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- Creator:
- Hoese, William
- Description:
- Background: Evolutionary trees illustrate relationships among taxa. Interpreting these relationships requires developing a set of “tree-thinking” skills that are typically included in introductory college biology courses. One of these skills is determining relationships among taxa using the most recent common ancestor, yet many students instead use one or more alternate strategies to determine relationships. Several alternate strategies have been well documented and these include using superficial similarity, proximity at the tips of a tree, or the fewest intervening nodes in the tree to group taxa. Results: We administered interviews (n = 16) and pencil-and-paper questionnaires (n = 205), and constructed a valid and reliable assessment that measured how well students determined relationships among taxa on an evolutionary tree. Our questions asked students to consider a focal taxon and identify which of two additional taxa is most closely related to it. We paired the use of most recent common ancestor with one of three alternative strategies (i.e., similarity, proximity, or node-counting) to explicitly test students’ understanding of the relationships among the taxa on each tree. Conclusions: Our assessment enables us to identify students who are effectively distracted by an alternative strategy, those who use the most recent common ancestor inconsistently, or who are guessing in order to determine relationships among taxa. Our 18-question tool (see Additional file 1) can be used for formative assessment of student understanding of how to interpret relationships on evolutionary trees. Because our assessment tests for the same skill throughout, students who answer incorrectly, even once, likely have an incomplete understanding of how to determine relationships on evolutionary trees and should receive follow-up instruction.
- Resource Type:
- Article
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Biological Sciences
- Creator:
- Turel, Ofir
- Description:
- This study examines a behavioral tripartite model developed in the field of addiction, and applies it here to understanding general and impulsive information technology use. It suggests that technology use is driven by two information-processing brain systems: reflective and impulsive, and that their effects on use are modulated by interoceptive awareness processes. The resultant reflective-impulsive-interoceptive awareness model is tested in two behavioral studies. Both studies employ SEM techniques to time-lagged self-report data from n1 = 300 and n2 = 369 social networking site users. Study 1 demonstrated that temptations augment the effect of habit on technology use, and reduce the effect of satisfaction on use. Study 2 showed that temptations strengthen the effect of habit on impulsive technology use, and weaken the effect of behavioral expectations on impulsive technology use. Hence, the results consistently support the notion that information technology users’ behaviors are influenced by reflective and impulsive information processing systems; and that the equilibrium of these systems is determined, at least in part, by one’s temptations. These results can serve as a basis for understanding the etiology of modern day addictions.
- Resource Type:
- Article
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Information Systems & Decision Sciences
53. Timing and rates of Holocene normal faulting along the Black Mountains fault zone, Death Valley, USA
- Creator:
- Knott, Jeffrey
- Description:
- Alluvial fans displaced by normal faults of the Black Mountains fault zone at Badwater and Mormon Point in Death Valley were mapped, surveyed, and dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and 10Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) methods. Applying TCN methods to Holocene geomorphic surfaces in Death Valley is challenging because sediment flux is slow and complex. However, OSL dating produces consistent surface ages, yielding ages for a regionally recognized surface (Qg3a) of 4.5 ± 1.2 ka at Badwater and 7.0 ± 1.0 ka at Mormon Point. Holocene faults offsetting Qg3a yield horizontal slip rates directed toward 323° of 0.8 +0.3/–0.2 mm/yr and 1.0 ± 0.2 mm/yr for Badwater and Mormon Point, respectively. These slip rates are slower than the ~2 mm/yr dextral slip rate of the southern end of the northern Death Valley fault zone and are half as fast as NNW-oriented horizontal rates documented for the Panamint Valley fault zone. This indicates that additional strain is transferred southwestward from northern Death Valley and Black Mountains fault zones onto the oblique-normal dextral faults of the Panamint Valley fault zone, which is consistent with published geodetic modeling showing that current opening rates of central Death Valley along the Black Mountains fault zone are about three times slower than for Panamint Valley. This suggests that less than half of the geodetically determined ~9–12 mm/yr of right-lateral shear across the region at the latitude of central Death Valley is accommodated by slip on well-defined faultsand that distributed deformational processes take up the remainder of this slip transferred between the major faults north of the Garlock fault.
- Resource Type:
- Article
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Geological Sciences
- Creator:
- Wu, Loan
- Description:
- In the state of California, new teachers have two years to complete Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) through a university or a school district. Many districts opt to run their own BTSA program because it gives them more power to insert the district’s vision and mission into the program. There are three BTSA mentoring models from which a district can choose to use in order to fulfill the state induction requirements. In the XYZ school district, they use full-time released teachers to serve as support providers to participating teachers. This case study researched to what degree participating teachers felt BTSA resources influenced their instructional practices for English learners (ELs). It is evident, based upon this study’s survey and interviews, that the 2012- 2013 teacher cohort in the XYZ school district felt the greatest impact BTSA had on their instructional strategies was attributable to their support provider. Additionally, they also felt that BTSA expectations, which included structured lessons, observations, reflections, and data gathering, influenced their instructional strategies regarding ELs. This research is important because it provides research that can be used to improve the EL resources provided for new teachers in the teacher induction program in XYZ District. District leaders can utilize the results to analyze ways to improve teacher induction programs to ensure teachers are being provided effective professional development to meet the needs of XYZ District’s large EL population.
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Educational Leadership
- Creator:
- Dorsey, Steven A.
- Description:
- The growth of online school programs has continued at a staggering rate in recent years as schools and districts try to offer a more personalized educational experience to meet the needs of their diverse student populations. The need for administrators to lead these unique environments is growing in concert. Research in the area of online school programs is in its infancy, and further study is needed. The purpose of this case study was to explore the unique nature of the online learning environment in a public school district and the leadership qualities needed to navigate the ever-changing landscape. This single case study of an online school program run by a Southern California public school district as a dependent charter was the basis of the investigation. There were three prevalent themes to arise from the research. The first was the need for innovative leadership skills in the environment. The second theme was that of the varied demands from local districts and an expanding range of responsibilities. The third theme addressed the culture and flexibility fostered in the online environment Several areas were identified as possible subjects for further research. First, the teacher evaluation system needs to be addressed, as the current evaluation system focuses on teachers in brick-and-mortar learning environments. The next potential subject is the exploration of innovation and of changing responsibilities to ensure a successful implementation of online learning programs. Finally, research into the challenges of administrative credentialing will help to ensure we are preparing young administrators to handle leadership in an online and blended learning environment.
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Educational Leadership
- Creator:
- Koirala, Janak Das
- Description:
- Every year, millions of scrap tires are either discarded in huge piles across the landscape or dumped in landfills in large volumes all over the world. These tire piles cause environmental pollution while posing fire and health hazards. Being volumetric goods in comparison to other wastes, they occupy large volumes in landfills. Rainwater tends to accumulate in the stockpiled tires, which, then become a breeding ground for mosquitoes that carry dangerous diseases, such as encephalitis. Several states in the United States have, therefore, banned the disposal of used tires in the land. Shredded rubber has been used in a variety of applications in geotechnical engineering including in highway pavements and backfills of retaining walls, but mostly as individual material. In this study, kaolinite and montmorillonite were modified using different sizes and quantities of shredded rubber tires and used to evaluate the improvement in geotechnical properties. Five different sizes and five different proportions of shredded rubber tires were mixed with the clay minerals. Laboratory experiments were carried out to evaluate the changes in density, permeability and unconfined compressive strength of such modified soil with shredded tires. The results showed that for kaolinite, the maximum dry density decreased as the percentage of shredded rubber tire in the mixture was greater than 4% by dry weight. In Montmorillonite, the maximum dry density of the modified soil increased till 2 to 4% of shredded rubber tire was added to the soil. The highest strength was observed at 4% shredded rubber tire content in kaolinite and at 5% shredded rubber tire content in montmorillonite. Permeability increased when smaller sized shredded rubber tire was added to kaolinite. In montmorillonite, permeability values sharply increased up to 2% shredded rubber tire content and thereafter, showed a linear increase in permeability for all sizes of shredded rubber tire used. From this study, it is concluded that shredded rubber can be effectively used to improve the compaction and strength characteristics of weak soils.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Creator:
- Pantha, Krishna Hari
- Description:
- This paper presents the results of a study, whose aim was to determine the undrained shear strength at different over-consolidation ratios, which is a very important parameter to evaluate the stability of natural and man-made slopes in soft clay. The undrained shear strength of clays was determined using a laboratory test method utilizing the Direct Simple Shear (DSS) apparatus in the geotechnical engineering laboratory at California State University, Fullerton. In this study, the change in undrained shear strength of soil with over-consolidation ratio in a mineralogical framework was studied. Four different soil samples were prepared by mixing commercially available clay minerals such as kaolinite and montmorillonite with quartz at different proportions by their dry weight. These samples included 100% kaolinite, a mixture of 70% kaolinite with 30% quartz, a mixture of 50% kaolinite with 50% quartz and a mixture of 50% montmorillonite with 50% quartz. The plasticity characteristics of these samples were evaluated. Each of the first three samples had five different specimens representing five different over-consolidation ratios (2, 4, 8, 16 and 32). The fourth sample had only two specimens for two different over-consolidation ratios, i.e. 2 and 4. The applied consolidation stresses were 600 kPa, 300 kPa, 150 kPa, 75 kPa and 37.5 kPa for five different over-consolidation ratios of 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32, respectively. Using the direct simple shear device, the undrained shear strength of these samples were measured using a strain rate of 5%/hour. The pore pressures generated at different applied stresses was also back calculated from the change in total stresses. The pore water pressure continuously increased up to certain displacement and then after tended to remain constant. The results showed that it was inversely proportional to the over-consolidation ratio. Using the results, the SHANSEP model and Hvorslev’s theory were utilized to check normalized shear strength, and true friction angle and true cohesion of each soil sample, respectively. The result showed that the shear strength depends up on the composition of clay minerals and stress history of the soil. The relationship of the normalized undrained shear strength ratio was directly proportional to the overconsolidation ratio of the soil. Similarly, the true friction angle of the soil depended up on the composition of the clay minerals, but not on the stress history. True friction angles of 19.28°, 20.63°, 21.06° and 35.24° were obtained for Sample Nos.1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively; whereas, the true cohesion of these sample were measured as 8.46°, 7.21°, 4.55° and 0.39° respectively.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Creator:
- Woli, Hari
- Description:
- Global warming is a big concern these days all over the world including in the USA. It has said to trigger landslides all over the world every year due to the global warming. Landslides can damage the structures and block roads and rivers that require much effort and finances to repair. On 11 March 2011, an earthquake with magnitude 9.0 (Mw) occurred in Tohoku, Japan. Approximately 15,893 people were killed, 6,152 people were injured and much of the infrastructure was damaged. Hundreds of landslides occurred at that time. Recently, an earthquake with magnitude 7.8 occurred on 25 April 2015 in Gorkha, Nepal, west of the capital Kathmandu. A major aftershock with magnitude 7.3 occurred on 12 May 2015 near Kodari, east of Kathmandu. As a result of both of these major earthquakes, more than 9000 people were killed and thousands of landslides occurred in various parts of the country. Both earthquakes occurred in the dry season, and hence, a major concern was the increased likelihood of landslides in the rainy season following these earthquakes. This research describes the effect of post-earthquake rainfall on slope stability by examining the landslide distribution pattern in Nepal, following the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake and its aftershocks. A high resolution Google Map was used to locate the landslides triggered in the eastern to mid-western part of Nepal following the earthquake and after the first rainy season. A landslide database was created and contains the angle of inclination, features at risk and landslide area for each landslide identified. To evaluate the stability of slopes following a post-earthquake rainfall event, a 45º slope was modelled in a Plexiglas container and subjected to shaking on a shake table and rainfall in the laboratory. A clayey soil obtained from Mission Viejo, CA was used to prepare a slope model with void ratio 1.2. The slope was instrumented with accelerometers, tensiometers, and copper wires to record acceleration, pore water pressure and deformation of the slope, respectively. A series of sinusoidal waves with 20 cycles at various amplitudes and frequencies (0.1 g, 0.2 g, 0.3 g and 1 Hz, 2 Hz, 3 Hz) were applied to the slope model. After the seismic loading was applied, a rainfall simulator was placed on top of the slope and used to apply rainfall with an intensity of 16.8 mm/hr. The water front from the infiltrating rainwater was marked on either side of the Plexiglas container at different time intervals. Slope instability was not observed during the post-earthquake rainfall event. This was attributed to a decrease in the void ratio due to the seismic shaking leading to a reduction in the seepage rate for the rain water and lower pore pressures on the slope. Hence, the likelihood of further slope instability in the rainy season following an earthquake decreases. The results were verified in the case study from Nepal as there were no reported landslides during the rainy season immediately following the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake and its aftershocks.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Creator:
- Walker, Kimberly Mae
- Description:
- Ostrea lurida’s potential role as a foundation species has not been explored, so little is understood about ecosystem services produced by ongoing restoration efforts for the United States’ only native oyster species on the west coast. Further, the effectiveness of different techniques for restoring Olympia oyster beds has not been systematically evaluated. The most common technique is augmenting available habitat by adding dead shell onto mudflats and allowing remnant oysters to seed the shell with spat; shell has been added at varying thicknesses, either consolidated in bags or simply placed loose onto the mudflat. Here, I explored the effects of different combinations of Olympia oyster restoration techniques (varying the thickness of constructed shell beds using loose versus bagged oyster shell) on invertebrate abundance, diversity, and community composition. Twenty-five oyster beds were established in Newport Bay, Orange County, California in June 2010. Five beds were not augmented with any shell and were used as control plots. The other twenty beds were randomly assigned to be constructed using dead oyster shell at thicknesses of 12 cm or 4 cm using shell bagged in jute or loose shell (n= 5 replicates per treatment). Visual inspection of MDS plots and results from ANOSIM indicated after one year a significant shift in community composition of the oyster beds versus the control plots, with trends in differences of the thick beds and thin-bagged beds. However, the density of most invertebrate species changed over time and bagging of the shell in some cases also mattered. Amphipods, polychaetes and oligochaetes all declined significantly on some treatment plots over the study period, but not because of shell enhancements. Bivalves, gastropods and isopods all increased over the study period with trends towards increases on the thicker beds and thin-bagged beds, although insignificant. Results could inform future restoration efforts for this species and establish ecosystem services provided by O. lurida as a foundation species.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Biological Sciences
- Creator:
- Sanchez, Carl A.
- Description:
- This study investigated the relationship between athletes’ perceptions of coaching behaviors and how these perceptions influenced the athletes’ life skill development. Life skills are defined as the ability to effectively communicate, make good decisions, problem solve, set and achieve desired goals, assume leadership roles, and manage time efficiently (Danish, Petitpas, & Hale 1993). The participants in this study were female college basketball players (n = 84) ranging in age from 18 – 25 years old. All participants completed the Youth Experience Survey – 2.0 that assessed their positive and negative experiences during sport participation. They also completed the Coaching Behavior Survey for Sports that measured various coaching behaviors and actions. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that the athletes reported several particular coaching behaviors that significantly influenced their personal development. These findings suggest that the coaching behaviors perceived by the athletes during instruction of “physical training and conditioning,” “technical skills,” and “goal setting,” led to personal experiences that influenced the athletes’ individual life skill development. During these training experiences, the athletes reported positive personal growth regarding the ability to regulate their temper, fear, anxiety, and stress; work in groups; and identifying with the social dynamics of sports participation. They also reported being inspired to identify, set, and achieve goals. Upon examining their interpersonal behaviors, the athletes reflected on how these behaviors influenced their outlook on life, social dynamics, and personal environment.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Kinesiology