544 research outputs found
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Zooplankton sensitivity to climate-driven conditions in high-elevation lakes in Maine
Full text linkLakes respond to climatic change with shifts in seasonality, stratification, primary production, biological community composition, and other conditions. Compared to larger lower-elevation lakes, “mountain” lakes are hypothesized to be more sensitive to some aspects of climatic change (e.g. watershed inputs from precipitation), but more buffered from others (e.g. snowpack stabilizing ice phenology). In this study of nine high-elevation lakes in the western Maine mountains, we evaluated the relationship between climate-linked lake conditions and zooplankton abundance and community composition. Water temperature, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll concentration, ice breakup date, secchi disk depth, and zooplankton abundance and taxonomic identification were collected from these mountain lakes between 2018-2023. We used linear models to evaluate the relationships between abundance of different zooplankton taxa and lake conditions, and used multivariate analysis to identify community composition shifts across lake conditions. Depending on the taxonomic resolution, we identified differing responses to dissolved oxygen, primary production, and other lake parameters. These results illuminate the lake characteristics that most affect secondary production in these lakes, identify sensitivities of different taxa to different conditions, and provide tools to anticipate future zooplankton community composition in these changing systems
Art, Artist and Audience: an Interdisciplinary Investigation
Full text linkThe purpose of this project is to explore relationships among artists, works of art, and the artistic audience. I had originally planned to use a selection of famous paintings, differentiated by genre (e.g., abstract vs. representational) and ask people to write about these paintings. I imagined that the colors, shapes and textures in these famous paintings would elicit a range of reactions in viewers. Their reactions could then be compared to how the artists had conceived of their own artwork. This felt like an utterly academic exercise. It was safe, structured, in accordance with existing literature, while also indulging my longtime fascination with art, which hadn’t yet been integrated into my studies as a psychology major.
Yet, after months of laboring to design a relevant study, outlining procedures in sufficient detail for submission to the UMF Institutional Review Board, I wasn’t satisfied. It felt like a project that didn’t truly belong to me. I was invested in the subject matter, but haunted by an insistent echo – this isn’t yours. Make it your own.
I’d been told many times by teachers and fellow students to “stop spiraling” in reference to my tendency to make my assignments more complicated than necessary. But for this project, I was willing to spiral. I wanted to achieve, in form and spirit, a spiral, around which myself and others could turn, corkscrewing and flowing together, multidirectional movement yet all revolving around an origin point. I wanted to engage with how other people engaged with artwork. But I didn’t know how to access this space, or even how to create it. I lacked a centerpiece. I lacked a center. So, where to anchor myself in the midst of this investigation
“I’m Not Here to Make Friends”: Genre Conventions, Literary Meaning, and Narrative Potentiality in American Reality Television
Full text link“I’m Not Here to Make Friends”: Genre Conventions, Literary Meaning, and Narrative Potentiality in American Reality Television is a collection of five scholarly essays engaging different aspects of the reality television genre. These essays seek to challenge the stigma of reality television as lacking in significant narrative meaning. Through case studies of various shows, these essays engage theoretical concepts such as simulacrum and metanarratives. Through cross-genre analysis, the project contends with sites of analytic potential in reality television
Redefining Readiness: Higher Education\u27s Role in an AI World How Higher Education Can Bridge the Gap Between Human Talent and Machine Intelligence for the Workforce of Tomorrow
Full text linkAs the world changes all around us in the landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), our educational pathways need to adapt quickly. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the current and future state of higher education, its relationship with AI and technology, and the evolving requirements of the workforce. It outlines the historical progression of higher education since the Colonial Era, emphasizing the need for constant adaptation to societal and economic demands. It reflects how higher education must evolve to equip students with the necessary skills and adaptability for future careers in the digital and AI-augmented landscape. As AI advances and automates routine tasks, the educational system must pivot towards developing soft skills such as decision-making, creativity, and interpersonal abilities. In this paper, a new model is proposed with a layered education path that allows incremental achievements and culminates in a degree that promotes a balance between theoretical knowledge and practical, experiential learning
Maine: Pushed From Away, The Pine Tree State Sways But Does Not Break
No full textChaper 4, on Maine politics. In the book, More Than Blue, More than Yankee: Complexity and Change in New England Politics, Edited by Amy Fried and Ed O\u27Brien, University of Massachusetts Press 2024
Beyond the Binary: A Gender Memoir
Full text linkThis is a series of autobiographical poems that delve into the role the audience plays in an individual\u27s gender performance and how that can be helpful and harmful to identity, depending on the person performing and the people watching the performance. The concept of gender as a theatrical performance, the basis for many of the poems, is derived from the work of gender and queer theorists Judith Butler and Jack Halberstam. Additionally, these poems take inspiration from the works of creative writers Stacey Waite and Maia Kobabe and build on their work, which dissects and deconstructs gender as a social construct
Understanding the Needs of New Teachers and Mentors
Full text linkTeachers and mentors were surveyed to determine the needs of new teachers and mentors using the following questions:
Questions About New Teachers and Their Mentors?
