Library Instruction and Themed Composition Courses: An Investigation of Factors that Impact Student Learning

Many academic libraries partner with English composition in order to teach first year students skills related to academic research and writing. Due to the partnership between information literacy and first-year writing programs, it is important to evaluate how these programs can best support one another. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of two factors on student information literacy skill development: library instruction and section theme—defined here as class sections of the English 102 (ENG 102) program developed around a central topic selected by the instructor. A random sample of annotated bibliographies from 95 sections of ENG 102 were scored with two information literacy rubrics in order to find out if scores differed between sections based on the variables of library instruction and theme. The results of this study indicate that sections of the ENG 102 program that attended an information literacy instruction session scored significantly higher on the annotated bibliography assignment than sections that did not attend. We also found that themed sections of ENG 102 scored marginally higher on the annotated bibliography than non-themed sections of ENG 102. Implications for further research are discussed, including the potential impact of theme-based writing on information literacy learning

Dietary adequacy of homemakers participating in Extension\u27s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program in selected Tennessee counties, 1971

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between adequacy of homemakers\u27 diets and selected personal and family characteristics. The study was also designed to determine improvement in homemakers\u27 diets from initial to latest 24-hour food recall. The population of the study included all homemakers participating in the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program from the 10 origi-nal program counties in Tennessee who had been in the program for at least six months. The sample included 397 participant families, which represented a 5 percent random sample from each of the 10 original program counties. The 18 independent variables considered in this study were grouped under three headings: (1) personal homemaker characteristics, (2) family characteristics, and (3) factors associated with assistance to families. The dependent variable was adequacy of homemakers\u27 diets in each of the four major food groups. A contingency table analysis program was used to determine the relation between adequacy of homemakers\u27 diets for each food group and the independent variables. Chi-square statistical analysis was used to determine significance of relations between dependent and independent variables. These computations were done by the University of Tennessee Computing Center. The other statistic used in this study was the t-test. This was used to determine if there had been a statistically significant improvement from initial to latest 2A-hour food recall in the proportion of homemakers with adequate servings from each of the four major food groups. Major findings of this study were: 1. There were very significant increases from initial to latest 24-hour food recall in the proportion of homemakers with adequate diets, except for the meat group. Lower percents of homemakers in the study had adequate diets of milk and vegetables and fruits, than of meats and breads and cereals. 2. Young homemakers (under 25 years of age) had significantly less adequate servings of milk when they entered the program than other homemakers. 3. After being in the program for at least six months, younger homemakers had significantly more adequate intakes of meat than older ones. 4. Place of residence influenced the adequacy of homemakers\u27 diets. Where significant differences existed, farm families had the highest percent of homemakers with adequate diets and urban families had the lowest percent with adequate diets. 5. Whether or not a family had a home garden influenced the dietary adequacy of the homemakers. Where significant differences existed, families who had home gardens tended to have more adequate diets than those families who did not have gardens. 6. Whether a family rented or owned their home influenced the adequacy of homemakers\u27 diets. Where significant differences existed. homemakers from families who rented their homes tended to have less adequate diets, than those who owned their homes. 7. According to the income groupings used in this study, homemakers from families whose yearly income was $3,000 or more ini-tially had a significantly more adequate diet of breads and cereals, than those with incomes of less than$3,000. 8. Ethnic background influenced the adequacy of homemakers\u27 diets. In all food groups where significant differences existed, except for the meat group, white homemakers tended to have more adequate diets than black homemakers. 9. According to the family size groupings used in this study, homemakers with six or more members in their families had the highest and those who lived alone had the lowest percents of homemakers with adequate servings of breads and cereals. 10. Whether or not there were family members over 6A years of age present in the household influenced the adequacy of milk intake. Homemakers from families with members over 64 years of age initially had significantly more adequate milk diets than those families who did not have elderly family members. 11. Whether or not a male adult was present in a household with dependent children influenced the milk intake. There initially were significantly poorer milk diets among those homemakers from families where no adult male was present. 12. Whether or not a family was on welfare influenced the dietary adequacy of the homemakers. In all food groups where significant differences existed, homemakers from welfare families tended to have less adequate diets, than those from nonwelfare families. 13. Whether donated foods or food stamps were available in a county influenced the dietary adequacy of the homemakers in certain food groups. Where the donated food program was available, homemakers initially had significantly more adequate intakes of breads and cereals, than those where the food stamps were available. On the other hand, the latter had more adequate servings of meat on the final recall. 14. Whether a family had been assisted by one or more than one program assistant influenced dietary adequacy. Homemakers who had worked with only one program assistant had a significantly more adequate intake of vegetables and fruits on the last recall than did those whose families had worked with more than one program assistant. 15. Adequacy of homemakers\u27 diets was not significantly related to years of school completed by the homemaker, level of living index score, number of dependent children, change in families\u27 monthly incomes, and recorded time in the program. Implications of findings, recommendations for use of findings, and recommendations for further study also were made

