Track 1: Faculty Research
Location: ADM-Scovill Room 211 (three sessions)
Session 1: 8:30-9:40 • Chair – Kathy Booker
8:30-9:00 Travis Stimeling
“Bob Wills Is Still the King”: Western Swing Revivalism and Progressive Country Music in Austin, Texas
The progressive country music movement that flourished in Austin, Texas, during the 1970s was greatly concerned with the preservation of Texan histories and folkways. As a result, the performance of traditional Texan music was of great importance to the city’s musicians and audiences alike. Taking up the mantle of western swing and honky-tonk music, Austin’s progressive country musicians worked diligently to learn the histories, repertories, and performance practices of Texan music and to establish themselves as important figures in their preservation. This paper examines the work of two musicians, Alvin Crow and Ray Benson, to recover what they believed to be the lost traditions of western swing music. Following a brief summary of the actual state of western swing around the year 1970, this paper appraises the recorded repertoire of Alvin Crow and His Pleasant Valley Boys and Benson’s Asleep at the Wheel to uncover how these two musicians imbricated themselves into the history of western swing music. Particular attention is paid to the groups’ recorded collaborations with former sidemen of western swing pioneer Bob Wills, to traces of their study of primary source recordings, and to canon formation. Furthermore, this paper argues that progressive country music emphasis on Texan musical traditions situated Austin’s musicians in an idyllic, idealized, and more “authentic” Texan past that stood in stark contrast to the increasing urbanization of Austin, Houston, and Dallas.
9:10-9:40 Tatiana Isakovski
“Merger Game: An Alternative Case Method”
In financial education, case studies stand out as the most effective tools that provide excellent opportunities for active and cooperative learning. Ready-made cases, however, usually describe situations and problems from the past and provide students with all the necessary information. Consequently, students often perceive these cases as textbook exercises and could be discouraged from doing their own research. In addition, cases quickly become “old” and cannot be used every semester. This paper presents arguments for an alternative case delivery method in the form of a game, which was developed for an undergraduate Corporate Finance course.
Session 2: 9:50-12:30 • Chair – Rene Verry
9:50-10:20 Chuck Ciorba & Neal Smith
“Measurement of Instrumental and Vocal Undergraduate Performance Juries Using a Multidimensional Assessment Rubric”
Recent policy initiatives instituted by a number of accrediting bodies require the implementation of specific assessment tools in order to provide evidence of student growth in a number of areas, including applied music study. The purpose of this study was to develop a university level assessment tool that could be applied in university performance juries for all instrumental and vocal areas. A multi-dimensional assessment rubric was developed and used to assess undergraduate jury performances during the 2006-2007 academic year. Interjudge reliability indicated that the measure was internally consistent. In addition, a mean score analysis revealed the performance scale increased from the freshman to senior year. These results are consistent with the learning outcomes established by the Millikin University School of Music.
10:30-11:00 Lisa Klotz
“A Defense of the Avocatori in Ben Jonson's Volpone”
Ben Jonson took care to stage judicial procedures recognizable to his early modern English audiences, from the warrant and amnesty in Every Man In His Humour, to the hue and cry and the consequences of its failure in A Tale of a Tub, to the hearing in Volpone. In Volpone the trick was to render Venetian judicial procedure so as to make it recognizably English to English audiences, while still retaining its foreignness. Jonson's Avocatori are, like the Venetian avogadori and the English justices of the peace, primarily forensic investigators. As investigators trying to figure out what happened, the Avocatori are actually more reasonable and less corrupt than modern critics have made them out to be. Jonson’s depiction of them is largely sympathetic, and this sympathy tempers the satire he achieves in exploiting surprising similarities between the Venetian and English judicial systems.
11:10-11:40 Joe Stickles
“Zero-Divisor Graphs of Commutative Rings: A Survey of Recent Results”
In 1988, Istvan Beck introduced a graph structure on a ring, making all elements of the ring vertices of the graph and adjoining two vertices with an edge if the product of the two elements in the ring is zero. In 1998, David Anderson and Phillip Livingston refined this definition, using as vertices only the nonzero zero-divisors of the ring. Some remarkable structure appeared in this graph, and as a result, several commutative ring theorists have studied further properties of the zero-divisor graph and have begun to investigate other commutative ring structures using graphs. In this talk, we will survey the area of the zero divisor graphs of commutative rings, including a historical overview and notable algebraic and graphical results. We will also list related avenues of inquiry that researchers have begun to investigate.
