Education Commons^™

Writing Center: Impact Analysis Fall 2014 To Fall 2018, Amanda M. Hagman, Kendall Becker, Susan B. Andersen, Star Coulbrooke, Erik Dickamore, Jasilyn Heaps

Publications

The Utah State University (USU) Writing Center is dedicated to empowering students to express their knowledge and ideas in writing. Their approach promotes academic inquiry, critical thinking, and expressions of diversity. While research and evaluation suggest that the Writing Center significantly impacts student academic performance, the impact on student persistence is not yet clear. This report explores the association between USU’s Writing Center and students’ persistence toward graduation. METHODS: Students’ Writing Center use was captured through student log-ins at writing appointments. Students who had a record of using the Writing Center were compared to similar students who did not have …

New Student Orientation: Impact Analysis Fall 2017 To Spring 2019, Amanda M. Hagman, Jacob Van Den Akker, Erik Dickamore, Lisa Simmons

Publications

The transition to university represents a major life change more incoming students. To facilitate this transition, USU adopted a phased-orientation system that provides students information justin- time for use. Currently, Module 3 can be completed either in-person or online. This analysis explores both the impact of the phased-orientation modules and the impact of completing Module 3 online verse in-person on student persistence to the next term. METHODS: First students who completed Module 3 online were compared to students who completed Module 3 in-person. Next students who completed all 5 modules were compared to students who only completed the required modules. …

Fraternity & Sorority Life: Impact Analysis Spring 2016 To Fall 2019, Erik Dickamore, Paige Eidenschink, Amanda M. Hagman

Publications

Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) is a valued part of the USU community It connects students with leadership and philanthropic opportunities throughout their time at university. Many students cite their time spent associated with FSL as one of the biggest contributing factors of their university experience. METHODS: Student’s membership in a FSL is recorded each semester on rosters. These rosters were used in identifying which students participated in FSL. Students were compared using prediction-based propensity score matching. Students who participated in FSL were matched with non-participating students based on their persistence predication and their propensity to participate. FINDINGS: Students were …

Leveraging Local Resources And Contexts For Inclusive Computer Science Classrooms: Reflections From Experienced High School Teachers Implementing Electronic Textiles, Mia S. Shaw, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Background and context

Promoting open-ended projects presents new opportunities and challenges for inclusive teaching in CS classrooms. While efforts have been made to develop inclusive curricula, little research has focused on ways teachers apply curricula in their classrooms to promote inclusion.

Objective

To understand the challenges faced in facilitating an open-ended unit and the pedagogical strategies enacted to address those challenges, we analyze the self-reported teaching practices that experienced teachers developed in their implementation of a constructionist electronic textiles unit in Exploring Computer Science.

Method

We inductively analyzed and coded 17 experienced teachers’ weekly surveys and post-interviews.

Findings

Teachers …

Usu Stars! Gear Up: Fall 2018 To Spring 2019, Erik Dickamore, Amanda M. Hagman, Doug Reiter, Jim Dorward, Mitchell Colver

Publications

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is a federally funded program designed to prepared secondary students for college. USU has received several of these competitive grants to work with middle and high school students throughout Utah. This analysis explores how GEAR Up students utilized services. Use patterns were regressed on college enrollment. METHODS: Latent profile analysis (LPA) is a powerful tool for uncovering common response patterns across multiple continuous variables. Following the LPA, the common response patterns were regressed on post-secondary enrollment. FINDINGS: The latent profile analysis exposed 4 well-defined use patterns across the GEAR UP …

Developing And Validating Stealth Assessments For An Educational Game To Assess Young Dual Language Immersion Learners' Reading Comprehension, Frederick J. Poole

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this multiple-paper dissertation is to design a digital game and stealth assessments within the game to assess young second language learners' Chinese reading proficiency. In Chapter 2 (Paper 1), I describe the game designed for this dissertation and how it was implemented in a dual language immersion classroom. This study found that the digital game and in-class implementation led to significant vocabulary and reading comprehension gains. Further, seven types of support that students needed while playing the game were identified. In Chapter 3 (Paper 2), I describe how educational data mining approaches, and more specifically, how data-driven …

