Digital Commons Network^™

Benefits And Barriers Of Block Scheduling, Courtney Huebner

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research study explored the benefits and barriers of block scheduling. Fifty-six teachers from private, Christian schools in Michigan and Iowa participated in a confidential survey which measured academic understanding and methods, and school culture and climate within the block schedule versus traditional scheduling. An analysis of the survey data demonstrated consistent statistical evidence of a correlation between block scheduling and deeper levels of academic understanding, student relationships, and a more positive school climate. The results of the open-ended response questions showed that block scheduling, implemented well with professional development and planning time for lessons, is a benefit to …

The Successful Adoption Of Teaching For Transformation: Utilizing Kotter's 8-Stage Process For Leading Change, Marcus Todd

Master of Education Program Theses

To grow and thrive, schools must be able to adapt and change. Educational institutions undergo many procedural, programmatic, and pedagogical changes, motivated by both external and internal forces, which push and pull a school to pivot from its current status quo. One such significant change is the implementation of Teaching for Transformation (TfT), a design framework for the creation of authentic, formational learning experiences rooted in a transformational worldview, with its core practices being employed in over 100 schools worldwide. To determine whether schools who have successfully transitioned to TfT practices have utilized methods from Kotter’s 8-Stage Process model for …

City Planning For Sustainability, Lang Ng

Perspectives@SMU

Singapore strikes a balance between competing needs to address climate change challenges

Graphic Diaspora: Reframing Narratives Of American Identity In Black Comic Books, Ashley Wilson

ETD Archive

Comic books with Black main characters have been the subject of much critical exploration over the years. Typical analyses of these comics have focused on identity politics and representation of Black characters. However, critical discussion has not yet determined a method for interpreting representation of Black characters within comic books. This study incorporates approaches to reading Black expressive texts, caricature, and narratives of Black characters written by white authors to analyze the comic books All Negro Comics, The Black Panther, Black, and Bayou. Additionally, it argues that Black-authored Black comics require a reframing of the text through an African American …

High Performance Liquid Chromatography Monitoring Reaction Kinetics, Ken Overway, Mary Ruth Shifflett

Chemistry Faculty Scholarship

To develop a chromatographic method to characterize enantioselective kinetics, the reaction between aromatic aldehydes and ephedrine will be monitored with High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). First, develop kinetics analysis procedure with the HPLC, the decomposition of aspartame was observed with citrate and phosphate buffers. The procedure produced an activation energy in the presence of phosphate buffer of 71.9 kJ/mol with a -0.126 % error. The aromatic aldehyde, benzaldehyde, and ephedrine were run through a stereospecific column to separate peaks with various mobile phases. A more nonpolar mobile phase is required for better peak and retention time separation.

Ignatian Spiritual Conversation And Digital Communication Culture, Park Soo Young Theodore

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

This study seeks to consider the lived experiences of those vulnerable in the culture of digital communication, especially to suggest the possibility of healing and recovery through the practical application of Ignatian spiritual conversation in the new horizon affecting religious life. For this purpose, this study explores the practical implication of Ignatian spiritual conversation in culture of digital communication by employing a hermeneutical methodology, the triple operation of the description of the phenomenon, critical analysis, and constructive interpretation.

This study highlights the in-depth understanding and practice of authentic conversation, observing the vulnerability of self-isolation and cognitive bias experienced by networked …

Anne Enright’S Reply To James Joyce: A Nation’S Tale Told Through The Gathering, Saide Harb-Ranero

Master’s Theses and Projects

Particular to the Irish gothic, a postcolonial history seems to repeat itself in Anne Enright’s The Gathering. The victims of an atrocious sexual crime seem to circulate this hidden secret that all tragedy revolves around, yet no one is willing to speak about it. Enright suggests that the same oppressed past of Ireland’s history keeps creeping up to the surface, even in the twenty-first century. Veronica and Liam Hegarty, Enright’s main characters, demonstrate one of the main tropes of the gothic where no matter how long one might suppress a memory, it is bound to come back and reveal the …

