Digital Commons Network^™

The Use Of Metacognitive Verbs By A Student With Asd: Marking Perspective In Conversational Discourse During Narrative Intervention, Mary Ann Hammon Stenquist

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of this study was to assess whether a program designed to teach narrative language skills was effective for improving the use of metacognitive verbs produced during conversations that took place during intervention to mark perspective.

Reimagining The Rhetorical Canons For Professional Communication Pedagogy, Jocelin A. Gibson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

One of the most significant challenges for professional communication educators is identifying and providing the skills students need to succeed in their careers. The rapidly evolving professional landscape complicates this identification; the skills a college student needs when she enters the program could be dramatically different from what she needs when she graduates. A crucial change in the past decade is the shift from a largely solo composing environment to one featuring distributed work, in which professional communicators “find themselves becoming "dividuals" – one part writer, one part project manager, one part programmer, one part student”; this has them involved …

Implementation Of Online Tutoring Program To Increase University Student Information Retention, April Litchford

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis discusses an online tutoring program, MasteringNutrition©, that was implemented as a required portion of an entry level collegiate nutrition course. The tutoring program was introduced to test the ability of the program to improve memory of nutrition information taught during the course. The MasteringNutrition© program combines various teaching techniques that have been successful in increasing student learning. The major techniques discussed include: Socratic questioning, metacognition, and problem based learning. These techniques are incorporated into the MasteringNutrition© program.

To test the effect of the Mastering© tutoring program, ten questions specific to course learning objectives were asked of students in …

The Effects Of Unidirectional Peer Tutoring On Mathematics Outcomes For Students With Learning Disabilities In An Inclusive, Secondary Setting, Daniel Pyle

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Students with disabilities included in general education settings often require varying levels of supports and services to execute classroom routines effectively while maximizing their learning opportunities. One support that holds potential to increase outcomes for students with disabilities in general education settings is peer tutoring. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects that a targeted, unidirectional tutoring intervention had on the math outcomes for students with learning disabilities in a Secondary Mathematics I class. High school students that had advanced skills in mathematics served as interventionists (i.e., peer tutors) and were trained to deliver the unidirectional …

The Impact Of Computer-Adaptive Benchmark Data And Assessment Literacy On Student Achievement And Motivation In Mathematics, Sheryl J. Rushton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Over the past several decades there has been an emphasis in educational research on student assessment and achievement in mathematics. Formative assessments are designed to inform the instructional decision making process and require assessment literacy to interpret and use data provided by these assessments. Many teachers and students were lacking assessment literacy; therefore, they were unable to adjust their instruction and study habits to increase student performance on summative assessments.

This study investigated the impact Scholastic Math Inventory (SMI) benchmarks and assessment literacy training had on summative assessments and student motivation in mathematics. The researcher analyzed unit posttest scores and …

Student Engagement In Lds Seminaries, Thomas P. Aardema

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This qualitative study examined student engagement in seminaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). This study sought to answer the following question: "What are seminary teachers, who have been identified by content experts as having high levels of student engagement, doing to generate high levels of student engagement in their classrooms?" Ten LDS Seminary teachers were selected as participants for this study. The findings from this study were organized around the concepts of: competence, school membership, clarity of purpose, fairness, personal support, caring, authentic work, extrinsic reward, intrinsic interests, sense of ownership, connection to real-world application, …

Using Short-Term Environmental Education Programs To Increase Student Learning And Elicit Positive Attitude Change, Tiffany Kinder

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Short-term environmental education programs such as water festivals and field days are a common outreach tool for watershed programs, yet little is known about their effectiveness at increasing knowledge and environmental awareness. To address this question, I conducted a formal assessment by pre- and post-testing 1400 fourth-grade students who participated in a field day at a Forest Service campground in northern Utah. During the day, each child spent approximately one hour engaged in water-related activities, with an emphasis on aquatic macroinvertebrates and water quality. My research focused on whether this single hour was sufficient to change both knowledge and interest …

The Development And Implementation Of A Hierarchical Model To Measure The Effects Of Instructional Coaching On Student Achievement, Logan Thomas Toone

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A large suburban school district in northern Utah implemented an elementary school instructional coaching program intended to increase student achievement in reading and mathematics. Program administrators wished to determine the degree to which certain elements of instructional coaching affected student achievement. This no-cost study began with the collection of student achievement data (from state reading and math assessments), coaching data (from time logs), and demographic data (from the district database). Data were analyzed within a three-level hierarchical linear model to determine the predicted effect of coaching on student achievement outcomes.

