Digital Commons Network^™

Hey, Where's The Monster? How A Storytelling Game Is Played In A Preschool Classroom, Jeremy Sydik

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how early childhood learners between the ages of 4 and 6 and their teachers experience the play of a structured cooperative storytelling game in their shared classroom environment at a university preschool child development center, with specific focus on issues of cognitive and social knowledge construction. This study used an instrumental case study approach to observe classroom game play sessions as well as qualitative interviews to explore the features of a cooperative storytelling game play activity, to ask how these features inform understanding of cognitive and social knowledge construction, to identify …

An Experiment Of Audience Awareness Effects On College Students’ Argumentative Writing, Shiyuan Wang

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This experimental study explored the effects of different levels (imagined audience vs. interactive audience) and timing of audience interaction (during planning vs. revision) on undergraduate students’ self-efficacy and quality of argumentative writing. A total of 138 students from four undergraduate educational psychology courses participated in this study. Three conditions were compared: imagined audience, interactive audience during planning and interactive audience during revision. Results showed that students interacting with audience during revision produced significantly more argumentative elements (below level 1 reasons of opposing view) and had higher self-efficacy for audience awareness than the other two conditions. Students’ cognitive load and audience-related …

Professional Learning Communities (Plcs) For Early Childhood Science Education, Jungwon Eum

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study explored the content, processes, and dynamics of Professional Learning Community (PLC) sessions. This study also investigated changes in preschool teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward science teaching after they participated in two different forms of PLCs including workshop and face-to-face PLC as well as workshop and online PLC. Multiple sources of data were collected for this study including participant artifacts and facilitator field notes during the PLC sessions.

The participants in this study were eight teachers from NAEYC-accredited child care centers serving 3- to 5-year-old children in an urban Midwest city. All teachers participated in a workshop entitled, “Ramps …

The Effects Of Active Learning Technology On Instructors’ Practices And Students’ Engagement And Grades: A Mixed Methods Study, Jeremy C. Van Hof

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Partly in response to university teachers’ changing pedagogies marked by flipping instruction, lecture capture technologies are evolving into active learning systems. Little published research exists on the effects of active learning technology on either teachers or students. This two-phase sequential explanatory mixed methods study details the effects that active learning systems have on instructor practices and on student grades and engagement. Phase one combined quantitative data collection with instructor interviews. Phase one findings show higher student engagement levels correlate with the use of the active learning system only in the presence of very specific, flipped classroom practices. Phase two, a …

Investigation Of Subjective Perception And Objective Metrics Of Acoustic Room Diffusion, Jay Michael Bliefnick

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While a variety of assessment methodologies have been proposed to quantify acoustic diffusivity within rooms, a link between these and the perception of diffusion has not been fully established. This study investigated various ways of analyzing diffusion, through both human perception and objective metrics. Numerous impulse response measurements were collected from a physical acoustics testing facility designed for diffusion research. This space featured reversible absorptive/diffusive/reflective wall panels, which allowed numerous testing configurations. One such setup investigated how changing the diffusivity of an isolated wall surface impacted diffusive room conditions. Alternatively, the effects diffuser configurations had on diffusive room conditions were …

Place Matters? Place And Legislative Behavior In Nebraska, Melissa Lee Trueblood

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The dissertation is a three-part analysis of the impact of place and place attachment on legislative behavior in the 2011-2012 session of the Nebraska Unicameral. The first analysis explores whether place or type of legislative district has an effect on roll-call voting. In the second analysis, the dissertation analyzes the relationship between place attachment (defined as the emotional bond between a person and a place) and roll-call voting. Finally, in the third analysis, the dissertation investigates through content analysis how often senators refer to their place attachment, and then, it examines the link between geographic scale of place attachment and …

Can International Criminal Law Deter Rebel Groups? The Case Of Uganda, The Lord's Resistance Army, And The International Criminal Court, Julia Reilly

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

How does a state’s commitment to international criminal accountability mechanisms affect the tactics of rebel groups fighting against it? I examine the conflict between Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army, spanning four phases from 1996 until 2015, and parse out whether Uganda’s stance on the Rome Statute and the International Criminal Court affected the LRA’s propensity to target civilians. I use descriptive statistics of civilian and military casualties and qualitative case studies, drawing largely on newspaper and NGO reports of events in the conflict. I find that the affect of Uganda’s signaling on justice on the LRA’s civilian targeting is …

Truth And Justice? Towards Comprehensive Transitional Justice In Uganda And The Democratic Republic Of Congo, Alicia Weaver

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The field of transitional justice currently views retributive and restorative justice as a means of reconciliation dichotomously. With practice becoming increasingly legalistic, the restorative approach is seen as not forcing accountability. This is a mistake. This article will attempt to show that prosecutions and truth and reconciliation commissions can complement one another to attain the most justice for the most people. Using the case studies of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I will examine under what conditions retributive and restorative justice will be used, and how they can be used to promote national reconciliation.

