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The Relationship Between Moral Reinforcement and Learner-Centered Practice in Adult Learners: A Multi-Grounded Theory Study
No full textMoral development is a significant issue in education, yet there is no concrete understanding of how moral learning and moral reasoning are integrated into higher education institutions, especially without a religious connotation. This study aimed to explore the relationship between learner-centered practice, moral development, and moral reasoning within adult learners in higher education institutions. This grounded theory study intended to provide insight into the moral reflections, experiences, and perceptions of adult learners in the context of learner-centered practice. Thirteen adult learners from four research settings participated in this study. The research settings were observed using an observational protocol to ensure that they were learner-centered. In-depth phone interviews were the main source of data collection; participants were interviewed two to three times each. Through methods of coding, constant comparative analysis, memoing, and explicit grounding processes, five overarching themes emerged from the data: intentionality, reflective processes, community of learning, perspective scaffolding, and moral reinforcement. These themes contributed to the emergence of a grounded theory: the theoretical model for moral reinforcement in learner-centered practice. Theoretical matching was used to compare the emergent theory with existing frameworks, which included research on learner-centered practice, morality of instruction and learning, andragogy, cognitivism and constructivism, and moral development theory. This study offers one interpretation of the findings, namely, that moral reinforcement is a possible outcome for adult learners in learner-centered practice. According to participants, moral reinforcement was a result of personal motivation and effort, reflection and consideration, peer collaboration and support, and perspective scaffolding. The findings fill a gap in current literature by describing the relationship of moral development, moral reasoning, and learner-centered practice in the context of adult learners. A better understanding of how learner-centered practice contributes to a learner’s moral development and moral reasoning has implications for lifelong learners and their learning, educators and their curriculum design, and higher education institutions attempting to meet society’s expectations to create a nation of learners.doctoral, Ph.D., Leadership and Counseling -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2019-0
The New Anglo-Saxons: Race, Place, and the Production of a Geopolitical Discourse
No full textThis thesis presents a case study in the genesis and spread of a geopolitical ideology by elites in academia. The academic and political movement of Anglo-Saxonism is conceptualized as a geopolitical discourse created and disseminated by conscious agents. A review of the relevant literature reveals that in many works of critical geopolitics, scholars have taken a view of discourse emphasizing the agency of powerful individuals in deploying geopolitical discourses for their political ends (Müller 2008). In spite of the emphasis on agency, these approaches neglect the meta-narratives of their agents themselves, preferring instead to juxtapose texts and the contexts in which their producers operated and infer intentionality. Instead of taking this approach, I investigate the motives and intentions of two English-speaking historians of the late 19th century—Edward Augustus Freeman and Herbert Baxter Adams—by examining archival material for their own statements about the reasons for and the inspirations behind the production of their texts. Subsequently, I analyze the particular spatial and place-based imageries these two historians deployed in their works, showing how the historians’ consciousness of their production of a discourse shaped the presence and form of this imagery.masters, M.S., Geography -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2019-0
Forest Fungi and their Interactions
No full textFungi are ubiquitous in a forestry setting; they can function as endophytes in plant tissues, as plant pathogens, and as wood decomposers. Plant endophytes can play a tremendous role in plant ecology, fitness, and evolution. Plant pathogens are microbes with a sinister ability to threaten food security and destroy precious and prized forests. Plant resistance to these harmful microbes provides the plant some protection from pathogens and their harmful effects. However, resistance can be overcome, so new solutions are always needed. Fungi that decompose wood are crucial in nutrient cycling. This thesis explores different guilds of forest fungi and how their interactions provide insight into overall forest ecology and health. The first chapter contains results from a study conducted to determine where the most antagonistic endophyte interactors are found within different plant tissues. An important forest tree, Pinus monticola or Western White Pine was used as a model system. The seed contains specialized endophytes that were more dynamic interactors than their vegetative counterparts. This information is applicable to the current quest of locating effective antagonistic microbes to use against damaging plant pathogens. Secondly, we report that copy number variation in hybrid poplar affects response to infection by Melampsora rust. Rust inoculations on mutated P. deltoides × P. nigra lines demonstrated that there are dosage-dependent genes for both rust resistance and rust susceptibility. Additionally, a novel Melampsora hybrid rust is discussed and characterized. Combined, these chapters offer insights into microbial interactions with both each other and their hosts, and how we can harness this information to reduce disease susceptibility. The third chapter details a study that investigates host ranges of both nematophagous fungi and fungivorous nematodes. Nematophagous Pleurotus pulmonarius consumes some nematodes; other nematodes, however, are resistant to the P. pulmonarius toxin. Resistant nematodes begin to consume Pleurotus pulmonarius, even though they are currently only viewed as ‘bacterial feeders’.masters, M.S., Natural Resources -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2019-0
Spatial and Temporal Growth Opportunity for Juvenile Fall Chinook Salmon in the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, Idaho
No full textUnderstanding the conditions that produce diverse salmonid migration strategies is challenging in a large river network where life history trajectories arise from multiple biotic and abiotic factors. Because early growth is closely linked to migration initiation, identifying the growth conditions experienced by individual fish at a small time scale is crucial. Here, we paired a long-term otolith dataset with a detailed bioenergetic assessment of early growth opportunity in a population of Chinook salmon to identify how growth conditions related to migration initiation. In the Snake river population of fall Chinook salmon, juveniles historically migrated their first summer, but in recent years an overwintering migration strategy has emerged. Using otolith microchemistry and microstructure analysis, we determined that a significant proportion of fish from both the Clearwater and Snake rivers overwinter and migrate the following spring. Notably, Clearwater origin fish that migrated as yearlings performed a larger proportion of their freshwater growth in natal habitat than Snake origin fish. We also found higher growth and consumption during the early growth period for fish originating in the Snake river and downstream reservoir compared to the Clearwater river, by comparing relative growth and consumption using a daily time-step bioenergetics model. The combined bioenergetics and migration analysis demonstrates that while both Snake river and Clearwater origin fish express the overwintering strategy, their relative growth in natal habitats differ. These findings suggest that the yearling migration strategy may arise from different conditions throughout the population, though the net effect is the increasing prevalence of this strategy.masters, M.S., Natural Resources -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2019-0