Digital Commons Network^™

Standards-Based Portfolio Assessment: How To Unveil What Students Authentically Understand, Ann M. Carlock

All Theses And Dissertations

Portfolio Assessment is a form of testing students’ knowledge, skills and understandings that is credited as an accurate measure for teachers to identify the nature and levels of student literacy. Such assessment helps teachers to have a heightened awareness of the level of students’ degree of learning. Teachers can better align their instructional strategies to best support the various students’ learning styles and natural differentiation of learning occurs within the classroom. An additional benefit is that Portfolio Assessment increases reflection opportunities for both students and teachers. There is an increase in learner agency in which students take a greater sense …

Sfbt 2.0: The Next Generation Of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Has Already Arrived, Mark Mckergow

Journal of Solution Focused Practices

No abstract provided.

Scale Development And Psychometric Qualities Of The Resilience Doughnut Tool. A Valid, Solution­ Focused And Ecological Measure Of Resilience With Australian Adolescents, Lyn Worsley, Odin Hjemdal

Journal of Solution Focused Practices

The Resilience Doughnut is an ecological and Solution-Focused model outlining the seven contexts where resilience skills can be developed. The premise of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the online resilience doughnut measurement tool. The analysis contains item analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Each context was explored as a separate subtest. The results showed the model to be a good fit with Cronbach alpha coefficient between .63 and .87. Cor­ relations were conducted with the subscales of the Strength and Difficulties (SDQ) questionnaire and The Resilience scale for Adolescents (READ) revealing that the stronger the resources (RD) …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Resilience Program For Children And Young People In A Private Australian Psychology Clinic, Kaitlyn Miller, Lyn Worsley, Tanya Hanstock, Megan Valentine

Journal of Solution Focused Practices

There is increasing research into resilience enllancing intervention programs in young people. A number of international resilience-based group programs exist; however, few are within Australia. Two Australian resilience programs are the linked-Up (13-16 year-olds} and Connect-3 (8-12 year-olds} programs. They are Solution-Focused programs based on the Resilience Doughnut model. The current study assessed the effectiveness of these two programs by comparing pre- and post-measures of resilience and adversities. Participants were aged between 8-17 years. There were 70 participants in total, 40 males (57%} and 30 females (43%). Results show that the Connect-3 program built personal competency and reduced total difficulties …

Volume 2 Issue 2 - Complete

Journal of Solution Focused Practices

No abstract provided.

The End Of The Democratic Blue Wall?, Robert E. Lang, David F. Damore

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Heading into the 2016 presidential election, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had multiple paths to secure the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency. In contrast, Republican nominee Donald Trump’s path to the White House necessitated winning a number of large swing states and securing victories in states that had been reliably Democratic. Building from a prior Brookings Mountain West brief (Damore and Lang 2016), we consider how the Trump campaign, despite being vastly outspent, was able to use targeted online messages to activate “white identify politics”—long a staple of Republican politics in the South— in the non-metro areas …

Challenges That Hinder Parturients To Deliver In Health Facilities: A Qualitative Analysis In Two Districts Of Indonesia, Sudirman Nasir, Rukhsana Ahmed, Miladi Kurniasari, Ralalicia Limato, Olivia Tulloch, Din Syafruddin, Korrie De Koning

Makara Journal of Health Research

Background: There are many challenges women face to be able to give birth in health facilities in many parts of Indonesia. This study explores the roles and observations of close-to-community maternal health providers and other community members on potential barriers faced by women to deliver in health facilities in two districts within The Archipelago. Methods: Employing an explorative qualitative approach, 110 semi-structured interviews and 7 focus group discussions were conducted in 8 villages in Southwest Sumba, in the East Nusa Tenggara province, and in 8 villages in Cianjur, in the West Java province. The participants included village midwives, Posyandu volunteer …

Windshield Defrost And Deice Using Carbon Nanotube Composite, Santhosh Kumar Loganathan

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are well known for their high thermal and electrical conductivities and can offer a great advantage by converting the applied electrical energy into instant heat with minimum energy loss. The goal of this research is to develop a very thin CNT layer sandwiched between two layers of glass substrate in order to generate instant heat through electrodes. The thin CNT layer is fabricated using the CNTRENETM solution, which is a mixture of single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) (~75%), double-walled nanotubes (DWNTs), and multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs) with an average CNT length of ~0.4 - 0.6 μm. The thin layer is …

