Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Let Safety Be Your Guide: A Risk Management Perspective On Challenge Course Programming And Instructor Training, Jon-Scott N. Godsey, Monica L. Godsey

Research in Outdoor Education

The introduction of challenge courses to the public and private education sectors ushered in a new focus on construction and safety standards. The Association for Challenge Course Technologies (ACCT) currently pro.vides a series of standards related to challenge course construction techniques and appropriate materials and is paving the way for national standardization of challenge course practices and instructor training programs. While challenge course safety has improved significantly in the past forty years, there are still "antagonists who have claimed these programs lack safety and quality control", (p.65), resulting in a number of potential and actual accidents (Leemon & Erickson, 2000).

Development And Application Of A Camper Growth Index (Cgi-C), Karla A. Henderson, Christopher A. Thurber, Leslie Schueler Whitaker, Margery M. Scanlin, M. Deborah Bialeschki

Research in Outdoor Education

Many people know about the value of organized camp experiences for youth, but few instruments measure camp experiences relative to positive youth development. Over the past century, most studies have found positive outcomes on a variety of dimensions, but these studies have used mainly convenience nonrandornized samples, different criteria, and a variety of instruments in their assessments. The purpose of this paper is to present evidence about the psychometric properties of a scale specifically designed to measure youth development outcomes through camp experiences.

Leadership Development Through An Outdoor Leadership Program Focusing On Emotional Intelligence, Aya Hayashi

Research in Outdoor Education

The purpose of this study was to identify how an outdoor leadership program experience impacts students' development of emotional intelligence and transformational leadership. Other critical information regarding development of emotional intelligence and leadership, such as the relationships between level of outdoor experience and development of emotional intelligence, and kinds of experiences that contribute to development of emotional intelligence were also investigated.

Factors Influencing Particpants' Trust In Outdoor Organizations And Outdoor Leaders, Karen Paisley, Jim Sibthorp, Wynn Shooter

Research in Outdoor Education

Trust plays a critical role in the field of outdoor education. The building of trust among participants is a common goal of outdoor educators (Honchalk, 1982; Smith, Roland, Hanes, & Hoyt, 1992; Fox & Mick, 1996) and 1s believed to influence learning outcomes (Rotter, 1967). The absence of trust in one's leader may result in unrealized goals and lack of productivity (Kramer & Cook, 2004 ). The purpose of the current study was to explore, through action research, how trust is established between consumers and outdoor organizations and between participants in outdoor programs and their outdoor leaders. The identification of …

Predictors Of Autonomy Support At Diabetes Summer Camp: A Self-Determination Theory Approach, Ron Ramsing, Jim Sibthorp

Research in Outdoor Education

Diabetes is considered to be one of the most psychologically and behaviorally demanding chronic illnesses facing adolescents (Cox & Gonder-Fredrick, 1992). To control the disease more effectively, adolescents must learn to undertake the management of their diabetes themselves (Mensing, et al., 2000; Ruggiero, et al., 1997). Self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) was used as a foundation to explore the mechanisms, within a summer camp, that led to increased perceptions of autonomy support. Research shows autonomy support to be a critical prerequisite for increased autonomous behavior.

With over 350 specialty camps serving youth with diabetes (Diabetes Education and Camping Association, …

A Modified Outdoor Adventure Program Serving Individuals With Cognitive Disabilities Who Present Serious Accommodation Challenges, Leo H. Mcavoy, John Smith, John Rynders, Jeff Jacobs

Research in Outdoor Education

When inclusive programming is to be offered in an outdoor adventure context, and attempts are made to welcome individuals who present disability issues that make accommodation unusually challenging, the obstacles to program success can begin to look insurmountable. Research indicates there are a number of benefits realized through participation in inclusive outdoor adventure programs (McAvoy, Schatz, Stutz, Schleien, & Lais, 1989; Anderson, Schleien, McAvoy, Lais, & Seligman, 1997; McAvoy, 2001). There has been a paucity of research focused on persons with cognitive disabilities in outdoor programs that typically go on camping excursions into wilderness or wilderness-like natural areas rather than …

