Kent State University

About: Kent State University is a education organization based out in Kent, Ohio, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Liquid crystal & Population. The organization has 10897 authors who have published 24607 publications receiving 720309 citations. The organization is also known as: Kent State & KSU.

Gaming science: the "Gamification" of scientific thinking.

Abstract: Science is critically important for advancing economics, health, and social well-being in the twenty-first century. A scientifically literate workforce is one that is well-suited to meet the challenges of an information economy. However, scientific thinking skills do not routinely develop and must be scaffolded via educational and cultural tools. In this paper we outline a rationale for why we believe that video games have the potential to be exploited for gain in science education. The premise we entertain is that several classes of video games can be viewed as a type of cultural tool that is capable of supporting three key elements of scientific literacy: content knowledge, process skills, and understanding the nature of science. We argue that there are three classes of mechanisms through which video games can support scientific thinking. First, there are a number of motivational scaffolds, such as feedback, rewards, and flow states that engage students relative to traditional cultural learning tools. Second, there are a number of cognitive scaffolds, such as simulations and embedded reasoning skills that compensate for the limitations of the individual cognitive system. Third, fully developed scientific thinking requires metacognition, and video games provide metacognitive scaffolding in the form of constrained learning and identity adoption. We conclude by outlining a series of recommendations for integrating games and game elements in science education and provide suggestions for evaluating their effectiveness.

Phase-Separated Composite Films for Liquid Crystal Displays

Abstract: A method of preparing liquid crystal devices by phase separation of liquid crystal from its solution in a prepolymer, which results in adjacent layers of liquid crystal and polymer, is described. Liquid crystals in these phase-separated composite films exhibit electro-optical properties not observed in devices prepared by conventional methods, polymer dispersion, or polymer-stabilization methods. Devices incorporating ferroelectric liquid crystals have gray scale and switch 100 times faster at low fields than conventional surface-stabilized devices. This method makes it possible to prepare devices with liquid crystal film thickness comparable to optical wavelengths.

Divorce and Mental Health Sequelae for Children: A Two-Year Follow-up of a Nationwide Sample

Abstract: This is the initial report of longitudinal findings from the National Association of School Psychologists-Kent State University, nationwide study of the impact of divorce on children. Results are based on multifactored mental health assessment of 110 children from the original sample of 699 children assessed 2 years previously. Consistent with Time-1 analyses, divorced-family children performed more poorly than intact-family children on several indices, and boys showed more adverse effects than did girls. Stability and predictive significance of Time-1 mental health scores were also greater for girls than boys across the 2-year time period. ANCOVAs controlling for family income demonstrated a reduced-number of differences between the groups, whereas controls for child's IQ did not. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry , 24, 5:531–537, 1985.

Mechanical and Nutritional Properties of Food as Factors in Platyrrhine Dietary Adaptations

Abstract: Platyrrhines face a vast array of potential food resources in the Neotropics. Ecological challenges associated with finding, ingesting, masticating, and digesting foods are influenced by food availability and accessibility. Food availability is influenced by seasonal variation in forest productivity, fruiting synchrony, and crop size (e.g., Stevenson 2001; Chapman et al. 2003, but see Milton et al. 2005). Accessibility, on the other hand, is related to such factors as fruit and seed size, the ability to breach mechanically challenging tissues, to tolerate secondary chemical compounds, and to balance nutrient intake. Our goal in this chapter is to examine the diversity of platyrrhine responses to this second variable – gaining access to and processing foods. All platyrrhine genera include fruit in their diets, but the annual percentage of fruit intake ranges widely from 8% in Cebuella to 86% in Ateles (Table 11.1). A wide variety of other resources including exudates, fungi, leaves, flowers, nectar and insect or vertebrate prey make up the balance, or at times the bulk, of annual diets. Some particularly interesting feeding behaviors seen in platyrrhines signal the evolution of specific adaptations. These include the ability to extract and digest plant resources such as gums by Cebuella and Callithrix (Nash 1986; Power and Oftedal 1996), fungi by Callimico (Porter 2001; Porter and Garber 2004; Hanson et al. 2006; Rehg 2006), and seeds by the pitheciins (van Roosmalen et al. 1988; Ayres 1989; Kinzey and Norconk 1990; Kinzey 1992; Peetz 2001; Norconk and Conklin-Brittain 2004). Although gums, seeds and fungi are ingested by other primate species [especially lemurs (Nash 1989; Hemingway 1998) and colobines (Waterman and Kool 1994; Kirkpatrick 1998)], they are used very intensively by these platyrrhines, composing either a majority of their diet during a single season, a subset of the annual diet, or are routinely and extensively used throughout the year.