Rural Students’ Sense of Belonging at a Large Public University

This qualitative case study explored how undergraduate students from rural areas experience higher education environments and develop a sense of belonging at a large Midwestern public university. This study defined rural considering students’ hometown population size and density as well as each individual participant’s constructed reality of a rural identity (Crockett, Shanahan, & Jackson-Newsom, 2000). The following questions guided this study: (1) How does students’ identification with their rural background influence how they experience their college environment? (2) What do rural students see as key environmental factors affecting their sense of belonging? (3) Is the institution providing supportive environments for rural students and if so, how? Participants included 8 undergraduate rural students and 3 university administrators, all attending or associated with the institution identified as the instrumental case. Multiple data sources were collected at the institutional level and at the individual rural student level. Institutional level data included administrator responses, online public documents, and school newspaper articles. Individual level data incorporated a demographic questionnaire and two individual interviews utilizing artifact elicitation with each of the 8 rural student participants. Data analysis and interpretation was aided by a conceptual model that included Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) ecological theory of human development, Strange and Banning’s (2015) four models of educational environments, and Strayhorn’s (2012) sense of belonging. Inductive and systematic first and second cycle coding with triangulation resulted in the emergence of three patterns regarding the intersection of rural life identity and college belonging: (1) rural students alienated by rural life embraced college life, (2) rural students that strongly identified with rural life were challenged to belong in college, (3) some students could identify with rural life and experience both positive and negative implications for belonging in college. Interpretation of the findings indicated the importance of rural students’ individual alienation or identification with rural life, subsequent congruence with the educational environment, and their ability to replace support structures from their rural community with new sub-communities in college, as being highly influential to their sense of belonging in college. Based on these findings, this study suggests implications for theory, practice, and research. Advisor: Elizabeth Kathleen Niehau

An experimental and analytical study of visual detection in a spacecraft environment, 1 July 1968 - 1 July 1969

Predicting star magnitude which can be seen with naked eye or sextant through spacecraft windo

Emittance measurement study

Directional spectral emittance of black body cavitie

Students on the Edge: Evaluating an Academic Support Group

This qualitative case study evaluated the effectiveness of the Academic Skills Discussion Group, a new retention intervention targeting undergraduate students on academic probation. This intervention utilized a support group structure to provide social and academic supports to academically-poor students. These supports incorporated didactic educational presentations and interpersonal discussions relating to life change and college expectations. The case comprised one pilot administration of the intervention for three student group members. Data was collected from pre/post-intervention resiliency surveys, grade point average comparisons, journal-entry analysis and semi-structured exit interviews. The researcher conducted inductive data analysis by coding participant statements for meaning, calculating and comparing survey results, and triangulating findings. Analysis provided case descriptions and themes regarding how participating in the intervention influenced students’ resiliency, adjustment, and academic performance. Findings indicate that for most students, participation in the program coincided with improved academic performance and increased connectivity to the academic environment. Evaluative descriptions break down the recruitment strategy, examine benefits of participation and address future enhancements to the delivery of the intervention. Implications for higher education applications and future use of small group interventions are discussed

Vegetation Patterns in Relation to Topography and Edaphic Variation Nebraska Sandhills Prairie

Detailed studies on soil texture and moisture retention indicate a close association between edaphic features and the distribution and composition of plant communities along topographic gradients at Arapaho Prairie, a typical, semi-arid Nebraska Sandhills prairie. The vegetation characteristics of three major habitat types (ridge, slope, and valley) and several minor subtypes (swale, stable ridge, and eroding ridge) are recognized and quantitatively described. Texture analysis indicates that the soils of dune slopes and ridges are largely azonal and are very coarse with substantially lower fine fractions (silt-clay ~ 13-15%) than soils of the more lowland swale and valley sites where surfact silt-clay fractions can reach 20-25 %. Soil moisture contents at 0.1 bar (10-14% by volume) and 15 bars (3-4 %) are similarly lower for dune sands than the surface soils at the lowland sites (0.1 bar ~ 19-23% and 15 bars ~ 5-9%). These moisture characteristics result in potentially 50-100% more moisture stored in the surface lowland soils which is rapidly utilized by the shallow-rooted, drought-tolerant grasses Stipa comata, Agropyron smithii, and Bouteloua gracilis. Deeprooting grasses (Andropogon hallzi, Panicum virgatum, and Sorghastrum avenaceum), forbs (Helianthus rigidus and Petalostemon purpureum) and shrubs (Yucca glauca, Prunus besseyi, and Amorpha canescens) are more abundant on the coarse-textured dune sands where soil moisture is stored deep in the profile. On dune ridges Sorghastrum and Stipa appear to be mutually exclusive with their distributions closely related to small-scale variations in topographic relief and surface soil texture and moisture characteristics. For all vegetation types, gradient analysis of major grasses, forbs, and shrubs shows systematic replacement of individual species along topographic gradients which, in many cases, can be related to rooting morphology, physiological differences in water use, and spatial and temporal variation in soil moisture