Power Plays: Nerdy Boys And Influential Girls "Playing" In The Outdoors, Katherine J. Pinch

Research in Outdoor Education

A major premise of this study is that gender is a system as well as a part of individual actions. Giddens (1999) described systems as "reproduced relations between actors or collectivities, organized as regular social practices" (p. 127). If one does not see gender as a category, but as a process that structures identity, behavior, and social norms, Giddens' definition of a system may easily be applied to gender. The study was begun with this understanding and a desire to look inside the gender system, as it operated within and through an outdoor adventure program for adolescents, and to explore …

Connectedness In The Wildernes Experience: Interpretation Of Sense Of Place During A National Outdoor Leadership School Instructor Course, Garrett Hutson

Research in Outdoor Education

This study explored the concept of sense of place during a 30-day National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) extended wilderness experience in a mountain range in the western United States. Sense of place is not a fixed concept, but may be best understood as a moving force that touches people's emotions on a variety of levels through the bonds they form with places (Tuan, 1974). The term has been utilized in such fields as geography and architecture since the early 1970s (Williams & Stewart, 1998). Scholars of leisure, recreation, and outdoor education are increasingly utilizing this concept because it holistically captures …

Predictors Of Perceived Development On Courses From The National Outdoor Leadership School, Jim Sibthorp, Karen Paisley, John Gookin

Research in Outdoor Education

The purpose of this study was to examine some of the potential mechanistic variables related to participant growth and development on courses at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). The NOLS Outcome Instrument (NOI) was a retrospective pretest posttest created to measure perceived gains in six universal course outcomes targeted by NOLS courses: Communication Skills, Leadership, Expedition Behavior, Judgment in the Outdoors, Outdoor Skills, and Environmental Awareness. Participant level predictors included age, sex, previous expedition experience, and sense of personal empowerment. Course level predictors included were course length, challenge level of the course terrain, group's level of functioning, and the …

Developing Sustainable Access To Bouldering Areas, Dan Pronsolino, Marni Goldenberg

Research in Outdoor Education

Bouldering is a branch of rock climbing that has introduced unique impacts and concerns for land managers and local climbing organizations. The Access Fund, a climbing advocacy organization, is currently working on an initiative called The Boulder Project to educate boulderers on how to collaborate with land managers and maintain bouldering areas. There is currently a lack of research on the concerns of land management agencies regarding the behavior and impact of boulderers. The purpose of this study was to determine the best practices for minimal impact development and maintenance of bouldering areas according to land management agencies in the …

Vertically Iterated Classical Enrichment, Stefan Forcey

Mathematical Sciences Faculty Research

Lyubashenko has described enriched 2-categories as categories enriched over V-Cat, the 2-category of categories enriched over a symmetric monoidal V. This construction is the strict analogue for V-functors in V-Cat of Brian Day’s probicategories for V-modules in V-Mod. Here I generalize the strict version to enriched n-categories for k-fold monoidal V. The latter is defined as by Balteanu, Fiedorowicz, Schw¨anzl and Vogt but with the addition of making visible the coherent associators αi. The symmetric case can easily be recovered. This paper proposes a recursive definition of V-n …

Operads In Iterated Monoidal Categories, Stefan Forcey, Jacob Siehler, E. Seth Sowers

Mathematical Sciences Faculty Research

The structure of a k-fold monoidal category as introduced by Balteanu, Fiedorowicz, Schw¨anzl and Vogt in [2] can be seen as a weaker structure than a symmetric or even braided monoidal category. In this paper we show that it is still sufficient to permit a good definition of (n-fold) operads in a k-fold monoidal category which generalizes the definition of operads in a braided category. Furthermore, the inheritance of structure by the category of operads is actually an inheritance of iterated monoidal structure, decremented by at least two iterations. We prove that the category of n-fold operads in a k-fold …

