College Drinking, Greek Affiliation And The Need To Fit In: An Analysis Of Social Norms And Motivations Associated With Fraternity and Sorority Binge Drinking

This study proposes that members of Greek social organizations have higher rates of binge drinking as compared to other college students due to their greater acceptance of norms and motives that support binge drinking. The College Alcohol Study, a survey conducted by the Harvard School of Public Heath, was administered to 10, 904 university students. The survey measured various aspects of students\u27 experiences at their respective universities including experiences with and perceptions of alcohol use. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine normative and motivational predictors of binge drinking for Greek and non-Greek students. The results show that Greek members binge drink at higher levels than do other students. The results also indicate that social norm and motive variables, which were thought to be predictive of binge drinking practices for all students, are better predictors of binge drinking for non-Greek members. Implications of theses findings, discussion of results, limitations of the study, and recommendations for future research are presented

Automatic Generation and Grading of Programming Exercises

In our current age of technological advances, and rising education costs, it is becoming increasingly beneficial to use technology to aid in education, usually through automated lectures or grading. One missing feature from this automated education is complex grading and problem generation. The main objective of this project is to create a program that can automatically generate and grade problems of varying difficulties based on the topic of programming for loops. The project solution was created as a program designed for use in Dr. Clinton Staley’s Intelligent Homework System, which is used precisely for automated exercise grading and generation. Ultimately, the created program operates as expected, and is capable of generating a limited number of for loop exercises across five different difficulty levels. This project is a nice improvement on current automated exercises that will hopefully improve the understanding of for loops in entry-level computer science students

Moving On: A Phenomenological Study on the Experiences of Migrating Teachers in Disadvantaged School Districts

Teacher migration occurs frequently in public schools across the United States. As teachers transition and move to new schools, this can have implications for student achievement (Adnot, Dee, Katz, & Wyckoff, 2017; Ronfeldt, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013), school/family relationships (Simon & Johnson, 2015), and school administrators (Ingersoll, 2003b). The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study is to better understand the experiences that led teachers to voluntarily migrate to different schools within their district. Data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Public district documents were evaluated to better understand specific policies and/or restrictions on migrating teachers. All data was compiled and categorized into four major themes: 1) school characteristics, 2) school-based relationships, 3) professional atmosphere, and 4) leader support. While this study shows that there was no essence to the phenomena of teacher migration, it does make light of the fact that extremely negative relationships with either teaching colleagues or the school principal were important considerations in teacher’s voluntary, intra-district migration decision

Exploring the impacts of wiki collaborative technologies within the english writing environment

The use of technology in the writing classroom has been a staple since the early-1990’s when the personal computer made its way onto the desks of teachers and students across America. Since that time, the challenge has been for educators to incorporate the most recent technologies in an effort to stimulate student writing. This study examined the effects the use of a web-based wiki technology can have on the writings of high school students. The primary goal of this study was to explore how the web-based collaborative technology in Google Docs and used in a secondary English IV classroom can impact the writing skills of twelfth grade students dually enrolled in a freshman level writing class of a local university. Specifically, the study explored how students writing levels and processes were affected, how they perceived themselves as writers, and the challenges and successes they faced through the wiki-style inclusion. A mixed methods case study design was used. One intact twelfth grade English IV classroom was used for the study (n=15). During the Fall 2009 and the Spring 2010 semesters, data were collected from observations, student interviews, two essays, and two student surveys. Quantitative data were collected from all the 15 class members via student perception surveys and rubric-based assessments of two essays. Qualitative data included open-ended questions on the writing surveys from all of the students; teacher observations of student interactions with each other, the wiki, and the writing; and interviews with six students at three ability levels. Results showed that wiki-based technologies can impact students’ writing processes and their essay results. Strategies inherent to the wiki process can motivate students to be better participants when they know someone else is depending on their input. Another factor was the ease of access. Finally, what seemed especially prevalent in student comments and observation was how peer editing may have contributed to students’ writing progress. The findings of this study support those of previous research. They also underscore the importance of continuing to incorporate modern technologies into the classroom. Other implications for practice are also discussed

Moving On: A Phenomenological Study on the Experiences of Migrating Teachers in Disadvantaged School Districts

Teacher migration occurs frequently in public schools across the United States. As teachers transition and move to new schools, this can have implications for student achievement (Adnot, Dee, Katz, & Wyckoff, 2017; Ronfeldt, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013), school/family relationships (Simon & Johnson, 2015), and school administrators (Ingersoll, 2003b). The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study is to better understand the experiences that led teachers to voluntarily migrate to different schools within their district. Data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Public district documents were evaluated to better understand specific policies and/or restrictions on migrating teachers. All data was compiled and categorized into four major themes: 1) school characteristics, 2) school-based relationships, 3) professional atmosphere, and 4) leader support. While this study shows that there was no essence to the phenomena of teacher migration, it does make light of the fact that extremely negative relationships with either teaching colleagues or the school principal were important considerations in teacher’s voluntary, intra-district migration decision

