The introduction of evolution in the ‘new’ Grade 12 life sciences curriculum in 2008 has created many challenges for life sciences teachers. The curriculum requires teachers to integrate evolution in all aspects of their teachings. The literature reveals that many life sciences teachers teach the concept of evolution in isolation and fail to integrate the topic as the underlying principle of Biology. Various studies conclude that teachers’ understandings and beliefs about the NOS no doubt influence their classroom instruction. This study explores life sciences teachers’ understanding of the NOS when teaching the theory of evolution. The NOS is used as the framing concept of the study. My research is a case study of three experienced life sciences teachers. Data was obtained from questionnaires, classroom observations and interviews with the teachers. This data provided valuable insight into the teachers’ understanding of the NOS as well as the way in which this understanding influences their pedagogical practices. Furthermore I was able to develop some understanding of why teachers teach evolution in the way that they do. The instruments were analysed qualitatively. The findings were reported as narratives and reveal that the teachers have different levels of understanding of the NOS. These different understandings have a profound influence on their understanding of evolution, however their understanding of the NOS did not have the same effect on the manner in which they taught evolution. While all three teachers had some misunderstandings, two teachers were able to teach evolution without demonstrating these misconceptions, while one teacher was not. Furthermore, there are also a number of additional factors such as exam-driven approaches, teacher identity, controversy surrounding the theory of evolution, and finally, lack of resources that impact negatively on the way evolution is taught. In conclusion I offer strategies to improve life sciences teachers’ understanding of the NOS and evolution and highlights areas for further research. / M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.

The objective of the above project is to present a tool that can be used by educators in landscape architecture and architecture to affect how students, as designers, gather and manipulate poetic and descriptive material used in designing landscapes and places. The design tool, a set of skill sheets, each of which uses language, literature, and metaphorical thinking as primary components, is designed to exercise a way of seeing and thinking about landscapes that provides access to potential design material. The ultimate intended effect of the use of this tool is to enhance the descriptive significance of student work. Within the context of this project, descriptive significance is defined as work that is 1) original, i.e., an expression of individual insight as a result of the process of engaging one's critical faculties of observation, perception, thought, and imagination; 2) context-related, i.e., related to the specifics of place including thenatural, physical/environmental, cultural, and historic context; 3) environmentally sound, i.e., respecting sensitive natural and environmental interrelationships; 4) wellcrafted i.e., attentive to the inherent. qualities of the design materials used; and work that 5) contributes to an understanding of the specifics of place, i.e., reveals something significant about a particular landscape or place. / Department of Landscape Architecture

This study was designed to answer the following research questions: "To what extent do undergraduate health education programs offer a worksite health promotion course?" "What are the components included in the worksite health promotion courses offered by colleges and universities?" "Does program approval or accreditation impact whether or not a program offers a worksite health promotion course?" and "Does CHES preparation of students impact whether or not a program offers a worksite health promotion course?"Data were collected from colleges/universities across the nation using a written, mailed questionnaire. From the analysis of the data it was found that 24.7% of the undergraduate health education programs surveyed offer a worksite health promotion course, none of the components on the checklist were present in all WHP course syllabi, there does not appear to be a statistically significant relationship between a program having SABPAC approval or having NCATE accreditation and the offering of the WHP course, and there does not appear to be a statistical significant relationship between a program preparing it students for the CHES examination in the offering of a WHP course. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

This study examined curriculum and instructional strategies that would address the educational needs of African American males in a college composition course. Traditional roles of didactic teacher expecting students to absorb facts are unbeneficial for African American males. As I began teaching a composition course, with a predominant population of African American male students, I understood the modern curriculum model was ineffective in engaging students and developing academic and personal potential. I searched for another curriculum, which accommodated Afrocentric ideals of the African American community and the learning styles of the men. Central to Afrocentric values are cooperation, a spirit of collectivity, relationships, and respect; these values can be incorporated into a post-modern approach to curriculum development for a college composition course. The question, ‘What is College Level Writing’ posed by Sullivan and Tinberg, provided four principles that college writing possess. These principles were used to evaluate whether components of Afrocentric and Doll’s curriculum supported college writing skills. Hip hop is one literary life experience to utilize in the classroom. The learner is asked to reflect, interact and question cultural and academic concepts through discussions and student based learning. Incorporation of Afrocentric ideals through dialogue, alternative viewpoints and information strengthen instruction and learning. Doll encourages thinking and self-identity growth. By utilizing Doll post-modern curriculum, Sullivan’s four principles of college composition and Afrocentricism for my African American male students, I am able to design a culturally responsive pedagogy. / Department of Educational Studies

Research in psychological type theory – especially that done by Jensen and DiTiberio on type and composition – has offered writing teachers another way to understand the different writing processes of their students. One aspect of composition that has not been researched with regard to psychological type theory is the writing style of students. This study proposes a relationship between psychological type theory (specifically the sensing and intuition continuum) and the writing styles of First Year Composition students. Seventy-two students participated in the study, taking the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) and submitting their diagnostic essays to be analyzed using Corbett's stylistic analysis. The results suggest a relationship between writing style and personality type that teachers can use to tailor lesson plans for students (in areas such as revision and audience awareness) to increase student growth. / Department of English

The purpose of this experimental pilot study was to examine the relationship of nutrition knowledge, dietary habits, and nutrition behavior of collegiate men and women athletes at a Midwestern University (Ball State University) in Indiana. Other variables examined included demographic information. To evaluate and improve the nutrition knowledge and dietary practices among men and women Division I athletes, a series of four nutrition education classes was designed to increase nutrition knowledge and bring awareness of the specific nutritional concerns facing athletes. Subjects consisted of eighteen collegiate men and women swimmers at Ball State University in Indiana. Results indicated a four point increase (p≤0.001) in knowledge between pre and post nutrition education from 22.5 to 26.8 correct points out of 31 questions in both men and women subjects. A significant behavior change was seen in all eighteen athletes for five out of the six questions when pre and post nutrition education behavior change was measured. Nutrition education positively affected dietary habits among subjects when assessing protein and fat in men; and calcium and vegetable intake for both men and women. These specific findings suggest the effectiveness of nutrition education among collegiate athletes. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

This study examined the effect of inequality framing (White advantage, Black disadvantage, or both Black disadvantaged and White advantage information simultaneously) on academic disengagement, persistence, and racial attitudes among European American college students (N = 97). The results showed that racial inequality information framed as a White advantage, Black disadvantage, or as both a White advantage and Black disadvantage did not significantly impact participants’ levels of academic disengagement, persistence, or racial attitudes. The results suggested that racial inequality can be discussed using various frameworks without influencing advantaged students negatively. Additionally, the results provided support for continuing the discussion of racial inequality topics to advantaged students. / Department of Psychological Science

There is no abstract available for this thesis. / Department of Computer Science

The purpose of this creative project was to advance scholarship in areas suffering a lack of attention by Ball State University. Exploring a broader scope of Irish writing than most theses would cover, this project could easily be incorporated by other universities which share Ball State's departmental impotence with regard to Irish literary studies. I chose a time frame of two-hundred years to focus attention for this course.My directed readings from my project chairperson and my research at the Dublin Writers Museum led me to the design of this hypothetical course in contemporary Irish Literary Studies. I chose texts from 1801-Present which examine the varied cultural assumptions that various sects of the Irish citizenry hold, as depicted in their literature. What I found is that as time progresses, the emphasis toward violent preservation of cultural identity increases literally. This portfolio maps out those assumptions via Irish literature. / Department of English

The purpose of the present study was to investigate Korean EFL learners' judgments of countability of English nouns because a correct judgment of noun countability is a key factor for the appropriate use of English indefinite articles and noun phrases. To investigate the subjects' judgments of noun countability and how they are related to the use of English indefinite articles and noun phrases, fourteen hypotheses were set forth and four task types were designed.Participants were 115 Korean college EFL students and they were given four tasks: a task of judgment of countability of nouns in isolation OCT), a task of judgment of countability of nouns in context (JCC), a fill-in-the-blank task (FB), and an error correction task (EC).Overall the subjects showed a flexible notion of countability. There was a statistically significant difference between their performance of JCI and JCC. There was a positive relation between their judgments of countability in three contexts (isolation, context, and overall context) and their performance on the indefinite articles in FB.There was no relationship between their performance of JCC and OJC (overall judgment of countability) and the indefinite articles in EC.With respect to JCI, a statistically significant difference was found between the performance of the low and advanced learners and between the performance of the intermediate and advanced learners, but it was not found between the performance of the low and intermediate learners.In regard to JCC, no statistically significant difference was found between the performance of the low and intermediate learners and between the performance of the intermediate and advanced learners. A statistically significant difference was found only between the performance of the low and advanced learners.The participants performed better on the count use of concrete nouns than on the noncount use of concrete nouns, whereas they performed better on the noncount use of abstract nouns than on the count use of abstract nouns.There was an interaction between proficiency and the noncount use of concrete nouns, while no interaction was found between proficiency and the count use of abstract nouns. / Department of English