Enrichment As Categorical Delooping I: Enrichment Over Iterated Monoidal Categories, Stefan Forcey

Mathematical Sciences Faculty Research

Joyal and Street note in their paper on braided monoidal categories [10] that the 2–category V–Cat of categories enriched over a braided monoidal category V is not itself braided in any way that is based upon the braiding of V. What is meant by “based upon” here will be made more clear in the present paper. The exception that they mention is the case in which V is symmetric, which leads to V–Cat being symmetric as well. The symmetry in V–Cat is based upon the symmetry of V. The motivation behind this paper is in part to describe how these …

Higher Dimensional Enrichment, Stefan Forcey

Mathematical Sciences Faculty Research

Lyubashenko has described enriched 2–categories as categories enriched over V–Cat, the 2–category of categories enriched over a symmetric monoidal V. Here I generalize this to a k–fold monoidal V. The latter is defined as by Balteanu, Fiedorowicz, Schw¨anzl and Vogt but with the addition of making visible the coherent associators _i. The symmetric case can easily be recovered. The introduction of this paper proposes a recursive definition of V–n–categories and their morphisms. Then I consider the special case of V–2–categories and give the details of the proof that with their morphisms these form the structure of a 3–category.

An Analysis Of Internal Phosphorus Loading In White Lake, Alan Steinman, Mary Ogdahl

Scientific Technical Reports

An analysis of internal phosphorus loading in White Lake, MI was conducted during the summer, 2006. Sediment cores were removed from 4 sites in White Lake and incubated in the laboratory under aerobic (with oxygen) and anaerobic (without oxygen) conditions. Phosphorus flux from the sediments into the overlaying water column was measured over a 27-day period and compared to rates measured from sediment cores collected previously from Mona and Spring Lakes.

Internal phosphorus loading in White Lake sediments ranged from 1.55 to 7.78 mg TP/m2/d in anaerobic conditions and from -0.18 to 0.14 mg/m2/d in aerobic conditions. The negative value …

Promoting Low Impact Development In Your Community, New England Environmental Finance Center

Planning

Low Impact Development (LID) is an approach to stormwater management and site development that is gaining popularity throughout the country. Its attractiveness lies in its potential to lessen off-site stormwater impacts, reduce costs to municipalities and developers, and promote development that is “softer on the land” compared with typical traditional development. The approach, which is applicable to residential, commercial and industrial projects, and in urban, suburban and rural settings, often is linked with efforts by governments and citizens to foster more sustainable communities.

Thermal Expansion And Magnetostriction Of The Ising Antiferromagnet Tbni2ge2, G M. Schmiedeshoff, Shawna M. Hollen, S L. Budko, P C. Canfield

Physics & Astronomy

We have measured the linear thermal expansion and magnetostriction of the Ising antiferromagnet TbNi2Ge2 along its c-axis from room temperature to 2 K and in magnetic fields to 14 T. We find a magnetic phase diagram that agrees with earlier work and estimate aspects of its uniaxial pressure dependence. We also find a new high field feature near 10 T which may signal the onset of an additional field-induced phase.

Information Policies And Practices Of Knowledge Management(Km) As Related To The Development Of The Global Aviation Information Network(Gain)- An Applied Case Study And Taxonomy Development, Jeffrey S. Forrest

CCE Theses and Dissertations

The Global Aviation Information Network (GAIN) was initiated in response to U.S. Government policies seeking to reduce airline accidents. GAIN was to disseminate airline or aviation safety information in environments where public disclosure impedes the diffusion of information. Government legislation such as the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and other information policies create risks of public disclosure to those reporting information. Therefore, the problem investigated in this research was to identity and evaluate potential solutions to policy issues in public disclosure that prevent the collection and sharing of aviation safety information.