Finding A Fit: Biological Science Doctoral Students’ Selection Of A Principal Investigator And Research Laboratory, Michelle A. Maher, Annie M. Wofford, Josipa Roksa, David F. Feldon

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In the laboratory-based disciplines, selection of a principal investigator (PI) and research laboratory (lab) indelibly shapes doctoral students’ experiences and educational outcomes. Framed by the theoretical concept of person–environment fit from within a socialization model, we use an inductive, qualitative approach to explore how a sample of 42 early-stage doctoral students enrolled in biological sciences programs made decisions about fitting with a PI and within a lab. Results illuminated a complex array of factors that students considered in selecting a PI, including PI relationship, mentoring style, and professional stability. Further, with regard to students’ lab selection, peers and research projects …

Towards The Effective Implementation Of Collaborative Problem Solving In Undergraduate Engineering Classrooms: Co-Designing Guidelines For Teaching Assistants, Saadeddine Shehab, Luettamae Lawrence, Emma Mercier, Anthony Salvatore Margotta, Elizabeth Renee Livingston, Mariana Silva, Taylor Tucker

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Typically, in higher education STEM classes, teaching assistants (TAs) perform teaching duties such as leading and running discussion sections where students apply concepts they have encountered in lectures. Nevertheless, research studies show that TAs struggle to effectively implement collaborative problem solving activities. One contributing factor is the lack of actual guidelines that can help TAs translate the theoretical ideas about implementing collaborative problem solving into concrete actions. This paper presents guidelines that can be used by TAs to implement collaborative problem solving activities in undergraduate engineering classrooms. Three researchers and two engineering teaching assistants participated in two, two-hour long workshops …

“How Well Does Your Structural Equation Model Fit Your Data?”: Is Marcoulides And Yuan’S Equivalence Test The Answer?, James Peugh, David F. Feldon

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Structural equation modeling is an ideal data analytical tool for testing complex relationships among many analytical variables. It can simultaneously test multiple mediating and moderating relationships, estimate latent variables on the basis of related measures, and address practical issues such as nonnormality and missing data. To test the extent to which a hypothesized model provides an appropriate characterization of the collective relationships among its variables, researchers must assess the “fit” between the model and the sample’s data. However, interpreting estimates of model fit is a problematic process. The traditional inferential test of model fit, the chi-square test, is biased due …

Steam Maker Education: Conceal/Reveal Of Personal, Artistic And Computational Dimensions In High School Student Projects, Lindsay Lindberg, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Much of maker education’s expansion has focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) learning, leaving out equally promising opportunities for integrating arts learning. In this paper we share findings from a project in which high school students created electronic-textiles-based art representing features of a community important to them as a part of an elective high school computer science class. We addressed the following research questions: (1) What kinds of personal and community meanings did students convey through their maker projects? (2) How did students engage with artistic dimensions in their projects? (3) How did coding interactive features support students’ artwork? …

The Validity And Instructional Value Of A Rubric For Evaluating Online Course Quality: An Empirical Study, Ji Eun Lee, Mimi Recker, Min Yuan

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This study investigated the validity and instructional value of a rubric developed to evaluate the quality of online courses offered at a midsized public university. This rubric was adapted from an online course quality rubric widely used in higher education, the Quality Matters rubric. We first examined the reliability and preliminary construct validity of the rubric using quality ratings for 202 online courses and eliminated twelve problematic items. We then examined the instructional value of the rubric by investigating causal relationships between 1) course quality scores, 2) online interactions between students, instructors, and content, and 3) student course performance (course …

Consensual Assessment In The New Domain Of E-Textiles: Comparing Insights From Expert, Quasi-Expert, And Novice Judges, Anthony Phonethibsavads, Maggie Dahn, Kylie Peppler, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Establishing what constitutes creativity in a domain is something for which we often look to experts—individuals versed in a domain’s history and able to identify timeworn ideas from fresh ones. Such valuations of creative merit are tied to a familiarity with past and present trends and, therefore, opinions of newcomers are often ignored. However, what about domains that build upon new, unexplored practices? This study examines the creativity ratings of judges with varying expertise in the emergent domain of electronic textiles (or e-textiles). E-textiles are fabrics that have programmable electronics such as sensors and actuators embedded in them toward a …

Aggie First Scholars: A Quality Workforce Initiative For Promoting First-Generation Student Success, Amanda M. Hagman, John Louviere, Heidi Kesler, Mykel Beorchia, Lisa Simmons, Mitchell Colver

Publications

Introduction: First-generation students lag behind continuing-generation peers in terms of graduation rates and average time to graduation. This phenomenon has been extensively studied in higher education with the intent of closing the gap seen between generational statuses. Utah State University provides services to support first-generation students. In the 2018/2019 academic year, USU initiative a full-kit initiative to help first-generation student participate in several proven first-year student milestones. This report explores the impact of full-kit use of services and the individual impact of each service on first-generation student persistence. METHODS: Students who self-identified as first-generation on their USU application were invited …

Assessing Community-Engaged Learning Impacts Using Ripple Effects Mapping, Benjamin J. Muhlestein, Roslynn Mccann

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Communicating Sustainability, an upper level undergraduate service-learning live broadcast course was created at Utah State University to help students gain critical skills in communicating and participating in local sustainability efforts. Community-Engaged Learning was a key component applied in gaining and using these skills. This study sought to capture the impacts of this course on both its students and the community partners who worked with those students using Ripple Effects Mapping. Key findings include: powerful impacts on student learning, growth and ability to engage in local movements; as well as clearly defined benefits for community partners. Included in this study …

Aggie Recreation Center Impact Report Fall 2015 To Spring 2019, Amanda M. Hagman, Erik Dickamore, Daniel Lawrence, Mitchell Colver

Publications

Recreation facilities are an integral part of the university community. The Aggie Recreation Center is a place that helps foster a well balanced student. The ARC provides students with a myriad of opportunities for recreation, exercise, and community that can support students on their academic journey. This report explored the association between ARC facility use and student persistence to the next term at Utah State University. METHODS: Students recreation center use was captured with entry log-ins as students entered the facility. Students who had a record of using the facility were compared to similar students who did not have a …

Student Nutrition Access Center: Impact Analysis 2019, Amanda M. Hagman, Hayden Hoopes, Nelda Ault-Dyslin

Publications

Introduction: Access to nutritional food items is crucial to student well-being, which in turn is crucial to student success. Student success emerges from “the amount of physical and psychological energy that the student devotes to the academic experience” (Astin, 1984). Campus nutrition programs help students eliminate food security issues so that they can devote more energy to the academic experience. However, creating efficient and convenient nutrition programs requires that administrators understand the complexities of their implementation, their effect on specific student segments, and their effect on decisions to either persist at or leave an institution. This report explores the impact …

Exploratory Advising Impact Report: Spring 2016 To Spring 2019, Amanda M. Hagman, Mykel Beorchia, Stephanie Hamblin, Mitchell Colver

Publications

Academic advising performs a pivotal contribution to student success by providing information about univeristy expectations and avenues towards graduation. Exploratory student advising has the additional task of supporting students in major selection. This analysis investigated the relationship between academic advising and student persistence for exploratory students to better understand the impact of current advising practices. METHODS: Exploratory academic advisors met with an average 53% of exporatory students each semester. Students with a record of meeting with an academic advisor were compared to similar exploratory students who did not. Students were compared using prediction-based propensity score matching. Students who met with …

University Academic Advising: Impact Analysis, Amanda M. Hagman, Mykel Beorchia, Erik Dickamore

Publications

abstract: Academic advising performs a pivotal contribution to student success by providing information about university expectations and avenues towards graduation. The impact of academic advising is routinely assessed to explore its influence on student persistence. This report explores the impact of academic advising between 2016 to 2019 on student persistence to the next term. METHODS: Academic advising met with nearly 40% of students at USU each semester. Students who had a record of meeting with an academic advisor were compared to similar students who did not. Students were compared using prediction-based propensity score matching. Students who met with an advisor …

