Validation study of the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey at a Hispanic-serving institution

The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) has been widely acknowledged as a useful measure of student cognitive attitudes about science and learning. The initial University of Colorado validation study included only 20% non-Caucasian student populations. In this Brief Report we extend their validation to include a predominately under-represented minority population. We validated the CLASS instrument at Florida International University, a Hispanic-serving institution, by interviewing students in introductory physics classes using a semistructured protocol, examining students’ responses on the CLASS item statements, and comparing them to the items’ intended meaning. We find that in our predominately Hispanic population, 94% of the students’ interview responses indicate that the students interpret the CLASS items correctly, and thus the CLASS is a valid instrument. We also identify one potentially problematic item in the instrument which one third of the students interviewed consistently misinterpreted.

Households without Houses : Mobility and Moorings on the Eurasian Steppe

Peer reviewed

Colorado's Piceance Basin: Variation in the local public finance effects of oil and gas development

A large increase in natural gas production occurred in western Colorado’s Piceance basin in the mid- to late-2000s, generating a surge in population, economic activity, and heavy truck traffic in this rural region. We describe the fiscal effects related to this development for two county governments: Garfield and Rio Blanco, and two city governments: Grand Junction and Rifle. Counties maintain rural road networks in Colorado, and Garfield County’s ability to fashion agreements with operators to repair roads damaged during operations helped prevent the types of large new costs seen in Rio Blanco County, a neighboring county with less government capacity and where such agreements were not made. Rifle and Grand Junction experienced substantial oil- and gas-driven population growth, with greater challenges in the smaller, more isolated, and less economically diverse city of Rifle. Lessons from this case study include the value of crafting road maintenance agreements, fiscal risks for small and geographically isolated communities experiencing rapid population growth, challenges associated with limited infrastructure, and the desirability of flexibility in the allocation of oil- and gas-related revenue.

Y colorín, colorado, otro cuento ha comenzado : Las vidas de un clásico

Fil: Zamuner, Amanda. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación; Argentina.

Y colorín, colorado, otro cuento ha comenzado : Las vidas de un clásico

Fil: Zamuner, Amanda. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación; Argentina.

Y colorín, colorado, otro cuento ha comenzado : Las vidas de un clásico

Fil: Zamuner, Amanda. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación; Argentina.

The CCRUSH Study: Coarse and fine particulate matter measurements in northeastern Colorado 2009-2012

Coarse (PM10-2.5) and fine (PM2.5) particulate matter in the atmosphere adversely affect human health and influence climate. While PM2.5 is relatively well studied, less is known about the sources and fate of PM10-2.5. The Colorado Coarse Rural-Urban Sources and Health (CCRUSH) study measured PM10-2.5 and PM2.5 mass concentrations, as well as the fraction of semi-volatile material (SVM) in each size regime (SVM2.5, SVM10-2.5), for three years in Denver and comparatively rural Greeley, Colorado. Agricultural operations east of Greeley appear to have contributed to the peak PM10-2.5 concentrations there, but concentrations were generally lower in Greeley than in Denver. Traffic-influenced sites in Denver had PM10-2.5 concentrations that averaged from 14.6 to 19.7 µg/m**3 and mean PM10-2.5/PM10 ratios of 0.56 to 0.70, higher than at residential sites in Denver or Greeley. PM10-2.5 concentrations were more temporally variable than PM2.5 concentrations. Concentrations of the two pollutants were not correlated. Spatial correlations of daily averaged PM10-2.5 concentrations ranged from 0.59 to 0.62 for pairs of sites in Denver and from 0.47 to 0.70 between Denver and Greeley. Compared to PM10-2.5, concentrations of PM2.5 were more correlated across sites within Denver and less correlated between Denver and Greeley. PM10-2.5 concentrations were highest during the summer and early fall, while PM2.5 and SVM2.5 concentrations peaked in winter during periodic multi-day inversions. SVM10-2.5 concentrations were low at all sites. Diurnal peaks in PM10-2.5 and PM2.5 concentrations corresponded to morning and afternoon peaks of traffic activity, and were enhanced by boundary layer dynamics. SVM2.5 concentrations peaked around noon on both weekdays and weekends. PM10-2.5 concentrations at sites located near highways generally increased with wind speeds above about 3 m/s. Little wind speed dependence was observed for the residential sites in Denver and Greeley.

