Digital Commons Network^™

Enhancing Academic Integrity And Facing Academic Dishonesty Afternoon Plenary Session & Wrap-Up, Abbylynn Helgevold, Jennifer Waldron, Disa Lubker Cornish, Brittany Flokstra, Craig Vansandt

Ethics Conference

A core classroom value for many college and university instructors is academic integrity and honesty. Instructors often employ a range of strategies to strengthen academic integrity and limit academic dishonesty in their individual courses. By bringing together panelists from a variety of disciplines and professional experiences, who teach a range of courses in diverse formats, levels, and sizes, this panel aims to generate a discussion about how to support a culture of academic integrity. We will address these issues based on how we think about academic integrity and dishonesty, our discipline or course specific concerns, our physical and institutional environments, …

An Interprofessional Approach To Plagiarism Prevention, Jacqueline Meyer, Lisa Brodersen, Seth Vickers, Dana Wedeking

Ethics Conference

The Graduate Nursing program employs a comprehensive, interprofessional approach to facilitate academic integrity for Master’s of Science in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice students. This panel presentation will address the various facets of this approach, focusing specifically on plagiarism prevention.

An Academic Integrity Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) addresses expectations for students in regard to all aspects of academic integrity, including plagiarism. In addition, this SOP establishes a mechanism for dealing with instances of plagiarism when they occur. As a condition of the SOP, students sign the plagiarism policy at program orientation and annually thereafter. During their “Academic Success and …

Stem Education, Ethics & Communication, Laura Terlip, Jeffrey Brand

Ethics Conference

This session will focus on the need for integrating ethics education in general and communication ethics specifically into K-12 STEM education. The authors will discuss their previous work on science communication and ethics and present the results of a survey conducted to ascertain K-12 educator perceptions about the need to incorporate ethics into K-12 STEM programs.

Factors Contributing To Faculty Research Misconduct, Anita Gordon, Helen Harton

Ethics Conference

This session shares selected results from a national survey, funded by the U.S. Office of Research Integrity, to investigate the perceptions of research misconduct by faculty researchers from four disciplinary areas (biology, social work, sociology, and psychology). About 4,500 faculty from 107 randomly selected research-intensive and master’s comprehensive universities were invited to participate, leading to a response rate of approximately 40%. Respondents assessed scenarios depicting researcher misbehavior and reported how likely they would be to take those actions under the same circumstances. They also rated their perceptions of how wrong the actions were, how likely the actions were to become …

Vulnerability And Children With Disabilities: Ethical Spheres Of Concern In Research And Practice, Chris Kliewer, Susan Etscheidt

Ethics Conference

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requires that research involving children, including highly vulnerable social categories of children, detail adequate provisions to solicit the assent of children (in addition to receiving parental permission). The purpose appears to recognize the autonomy of children.

In this presentation, we raise questions about the autonomy and rights of children in both research projects and educational/therapeutic practices (often the focus of research projects). Commonly, justification for research and/or practices proceeds from two seemingly complementary orientations: (1) a deficit/deficiency model of disability and (2) a utilitarian ethical consideration focused on a rather narrow analysis …

Student Perspectives On Academic Ethics, Laura Terlip, Parker Bennett, Samantha Johannsen, Toril Eintman, Lanie M. Crouse

Ethics Conference

This panel will consist of undergraduate and graduate students who will answer specific questions regarding academic ethics and discuss their positions with the audience. Case study examples will be posed for student/audience discussion and interaction.

The Ethics Of Words In An Ethical (Academic) World, Bill Koch

Ethics Conference

The topic of my presentation was prompted by a question I’ve asked students in my writing class: why is it that colleges almost uniformly require students take courses on writing and speaking in their first year of college? Why do programs like Cornerstone usually consist of courses on writing and speech and not, say, biology and business? Why are words in spoken and written form so important? My presentation will answer these questions and show that the ethical issues related to integrity and cheating can be greatly clarified when students and faculty engage more deeply, radically with their words.

