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15. Documenting Teaching Excellence: Applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in Communication Courses
No full textAs a professor in communications, I know firsthand the challenges and rewards of teaching diverse students in courses such as Presenting Technical Information, Public Speaking, Interpersonal Communication, and Intercultural Communication. These courses demand not only mastery of content but also the ability of students at varying levels of comfort and expertise to communicate effectively using a variety of media. My approach to teaching has been heavily influenced by the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, which I have found to be an invaluable tool for creating inclusive, engaging, and dynamic learning environments. UDL has become essential to my pedagogy because it allows me to meet the needs of all students, whether they are grappling with jargon in a technical presentation or navigating the nuances of intercultural communication. As the cornerstone of my teaching philosophy, UDL also frames how I document and reflect on teaching excellence for my promotion and tenure portfolio
1. The Teaching Dossier as Genre: A SoTL-Informed Approach to Documenting Teaching Excellence
No full textThis chapter argues a teaching dossier (the primary outlet for documenting teaching effectiveness) is its own genre of academic writing and that the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) provides the most effective cross-disciplinary lens in which to engage with this genre. Salient defining characteristics of the genre are its purpose–to evaluate teaching quality, stakeholders–the faculty member who writes and complies the dossier and evaluating readers, and sub-genres such as teaching philosophy statements and curricula vitae. The genre’s core purpose, to evaluate teaching quality, also serves as a core purpose of SoTL, with peer review making the evaluations “akin to judgments made about manuscripts or funding proposals for editors or grant officers” (Bernstein, 2008, p. 48)
9. By the Faculty, For the Faculty: A Grassroots Effort to Define and Support Teaching Excellence
No full textIn 2022, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville launched a process to establish a university-wide set of principles guiding teaching excellence and rooted these efforts in the process of shared governance. After a meticulously inclusive feedback process and iterative revisions, we arrived at a set of four principles that we now call UT’s Principles of Excellence in Teaching (UT PoET), which reflect the specific values around teaching at our R1 (doctoral university with very high research activity), flagship, land-grant institution. This chapter will detail the process by which we arrived at these principles. In so doing, we hope to provide a roadmap for other institutions seeking to replicate our process and create their own framework to define teaching excellence in a way that works at their specific institution with their specific faculty. Although the results of this approach may differ across institutions because of differing contexts and cultures, the importance of shared governance across R1 institutions renders our grassroots approach widely relevant for helping each institution identify and document their version of teaching excellence
Development of Interface-Specific Two-Dimensional Vibrational-Electronic (i2D-VE) Spectroscopy for Vibronic Couplings at Interfaces
Get PDFBulk 2D electronic–vibrational (2D-EV) and 2D vibrational–electronic spectroscopies (2D-VE) were previously developed to correlate the electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom simultaneously, which allow for the study of couplings between electronic and vibrational transitions in photo-chemical systems. Such bulk-dominated methods have been used to extensively study molecular systems, providing unique information such as coherence sensitivity, molecular configurations, enhanced resolution, and correlated states and their dynamics. However, the analogy of interfacial 2D spectroscopy has fallen behind. Our recent work presented interface-specific 2D-EV spectroscopy (i2D-EV). In this work, we develop interface-specific two-dimensional vibrational–electronic spectroscopy (i2D-VE). The fourth-order spectroscopy is based on a Mach–Zehnder IR interferometer that accurately controls the time delay of an IR pump pulse pair for vibrational transitions, followed by broadband interface second-harmonic generation to probe electronic transitions. We demonstrate step-by-step how a fourth-order i2D-VE spectrum of AP3 molecules at the air/water interface was collected and analyzed. The line shape and signatures of i2D-VE peaks reveal solvent correlations and the spectral nature of vibronic couplings. Together, i2D-VE and i2D-EV spectroscopy provide coupling of different behaviors of the vibrational ground state or excited states with electronic states of molecules at interfaces and surfaces. The methodology presented here could also probe dynamic couplings of electronic and vibrational motions at interfaces and surfaces, extending the usefulness of the rich data that are obtained
Agrichemical Surfactant and Pathogen Impacts on the Blue Orchard Bee (\u3ci\u3eOsmia lignaria\u3c/i\u3e Say, Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)
Get PDFPathogens that infect commercially reared bee species, such as honey bees and bumble bees, have been extensively studied within the last several years, and studies that explore pathogen impacts on solitary bee health are significantly fewer. Consistent pesticide exposure methods are limited to honey bees and do not outline exposure routes to solitary bees, including how to test chemical impacts on immature stages. My research investigated blue orchard bee survival, development, and immune response following pathogen exposure while simultaneously studying organosilicone surfactant (OSS) exposure and possible synergisms between these two stressors. In my first research chapter (Chapter 2), I define methods to test OSS and pathogen oral exposure to the blue orchard bee (Osmia lignaria) in a laboratory setting. In Chapter 3, I investigated blue orchard bee development, survival, and immune responses following RNA virus exposure while studying OSS exposure and possible synergisms between these two stressors. Chapter 4 briefly discusses pathogens found in wild blue orchard bee populations and a dosage experiment to investigate how a pathogen inoculate, a filtrate from diseased honey bees, impacts blue orchard bees. In the second study year of Chapter 4, I added an OSS exposure group to evaluate how Apis mellifera filamentous virus (AmFV), a DNA virus, and its combination with OSS impact the development, survival, and immune response to laboratory-reared blue orchard bees. I document the first detection of AmFV in wild blue orchard bees and quantify relative amounts of AmFV from feeding assay and wild-caught bees. In my final research chapter (Chapter 5), I summarize a cautionary narrative from my research experience and define a critical time point in bee development for bee managers that propagate and sell solitary bees for pollination events. My dissertation develops reliable methods to test the impacts of pathogens, agrichemicals, and their interactions starting at the larval stage using an increasingly managed solitary bee. Additionally, I document the first detection of a DNA virus in wild and managed blue orchard bee populations. This finding highlights the urgent need to prevent any potential spread to bee populations during pollination events