Quality Management: A Global Case Study In Organ Transplantation, Cassie L. Rodriguez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Every year the US and European countries face an epidemic of organ failure from a multitude of reasons: cancer, genetic predisposition, exposure to harmful chemicals in home or surrounding areas or through drinking, drugs and smoking. Another problem faced, is the ratio of organ donors to organ recipients. Over 121,000 patients are on the waiting for an organ transplant, and a fraction of those waiting will die because of time. The Hanover Medical school and department of quality management, have created an integrated approach to organ transplant avenues. Quality management is a systematic guide for organ transplantation that allows all …

Social Entrepreneurship Research – Challenges, Explanations And Suggestions For The Field Development, Marzena Starnawska

European Management Studies

Employing critical review of the key literature in the area of entrepreneurship and management studies on social entrepreneurship, this paper aims to outline the current challenges this field is facing, also introducing related explanations and suggesting required changes. The field of social entrepreneurship research is at its nascent stage, determined by ongoing definitional debates and low legitimacy in the scholarship, leading to limited theory development. The key challenge lies in the lack of consistent theory and weak research infrastructure. What lies behind these challenges is the complexity and diversity of the social entrepreneurship phenomenon and academic discourses. There are significant …

Solar Car Suspension System, Alex Power, Adam O'Camb

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Cal Poly Engineering Photobot: Final Design Review, Samantha Clements, Carlos Esquivel, Kassandra Rodriguez, Aubrey Russell

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this project was to create a remotely controlled camera device; the PhotoBot captures images and videos of various plants and perhaps animals for biological analysis. The features for such a device allows a user to capture images and videos from various angles and heights with minimal outside assistance. Furthermore, the device is designed for users that do not wish to spend an extensive amount of time and effort taking pictures and videos in the rainforest. The key constraints of the device includes safety, versatility, ease of use, and durability. Ultimately, this project was completed for Dr. Cris …

Computational Circuit For Use In Real Time Color Amplification, Andrew Yokubaitis, Vinayak Pandu Raju

Electrical Engineering

The Eulerian Video Amplification algorithm developed at MIT allows for amplification of very small changes in seemingly static video scenes. The algorithm helps visualize these small changes by amplifying them to pull out signals of interest, such as the human pulse and the motion of hot air. This algorithm is computationally intensive and, as is, is difficult to run in real-time as a serially executed program. Our project is to design a parallel processing circuit that allows the algorithm to be calculated in hardware in order to magnify these small changes in real time. This will be done by using …

Identifying And Teaching Non-Traditional Transactional Skills, Nicole G. Iannarone, Benjamin P. Edwards, Kevin Conboy

Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law

No abstract provided.

Specific Transactional Law Programs And Courses, Jay Gary Finkelstein, David Gibbs, Todd Starker

Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law

No abstract provided.

Multiple Effects Of A Brief Mindfulness Training, Stephanie Aholt

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Mindfulness-based interventions have been related to emotional regulation, reduced stress, and increased psychological flexibility. The current investigation extended previous findings by examining the short-term effects of a brief mindfulness training in undergraduate psychology students. The non-concurrent multiple baseline design evaluated heart rate and cortisol changes in response to a brief mindfulness-based intervention. The results found for some individuals, participation in the mindfulness intervention helped regulate their emotions and heart rate, as evidenced by the decrease in heart rate and cortisol and increase in psychological flexibility by changes in Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-2 and Perceived Stress Scale-14 scores. Findings suggest more …

A Biologically Active Tnf-Alpha Inhibitor Fails To Suppress Colitis In Balb/C Mice, Stephanie E. Biel

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Tumor necrosis factor a (TNFα), a potent inflammatory cytokine, has long been established as a major driving force for pathologic inflammation. Currently, anti-TNFα therapies are the standard in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) management; however, one-third of IBD patients fail to respond to anti-TNFα therapies. Previous data from this lab indicate that TNFα Converting Enzyme (TACE) inhibition does not ameliorate colitis in BALB/C mice. Thus, we hypothesized that TNFα is not a critical component in the BALB/C model of colitis. To test this, acute colitis was induced in BALB/C mice by consumption of 5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in drinking water …

