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How do Immigration and Technological Growth Affect One Another? Providing Guiding Principles for Policymakers
Get PDFThe relationship between immigration and technological growth is more nuanced than a simple statement of positive or negative correlation. How one affects the other varies depending on the skill level of the immigrant and the field where they work. Conclusions drawn by the literature form patterns that can be used to best understand the relationship between immigration and technology. High-skilled immigration boosts technological development through a complementary relationship, but low-skilled immigration can be a complement or a substitute with technological growth depending on the sector. Policymakers interested in promoting long-term economic growth through technological growth should have a clear picture of how immigration and technology interact
Elementary Science Essential Elements Curriculum Map & Progress Monitoring with Evidence-based Teaching Strategies
Get PDFLittle research has explored the field of science instruction tailored to students with significant disabilities. However, research studies have begun to emerge that suggest, with specific instructional strategies, these students can be successful in learning science curriculum. This project evaluated literature to find evidence-based instructional strategies for teaching science to students with significant cognitive disabilities. Six strategies were consistently found across multiple studies. The six strategies include (1) time delay, (2) systematic instruction, (3) multiple exemplar training, (4) task analysis, (5) graphic organizers, and (6) guided inquiry-based learning. These strategies were shared with a team of nine special education teachers who provide instruction based on the Essential Elements for their students with significant cognitive disabilities. A collaboration meeting was conducted monthly during Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings. Ultimately, the objectives of this project were to improve data collection, enhance collaboration, and refine instruction on the relatively new science Essential Elements
Evaluating an Integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math/Computational Thinking Professional Development Program for Elementary Level Paraprofessional Educators
Get PDFFor my dissertation, I looked at a training program one Utah school district used to teach paraprofessional educators science, technology, engineering, math, and computational thinking. Specifically, the program taught them about what computational thinking is and how they could use it when teaching science, technology, engineering, and math to students from kindergarten to sixth grade. While reviewing this program, I evaluated 1) The experiences the paraprofessionals had with the program, 2) Whether the paraprofessionals understood computational thinking, and 3) Whether the program prepared them to teach computational thinking to K-6 students.
I worked with eight paraprofessionals who participated in this program. Each participant was given a survey before and after the training program, and I interviewed each of them to gather their thoughts, feelings, and experiences at the end of the program.
This evaluation showed that the program provided a positive experience for participants and opportunities for them to understand computational thinking and how they can teach elementary school children those concepts. My evaluation also highlighted several ways the school district can support paraprofessionals to make them more effective when teaching computational thinking
Resilience of Birds to Habitat Change: Identification of Interspecific Variation in Avian Resilience and its Possible Mechanisms
Get PDFHumans have been changing landscape features that are important to birds for many years. This is a problem because 3 billion birds have been lost since 1970 and this affects our lives every day, since birds help us by pollinating our crops and controlling pests, among other services. It is critical that we understand which birds are most susceptible to a changing landscape so that we can slow their decline. Understanding birds’ resilience to these habitat changes can help wildlife managers make better informed decisions for birds living in a changing world. We looked at which bird species are present in areas with different levels of habitat change throughout the state of Utah, and created two metrics that help describe how resilient bird species are to habitat change. We also investigated four hypotheses described by birds’ physical characteristics and preferences to explain the reasons why bird species are resilient. We found three patterns of bird responses to habitat change: positive, negative, and no response. Managers could integrate these relationships with their goals to choose the best habitat modification projects for their species and/or communities of interest. Within the four hypotheses explaining bird resilience, not all predictions about resilience were supported, and support was often driven by one trait (e.g. preference or physical characteristic). Understanding the traits that indicate birds’ resilience to habitat change can help develop new approaches to wildlife and habitat management. This could be done through predicting areas in which habitat change will have disproportionate negative impacts on the largest number of birds, for example
Evaluating Aspen Seedling Outplanting Success Following High Severity Wildfire in the Southwest
Get PDFQuaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) is an ecologically important forest species in the western U.S. Aspen forests host a variety of understory species, are critical wildlife habitat, and are considered a natural fuel break since they are less likely to support crown fires than conifers. Because of climate change and altered disturbance regimes, populations are declining, and innovative strategies are needed to restore aspen. Planting aspen seedlings is a solution, though not a common practice in the West and has been met with high mortality in past experiments. For aspen planting to be more broadly implemented, managers need guidance to increase probability of seedling success. We developed a planting experiment to determine whether specific types of planting sites and conditions in the field could increase the survival and growth of nursery-grown aspen seedlings. The increasing occurrence and severity of wildfire presented an opportunity to plant seedlings in high severity fire footprints. Aspen trees thrive in severely burned landscapes, where conifer regeneration may be limited. We planted 1,140 seedlings, using remnant standing dead trees, snags, and downed logs as nurse structure treatments. We also tested individual tree shelters on half of the seedlings to determine if this is an effective tool to prevent herbivory. After one growing season we assessed seedling survival, causes of mortality, growth, and local competition. In a separate field experiment we also installed soil moisture-sensing probes to monitor soil moisture content at each type of planting site (snag, log, open). My results show high survival overall compared to past experiments, notably in seedlings next to snags. This could be because soil moisture content was high near snags during dry periods. Tree shelters increased the probability of seedling survival but had mixed effects on growth within the one season. The results from this research will contribute to the development of best practices in future aspen seedling restoration projects and suggest a need for snag retention on the landscape after fire
