https://www.ideals.uiuc.edu IDEALS: Research and Scholarship of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Search the Channel search https://www.ideals.uiuc.edu/simple-search http://hdl.handle.net/2142/5355 Title: Gender Disparities in South Asia: Re-examining Ideologies to Develop Healthy Dialogue <br/> <br/>Authors: Chokshi, Krishna <br/> <br/>Keywords: South Asian Women; Gender Disparaties; Patriarchy Sun, 11 May 2008 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/5354 Title: Oppositional Models of Power: Women’s Rights, Disability Rights, and Selective Abortion of Fetuses Diagnosed with Disabilities <br/> <br/>Authors: Cates, Kevin William <br/> <br/>Keywords: Abortion; Reproductive Rights; Disability Sun, 04 May 2008 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/5353 Title: The Commodification of Black Women in Urban Fiction and African American Chick Lit <br/> <br/>Authors: Knous, Keira <br/> <br/>Keywords: Black Women; Chick Lit; African American Women; Urban Literature Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/5350 Title: Publications of the Minnesota GDSS Research Project <br/> <br/>Authors: Poole, Marshall Scott <br/> <br/>Abstract / Summary: The Minnesota GDSS Research Project is a twenty-year program of interdisciplinary research that has generated more than eighty articles, chapters, dissertations, and proceedings publications and has influenced other researchers who developed their own niches. Grounded in Adaptive Structuration Theory, which emerged and evolved as the research unfolded, the project studied the impact of technology characteristics (level of support, restrictiveness) and other support (training, heuristics, facilitation) on group processes and outcomes for a range of tasks (problem definition, decision making, planning). The project entailed a complex tapestry of a series of laboratory experiments and two major field studies. The basic theoretical framework, experimental strategy and design, field study design, and results are summarized, along with a discussion of the significance and implications of the project for contemporary theory and practice. This bibliography lists the publications and research reports of the project. <br/> <br/>Keywords: Group Decision Support Systems; Adaptive Structuration Theory; Collaboration Technology; Decision Support Systems; Group Decision Making; Group Communication Fri, 09 May 2008 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/5349 Title: Detailed Narrative of Minnesota GDSS Project Results <br/> <br/>Authors: Poole, Marshall Scott; Zigurs, Ilze <br/> <br/>Abstract / Summary: The Minnesota GDSS Research Project is a twenty-year program of interdisciplinary research that has generated more than eighty articles, chapters, dissertations, and proceedings publications and has influenced other researchers who developed their own niches. Grounded in Adaptive Structuration Theory, which emerged and evolved as the research unfolded, the project studied the impact of technology characteristics (level of support, restrictiveness) and other support (training, heuristics, facilitation) on group processes and outcomes for a range of tasks (problem definition, decision making, planning). The project entailed a complex tapestry of a series of laboratory experiments and two major field studies. The basic theoretical framework, experimental strategy and design, field study design, and results are summarized, along with a discussion of the significance and implications of the project for contemporary theory and practice. This report is a detailed summary of results of studies that are highlighted in DeSanctis, Poole, Zigurs et al. (2008) Journal of the Association of Information Systemts article. It gives details on the results summarized in the article and displayed in the Appendices to the article and should be considered a companion to this article. <br/> <br/>Keywords: Group Decision Support Systems; Group Support Systems; Adaptive Structuration Theory; Decision Support Systems; Collaboration Technology; Group Decision Making; Group Communication; Information Systems Wed, 07 May 2008 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/5348 Title: A “Safe Space” All Alone: The Transforming Essence of a Latina/o Cultural House <br/> <br/>Authors: Kattah, Maureen <br/> <br/>Abstract / Summary: I have found that La Casa occupies a complicated position as it attempts to overcome the tensions within the Latina/o community, while also representing Latina/o interests to a historically apathetic and homogenizing University on issue of race. Both efforts have contributed to both a general attendance problem at La Casa, and to the relative failure of a new retention program that is the core of this thesis’ ethnographic analysis. I conducted nine interviews, observed five events associated with the new retention program that I will call “I-achieve,” and distributed