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The New England Patriots and their social media use
No full textThe research conducted for this paper was done so to discuss the social media use of the New England Patriots. An analysis of their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr, and Pinterest accounts are presented. How their social media use could be improved or enhanced is also discussed. More and more businesses have latched onto the important tactic of social media marketing. One would not think that an NFL team would need social media marketing, but they do. The New England Patriots' marketing team has been able to accomplish making the Patriots brand into a positive experience. Those who follow the accounts are able to get quick, current, and important information.Student Showcase of Excellence 201
Preferred atmospheric patterns for vernal and autumnal nocturnal bird migration using the Plymouth, New Hampshire NOAA-ERSL snow level radar
No full textRadar technology can be a useful tool in tracking trends in bird migration. The NOAA-ESRL Snow Level Radar (SLR), located in Plymouth, New Hampshire, is primarily used to monitor the Bright-Band Height (BBH) of falling precipitation, or the level at which snow melts to water. Using data collected from November 2014 to November 2016, preferential atmospheric conditions over Plymouth, New Hampshire were analyzed during peak migration events for both autumn and spring migration seasons.Student Showcase of Excellence 201
A lever long enough: educational leadership behaviors that support and sustain second-order change
Get PDFThis mixed-methods study examined the relationship between leadership behaviors and successful second-order change, in the case of a once traditional elementary school in the midwestern United States that transformed beyond the industrial-age design into a learning model that fosters the skills essential to success in the 21st century. This descriptive case study was anchored in the theoretical constructs of transformational leadership (Burns, 1978; Bass, 1985), transformational educational leadership (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2000; Leithwood, Jantzi, & Fernandez, 1994), and second-order change (Watzlawick, Weakland, & Fisch, 1974). Nine faculty members from Webster Elementary School completed Leithwood's Educational Leadership Survey; descriptive statistical methods were used to analyze survey data. Three survey respondents also participated in a follow-up focus group discussion based on survey results. Two school administrators participated in semistructured interviews; interview questions were guided by data collected during the focus group discussion and grounded in the results of the teacher survey.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio
Thomsonian medicine in the antebellum period
No full textMedicine during the Antebellum period was a period rife with changes and challenges to traditional medicine. Through analysis of various primary and secondary sources it quickly becomes clear that antebellum medicine was a mixture of collaboration as well as competition. The main focus for shaping this argument was through research on Samuel Thomson, his Thomsonian medical beliefs, as well as eclectic medicine. Thomson was an uneducated farmer from rural New Hampshire who after seeing failures of traditional orthodox medicine decided to employ methods similar to those of Native Americans, by utilizing different plants as well as treatments like steam baths. He believed any man should be able to practice medicine and wanted it to be accessible to the majority. This then caused a rift within his followers when some believed that they needed to make changes to who practiced as well as how it was practiced. Eclectic medicine came from Thomsonian medicine which means that antebellum period Thomsonian medicine collaborated with others, while still competing with them by disagreeing as well as just overall trying to prove his system was more practical.Student Showcase of Excellence 201
Temporal variability of phosphorus concentration in the stream to Squam Lake, New Hampshire during storm events
Get PDFPhosphorus (P) enrichment to most rivers and lakes degrades the water quality, particularly by stimulating the growth of aquatic plants and algae. To determine the relative importance of precipitation events to the nutrient inputs to lakes, P input was estimated at Livermore Cove Brook, tributary of Squam Lake, NH during 3 storm events in summer 2016. Water samples were collected hourly during the events using ISCO samplers and analyzed for specific conductivity, turbidity, total P (TP), total dissolved P (TDP), total particulate P (TPP), soluble reactive P (SRP), dissolved organic P (DOP) and deuterium isotope (2H). 2H was used in two-component mixing analysis to calculate the % of new-water as a proxy for direct runoff. TP concentrations peaked with stream flow (up to 453.7 ppb) with much higher concentration in rising limb than on falling limb resulted in clockwise hysteresis. We believe this is due to the changing contribution of different water sources to the streams and variable mobility of sediment P during runoff. The SRP was minor component during event but was more significant during baseflow periods. We also found that DOP was most dominant form of P except during strong runoff periods where TPP was an important component.Student Showcase of Excellence 201
A different perspective on the 2016 Louisiana flood
Get PDFThe August 2016 Louisiana Flood caused historic flooding across southern central areas of the state and was the worst natural disaster in the U.S. since Superstorm Sandy in 2012. On August 12, 2016, a Mesoscale Convective System formed along the coast of Louisiana and remained quasi-stationary across the region until August 14, 2016. The prolonged duration of heavy rainfall resulted in areas around Baton Rouge receiving over 30 inches of rain, leading to the historic flooding that lasted for two weeks. This study puts some perspective on the event by comparing similar prolonged precipitation events. Using daily precipitation totals in Baton Rouge obtained from the National Climatic Data Center's website from 1973-2016 a statistical analysis was ran. This included investigating 72-hour rainfall events and comparing them to the average monthly and annual precipitation to represent extreme prolonged heavy rainfall events such as the 2016 Louisiana Flood. The results identified two other events with similar precipitation distributions over the 43-year climatology to 2016 Louisiana Flood. Both events identified were tropical storms and with this past flood dubbed anStudent Showcase of Excellence 201