What strengths and needs do new teachers and mentors bring with them to the mentoring relationship?
What supports do new teachers and their mentors need?
How do new teachers and mentors differ in how well they manage stress atthe start of the year?
How do both differ in their views of the teaching profession and their future in it
The Observer: Illuminations, Volume 6, Spring 2024
Full text linkHello everyone,
Thank you for taking the time to view the amazing works that students at the University of Maine at Farmington have created. This issue of Illuminations includes personal pieces and pieces from classes. There was a recurring theme of observation and self identity throughout many of the pieces in this issue of Illuminations—the idea that observation is an interactive practice—the idea that observation is a creative practice. This reoccurring theme ultimately led to the title of this year’s issue of Illuminations: The Observer. I hope you enjoy these pieces. I hope they inspire you to create something of your own. And I hope you submit what you create next semester.
Sincerely, Horisun Antune
Understanding the Future Teacher Workforce: In Their Own Words
Full text linkIntroduction: Maine is facing a shortage of highly prepared teachers.
Multifaceted Causes of Shortage: Compensation, COVID-19 After effects, Aging Workforce, Working Conditions, Challenges Associated with Teaching in the U.S. (Safety, Politicization of Curriculum, Standards Movement & Loss of Freedom in Instructional Choices, etc.)
Maine Data:
Almost 30% of new teachers leave the profession within 3 years (Johnson et al., 2020).
13 different areas and certifications have been identified as teacher shortage areas in 2022-2023, including early childhood, special
education, elementary education, and subject-level teachers in math and science (ME DOE, 2022)
Challenges for Teachers:
National data shows 91% of practicing teachers report frequent job related stress, reporting the need for more supervisor check-ins, time, and support around student challenges in order to decrease their stress (Will, 2021).
Gunn and McRae (2021) found in a Canadian sample that personal and professional factors were equally important in teacher retention for early career teachers. Working in an atmosphere where there is mutual trust and respect, for employers who consider their time and workload and who understand they have a personal life, and with colleagues they can turn to for advice and assistance helps retain them.
Our work seeks to extend this work and understand what future and new teachers in Maine need and are looking for. Data will also help school districts and superintendents consider how better to attract and retain teachers
Adaptation: The Fanfiction of Academia?
Full text linkAdaptive works—pieces of media inspired by pre-existing works—are extremely
prevalent in the media landscape and have been for as long as humans have retold stories. A somewhat more recent edition to the conversation is fanfiction, or fan fiction, which is a unique form of audience interactivity that includes the writing of a work by a fan off of any given piece of media. This project explores the definitions, overlaps and delineations of adaptation, transmedial storytelling, transfictionality and fanfiction. It uses particular examples from published works of fanfiction to further unpack these categorizations and adds nuance and organization to studies on the overlaps of fanfiction and more officially-considered adaptive works. The project then exemplifies the variability of adaptive work by presenting an adapted screenplay and a fanfiction, both written off of a subplot of Charles Dickens’ 1864 novel Our Mutual Friend