Hideous Progeny, Dreaming Robots, And The Limits Of The Human, Scott Elliott

Master’s Theses and Projects

This project is an in-depth exploration and synthesis of three different works: novels Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick, and the movie Bladerunner by Ridley Scott. I will be approaching each story as a separate entity unto themselves yet tie them together through the common lens of a need to explore what it means to be human, the treatment of those that fall outside of the norm, and how that leads to villainous representation. While the negative portrayal of disabled bodies has positively progressed since Frankenstein, this problem continues to endure …

Unveiling Characteristics Which Contribute To A Heightened Perceived Preparedness And Confidence In Interacting With And Teaching Students With Disabilities In Physical Education: A Narrative Inquiry, Nicole Maloney

Master’s Theses and Projects

Students graduating from physical education teacher education (PETE) programs are not being adequately prepared to teach students with disabilities. Their perceived lack of confidence and comfort may be due to lack of disability awareness, hands-on experience, and course content surrounding disabilities and inclusion. Ultimately, students with disabilities’ educational experiences may be negatively impacted- in regard to physical, emotional, and social growth—if their PE teacher lacks adequate preparedness. Students are also being placed in inclusion settings at a higher rate, making it even more imperative that teachers are adequately prepared, and students are given guidance from a knowledgeable source. The purpose …

The Graduation Pipeline: Investigating The Effects Of Juvenile Justice System Contact On High School Graduation Rates, Em Sandman

Master’s Theses and Projects

Contact with the juvenile justice system can seriously impact life chances for youth. System contact can lead to significant challenges by disrupting paths to traditional life attainments. Research overwhelmingly points to negative projections from juvenile system exposure. Labeling theory has been used to determine poor educational outcomes, but little work has been done to directly gauge why contact affects the graduating for system-involved students. Further, concepts of strain theory have yet to be sufficiently applied to the prospect of completing high school. Given the systematic similarities between school and the juvenile justice system, the likelihood of reaching academic expectations required …

First Test Of Lepton Flavor Universality In The Charmed Baryon Decays Ωc0 → Ω-ℓ+Νℓ Using Data Of The Belle Experiment, Y. B. Li, C. P. Shen, I. Adachi, H. Aihara, S. Al Said, D. M. Asner, H. Atmacan, T. Aushev, R. Ayad, V. Babu, S. Bahinipati, P. Behera, K. Belous, J. Bennett, F. Bernlochner, M. Bessner, B. Bhuyan, T. Bilka, A. Bobrov

Faculty and Student Publications

We present the first observation of the ωc0→ω-μ+νμ decay and present measurements of the branching fraction ratios of the ωc0→ω-ℓ+νℓ decays compared to the reference mode ωc0→ω-π+, (ℓ=e or μ). This analysis is based on 89.5 fb-1, 711 fb-1, and 121.1 fb-1 data samples collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider at the center-of-mass energies of 10.52 GeV, 10.58 GeV, and 10.86 GeV, respectively. The ωc0 signal yields are extracted by fitting Mωℓ and Mωπ spectra. The branching fraction ratios B(ωc0→ω-e+νe)/B(ωc0→ω-π+) and B(ωc0→ω-μ+νμ)/B(ωc0→ω-π+) are measured to be 1.98±0.13(stat)±0.08(syst) and 1.94±0.18(stat)±0.10(syst), respectively. The ratio of B(ωc0→ω-e+νe)/B(ωc0→ω-μ+νμ) is …

Nessie Notation: A New Tool In Sequential Substitution Systems And Graph Theory For Summarizing Concatenations, Colton Davis

Student Research

While doing research looking for ways to categorize causal networks generated by Sequential Substitution Systems, I created a new notation to compactly summarize concatenations of integers or strings of integers, including infinite sequences of these, in the same way that sums, products, and unions of sets can be summarized. Using my method, any sequence of integers or strings of integers with a closed-form iterative pattern can be compactly summarized in just one line of mathematical notation, including graphs generated by Sequential Substitution Systems, many Primitive Pythagorean Triplets, and various Lucas sequences including the Fibonacci sequence and the sequence of square …

Who Are We Missing? Conducting A Diversity Audit In A Liberal Arts College Library (Preprint), María Evelia Emerson, Lauryn Grace Lehman

Library and Information Science: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

This is a pre-print version of the original article:

Emerson, Maria Evelia and Lauryn Grace Lehman. (2022). “Who Are We Missing? Conducting a Diversity Audit in a Liberal Arts College Library.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 48(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2022.102517

For the full, edited text please visit the link above.

In the spring of 2021, Thomas Tredway Library at Augustana College undertook an audit of the library's print book collection to determine if there were gaps in representation of the voices of authors of differing races/ethnicities; genders; or sexual orientations. With the results of this audit, Augustana College librarians now have a …

Amjambo Africa! (May 2022), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

In this Issue Moonglade .............................2/3

Boys and Girls Club program .4

Color of Climate .......................5

Kwibuka..................................... 6

New Voices ................................7

Financial literacy ...........8-11/33

Market Basket ...................14/15

Karkangee drink

Coffee in Burundi

rice in Maine

Update from Augusta ............16

Revolution from Afar ............17

On being Black ......................18

Armenian genocide ...............18

Scots-Irish immigrants ..........19

Community happenings ..20/21

Photos from community events Tips & Info .............................. 22

Health&Wellness. ..............24-31

Sexually Transmitted disease

Tuberculosis

Ask the doctor In english & translation

Columns ..................................32

Professional Development .....33

Arts Section .......................34/35

land of Peace

ebenezer Akakpo

Maine Humanities Council

Moon in Full book release

Racism in …

Airborne And Dermal Collection Methods Of Gunshot Residue For Toxicity Studies, Samuel Cole Smith, Oscar Beau Black, Courtney Roper

Faculty and Student Publications

Gunshot residue (GSR) has potential negative health effects on humans as a result of inhalation and dermal exposure to the chemical and physical characteristics of GSR such as Pb, Sb, Ba, nitrocellulose, nitroglycerine, and particulate size fraction. Filter (size selective) and double-sided tape (non-size selective) samples collected airborne GSR during single and triple firing of a 0.22 caliber revolver. Dermal exposures were considered using hand swabs and de-leading wipes, designed to remove the heavy metals. The samples underwent analysis to investigate physical (morphology, size distribution, zeta potential), chemical (black carbon and element concentrations), and potential to induce oxidative stress (oxidative …

Development Of Α-Tocopherol Succinate-Based Nanostructured Lipid Carriers For Delivery Of Paclitaxel, Sushrut Marathe, Gauri Shadambikar, Tabish Mehraj, Suresh P. Sulochana

Faculty and Student Publications

The management of retinoblastoma (RB) involves the use of invasive treatment regimens. Paclitaxel (PTX), an effective antineoplastic compound used in the treatment of a wide range of malignant tumors, poses treatment challenges due to systemic toxicity, rapid elimination, and development of resistance. The goal of this work was to develop PTX-loaded, α-tocopherol succinate (αTS)-based, nanostructured lipid carrier (NLCs; αTS-PTX-NLC) and PEGylated αTS-PTX-NLC (αTS-PTX-PEG-NLC) to improve ocular bioavailability. The hot homogenization method was used to prepare the NLCs, and repeated measures ANOVA analysis was used for formulation optimization. αTS-PTX-NLC and αTS-PTX-PEG-NLC had a mean particle size, polydispersity index and zeta potential …

Rap1a Activity Elevated The Impact Of Endogenous Ages In Diabetic Collagen To Stimulate Increased Myofibroblast Transition And Oxidative Stress, Stephanie D. Burr, Christopher C. Dorroh, James A. Stewart