This …

Cheating Resistant Pedagogies: Applying Insights From “Cheating Lessons” In The Classroom, Martha Reineke, Kim Baker, Lisa Brodersen, Timothy Adamson

Ethics Conference

Our panel discussion will focus on James Lang’s Cheating Lessons. Our goal is to capture the attention of any faculty members who suffer from plagiarism fatigue and think that everything that can be said about cheating in higher education has already been said. Our presentation will demonstrate that Lang breaks new ground. He draws on case studies of cheating, but not primarily to teach his readers about why students plagiarize or commit other academic ethics infractions. Rather, Lang invites his readers to treat each case as a distinct lesson in how students learn. Focusing on contextual rather than dispositional factors …

Applying The Model Of Human Occupation In The Development Of Consistent Ethical Behavior, Cindy Hahn, Margo Kreger

Ethics Conference

Health care education programs are struggling in preparing future graduates for ethical practice. Students need to not only develop a better understand ethics, but also value them and learn to self-evaluate their progress in becoming ethical practitioners. To this end, educators need to imbed ethics into all classes and allow for consistent skill practice. Incorporating “habitual” practice can support later consistent skill performance. According to the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) developed by researcher and occupational therapist, Dr. Gary Kielhofner, “habituation is an internalized readiness to exhibit consistent patterns of behavior guided by our habits and roles and fitted to …

Crafting Research Writing Assignments That Emphasize Scholarly Integrity, Jessica Schreyer

Ethics Conference

This presentation will share pedagogical practices for a research writing assignment that emphasizes the development of an ethic of scholarly integrity. Geared for first-year students, the assignment is embedded in a unit on research writing that is designed to helping students understand the research and writing process. Many students are novice researchers, therefore guidance on appropriate citation and the reason for such citation is needed. In addition, students learn about how maintaining detailed records to ensure they can appropriately give credit to authors as they navigate the wide variety and type of sources available. Within this assignment, discussion and reflection …

University Faculty Perceptions Of Research Practices And Misconduct, Anita Gordon, Helen Harton

Ethics Conference

This poster shares selected results from a national survey, funded by the U.S. Office of Research Integrity, to investigate the perceptions of research misconduct by faculty researchers from four disciplinary areas (biology, social work, sociology, and psychology). About 4,500 faculty from 107 randomly selected research-intensive and master’s comprehensive universities were invited to participate, leading to a response rate of approximately 40%. Respondents assessed scenarios depicting researcher misbehavior and reported how likely they would be to take those actions under the same circumstances. They also rated their perceptions of how wrong the actions were, how likely the actions were to become …

Big Opportunities Or Big Problems?: Participants’ Views On Big Data, Helen Harton, Michael Mintz, Kristin Broussard

Ethics Conference

At the most recent convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, there were three symposia dedicated to using big data methodologies for social research. Despite this push for academic researchers to use social networking sites in experimental contexts, popular opinion often reflects negative attitudes towards researchers conducting big data experiments without acquiring fully informed consent from the users whose data is being used. Following a recent study published by Facebook (Kramer, Guillory & Hancock, 2014), concern was raised over how the researchers approached the consent process and managed the harm from perceived privacy violations (Ross, 2014). To more …

The Structure Of Chinese Higher Education Corruption: A Case Statistical Analysis, Qingli Meng

Ethics Conference

Corruption in the Chinese higher educational sector is an increasing concern but it has not been systematically studied. This paper distinguishes three major intermingled structural typologies of corruption in the Chinese higher education sector: academic specific, non-academic specific and a combination of the two. Data supporting this conceptualization come from a case statistical analysis of a non-randomized sample of 215 court decisions on corruption cases detected in Chinese universities during 1994-2009, complemented with a perception-based survey in different Chinese universities. The result postulates taxonomy of the distribution of corruption among the three typologies. This study finds non-academic specific corruption cases …

The Poor Of 1984: The Roots Of George Orwell's Final Novel, James M. Lang

Ethics Conference

Most American readers know George Orwell as the author of 1984 and Animal Farm, and as such consider him a staunch critic of communism and prophet of the surveillance state. But Orwell spent much of his writing career focused on exploring the cause and nature of poverty, and remained a committed socialist until his death. This lecture will put 1984 within the full context of Orwell’s career, and especially his lifelong criticism of big business and laissez-faire capitalism.

