Exploring persistence and retention at JMU

Student Success Stories presentation Exploring Persistence and Retention at JMU

For All Mankind? Reading Race in Early American Science Fiction, 1836-1888

Beginning in the early nineteenth century, a new type of literature envisioned what the United States would look like in the far future. Now known as science fiction, three of these works - Mary Griffith’s “Three Hundred Years Hence,” George Tucker’s A Century Hence, and Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward - are exemplary in how they reflect social concerns of their time, particularly in the construction of notions of race in America. Through the idea of science as a universal and rational ideal, these authors imagined a progressive, white future for the United States, in which science and progress are increasingly identified by their proximity to whiteness and distance from blackness. These authors are not outliers, but form the foundation for a liberal tradition in American science fiction that runs through popular culture to the present day

Reconceptualizing Metadata Management as a Design Discipline

Libraries are increasingly exploring design approaches, but their utility has been overlooked in the area of metadata management. This article argues that metadata management should be considered a design discipline. Key elements of design epistemology and their relevance to cataloging and metadata work are explored through a case study of developing a workflow to update OCLC numbers in a library catalog. Conceptualizing metadata management through the lens of design provides a new view of the field that expands possibilities for education, advocacy, research, and practice

College Students\u27 Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Risks and Benefits in Pakistan

With the rapid advancements in technology over the past 2 decades, it has become crucial to understand people’s attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and its associated risks. Given the increasing access to the AI technologies, it is imperative to examine how young people in non-Western societies like Pakistan perceive AI risks and benefits. We conducted an online survey of college students who had used AI technology in the past 6 months. The results of our study indicate that the majority of college students view AI technology positively and perceive it as an opportunity to enhance workplace productivity. In addition, most of the respondents are optimistic about the future applications of AI in their individual lives and society. This research contributes to the literature on how college students in Pakistan perceive AI in their daily lives and offer implications for future scholars interested in studying AI technology use in non-Western countries

¿Quién es responsable? (Who is Responsible?): Different framings about the responsibility to maintain bilingualism in the United States

This study explores the perspectives of Chicanx/Latinx educational practitioners on the importance of maintaining bilingualism and the strategies employed by individuals and institutions to achieve this goal. Through oral histories, Chicanx/Latinx educational practitioners discussed the individual responsibility of preserving the Spanish language within families and the limitations of individualized strategies. They highlighted the need for institutional support through bilingual education programs, which foster linguistic diversity and cultural pride. Bilingual education programs were identified as key institutional spaces that foster cultural and linguistic pride, promote positive ethnic and racial identity development, and create a sense of belonging for students and their families. Resumen Este estudio explora las perspectivas de profesionales educativos chicanx/latinx sobre la importancia de mantener el bilingüismo y las estrategias empleadas por individuos e instituciones para lograr este objetivo. A través de historias orales, profesionales chicanx/latinx en la educación, discutieron la responsabilidad individual de preservar el idioma español dentro de las familias y las limitaciones de las estrategias individualizadas. Estos profesionales resaltaron la necesidad de apoyo institucional a través de programas de educación bilingüe, que fomentan la diversidad lingüística y el orgullo cultural. Los programas de educación bilingüe fueron identificados como espacios institucionales clave que fomentan el orgullo cultural y lingüístico, promueven el desarrollo positivo de la identidad étnica y racial, y crean un sentido de pertenencia para los estudiantes y sus familias