Interactions between GAIN, information policy, and knowledge management (KM) …

Scholarly Communication And Knowledge Management In American Zoos, Julia Innes

CCE Theses and Dissertations

The researcher investigated whether frontline, tacit knowledge about zoo animals was captured by zookeepers, curators, researchers, veterinarians, and outside researchers and, if so, whether and how it was transmitted into the scholarly literature. A bibliometric analysis was done of a representative sample of peer-reviewed zoo research articles published between 1973 and 200 I. This was extended to grey literature and acknowledgements statements from the same period to obtain a more global picture.

Research participants were evaluated in terms of their contributions (journal articles, conference papers, or acknowledged research assistance). Changes were mapped chronologically and by profess ion. The participation of …

A Catalog Of Edge-On Disk Galaxies: From Galaxies With A Bulge To Superthin Galaxies, Stefan Kautsch, E. K. Grebel, F. D. Barazza, J. S. Gallagher

Chemistry and Physics Faculty Articles

Spiral galaxies range from bulge-dominated early-type galaxies to late types with little or no bulge. Cosmological models do not predict the formation of disk-dominated, essentially bulgeless galaxies, yet these objects exist. A particularly striking and poorly understood example of bulgeless galaxies are flat or superthin galaxies with large axis ratios. We therefore embarked on a study aimed at a better understanding of these enigmatic objects, starting by compiling a statistically meaningful sample with well-defined properties. The disk axis ratios can be most easily measured when galaxies are seen edge-on. We used data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in …

Establishing A New Paradigm In Engineering And Technology Education: An Experimental Analysis Of Multiple Learning Methodologies And Examination Of Cognitive Profiles Of Continuing Education Students, James A. Sinclair

CCE Theses and Dissertations

This study consisted of two inter-related components. The first part compared three instructional methods for delivering a Computer Aided Design (CAD) course for adult Continuing Education (CE) students. The second part established a comprehensive cognitive profile matrix of adult continuing education students entering careers in technology. The first part examined the use of three delivery methods, using three randomly selected groups of students. The three methods were as following:

• Traditional classroom-based training.
• Instructor-facilitated course presented online.
• Independent study, using a CD-ROM tutorial.

The experimental design consisted of three randomly selected sample groups’ of20 students. The independent variable in the study …

An Improved Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm With Adaptable Parameters, Khoa Duc Tran

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEAs) are not easy to use because they require parameter tunings of three main parameters - population size, crossover probability, and mutation probability - in order to achieve desirable solutions and performance for an arbitrary complex problem. Moreover, the use of fixed parameter settings may lead to slow convergence and sub-optimal solutions. This dissertation develops a MOEA with self-adaptive crossover, self-adaptive mutation, and adaptive population size parameters for automating the process of adjusting appropriate parameter values in order to make the MOEA more efficient, simple to use and available to more users. The MOEA with adaptable parameters …

Prospects For Grb Polarimetry With Grape, Mark L. Mcconnell, Peter F. Bloser, Jason S. Legere, John R. Macri, T Narita, James M. Ryan

Space Science Center

This paper discusses the latest progress in the development of GRAPE (Gamma‐Ray Polarimeter Experiment), a hard X‐ray Compton Polarimeter. The purpose of GRAPE is to measure the polarization of hard X‐rays in the 50–300 keV energy range. We are particularly interested in X‐rays that are emitted from solar flares and gamma‐ray bursts (GRBs). Accurately measuring the polarization of the emitted radiation from these sources will lead to a better understating of both the emission mechanisms and source geometries. The GRAPE design consists of an array of plastic scintillators surrounding a central high‐Z crystal scintillator. We can monitor individual Compton scatters …

Medium-Energy Gamma-Ray Astrophysics With The 3-Dti Gamma-Ray Telescope, Stanley D. Hunter, Robert G. Baker, Louis M. Barbier, Peter F. Bloser, La Vida Cooper, John F. Krizmanic, Jason T. Link, Mark L. Mcconnell, Geoergia A. De Nolfo, James M. Ryan, Satpal Singh, Seunghee Son

Space Science Center

Gamma-ray observations in the medium energy range (0.50-50.0 MeV) are central to unfolding many outstanding questions in astrophysics. The challenges of medium-energy gamma-ray observations, however, are the low photon statistics and large backgrounds. We review these questions, address the telescope technology requirements, and describe our development of the 3-Dimensional Track Imaging (3-DTI) Compton telescope and its performance for a new mediumenergy gamma-ray mission. The 3-DTI is a large-volume time projection chamber (TPC) with a 2-dimensional gas micro-well detector (MWD) readout.

