Digital Commons Network^™

The Associations Between Student Perceptions Of The Classroom Psycho-Social Learning Environment And Motivation To Learn Chinese, Chongmin Ji

Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between students’ perception of their classroom psychosocial learning environment and motivation to learn Mandarin Chinese, which can support teachers in creating a good classroom environment. The students took two surveys (Likert scale and open-ended questions) that measured their perception of the classroom environment and the learning motivation. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, percentage) and inferential statistics (simple correlation, multiple regression, and two sample t-test) were used to analyze the quantitative data. The open-ended questions were coded and categorized based on the student responses. There were statistically significant associations between student …

Decolonizing Instructional Design Through Auto/Ethnography, Carolyn Marie Delorme

Education

Instructional design is the systematic process of planning and developing learning environments. In contemporary educational contexts, this has come to include also the intentional integration of digital and Internet technologies. Instructional design practitioners are trained to employ formal theoretical process models to guide their practices, roughly analogous to the ways in which a quilt maker may utilize a pattern and systematic process to guide making a quilt. There are few developed models of instructional design to be found in the literature that adequately attend to cultural orientation and none have been developed from within non-dominant cultural Indigenous education contexts. Furthermore, …

Responsive Polymer-Based Colliods For Drug Delivery And Bioconversion, Olena Kudina

Coatings and Polymeric Materials

Responsive polymer-based colloids (RPBC) are the colloidal structures containing responsive polymeric component which is able to adapt its physico-chemical properties to the environment by undergoing chemical and/or conformational changes. The goal of the dissertation is to develop and characterize several groups of RPBC with different morphological complexity and explore their potential in drug delivery and bioconversion. The role of RPBC morphology for these specific applications is discussed in details. Three groups of RPBC were fabricated: i. polymeric micelles; ii. mixed polymeric micelles; iii. hybrid polymer-inorganic particles. All fabricated RPBCs contain polymeric component in their structure. The dissertation investigates how the …

Zeroth Order Resonator (Zor) Based Rfid Antenna Design, Muhammad Mubeen Masud

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Meander-line and multi-layer antennas have been used extensively to design compact UHF radio frequency identification (RFID) tags; however the overall size reduction of meander-line antennas is limited by the amount of parasitic inductance that can be introduced by each meander-line segment, and multi-layer antennas can be too costly. In this study, a new compact antenna topology for passive UHF RFID tags based on zeroth order resonant (ZOR) design techniques is presented. The antenna consists of lossy coplanar conductors and either inter-connected inter-digital capacitor (IDC) or shunt inductor unit-cells with a ZOR frequency near the operating frequency of the antenna. Setting …

In Vitro Enrichment Of Phosphorylated Proteins From Synchronously Excysted Cryptosporidium Parvum, Ruchi Joshi

Environmental and Conservation Sciences

Cryptosporidium is an enteric protozoan parasite that causes cryptosporidiosis and there is no effective drug treatment available. Two studies were conducted. In the first, a novel protocol was developed for the rapid in vitro excystation of Cryptosporidium parvum. Rapid excystation (release of infectious sporozoites from the environmental oocyst stage) is necessary to study molecular dynamics during the early stages of Cryptosporidium development. The developed excystation assay (Joshi assay) used an HCl (pH 2.5) oocyst pretreatment instead of the bleach pretreatment that is more frequently used in excystation assays. The Joshi assay achieved >90% excystation in 10 min. This rapid, reproducible, …

Writing (Dirty) New Media: Technorhetorical Opacity, Chimeras, And Dirty Ontology, Steven Reginald Hammer

English

There is little doubt that emerging technologies are changing the way we act, interact, create, and consume. Yet despite increased access to these technologies, consumers of technology too seldom interrogate the politics, subjectivities, and limitations of these technologies and their interfaces. Instead, many consumers approach emerging technologies as objective tools to be consumed, and engage in creative processes uncritically. This disquisition, following the work of Hawisher, Selfe, and Selfe, seeks ways to approach the problem of a “rhetoric of technology” that uncritically praises new technologies by drawing on avant-garde art traditions and object-oriented ontology. I argue that, by following the …

Inclusive Peer Review Activities In College Writing Classes: Autistic Students' Perspectives And Ways Of Participating, Cody Michael Kaser

English

To date, no composition research exists involving autistic college students and peer review. The literature regarding autism suggests that autistic students are likely to experience, value, and participate in peer review differently than nonautistic students. The study compared survey responses from an experimental group, autistic students, and a demographic comparison group, nonautistic students. The data suggests that autistic and nonautistic participants experience, value, and participate in peer response activities in many similar ways, with some general and specific differences supported by autism research. Generally, fewer autistic participants indicated positive experiences of peer review than nonautistic students. Minor differences in the …

