Increasing numbers of older adults are expected to return to the labor force to reap both the financial and social rewards of paid employment. However, little is known about how the workplace supports older workers' successful aging process. The purpose of this study was to examine how the design of a job (opportunities for decision making, use of a variety of skills, coworker support, and supervisor support) influences successful aging (having a sense of control over life, social networks, emotional support, and opportunities for generativity) in older workers (aged 55 and older) in the home building industry. The study explored the relationship between two broad constructs: a model of successful aging and the demand control model of healthy job design. In a cross-sectional, survey design, a convenience sample of 109 older workers completed the Job Content Questionnaire, Social Network scale, Emotional Support scale, Mirowsky-Ross 2 X 2 Index of Sense of Control, and Loyola Generativity Scale. Results of multiple regression analyses indicated that job design influenced two measures of successful aging: generativity and personal sense of control. Job design contributed to 23% of the variance in generativity and 15.5% of the variance in personal sense of control. The job design characteristics of skill variety and coworker support were most important to successful aging. It was recommended that managers design jobs for older workers that incorporate opportunities to use a variety of skills, work collaboratively with others, and offer mentoring experiences. This study contributes to social change by promoting the workplace as a naturally occurring social institution that supports successful aging for older workers.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the physiological and psychological benefits provided by a self-selected health and wellness course on a racially and ethnically diverse student population. It was designed to determine if students from a 2-year Hispanic serving institution (HIS) from a large metropolitan area would enhance their capacity to perform physical activities, increase their knowledge of health topics and raise their exercise self-efficacy after completing a course that included educational and activity components for a period of 16 weeks. A total of 185 students voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. An experimental group was selected from six sections of a health and wellness course, and a comparison group from students in a student life skills course. All participants were given anthropometric tests of physical fitness, a knowledge test, and an exercise self-efficacy scale was given at the beginning and at the conclusion of the semester. An ANCOVA analyses with the pretest scores being the covariate and the dependent variable being the difference score, indicated a significant improvement of the experimental group in five of the seven anthropometric tests over the comparison group. In addition, the experimental group increased in two of the three sections of the exercise self-efficacy scale indicating greater confidence to participate in physical activities in spite of barriers over the comparison group. The experimental group also increased in knowledge of health related topics over the comparison group at the .05 significance level. Results indicated beneficial outcomes gained by students enrolled in a 16-week health and wellness course. The study has several implications for practitioners, faculty members, educational policy makers and researchers in terms of implementation of strategies to promote healthy behaviors in college students and, to encourage them to engage in regular physical activities throughout their college years.

This study compared the workload and value of work done outside of class reported by 3512 undergraduate students at Brigham Young University completing 16-week semester and 8-week term University Core (General Education and Religion) classes. Based on the results of this analysis, significant differences in workloads were found when comparing them by occasion (semester versus term). Significant differences were also found in workload and value of homework based on the autonomy of the instructors. On average, the workload difference by occasion equates to approximately 54 minutes more per week in a 3-credit semester course when compared to a term course. While term workloads are lighter than semester workloads in general, both could be called "University Core lite," in that none of the courses exceeded the expected workloads of two hours outside of class per hour in class. The value of homework reported by occasion was overall not significantly different between semester and term. When comparing the reported workload based on the autonomy of the instructor to make changes to a course, statistically significant differences were found. Regardless of occasion, workload tended to decrease when the instructor had greater autonomy in designing the course. The difference in the value of homework reported by autonomy was also found to be significant. The pattern for this factor was reversed in comparison to workload. Students reported greater value in the homework done outside of class in courses when the instructor had greater autonomy. Overall, based on calculated workloads coupled with changes instructors made to their term courses, the impact to the course in terms of workloads was greatest for reading- and writing-intensive courses. Each of which reported a substantial decline in workloads when taught in term format. Math and physics courses came closest to meeting the expected workloads and remained constant between semester and terms. These and other implications are discussed, and recommendations are made regarding the types of courses that are best suited to being taught in a time-compressed format.