A study of aviation weather hazards
Get PDFThe aviation industry is continuously constrained by weather hazards that affect the safety of personnel on aircraft as well as the efficiency of the National Airspace System (NAS). Wind, visibility, and turbulence are among the most common weather hazards involved in aviation accidents, and air traffic delays and closures. The collaborations between the Aviation Weather Center (AWC) and Center Weather Service Units (CWSUs) are essential to creating and providing accurate forecasts pertaining to aircraft safety. This study examines weather related aviation accidents that occurred in 13 states across the northeast US and vicinity for two time periods: 2000-2001 and 2014-2015. The data used for this study were gathered from the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) aviation database. The data underwent a basic statistical analysis and the statistics that were calculated include whether the aircraft was damaged, the severity of the injuries, the size of the aircraft involved, the phase of flight the aircraft experienced operational difficulties due to weather hazards, and the number of accidents that were solely weather related versus the number of accidents where weather was a contributing factor associated with another type of aviation issue such as a pilot error or mechanical malfunction.Student Showcase of Excellence 201
A friendly introduction to abstract algebra
Get PDFModified from Dr. W. Edwin Clark’s OER text “Elementary Abstract Algebra” and written over the Spring 2016 and 2018 semesters, this abstract algebra textbook also features contributions from Plymouth State University students. Additional versions are available for download.Additional Files:
Algebra Draft 2.zip (3029 kB), zip file containing LaTeX version of second edition.
Elementary Abstract Algebra edition 1.pdf (1422 kB), pdf file of first edition.
Algebra Draft 1.zip (2810 kB), zip file containing LaTeX version of first edition
Designing an instrument to assess school-based peer-to-peer heroin and opioid prevention program outcomes
Get PDFThis study examines the issue of adolescent heroin and opioid use in New Hampshire and reviews interventions that positively change adolescent knowledge and perception of use. Prior studies indicate that peer-to-peer storytelling formats have a positive impact on adolescent knowledge and perception of substance use. We identified the Communities for Alcohol and Drug-free Youth's (CADY) Alex's Story, a school-based peer-to-peer storytelling prevention program addressing adolescent heroin and opioid use. To assist CADY in analyzing the programmatic impact of "Alex's Story" on students, we designed a survey instrument to assess students' understanding about substance use and addiction, and perception of harm associated with heroin and opioid use. We propose CADY use the designed instrument as a pre- and post-survey to measure students' beliefs and perception of harm. It is hypothesized that by doing so, students who view Alex's Story will have 1) an increased understanding about substance use and addiction, and 2) an increase in perception of harm related to heroin and opioid use when compared to students who do not view Alex's Story. The implementation process for the survey instrument will be discussed.Student Showcase of Excellence 201
An examination of the presence of andragogy in paramilitary law enforcement recruit academies on the eastern seaboard of the United States
Get PDFLaw enforcement officers are entrusted with the most sacred of responsibilities, that of protecting and serving the community, safeguarding their property, and protecting the innocent from those who wish to do them harm or cause disorder. In preparation for this challenge, every police officer must undergo and successfully complete a police academy training program where they will learn the basic knowledge, skills, and philosophies necessary to effectively complete the task. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine to what extent the principles of andragogy were present in the academic instructional blocks of paramilitary law enforcement basic recruit academies. This task was undertaken as a result of best practices in the field of education which have identified the theoretical and conceptual practices of andragogy as the preeminent method by which to educate an adult population. While this methodology has been confirmed in research studies to be present and utilized in a variety of adult education career fields that share similar challenges and hurdles to that of law enforcement, such as the military, medical fields, and fire services; there is little research on whether this model of adult learning, anchored on the notions of self-concept, experience, readiness to learn and the internal motivation of adult learners to learn, exist within the instructional processes at paramilitary police academies. To research this phenomenon, a phenomenological qualitative approach was utilized, mining data from three different sources: site visits, interviews, and surveys. To help facilitate a deeper understanding of the presence, or lack thereof, of each of the tenets of andragogy and its resulting impact on the learning experience of the recruit and their preparedness for the career field of law enforcement post academy graduation; nine site visits were conducted at police academies in five states, forty interviews were conducted with current police officers and training academy staff, and one hundred and seventy-two surveys were collected from police academy recruits and graduates.Electronic Thesis or Dissertatio