Diversity in the Media

Research has shown that a lack of diversity exists in the media, particularly regarding how two vulnerable populations, women and people of color, are portrayed. For example, usually only very thin women are portrayed, and people of color are misrepresented, perpetuating negative stereotypes. This study seeks to determine whether a sample of college students from Valparaiso University recognize the lack of diversity in the media and would like it changed. Through this study, society may become more aware of the lack of diversity in the media. This study may also encourage further research into how equal representation in the media can be achieved

The Use of Children\u27s Literature in Improving the Secondary Remedial Reader\u27s Attitude toward and Fluency in Reading

A six week course in children\u27s literature was taught to ten alternative tenth through twelfth grade students. The purposes were to determine if the secondary student\u27s attitude toward and fluency in reading were improved by working in easy and pleasurable material. The Estes Attitude Scale and an informal reading inventory were administered to the students at the start and end of the course. No statistically significant difference was found in the attitude scale, but reading fluency increased significantly

The Web as an Adaptive Network: Coevolution of Web Behavior and Web Structure

Much is known about the complex network structure of the Web, and about behavioral dynamics on the Web. A number of studies address how behaviors on the Web are affected by different network topologies, whilst others address how the behavior of users on the Web alters network topology. These represent complementary directions of influence, but they are generally not combined within any one study. In network science, the study of the coupled interaction between topology and behavior, or state-topology coevolution, is known as 'adaptive networks', and is a rapidly developing area of research. In this paper, we review the case for considering the Web as an adaptive network and several examples of state-topology coevolution on the Web. We also review some abstract results from recent literature in adaptive networks and discuss their implications for Web Science. We conclude that adaptive networks provide a formal framework for characterizing processes acting 'on' and 'of' the Web, and offers potential for identifying general organizing principles that seem otherwise illusive in Web Scienc

Synthesis of an aryl phosphonate via the anionic phospho-fries rearrangement : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Chemistry at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Zearalenone (1) is a mycotoxin, which reduces fertility in sheep and leads to substantial production losses in New Zealand. Catalytic antibodies are proposed as a potential approach to reducing the problem. This thesis describes progress toward the synthesis of the aromatic fragment of a transition-state analogue for the hydrolysis of the zearalenone lactone. The key step in the synthesis is an anionic phospho-Fries rearrangement; this relatively novel transformation is reviewed. α-Resorcylic acid (36) was converted to three different substrates, each with potential to undergo the O→C transfer of the dimethylphosphoryl moiety. Methyl 3-dimethylphosphato-5-[[(1,1- dimethylethyl)dimethylsilyl]oxy]benzoate (117) was prepared in three steps and 40% overall yield, but the tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) protecting group was found to be unstable to phenolate anions. (2-Bromo-3,5-dibenzyloxyphenyl)-1,3-dioxolane (154) was prepared but further elaboration required hydrogenolytic cleavage of the benzyl ethers which was incompatible with the Ar-Br linkage. Finally, Ethyl 3- dimethylphosphate-5-(p-methoxybenzoxy)benzoate (167) was prepared in three steps and 25% overall yield. Treatment with LDA at -78 °C led to the formation of 166, rather than the desired regioisomer 165, as a result of lithium preferentially coordinating to the phosphoryl and OPMB groups

Edward I in Scotland: 1296-1305

This thesis sets out to investigate the activities of Edward I and his officials in Scotland during the period from the conquest of 1296 up until the settlement of September/October 1305. To this end, the administration established by the English king in 1296 is discussed to provide a starting-point from which to assess the events of the following decade. Following the renewal of the war in 1297, the investigation centres primarily on the activities of the English garrisons in Scotland in order to establish where, and to what extent, Edward could describe himself as ruler of Scotland. The campaigns of 1297, 1298, 1300, 1301 and 1303-4 form a necessary part of that investigation as the English sought to expand and consolidate their hold in south-west Scotland particularly. As a complement to the above, the administration of Scotland outwith English control - for which there is very little direct evidence - is also considered, as is the role of the fleet, vital to the survival of Edward's garrisons. The role of these garrisons - which defined the limit and extent of the English administration - is of such importance that an account is then given of the history of each castle held for Edward, however briefly. The final section of the thesis describes Edward's second settlement of Scotland. Between the submission of the Guardian in February 1304 and the ordinances of September 1305, the king devoted much time and energy to his Scottish subjects: a large number of disputes resulting from the war, largely concerned with lands and property, required to be decided and a new administrative system palatable both to Edward and the Scottish nobility to be worked out. This activity thus reflects the problems of the previous decade and the lessons learned from them