Coaching factors included the length of time coaches spent with …

A Sensory-Based Multi-Component School-Based Nutrition Intervention Among Fifth-Grade Students, Stacy Lyn Bevan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The nutritional status of children is declining as evidenced by the steady rise in childhood obesity rates over the last three decades. Consuming five servings of fruit and vegetables (FV) daily has shown to help with weight maintenance, but children are consuming far less than the recommended servings. This study was designed to test the efficacy of a sensory-focused multi-component school-based program at increasing vegetable intake among fifth-graders. Classroom, family, and community components allowed children to explore thirteen target vegetables with their senses including taste. Vegetable consumption was measured by digitalized observations of lunchtime vegetable selection and consumption. Vegetable acceptance …

Strides Towards Better Application Security, Sathyaraj Balasubramanian

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Static analysis tools analyze source code for vulnerabilities. However, these types of tools suffer from various problems that limit their effectiveness. This thesis examines these static analysis tools and suggests techniques for making them more efficient at detecting different types of vulnerabilities.

The thesis further analyzes possible causes for these vulnerabilities by examining the source code written by programmers of various categories. Finally, this thesis discusses solutions and techniques to improve general security awareness as well as the importance of secure coding among the students and software developers.

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Telepresence-Enabled Cognitive Apprenticeship Model Of Teacher Professional Development, R. Shawn Edmondson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This exploratory research used a mixed-methods design to compare the effectiveness of a telepresence-enabled cognitive apprenticeship model of teacher professional development (TEAM-PD) to that of a traditional workshop model by examining outcomes in teacher pedagogy and student achievement. Measures of the degree to which teachers in both groups enacted mathematics pedagogy provided mixed results. Both groups demonstrated similar patterns of behavior and cognition, indicating modest levels of pedagogy implementation. Although the experimental group demonstrated higher levels of enactment of the mathematics pedagogy, the comparison group demonstrated a faster rate of growth. Student outcome data were clear: students of teachers in …

The Benefits Of Optimism In A Student-Instructor Relationship, Johnathan Kyle Nelson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The positive psychology movement of the past decade has produced an impressive amount of psychological literature devoted to studying the best of human attributes such as resilience, commitment, and optimism. This dramatic increase in available literature on optimism highlights a heightened awareness and interest in human proficiency, when so much of psychology has been traditionally devoted to the study of human deficiency. This research has lead to an increased understanding of what characteristics of an individual lead to facilitate various activities such as problem solving, leadership ability, income, achievement, sales, and job satisfaction. This study explored the relationship between positive …

Student And Parent Views On School And Community Strengths And Concerns, Tricia Hill Danielson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Lincoln Elementary School needs assessment surveyed students in the third through fifth grades and their parents in order to identify strengths and concerns in their school and community. It also investigated whether or not participants considered family counseling skills as a concern or a strength. The results showed that the concerns and strengths identified by participants fell into three categories: family, community, and school. Parents' primary concern was children watching TV, while children's primary concern was getting enough sleep. Group differences were identified by ethnicity, gender, and marital status. These differences included English/Spanish skills, children showing respect for authority, …

Effects Of Student Self-Management On Generalization Of Student Performance To Regular Classes, Lloyd Douglas Peterson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The use of a student self-monitoring and self-rating/teacher matching strategy to assist generalization of social skills use and decrease off-task behavior of five inner-city at-risk middle school students was investigated. A multiple-baseline design was used to assess the effects of the intervention in up to six different class settings. Results indicated that the self-monitoring and self-rating/teacher matching intervention led to an increase in correct social skills use and a decrease in off-task behaviors with all five students. These data add to the existing literature, suggesting self-monitoring with self-rating/teacher matching is an effective procedure to promote generalization of behavior. Implications for …

Using A Classwide Peer-Assisted Self-Management Program To Improve Classroom Behavior Of Secondary-Age At-Risk Students, Katherine J. Mitchem

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Classroom management is still one of the top-rated concerns of general educators and public school administrators, even though there exist a number of empirically supported interventions that improve classroom behavior. The current research, consisting of two studies, examined the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of one of these interventions, a classwide peer-assisted, self-management program. Using a multiple baseline design across classes, the first study investigated the effects of the Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) Game on appropriate classroom behavior of three classes of seventh-grade language arts students and of 10 target at-risk students. The PAL Game consisted of teacher instruction in self-management and …