Dimension-breaking for Traveling Waves in Interfacial Flows

Fluid flow models in two spatial dimensions with a one-dimensional interface are known to support overturned traveling solutions. Computational methods of solving the two-dimensional problem are well developed, even in the case of overturned waves. The three-dimensional problem is harder for three prominent reasons. First, some formulations of the two-dimensional problem do not extend to three-dimensions. The technique of conformal mapping is a prime example, as it is very efficient in two dimensions but does not have a three-dimensional equivalent. Second, some three-dimensional models, such as the Transformed Field Expansion method, do not allow for overturned waves. Third, computational time can increase by more than an order of magnitude. For example, the Birkhoff-Rott integral has a cost of O(N2) in two-dimensions but O(N4M2) in three-dimensions, where N is the number of discretized points in the lateral directions and M is the number of truncated summation terms. This study seeks to bridge the gap between efficient two-dimensional numerical solvers and more computationally expensive three-dimensional solvers. The dissertation does so by developing a dimension-breaking continuation method, which is not limited to solving interfacial wave models. The method involves three steps: first, conduct N-dimensional continuation to large amplitude; second, extend the solution trivially to a (N+1)-dimensional solution and solve the linearization; and third, use the linearization to begin (N+1)-dimensional continuation. This method is successfully applied to Kadomtsev-Petviashvili and Akers-Milewski interfacial models and then in a reduced Vortex Sheet interfacial formulation. In doing so, accurate search directions are calculated for use in higher-dimension quasi-Newton solvers

The Development of Novel Electron Transfer Initiated Cyclization (ETIC) Reactions: Discovery of the Diastereoselective ETIC Reaction and Its Application toward the Total Synthesis of Leucascandrolide A

The electron transfer initiated cyclization (ETIC) reaction has been shown to provide the efficient formation of cyclic acetals through the selective activation of carbon-carbon [sigma]-bonds. A simple arithmetical equation has been used to design new substrates with enhanced chemoselectivity and reactivity. The ability to design new cyclization substrates has expanded the scope of the ETIC reaction by providing access to more diverse products. Lowering the oxidation potential of the ETIC substrates led to the development of a ground state chemical-mediated protocol. This also allowed for the incorportation of electron rich olefins as carbon-centered nucleophiles. Substrates which undergo endo-cyclizations have shown excellent levels of stereocontrol in the synthesis of syn-2,6-dialkyl tetrahydropyranones, which are useful building blocks in natural product synthesis.A highly stereoselective sequence has been developed for the synthesis of leucascandrolide A with the key transformation utilizing the diastereoselective endo-ETIC reaction. The homopropargylic ether required for installation of the enol acetate was obtained through the stereoselective opening of a cyclic acetal with allenyltributyltin in the presence of a Lewis acid. A metal mediated addition of acetic acid to the alkyne provided the homobenzylic ether with a suitably tethered enol acetate. The enol acetate was then subjected to the chemical mediated ETIC conditions to afford the desired syn-2,6-tetrahydropyranone as a single diastereomer

Enantioselective Ruthenium-Catalyzed Ring-Closing Metathesis

The first enantioselective ruthenium olefin metathesis catalysts have been prepared, and high enantiomeric excesses (up to 90%) are observed in the desymmetrization of achiral trienes. A model consistent with the stereochemical outcome of the reactions is described and suggests side-on olefin binding and reorganization of the halide ligands

Credit-card and check-credit plans at commercial banks

Credit cards ; Checks

Word service for grades one through six

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit