University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship RepositoryNot a member yet
123813 research outputs found
Sort by
“You have never been a Black woman in this job” How Black women educators experience and respond to gendered racism in Chicago’s schools
No full textSubmission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-05-01The student, Scenecia Curtis, accepted the attached license on 2025-04-15 at 17:08.The student, Scenecia Curtis, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-04-15 at 17:15.This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-04-17 at 16:45.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21781 on 2025-10-19 at 19:14:57Black women educators have made significant countless contributions to American public education, yet their work and worth continues to be scrubbed from historical documents in a structural, political, and social effort to secure their invisibility. This intentional and targeted attack against Black women educators can be explored through the concept of gendered racism which seeks to elevate the confluence of both sexism and racism on the experiences of Black women. Because of the intentional erasure of Black women’s stories, I designed this study to center the voices and experiences of Black women educators who serve students in Chicago’s schools. Black Feminist Thought and Intersectionality Theory serve as theoretical frames that function to unpack and make visible the detrimental impact of gendered racism and misogynoir on Black women educators. The goal of this study is to learn more about Black women educators’ experiences, coping mechanisms, and needs as they navigate combinations of racism and sexism in their schools. This study is designed to create a safe space for Black women educators to show up authentically as themselves, without bias or judgement, to share their contributions and challenges with K-12 educational institutions
The computation and semi-analytic theory of standing deep water waves
No full textSubmission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-05-01The student, Savana Ammons, accepted the attached license on 2025-04-15 at 23:41.The student, Savana Ammons, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-04-16 at 00:04.This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-04-16 at 14:26.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21790 on 2025-10-19 at 19:14:58We implement a modified version of the algorithm created by Amick and Toland to numerically compute the coefficients of the power series solutions to the classical standing water wave problem. With this algorithm, we precisely compute the coefficients to the 39th order of the wave amplitude. We also verify that Amick and Toland's algorithm is equivalent to Schwartz and Whitney's. We are unable to prove that the resulting power series solutions converge, although we propose a proof technique involving rigorous numerics and classical induction that may work for simpler problems. In lieu of a convergence proof, we estimate the solutions' radius of convergence, in the event that they do converge, using both truncated Taylor series and Pad\'e approximants. Additionally, we conjecture about the solutions' local behavior and analytic structure
How drawing and/or explaining help undergraduate students learn chemistry
No full textSubmission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-05-01The student, Runzhi Chen, accepted the attached license on 2025-04-21 at 14:51.The student, Runzhi Chen, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-04-21 at 15:03.This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-04-22 at 15:02.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21867 on 2025-10-19 at 19:15:13This study investigates the effects of generative learning strategies—drawing, self-explaining, and explaining to others—on student learning outcomes, with particular attention to the moderating role of prior knowledge. Grounded in the generative learning theory (Mayer & Fiorella, 2015, 2016) and the sense-making framework (Fiorella, 2023), the study employed a 2 (drawing vs. no drawing) × 3 (self-explaining vs. explaining to others vs. no explaining) between-subjects experimental design. Participants read an illustrated chemistry text and were assigned to one of six instructional conditions: control, self-explaining only (SE), explaining to others (EO), drawing only (DO), self-explaining plus drawing (DSE), and explaining to others plus drawing (DEO). The study assessed posttest performance, as well as the quality of learner-generated explanations and drawings. Contrary to expectations, no significant main effects were found for drawing or explaining activities. However, a significant interaction between drawing and explaining, and a three-way interaction with prior knowledge, revealed that the effectiveness of these strategies depends on how they are combined and the learner’s prior knowledge. Learner-generated drawings hindered learning when combined with self-explaining for students with low prior knowledge, while supported learning for those with high prior knowledge. In contrast, explaining to others combined with learner-generated drawings was more beneficial for students with low prior knowledge than for those with high prior knowledge. These findings suggest boundary conditions for the effective application of dual generative learning strategies in chemistry learning, in which learning includes processing complex visual content. Additional analyses showed that the quality of drawings and explanations did not significantly correlate with learning outcomes, highlighting the influence of other factors such as prior knowledge and the medium of production. The results also reveal several potential limitations. Explicit instruction such as comparison to instructor-provided examples may promote superficial comparisons rather than meaningful reflection, probably depending on students’ prior knowledge levels. The interpretations of the comparisons between groups in the study may be different from the previous typical research on multiple generative learning strategies because students created explanations with the presence of instructor-provide visuals or learner-generated visuals