This qualitative study examines an asynchronous online course from a private university utilizing a template model for all online courses to provide students with consistent navigation and course structure throughout their degree program. The asynchronous online courses are purposely created using three criteria of quality course design: navigation is intuitive, information is chunked, and instructions are written clearly. A two-part usability test was conducted with three internal and three external participants. The two-part usability test focused on course navigation and examined the signaling, segmenting, and coherence principles applied to course content page layouts. Transcripts from the usability tests and observational field notes were coded through an iterative process in Nvivo. Through emic and etic coding, seven main categories were identified: user experience, cognitive load, multimedia learning principles, page design and layout attributes, course navigational attributes, course attributes and information, and participant navigational behavior. The findings for first-day navigation, general navigational behaviors, and perceptions of design elements used to implement the signaling, segmenting, and coherence principle are discussed. Course design recommendations for creating a positive usability experience and suggestions for future research are provided.

University course planning and scheduling is the process of determining what courses to offer, how many sections are needed, determining the best term to offer each section, assigning a faculty member to instruct each section, and scheduling each section to a timeslot to avoid conflicts. The result of this task has an impact on every student and faculty member in the department. The process is typically broken down into three major phases: course offering planning, faculty assignment to planned course sections, and course scheduling into timeslots. This thesis looks at each of these phases for the Industrial and Manufacturing department and brings them together into a decision support and scheduling system. A decision support tool is created to facilitate planning of course offerings. Operations research is applied to assign sections to faculty members using a faculty preference driven integer linear programming model in order to minimize dissatisfaction in the department. Next, the faculty-section pairs are scheduled into university timeslots using a complex integer linear programming model. This scheduling model takes into consideration the faculty member time availability and preferences and general student time slot preferences as it minimizes dissatisfaction while avoiding conflicts among labs, faculty members and courses offered for each class level.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / William P. Winslow III / Synthetic turf has been used extensively for football, soccer, and baseball playing surfaces as a substitute for natural turf because of its increased durability, low maintenance costs, and similar characteristics. The popularity, however, has not extended to golf courses, a seemingly appropriate application. Golf courses are prized for their aesthetic beauty, and their maintenance requires regular, detailed upkeep with particular attention to fairways, tees, greens, hazards, and the surrounding landscape. The combination of regular mowing, watering, grooming, and application of chemicals aim to strengthen the overall appearance of the golf course, but have negative effects on the ecologic and economic values of the golf course. Is it possible to use synthetic turf to reduce the ecologic and economic effects of golf course maintenance, while still providing an aesthetically pleasing playing surface and environment? This study develops three methodologies from the primary areas of concern: ecologic, economic, and aesthetic. The ecologic method uses criteria derived from the Sustainable Sites Initiative. Criteria in the economic method assist in understanding the cost efficiency of synthetic turf over time. Finally, the aesthetic method contains criteria that define characteristics that affect the look of the golf course. These methods are then organized into a metric structure with the respective evaluation criteria. Using the two re-designed options of Lakeside Hills Municipal Golf Course in Olathe, Kansas as the site for application, the methodologies are evaluated for three different scenarios, the traditional turf course, a partial replacement with synthetic turf, and a full replacement, and given a score. This score provides a quantitative value to weigh the ecologic, economic, and aesthetic benefits and constraints of synthetic turf in a golf course application, and important initial step in discovering its viability in the golf course design industry.

Recently, the Texas Department of Transportation began using Permeable Friction Course (PFC), a 5 cm overlay of porous pavement that is applied over conventional pavement. PFC was initially developed because it allows water to drain off the surface of roads much more rapidly, thus reducing visual impairment due to splash and spray as well as reducing the risk of hydroplaning. While investigating the water quality of stormwater runoff, researchers at the University of Texas discovered that PFC caused a reduction in many common stormwater pollutant concentrations. Monitoring of stormwater at one site has been ongoing for 5 years without any indication of a decline in water quality. A second location provided paired samples to analyze the particle size distribution. Results show a significant reduction in the mass of particles commonly associated with heavy metals and nutrient loads. A third location was chosen based on tests indicating it to have a lower hydraulic conductivity relative to other locations. The paired samples provided a comparison of runoff quality at a site believed to be heavily clogged. The results show PFC continues to produce significantly lower runoff pollutant concentrations despite the decreased hydraulic conductivity. / text

This paper is a comparative study of the effectiveness of two methods of teaching a structured introductory art appreciation course for ninth grade students.

This study measures the extent to which the Texas Education Agency's 1963 monograph on drafting, Drafting, Grades 7-12, A Tentative Bulletin, is used in the state's secondary schools and its effects upon classroom activities. Information for the study comes from a questionnaire completed by a random selection of seventy-eight drafting instructors.

The present study is an evaluation of music appreciation courses in selected institutions of higher learning by measuring change in the sensitivity of the students to form and style in unfamiliar music.