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The student theorist: an open handbook of collective college theory
Get PDFFeaturing mini-essays, blog posts, and cultural analyses selected and edited by students, The Student Theorist provides fresh and personal insights into pertinent theories that can all too often end up explicated in dried up and complex ways. The purpose of this handbook is to provide accessible introductions to theoretically robust debates and concepts, while also revealing the enduring and urgent relevance of theory in our world.
This book has been almost entirely created by undergraduate students and recent alums at Plymouth State University. This file represents the state of the work at the end of 2018. Visit https://opentheoryhandbook.pressbooks.com/ to see new and updated material
Data structures lecture notes (student version)
Get PDFLecture notes for a data-structures course in computer science with examples in Java. Students in this course should have already taken an intro-programming course in an object-oriented language and have a basic grasp of Java. These are not designed to accompany any specific textbook
The effect of noise distractions on creativity
Get PDFThe current experiment seeks to further our understanding of how external stimuli influences creativity. Twenty participants were asked to create a list of unique alternative uses for a 4' by 3' steel trash can and any potential problems corresponding with each use within a 6 minute period. Randomly, 10 of those participants were exposed to an unpredictable audible stressor in the form of a ringtone. To measure creativity, we looked at the number of listed unique uses and potential problems corresponding with each use that participants came up with and also evaluated their creativity with the Creative Behavior Inventory. We predict that participants exposed to an audible stressor would be less creative than those not exposed to audible stressors. Preliminary results will be presented.Student Showcase of Research & Engagement 201
The founding of the National Association of School Psychologists
Get PDFThe history of the founding of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) including an overview of the events leading up to the founding in 1968 and the evolution of the organization since it's inception
Community resilience: an investigation of municipal green infrastructure planning and the role of ecosystem services
No full textThis study of municipal green infrastructure planning was conducted to better understand how municipalities in the United States are addressing the converging issues of development, land use regulation, and natural resource management using this concept. The research was conducted through a qualitative case study that included a content analysis of 48 municipal green infrastructure plans and adopted land use regulations from municipalities across the United States, as well as twelve semi-structured, in-depth interviews with individuals involved in the creation and/or implementation of a subset of these plans. ATLAS.ti 8 software was used to inductively analyze the data collected. The mean number of ecosystem services and other benefits included in the green infrastructure plans reviewed was 14. However, the number of ecosystem services found in the adopted land use regulations was much lower overall. A better understanding of the use and implementation of ecosystem services can clarify best practices for leveraging green infrastructure approaches to generate additional benefits and assist municipalities in becoming more resilient. This study's conclusion is that there is a strong relationship between green infrastructure and preserving or creating ecosystem services, but that there is a great deal of variation in how these initiatives are approached at the municipal scale.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio
A social media analysis of the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon
Get PDFThe Tonight Show has been on TV since 1954 and Jimmy Fallon, new to the hosting position in 2014, needed a way to grab the attention of both the old hosts' audience and also new millennial viewers. Turning to social media, which is vital to any contemporary business, Fallon has Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to help set himself apart. With only a year in the spotlight, Fallon's likes, retweets, favorites, shares, views, subscribers, and followers are higher than those of his competitors. With the many successes of The Tonight Show's social media accounts, there are still opportunities to expand, nevertheless it is an excellent example of an effectively run social media campaign.Student Showcase of Research & Engagement 201
How does peer-assisted learning affect math anxiety, help-seeking behavior, and performance in undergraduate mathematics?
Get PDFLearning support in mathematics (LSM) is widely available at colleges and universities through center-based peer-tutoring and classroom-based programs such as Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL). The purpose of this study was to experimentally introduce a six-week PAL-program in selected first-year undergraduate math courses, in order to determine its effect on students' math anxiety, performance, attitudes, and behaviors toward college math, with a particular focus on highly math-anxious (HMA) students. An explanatory mixed-methods sequential design (Creswell, 2014) was employed in order to explore the research questions first quantitatively and then qualitatively. Student survey results, course grades, and tutoring records were used to address the research goals of Phase 1. In Phase 2, interviews with highly math-anxious students were analyzed using a grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2006; Strauss & Corbin, 1998), providing context and meaning for the quantitative results of Phase 1. Quantitative analysis showed no significant effects of the PAL-treatment on math anxiety, performance, attitudes, or help-seeking behavior. However, students' average perceived value of mathematics improved significantly across the entire study sample. Phase 2 interviews provided evidence that the improvement in affect was due primarily to excellent teaching and not the PAL program. Interviews also revealed a ���Disconnect� between students' knowledge of what it takes to succeed in math and their own behaviors. Recommendations for future research include exploring implementation strategies to maximize the effect of a new PAL program, examining the qualities of excellent teaching to see how they might influence PAL programs, and engaging stakeholders (students, teachers, and PAL-leaders) to create a culture where all students recognize the value of LSM and do not hesitate to ask for help.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio
Hemispheric effects on emotional perception with the Thatcher illusion
Get PDFThe Thatcher Illusion occurs when a face with an inverted mouth and eyes is turned upside down and distortion is no longer noticed. As a pilot study, faces of six emotions (happiness, surprise, disgust, anger, fear, sadness) were selected from Eckman and Friesan's "Unmasking the Face." Faces were presented at 0 or 180 degrees on the right or left of slides for 0.25 seconds. A fixation dot was centered on each slide. Participants identified the emotion of 176 faces and happiness was most identifiable. In the present study, happy faces (one male and one female) were used. Of sixty-four faces, half were distorted using the Thatcher Illusion. All were presented in the right or left visual fields at various angles (0, 15, 45, 90, 105, 135, 150, 180) for 0.20 seconds. A fixation dot was centered on each slide. Participants rated the happiness of each face from 0 (none) to 10 (extreme). Tentative results indicate that normal faces are perceived as happier than distorted faces. Distorted faces at angles lower than 45 appear to be less happy. The goal is to assess hemispheric effects on emotional perception as well as locate the angle where the Thatcher Illusion is noticed.Student Showcase of Research & Engagement 201
The distance, diminished: an exploratory study of a fully online professional learning community in higher education
Get PDFRecently, professional learning communities (PLCs) have been advocated as a promising approach in higher education (Eaker & Sells, 2015) for faculty development that can improve student learning outcomes and help students graduate with demonstrable skills, yet the field is still lacking in research on this phenomenon within higher education (Blitz, 2013). This participant-observer single case study was conducted on a fully online PLC in higher education. Data analysis resulted in a case narrative that described key attributes of the online PLC inspired by a framework derived from literature on PLCs as well as emergent themes from interviews. The study explored how educational technologies are used to facilitate, sustain, collaborate, and share practice, educational leadership and facilitation roles, types of artifacts produced by members, and how members perceive the PLC's structure and impact on their teaching practice and student learning outcomes. The study also resulted in a rich case narrative description for readers to draw their own generalizations from, and it seeks to help fill the current void of literature and research on online PLCs in higher education. The study contributes two new definitions and points to potential paths for future development and study of a field devoted specifically to PLCs within higher education to ensure faculty development efforts embrace evidence-based practices.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio
The open anthology of earlier American literature
Get PDFThis is an anthology of public domain texts from earlier American literature, collected by students, faculty, and alumnae of Plymouth State University as an OER alternative to expensive commercial anthologies. In addition to content from earlier editions, the 2018 edition adds four new sections: Where is American Literature Now?: Contemporary Connections, Earlier American Literature in Music, Female American (1767) Supplementary Readings, and Letters from an American Farmer (1767) Supplementary Readings.
This file represents the state of the work at the end of 2018. Visit to see new and updated material visit https://openeal.pressbooks.com