Making Meaning with Friends: Exploring the Function, Direction and Tone of Small Group Discussions of Literature in Elementary School Classrooms

The merits of decentralized small groups has been questioned in literature and by practicing teachers; thus this study shows the academic and identity work children do as they attempt to make meaning in these spaces.This study explores the affordances and drawbacks of decentralized small group discussion contexts in a multiage (3rd/ 4th) grade classroom. Practical and theoretical implications from the data suggest that decentralized small groups are valuable in a variety of ways, but children need to be guided in developing effective interactional styles. Data were analyzed using a combination of constant comparative methods and a micro analysis of talk drawing on traditions of sociolinguistics

Jeremiah's conception of God

Typewritten sheets in cover. Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University Bibliography: 4 p. at end

Cross contextual meaning making : a study of children's talk within and across literacy contexts in one multiage classroom

textIn this embedded case study, I examined and documented discussions of literature across two literacy contexts within one multiage classroom. Further, I explored the experiences of four focal students within and across the two contexts, highlighting the affordances of each space and considering the implications of tacit rules of participation for individual students. I employed ethnographic data collection methods including field notes, audio and video recordings, semi-structured interviews, and student and teacher created artifacts. Data analysis drew on constant comparative methods as well as traditions of interactive sociolinguistics. Drawing on sociocultural theories of learning and transactional theories of reading response, the study demonstrates the ways in which talk is used as a tool for meaning-making tasks including comprehension, argumentation, and identity construction. The study highlights the purposeful and strategic instructional moves made by the classroom teachers in discussion that facilitated more complete and complex interpretations of texts. The cases of the focal students illustrate the affordances of each context as well as demonstrating the ways in which responses to literature might be leveraged to claim identity positions within the classroom. The study cultivates deeper understanding about the importance of individual contributions within discussion contexts, as well as demonstrating the ways in which children and teachers mediate meaning making in collaborative contexts. The findings suggest implications for the ways in which educators might support and draw on individual approaches to response to facilitate divergent meaning making and expansion of repertoires of response for students. In addition, the study suggests implications for the careful design and development of contexts in which children are granted interpretive authority and encouraged to engage in collaborative meaning-making.Curriculum and Instructio

History of the Scandinavian settlement in Lincoln County, Kansas

This study is a history of the establishment and development of the Scandinavian settlement in Lincoln County, Kansas. This settlement is one of many such groups in Kansas, but no history of this group has been written. The causes for the migration to America, the reasons for the selection of Kansas, and the social, cultural, economic, and religious development of the group are interesting and have been emphasized in this study. While all the Scandinavian nationalities are represented in the settlement, particular attention is given to the Danish group, as their settlement was dominated to some extent by the religious motive, which has influenced social and cultural development of the community. The period of the greatest growth and development was during the first three decades of the settlement\u27s history. For this reason emphasis has been placed on this period in this thesis. The history of this period is interesting because it was the pioneer period of the settlement, and the story of the settlers\u27 struggle with frontier conditions is an inspiring one. The recent history of the group is typical of that of any agricultural community in Kansas. The State Census records and the Patent Records for homestead claims were important sources of primary material. Since more than ninety per cent of the settlers homesteaded land, the patent records of land claims furnished important information regarding names of settlers, dates of the filing of claims, and the location of claims. As the county archives were destroyed when the courthouse burned in 1898, school statistics and deed records which would have furnished valuable material were not available. Other sources of primary material were interviews with and letters from the original settlers or the children of the founders. Contemporary newspapers furnished valuable material on the educational and social development of the settlement

Brand origin and consumers' pereceptions of apparel product attributes relating to quality

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on December 18, 2009).Thesis advisor: Dr. Jung Ha-Brookshire.IM.S. University of Missouri--Columbia 2009.This study examined the influence of perceived brand origin on United States consumers' perceptions of apparel product attributes related to quality. This study particularly focused on brand origin as a potential cue that consumers use to evaluate the quality of apparel products from three countries: United States, China and Italy. A literature Review was provided to show the link and evolution of country of origin literature and brand origin. The Associative Network Memory theory provided the theoretical framework for understanding why consumers use secondary cues such as brand origin information when forming their opinions and purchasing products. The results of this study concluded that consumers rated Italian brand the highest in quality, United States brands where rated second highest in quality and Chinese brands where rated the lowest in quality. Results also indicated that the more educated and the longer a consumer lived in the United States the more a consumer thinks about the brand origin of a product. Finally, this study's results also indicated that a consumers' age, gender, income, ethnicity and ethnocentrism did not affect their perceptions of apparel product quality based on brand origin. This study showed that brand origin perceptions do play a large role when consumers' are making inferences about the quality of an apparel item.Includes bibliographical references

Getting Dressed with Hip Precautions

This patient education handout shares tips on getting dressed with hip precautions