Teachers’ Interaction With A Young Child With Asd To Support Language And Communication Skills Development: Comparing Ipad And Non-Ipad Use, Saeed Almalki

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this study was investigating teachers’ interaction with a young child with ASD when they were using iPad to support language and communication skills development. A manipulation-free design was applied. Business-as-usual classroom interaction was analyzed. Utterances were divided into two conditions (iPad-use and non-iPad-use) to compare effectiveness on supporting the child’s engagement in teacher-child interaction. In addition, interviews with teachers were conducted to collect more information about their own perspectives regarding iPad use with the student with ASD. Results of the study indicate that child-teacher joint attention and teachers’ verbal assistance happened more frequently when iPad was not …

Suppression Of Stereotype Threat Negatively Impacts Self-Evaluations And Interpersonal Outcomes, Zheng Li

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

Stereotype threat is the situation when people under the pressure of confirming a negative stereotype that applies to them. Research shows that when people try to suppress the thought of being threatened, they tend to perform even worse. This study examines the effect of suppression of stereotype threat on females’ confidence on a gender-based stereotypical task (about spatial skills and science knowledge) and cross—gender interaction outcome. Participants first completed the moon task and then had a discussion with a male confederate before evaluating the willingness of future interaction and the perception of how the confederate views them. We hypothesized that …

Adolescents And Sexting: The Various Consequences And Strategies For Schools To Respond, Scotti Hagensick

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

Cell phone usage is at an all-time high among teenagers (Lenhart, 2009). As more adolescents utilize cellular devices to communicate, behaviors such as “sexting” have dramatically increased. Known as the sharing of sexually explicit photos, messages, or sexual content, students often report the motivation to sext focuses on gaining popularity or status with the opposite gender (Vanden Abeele, Campbell, Eggermont, & Roe, 2014). Unfortunately, for many teens, sexting often results in serious consequences including potentially registering as a sex offender and/or facing child pornography charges. In many cases, individual states are not clear on sexting and its legality for minors, …

Suicidal And Non-Suicidal Self-Injury, Taylor Ash

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

A literature review over the differences between suicidal and non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents. This review looks into several factors and differences about why adolescents engage in the behaviors, reactions they receive when asking for help, and implications for future practice.

Influx Of Child Immigrants To The United States: Policy & Practice Implications, Megan Vogt

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

This qualitative study helps individuals to recognize what the United States and the state of Iowa are doing for the children coming from the countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Through interviews, the research was able to identify what other resources are still needed in helping the children capture a better life.

An American’S Paris: Tourism And The American Consumer, 1947-1961, Margaret Nervig

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

In 1947, a group of twenty-two farmers from the state of Iowa traveled to Europe for a month-long trip around the continent’s top destinations. Their primary mission, as outlined in Life Magazine, was to investigate European farming practices, particularly agricultural methods and food needs in the postwar period.The article included photos of the Iowans visiting French farms and speaking with farmers but also included a full-page photo of the Iowans at a Parisian nightclub, complete with scantily clad women. Despite their agriculturally-based intentions, these Midwestern farmers could not resist a taste of Parisian culture.