Impact Of Mild Dehydration On Pulmonary Function During Exercise

The pulmonary system historically has been believed to respond accordingly to increasing metabolic demands, even during severe exercise, through facilitating changes in ventilation, flow rates, operating lung volumes, and gas exchange. There recently has been a growing list of scenarios where this is not the case, like when mechanical constraints dictate the maximum attainable flow rate in a give expired breath which has been termed expiratory flow limitation. Dynamic hyperinflation, a result of increasing operating lung volumes, can result to help maintain ventilation and try to preserve performance. Dynamic compression of the airways from intrathoracic pressure compressing smaller airways during heavy breathing can lower expiratory flow limits and lead to expiratory flow limitation and contribute to dynamic hyperinflation by ending expiration prematurely. This may be exacerbated in a dehydrated state as it may compromise the stability of airways through reduced surface tension by altering airway surface liquid, which lines the airways, and pulmonary surfactant levels, a component of airway surface liquid. This has been thought to result in observed reductions in forced vital capacity and increases in residual volume and functional residual capacity with mild dehydration at rest with other studies finding reductions in expiratory flow in healthy individuals and small airway dysfunction in recreational athletes with asthma and following exercise in elite athletes, Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to test the hypothesis that mild dehydration will increase the presence and severity of expiratory flow limitation, and as a result will increase operating lung volumes, when compared to euhydration. Twelve healthy active adults, four female and eight male, with an average age of 20 years old, participated in the study. To be considered active, they had to have at least met American College of SPort\u27s Medicine\u27s Physical activity Guidelines and cycled about once a week for at least the past six weeks. Subjects with known pulmonary diseases or who experienced lasting symptoms from COVID-19 were excluded. Each subject completed three sessions, one preliminary, one hypohydrated, and one euhydrated trial in the James Madison University Human Performance Lab. A crossover design was implemented by which all subjects completed the euhydrated and hypohydrated trials in a randomly counterbalanced manner. All trials began in the morning at a time of day that did not deviate by more than two hours. During each trial, a VO2 peak test was performed that began with a 5-minute warmup at 50 watts while maintaining 50 rpms. Following the warm-up the test was conducted with 2-minute stages that increased by 25 watts for every workload and ended when the subject could no longer maintain 50 rpms or reached volitional cessation. Heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, and rating of perceived dyspnea were recorded in the last 10 seconds of each stage. Inspiratory capacity maneuvers were performed in the last 30 seconds of each stage. Maximum flow volume loops were performed before and after each VO2 peak test. A Multidimensional Dyspnea Profile questionnaire and selecting applicable dyspnea descriptors were also completed follow the post-exercise maximum flow volume loops. To ensure subjects arrived in a euhydrated state, subjects followed a similar food and beverage consumption to their 24-hour log from the preliminary trial and drank about 16 fluid ounces the night before and the morning of the trial. To ensure subjects arrived in a dehydrated state, subjects were asked to abstain from consuming any fluid and foods with greater than 30% water content fo 24-hours leading up to the trail. Hydration status before each trial was determined through nude body mass, urine color, urine specific gravity, hematocrit, and InBody Bio-electrical Impedance Analysis. Other standardized procedures consisted of abstaining from alcohol, caffeine, and exercise for 24 hours prior to each trial. Expiratory flow limitation will be assessed by super imposing the inspiratory capacity maneuvers within the largest maximum flow volume loop with its presence and severity determined on if there is overlap of the exercise-flow volume loop and the maximum flow volume loop. Dynamic changes in operating lung volumes will be recorded using the metabolic cart. Statistical analyses will be performed with IBM SPSS Statistics v 29.0

Cannibalism, Consumerism, Colonialism and Love in Contemporary Western Media

This paper examines the role of the cannibal in contemporary western media by examining the novel Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, the short story Meat by Mariana Enriquez, and the movie Bones and All starring Timothee Chalamet and Taylor Russell. By analyzing these pieces of media, one can see the ways in which cannibalism as a literary device acts as a method of reflection and disarmament to prominent western philosophies surrounding ideas of consumerism, colonialism and love

It\u27s Not You It\u27s Me : Understanding the Relationship between Students & Academic Advising

Understanding what students need should be at the forefront of every higher education intitution’s design or plan for impact. From an academic advising standpoint, listening to the voices of students should be of most importance when determining how they can effectively influence student success. The purpose of higher education is to ensure the success of its students. Providing assistance towards individual, professional, and career development is the main focus of institutions when regarding their ability to help their respective students succeed. One avenue of this assistance is through their academic advising departments. Academic advising is a vital part of how colleges and universities incorporate their students into the world of higher education, while also working to establish the tools and opportunities for individuals to achieve success. Being able to acquire knowledge on what the experiences are from the voices of the students themselves allows for academic advising departments to determine whether they are meeting their standards of providing positive student assistance and services. Over the years, previous literature and research has inquired about the impact of advising in higher education. The research has been primarily focused on understanding the benefits of academic advising, the principles in which advising abides by, the role of advising and/or academic advisors, and lastly, how students feel toward advising at their respective institutions. Learning more about what the students feel they need from advising centers, more importantly what they need from their advisor(s), is vital to how productive and effective academic advising can be at higher education institutions. Most importantly, academic advising can play a critical role in helping students establish a sense of connectedness and belonging to an institution. By doing so, the intent of this research is to fully allow for the voices of those primarily impacted by the functionality of academic advising to be heard, acknowledged, and taken into consideration when addressing the improvement of student satisfaction regarding advising. This research study is broken down into five main chapters that incorporate thorough assessments of each phase of the research process including the Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Findings, and the Discussion. The first chapter introduces the background of the study, the problem statement, the purpose of the study, research significance, research questions, research assumptions, limitations of the study, and delimitations of the study. Following this chapter, is a collection of integrated literature that examines the research background of academic advising, the impacts that academic advising has on the educational system, students’ perspectives of academic advising, and the theoretical frameworks that revolve around the approaches toward effective academic advising in higher education. Chapter Three discusses the methodology of the study. Chapter Four presents the findings from the study. The final chapter examines the findings of the study, in addition to the supporting literature. Recommendations for future research and practice are provided for higher education institutions, advisors, and the field of Adult Education & Human Resource Development