Lanthanide-Based Probes for Oxidative Stress

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. June 2014. Major: Chemistry. Advisor: Valerie Pierre. 1 computer file (PDF); xxiii, 141 pages.Oxidative stress, or the imbalance of reactive oxidative species and antioxidants, is implicated in a wide variety of physiological functions and diseases. Currently, little is known about the biological concentrations and the exact roles of individual species. In particular, the cellular concentration of hydroxyl radical and the etiology of this reactive oxygen species in disease states are unclear. The photophysical properties of luminescent lanthanide-based imaging agents and the magnetic properties of fluorinated contrast agents make them favorable candidates to monitor oxidative species in biological environments. Luminescent lanthanide-based probes for hydroxyl radical are presented. These probes utilize aromatic acid pre-antennas that sensitize terbium emission upon hydroxylation. The ability of hydroxylated and non-hydroxylated aromatic acids including benzoate, benzamide, isophthalate, isophthalamide, trimesate, and trimesamide to sensitize Tb DO3A was evaluated by time-delayed luminescence spectroscopy. The formation of a weak ternary complex between hydroxytrimeasamide and Tb-DO3A was confirmed by temperature-dependent titrations. The luminescence response of the bimolecular Tb DO3A and trimesamide probe to hydroxyl radical generated by the photolysis of hydrogen peroxide was investigated. The system exhibits excellent selectivity for hydroxyl radical over other biologically relevant reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. Next, fluorinated magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents responsive to hydroxyl radical are described. The 3,5-difluorobenzoic acid probe is water soluble and ratiometrically responds to hydroxyl radical. Upon hydroxylation, a fluoride ion is released. The relative signal intensity of the product and that of the unreacted contrast agent can then be used to monitor the analyte in a ratiometric manner by 19F NMR and 19F MRI. The selectivity of the system towards hydroxyl radical compared to other reactive oxygen and nitrogen species is also measured. Paramagnetic, lanthanide-based contrast agents incorporating the sensing moiety are also evaluated for increased sensitivity of detection compared to the diamagnetic analogs. Additionally, a family of lanthanide-based luminescent complexes based on a macrocyclic core featuring different sensitizing antennas and variable pendant arms are investigated in terms of their biological compatibility. The cellular uptake of Tb-DOTA complexes containing hydroxyisophthalamide (IAM), methoxyisophthalamide (IAM(OMe)), or phenathridine (Phen) antenna were comparable despite their differences in hydrophobicity. The luminescence quenching of Tb-DOTA-IAM(OMe) was also investigated in cell lysate by time-delayed spectroscopy. Pendant arms varying in hydrophobicity and charge were used to evaluate the effect of structural and electronic properties on cellular viability and cell association as measured by a MTT assay and ICP-MS, respectively. Regardless of the amide substituents, complexes based on Tb-DOTAm-IAM(OMe) core exhibited low cytotoxicity and low cellular association. Thus, complexes based on this platform are well-suited for the detection of extracellular analytes

Cognition and apathy in normal pressure hydrocephalus

Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is characterised by a build-up of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain despite apparently normal CSF pressure at lumbar puncture. In addition to movement and urinary symptoms, patients commonly display cognitive decline and apathy. NPH is recognised as an important cause of cognitive decline as it is thought be reversible with surgical CSF diversion (e.g. shunt surgery). However, this remains controversial and the neuropsychology of NPH is relatively poorly understood. Further, despite being the most commonly reported neuropsychiatric symptom in NPH, the significance of the symptom of apathy has not yet been elucidated. This thesis aims to expand on the neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric research in NPH, with the main objectives being to investigate neuropsychological outcome, and the significance of the symptom of apathy in NPH. In order to investigate neuropsychological outcome following shunt surgery in NPH, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted (Chapter 2). The findings from studies which used a battery of neuropsychological tests to assess cognitive outcome in NPH were combined. Meta-analyses were conducted on pre-operative and difference scores for the most commonly used neuropsychological tests. These were seven tests which spanned global cognitive function, learning and memory, executive function and psychomotor speed. Results for all tests were significant in the direction of improvement. However, the significance of the results for two measures of executive function were deemed not to be robust. This is discussed in line with previous research which suggests that executive function may be less likely to improve following shunt surgery than other neuropsychological domains. Next, the thesis focuses on the symptom of apathy. Chapter 3 investigated whether apathy in NPH relates to cognitive outcome and to a measure of ventricular enlargement. A reduction in apathetic symptoms following treatment was associated with better performance in a measure of global cognitive function. Further, larger ventricles (which may indicate greater disease severity/ brain damage) was associated with more severe apathy. A structural MRI study was then conducted to expand on these findings and to define brain structural correlates of apathy in NPH (Chapter 4). Results from this study suggested a potential role of the caudate nuclei in apathetic symptoms in NPH. Finally, consideration is given to the assessment of apathy in NPH. Since apathy is rarely investigated in patients with NPH it is unclear which assessment method is most appropriate for this patient group. Chapter 5 presents findings from a feasibility study of a novel reward learning task to determine whether it might be useful as an objective measure of motivation and apathy in NPH