"What an Absurd Fellow You Are, Eugene!": A Kierkegaardian Reading of Our Mutual Friend

Writing Center Essay Award, 1st Place

Exercises in Form

Arbuckle 1st Plac

Inheritance of Dorsal Fin Coloration in the Metriaclima Species Complex (Teleostei: Cichlidae) of Lake Malawi

The rock-dwelling cichlids (mbuna) of Lake Malawi have undergone an explosive evolution, giving rise to an assemblage of 300-500 species within the last one million years. Most widespread mbuna \u27species\u27 are characterized by the presence of local endemic populations, differing primarily in coloration and often of uncertain taxonomic rank. The recency and rapidity of speciation within the mbuna have led to difficulties in reconstructing an accurate species-level phylogeny, in turn limiting our ability to elucidate the evolutionary dynamics associated with divergence of coloration and other characters. Based on morphometric and meristic characters, Stauffer et al. (1997) erected a new genus along with ten new species. Here we use classical Mendelian analyses to investigate the inheritance and evolution of red dorsal fin coloration in Metriaclima thapsinogen and M. emmiltos, phenotypically similar taxa endemic to habitats separated by at least 350 km. Multiple crosses involving single males and four to five females were established in the laboratory. Crosses resulted in five F, broods and four F2 broods hybrid progeny (15-25 fry each), in addition to broods from control crosses. F, and F2 hybrid individuals were assessed for dorsal fin coloration while parental and F, hybrid individuals were evaluated, additionally, for eight meristic characters. Phenetic relationships among geographically similar morphs were assessed and compared to Stauffer et al. (1997) findings. Upon maturity, all hybrids showed red dorsal fin coloration. None of the eight meristic variables showed significant differences in means among parental, F, and control hybrid groups. Two meristic variables displayed significant fluctuating asymmetry in F, hybrids relative to parental and control groups, but this degree of asymmetry was less than predicted under a null model. UPGMA clustering resulted in M. thapsinogen and M. emmiltos grouping closer together than geographically proximate M. zebra. These data suggest the genetic basis for red dorsal fin coloration is allelic between M. thapsinogen and M. emmiltos, and are consistent with their evolution from a common red dorsal ancestor followed by lakewide dispersal. Alternative scenarios, including the existence of color and regulatory loci in each population and differential expression of a set of ancestral color polymorphisms are consistent with our findings

Pipelines to Leadership: Aspirations of Executive-Level Community College Leaders to Ascend to the Presidency

One of the challenges facing community colleges in the United States is the looming retirements of executive/senior-level leadership, particularly the president, on a wide scale. This study explored the career aspirations of executive-level leaders within the community college using Social Cognitive Career Theory as the conceptual framework. Within the context of a three-person collaborative dissertation project, a mixed methods case study approach was utilized for the research design. It first examined the perceived and preferred organizational culture(s) by administering the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI). Building upon results of the OCAI, interviews with executive-level leaders explored how personal and institutional factors impact their aspirations of to ascend to the community college presidency. The findings of the research indicate that affecting change, being asked, and the desire to help are personal factors of influence that motivate executive-level leaders to seek the role of community college president. On the other hand, age, family, and potential work-life imbalance might dissuade executive-level leaders from seeking this role. The study reveals that organizational culture (the “culture of caring”) and leadership development are positive factors of institutional influence. Institutional factors that dissuade executive-level leaders from seeking the community college presidency are politics, the state of the institution being led, and the unknown. This study advances the field of educational leadership in that a number of personal and institutional factors are adduced that influence the aspirations of executive-level leaders to progress to the community college presidency. The findings identify the need for research across multiple institutions and the need to expand Social Cognitive Career Theory to include personal-cognitive barriers of race and gender

"What an Absurd Fellow You Are, Eugene!": A Kierkegaardian Reading of Our Mutual Friend

Writing Center Essay Award, 1st Place

Junior Faculty Perceptions of their Doctoral Level Teaching Preparation: A Cross Disciplinary Examination

