A chair, once placed, will stay put until moved. Or will it? With the rise of technology being embeddable into everyday objects, what if that chair could move itself? Such robotic furniture has been featured in advertisements, art, and Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) research. Existing methods for operating robotic furniture have...
Adolescence is a developmental stage marked by crystallization in individuals’ sense of identity (Erikson, 1994; Harter, 1999). Research on positive youth development stresses the ways in which thriving trajectories during adolescence contribute to positive lifelong outcomes (Lerner & Overton, 2008; Scales, Benson, & Roehlkepartain, 2011) A symbolic interactionism perspective (Mead,...
The article discusses effective methods for measuring the success of classroom instruction using original primary sources in special collections and archives and how to translate these effects to demonstrate learning impact that can be used in other assessment projects. The global economic crisis has reportedly pushed assessment activities in libraries...
As of February 2012, approximately 46% of American adults own a smartphone. The graphics quality of these devices gets better each year. However, they still have many more limitations in graphics processing and storage space than desktop computers. This means that applications on these devices should focus on optimizing their...
The negative effects of poverty on childhood academic outcomes are well documented by current research. Children in poverty experience pronounced positive effects of familial involvement on these same academic outcomes. Unfortunately children in poverty experience low levels of familial involvement. Current familial involvement policy is centered in the school environment....
This thesis, a collection of creative non-fiction essays, explores the nature and influence of reading and school in the author's life. After a brief introduction explaining the title, part one describes the sensory dimensions of reading. Part two discusses the author's work as a student and teacher and the contradictions...
This dissertation is a memoria histórica of the Guatemalan Civil War that centers queer and trans Maya people in its imaginings. Using Maya backstrap weaving practices, “constellating” as defined by the Cultural Rhetorics Theory Lab, and ghost stories as a Maya-centered queer/trans rhetorical methodology, I argue for a shift from...
Mangroves provide numerous ecosystem services, including biodiversity values such as nesting sites for piscivorous waterbirds. High concentrations of pisicivoirous birds are hypothesized to affect ecosystem dynamics, yet few studies have examined their effects in mangroves. We examined the effects of nutrient enrichment by colonial waterbirds at a mangrove rookery in...