Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Measuring Classroom Engagement By Comparing Instructor Expectations With Students’ Perceptions, Paul Savory, Amy Goodburn, Jody Koenig Kellas

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Even instructors who can demonstrate student success in their courses can be challenged to document which practices are most effective in engaging student learning. National surveys designed to assess student engagement do not provide individual faculty with information that can help them assess their individual teaching efforts. This paper highlights a survey designed to help individual faculty members learn about their students and provides a comparison of instructors’ expectations with students’ perceptions. This paper illustrates the value of such a survey through an extended example of the insights that an instructor gained by using it in her course.

Genesis In Hyperreality: Legitimizing Disingenuous Controversy At The Creation Museum, Casey Ryan Kelly, Kristen E. Hoerl

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This essay analyzes the argumentative structure of the “Answers in Genesis” ministry’s Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. Founded by a $27 million grant, the 70,000-square-foot museum appropriates the stylistic and authoritative signifiers of natural history museums, complete with technically proficient hyperreal displays and modern curatorial techniques. In this essay, we argue that the museum provides a culturally authoritative space in which Young Earth Creationists can visually craft the appearance that there is an ongoing scientific controversy over matters long settled in the scientific community (evolution), or what scholars call a disingenuous or manufactured controversy. We analyze the displays and layout …

The Elasticity Of Taxable Income With Respect To Marginal Tax Rates: A Critical Review, Emmanuel Saez, Joel B. Slemrod, Seth H. Giertz

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

This paper critically surveys the large and growing literature estimating the elasticity of taxable income with respect to marginal tax rates using tax return data. First, we provide a theoretical framework showing under what assumptions this elasticity can be used as a sufficient statistic for efficiency and optimal tax analysis. We discuss what other parameters should be estimated when the elasticity is not a sufficient statistic. Second, we discuss conceptually the key issues that arise in the empirical estimation of the elasticity of taxable income using the example of the 1993 top individual income tax rate increase in the United …

Self-Efficacy, Intrinsic Motivation, And Academic Outcomes Among Latino Middle School Students Participating In An After-School Program, Kate Niehaus, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Jill L. Adelson

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This longitudinal study examined how academic self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and participation in an after-school program contributed to the academic achievement of Latino middle school students over the course of one school year. Participants were 47 Latino students in sixth through eighth grades who attended two public middle schools in which an after-school program was held that was specifically for Latino students. Results from ordinary least squares regression revealed that intrinsic motivation was positively associated with students GPAs, self-efficacy was a positive predictor of students’ school attendance and standardized math achievement scores, and attendance at the after-school program also contributed positively …

Neonatal White Matter Abnormalities An Important Predictor Of Neurocognitive Outcome For Very Preterm Children, Lianne J. Woodward, Caron A. C. Clark, Samudragupta Bora, Terrie E. Inder

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: Cerebral white matter abnormalities on term MRI are a strong predictor of motor disability in children born very preterm. However, their contribution to cognitive impairment is less certain. Objective: Examine relationships between the presence and severity of cerebral white matter abnormalities on neonatal MRI and a range of neurocognitive outcomes assessed at ages 4 and 6 years. Design/Methods: The study sample consisted of a regionally representative cohort of 104 very preterm (≤32 weeks gestation) infants born from 1998–2000 and a comparison group of 107 full-term infants. At term equivalent, all preterm infants underwent a structural MRI scan that was …

Book Review: The Morality Of Social Identity, David Moshman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Morality tells us how to treat each other. Social identity connects us to each other. But all is not well. Social identity connects us to a group and thus to its members. Morality requires justice for everyone, regardless of group. Thus considerations of morality and social identity often pull in different directions (Appiah, 2005; Moshman, 2007; Sen, 2006).

Two excellent and complementary new books, Children and Social Exclusion and Narrative and the Politics of Identity, address the developmental roots and implications of these issues. The first reviews and integrates multiple programs of research on children’s developing judgments about dilemmas …

Public Input For City Budgeting Using E-Input, Face-To-Face Discussions, And Random Sample Surveys: The Willingness Of An American Community To Increase Taxes, Alan Tomkins, Rick D. Hoppe, Mitch Herian, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Nancy Shank

Lisa PytlikZillig Publications

Regular public input into a city's budget is frequently associated with municipal budgeting in Brazilian cities, successes in public engagement that have been emulated around the world. American communities are adopting the practice to varying degrees. This paper will report on a five-year old public input program that is taking place in Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital city of a politically conservative state in the U.S. We discuss the processes we use to engage the public about the City's budget. The process includes regular online input as well as face-to-face, deliberative discussions. On occasions, random sample surveys also have been used. …

Development Of Camera Technology For Monitoring Nests, W. Andrew Cox, M. Shane Pruett, Thomas J. Benson, Scott J. Chiavacci, Frank R. Thompson Iii

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Photo and video technology has become increasingly useful in the study of avian nesting ecology. However, researchers interested in using camera systems are often faced with insufficient information on the types and relative advantages of available technologies. We reviewed the literature for studies of nests that used cameras and summarized them based on study objective and the type of technology used. We also designed and tested two video systems that we used for three nest predator and behavioral studies. We found 327 studies that recorded 255 bird species spanning 19 orders. Cameras were most commonly used to study nest predators …

Knowledge Gained From Video-Monitoring Grassland Passerine Nests, P. J. Pietz, D.A. Granfors, C.A. Ribic, F. R. Thompson

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

In the mid-1990s, researchers began to adapt miniature cameras to video-record activities :rt cryptic passerine nests in grasslands. In the subsequent decade, use of these video surveillance systems spread dramatically, leading to major strides in our knowledge of nest predation and nesting ecology of many species. Studies using video nest surveillance have helped overturn or substantiate many long-standing assumptions and provided insights on a wide range of topics. For example, researchers using video data have (1) identified an extensive and highly dynamic predator community in grasslands that varies both temporally (e.g., by time of day, nest age, season, year) and …

Hatching And Fledging Times From Grassland Passerine Nests, Pamela J. Pietz, D.A. Granfors, Todd Grant

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Accurate estimates of fledging age are needed in field studies to avoid inducing premature fledging or missing the fledging event. Both may lead to misinterpretation of nest fate. Correctly assessing nest fate and length of the nestling period can be critical for accurate calculation of nest survival rates. For researchers who mark nestlings, knowing the age at which their activities may cause young to leave nests prematurely could prevent introducing bias to their studies. We estimated fledging ages from grassland passerine nests monitored from hatching through fledging with miniature video cameras in North Dakota and Minnesota during 1996-2001. We compared …

Conservation Implications When The Nest Predators Are Known, Frank Thompson, C.A. Ribic

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Conservation and management of passerines has largely focused on habitat manipulation or restoration because the natural communities on which these birds depend have been destroyed and fragmented. However, productivity is another important aspect of avian conservation, and nest predation can be a large source of nesting mortality for passerines. Recent studies using video surveillance to identify nest predators allow researchers to start evaluating what methods could be used to mitigate nest predation to help passerines of conservation concern. From recent studies, we identified latitudinal and habitat-related patterns in the importance of predator groups that depredate passerine nests. We then reviewed …

Agriculture And Food In Crisis: Conflict, Resistance, And Renewal [Book Review], Charles A. Francis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Edited by Fred Magdoff and Brian Tokar. 2010. Monthly Review Press, New York, New York, United States. 348 p. Paperback, cloth US$ 75.00, paper US$ 18.95, ISBN-13 978-1-58367-226-6.

That doubling of food production over the next four decades will be needed to adequately nourish our human population is not news, but the incredible steps essential to achieve that goal and their political and social implications are less well reported. In this series of 16 essays edited by Fred Magdoff and Brian Tokar, several thoughtful specialists in global food issues explore the historical, biological, economic, energy, political and social dimensions of …

Do Clark’S Nutcrackers Demonstrate What-Where-When Memory On A Cache-Recovery Task?, Kristy L. Gould, Amy J. Ort, Alan C. Kamil

Avian Cognition Papers

What-where-when (WWW) memory during cache recovery was investigated in six Clark’s nutcrackers. During caching, both red- and blue-colored pine seeds were cached by the birds in holes filled with sand. Either a short (3 day) retention interval (RI) or a long (9 day) RI was followed by a recovery session during which caches were replaced with either a single seed or wooden bead depending upon the color of the cache and length of the retention interval. Knowledge of what was in the cache (seed or bead), where it was located, and when the cache had been made (3 or 9 …

Zoonotic And Human Parasites Of Inhabitants Of Cueva De Los Muertos Chiquitos, Rio Zape Valley, Durango, Mexico, F. Agustín Jiménez-Ruiz, Scott Lyell Gardner, Adauto Araújo, Martín Horacio Fugassa, Richard H. Brooks, Elizabeth Racz, Karl J. Reinhard

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

We present the first reconstruction of the parasitoses among the people of the Loma San Gabriel culture, as represented by 36 coprolites excavated from the Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos in Durango, Mexico. The coprolites date to approximately 1,400-yr ago. Species identified based on eggs recovered include the trematode Echinostoma sp., the tapeworms Hymenolepis sp. and Dipylidium caninum, and the nematodes Ancylostoma duodenale, Enterobius vermicularis, and Trichuris trichiura. After rehydration and screening, 2 methods were used to recover eggs from these samples including spontaneous sedimentation and flotation. Samples were analyzed by 3 different laboratories for independent …