Identifying Faculty And Peer Interaction Patterns Of First-Year Biology Doctoral Students: A Latent Class Analysis, Soojeong Jeong, Jennifer M. Blaney, David F. Feldon

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Faculty and peer interactions play a key role in shaping graduate student socialization. Yet, within the literature on graduate student socialization, researchers have primarily focused on understanding the nature and impact of faculty alone, and much less is known about how peer interactions also contribute to graduate student outcomes. Using a national sample of first-year biology doctoral students, this study reveals distinct categories that classify patterns of faculty and peer interaction. Further, we document inequities such that certain groups (e.g., underrepresented minority students) report constrained types of interactions with faculty and peers. Finally, we connect faculty and peer interaction patterns …

Housing & Residence Life Impact Report: Fall 2017 To Spring 2018, Hayden Hoopes, Alan Andersen, Kirk Bird, John Bostock, Whit Milligan, Amanda M. Hagman

Publications

Introduction: Living on campus is considered a high impact practice for student success. Student success is believed to emerge from “the amount of physical and psychological energy that the student devotes to the academic experience” (Astin, 1984), housing and residence life programming facilitates this type of devotion. However, creating this type of living experience requires administrators understand the complexities of how housing can affect specific student groups and their decision to either persist at or leave an institution. This report explores the impact of housing and residence life at Utah State University on students living on campus. It disaggregates results …

Co-Design Of An Orchestration Tool: Supporting Engineering Teaching Assistants As They Facilitate Collaborative Learning., Luettamae Lawrence, Emma Mercier

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper describes a design-based implementation research (DBIR) project, focused on the co-design and implementation of an orchestration tool for teaching assistants (TAs) in required engineering classes. Building on our collaboration with the engineering department, we identified a need for a tool that provides insight into groups to help TAs intervene in realtime. This paper presents two phases of our iterative co-design process. The first phase includes the initial design of the tool from design workshops with TAs. The second phase focuses on a 16-week implementation of the orchestration tool and reports on interviews with TAs to understand how they …

Effects Of Frequency Of Early Intervention On Spoken Language And Literacy Levels Of Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing In Preschool And Elementary School, Ann E. Geers, Jean S. Moog, Amanda M. Rudge

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Language delays associated with hearing loss during infancy may have a negative impact on academic development throughout childhood. Early intervention provided by the Moog Center for Deaf Education prior to 36 months of age was quantified, and associations with later outcomes were examined for 50 students who are DHH representing Moog Center alumni. The objective was to determine whether the amount of early intervention (referred to hereafter as dose of early intervention received at the Moog Center during the time children were 0-36 months of age) contributed uniquely to outcomes in preschool (4–6 years) and in elementary school (8–14 years). …

21st Century Teenagers And Young Adults Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing: Outcomes And Possibilities, Jean S. Moog, Amanda M. Rudge 3730756

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

The purpose of this study was to document demographics, characteristics, and long-term outcomes of teenagers and young adults who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) and who all attended the Moog Center for Deaf Education for preschool and/or a portion of elementary school. Data were obtained via an online survey that was designed to assess educational, personal, and professional outcomes of individuals who were currently in high school and beyond. Survey questions were about the lives of these individuals after leaving the Moog Center. Participants included 108 individuals who were DHH, ranging from 15 to 32 years of age. …

Communicating Computational Concepts And Practices Within High School Students’ Portfolios Of Making Electronic Textiles, Debora Lui, Justice T. Walker, Sheri Hanna, Yasmin B. Kafai, Deborah A. Fields, Gayithri Jayathirtha

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Portfolios have recently gained traction within computer science education as a way to assess students’ computational thinking and practices. Whereas traditional assessments such as exams tend to capture learning within artificial settings at a single point in time, portfolios provide more authentic opportunities to document a trajectory of students’ learning and practices in everyday contexts. Furthermore, because communication itself has been defined as an important computational thinking practice, portfolios give students a place to practice this skill in the classroom. In this study, we report on the implementation of a digital portfolio with a class of 21 high school students …

