Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Social Customer Relationship Management In Higher Education, Victorian A. Farnsworth

Open Access Theses

Customer Relationship Management is a concept that has become a requirement for any successful entity to attract and retain desired constituents. It is a set of processes and tools that help track, analyze, and act upon customer related data. Over the last decade, the toolsets have evolved to include social media as another source of information and connection. Nowhere is this information and connection more important than in higher education where globalization and tighter budgets have created a competitive market. This research evaluated the use of this most recent social toolset and its effectiveness in a higher education institution, all …

Enhancing The Campus Experience: Helping International Students To Adapt To North American Campus Life, Qiaoying Wang

Open Access Theses

This thesis investigates how culture adaption topic can be applied to a design solution by enhancing international students experience on North American campus. Each year more than half a million international students enroll in American colleges and universities. Many will spend several years on a campus working toward their degree. Most of them arrive with clear academic goals, but they may have no clue what their social lives will be like. In that case, a common phenomenon that most of the international students need to get along with is called “Culture Shock”, which involves culture and academic adapting difficulties, limited …

Analysis Of Scientific Argumentation In Two Physical Chemistry Classrooms Using The Pogil Approach, Alena C. Moon

Open Access Dissertations

The benefits of facilitating argumentation in science education have been well reported (Jimenez-Aleixandre & Erduran, 2007). Engaging in argumentation has shown to model authentic scientific inquiry as well as promote development of content knowledge. However, less emphasis has been placed on facilitating argumentation in upper level undergraduate courses, though it is important for evaluating undergraduate curricula to characterize upper level students’ scientific reasoning. This work considers two implementations of the POGIL physical chemistry curriculum and evaluates the classroom argumentation. The researchers aimed to consider the content of the arguments and dialectical features characteristic of socially constructed arguments (Nielson, 2013). To …

Guest Editors' Introduction: Research On Equity And Sustained Participation In Engineering, Computing, And Technology, Tiffany Barnes, Jamie Payton, George K. Thiruvathukal, Kristy Elizabeth Boyer, Jeff Forbes

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The guest editors introduce best papers on broadening participation in computing from the RESPECT'15 conference. The five articles presented here are part one of a two-part series representing research on broadening participation in computing at all levels of education: from K-12 schools through graduate school, with a focus on diversity with regard to gender, race, and ethnicity.

The Need For Research In Broadening Participation, Tiffany Barnes, George K. Thiruvathukal

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Underrepresentation in computing is a global problem, marked by a disturbing lack of access to computing resources and education among people underrepresented by race, ethnicity, gender, income, disability, and sexual-orientation status. It is urgent that we address this divide between those with and without the knowledge to create computational artifacts or even basic functional literacy. Important alliances for broadening participation (BP) are catalyzing efforts to engage more people in computing, but they are not enough. We need solid research as well.

Knowledge And Behavior Change Of People Living With Hiv Through Nutrition Education And Counseling, Fitri Hudayani, Ratu Ayu Dewi Sartika

Kesmas

HIV, AIDS, dan gizi saling berhubungan. Pada Unit Pelayanan Terpadu HIV Rumah Sakit Umum Pusat Nasional Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo, layanan edukasi dan konseling gizi disediakan secara kolaboratif untuk orang yang hidup dengan HIV. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh pendidikan dan konseling gizi terhadap pengetahuan dan perilaku orang yang hidup dengan HIV. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan desain kuasi eksperimental menggunakan kelompok perlakuan dan kontrol. Kelompok perlakuan terdiri dari 25 sampel dan 29 sampel untuk kelompok kontrol, dilakukan sebelum dan setelah perlakuan. Sampel berusia dewasa antara 18 – 50 tahun dipilih dengan menerapkan kriteria inklusi dan eksklusi. Sampel uji-t berpasangan digunakan …

Who Cares About The Environment? A Study Of Environmental Behavior In Maine, Chandler L. Blake

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

Identifying and targeting environmentally minded people is crucial to making any environmental campaign successful. It allows you to advertise to the people who will be the most helpful and supportive to your cause. The goal of this study is to identify the general demographics of environmentally minded people. To do this I examine voting data through each county in Maine and run a regression to test whether income, education level, and household size have any correlation to how the county votes on environmental issues. I found that the higher a county’s income, the more environmentally friendly their voting. I also …

Teaching Climate Change Concepts And The Nature Of Science: A Library Activity To Identify Sources Of Climate Change Misconceptions, Charity Flener Lovitt, Kristen S. Shuyler

Libraries

A library activity was developed in which students found information about climate science misconceptions from popular and scientific literatures. As part of the activity, students developed a rubric to evaluate the credibility and type of literature sources they found. The activity prepared students to produce an annotated bibliography of articles, which they then used to create a training document about a climate science misconception for staff at a local science center. Evaluation of annotated bibliographies showed that students were able to distinguish between popular and scholarly literature but struggled to identify primary and secondary sources within the scholarly literature. In …

Moocs And The Online Delivery Of Business Education: What's New? What's Not? What Now?, Jonathan W. Whitaker, J. Randolph New, R. Duane Ireland

Management Faculty Publications

Although the past 2 decades have produced much promise (and accompanying research) on the use of information technology (IT) in business school courses, it is not entirely clear whether IT has truly "transformed" management education. There are compelling arguments on both sides. On one hand, advocates for the transformative role of IT can point to several success stories. On the other hand, skeptics of the role of IT in management education can also point to support for their view. This lack of consensus has led researchers in Academy of Management Learning & Education to call for scholars to confront the …

Teaching Presence And Intellectual Climate In A Structured Online Learning Environment, Janice Marie Orcutt

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Teaching presence and its implications for the intellectual climate of an online classroom cannot be fully understood unless explored from the perspective of the instructors who experience it. Framed in the theoretical perspective of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model, this collective case study investigated the actions, intentions and perceptions of instructors with the intent of developing an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of teaching presence as it was established in a structured online learning environment.

The experiences of selected successful instructors in this specific online context were explored to gain insight on how pedagogical choices influenced the establishment of …

Improving Information Literacy Through Wikipedia Editing In The Chemistry Classroom: Lessons Learned, Ye Li, Charity Flener Lovitt, Anne J. Mcneil, Kristen S. Shuyler

Libraries

Assignments in which students edit Wikipedia may help students learn about the complexities of information creation and production, while engaging them in researching and writing about topics related to class content. This chapter presents two case studies that illustrate how Wikipedia-based activities can be designed to achieve both chemistry and information literacy learning outcomes. In both examples, faculty partnered with a librarian to implement the Wikipedia editing assignments. Through these experiences, those involved learned about Wikipedia and its community, and identified promising practices for project requirements based on formal and informal assessment and observations. Reflections are offered on the value …

Mathematical Writing Assignment For Deeper Understanding And Process Writing, Colton Magnant, Saeed Nasseh, Teresa Flateby

Department of Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Brief Description: The broad goals of this writing assignment are two-fold: 1) To delve deeper into the inner workings of a chosen proof and explore fundamental motivation of the chosen result. 2) To enhance student learning in the area of academic writing in the discipline of mathematics.

By walking the students through a process of academic writing, we address the following DQP proficiencies: Specialized Knowledge, Applied and Collaborative Learning and Intellectual Skills - Use of Information Resources, Mathematics-Specific Intellectual and Practical Skills and Communicative Fluency.

Background and context: This assignment has been used in a Mathematical Structures (introduction-to-proofs) course and …

Educational Methods For Inverted-Lecture Computer Science And Engineering Classrooms To Overcome Common Barriers To Stem Student Success, Kathleen Timmerman

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

New educational pedagogies are emerging in an effort to increase the number of new engineers available to enter the workforce in the coming years. One of the re-occurring themes in these pedagogies is variations of the flipped classroom. Often the additional classroom time gained from flipping is used to reinforce learning objectives. It is hypothesized that it might be more beneficial to students if a portion of that time is used to address common non-cognitive barriers that prevent students from succeeding in the major. In a freshman Introductory Computer Science course, three different pedagogies are compared: a hybrid lecture-active learning …

Correlations Between Introductory Students’ Attitudes About Physics And Conceptual Understanding, Raym Alzahrani

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to measure correlations between the students’ incoming attitudes, beliefs and expectations about physics and their conceptual understanding. The study presents a profile of the attitudes and beliefs for Wright State University students who enrolled in calculus-based General Physics I courses during academic years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. Students’ initial and final attitudes, measured using the CLASS, are correlated with initial and final conceptual gain, measured using the Force Concept Inventory. Students’ initial attitudes (Opre) was correlated with students’ gain (FCIgain) in many sections. Correlations between students’ final attitudes (Opost) and their conceptual understanding (FCIpost), reported …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Manipulatives During Middle School Math Instruction, Angela L. Vizzi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a Colorado school district, school personnel and parents were concerned that middle school math proficiency levels were low for 2011-2014 and math teachers were not using manipulatives in their classes to increase math performance. The district's math coordinator did not foresee providing specific professional development (PD) for math manipulative use to address these concerns. Without this PD, math teachers may be ill-quipped to teach math concepts when using manipulatives, which, in turn, could lead to further poor math performance. The purpose of this qualitative bounded collective case study was to explore middle school teachers' perceptions of PD and perceived …

Using Mathematical Research Methods To Solve A Problem In Music Theory Instruction, Specifically, The Teaching Of Secondary Dominant Chords, Angela Ulrich

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The mathematical method for research is used to find a solution to a problem in music theory: understanding and identifying secondary dominant chords. By reviewing and assessing the teaching methods of university professors and theory textbooks, and comparing those findings with student reviews, a new method for teaching the concept is developed. The proposed system incorporates aural, visual, and kinetic exercises to serve every learner. The literature review and sample unit plan are followed by a possible procedure for testing the effectiveness of the new method.

Blended Learning For Faculty Professional Development Incorporating Knowledge Management Principles, Julie E. Hewitt

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Adjunct faculty comprise a large percentage of part-time faculty for many colleges and universities today. Adjunct faculty are hired because they are experts in their content areas; however, this does not guarantee that they are skilled in effective classroom management. These instructors can become bewildered and frustrated because they lack the knowledge and skills that are needed to run an effective classroom.

While educational organizations have adopted blended learning environments as an effective delivery method for their students, this method has not gained much traction as a way to deliver instruction to their own employees. Thus, there are opportunities to …

An Examination Of Intrinsic Existence Value Towards Wildlife Of Columbus Zoo And Aquariums Tourists: Evaluating The Impact Of Behind The Scenes Programming, Robert Maxwell Lakes

Online Theses and Dissertations

Changes in climate and the corresponding environmental issues are major concerns facing the world today. Human consumption, which is leading the rapid depletion of the earth’s finite resources and causing a dramatic loss of biodiversity, is largely to blame (Pearson, Lowry, Dorrian, & Litchfield, 2014). American zoos and aquariums are positioned to create positive experiential relationships between zoo tourists and animals that have the potential to positively change the zoo tourists’ conservation behaviors. Challenges to changing the conservation behaviors of zoo tourists are many. One particularly important challenge is conservation/environmental education. Zoos and aquariums aim to provide effective and quality …

Computing Language And Thinking: Analysis, Design, And Assessment Of Introductory Computer Science Workshops In The Liberal Arts Experience, Kathleen Teresa Burke

Senior Projects Spring 2016

This project seeks to assess and improve upon a new required introductory computer science workshop for first year students at Bard College. It addresses the design and implementation of the course itself, along with the improvements needed in order to continue the program. Many students are not offered computer science courses prior to college; this program has been designed to remedy that by requiring all students to learn key concepts in computer science as a part of their orientation. The program consists of a 90 minute lesson taught by professors with expertise in fields outside of computer science, in addition …

Use Of Student Created Video Podcasts To Promote Foreign Language Grammar Acquisition In Middle School, Sergio Parra

CCE Theses and Dissertations

The use of video podcasts in education has emerged as a phenomenon that has gained a considerable amount of attention over the last few years. Although video podcasting is becoming a well-established technology in higher education, new multimedia instructional strategies such as student-created video podcasts in grades K-12 are under-researched.

The study investigated the effects of video podcasts created by students to promote foreign language grammar acquisition at the middle school level and find how students described such experience. The current investigation was conducted by using the explanatory sequential design, which is a mixed methods research design that occurs in …

To The Memory Of R. Freivalds, Efim Kinber

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

The paper contains author’s memories of his mentor and teacher R. M. Freivalds.

Design And Evaluation Of The Impact Of A Multi-Agent Control System (Framework) Applied To A Social Setting, Perez Antonio Perez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this research is to design and analyze the performance of a new mechanism to improve the advising of students in a nontraditional environment. This nontraditional environment includes: a minority serving, commuter campus with a high percentage of transfer students. Specifically, these demographics are unable to keep a tightly controlled cohort of students flowing through to the completion of the curriculum. Students in these circumstances usually have varied course loads and competing priorities due to family and financial needs or other societal responsibilities. Therefore, there is a need for an individualized approach to advising.

University administrations face challenges …

Mapping The Organizational Relations Within Physical Security’S Body Of Knowledge: A Management Heuristic Of Sound Theory And Best Practice, Richard Coole, David J. Brooks

David J Brooks Dr.

Security Science education at university levels is still in its infancy, with little agreement towards knowledge, curriculum and competency. Therefore, it is essential that educators draw on relevant literature highlighting means of efficient and effective knowledge transfer for tertiary students within the Security Science domain. Such knowledge transfer will reduce the gap between academic knowledge (explicit) and professional competency (tacit knowledge). This paper presents phase one of a multiphase study. A qualitative “systems based knowledge structure” of security domain categories has been conceptually mapped as a domain heuristic. The heuristic drew on research highlighting that experts have both richer depths …

Mapping The Organizational Relations Within Physical Security’S Body Of Knowledge: A Management Heuristic Of Sound Theory And Best Practice, Richard Coole, David J. Brooks

David J Brooks Dr.

Security Science education at university levels is still in its infancy, with little agreement towards knowledge, curriculum and competency. Therefore, it is essential that educators draw on relevant literature highlighting means of efficient and effective knowledge transfer for tertiary students within the Security Science domain. Such knowledge transfer will reduce the gap between academic knowledge (explicit) and professional competency (tacit knowledge). This paper presents phase one of a multiphase study. A qualitative “systems based knowledge structure” of security domain categories has been conceptually mapped as a domain heuristic. The heuristic drew on research highlighting that experts have both richer depths …

Combating Anti-Statistical Thinking Using Simulation-Based Methods Throughout The Undergraduate Curriculum, Nathan L. Tintle, Beth Chance, George Cobb, Soma Roy, Todd Swanson, Jill Vanderstoep

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

The use of simulation-based methods for introducing inference is growing in popularity for the Stat 101 course, due in part to increasing evidence of the methods ability to improve students’ statistical thinking. This impact comes from simulation-based methods (a) clearly presenting the overarching logic of inference, (b) strengthening ties between statistics and probability/mathematical concepts, (c) encouraging a focus on the entire research process, (d) facilitating student thinking about advanced statistical concepts, (e) allowing more time to explore, do, and talk about real research and messy data, and (f) acting as a firmer foundation on which to build statistical intuition. Thus, …

A Novel Method For Assessing Co-Monotonicity: An Interplay Between Mathematics And Statistics With Applications, Danang T. Qoyyimi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Numerous problems in econometrics, insurance, reliability engineering, and statistics rely on the assumption that certain functions are monotonic, which may or may not be true in real life scenarios. To satisfy this requirement, from the theoretical point of view, researchers frequently model the underlying phenomena using parametric and semi-parametric families of functions, thus effectively specifying the required shapes of the functions. To tackle these problems in a non-parametric way, when the shape cannot be specified explicitly but only estimated approximately, we suggest indices for measuring the lack of monotonicity in functions. We investigate properties of these indices and offer convenient …

Ambiguity In Speaking Chemistry And Other Stem Content: Educational Implications, Mick D. Isaacson, Michelle Michaels

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Ambiguity in speech is a possible barrier to the acquisition of knowledge for students who have print disabilities (such as blindness, visual impairments, and some specific learning disabilities) and rely on auditory input for learning. Chemistry appears to have considerable potential for being spoken ambiguously and may be a barrier to accessing knowledge and to learning. Educators in chemistry may be unaware of, or have limited awareness of, potential ambiguity in speaking chemistry and may speak chemistry ambiguously to their students. One purpose of this paper is to increase awareness of potential ambiguity in speaking chemistry and other STEM fields …

Introduction To Computer Science In C#, Andrew Harrington, George Thiruvathukal

George K. Thiruvathukal

Drs. Harrington and Thiruvathukal created a living textbook to introduce computer science and programming principles (using the C# language from Microsoft, read C-sharp, as in music) to computer science at Loyola University Chicago (and beyond). This book is a work in progress but has been used since AY 2012 to teach COMP 170 at Loyola University Chicago.

Note Taking Effectiveness In The Modern Classroom, K.M. Beck

The Compass

The technological revolution has forever changed the way that people in many different environments work and learn. The modern classroom is no exception; it is rapidly changing due to the influx of technology such as laptops, tablets, smart boards, etc. This study will examine the effect that such technology has had on the modern day learning environment. Specifically, what effect does typing lecture notes on a laptop instead of writing them by hand have on test scores? Previous literature on this topic varies greatly, and covers a number of different facets of note-taking behavior. Early work in memory identifies three …

Effects Of Visualization On Algorithm Comprehension, Matthew Mulvey

Theses and Dissertations

Computer science students are expected to learn and apply a variety of core algorithms which are an essential part of the field. Any one of these algorithms by itself is not necessarily extremely complex, but remembering the large variety of algorithms and the differences between them is challenging. To address this challenge, we present a novel algorithm visualization tool designed to enhance students understanding of Dijkstra’s algorithm by allowing them to discover the rules of the algorithm for themselves. It is hoped that a deeper understanding of the algorithm will help students correctly select, adapt and apply the appropriate algorithm …