Artists' books

A group exhibition, organised and selected by the curator of the Riverside gallery, Mark DeNovellis. To coincide with the annual literature festival, this exhibition showcased contemporary artists' books – artwork in book form – from unique examples to limited edition works

Divorce: A matter of rights and responsibilities

In 1970, American society, steeped in a culture that emphasizes individual rights, turned away from traditional fault-based divorce laws to embrace the easy, unilateral no-fault divorce laws in place today---divorce laws that have had unexpected and disastrous economic consequences for the children of divorce. During the 1990s, many political and social groups advocated divorce reform that would return divorce law to a more traditional, fault-based system; however, no significant revisions to the no-fault laws were passed, arguably because our cultural norms will not support a return to fault-based divorce. Recognizing the underlying political and ethical theories that have shaped our culture, and turning the focus away from one of limiting divorce to one of improving the circumstances of children of divorce may be the first steps in creating national-level public policy that can positively impact the worst outcomes of divorce while presenting the best chance of passage into law

Changing primary science education by identifying, representing, and analysing variation in data-based observations from integrated STEM activities

Making observations to describe natural phenomena is an emphasis of primary science education. In the early years of schooling, those observations are often qualitative and seldom used to make decisions. There is, however, the potential to add value to the established curriculum by providing young students the opportunity to record data-based observations as part of a science inquiry. Such an approach set within integrated STEM contexts supports students to gather empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. This presentation will provide examples from a research project entitled, Modelling with Data: Advancing STEM in the Primary Curriculum, that illustrate the potential for learning about science topics explored through data-based inquiries to foster outcomes in the relevant STEM disciplines across the primary years of schooling. Science topics include the manufacture of machine-made versus hand-made products, the transfer of heat, the application of force, the dispersal of seeds, the viscosity of liquids, and the growth of plants (Fitzallen & Watson, 2020). Common to all activities was the implementation of the Practice of Statistics (Watson et al., 2018) as the mathematics component of STEM, which involved a statistical inquiry cycle of: Formulate question/s, Collect data, Analyse data, and Interpret results (Franklin et al., 2007). Embedded within the inquiry process was the gathering of variable data related to the questions posed, representation of data in ways that account for trends within the variability seen, and interpretation of the data that accounted for the variability seen. Also, central to many of the activities was student use of the exploratory data analysis software, TinkerPlotsTM (Watson & Fitzallen, 2016), which served to scaffold student learning outcomes. REFERENCES Fitzallen, N., & Watson, J. (2020). Using the practice of statistics to design students’ experiences in STEM education. In B. Shelley, K. te Riele, N. Brown, & T. Crellin (Eds.), Harnessing the transformative power of education (pp. 74–99). Koninklijke Brill. Franklin, C., Kader, G., Mewborn, D., Moreno, J., Peck, R., Perry, M., & Scheaffer, R. (2007). Guidelines for assessment and instruction in statistics education (GAISE) report: A pre-K–12 curriculum framework. American Statistical Association. https://www.amstat.org/docs/default-source/amstat-documents/gaiseprek-12_full.pdf Watson, J., & Fitzallen, N. (2016). Statistical software and mathematics education: Affordances for learning. In L. English & D. Kirshner (Eds.), Handbook of international research in mathematics education (3rd ed., pp. 563–594). Taylor and Francis. Watson, J., Fitzallen, N., Fielding-Wells, J., & Madden, S. (2018). The practice of statistics. In D. Ben-Zvi, K. Makar, & J. Garfield (Eds.), International handbook of research in statistics education (pp. 105–137). Springer

Confronting expectation in grade 4: tossing two coins

This study focuses on the experiences of 91 grade 4 students who had been introduced to expectation and variation through trials of tossing a single coin many times. They were then given two coins to toss simultaneously and asked to state their expectation of the chances for the possible outcomes, in a similar manner expressed for a single coin. This paper documents the journey of the students in discovering that generally their initial expectation for two coins was incorrect and that despite variation, a large number of tosses could confirm a new expectation

The Coldest Spot in the World

It's in a vacuum tube in the low-temperature physics laboratory