Juniperus navicularis - a study of Portuguese population structure and fitness

Juniperus navicularis Gand. is a dioecious endemic conifer that constitutes the understory of seaside pine forests in Portugal, areas currently threatened by increasing urban expansion. The aim of this study is to assess the conservation status of previously known populations of this species located on its core area of distribution. The study was performed in south-west coast of Portugal. Three populations varying in size and pine density were analyzed. Number of individuals, population density, spatial distribution and individual characteristics of junipers were estimated. Female cone, seed characteristics and seed viability were also evaluated. Results suggest that J. navicularis populations are vulnerable because seminal recruitment is scarce, what may lead to a reduction of genetic variability due solely to vegetative propagation. This vulnerability seems to be strongly determined by climatic constraints toward increasing aridity. Ratio between male and female shrubs did not differ from 1:1 in any population. Deviations from 1:1 between mature and non-mature plants were found in all populations, denoting population ageing. Very low seed viability was observed. A major part of described Juniperus navicularis populations have disappeared through direct habitat loss to urban development, loss of fitness in drier and warmer locations and low seed viability. This study is the first to address J. navicularis conservation, and represents a valuable first step toward this species preservation. 

Die Männer des Westens sind schweigsam wie die Steppe und hart wie Kommissbrot mit Steinen - die abgewandelten Phraseologismen in den Kinderbüchern von Janosch

Diese Magisterarbeit setzt sich zum Ziel, herauszufinden, in welcher Weise der Autor Janosch die Sprache in seinen Kinderbüchern kreativ mit den modifizierten Phraseologismen benutzt. Seine Sprache ist auffällig im Vergleich zu vielen anderen Kinderbuchautoren, die meistens einfache Sprache für Kinder schreiben wollen. Janosch möchte aber, dass sowohl die Kinder als auch erwachsene Vorleser Spaß beim Lesen haben würden. Diese Arbeit stellt zuerst die Theorie der Phraseologismen vor: Merkmale, Typen und Klassifikation der Phraseologismen sind notwendig für die Analyse der modifizierten Phraseologismen. Die mehr speziellen Eigenschaften der Phraseologismen, wie die zwei Lesarten, die Idiomatizität, Modifikation und Variation werden danach diskutiert. Der Schriftsteller Janosch wird in dem dritten Kapitel kurz vorgestellt: sein Leben und seine Werke. Als Materialien habe ich die vier Kinderbücher von Janosch ausgewählt, nämlich Oh, so schön ist Panama, Onkel Puschkin guter Bär, Janosch erzählt Grimm’s Märchen und Das neue große Janosch-Lesebuch. Nach Janosch wird die Kinderliteratur allgemein und die Phraseologismen in Kinderbüchern betrachtet. Die Methode besteht darin, die modifizierten Phraseologismen in dem Primärmaterial zu suchen und zu klassifizieren. Das Ziel ist herauszufinden, warum der Schriftsteller den jeweiligen Phraseologismus umformuliert hat. Als Ergebnis der Analyse bildeten sich sechs Klassen, die sich nach Strukturzügen unterscheiden. Die größte Gruppe sind die modifizierten Verstärkungsphraseologismen, andere sind z. B. die Phraseologismen, die zwei Lesarten aufweisen, Kontamination von zwei Phraseologismen und in der Tierwelt angesiedelte Phraseologismen. Insgesamt wurden 31 modifizierte Phraseologismen ausgewertet.

Late eneolithic and bronze age prologue pontic societies . Forest-steppe middle dniester and prut drainage basins in the 4th/3rd-2nd millennium bc: a history of investigations

The paper presents a historiographic context helpful in the current investigations of the cultural contacts between the societies of the east and west of Europe in the borderland of Podolia and moldova in the late Eneolithic and the prologue of the Bronze age . The focus is on the state of research (chiefly taxonomic and topogenetic) into the sequence of taxa in the age of early ‘barrow-building’, identified in the funerary rituals of societies settling the forest-steppe of the north- western Black Sea Coast in the 4th/3rd-2nd millennium BC .

La función social de la pesca artesanal costera: el caso de Barra de Colorado

PresentaciónEn 1993, la Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas de la Universidad Nacional inició una investigación en la región de las Llanuras del Tortuguero, provincia de Limón, Costa Rica, con el fin social, económico y ambiental de profundizar en el conocimiento de las interacciones presentes en una zona donde los conflictos en torno al uso y la explotación de los recursos naturales han venido en aumento en los últimos años...