surveys to get an idea of how La Casa participants understand its purpose, and to see who actually goes to La Casa events (namely how they define themselves ethnically, their major, and their year in school). The first chapter covers the history of La Casa in terms of these tensions in order to consider how I-Achieve’s failure is in part historically constituted. The second chapter examines the intense racial climate at the national level and at the local level that has caused factionalism in the Latina/o community here and marginalized La Casa. The final chapter examines this factionalism and the marginal position of La Casa in the words and actions of the students themselves. It is also shows that while La Casa does, in fact, offer a safe haven for incoming Latino/a students, it is only one of such spaces on campus. <br/> <br/>Keywords: La Casa; Latino; Latina; retention; race; culture; curriculum Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/5320 Title: Non-contact NDT of Concrete Structures Using Air Coupled Sensors <br/> <br/>Authors: Zhu, Jinying <br/> <br/>Abstract / Summary: Elastic wave-based non-destructive test (NDT) methods are effective for detecting flaws in concrete structures. With the recent developments in computing hardware and software, imaging techniques have become very popular in NDT applications. However the application of elastic wave-based imaging methods for concrete structures is severely limited by the physical coupling between sensors and concrete surface, which reduces testing efficiency. In this report, the air-coupled sensing technique is proposed as a solution to improve the efficiency of elastic wave-based test methods for concrete structures. Theoretical analyses are first conducted to study the propagation of leaky Rayleigh waves in fluid-solid half spaces. Closed-form solutions of the Green’s function are derived for pressure and displacement in both the fluid and solid. This analysis provides theoretical background necessary for practical air-coupled sensing of leaky Rayleigh waves in concrete. The theory is also extended to underwater NDT applications. Two applications of air-coupled sensing are considered. One is air-coupled leaky surface wave sensing in concrete. A laboratory study and field tests demonstrate that air-coupled sensors are very effective for sensing leaky surface waves in concrete. The sensitivity and accuracy of air-coupled sensors are comparable to contact sensors. Aircoupled sensors are suitable replacement for contact sensors in SASW and MASW tests and moreover help improve test efficiency. In addition, the contact-less nature of aircoupled sensing enables the study of the effect of defects on wave attenuation. The experimental results show leaky Rayleigh waves are sensitive to the existence of cracks in concrete when waves propagate across cracks; the crack positions are clearly located in a 2-D scanning test image. The second application is air-coupled impact-echo. Two reinforced concrete slabs containing different types of defects were inspected using an air-coupled impact test testing scheme. 2-D scanning impact-echo tests were conducted over the slab containing voids and delaminations. The 2-D scanning image clearly shows the location of embedded defects, and their depths are also determined. Air-coupled impact-echo is also applied to examine the grouting condition of embedded ducts. The poorly-grouted and ungrouted sections are identified within the metal duct. <br/> <br/>Keywords: air-coupled sensing; concrete; imaging; impact-echo; Lamb's problem Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/5318 Title: A New Node-Node to-Node Approach to Contact/Impact Problems for Two-Dimensional Elastic Solids Subject to Finite Deformation <br/> <br/>Authors: Xu, Daqing; Hjelmstad, Keith D. <br/> <br/>Abstract / Summary: Contact analysis is an important branch of solid mechanics. Numerical simulation using the finite element method has become the dominant approach recently because of the high nonlinearity of contact problems. In the traditional Lagrangian description for solid mechanics, the numerical nodes are attached to the material particles, making it impossible to maintain node-to-node contact due to independent deformation. Various node-to-segment or segment-to-segment treatments are proposed to discretize the contact interface. But some issues still exist. Specifically, mesh distortion or element entanglement may be present if deformation is large. A new node-to-node approach for 2D contact/impact problems subject to finite deformation is proposed in this report to offer an alternative approach to these traditional methods, wherein node-to-node contact is maintained throughout the contact process. This method is based on the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian algorithm (ALE). One or both bodies in the two-body contact problem have an ALE mesh, which