11:50-12:20 Paula Stickles
“An Analysis of Pre-Service Teachers’ Mathematical Problem Posing”
There has long been a push for better mathematical problem solving from students. However, for students to become good problem solvers, they need to have a problem to solve. Hence, the importance of problem posing has emerged. In this session, I will give an overview of problem posing and share the results of the work I have done with pre-service teachers, including a discussion of the factors that may influence their ability to pose problems.
Session 3: 1:30-2:50 • Chair – Mark Wrighton
1:30-2:00 Dick Chamblin & Mark Munoz
“Accounting issues confronting US executives in China : An exploration of viable management approaches.”
As a result of heightened trade interest due to globalization, many US companies are actively exploring business opportunities in foreign locations such as China. Despite continuing advances, a common challenge faced by executives is that financial systems and accounting standards are different across borders. This article explores key accounting issues confronting executives in their business operations in China. Furthermore, the authors identify viable approaches that would be helpful to current and future managers.
2:10-2:40 Ron Yadeau
"Bringing a Neglected Masterpiece to Life: a Critical Edition of "24 Preludes" by Petr Petrovich Podkovyrov"
Every time I have performed Podkovyrov's "24 Preludes" audience members have asked "Where can I buy this music? Where can I buy a CD?" I recorded the CD several years ago and have been working on a critical edition for publication. Three different editions were published in the former Byelorussian SSR (now the Republic of Belarus) in 1953, 1962 (Preludes 1-10), and 1969. All have significant differences from each other, and even the latest of them has numerous technical errors that should be corrected. I propose to discuss the Preludes, the problems I have encountered and the methods I have used for proceeding. Using the Pilling Hall Steinway I will play several of the Preludes for illustration.
Track 2: Faculty Research II
Location: ADM-Scovill Room 212 (three sessions)
Session 1: 8:30-9:40 • Chair – Ed Cabrera
8:30-9:00 am Alexa Royden
“Information and Legitimacy: Using Intelligence in a Multilateral Environment”
This paper discusses the use of intelligence within the international arms control regime, and specific issues that have arisen concerning the legitimate and effective uses of information in a multilateral environment. A comparison will be drawn between the bilateral use of intelligence in support of arms control, and the use of intelligence for verification by multilateral institutions such as the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and the CTBTO (Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization). Four specific areas will be examined as they relate to the multilateral information cycle: legality, process, equity and cultural conceptions of intelligence. While this paper will focus on research pertaining specifically to the use of information within the arms control regime, initial observations will be drawn regarding the relevance of this case to alternative multilateral environments.
9:10-9:40 George Bennett
“A Comparison of Green Chemistry to the Environmental Ethics of the Abrahamic Religions”
Green chemistry, or environmentally benign chemistry, is in its second decade as a recognized area of research. It is unique within chemistry because of its normative character. It rests on a set of principles, and the principles rest on certain ethical propositions. The ethical tenets that underlie green chemistry are substantially consistent with the environmental ethics of the Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The normative presuppositions of green chemistry bear the greatest similarity to the ethics of the productivity stewardship model of Christian environmentalism and bear the least similarity to the ethics of preservationist stewardship of Islamic environmentalism.
Session 2: 10:30-12:30 • Chair – Elizabeth Gephart
10:30-11:00 Jo Carter
“Perceptions of Challenges and Opportunities in Community-based Nursing Practice.”
The dynamic, complex, and emerging environment of health care requires different capabilities among today’s community-based nursing professionals. This study explored the perceptions of community-based field nurses, community-based nurse managers, and continuing education specialists in the years 2000 and 2005 to discover perceptions about challenges to their community-based practices and opportunities for practice improvement. Nurses from primary care settings, home health care, public health departments, and academic continuing education centers were subjects for this study.
The challenges described by the nurses in community-based practice revealed differences between acute care and community-based values of care. The nurses noted tension between clinical and corporate values of care. They identified continuing education content areas and skills that would help transcend the discrepancy in values and have the potential to improve community-based nursing practices.
The nurses wanted to know more about population focused strategies, principles of epidemiology, principles of adult education, knowledge of the standards of disease management, and business concepts. Practice with critical thinking, health assessment, communication and its technology, patient advocacy and the use of business tools for data management were also valued by the nurses.
Looking through the lens of a complexity model, certain attractors emerged from the nurses’ perceptions of the world of community-based work: viewing the patient as a customer, preventing health crises, teaching patients how to self-manage symptoms, dissolving professional boundaries, and a focus on patient health outcomes.
11:10-11:40 David Horn
“Integrating the scholarship of teaching and research: a study of bird-window collisions at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.”
Often considered distinct, the scholarship of teaching and research can be complementary, and provide students with a valuable experience that integrates theory with practice. I describe a class project on bird-window collisions being conducted by undergraduates at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. Between 100 million and 1 billion birds in North America die annually in bird-window collisions. However, additional research of factors influencing collision frequency and the development of solutions is needed. Millikin University students are studying bird-window collisions through daily searches for carcasses, as well as studies of bird scavengers and search efficiency. The research is coordinated by biology majors in upper-level courses. These students train non-major students to conduct the study. In addition to training non-major students, upperclassman are asked to present oral presentations and written papers of the research, while non-majors chronicle their experiences through a journal, and write a scientific paper on bird-window collisions. Ultimately, results from this teaching and research program may yield practical solutions to reduce collisions that can be implemented at other institutions while providing a curriculum of personal meaning and value.
11:50-12:20 Ed Acheson
“My First (And Last?) Attempt at “The Gutenberg Method”
Dr. Frank Lambert at Occidental College first proposed “The Gutenberg Method” as a classroom approach for teaching chemistry. In the Gutenberg Method, I (the instructor) assign you (the students) portions of the textbook to study before you come to class. When students come into the classroom, they should therefore already be familiar with the material. It should not be necessary for me to outline this material. What then, do we do in class? Since students have read and studied the material, they should have questions about it. I use these questions to form the basis of our classroom discussion. That is the theory, at least. For several years, I have threatened to use The Gutenberg Method in General Chemistry, and this fall I finally worked up the courage to take the plunge. On the first day of class, I described to the students what we would do in class (i.e., I would not lecture), fully assuming I would scare some students away. On the second day of class, fully half the students were missing at the beginning of the period. Dr. Lambert reports that The Gutenberg Method dramatically changed the classroom atmosphere and attitudes of students toward chemistry, so much so that he was awarded the first Outstanding Teaching Award voted on by the senior class at Occidental. I, on the other hand, do not expect to win any awards. In this presentation, we will practice The Gutenberg Method, and I will share some of my (mis)adventures in the course.
Session 3: 1:30- 2:50 am • Chair – Tatiana Isakovski
1:30-2:00 Randi Polk
“Paris, je t’aime…moi non plus: Reflections on the Representations of Contemporary Paris”
For those who have visited France’s capital, Paris will remain a site of history, beauty, culture, and romance. The “city of lights” has been portrayed in many films, paintings, photographs, comics, TV series, etc. Often, in these representations, Paris is glorified and romanticized. However, there are two sides to every story. Within the space that houses some of the world’s finest museums, renowned fashion houses, and acclaimed writers and philosophers, are many disenchanted persons longing for (and perhaps provoking) change. This presentation will focus on both sides of Paris through an analysis of images transmitted via various media outlets in order to provoke a discussion on the current state of affairs.
2:10-2:40 Keiko Ono
“Primary Challenges to Congressional Incumbents (1992-2006): Is All Politics Local?”
Electoral competition is the heart and soul of representative democracy. Few would disagree with the truism that a popular rule requires “active competition between political groups which vie for the voter’s favor by offering alternative candidates for office” (Turner 1953). For the “consent of the governed” to be meaningful, the governed must be presented with a viable choice between qualified candidates. In the 1990s and beyond, Congressional elections have been becoming less and less competitive due in part to growing incumbent advantage and bipartisan gerrymandering. Since many districts are heavily Republican or Democratic, the only opportunity for electoral competition lies in the primary process. In this presentation, I provide an overview of the degree of competition present in Congressional primaries and consider various factors that affect it such as district characteristics, incumbency, and the role of national interest groups.
Track 3: Faculty Teaching & Innovation
Location: ADM-Scovill Room 213 (three sessions)
Session 1: 8:30-9:40 • Chair – Carmella Braniger
8:30-9:00 am Jamie Comstock
“Teaching: impact of teacher behaviors on student learning and a follow-up on student behaviors on teachers' performance”
(no abstract available at this time)
9:10-9:40 Judy Parrish
“Teaching: The Africa experience”
The Sesotho of southern Africa have a saying “Ho tsamaya ke ho bona”, or “Traveling is learning”. Millikin clearly recognizes this, and encourages faculty to offer classes in other parts of the world. After leading twelve course trips in the last decade, I recognize three main threads that are integrated into each of my courses to prepare students to benefit from both the biological and cultural experiences travel promotes. Each travel course is built around three main components; ecological principles in unique physical environments, independent projects allowing individual applications of concepts and experiences, and participation in ongoing projects that benefit the local population. Planning and carrying out field ecology courses should not only allow students to experience and integrate principles of ecology, but should also prepare them to understand that in order for conservation of resources to be sustainable, needs of people surrounding the ecological sites must be met. Effective classroom work prior to trips prepares students to recognize the “stars” of many of the textbook examples of interactions between organisms, and careful planning allows for us to interact significantly with the local population and for the proceeds from our tourism to benefit the local economy. Students have the chance to see the side of environmental debates they seldom have contact with, the side of the inhabitants surrounding the preserved sites, who may be negatively impacted by traditional environmental preservation. I present examples of how our ecological journeys to Costa Rica and South Africa meet the dual goal of providing biological and cultural experience. A high point of the biology travel courses is the exposure to alternative business ventures that allow the rural poor to achieve and maintain an acceptable quality of life while preserving habitat. I try to expose students not only to the fascinating organisms in their habitats, but also to people deeply committed to finding and implementing alternative ways of feeding their families, while conserving biological resources. Instead of coming away with a gloomy outlook because of diminishing biodiversity, our students are energized with models of economically workable projects and a vision of how they can improve the outcome. In most cases, student journals show gradual transitions in attitude, from ethnocentric superiority to eco-tourist and even conservation activist, with understanding of the major conservation issues at the sites visited.
Session 2: 9:50-12:30 • Chair – Luis Peralta
9:50-10:20 Nancy Curtin-Alwardt
“I’m paying big bucks for this!” Students’ Expectations at Millikin University
Students come to a college or university for specific reasons and with specific expectations for that college or university. In other words, students have expectations as to what that particular college or university should provide. Furthermore, the question arises if and how students’ expectations at a small, private university vary from those at a larger, public university. Regardless, these preconceived expectations often play a role in how they evaluate their educational experience.
In this exploratory-based research, I discuss preliminary research conducted among Millikin University students regarding their expectations of Millikin. More specifically, through surveys, students’ responses will generate a typology of expectations in terms of what Millikin is expected to provide and not expected to provide. In short, the research will address the following questions:
RQ 1: As a student, what do you expect Millikin University to provide?
RQ 2: As a student, what do you expect Millikin University to not provide?
Uncovering expectations is a beginning step in the process to evaluate students’ expectations at a private university. In turn, this evaluation will help to discern how the expectations of students compare/contrast to the expectations of administration, faculty, and staff.
10:30-11:00 Jamie Kotewa - download the paper (doc)
“Arts and Entrepreneurship: The thread between theory, practice, and real life”
The uniqueness and also the challenge of the Arts and Entrepreneurship Program is its goal of integrating theory and practice “within the curriculum” rather than outside. The faculty believed that the discipline and structure provided by a curriculum-based program would force us to become creative in how and what we taught.
I want to build on this by providing you an inside look at what happens when business and arts students are combined into one learning environment. The view, not surprisingly, is organized chaos!
Understanding the creative process -- that takes place both in the arts and in business-- is at the heart of this program. However, figuring out how to “teach” to this diverse of a crowd is at the focus of this presentation.
Explore with me how a lesson on elements and principles is used to find the vertical threads running through the arts and business. Take away suggestions and tips for teaching a diverse group of students, team-teaching, and sample lessons. Come and see what Millikin University faculty is doing to deliver integrated, collaborative, and engaged learning to better prepare students for success in their profession and personal lives.