The Use Of Behavior Skills Training To Teach Paraprofessionals Discrete Trial Teaching, Ali Jo-Celeste Headley

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Behavioral skills training (BST) was used to teach discrete trial teaching (DTT) to three paraprofessionals. Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT) has been used successfully with students with autism to individualize and simplify classroom instruction. DTT is an evidence-based training procedure used with elementary aged children to promote the development of communication/language, adaptive behavior, cognitive/academic skills, social and play skills, and for reducing interfering behaviors. Behavioral skills training is a training package that includes instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to assess the treatment effects. The paraprofessionals in this study increased their implementation of DTT …

Effect Of A Short-Term Field Experience On Student Outdoor Environmental Knowledge, Comfort Levels, Attitude, And Action Scores, Brandi Niccole Silvey

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Many children today may not be familiar with nature due to lack of experience and education in the outdoors. If they are not exposed to nature, then they will not be as comfortable in the outdoors. This study evaluates the effectiveness of educational activities at the Watershed Center in Springfield, Missouri on high school students' and college level pre-service teachers' knowledge, comfort levels, attitudes, and actions toward the outdoor environment. Post-field trip responses of students who came to the Watershed Center were compared to students who did not participate in a field trip. Teachers were also surveyed to assess why …

Does Person And Process Praise Influence Success Of Transferring Knowledge?, Leah Mae Wilson

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The effects of person, process, and neutral praise were examined to assess differences in the types of praise used to frame participant motivation and subsequent transfer success. A sample of undergraduate psychology students (N = 66) were tested using the Tower of Hanoi puzzle to assess transfer success based on the number of trials and average time per trials necessary to solve the transfer task. Participants also reported levels of existing achievement goal orientations and task-specific intrinsic motivation. Exploratory analyses indicated that the number of trials, average time per trial across conditions, as well intrinsic motivation did not differ by …

Measuring Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, Caroline Taich, Merissa Piazza, Kara Carter, Alexa Wilcox

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

Examining entrepreneurial ecosystem measurement is an interesting and important research activity for several reasons. First, there is a significant amount of taxpayer investment in play through public financing of small businesses and early stage companies. Second, practitioners and funders are currently seeking ways to expand entrepreneurial activity in order to increase regional prosperity.

The goal of this research study is to quantitatively and qualitatively explore the indicators of entrepreneurial ecosystems. This study, with support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, focuses on two major questions: 1) what are the indicators of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, and which of these best reflect …

Free To Be: One Charter School's Approach To Supporting Gender And Sexual Minority Students, Katherine Sieger

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation presents three and a half years of ethnographic data from an “LGBT” charter school. It explores how gender and sexuality appear within educational spaces and how providing students an anti-heteronormative inclusive education impacts a student’s sense of self. I show how critical pedagogy is deployed as an anti-heteronormative approach to supporting all students. The term anti-heteronormative is used to express an explicit rejection of heterosexism and genderism, acknowledging the complex oppressive factors that develop given the normative expectations of gender and sexuality and the impact such expectations have on all bodies and all students. Findings reveal how the …

Vitamin D Supplementation To Prevent Acute Respiratory Tract Infections: Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Individual Participant Data, Adrian R. Martineau, David A. Jolliffe, Richard L. Hooper, Lauren Greenberg, John F. Aloia, Peter Bergman, Gal Dubnov-Raz, Susanna Esposito, Davaasambuu Ganmaa, Adit A. Ginde, Emma C. Goodall, Cameron C. Grant, Christopher J. Griffiths, Wim Janssens, Ilkka Laaksi, Semira Manaseki-Holland, David Mauger, David R. Murdoch, Rachel Neale, Judy R. Rees

Dartmouth Scholarship

OBJECTIVES To assess the overall effect of vitamin D supplementation on risk of acute respiratory tract infection, and to identify factors modifying this effect. DESIGN Systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data (IPD) from randomised controlled trials. DATA SOURCES Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Number registry from inception to December 2015. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR STUDY SELECTION Randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trials of supplementation with vitamin D3 or vitamin D2 of any duration were eligible for inclusion if they had been approved by a …

Does The Rti Process Really Help Teachers Reach Struggling Students More Effectively? The Effects Of Rti On Two Kindergarten Classrooms, Callie Hirschler

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this paper is to share the results of an action research project relating to the effects of using Response to Intervention (RTI) in the kindergarten classroom. At a rural Iowa school, the process RTI was implemented in two kindergarten classrooms. One classroom had access to a researched based reliable universal screener, interventions and progress monitoring system. The other classroom used teacher created assessments and interventions. The paper will share the findings of the study that looked at the effects of implementing RTI with integrity in the Kindergarten classroom.