This type of imagery is only …

Professional Development: A Key To Success In The Student Affairs Field, Lauren Wypiszynski

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

The purpose of the professional development plan is to provide the Department of Residence Life staff, at the University of Northern Iowa, with a tool to help professionals meet their goals and learning outcomes. At the start of the 2014-2015 academic year, professionals in the department were asked to complete a survey designed to evaluate the developmental opportunities in the Department of Residence, at the University of Northern Iowa, and outside of the University. The survey also provided professionals with an opportunity to indicate various methods for professional development, which they believed would be effective avenues for discussing various professional …

The Effects Of Metolachlor Exposure In Thp-1 Alveolar And Monocyte And Macrophage Cellular Functions, Jared Parmater

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

The goal of this study is to examine and analyze the effects of a widely used herbicide, Metolachlor, on the normal functions and processes of human alveolar monocytes and macrophages. Specifically, it will examine the functions of phagocytosis, apoptosis and the production reactive oxygen species within these cells.

Rock Against Reagan: Punk Rock, Politics, And The 1984 Presidential Election, Jonathan Kyle Williams

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

Punk Rock was more than just a style of music, but instead a cultural and political movement. During the 1984 Presidential Election punks from across the U.S. gathered at "Rock Against Reagan" concerts to demonstrate their opposition to not just the president but also the ideology of the New Right.

Identification Of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo By Teachers, Rachel Meisinger

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

Children with Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) are characterized by a hypoactive, sluggish behavior pattern that does not fully fit the conceptualization of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as was previously believed. Interest in this topic has surged recently, perhaps due to the fact that many researchers now view SCT as a construct that exists outside of ADHD (Barkley, 2014). SCT is associated with unique etiology, impairment, and comorbidities. Unlike ADHD, SCT represents a more passive form of inattention that may not disrupt the classroom. Thus, SCT may go unnoticed despite the fact that it is related to many academic and social …

Impact Of Student Organizations On The Development Of Core Competencies, Stanley Somtochukwu Ebede

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

Higher education has a significant impact on the development of critical skills that improve students’ academic outcomes. However, academic institutions have not adequately focused more on the role of student organizations in supporting and improving student outcomes. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate students' perception of the development of core competencies during their experiences at comprehensive Midwestern university, specifically examining the differences of those involved in student organizations to those not involved.

The impact of student organizations on the development of core competencies will be assessed using a survey that was designed around the core competencies outlined …

Predictors Of Racial Prejudice: A Meta-Analysis Of The Influence Of Religion And Political Orientation, Kristin Broussard

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of religion and political orientation on racial prejudice through meta-analysis. 153 independent studies were analyzed with a random effects model using the Robumeta package in R, and moderator analyses were conducted for year of data and region of the U.S.

Self-Enhancement In Relation To Ptsd Stigma, Corina Klein

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

The majority of the population will experience at least one potentially traumatic event (PTE) in their lifetime, however, only about 10-20% of those people will develop a chronic, adverse reaction to the event. One factor that may help to explain resistance to PTSD is self-enhancement. Self-enhancement is a tendency to view oneself in an overly positive manner, even despite evidence to the contrary. Although this has been found to work as a barrier against PTSD, it may also perpetuate the biggest barrier to PTSD treatment: public stigma. This study examined the multiple ways that self-enhancement functions within the realm of …

1:1 Technology Programs Impact On Iowa Schools, Kong Chen, Palmer Scott, Noor Albayat, Ghader Albayat, Danielle Stubbs

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this research is to examine school-based use and student outcomes of 1:1 technology initiative. Qualitative methodology was used to understand one district’s process implementing 1:1 technologies. Guiding this exploration was an interpretivist paradigm that facilitated understanding the district’s intent, motivation, planning, and results of 1:1 implementation.

Mindfulness Tools For Veterans With Ptsd, Amy Davison

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

This is a literature review on mindfulness tools to enhance coping skills for veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Traditional and modern techniques were studied extensively.

Lifeguard Fitness Readiness: Certification Vs. Qualification, Jacob Rasmussen

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

Among lifeguard certifying bodies, there is a lack of minimum cardio and strength requirements. Once certified, it is assumed that a lifeguard is physically able to perform rescues. This study will review in-service logs for cardio and strength components within lifeguard training to design appropriate in-service fitness readiness guidelines.