It seems reasonable to assume that the realization of the doctoral degree denotes that one is proficient in college teaching. However, the literature indicates that doctoral programs are failing to adequately prepare doctoral students for teaching in collegiate settings. The seminal work on doctoral student experiences suggests that doctoral programs are adequately preparing doctoral students for their research function, but concerns emerge around teacher preparation. Four bodies of literature inform this study: (a) the literature on the teaching role in higher education (b) the literature on doctoral students’ experiences as it relates to their teaching preparation (c) the literature on new faculty socialization (d) and the literature on the nature of academic disciplines and their differences as it relates to faculty work. The study fills a gap in the literature by examining junior faculty perceptions of their doctoral level teaching-related preparation by taking a cross disciplinary approach of eight disciplines (four high consensus and four low consensus). The omnibus question this study seeks to address is whether or not there are discipline differences in junior faculty perceptions of their doctoral level preparation for college teaching. The study employed a quantitative approach in collecting data using a survey design. The sample for the study was delimited to junior faculty in political science, sociology, psychology, economics, physics, chemistry, biology and geology from the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Four-Year 1 institutions. An instrument developed by Hall (2007) which measures counselor educators’ perception of their doctoral level teaching preparation was modified for the purpose of data collection. Contact information for junior faculty in selected disciplines was collected from SREB Four-Year 1 institutions. Findings reveal an anti-teaching culture embedded within research institutions and also significant discipline differences in overall perceptions of doctoral level teaching preparation. The findings of this study provide higher education leaders and faculty with empirical results which could inform the training of doctoral students for their college teaching role

The Relationship between Self-Directed Learning and Information Literacy among Adult Learners in Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-directed learning and information literacy. Participants completed the Personal Orientation in Self-Directed Learning Scale ([PRO-SDLS], Stockdale, 2003) and the Information Literacy Test ([ILT], James Madison University, 2003). The PRO-SDLS is a self-report scale consisting of 25 statements about self-directed learning preferences in college classrooms. The ILT is a 60-item multiple-choice test that assesses the information literacy skills of college students. Correlation, ANOVA, and multiple regressions were used to test relationships and differences between self-directed learning and information literacy. Despite claims that teaching information literacy creates self-directed learners, composite scores on the PRO-SDLS and the ILT indicated no statistically significant relationship exists. Likewise, no statistically significant differences were found between the bachelors, masters, or doctoral level participant scores. While composite scores on the PRO-SDLS did not predict scores on the ILT, there was a negative, statistically significant relationship between the Initiative factor on the PRO-SDLS and ACRL (2000) Information Literacy Competency Standard 5 – Ethics & Understanding sub-scale of the ILT. Implications for practice and suggestions for further research are proposed along with discussions and conclusions

Using the Concrete-Representational-Abstract Sequence to Connect Manipulatives, Problem Solving Schemas, and Equations in Word Problems with Fractions

Students with learning disabilities or learning difficulties in mathematics often have difficulties solving word problems with fractions. These difficulties limit students\u27 abilities to solve everyday math problems and develop the skills necessary for higher level mathematics. Prior research on problem solving indicates that direct instruction on problem schemas can improve problem solving performance. Previous research also suggests that instruction using the concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) sequence and instruction with virtual manipulatives can enhance understanding of mathematical concepts. However, a CRA sequence that incorporates virtual manipulatives has not been combined with schema-based instruction to help students solve word problems with fractions. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using an intervention that combined the CRA sequence with virtual manipulatives and schema-based instruction to improve the problem solving performance of students with learning disabilities or learning problems in mathematics on word problems with fractions. This sequence of instruction was combined with a mnemonic strategy called the LISTS strategy to help students remember the steps in the problem solving sequence. Using a single-case multiple baseline across participants design, the researcher provided an intervention to five students in the fifth grade that included instruction in three problem schemas for addition and subtraction (change, compare, and group). Results indicated that all students made some gains in performance on problems similar to those presented during the intervention, but the three students who were able to make connections between problem schemas and equations demonstrated significant gains in performance. The concrete models and virtual models used in the CRA sequence enhanced understanding of fraction word problems for some, but not all, students. Additionally, analysis of student performance on pre- and post-tests of problems with novel features indicated that students made only small gains in performance on fraction word problems that included difficult vocabulary, irrelevant information, or information that required different conceptualizations than those presented during the intervention