Teaching Science Vocabulary With Children’S Literature: The World Of Words Program, Asha M. Epp

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is to investigate how to build academic vocabulary across the science content area. With the use of the children’s literature based program, World of Words by Dr. Susan B. Neuman, the study seeks to gain a better understanding and evaluate best practice in explicit vocabulary instruction. The program focuses on teaching science vocabulary through explicit direct instruction of terms and using literature as an application support. Students’ growth was evaluated by a pre and post assessment after the instructed unit.

Humorous Field - Field To Humour = 幽默地誌 - 地致幽默, Kwok Kin So

Artists-in-Residence Programme : Exhibition Catalogues

This is an experiment in spatial humour, and this assumption of humour can be applied to any urban space. Since this project starts with Lingnan University’s support of its Artist-in-Residence Program, it would seem appropriate to base the experiment around the university campus. Two straight lines were laid on the map of Tuen Mun. The lines extend to East-West through the ridge. The line to the South stretches across the valley and ends on the South coast. Two transects span a wide variety spaces and urban life in Tuen Mun. They would become the premises of this experiment. Exploring the …

Geodesic Completeness And The Lack Of Strong Singularities In Effective Loop Quantum Kantowski-Sachs Spacetime, Sahil Saini, Parampreet Singh

Faculty Publications

Resolution of singularities in the Kantowski-Sachs model due to non-perturbative quantum gravity effects is investigated. Using the effective spacetime description for the improved dynamics version of loop quantum Kantowski-Sachs spacetimes, we show that even though expansion and shear scalars are universally bounded, there can exist events where curvature invariants can diverge. However, such events can occur only for very exotic equations of state when pressure or derivatives of energy density with respect to triads become infinite at a finite energy density. In all other cases curvature invariants are proved to remain finite for any evolution in finite proper time. We …

Capsular Polysaccharide Production And Serum Survival Of Vibrio Vulnificus Are Dependent On Antitermination Control By Rfah, Shana B. Garrett, Katherine L. Garrison-Schilling, Jeffrey T. Cooke, Gregg S. Pettis

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Federation of European Biochemical Societies The human pathogen Vibrio vulnificus undergoes phase variation among colonial morphotypes, including a virulent opaque form which produces capsular polysaccharide (CPS) and a translucent phenotype that produces little or no CPS and is attenuated. Here, we found that a V. vulnificus mutant defective for RfaH antitermination control showed a diminished capacity to undergo phase variation and displayed significantly reduced distal gene expression within the Group I CPS operon. Moreover, the rfaH mutant produced negligible CPS and was highly sensitive to killing by normal human serum, results which indicate that RfaH is likely essential …

Entomopathogenic Nematodes Combined With Adjuvants Presents A New Potential Biological Control Method For Managing The Wheat Stem Sawfly, Cephus Cinctus (Hymenoptera: Cephidae), Scott L. Portman, Sindhu M. Krishnankutty, Gadi V.P. Reddy

Faculty Publications

The wheat stem sawfly, (Cephus cinctus Norton) Hymenoptera: Cephidae, has been a major pest of winter wheat and barley in the northern Great Plains for more than 100 years. The insect's cryptic nature and lack of safe chemical control options make the wheat stem sawfly (WSS) difficult to manage; thus, biological control offers the best hope for sustainable management of WSS. Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) have been used successfully against other above-ground insect pests, and adding adjuvants to sprays containing EPNs has been shown to improve their effectiveness. We tested the hypothesis that adding chemical adjuvants to sprays containing EPNs will …

Priming Of Narrative Language In Young Adults, Rachel M. Crowder

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.