School Counseling Program Models Utilized By School Districts, Tracy L. Jackson

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

School counseling district supervisors find themselves at the center of selecting and implementing comprehensive school counseling program models for their school districts. It is important to examine the selection of models to determine if proper services are being extended to students. The purpose of this study was to explore district supervisors' selection of comprehensive school counseling program models. Model selection was assessed by examining district supervisors' ratings of the degree to which their school district's comprehensive school counseling program was associated with traits of the most popular models, and if school district and personal characteristics influenced the selection process. The …

Moving At A Glacial Pace: What Can State Attorneys General Do About Sec Inattention To Nondisclosure Of Financially Material Risks Arising From Climate Change?, Nina Hart

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

In recent years, two certainties have created a mass of uncertainty for public companies. First, companies must disclose material financial information in their annual statements, known as 10-Ks, to the SEC. Second, climate change poses financial risks to the way businesses operate. Together, these principles have generated significant uncertainty within the regulatory and law enforcement arenas. Specifically, companies and law enforcement officials are uncertain about what risks stemming from climate change must be disclosed in 10-Ks, and how that information should be presented.

The actor primarily responsible for clarifying disclosure requirements is the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). This Note …

Flag State Regulation Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Regulatory Authority Of Flags Of Convenience And Franchised Registries, Alyssa Kutner, Meredith Wilensky

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

International shipping accounts for approximately 2-3% percent of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Under business as usual conditions, emissions from the sector are expected to double by 2050. The quantity of GHG emissions from shipping combined with the potential for reductions using existing technologies make the sector a strategic target for mitigation measures.

In February of 2014, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law published a white paper that concluded that sovereign states have broad authority under international law to regulate GHG emissions from vessels within their registry. However, many registries are structured such that the flag state has …

The Economic Impacts Of Annual Community Festivals: A Case Of The Sturgis Falls Celebration, 2013, Chelsea Mae Tolle

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examines spending patterns and economic impact of visitors to the community of Cedar Falls, Iowa for the annual Sturgis Falls Celebration. The following aspects of festival tourism development were addressed: (1) visitors’ travel motivations and satisfaction; (2) visitors’ spending patterns and (3) the economic impacts of Sturgis Falls Celebration visitors in Black Hawk and contiguous counties.

The data for the study was collected using a questionnaire based intercept survey that was distributed to the attendees at the Sturgis Falls Celebration during the festival in 2013. Of the residents and visitors in attendance at the festival, 539 people participated …

Italian Immigration In The United States, Giuseppe Piccoli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is a historical research that used content analysis of secondary sources (newspapers, magazines, literature, movies and sociological studies) in order to describe Italian immigration in America. The research is focused on Italian-American communities in the areas of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston.

Between 1880 and 1920, Italian-Americans became one of the largest ethnic groups in the United States. For a long period, they faced discrimination and lived at the edge of the American society. Education, immigration and urban policies influenced the social structure of the Italian communities. Later, second generation immigrants started writing books and making …

Cultivating A Culture Of Success In Catholic Secondary Schools In Tanzania, Peter Felix Asantebwana

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many people agree that a "child's teacher can make a bigger difference to his or her educational success than most other school variables" (Darling-Hammond, 2006, p. 19). Quality education as a result of quality teaching has been a subject of discussion in many countries (Karras, & Wolhuter, 2010). According to Nyerere (1967), "the purpose of education is to pass from one generation to the next the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of the society, and to prepare the young people for their future membership of the society and their active participation in its maintenance or development" (p. 268). Following the history …

Embracing Commonplace: Creating Ground For A Life Of Rhetorically Engaged Civic Action, Jill K. Burk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project responds to the question: How do communication educators encourage students to enact the communicative practices necessary for a life of rhetorically engaged civic action? In responding to this question, the academic field of communication studies is recognized as a site for implementing the lessons of rhetoric, democracy, and civic engagement. This project contributes to the civic engagement scholarship from a communication studies perspective by foregrounding human communication as an essential component of the civic engagement process. As an interpretive inquiry, the philosophical thought and the pragmatic action of twentieth-century rhetorician and social activist Jane Addams (1860-1935) provides a …

Sojourning In The Margin: Living As Wives Of International Students, Mengchun Chiang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Whereas concerns for international students frequently appear in existing literature, little attention is paid to wives of international students (WoIS). This study aims at describing and understanding lives of WoIS in the United States as sojourners in the margin. The research begins with a literature review and an examination of theoretical frames: from the cultural shock literature, acculturative stress literature, to atheoretical studies; and from cross-cultural psychology, cultural psychology, to indigenous psychology. Methodologically, this study is qualitative in nature, utilizing interview data from WoIS. In addition to a description and interpretation of the WoIS's narratives, the study also wrestles with …

The New Endangered Species: Community-Anchoring Public Schools, Karen Ferrick-Roman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Often, school closures are seen as a "natural order" of events in communities with extreme economic struggles. My work challenges this premise.