Surficial geology of Dyer Quadrangle, Cook and Will Counties, Illinois and Lake County, Indiana
No full textUSGS National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program under StateMap award number G21AC10861, 202
Impact of Heavy Commercial Electric Vehicles on Flexible Pavements
No full textHeavy-duty electric vehicles (HDEV) pose challenges to flexible pavements. This study evaluated four Illinois pavement structures to quantify HDEV impacts on pavements. Compounding factors included increases in load and acceleration, which escalated critical strains and reduced repetitions to failure. Various distresses were considered: bottom-up cracking, shear-driven top-down cracking, and shear-driven shoving. A proposed framework is presented, which includes a new metric—e-truck adjustment factor—that enables a full truck comparison of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICs) with HDEVs. The driving factor for HDEV’s effect was the additional shear strain in the pavement structure. For pavements with relatively thin hot-mix asphalt (HMA) layers (e.g., low volume and typical thick), the increased load impact was prominent. In addition, the impact adversely affected the subgrade and base layer with higher induced structural rutting. Pavement sections with either a relatively thick HMA layer (e.g., full depth) or supported by a high-modulus layer (e.g., stone matrix asphalt [SMA] overlay on Portland cement concrete) were impacted by the increasing acceleration. In that case, the horizontal shear strain near the surface aligned with the increased longitudinal contact stresses. Hence, determining HDEVs’ impact on pavement should consider battery placement and acceleration increase as well as pavement’s structural configuration, which define governing distresses. Full-depth and SMA-overlay sections displayed an increase in near-surface shearing, which may increase maintenance and rehabilitation frequency or warrant the use of shear-resistant materials. The environmental and economic impacts of the scenarios considered were assessed. HDEVs may reduce use-stage costs due to vehicle design efficiency but may escalate pavement maintenance expenses. In addition, the impact of reduced truckload capacity of HDEVs compared to ICs may warrant additional trips to transport the same amount of freight.IDOT-R27-25
Canary in the Crow’s Nest: William Kidd’s Trial as an Extension of Henry Avery’s
No full textThis presentation conducts a close reading of the primary source evidence related to the notorious pirate Captain Kidd to interrogate scholarly arguments linking piracy, the suppression of piracy, and the growth of the British Empire in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Prior to the end of the seventeenth century, English support for piracy was integral to the growth of the wider empire. Colonial American support for piracy was present both on the docks and in the gubernatorial mansions throughout the colonies, leading the victims of piracy, particularly the Mughal Empire in the Indian Subcontinent, to claim that England was a nation of pirates, threatening their burgeoning empire. This support culminated in the 1695 capture of the Ganj-i-Sawai, in which Henry Avery captured a Mughal treasure ship and disappeared, only facing an English trial in absentia. Captain William Kidd’s 1701 trial for piracy is thus often seen in scholarship as a watershed moment in English support of piracy, representing the moment in time the Empire officially turned against such support. However, a close reading of Kidd’s trial record reveals that Kidd’s trial is as much about Henry Avery as it is about William Kidd, linking the two figures in reputation despite their differences in esteem, practice, and success. Thus, though Kidd proves to be an important figure in the history of cultural mythmaking as well as legal theory surrounding piracy, one must contextualize discussions of Kidd with reference to Henry Avery to avoid overemphasizing Kidd’s impact in the historical tradition
Monitoring of Key Ecological Attributes and Indicators of Waterbirds at The Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon Preserve: Annual Report 2024
No full textThe Nature Conservancy (TNC) identified key ecological attributes (hereafter, KEAs) of specific biological characteristics or ecological processes that evaluate restoration success and trajectory at The Emiquon Preserve (hereafter Emiquon; The Nature Conservancy 2006). Because of the historic importance of the Illinois River valley (IRV) to waterfowl and other waterbirds, several conservation targets and associated KEAs at Emiquon were related to waterbird communities and their habitats (Appendix A). Indeed, use of wetlands by waterbirds may serve as an indicator of landscape condition or a measure of restoration success (Austin et al. 2001, Gawlik 2006, Hagy et al. 2017). Therefore, we monitored the response of wetland vegetation and waterbirds to restoration efforts at Emiquon during 2024 to evaluate restoration success relative to desired conditions under the relevant KEAs. Our primary efforts included evaluating: 1) abundance and diversity of waterfowl and other waterbirds through spring and autumn aerial counts; 2) productivity by waterfowl and other waterbirds through brood counts and nest searches; 3) plant seed biomass to estimate energetic carrying capacity for waterfowl during autumn migration; 4) composition and arrangement of wetland vegetation communities and associated cover types through geospatial covermapping and soil properties in response to water management; 5) detection and abundance of secretive marshbirds during spring. Herein, we report results of our monitoring efforts and interpret them as a means of evaluating restoration activities at Emiquon with respect to desired conditions under the KEAs.The Nature Conservancy Contract Number: C07-03
Waste Pressure Energy Recovery System Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) Report Rev A
No full textEWX Field Services LLCPressure Core LL