Health Curriculum in the Middle School Classroom: Assignment Completion vs. Academic Success

In order for teachers to most effectively help their students retain knowledge, instructors must be aware of the achievement students are attaining from their homework assignments. Assignments are used as tools by teachers to guide students on their learning paths. If the assignments are not structured properly or if students do not turn them in, the gain of students towards academic achievement is lessened. This research looks at the effect that assignment completion can have on academic success in the middle school classroom. Completion percentages and test scores will be looked at on a unit basis for two separate health units. The literature reviewed revolves around student work in relation to overall achievement in school. Overall, the results correlated positively between student assignment completion percentage and high achievement tests

SOUND MATTERS: AURAL RHETORIC IN PHARMACEUTICAL ADVERTISING (TOWARD A THEORY AND METHOD OF AURALACY)

As scholarly theories and explorations of visuality continue to grow in prominence within the discourse on multimodal communication, a gap remains in the literature regarding the affective qualities of sound in multimedia messages. The following study attempts to address this gap and likewise propose a theory of auralacy (aural literacy) by examining the audiovisual interactions present in three different pharmaceutical commercials. This study begins by examining literature regarding Gestalt perceptual theory, with emphasis on its origins, historical developments, and current status in perceptual research. The literature shows that perceptual wholes may be formed visually, tactilely, aurally, or even intermodally. After reviewing this literature, a holistic methodology is presented for the interpretation of multimodal messages. Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen`s Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design is invoked to help analyze on-screen movement of visuals in the pharmaceutical commercials, and Leonard Meyer`s principles of pattern perception--derived from Gestalt theory and set forth in Emotion and Meaning and Music--are brought to bear on the advertisement`s soundscapes. The affective qualities of each soundscape are examined, including music, narration, and sound effects. A visual strategy for presenting audiovisual interaction, dubbed as the movement analysis, is used to help foreground the aural mode and display patterns of movement and shape. This study concludes with a discussion of auralacy as an important tool for understanding contemporary composition and communication, as well as potential directions for further developing the movement analysis

Central American Saints: The Formation and Preservation of Latter-Day Saint Community and Identity in El Salvador and Guatemala, 1960–1992

After World War II, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints grew dramatically throughout Latin America, with much of this growth happening after 1960. My thesis studies how the growing numbers of Latter-day Saints in Guatemala and El Salvador (between 1960 and 1992) developed strong and meaningful religious community and became more and more committed to their new Latter-day Saint identity. Being a Latter-day Saint in these two countries was similar in many ways to the experience of being a Latter-day Saint in the U.S., but there were also some important differences. My thesis considers what made the Salvadoran and Guatemalan Latter-day Saint community and identity of this time unique and also why this community and this identity were so meaningful to these people. I talk about how church social activities helped make Central American Latter-day Saints more committed to their faith, were fun and educational, and helped local members feel like they belonged in their congregations. I also look at how taking part in group bus trips from Central America to the Latter-day Saint temple in Arizona helped them further strengthen their commitment to their Church and feel a greater sense of belonging in the worldwide Latter-day Saint community. Finally, I talk about how local Central American Latter-day Saints (specifically the Latter-day Saints of San Miguel, El Salvador) worked to preserve their prized religious community and identity when violent civil war broke out

Development of a Portable Bird Detection Radar for Airports

The development of a prototype portable bird detection radar for airports and airfields will be presented. This prototype radar is currently being developed under a partnership between the U.S. Air Force and the FAA, and is being funded under the U.S. Air Force Dual Use Science and Technology (DUST) program. Overview of the program will be given, and detailed specifications of the radar unit, and planned tests at a commercial airport will be presented. Future Plans for an integration of this type of radar into a real-time airport bird strike advisory system will be presented as well