In Pennsylvania, communities where schools selected for closure are often composed of rural, largely white or urban, largely minority, populations living at the margins amid the persistent yet growing economic divide. Within this milieu, communities and people at the margins are swept up in general educational trends, such as the risk of charter schools, siphoning students and funding from traditional, community-anchoring public schools and perpetuating systematic power and economic inequities, driven by political and philanthropic initiatives. The economic …

Disconnects: Expectation And Experience In Intimate Interpersonal Relationships, Kristen Jenkins Hark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the latter part of the 20th century and early 21st century, egalitarian views regarding gender communication have been dominant in the theory and practice of intimate interpersonal communication (IPC). During the same period research continued to report that the healthiest and most satisfying relationships fit within patterns of traditional marriage. Traditional intimate relationships tend to enact complementarian practices regarding gender roles in intimate IPC. This raises the question how might an exploration of a minimalist complementarian view that informs traditional relationships assist in sustaining healthy intimate IPC today? In the literature concerning the health of intimate relationships, namely marriage …

Promoting Fan Labor And "All Things Web": A Case Study Of Tosh.0, Rose Helens-Hart Ph.D.

Applied Business Faculty Publications

Television programs are increasingly paired with interactive media platforms in attempts to reach fragmented audiences though a medium where millions are now seeking entertainment—the Internet. Programs' online presences are cultivated and promoted by paid staffers and unpaid fan laborers. Producers monetize fan activity by guiding its form on their sites. Utilizing the concepts of sticky and spreadable media, an analysis of the Comedy Central show Tosh.0 Web site demonstrates how producers can promote particular types of interactivity through the content and architecture of a multimodal Web site. By designing a site that centralizes the use of popular social media, the …

Flash Hydrolysis Of Microalgae Biomass For Biofuels Intermediates Production, Protein Extraction, And Nutrients Recycle, Jose Luis Garcia Moscoso

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Microalgae have shown much higher growth rates and productivity when compared to conventional agricultural crops, aquatic plants and tree species, requiring much less land area than other biodiesel feedstock. To harness that potential the hydrothermal liquefaction of algae biomass was studied and a new process called "Flash Hydrolysis" was developed to use water under subcritical conditions, this process capitalizes on the difference in reaction kinetics of algae polymeric components and fractionates proteins in liquid phase in seconds of residence time.

The main objectives for this study are: Analyze the effect of temperature in FH process to maximize the extraction of …

Startup Lawyers At The Outskirts, Abraham Cable

Faculty Scholarship

Startup lawyering is a distinctive style of law practice first observed in Silicon Valley decades ago. Like other business lawyers, startup lawyers form entities, protect intellectual property rights, and document financing transactions for clients starting new businesses. But startup lawyers also encourage entrepreneurship more broadly by promoting Silicon Valley’s practices and conventions, such as standard contract terms that streamline negotiations with venture capital investors.

Today, startup lawyers practice not only in established entrepreneurial centers such as Silicon Valley or Boston, but also in the shadow of economic development efforts to promote entrepreneurship. In this new context, startup lawyering is susceptible …

Enterprise Budget For Benchtop Production Of Salad Greens, Becky Sideman

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Educators' Perceptions Of Twitter For Educational Technology Professional Development: A Uses And Gratifications Expectancy Model, Douglas C. Strahler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the years, the practice of professional development amongst educators has evolved to adapt to the needs of a changing society and a shift to online professional development (OPD) opportunities has become popular for meeting the needs of educators. As a result, social media platforms, like Twitter, have grown in popularity as outlets for OPD; however, little research has been conducted to evaluate why educators are seeking professional development opportunities through social media platforms.

This exploratory study proposed to examine how educators' uses and gratifications expectancy of Twitter for professional development influences their perceived e-learning experience. In addition, it sought …

Crisis Clinician's Lived Experience Of Clinical Supervision, Elizabeth A. Sysak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Crisis intervention first responders experience both small and large-scale disasters that can leave lasting negative impacts on crisis clinicians. However, little is known about how clinicians receive support for their personal and professional well being in clinical supervision. This hermeneutic phenomenological study explored the lived experience of crisis clinicians to understand how and if they receive support through clinical supervision in their work in crisis intervention. This study found that crisis clinicians struggle to manage the complex emotions that accompany the unique work of crisis intervention. This study also found that crisis clinicians are not receiving the support they need …