Advisor: Ariel Kohen

Things I Haven't Told You, Kimberly A. Tedrow

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Things I Haven’t Told You is a three-part thesis that consists of a critical introduction, a creative sample of ten poems, and an essay on using the work of Percy Bysshe Shelley as a creative prompt.

A critical introduction to the creative sample discusses the contextualization of memory, the observation of the physical world, and the rare metaphysical moments that occur in an ordinary life. The genesis and evolution of the work is explored, as well as the poet's development during the course of graduate study.

The creative sample of ten poems includes poems that articulate the malleable relationship between …

Exploration Of Student Biodiversity Knowledge And Decision-Making For A Wildlife Conservation Socioscientific Issue, Ashley R. Alred

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Global biodiversity, a foundation for ecosystem function, is diminishing at a rate unprecedented in the last 50 years. Biodiversity loss and ecosystem services deterioration is linked to increased food insecurity, reduced water quality and availability, decreased energy security, higher economic losses and human suffering (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Consequently, educators should invest in supporting students in their development of ecological understanding and formal decision-making skills so they are equipped with meaningful tools they can use as scientifically literate citizens. To contribute to that mission, this study seeks to explore student 1) comprehension and explanation of biodiversity concepts and 2) decision-making …

College And University Sustainability Officers’ Experiences With Green Office Programs: A Qualitative Investigation, Logan Lamb

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The number of sustainability programs in higher education continues to increase. Green office programs have become a cornerstone of sustainability programming on college and university campuses across the country. This exploratory qualitative study involves college and university sustainability officers and investigates their experiences changing behaviors through green office programs. The goal of this study was to provide insight into green office programs. Two side-by-side studies were conducted to provide a detailed analysis of green office programs at both small and large institutions of higher education. Eleven major themes emerged from the study. Six themes emerged from the qualitative analysis of …

Development Of Composites From Waste Pet - Cotton Textiles, Madhuri Palakurthi

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this research, waste textile materials like polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and cotton were compression molded into composites. The main idea was to use waste textiles to develop composites like PET and cotton. PET acts as matrix and cotton as reinforcement because PET is thermoplastic whereas cotton is non thermoplastic.

Approximately about 21 million tons of textile solid waste is being disposed into landfills annually, leading to vast environmental properties and waste of valuable raw materials. By using waste PET and cotton textiles there are technical as well as environmental viabilities. However, implementing them into fabricating composites is not widely conducted. …

Wellbeing And Data Quality In The American Time Use Survey (Atus) From A Total Survey Error Perspective, Ana Lucía Córdova Cazar

Survey Research and Methodology Program: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this dissertation, I seek to develop a tool for the enhancement of time-use and wellbeing measures from a total survey error perspective. In particular, I evaluate the quality of the time use data produced in the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), by exploring its indicators and identifying its main predictors, including interview rapport. Results from these analyses are then used to evaluate the extent to which certain variables correlate, as predicted, with expected levels of wellbeing.

The first specific objective was to investigate the data quality of the 2010 ATUS by constructing a data quality index. In my dissertation, …

Design And Synthesis Of Novel Octacarboxy Porphyrinic Metal–Organic Frameworks, Jacob A. Johnson

Department of Chemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are a class of nanoporous crystalline materials constructed via the interconnection between metal-ions/inorganic clusters and organic ligands. Since the surface area, pore size and distribution, and chemical functionalities of MOFs are highly tunable via the judicious combinations of inorganic clusters and organic ligands, MOFs have attracted intensive interests for a variety of applications including gas adsorption and separation, catalysis, chemical sensing, and drug delivery among others. Porphyrin based ligands are of particular interest for building functional MOFs due to their unique photo-, electro-, and catalytic properties. In addition, the four-fold symmetry of porphyrin ligands offers an effective …

Moving Towards Harmonization Of The Food Safety Standards: Role Of The Tpp And Ttip Agreements, Ksenia A. Petrovets

Journal of Food Law & Policy

We are now less dependent on locally available food resources that we have ever been. The continuing industrialization of food production, the advancement in technologies and the rapid development of supply chains granted us the luxury of immediate access to a variety of products originating from local supermarkets all over the world. This, along with the greater level of food production industrialization, inevitably comes the rise of related food safety risks. Because of the enlargement of producing operations, an emerging safety threat in one place may result in a foodborne illness outbreak thousands of miles away from its place of …