College World Series In Omaha: In A League Of Its Own, Albert Chen, Bruce Thorson

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Photo caption: This 2011 Cal-Virginia hurlers' duel produced the longest CWS scoreless stretch in 24 years: 6-1/2 innings. (Photo by Bruce Thorson)

The Effect Of Advertising-Focused, Short-Term Study Abroad Programs On Students’ Worldviews, Frauke Hachtmann

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Global employers in the advertising industry are increasingly interested in hiring students with intercultural communication skills and cultural experience. While the benefits of long-term study abroad programs are well documented, this study focuses on advertising-specific, short-term study abroad programs. The purpose was to explore the effectiveness of such programs on students’ worldviews using a mixed methods design. The results show that students displayed lower levels of ethnocentrism after participating in short-term, advertising-focused study abroad programs. In addition, five qualitative themes emerged: an awareness of and appreciation for the out-group, an increased awareness of the in-group, the importance of communication, a …

Writing For The Web: Twitter As A Starting Point For Breaking News, Sue Burzynski Bullard, Michelle Carr Hassler

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Students enrolled in a multimedia reporting course use Twitter to cover breaking news events as they unfold, capitalizing on the immediacy of the social media network and the Web. Using cellphones or laptops, they learn to tell stories 140 characters at a time. The second half of this assignment requires students to build on their Twitter stories by posting follow-up stories and photographs to a class website. The follow- ups, written within six hours of events, must include additional reporting. The assignment marries traditional writing and reporting skills with digital tools increasingly being used in the real world.

Public Relations In Kenya: An Exploration Of Models And Cultural Influences, Dane M. Kiambi, Marjorie Keeshan Nadler

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This pioneer study explores the public relations models that inform the practice of public relations in Kenya, and the cultural values that influence this practice. Results show the personal influence model as the most used by practitioners in Kenya, while individualism is the most experienced cultural value. The strong correlation between personal influence model and Hofstede’s cultural value of femininity points to the practitioners’ strong desire for good interpersonal relationships with colleagues, supervisors, clients and key publics.

Ethnic Appeal: A Self-Defense Tool For Kenyan Politicians, Dane M. Kiambi

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

So far, analyses of apologetic rhetoric strategies as used by individuals or organizations to respond to accusations of wrongdoing have been concentrated in the West. An analysis of political apologia in an African setting — in this case Kenya — reveals that while Kenyan politicians have used denial, victimization, mortification, and counterattacking among other self-defense strategies, one particular strategy emerges as the most commonly used by Kenyan politicians — ethnic appeal.

Synthesizing Parasitology With Archaeology In Paleopathology, Karl Reinhard, Adauto Araujo

Karl Reinhard Publications

Parasitology is the study of organisms that are symbiotic with other organisms. In this form of symbiosis, the parasite species by definition benefits from the interaction while the host is harmed to some degree. In actuality, some parasites benefit their hosts. The animals traditionally studied by parasitologists range from protozoa to arthropods, and include all types of internal and external worms. Ticks, fleas, lice, and a variety of insects that transmit parasites are also studied by parasitologists. Recently, a more holistic view of parasitism appeared, including bacteria and viruses. In essence, parasitology is the study of a certain kind of …

Profitable Farms And Woodlands: A Practical Guide In Agroforestry For Landowners, Farmers And Ranchers, J. O. Idassi

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

This handbook is part of an interdisciplinary, interinstitutional and comprehensive effort to develop a practical guide to assist underserved and limited resource small farmers and woodland owners to adopt best management technologies in agroforestry. Funding for this effort was provided through the USDA National Agroforestry Center (NAC) from the US Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) under cooperative agreement number 68-7482-7-361 with Tennessee State University, Cooperative Extension Program and the 1890/1862 Agroforestry Team.

This guide was prepared by an agroforestry team of research and extension specialists from the 1862 and 1890 Land Grant Universities in collaboration with …

Agroforestry: Accounting For Windbreak's Climate Change Contributions, Michele Schoeneberger, Jim Brandle, Xinhua Zhou, John Kort, Tom Sauer

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Conditioned Response Evoked By Nicotine Conditioned Stimulus Preferentially Induces C-Fos Expression In Medial Regions Of Caudate-Putamen, Sergios Charntikov, Matthew E. Tracy, Changjiu Zhao, Ming Li, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Nicotine has both unconditioned and conditioned stimulus properties. Conditioned stimulus properties of nicotine may contribute to the tenacity of nicotine addiction. The purpose of this experiment was to use neurohistochemical analysis of rapidly developing c-Fos protein to elucidate neurobiological loci involved in the processing of nicotine as an interoceptive conditioned stimulus (CS). Rats were injected (SC) in an intermixed fashion with saline or nicotine (16 sessions of each) and placed in conditioning chambers where they were given one of the three conditions depending on group assignment: (a) nicotine paired 100% of the time with intermittent access to sucrose (nicotine-CS condition), …