is independent of the material particles and has prescribed motion set to maintain node-to-node contact. The strategy of the ALE mesh motion has two steps: (1) to move nodes in the active set to maintain node-to-node contact (2) to smooth ALE mesh to improve mesh quality using the Laplacian or angle-based smoothing algorithm. Problems of interest in this study are contact/impact problems wherein the implicit mid-point rule is used as the primary time stepping algorithm to find the solution incrementally. In order to conserve the system energy, the persistency condition is incorporated as the contact constraint. The augmented Lagrangian method is primarily used to apply contact constraints. Non-classical Coulomb friction laws are used where friction is present. Several quasi-static and impact examples are given to demonstrate the performance and validity of the new approach. <br/> <br/>Keywords: Contact; Impact; Finite Element; Moving Mesh; Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/5297 Title: Using Poinsettia Cultivar Trials to Fulfill the University's Teaching Mission: Experiential Student Learning Through an Open House Project <br/> <br/>Authors: Warnock, Daniel F. <br/> <br/>Abstract / Summary: While undergraduate horticulture students are well versed in theoretical and applied skills, many lack necessary management and decision making skills upon graduation to prosper in agribusinesses. Deficiencies in student ability to identify agribusiness problems, develop workable solutions based on available information, and defend choices become challenging in real world situations. Experiential learning activities provide opportunities to blend “hands on” teaching with theoretical knowledge. The use of community outreach events such as classroom teaching tools provides a tremendous opportunity to developing critical thinking skills. In 2006, students in the Greenhouse Management and Production Class at the University of Illinois were presented with the challenge of producing poinsettias and conducting a community outreach event. Student teams were responsible for the production of the crop, marketing, coordination, and implementation of a two-day poinsettia open house attended by more than 250 people as part of the Mid-American Poinsettia Trials. Weekly business meetings fostered team communication and developed a consensus for the event’s implementation and timing. Student perceptions of this project were received in two forms; weekly business meeting comments and formal surveys. Initial apprehension about the project turned to enthusiasm as the semester progressed. Team building occurred. Student survey comments indicated that “the discovery experience was critical for this class” and the instructor’s ability to “challenge students and yet treat them as colleagues was appreciated.” As faculty members, we have a vested interest in assisting our students to become independent, free thinking leaders of the horticulture industry. The use of community outreach events is one avenue of experiential learning that can be effectively utilized in undergraduate curricula. <br/> <br/>Keywords: Teaching; Experiential Learning Sun, 29 Oct 2006 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/5296 Title: Using a Recognition Memory Test to Measure Expert-Novice Differences in the Encoding of Physics Diagrams <br/> <br/>Authors: Feil, Adam <br/> <br/>Abstract / Summary: It has long been known that physics experts categorize physics problems based on the underlying physics principles involved and physics novices tend to categorize physics problems based on surface-features. This current study used a recognition memory test and specially constructed pairs of physics drawings to measure differences between physics experts and novices in the way simple physics diagrams are encoded. Results show that physics experts encode some aspects and features of physics pictures that novices do not, and in some cases, novices encode features that experts do not. Physics experts were more likely to encode features of pictures that were more relevant to the physics depicted. This suggests that the knowledge and experience of physics experts influences the way in which they conceptualize physics pictures, even in the absence of a question prompt. These results suggest that one factor which may limit the effectiveness of introductory physics instruction is that physics novices may pay attention to, and remember, aspects of examples shown that are not particularly relevant to the physics principle being explained. Future studies will examine methods that may help direct novices’ attention to relevant features of problems and examples. This poster was also presented at the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) conference, Greensboro, North Carolina. <br/> <br/>Keywords: Expert-Novice; Teaching Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:58:59 GMT