Vegetation Patterns in Relation to Topography and Edaphic Variation Nebraska Sandhills Prairie

Detailed studies on soil texture and moisture retention indicate a close association between edaphic features and the distribution and composition of plant communities along topographic gradients at Arapaho Prairie, a typical, semi-arid Nebraska Sandhills prairie. The vegetation characteristics of three major habitat types (ridge, slope, and valley) and several minor subtypes (swale, stable ridge, and eroding ridge) are recognized and quantitatively described. Texture analysis indicates that the soils of dune slopes and ridges are largely azonal and are very coarse with substantially lower fine fractions (silt-clay ~ 13-15%) than soils of the more lowland swale and valley sites where surfact silt-clay fractions can reach 20-25 %. Soil moisture contents at 0.1 bar (10-14% by volume) and 15 bars (3-4 %) are similarly lower for dune sands than the surface soils at the lowland sites (0.1 bar ~ 19-23% and 15 bars ~ 5-9%). These moisture characteristics result in potentially 50-100% more moisture stored in the surface lowland soils which is rapidly utilized by the shallow-rooted, drought-tolerant grasses Stipa comata, Agropyron smithii, and Bouteloua gracilis. Deeprooting grasses (Andropogon hallzi, Panicum virgatum, and Sorghastrum avenaceum), forbs (Helianthus rigidus and Petalostemon purpureum) and shrubs (Yucca glauca, Prunus besseyi, and Amorpha canescens) are more abundant on the coarse-textured dune sands where soil moisture is stored deep in the profile. On dune ridges Sorghastrum and Stipa appear to be mutually exclusive with their distributions closely related to small-scale variations in topographic relief and surface soil texture and moisture characteristics. For all vegetation types, gradient analysis of major grasses, forbs, and shrubs shows systematic replacement of individual species along topographic gradients which, in many cases, can be related to rooting morphology, physiological differences in water use, and spatial and temporal variation in soil moisture

Point defect dynamics in bcc metals

We present an analysis of the time evolution of self-interstitial atom and vacancy (point defect) populations in pure bcc metals under constant irradiation flux conditions. Mean-field rate equations are developed in parallel to a kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) model. When only considering the elementary processes of defect production, defect migration, recombination and absorption at sinks, the kMC model and rate equations are shown to be equivalent and the time evolution of the point defect populations is analyzed using simple scaling arguments. We show that the typically large mismatch of the rates of interstitial and vacancy migration in bcc metals can lead to a vacancy population that grows as the square root of time. The vacancy cluster size distribution under both irreversible and reversible attachment can be described by a simple exponential function. We also consider the effect of highly mobile interstitial clusters and apply the model with parameters appropriate for vanadium and $\alpha-$iron.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev.

Observation of a New Type of Low Frequency Waves at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

We report on magnetic field measurements made in the innermost coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in its low activity state. Quasi-coherent, large-amplitude ($\delta B/B \sim 1$), compressional magnetic field oscillations at $\sim$ 40 mHz dominate the immediate plasma environment of the nucleus. This differs from previously studied comet-interaction regions where waves at the cometary ion gyro-frequencies are the main feature. Thus classical pick-up ion driven instabilities are unable to explain the observations. We propose a cross-field current instability associated with newborn cometary ion currents as a possible source mechanism.Comment: 6 pages, 3 Figure

Tuning a Circular p-n Junction in Graphene from Quantum Confinement to Optical Guiding

The motion of massless Dirac-electrons in graphene mimics the propagation of photons. This makes it possible to control the charge-carriers with components based on geometrical-optics and has led to proposals for an all-graphene electron-optics platform. An open question arising from the possibility of reducing the component-size to the nanometer-scale is how to access and understand the transition from optical-transport to quantum-confinement. Here we report on the realization of a circular p-n junction that can be continuously tuned from the nanometer-scale, where quantum effects are dominant, to the micrometer scale where optical-guiding takes over. We find that in the nanometer-scale junction electrons are trapped in states that resemble atomic-collapse at a supercritical charge. As the junction-size increases, the transition to optical-guiding is signaled by the emergence of whispering-gallery modes and Fabry-Perot interference. The creation of tunable junctions that straddle the crossover between quantum-confinement and optical-guiding, paves the way to novel design-architectures for controlling electronic transport.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure