This thesis presents innovative pedagogical approaches to teach fundamental Computer Science (CS) concepts, such as abstraction, representation, algorithms, and computation utilizing manipulatives, which are physical objects that students interact with to teach or reinforce a concept. Teaching and learning with manipulatives has a long history in science and mathematics education,...
On a global scale, illicit economies have dramatic impacts on the physical environment. Cocaine trafficking has been recognized as a major driver of deforestation inside Central American protected areas. A key problem in studying and managing the environmental impacts of illicit economic activity is the difficulty in obtaining reliable data....
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Jennifer Devine, Committee Member, representing the Department of Geography at Texas State
1. Multidimensional trait frameworks are increasingly used to understand plant strategies for growth and survival. However, it is unclear if frameworks developed at a global level can be applied in local communities and how well these frameworks—based largely on plant morphological traits—align with plant physiology and response to stress.
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Research relying on remotely sensed data on land use and deforestation has exploded in recent years. While satellite-based measures have clear advantages in terms of coverage, the presence of measurement error within these products is often overlooked. Here, we detail the econometric implications of these errors when analyzing the determinants...
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted life for populations all over the world. One population that has been uniquely impacted by the pandemic is the student-athlete population. Over the last two years, universities took safety precautions by first sending students home and moving teaching and learning to a remote format and...
One of the most economically important genes in squash (Cucurbita spp.) is the B gene which conditions precocious depletion of chlorophyll in preanthesis fruit. The B genes are found naturally occurring in at least three of the five domesticated species of Cucurbita, including C. pepo, C. maxima and, most recently...
Plasma biochemistry and hematology reference intervals are integral health assessment tools in all medical fields, including aquatic animal health. As sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) are becoming aquaculturally and economically more important, this manuscript provides essential reference intervals (RI) for their plasma biochemistry and hematology along with reference photomicrographs of blood cells...
In eastern Washington and western Oregon, southwest-northeast striking thrust faults and folds of the Yakima Fold and Thrust Belt (YFTB) and northwest-striking dextral strike-slip faults accommodate north-south contraction resulting from clockwise rotation of the North American Plate. Though present to the east and west of the Cascade Range, the connectivity...
Many performance tuning tools for parallel software use visual representations of trace data to guide a developer towards code improvements. Most widely used visualization schemes, however, either omit useful information about time dependence of processor use, or include that information but do not scale well to long run times or...
The Goose Lake Basin, situated on the border of Oregon and California, USA, faces significant challenges from drought, wildfire, and other environmental stressors. This region hosts numerous endemic fish species such as the Goose Lake redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss newberri), Goose Lake lamprey (Entosphenus sp.), Goose Lake tui chub (Siphateles...