Production of Interspecies Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Embryos as a Model for Endangered Species Rescue
No full textA significant issue in rescuing endangered species from extinction is the lack of access to germ cells (eggs and sperm). However, eggs from domestic animals could be used for cloning. This process involves removing the genetic material (gDNA) from the egg and replacing it with gDNA from an animal that belongs to an endangered species. There are a few problems that can occur due to the egg and the replacement gDNA coming from two different species. Both species have unique mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) – this is different from the gDNA that contains the majority of an animal’s genes. mtDNA exists outside of the nucleus, and an egg has about 100 times more mtDNA than a non-germ cell. In the cloned embryo, most mtDNA is from the egg species, while the gDNA is from another species. This mismatch can negatively affect energy levels in the developing egg. In these experiments, we used a cow egg and gDNA from a goat. In an attempt to overcome this obstacle, we tried removing some of the cow mtDNA and introducing more mtDNA from the goat. We thought at least one of these methods would help the egg to develop further than it otherwise would. A second issue involves a milestone that a developing embryo must reach and progress past: embryonic genome activation (EGA). At this timepoint, the embryo starts using the new gDNA for information instead of what was stored in it before the gDNA was replaced. In the two-species embryos produced in our experiments, EGA-related signals can easily get crossed, which can cause the embryo to stop developing at EGA. In order to improve developmental progression, we introduced a chemical that had been shown to help the goat gDNA become more like gDNA of an early stage developing embryo. We thought that using this chemical would help the goat gDNA to progress through EGA. Four embryos were able to develop past EGA, though their progression stopped shortly thereafter. This might be because the cattle EGA happens before the goat’s EGA would, causing a bigger problem that our attempted solutions were unable to solve
A Framework That Explores the Cognitive Load of CS1 Assignments Using Pausing Behavior
Get PDFPausing behavior in introductory Computer Science (CS1) courses has been related to a student’s performance in the course and could be linked to a student’s cognitive load, or assignment difficulty. Having an objective measure of the cognitive load would be beneficial to course instructors as it would help them design assignments that are not too difficult. Two studies are presented in this work. The first study uses Cognitive Load Theory and Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development as a theoretical framework to analyze pause times between keystrokes to better understand what types of assignments need more educational support than others. The first study reports the characteristics of eleven assignments, introduces a method to analyze pausing behavior, and investigates how pausing behavior changes with assignment characteristics (e.g., introducing new programming constructs, engaging creativity through Turtle graphics, etc). Evidence is found that pausing behavior does change based on the assignment type and that assignments with particular characteristics that cause students to break code into many small portions, and tie it all back together, may be more likely to have excessive demands on student working memory. Evidence is also found that assignment completion time may not be an accurate measure of assignment difficulty. The second study builds on the first study by validating whether the keystroke latency analysis corroborates results with a self-report questionnaire of cognitive load. The latency analysis does have a relation to self-reported cognitive load, but not in the manner anticipated. A higher proportion of shorter pauses is related to a higher cognitive load score, meaning students who spend more time typing have a higher cognitive load. Furthermore, assignments that take students longer to complete do have higher levels of cognitive load. Further research is needed to investigate the relation between keystroke latencies and cognitive load. However, both studies show assignment differentiation in pausing behavior between assignments, which suggests keystroke latency comparisons between assignments warrant more investigation
The Development of a Novel, Non-Binary Measure of Motor Planning Flexibility
No full textIndividuals need to be able to adjust and modify their movements to effectively navigate their surroundings and engage with others. Studies have shown that, for binary tasks, individuals show a hysteresis effect, (the reuse of previous motor plans), which decreases end-state comfort when a task is changed. To date, there is no agreed-upon method for measuring resistance to hysteresis (planning flexibility). This study\u27s purpose was to develop a non-binary measure of motor planning flexibility. The study used 24 participants (18 to 33 years), who performed the task of grasping a cylindrical object with 8 pointers and rotating it clockwise to match a target. Participants performed the same rotation 1, 3, or 6 times before a task switch. Participants, on average, exhibited a hysteresis effect that was not dependent on the number of grasps performed before a grasp switch or on the size of the difference between two grasps. Grasps were made based on the cumulative effect of previous grasps with the most influence coming from the grasp immediately preceding a new grasp. Due to the similarity between grasps used and the short duration of time between tasks, participants appeared to adopt an overall strategy that balanced comfort at the end state and the reuse of a former motor plan
A Relational-Cultural Approach to Examining Concealment Among Latter-Day Saint Sexual Minorities
Get PDFSexual minorities often conceal their sexual identity from others to avoid distal stressors. Such concealment efforts occur more frequently among sexual minorities in religious settings where rejection and discrimination are more likely. Using a sample of 392 Latter-day Saint (“Mormon”) sexual minorities, we assess (a) the effect of religious affiliation on concealment efforts, (b) the relationship between social support, authenticity, and religious commitment on concealment, and (c) the moderating effect of authenticity on religious commitment and concealment. Multi-level model analyses revealed that religious affiliation alone accounted for over half (51.7%) of the variation in concealment efforts for Latter-day Saint sexual minorities. Social support directly was related to less concealment, whereas religious commitment was related to more concealment, with authenticity moderating the impact of religious commitment on concealment efforts. The present study provides insight into how religious sexual minorities may approach relationships and inadvertently wound their chances to connect with others