A Review Of Return To Play Issues And Sports-Related Concussion, Amy W. Doolan, Daniel D. Day, Arthur C. Maerlender, Michael Goforth, P. Gunnar Brolinson

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Mild traumatic brain injury in sports has become a significant public health concern which has not only received the general public’s attention through multiple news media stories involving athletic concussions but has also resulted in local, state, and national legislative efforts to improve recogni-tion and management. The purpose of this article is to review the current literature for return to play (RTP) guidelines. State, regional, national, and professional legislation on sport-related concussion RTP management issues will be reviewed. This article will be helpful in developing a generalized systematic approach to concussion management and highlight specific RTP guidelines. The article will …

Poor Parenting And Antisocial Behavior Among Homeless Young Adults : Links To Dating Violence Perpetration And Victimization, Kimberly A. Tyler, Lisa Melander

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Though research has examined risk factors associated with street victimization among homeless young people, little is known about dating violence experiences among this group. Given homeless youths’ elevated rates of child maltreatment, it is likely that they are at high risk for dating violence. As such, the current study examined the association between child maltreatment and parental warmth with dating violence perpetration and victimization through substance use and delinquency among a sample of 172 homeless males and females. Results from path analysis revealed that physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect were all significant correlates of both substance use and delinquency, …

Development And Application Of Methods Used To Source Prehistoric Southwestern Maize: A Review, Larry Benson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Archaeological cobs free of mineral contaminants should be used to source the soils in which they were grown. Mineral contaminants often contain much higher concentrations of metals than vegetal materials and can alter a cob’s apparent metal and heavy-isotope content. Cleaning a cob via immersion in an acid solution for more than a few minutes will result in the incongruent and sometimes complete leaching of metals, including strontium (Sr), from the cob. When using ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr to determine the location of potential agriculture fields, it is best to either integrate several depth-integrated soil samples or to integrate several …

Tempering The Over-Use And Abuse Of Common-Pool Resources, Marianna Khachaturyan, Gary D. Lynne

Cornhusker Economics

Elinor Ostrom, a professor at Indiana University, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (first woman to ever receive it) in 2009, sharing it with Professor Oliver Williamson. The prize was awarded “for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons.” She “challenged the conventional wisdom by demonstrating how local property can be successfully managed by local commons without any regulation by central authorities or privatization”. Also, full privatization, i.e., assigning individual property rights rather than shared, common property rights, is also not essential. She summarizes her contribution in the finding “that humans have a more complex motivational structure …

Using Targeting Outcomes Of Programs As A Framework To Target Photographic Events In Nonformal Educational Programs, S. Kay Rockwell

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

Targeting Outcomes of Programs (TOP) is a seven-step hierarchical programming model in which the program development and performance sides are mirror images of each other. It served as a framework to identify a simple method for targeting photographic events in nonformal education programs, indicating why, when, and how photographs would be useful to inform other evaluation strategies. In two case studies, photographs enhanced the formative story of a geoscience project being developed and tested, and contributed to the outcome narrative of a 10-year partnership project between two universities. In both cases, TOP proved to be an efficient and easy-to-use framework. …

Healers And Helpers, Unifying The People: A Qualitative Study Of Lakota Leadership, Kem M. Gambrell, Susan Fritz

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

Previously, scholars have implied that leadership theory is “universal” enough and can be applied systematically regardless of cultural influences in subcultures. Leadership research has limited its scope of discernment to dominant society, implying that nonmainstream individuals will acquiesce and that cultural differences are inconsequential. Therefore, the intention of this study was to address the disparity between current leadership theories and a subgroup perspective. Specifically, this study explored leadership from a Lakota Sioux perspective. In this qualitative grounded theory study, six major and five minor themes surfaced: Traditional Values and Behaviors, Putting Others First, Lakota Leadership Qualities (Men, Women, and Fallen …

Amendment Of Articles 8, 9, 10, 21 And 78 Of The International Code Of Zoological Nomenclature To Expand And Refine Methods Of Publication, International Commission On Zoological Nomenclature

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature has voted in favor of a revised version of the amendment to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature that was proposed in 2008. The purpose of the amendment is to expand and refine the methods of publication allowed by the Code, particularly in relation to electronic publication. The amendment establishes an Official Register of Zoological Nomenclature (with ZooBank as its online version), allows electronic publication after 2011 under certain conditions, and disallows publication on optical discs after 2012. The requirements for electronic publications are that the work be registered in ZooBank before it is …