines these genres together, Genre Fusion gives equal importance to fiction and historiography in Spain. In her book, Brenneis develops a new theory of "genre …

Center Stage: Operatic Culture And Nation Building In Nineteenth-Century Central Europe, Philipp Ther

Central European Studies

Grand palaces of culture, opera theaters marked the center of European cities like the cathedrals of the Middle Ages. As opera cast its spell, almost every European city and society aspired to have its own opera house, and dozens of new theaters were constructed in the course of the "long" nineteenth century. At the time of the French Revolution in 1789, only a few, mostly royal, opera theaters, existed in Europe. However, by the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries nearly every large town possessed a theater in which operas were performed, especially in Central Europe, the region upon …

Matrilineal Asset Inheritance, Female Bargaining Power, And Household Welfare In Malawi, Nicholas T. Garcia

Master's Theses

Matrilineal inheritance practices in Malawi exogenously determine female land holdings at the time of marriage, allowing for the identification of the effect of increased female bargaining power on household consumption decisions. I use the matrilineal ethnicity of the head of household as an instrument for the share of total household land inherited by the female head or male head’s wife. I find that child’s height-for-age decreases with female assets, and evidence suggesting increased consumption from households’ own production. Since the food basket from own consumption is high in carbs but not nutritious, long-term child health suffers despite receiving more resources …

Beyond Assumptions: How Urban Students View And Practice Digital Literacies In And Out Of School, Storey Mecoli

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This qualitative, ethnographic case study investigates digital literacy practices and perceptions of students at an urban public high school in the Boston metropolitan area comprising a racially, ethnically, linguistically, and economically diverse student body, an under-studied demographic. The study compares in-school and out-of-school literacy practices and posits the role schools might play in preparing learners. The study examines digital literacy practices among student based on information gathered through focus groups, survey methods, and interviews. Three controlling questions guided the study:

1. What digital literacy practices are students in Washington High School engaging in outside of school?
2. What purposes do these youth …

Library Portal 2.0: The Social Research Management System, Apostolos Koutropoulos

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Library 2.0 (L2) has been discussed in depth in library circles in recent years. This article looks at L2 initiatives and technology implementation with regard to L2 and proposes a reboot, repositioning the library portal as a Social Research Management System (SRMS). This SRMS adheres to the L2 principles of purposeful, user-driven, library services. The SRMS is envisioned as the center of academic research and activity at universities, not as a peripheral tool. Creating a new generation library portal (the SRMS) is a group endeavor, thus by utilizing both on-campus and peer resources, the realization of the faceted, modularized, SRMS …

How Professors Infuse Critical Thinking Into College Courses, Nancy K. Lennon

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Abstract

The purpose of this case study was to explore professors’ understandings about how they infuse critical thinking within Signature courses in one private Catholic university, where a strong commitment exists to develop students’ critical thinking skills through the Core Curriculum. This qualitative study investigated the views of 12 professors in 6 disciplines as to how they approach the teaching and assessment of critical thinking skills within three Signature courses of the Core Curriculum.

Data collection included documentation and one-on-one interviews with the professors, who taught Signature courses during the Spring 2011 semester. Through a cross analysis of the data,the …

Assessing Information Literacy Competency Of Arts Faculty Students At The University Of Dhaka, Md. Maidul Islam, Md. Anisur Rahman

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The prime aim of this study is to assess Information Literacy Competency (ILC) of the Arts faculty students at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and to determine their strengths and weaknesses. In general it was found that students had limited skills in the area of information literacy, as it is not discussed extensively in their academic course curriculum. This study urges the incorporation of an information literacy program in the course curriculum and more writing, discussion and other relevant issues that will make the students more information literate. The findings of this study show Arts faculty students agree that information …

Our Festschrift For Allen: An Introduction And Conclusion, David Carson Berry

Gamut: Online Journal of the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic

This essay offers the editor’s commentary on A Music-Theoretical Matrix: Essays in Honor of Allen Forte, a Festschrift serialized in five installments (2009–2013) in the online music-theory journal Gamut. The Festschrift consists of twenty-two articles by Forte’s former doctoral advisees, and three special features: a previously unpublished article by Forte on Gershwin songs, a collection of tributes and reminiscences from forty-two of his former advisees, and an annotated register of his publications and advisees. (The complete content of the Festschrift is given in an Appendix.) The essay provides general information about the Festschrift: how it originated, how it …