High School And University Student Test Performance In The Study Of Human Growth And Development: A Concurrent Enrollment Study, Harold O. Monson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Concurrent enrollment of high school students in college classes is becoming more common but it has not been clear if high school students can learn the material as well as college students. This study examined high-school and college students' learning by exposing them to the same text, a similar lesson plan, and the same test questions, while controlling for demographic, attitudinal, and experiential variables. Two questions were addressed: (a) Was there a practical difference between high school and college students in their ability to learn the material; and (b) was there a difference in the way they learned the material? …

Teacher Strategies To Improve Pupil Self-Concept, Kathleen L. Van Horn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to assess the effects of the Utah State University Pupil Self-Concept Program on the performance of inservice elementary school teachers and on the self-concepts of pupils in their classrooms. Four volunteer teachers were trained in the Self-Concept behaviors as part of an inservice course. A single-subject multiple baseline design was used to determine teacher effects for these four teachers. The first teacher was the main subject, and the study was then directly replicated three times using the other three experimental teachers. Data on these four subjects were collected through observation of program-related teacher behaviors. …

Three Ordered Sets Of Factors And Their Relationship To Act Scores, Thomas J. Russo

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

There has been in recent years a marked decline in college entrance examination test scores. Declines have been documented both on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Testing Program (ACT). In turn there has been an increasing interest concerning the test score declines as well as possible sources of influence on test scores. These sources or factors seem to be functions of three main "contexts." These contexts are: (a) school-related factors, (b) student-related factors and (c) family-structure related factors. It was of interest to attempt to explain the relative association of each variable to composite ACT scores …

The Effect Of A Nutrition Program On Knowledge Of Nutrition And Nutrition Attitudes And Practices Of Fifth Grade Students In Granite School District, Nancy Brubaker Sorensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a six week nutrition program in terms of its effect on nutrition knowledge and its effect on food practices and attitudes. A survey of the dietary food intake was also made. Fifth grade students in Granite School District, Salt Lake City, Utah, were the participants. A pretest and a postest were used to determine the effect of the program. The tests showed that cognitive knowledge increased in many areas, attitudes became more positive and there was little improvement in dietary intake. Dietary intake was low in fruits, vegetables and milk but adequate …

The Indian Student Placement Program As A Means Of Increasing The Education Of Children Of Selected Indian Families, Geraldine T. Lindquist

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this paper was: (1) To compare the number of years of formal education of participants in the Latter-Day Saints Indian Student Placement Program with those that had not participated. (2) To see if the number of years a student participates in the Indian Student Placement Program had an effect on the amount of formal education he receives. (3) To compare the future educational and employment plans of the two groups. (4) To see how students evaluated their educational program.

The results showed no differences between the two groups in number of years of formal education, future educational …

Teaching Critical Thinking Through Student Self Analysis Of Video Taped Seminar Discussions, James M. Miller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The main objective of the Cedar High School (C.H.S.) study was to develop a curriculum that would be useful to the social studies educator interested in teaching critical thinking skills to high school students. The model for teaching critical thinking that was followed during the C.H.S. study included three requirements. The first was to identify those critical thinking skills that would be useful to students during discussion of controversial issues. The second requirement of the critical thinking model was to teach these context specific critical thinking skills to students. This requirement was met by using a variety of materials, including …

An Evaluation Of Selected Aspects Of The Student Teaching Program In Physical Education At Utah State University, Clifford R. Andreasen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was an attempt to determine through a survey of opinions to what extent the objectives, methods and procedures were effectively being accomplished in the professional preparation of student teachers in physical education at Utah State University.

A questionnaire was developed and administered to student teachers who were currently completing their student teaching experience, and mailed to graduates who had completed their preparation program between 1966 and 1971.