Faculty and Student Publications

Diabetics have an increased risk for heart failure due to cardiac fibroblast functional changes occurring as a result of AGE/RAGE signaling. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) levels are higher in diabetics and stimulate elevated RAGE (receptor for AGE) signaling. AGE/RAGE signaling can alter the expression of proteins linked to extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and oxidative stressors. Our lab has identified a small GTPase, Rap1a, that may overlap the AGE/RAGE signaling pathway. We sought to determine the role Rap1a plays in mediating AGE/RAGE changes and to assess the impact of isolated collagen on further altering these changes. Primary cardiac fibroblasts from …

The Effects Of Clothing Size On Self-Esteem Regarding Gender, Cailin Mahoney

Perspectives

Recently there has been a sufficient amount of literature regarding how clothing size affects the self-esteem of each gender in a variety of ways. The purpose of this literature review is to explore how standard clothing sizes affect the self-esteem of each gender, men and women, differently. The findings suggest a Eurocentric ideal that women are held to more of a thin ideal, while men are held to more of a muscular ideal. Additionally, when both women and men did not meet their expected ideals, it caused their self-esteem to become diminished. Overall, women cared more about the clothing size …

Molecular Dynamics Study Of Melting Behavior Of Planar Stacked Ti–Al Core–Shell Nanoparticles, Huadian Zhang, Yu Chen Su, Yiwei Han, Shan Jiang

Faculty and Student Publications

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is one of the most commonly used methods in additive manufacturing, due to its high prototyping speed and applicability to various materials. In the present work, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to study the thermodynamic behaviors of the planar stacked nanoparticles (NPs) model and explore the potential capability of the SLS process with nano-sized metal powders in the zero-gravity space environment. A multi-particle model of titanium–aluminum (Ti–Al) core–shell NP with a particle radius of 50 Å was constructed to investigate the characteristics of the melted pattern during sintering. Two patterns with different spatial densities were …

Engagement Of Faith-Based Institutions In Diverse Communities: A Phenomenological Study, Michael Miller

Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses

Diverse community engagement in faith-based institutions is potentially lacking faith-based intentions. Though community engagement is a well talked about topic within Christian higher education and conversations on diversity are rapidly growing, there was no previous research on the intersection between faith-based institutions, diversity and community engagement. Thus, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to find how faith-based institutions implement diverse community engagement within US communities and then show the implications that engagement has on increasing diversity on campuses. Results revealed many shared themes through the institutions and how they are working to increase racial and cultural awareness. However, the …

Success And Retention Of 21st Century Scholars: A Phenomenological Study, Stanley Duncan

Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses

Since 1990, access to a college education in Indiana has become more accessible, and a significant contributor to this has been the 21st Century Scholarship. This research explores what factors affect success and retention of 21st Century Scholars at a private institution. A phenomenological design was used along with semi-structured interviews to gain insights from nine participants from a faith-based liberal arts university located in the Midwest. These participants expressed themes that recognized the factors that were contributing and hindering their success and the institution’s ability to retain them. Despite this insight, these participants lacked a true understanding of what …

A Burning Issue: A Quantitative Correlation Study On Students’ Overinvolvement In Cocurricular Activities Contributing To Burnout, Shelby Robbins

Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses

Cocurricular involvement plays a large part in the holistic college experience. However, too much involvement in cocurricular activities may lead students to experience burnout over the course of their four years in college. The quantitative correlation study investigated students’ overinvolvement in cocurricular activities through the Cocurricular Involvement and Burnout Survey. Participants were students who were involved in said activities at a private, faith-based, liberal arts institution located in the Midwest. The research question that guided the study was: To what extent, if any, does overinvolvement in cocurricular activities contribute to burnout for college students at a four-year institution? The results …

Parent Involvement: A Quantitative Study On Parent Involvement Within Residence Life, Kimberlie Kline

Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore college students' parents and their perspective on involvement when it comes to contacting residence life professionals on behalf of their student. In this quantitative study, the researcher collected survey responses from fifty parent participants. The study explored the research questions: What causes parents to become involved with residence life personnel on the behalf of their student? What does this involvement look like, as well as, what type of involvement is it? The study found that parents of freshman and sophomore students are most likely to reach out about housing and health concerns …

Perceptions Of Classrooms Physical Environments And Nature On College Students, Benjamin Williams

Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses

The purpose of this study is to discover how students are affected by the physical environment they learn in and if the restorative benefits of nature adds to the positive experience of learning. The physical environment or the classroom, can complement the learning experience alongside with the curriculum that is being taught, but the physical environment is often overlooked. This study asks how students perceive the physical environment of college classrooms, if they see it affecting their classroom learning, and if students perceive the elements of nature to affect classroom learning. A convergent parallel mixed methods approach is used to …

Understanding Forgiveness During College: A Phenomenological Study, Ethan Mcneil

Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses

College students see their understanding of many different topics and ideas change during their time in college. One such topic is forgiveness. This phenomenological study looks to gauge an understanding of how students’ understanding of forgiveness changes during college at a small, private, Christian, liberal arts institution located in the rural Midwest. The results of the study showed that students’ understanding deepens, even if they still struggle to practice different aspects of forgiveness. The discussion explains the results of the study and introduces opportunities for educators to engage students about forgiveness, teaching, and mentoring them as their understanding grows and …

Statistical Approach To Dynamics Of Modulation Instabilities In Optic Fibers. Classical Case, Mukhayo Yu. Rasulova

Applied Mathematics & Information Sciences

In the present paper, we prove equality of the wave equation for Modulation Instability and Vlasov kinetic equation. On the basis of Bogolyubov-Born-Green-Kirkwood-Yvon (BBGKY) hierarchy of classical kinetic equations, the kinetic equations for any number of Modulation Instabilities are defined and the method a solution for these equations is proposed.

Disproportionate Exposure To Air Pollution For Low-Income Communities In The United States, Elisabeth Currit

Ballard Brief

While air pollution is a major problem in much of the United States, individuals of low socioeconomic status are disproportionately exposed to air pollution compared to wealthier individuals.1 Contributing factors to the problem of disproportionate exposure to air pollution for low-income communities in the United States include lack of emissions regulations and enforcement, disproportionate placement of pollution sources nearby low-income neighborhoods, and the excessive political power of large emitters. The negative consequences that low-income individuals suffer because of this include both physical and mental health as well as impaired cognitive function. NGOs and other organizations are creating programs to help …

Theater As National Memorial: How Angels In America Remembers, Alice Endo

Theatre and Dance Honors Projects

Applying a framework of audience experience and scenographic analysis, this paper explores the connections between public memorials and performance. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. uses scenography to present itself as a “linking object,” gaining its meaning through audience projection. Millennium Approaches—part one of Tony Kushner’s two-part epic Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes—produced at Macalester College in 2021, also functions as a public memorial. Its scenography situates the play in a heightened, and specifically American, space and time. It becomes a receptacle for audience memory, reconstructs that memory, and ultimately reconstructs ideas of …

Embattled Learning: Education And Emancipation In The Post-Civil War Upper South, Lucas Somers

Dissertations

This dissertation examines the establishment of schools for and by formerly enslaved African Americans in Kentucky and Tennessee in the decade after the Civil War, analyzing the different individuals and organizations that supported or opposed those efforts. Members of Black communities strove to secure an education for children and adults while doing everything in their power to maintain control of those schools. Widespread poverty, racism, and uncertain political status necessitated that African Americans accept help from outsiders, especially from teachers and agents sent by the federal government and northern benevolent associations. The central argument is that the ultimate failure to …

A Foraminiferal Perspective On Holocene Environments Of The Eastern Tropical Pacific, Maria Angelica Zamora-Duran

Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is the primary threat facing coral reef ecosystems. How marginal reef systems responded to past climatic variability provides clues to their prospects for persisting through contemporary climate change. Reefs along the Pacific coast of Panamá are dominated by branching corals of the genus Pocillopora. These reefs experience a natural gradient of nutrients, pH, and temperature because of stronger seasonal upwelling in the Gulf of Panamá (GoP) than in the Gulf of Chiriquí (GoC). The shallow reefs within both of the gulfs of Panamá They are also strongly affected by climatic variability due to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). …