Introduction to Drones
Get PDFUnmanned aircraft have advanced so much that they are completing tasks and integrating into all aspects of our lives. They deliver, survey, collect data, and complete assigned tasks with more efficiency and lower cost than many currently used techniques. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) completely supports UAS in the National Airspace System (NAS) and continually updates information in this new and exciting field. This fact sheet will help you identify how you can legally fly drones and become an integral part of aviation’s vast and ever-progressing world
Gravity Wave Breaking Over Northern Utah With an Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper and Sodium Lidar
Get PDFConsiderable progress has been made in recent decades in the understanding of gravity wave (GW) dynamics. However, there remain important aspects and effects that are poorly understood. In particular, the coupling and deposition of their energy and momentum into the mesosphere lower thermosphere (MLT) region and the interaction and instability dynamics that are directly associated with GW breaking. Using an Advanced Mesosphere Temperature Mapper (AMTM) several strong wave breaking events were observed in the summer of 2015 at USU’s BLO research station. These events have exhibited high momentum fluxes and associated strong wave breaking, prompting detailed data analyses. Rossby waves, influenced by planetary rotation and Coriolis forces, along with tidal waves, driven by diurnal and semidiurnal solar heating, are analyzed due to their coupling interactions with GWs. However, the primary focus is to investigate the coupling of wave activity between the troposphere and MLT regions of the atmosphere, determine the role of critical layer filtering with the GW breaking events, and to analyze the strength and variation of momentum flux of the GW breaking events.
To further investigate the instabilities associated with these wave breaking events AMTM data is used in conjunction with sodium lidar data. With both the AMTM and lidar data the wind, temperature, and density measurements averaged in time are given from ∼80-105 km. This allows additional wave parameters to be resolved such as the natural frequency, Richardson number, and vertical wave number profiles. These gravity wave parameters are analyzed and reported for GWs exhibiting high momentum flux and energy deposition in the MLT region over northern Utah in 2015
Faculty Senate Executive Committee Minutes January 21, 2025
Get PDFCall to Order University Business Faculty Senate Business Information Report Old Business New Business Adjourn: 4:00 p
Effect of pH and Iron Chelate on the Growth of Basil and Soybean in Soilless Media
Get PDFIron (Fe) deficiencies are common in alkaline root zones and can cause chlorosis and reduce growth. The most common approach to prevent deficiency is using synthetic chelates that keep iron in solution at high pH. Here we report the effects of pH and chelate type on the development of chlorosis and biomass in soybeans and basil. We grew the plants at a pH ranging from 6.0-7.8. Fe was chelated with either a less expensive EDTA chelate or a more expensive EDDHA chelate. There was no significant difference between chelates at pH 6.0 in either soybeans or basil. In soybeans, there was no significant difference in biomass until the pH was increased to 7.8. In basil, there was a steady decrease in biomass as pH increased. Biomass was increased by EDDHA at a pH above 7. The lower cost EDTA can be used when pH is maintained. Fe sensitive species may require the more expensive EDDHA chelate when grown in alkaline conditions
Quantifying the Threshold for Fragmentation of Newtonian and Non-Newtonian Drops
Get PDFThis dissertation investigates how the properties of liquid drops influence the minimum aerodynamic forces needed to cause the drop to fragment (breakup). For this work, we focus only on aerodynamic forces that are applied on a stationary drop by a sudden, uniform flow, a process called impulsive acceleration. Previous studies have largely focused on the fragmentation of spherical drops of Newtonian fluids (liquids with constant viscosity, like water), when impulsively accelerated in air-like ambient medium. Such systems only capture a limited range of drop and ambient properties (described by non-dimensional groups). Many real-world applications, such as aerial fire retardant delivery, involve conditions beyond this typical range. Fire retardants, for instance, can exhibit shear-thinning behavior (their viscosity decreases under stress), and the drops undergoing fragmentation often start with a non-spherical shape. The ambient medium could also be one with much higher densities and viscosities, common in cases where liquid drops fragment in other liquids. Through this dissertation, we aim to utilize computational models, specifically interface-tracking multiphase flow direct numerical simulations (DNS), to systematically examine how various drop properties affect the threshold of secondary fragmentation.
The research is divided into five main parts. First, a model was developed to predict the trajectory and coverage of aerially delivered fire retardants, motivating the need for a deeper understanding of drop fragmentation. Second, we expanded the study of spherical, Newtonian drops beyond existing parameters, identifying a more robust non-dimensional parameter to predict the breakup threshold. Third, we performed the first systematic investigation of how initial drop shape affects fragmentation, quantifying its significant influence. Fourth and Fifth, we characterized the influence of shear-thinning or a viscoplastic nature of the drop fluid