Position Resolution In Labr3 And Lacl3 Scintillators Using Position-Sensitive Photomultiplier Tubes, Peter F. Bloser, Mark L. Mcconnell, John R. Macri, James M. Ryan, Justin Baker

Space Science Center

Advanced scintillator materials such as LaBr3:Ce and LaCl3:Ce hold great promise for future hard X-ray and gamma-ray astrophysics missions due to their high density, high light output, good linearity, and fast decay times. Of particular importance for future space-based imaging instruments, such as coded-aperture telescopes, is the precise spatial location of individual gamma-ray interactions. We have investigated the position and energy resolution achievable within monolithic (5 cm × 5 cm × 1 cm) LaBr3:Ce and LaCl3:Ce crystals using position-sensitive light readout devices, including a position-sensitive photomultiplier tube and a multi-anode photomultiplier tube. We present the results of these tests and …

Radiation Damage And Activation From Proton Irradiation Of Advanced Scintillators, Peter F. Bloser, Mark L. Mcconnell, John R. Macri, P J. Bruillard, James M. Ryan, W Hajdas

Space Science Center

We present results from a proton accelerator beam test to measure radiation damage and activation in advanced scintillator materials. Samples of LaBr3:Ce and LaCl3:Ce were exposed to protons from 40-250 MeV at the Proton Irradiation Facility of the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. Twelve energy bands were used to simulate the spectrum of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), with different samples exposed to the equivalent of 4 months, 1 year, and 5 years of SAA passage. No significant decrease in light output was found due to radiation damage, indicating that these new scintillator materials are radiation tolerant. High-resolution spectra of …

Optimization Of Single-Sided Charge-Sharing Strip Detectors, L A. Hamel, M Benoit, B Donmez, John R. Macri, Mark L. Mcconnell, T Narita, James M. Ryan

Space Science Center

Simulation of the charge sharing properties of single-sided CZT strip detectors with small anode pads are presented. The effect of initial event size, carrier repulsion, diffusion, drift, trapping and detrapping are considered. These simulations indicate that such a detector with a 150 µm pitch will provide good charge sharing between neighboring pads. This is supported by a comparison of simulations and measurements for a similar detector with a coarser pitch of 225 µm that could not provide sufficient sharing. The performance of such a detector used as a gamma-ray imager is discussed.

Here Comes The Sun: The Promise Of Solar Energy, Carmela Amato-Wierda

The University Dialogue

George Harrison, the youngest Beatle, wrote the classic “Here Comes the Sun” in 1969 after spending a glorious day walking around his friend Eric Clapton’s garden. Today, Harrison’s refrain, “And I say, ‘It’s All right’,” accords well with a solar power industry that has grown more than 30 percent in the past six years and received tax-favorable legislative approval in 2006.

Powering Down Technology, Janine Jacques

The University Dialogue

This paper will examine the issue of energy consumption resulting from the use of technology. It will identify and evaluate potential solutions currently being deployed by data center managers. In addition, the paper will recommend guidelines for reducing energy consumption for both the individual and business consumer.

Energy – The Not-So Bottomless Oil Well And The Alternatives, P.T. Vasudevan

The University Dialogue

This essay examines both sides of the “Hubbert’s peak” debate and their implications for energy policy. If there is a strong case for governments to wean their economies of oil, how do they do it? What low-carbon or alternative technologies bear watching? How will these technologies affect the environment? How long will the world remain reliant on oil considering that industries are 98% dependent on petroleum products?