The areas surveyed, the pre-student teaching preparation, the assistance given by the university supervisor and the assistance rendered by the cooperating teacher were for the most part found to be adequate …

An Experiment To Determine The Effectiveness Of A Remedial Reading Program With Students At Utah State University, Judith J. Ivarie

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of 20 hours of remedial reading instruction as compared with 20 hours of vocabulary instruction on a select group of university freshmen in the Remedial English Program. Three measures of effectiveness used were comprehension, rate, and effective reading rate. The effective reading rate was determined by computing the arithmetic product of level of comprehension and rate of reading. The results indicated that for this particular population, using the materials and instructional techniques described, neither group increased reading rate at the .01 level of significance. The effective reading rate of the …

The Self-Concept And Self-Actualization Of University Faculty In Relation To Student Perceptions Of Effective Teaching, A. Paul King

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between student ratings of university instructors and instructors' self-concept and self-actualization. During the academic year 1970-71, students rated faculty members teaching undergraduate courses from the "Illinois Course Evaluation Questionnaire", Instructors rated high or in the top three deciles were defined in this study as "good" or "effective" teachers, and those rated low or in the lower three deciles were defined as "poor" or "ineffective" instructors. Sixty-eight percent or 118 of the instructors in these categories submitted to two psychological tests--the "Index of Adjustment and Values" and the …

An Evaluation Of The Collegiate Experience Of The Usu Student, Mark G. Christensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The American College Testing Program's Institutional Self-Study Survey was used in this study to consider USU students' goals, achievements, and evaluations of their collegiate experience. Goals included were students' educational majors, vocational plans, final college degree sought, and the relative importance attached to attaining Vocational, Academic, Social, and Non-Conventional goals. Achievements studied were both intellectual and nonacademic out-of-class accomplishments, and students' perceived progress in achieving Intellectual-Humanistic, Group-Welfare, Scientific-Independent, and Practical-status outcomes of their collegiate experience. Student evaluations of instructors, college services, selected policies, practices, facilities, and required courses were also studied. National normative data were compared with USU data in …

Teacher's Attitudes And Teacher's And Student's Knowledge Of Alcohol And Alcoholism In Selected Utah High Schools, Ladawn Anderson Gibbons

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A comparison of teacher's attitudes and teacher's and student's knowledge of alcohol and alcoholism were studied in nine selected high schools in Utah.

It was found that some teachers knew important positive facts about alcohol and alcoholism, but when personal obligations were written into "attitude" questions, their responses changed.

Some health and driver education teachers were poorly informed on the subject of alcohol and alcoholism. Some important facts known by teachers were either being deleted from instruction on alcohol or not being communicated very well.

In some schools it appears that students are learning about alcohol and alcoholism from other …

Leisure Time Activities And Interests Of Utah State University Students, Diana E. Weaver

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The problem under investigation was to determine the leisure time activities and interests of Utah State University students. A questionnaire was circulated to a stratified-random sample group of 654 students from the nine colleges chosen by sex and class rank, spring quarter 1968. The students answered questions concerning their participation in recreation activities on campus, off campus, and as a spectator; no interest to participate in certain recreation activities; and desire to participate in recreation activities but did not for various reasons.

The results indicated that the majority of the students satisfy on and off campus activity participation needs through …

Student Achievement Effort As Related To Achievement And Self Concept, Michael Lynn Maughan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was designed to investigate more completely the variable of achievement effort (effort in school) as related to self rating, teacher rating, student self concept, actual achievement, and sex differences.

A group of 198 sixth grade students were used as the experimental subjects. Five sets of data were obtained on the students: (a) students' self ratings on an achievement effort rating scale, (b) teachers' ratings of their students on the same achievement effort rating scale, (c) students' scores on a self concept scale, (d) students' performances on an achievement test, and (e) students' performances on an intelligence test. Partial …

Student Income And Spending Patterns At Utah State University, Jesse Rodney Dansie

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A large number of students have entered Cache County to attend Utah State University. These students are of economic significance to Cache County in two ways. First, they are buyers of consumer goods in the Cache County in two ways. First, they are buyers of consumer goods in the Cache Trade Area. Second, they represent a part of the labor forces in Cache County. The magnitude and nature of the economic activity of Utah State University students in Cache County have never been adequately measured.

It is the purpose of this study to develop marketing and economic facts concerning Utah …

Consumer Credit Knowledge And Credit Use In A Selected Group Of Married Student Households At Utah State University, Kay Daun P. Edwards

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Consumer credit has become an area of major importance in the financial planning of most, if not all, families in the United States. In absolute amounts, total consumer credit extended had increased more than 11 times, from $5,665 million to $63,164 million, since the end of World War II to 1962; and total installment credit had increased more than 19 times. During the same period disposable personal income had grown only about 2½ times (15).