Self-Reported Sleep Apnea And Dementia Risk: Findings From The Prevention Of Alzheimer's Disease With Vitamin E And Selenium Trial, Xiuhua Ding, Richard J. Kryscio, Joshua Turner, Gregory A. Jicha, Gregory E. Cooper, Allison M. Caban-Holt, Frederick A. Schmitt, Erin L. Abner

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between baseline sleep apnea and risk of incident dementia in the Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease with Vitamin E and Selenium (PREADViSE) study and to explore whether the association depends on apolipoprotein E (APOE) ɛ4 allele status.

DESIGN: Secondary analysis based on data collected during PREADViSE.

SETTING: Participants were assessed at 128 local clinical study sites during the clinical trial phase and later were followed by telephone from a centralized location.

PARTICIPANTS: Men enrolled in PREADViSE (without dementia or other active neurological conditions that affect cognition such as major psychiatric disorders, including depression; N = …

Purple Pollen, Jacqueline Dye

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Paid Postage Stamps, Wes Solether

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Pink Needles, Jacqueline Dye

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Consciousness, Marge Dady

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Untitled, Eunice Melara

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Anna Akhmatova, Natalia Toreeva

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Southbound In The Fast Lane, Raymond Ziemer

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Yes, Bonniejean Alford

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Sea-Esta, Wes Solether

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

A Robotic Device To Assist With In-Vivo Measurement Of Human Pelvic Organ Tissue Properties, Shashank S. Kumat

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Measurement of the biomechanical properties of human pelvic organ tissue without undergoing minimally invasive surgery is desired for diagnostics purposes and take precautionary actions if needed. The biomechanical properties of the bladder change with age and due to diseases. Thus, identification of the viscoelastic properties of the tissue could help in detecting early stages of the disease in the bladder. A literature survey revealed that no device exists that could be used to characterize the biomechanical properties of the human bladder in-vivo. This research contributes towards the development of a diagnostic system that could be used in a medical setting …

The Influence Of Functional Weights On The Performance Of Least Squares Finite Element Formulation On Hybrid Meshes, Anirudh Rajagopal

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The Least-Squares Finite Element Method (LSFEM) is a numerical method for solving partial differential equations (PDE) approximately by minimizing the L-2 norm of the PDE residuals. Unlike the more common Galerkin approach, this method does not employ integration by parts to reduce the continuity requirements of the basis functions. Instead, the PDE is cast as a first-order system of differential equations, which allows for the solution of primary and secondary variables with the same order of accuracy. In addition, this approach always leads to a direct minimization problem and therefore not subject to the restrictive inf-sup condition and does not …

Application Of Artificial Neural Network For Evaporative Cooling In Data Centres, Feyisola Adejokun

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

A data center is a facility that may be used to house telecommunication or storage devices. Because of the 24/7 required operation of a data center, large segments of a data center are geared towards evacuating heat generated from operating one. Data centers entail multiple operating configurations, great amount of constraints and nonlinear correlations. The need to effectively optimize a data center operation presents a daunting challenge. The data center considered in this research is a test bed modular data center (MDC). Comprising of an Information Technology (IT), DEC and IEC module. Typical MDC are dynamic and complex in nature …

Shape Optimization Of Helical Coil Tube For Maximizing Heat Transfer, Venkat Manoj Kandukuri

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Many researchers have observed the enhancement of heat transfer in coiled tubes compared to straight tubes with the same diameter and length. It is known fact, that in a helical coil tube the maximum axial velocity shifted towards the outer wall of the pipe and imbalance between centrifugal forces and inertial loads to a secondary motion of the fluid in the cross-section of the tube. This secondary motion is responsible for improved transport of heat energy to/from the tube walls. Previous conducted Experimental and computational parametric studies show the relationship between the increased heat transfer and parameters such as pitch, …

Self-Transport Of Liquid Drops Through A Functional Mesh For Removing Sweat Away From Skin, Manasvikumar Oza

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

In this work, a functional mesh is developed to transport liquid drops from one side of the mesh to the other. A theoretical model is established, which has been used to obtain three design criteria. Based on these design criteria, functional meshes have been generated and tested with commercially available sponge attached to the mesh. Finally, such a mesh is demonstrated to be effective to remove sweat from human skin. As an application of this research, the concept of this functional mesh solves existing problems with a sport wear. The current sport wear is capable of absorbing sweat, but not …