Do Booster Emails Improve Learning Transfer Among Parenting Professionals?, Benjamin C. Stout

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Parenting professionals play a key role in helping parents have a positive influence on their children, which is why it is important to ensure that professionals have and use research-based information and materials. Using data from 96 parenting professionals from Utah and Missouri, who completed a 4-hour Strong Parents, Stable Children training, we examined the effects (at 2-months post training) of reflective reminder emails on parenting professionals’ utilization and learning transfer of training materials. Results from independent samples t tests show that participants who received “booster” emails at 1-week and 1-month post training shared some information and some materials with …

Grammatical Accuracy Of Narratives Produced By Typically Developing Children Ages 4-7 In Three Story Contexts, Sierra Martin Southwick

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

Guo & Schneider (2016) explored different approaches to identifying grammatical impairments in 128 children developing typically (TL) and those with language impairments (LI) between the ages of 6 and 8. The measures that they explored included: calculating the finite verb morphology composite (FVMC), the number of errors per C-unit (Errors/CU), and the percent of grammatical C-units (PGCUs) in narrative samples. They found that all three outcome measures provided acceptable diagnostic accuracy when applied to six-year-olds, but PCGUs were found to be the most accurate tool with eight-year-olds.

The purpose of the current study was to analyze the narrative samples of …

The Picture Of Smartphones At School Is Not A Dire One And The Picture Of Student Competence Is A Bright One, Victor R. Lee

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In the United States, where I am based, one would get the impression that smartphones are a dangerous drug. Adults worry about smartphone addiction, the correlation of depression with smartphone usage, and an excess amount of screen time (e.g., Elhai, Levine, Dvorak, & Hall, 2016; Duke & Montag, 2017; Škařupová, Ólafsson, & Blinka, 2017). News headlines appear about technology moguls who will not allow their own children to have their own mobile device despite they themselves being the leaders in smartphone products and services. This then evokes guilt and causes anxiety for all the other American adults who are not …

Whose Responsibility Is It? A Statewide Survey Of School Librarians On Responsibilities And Resources For Teaching Digital Citizenship, Abigail L. Phillips, Victor R. Lee

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In 2015 the Utah State Legislature passed H.B. 213, “Safe Technology Utilization and Digital Citizenship in Public Schools,” mandating that K–12 schools provide digital citizenship instruction. This study presents an exploratory endeavor to understand how school librarians in a state that adopted digital citizenship legislation engage with digital citizenship instruction and their perceptions of a school librarian’s role in providing this instruction. We conducted a statewide survey of Utah school librarians, including questions focusing on digital citizenship resources used, current instruction within the school, and inquiries about improvements to current instruction. School librarians expressed a desire to be more involved …

Student Involvement & Leadership Center: Impact Report Spring 2015 To Fall 2018, Erik Dickamore, Amanda M. Hagman, Spencer Bitner, Nathan Laursen, Mitchell Colver

Publications

Leadership and involvement programs are an integral part of the student experience on University campuses. Volunteers and scholars within leadership and involvement serve their peers by providing rewarding events that unify the student body. Volunteers and scholars also benefit through opportunities for personal exploration and growth. Working with SILC allows students to serve and lead in a unique way. This report explored the association between student participation in leadership and involvement programs, and student persistence to the next term at Utah State University. METHODS: Students participation was captured by rosters across all SILC programs. Students who had a record of …

Connecting With Computer Science: Electronic Textile Portfolios As Ideational Identity Resources For High School Students, Mia S. Shaw, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

The development of student identities—their interests in computer science, perceptions of the discipline, and sense of belonging in the field—is critical for broadening participation of underrepresented groups in computing. This paper reports on the design of portfolios in which two classes of high school students reflected on the process of making electronic textile projects. We examine how students expressed self-authorship in relation to computer science and how the use of reflective portfolios shaped students’ perceptions of computer science. In the discussion we consider how reflective portfolios can serve as ideational resources for computer science identity construction.