An ecological analysis of US county-level suicide rates : an application of spatial patterning models

Suicide has been studied sociologically since the late 19th century when theorists like Durkheim ([1897] 1951) found that the spatial patterning of suicides was not random. Looking beyond psychological troubles, suicide studies began to address the social factors that affected suicide rates. Building on the work of early scholars, contemporary studies mainly focus on variations in levels of social integration variables within communities to explain the nature of suicide rates. Many of these contemporary studies, however, only consider one type of social integration, like religion, and how variations in participation affect the suicide rate. To date, no study simultaneously considers multiple indicators of social integration nor focuses on the contextual environment these social integration variables create within communities in order to decipher if/where spatial regimes exist with regard to suicide in the United States. The aim of this study was to use spatial patterning techniques to determine the extent to which religious organizations, civic community organizations, social isolation, and economic deprivation affected the social integration and infrastructure of communities thereby affecting the spatial patterning of suicide rates within the United States. Drawing from the civic community and social capital perspectives, communities with greater levels of integration have been found to have better health outcomes and lower levels of mortality than communities with low levels of integration (Lee 2010). Inversely, communities with higher levels of social isolation and economic deprivation have a weak community infrastructure, less social integration, low social capital, and low levels of civic engagement as evidenced by weak social networks, fewer civic institutions, and a sub-par public health infrastructure (Blanchard, Bartkowski, Matthews, and Kerley 2008; Lee 2010; Young and Lyson 2001). Therefore, the presence or absence of integration factors shape the community environment, which in turn impacts the suicide rate of that community. Specifically, the present study aimed to test the hypothesis that civically engaged communities, with low isolation and low economic troubles, produced a community environment that resulted in lower suicide rates, while communities that had high levels of social isolation and economic deprivation had lower chances for civic engagement and therefore suffered from higher suicide rates. Results showed, however, that each of these integration variables had a varying impact on the suicide rate in different regions, which led to the conclusion that spatial regimes exist in the United States

The Multiple Gate Mos-Jfet

A new multiple-gate transistor, the SOI MOS-JFET, is presented. This device combines the MOS field effect and junction field effect within one transistor body. Measured I-V characteristics are provided to illustrate typical modes of operation and the functionality associated with each gate. Two-dimensional simulations of the device?s cross-section will be presented to illustrate various conduction modes under different bias conditions. Test results indicate the MOS-JFET is well suited for both high-voltage and low-voltage circuit demands for systems-on-a-chip applications on SOI technology. Analog building-block circuits based the MOS-JFET are also presented

Geologic variability and Holocene sedimentary record on the Northern Gulf of Mexico inner to mid-continental shelf

Sidescan Sonar, chirp sonar sub-bottom profiles, and grab samples were collected on the north-central Gulf of Mexico continental shelf as part of an interdisciplinary study mapping juvenile red snapper habitat. Demarcation of essential fish habitat for juvenile red snapper (Lutjanus campechansis) in the Gulf of Mexico is considered critical for effective management of this valuable species. The first goal of this study was to map and describe the geology of this region. The second goal was to attempt to relate variations in geology to juvenile red snapper abundance and distribution. Sidescan mosaics were created for ten polygons, ranging in size from 2 to 20 km2 on the inner to middle shelf south of Mississippi-Alabama, in water depths of 17-40 m. Geological observations delineated three contrasting seabed types: (1) linear to patchy shell regions on the inner-middle shelf, (2) muddy sand sheets on the middle shelf, and (3) prodeltaic muds in the southwest of the study area, marking the eastern extent of recent shelf deposits from the modern Mississippi delta. The shell ridges stand 1-3 m above the surrounding seabed, and may extend 200 m across. They are composed of \u3e 50% CaCO3, including shell fragments from both estuarine and marine taxa, and contrast sharply with adjacent muddy sands containing minor shell. Radiocarbon dating of shell material, along with the geological characteristics of the ridges suggests that they are remnants of Holocene coastal environments. This region was previously described as either an extension of the MAFLA sand sheet or a transitional zone between the MAFLA sands and prodelta muds (Ludwick, 1964). In the present study, we identified a range of geological features of estuarine, shoreface, and wholly marine origin. The diversity of deposits described records a wide range of geological processes active from early-middle Holocene to recent time. The integration of geological observations with coordinated biological observations reveals that geologic structures and sediment composition on the northern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf are major controls on the distribution of juvenile red snapper (Patterson et al, in press), and record both coastal depositional histories and open-shelf processes active during Holocene transgression