Objecting Objectification: Finding The Links Between Self-Objectification, Views On Harassment, And Agreement With Traditional Sex Roles

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between self-objectification levels, opinions on the impact of non-violent stranger sexual harassment on a personal and societal level, and agreement with traditional gender roles in college women. College women at Western Kentucky University were surveyed using the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale, the Social Roles Questionnaire, and original scales to measure views of street harassment. The hypotheses that viewing stranger harassment as both individually direct and complimentary would be positively correlated with self- objectification, and viewing it as innocuous in society were supported with correlation coefficients of r(103) = .211, p = .05, and r(103) = .314, p = .01 respectively. Hypotheses that agreement with traditional sex roles would be related to higher self-objectification levels and to views of harassment as benign to society were not. Possible reasons for these findings are explored, including the need for healthier mediums of empowerment and changing definitions of sex equality

The Effect of a Math Emporium Course Redesign in Developmental and Introductory Mathematics Courses on Student Achievement and Students\u27 Attitudes Toward Mathematics at a Two-Year College

The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of computer-based instruction on student mathematics achievement and students\u27 attitudes toward mathematics in developmental and introductory mathematics courses, namely Elementary Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, and College Algebra, at a community college. The researcher also examined the relationship between attitudes and achievement. The sample consisted of 112 students, and the study was conducted during the Spring 2010 semester at a community college in south Mississippi. The participants were enrolled in one of six classes taught by the researcher. The control group consisted of three classes (one Intermediate and two College Algebra sections) taught using traditional lecture instruction. The treatment group was comprised of three classes (one Beginning, one Intermediate, and one College Algebra section) that were taught using computer-based instruction via the interactive online software MathXL. Both the control and treatment groups were taught the same objectives and received instruction two days a week for 75 minutes per day. Mathematics achievement was measured by a comprehensive final exam that served as a pre-test and post-test. Achievement data were collected prior to any treatment and at the end of the study. Students\u27 attitudes toward mathematics were measured both pre-survey and post-survey using the Attitudes Toward Mathematics Inventory (ATMI). Analyses of Covariance ANCOVA were used to determine whether there were significant differences in attitudes in the control and treatment groups and significant differences in achievement in the control and treatment groups, while controlling for pre-ATMI survey and pre-test scores. A correlation was used to determine whether there was a significant relationship between student achievement in mathematics and students\u27 attitudes toward mathematics. Results of the statistical analysis on pre- and post-ATMI surveys indicated a statistically significant difference in students\u27 attitudes toward mathematics between the control and treatment groups. Students in the traditional lecture group had significantly higher attitudes than students in the computer-based classes. ANCOVA results of the pre- and post-tests showed no significant difference in achievement between the control and treatment groups. Results of the correlation showed a significant relationship between attitude and achievement in the traditional lecture control group

Our Trip...Will Long Be Remembered: Following the Trail of a Bird Watching Road Tri

This exhibition is somewhat non-traditional in its subject matter and approach. It does not cover a major global or regional event or explore the life of someone famous. This is the story of two friends on an adventure, and it is a story that, as with much archival research, required disparate pieces to be assembled.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/speccoll_exhibits/1005/thumbnail.jp

Activist Agriculture: Farm protest in Iowa, 1929-1969

Throughout the twentieth century, farmers in Iowa and the Midwest struggled to make a living off their land and hard work. Post-war price busts and the Great Depression only exacerbated the general erosion in farm parity as increasing costs of production were not matched by an increase in farm commodity prices. In response, farmers organized in an effort to move from being victims of the economic and social situation to self-determined shapers of action. In this exhibit, we take a closer look at mobilization of farmers to confront and obstruct tuberculosis testing of cattle during the Iowa Cow Wars of the early 1930s and the commodity holding actions of the National Farmers Organization (NFO) in the 1960s. The exhibit will cover the actions and methods used by the farmers as well as how they leveraged the media to affect change. Finally, we look at the parallel struggles of migrant farm workers to improve wages and working conditions, examining the efforts both to pass legislation in Iowa in support of migrant farm workers and to support the Delano Grape Strike in California and the related international boycott.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/speccoll_exhibits/1003/thumbnail.jp

Age, growth, reproduction and sexual dimorphism of the striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba, off the south-east coast of southern Africa

The striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba, is an oceanic dolphin found worldwide in tropical to warm temperate waters. Globally populations are threatened through direct fishing, bycatch and pollution. Little is known about the life history of this species in South African waters and it is currently listed as ‘Data Deficient’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Critical to the conservation and management of this species is an understanding of basic life history parameters. For the present study, metadata and tissues from 101 stranded S. coeruleoalba along the south-east coast of southern Africa between 1969 and 2012 were analyzed to examine age and growth, male and female reproduction and sexual dimorphism. Age and growth were determined by counting the number of growth layer groups (GLG’s) present in their teeth. A von Bertalanffy growth curve gave the best fit to the data and indicated that physical maturity was reached around 21 years in males and 18 years in females. Additionally, asymptotic lengths were reached at 231cm and 224cm in males and females, respectively. The maximum ages obtained were 21 years for males and 20 years for females. Length at birth was estimated to be between 116cm and 119cm for males and between 112cm and 114cm for females. The reproductive status of the adult dolphins was assessed by histological and macroscopic analyses of gonadal tissue. Sexual maturity was attained before physical maturity in both sexes. The males reached sexual maturity between 8 and 12 years of age and between 209 and 224cm in total body length. The maximum combined testis weight comprised about 0.24% of the total body weight and sexual maturity was reached between a combined testis weight of 16 and 41g, a mean testis length of 8 and 10cm, and a mean seminiferous tubule diameter of 44 and 70μm. Females attained sexual maturity between 7 and 8 years of age and between 213 and 216 cm in total body length. The ovulation rate was 0.32 per year and the majority of ovulations occurred in the left ovary, with ovulations occurring in the right ovary only in individuals older than 10 years of age. The annual pregnancy rate was calculated to be 26%. Reproductive seasonality could not be established due to the small sample size and the absence of samples throughout the year. However, both conceptions and births appear to occur in both August and December/January. Additionally, testis weight and seminiferous tubule diameters appear to fluctuate throughout the year, which could suggest reproductive seasonality in this species. Sexual size dimorphism in mature adults was evident for a number of external measurements, however, sexual shape dimorphism was not present in this species. Mature males had significantly longer and wider pectoral fins, dorsal fins and flukes than females (p<0.05 in all cases). It was suggested that the larger appendages are required for male on male combat during intraspecific competition for females. Additionally, larger appendages aid in thermoregulation, propulsion and maneuverability. Females had a significantly greater distance between the tip upper jaw and the genital aperture and anus, which was expected due to differences in anatomy between male and female genital openings. Overall, S. coeruleoalba did not exhibit distinct sexual dimorphism and together with the relatively small testes in relation to the total body weight (0.24%) it was proposed that this species demonstrates a less extreme form of polygyny. Additionaly, the results of this study are important to the understanding of the basic biology of the species