11:10-11:40 Peiling Zhao, Carmella Braniger, Randy Brooks
“An Integrated Model of Undergraduate English Curricula”
Over the last decade, English faculty at Millikin University have embraced an integrated curricula for undergraduate English studies based on a model of learning by reflective action. The department seeks opportunities for public student performances (as writers, editors, publishers, readers and teachers), and we ask students to reflect on and contextualize their resulting performances within related theoretical and professional contexts. Our integrated model stresses a wide range of practice, the “doing of English” in multiple contexts, culminating in student synthesis of internalized theory.
The Millikin model of English studies comes from our views of undergraduate English student needs: (1) our students need to be engaged in contemporary communities of practice; (2) our students are creators of new knowledge, new meaning, new understandings and therefore need to actively contribute to academic, social or professional communities; (3) our students need to focus on professional work related to the reception and production of texts (study is not preparatory); and (4) our students need to be rhetorically effective users of computer-aided publishing technology, whether they are producing print media or web-based publications.
In this panel of presentations by three Millikin University English faculty, we explain how this integrated curricula emphasizing public performance redefines undergraduate English studies for students, faculty, and the broader discipline.
11:50-12:20 Tracy Barton, Angela Ambers-Henderson, David Womack, Julie Jones
“Reframing the College Curriculum: Infusing Issues of Diversity and Multiculturalism”
American higher education is currently facing a wave of change brought about by a population shift. According to the literature, this change is greater than anything we’ve previously experienced. Preparing our academic institutions “promises to be perhaps the greatest of the many challenges in the decades ahead” (Zahorski & Cognard, 1999, p. 2). This increasingly diverse student body propels us toward different perspectives (Stage & Anaya, 1996). Yet, our current traditional higher education system reflects a “male-centered, Anglo-European perspective, ignoring the history and contributions of large segments of our population and is riddled with perceptual bias that devalues non Anglo-European subjects or approaches to learning” (Green, 1996, p. 205).
These population trends are not new, nor are the demands for curricular reform. However, our nation’s colleges and universities are slow to make the appropriate changes to accommodate the new student demographics. We must work toward college climates and curricula “that welcome students’ differing backgrounds and perspectives as opportunities to enlarge the range of voices and experiences and to build upon students’ diverse language and cultural backgrounds in preparing them for a more interdependent global society” (Zusman, 1999, p. 121).
Using the PACE program as a case study for curricular reform, we will discuss appropriate ways to infuse issues of diversity and multiculturalism into a major course sequence. We will showcase the curricular revisions of both the Organizational Leadership and Criminal Justice programs, and will discuss effective ways to incorporate discussions of diversity issues into any course.
Session 3: 1:30-2:50 • Chair – Eric Martell
1:30-2:00 Cynthia Handler
“Health Professions Advising: Lessons for the General Academic Community”
Within the academic community, the health professions advisor is often considered to have a unique niche. This perception is due to the general impression that the specialized nature of the admission process to professional programs in health care has no application to academic advising. The goal of the presentation is to show that the principles of health profession advising apply to the larger academic community. The competitive and global nature of society suggests that within the academic community, we must expend more effort to prepare students for professional success. The academic advisor is typically viewed as someone who provides information to students regarding course work needed for graduation. On the other hand, the health professions advisor must frame the highly selective and competitive admission process in such a way that each student looks ahead and at the same time avoids becoming overwhelmed by the process. The broad framework for health professions advising consists of 1) academic preparation, 2) admission exam preparation 3) exposure and knowledge of the field and 4) leadership and service to the community. In addition to providing a general road map within the framework, the health professions advisor must individualize the journey for each student. I advocate that advisors utilize the framework of health professions advising to create discipline specific guides, which will enhance the success of our students in the competitive global community.
2:10-2:40 Georgette Page
“Theory of Mind and Video Proxemics: Defining Off-Screen Space through the Eyes of the Child”
In this presentation, I will illuminate the relationship between children’s cognitive development and their comprehension of some of the visuals seen on television. To illustrate the concepts, I will highlight a study that I did, in collaboration with Dr. Herbert Zettl, on children’s interpretations of the production techniques used in television news. I will talk about the theoretical basis, methodology, and results of the study as well as address the implications of the findings as they relate to our overall understanding of how children think about what they see on electronic visual media.
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