A Decentralized Approach To Confront The Debasement Of Black Male Student Athletes Who Attend Pwi's, Ronald William Whitaker Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The debasement and "niggering " of Black male student athletes who attend PWI's is an issue that has been well documented since the mid to late sixties (Edwards, 1969, Olson, 1968). This population has been negatively stereotyped as being superior athletically, but inferior intellectually (Edwards, 1984). Both scholars and practitioners have focused on other pervasive issues including: (1) the academic achievement gap that exist between Black male student athletes and their White counterparts (Harper, 2013), (2) the commercialization of college athletics (Beamon, 2008; Donnor, 2005), and (3) negative stereotypes that continue to plague Black male student athletes (Hodge, Burden, Robinson, …

The Race For Privilege In Blackness: Transformative Leadership In Traversing Space In Search Of Black Queer Cool, Tiffany Wilkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This portraiture project, incorporating auto-ethnographic elements, investigating how African American educational systems became systems of oppression faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth of color, intentionally blends artist in creative glance with researcher in systemic inquiry and knowledge gathering (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Hoffman-Davis, 1997; Ellis et al., 2011).

An aspiring African American, gender non-conforming, lesbian leader is an auto-ethnographic portraiture exemplar: a counter-narrative of transcending obstacles overshadowing accessing college, graduate school, career success in education; doctoral ambitions with audacity within classes of pervasive racism, heterosexism and homophobia. Parallel instances of critical confrontations in predominantly Black secondary schools and …

[Introduction To] Anti-Americanism And The Rise Of World Opinion, Monti Narayan Datta

Bookshelf

In recent years, the US has seen its public popularity ratings around the world plummet under the presidency of George W. Bush, and subsequently soar upon the election of Barack Obama. The issue of anti-Americanism has received considerable attention from policy-makers, pundits and scholars alike. It is perhaps surprising then that systematic empirical studies of its consequences are still few and far between. Drawing from a wealth of research data, interviews and surveys of social media, this book directly examines pro- and anti-American views and asks what we can learn about the nature and impact of world opinion. By treating …

Mouse Oocyte Maturation And Embryo Development After Exposure To Vemurafenib (Plx4032), An Anti-Melanoma B-Raf V600e Inhibitor, Bo Liu

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Vemurafenib is a selective B-Raf^V600E inhibitor in melanoma targeted therapy which also inhibits the wild type B- and C-Raf. In oocyte maturation, the C-Raf/MAPK pathway acts as an important self-enhancing and promoting system, w hereas in embryo development, the C-Raf/M APK pathway participates in pre- and post- implantation embryo proliferation and differentiation.

The hypothesis: Vemurafenib has detrimental effects on oocyte maturation and/or embryo development. Mouse oocytes and one cell (1C) mouse embryos were tested by ex vivo culturing with Vemurafenib in serial dilution. Oocytes were evaluated by cell cycle morphology, spindle formation and chromosomal alignment by im munofluorescence (IF) …

Codes In Context How States, Markets, And Civil Society Shape Adherence To Global Labor Standards, Jodi L. Short, Michael W. Toffel, Melissa Oullet

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Production Of Destruxins From Metarhizium Spp. Fungi In Artificial Medium And In Endophytically Colonized Cowpea Plants, P. S. Golo, D. R. Gardner, Michelle M. Grilley, Jon Y. Takemoto, S. B. Krasnoff, M. S. Pires, E. K. K. Férnandes, V. R. Bittencourt, Donald W. Roberts

Biology Faculty Publications

Destruxins (DTXs) are cyclic depsipeptides produced by many Metarhizium isolates that have long been assumed to contribute to virulence of these entomopathogenic fungi. We evaluated the virulence of 20 Metarhizium isolates against insect larvae and measured the concentration of DTXs A, B, and E produced by these same isolates in submerged (shaken) cultures. Eight of the isolates (ARSEF 324, 724, 760, 1448, 1882, 1883, 3479, and 3918) did not produce DTXs A, B, or E during the five days of submerged culture. DTXs were first detected in culture medium at 2–3 days in submerged culture. Galleria mellonella and Tenebrio molitor …

The Darfur Name Game: Use Of Realpolitik By The United Nations In Decision-Making And Intervention, Angela Overton

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Violence has plagued the westernmost region of Sudan, known as Darfur, since 2003. The conflict contains elements of political and ethnic divisiveness, desertification, and resource scarcity. The violence there continues to date. Many have declared genocide in Darfur while others maintain that the conflict is instead a crime against humanity. The labeling of the conflict is critical because this process determines the interventions available. This paper focuses on the decision-making process of the United Nations and its Security Council to determine if the labeling of the conflict impacted the discourse and intervention decisions by those bodies. Discourse analysis results indicate …