Education Commons^™

Following The "Iron Lady" And Finding A University: A Phenomenological Study Of Organizational Identity, Erin Pearson

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Higher education culture is steeped in institutional identity and ties to history. But what happens when that history is challenged, and an institution must change its name? While a merger was not initially intended for Kearney State College, merging into the University of Nebraska system was the only way to reflect the change and growth that emulated the type of institution it had become. By interviewing sixteen participants that lived the experience of the merge, a concise and collective history of the events that led to the creation of the University of Nebraska at Kearney was obtained and studied. Through …

Adolescent Internet Use, Academic Performances, And Problem Behaviors: Findings From A National Sample Of Rural And Urban China, Yunqi Wang

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adolescent internet use in non-western countries and its association with behavioral problems are understudied. Informed by Bronfenbrenner’s socioecological framework and displacement hypothesis, the present study explored adolescent internet use in rural and urban China, and examined the mediation of academic performances between internet use and problem behaviors. Drawn from a nationally representative program, samples for this study included 3,379 adolescents aged between 9-17 years from 29 provinces. Results showed that rural adolescents had less access to mobile phones and internet, as well as a lower frequency of internet use than urban peers. Hybrid structural equation modeling results revealed that academic …

Integrating Narratives With Digital Humanities Tools To Inform Holocaust Education Pedagogies, Beth S. Dotan

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Holocaust educators have a concern regarding how to learn and teach about the Holocaust after survivors and liberators are no longer alive to provide first-hand testimony. In response to this dilemma, I have developed a digital humanities web portal unique to Nebraska to preserve the survivors’ and liberators’ collective and individual memories. The Nebraska Holocaust Survivor & WWII Veteran Network and Educational Portal, the product for this dissertation, integrates local narratives with digital humanities frameworks to establish a dynamic, public platform and provide various educational opportunities. The site encourages engagement with online primary resources of Holocaust survivors and Nazi camp …

Why I Keep Doing Science Fair: Using Constructivist Grounded Theory To Study Out-Of-School-Time Science Learning Among Females And Underrepresented Minorities, Justin Andersson

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Science education in the United States has endured substantial reform due to national needs for a bolstered, more diverse science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce. Recent reform efforts call for students to be engaged in scientific inquiry through the practices of scientists and engineers. Opportunity gaps exist in science education and in the STEM pipeline for those who have traditionally been underrepresented, especially females and minorities. Research highlights the potential of science fair experiences to engage students in inquiry learning that could meet the needs of updated standards. Furthermore, students from diverse backgrounds might benefit from out-of-school time science learning …

Phonics And Spelling Intervention For Children With Intellectual Disabilities, Bridget Leutzinger

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The current study is a replication and adaptation of Lemons and colleagues (2018) by using an explicit, adapted version of the SPARK curriculum to assess its effectiveness on the literacy outcomes for students with Down Syndrome. The primary purpose was to determine the effectiveness of the explicit reading intervention package (independent variable) on letter-sound knowledge (dependent variable) in elementary students with DS. The secondary purpose was to evaluate whether the explicit spelling intervention of letter-sound correspondence generalized the spelling skills of whole taught and untaught words. Two students, ages 10 and 11, participated in a multiple probe across lessons single-case …

Experiences With Vitamin A In Copperbelt Province, Zambia, Topacio Ortiz

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is one of the most common micronutrient deficiencies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Zambians face high VAD rates, despite a mandate for fortified sugar and crops. Limited data have been collected from the most vulnerable segments of Zambia’s population; hence this study was designed as an initiatory study for future research to be conducted with primary school children and pregnant women in Zambian communities.

Once IRB approvals were obtained from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and the Copperbelt University School of Medicine, data were collected in Zambia’s Copperbelt Province, in the cities of Ndola and Luanshya, during May …

A Latent Class Analysis Of Personality Traits With Educational Attainment, Tyler Minter

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The five-factor model of personality (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness to experience) is an empirically based personality model that has been utilized in multiple psychological assessments. Recent works have found Block & Block’s (1980) three personality profiles (resilient, overcontrolled, undercontrolled) within the context of the five-factor model. This study performed a latent class analysis using a short FFM assessment from the SAPA project, a free online personality test. The intention of this study was to replicate the three personality profiles within the five-factor model. Four latent classes were included in the final solution. Two of the three personality profiles emerged …

Non-Nutritive Suck Burst Pattern Stability In Extremely Premature Infants, Alejandra Marquez

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The development of non-nutritive suck (NNS) burst dynamics in preterm infants reflects the integrity of the brain and is used clinically to assess feeding readiness and orofacial motor development (Mizuno and Ueda, 2005). The application of NNS analytics in the present report represents one outcome measurement set that is part of an ongoing clinical trial involving extremely preterm infants (EPI’s,[GA]) randomized to receive either pulsed orocutaneous stimulation therapeutics or a sham (blind pacifier), in conjunction with salivary sampling twice weekly to map gene expression of key proteins involved in neural development and molecular sensing of feeding related pathways in the …

Analyzing Clustered Longitudinal Data Using Latent Curve Model With Structured Residuals (Lcm-Sr), Dongho Choi

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The LCM-SR can provide an inferential basis for understanding reciprocal relations while controlling for individual differences in the trajectories of young children’s psychological development. Yet, a hierarchical structure in the data has not been often adequately addressed even though that is common in social and educational research. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of dependency among observations on the results when using the LCM-SR, and how to appropriately analyze the clustered longitudinal data for more accurate inference. To do this, the MLCM-SR (disaggregated approach; the “two-level” model) was introduced and compared with the single level LCM-SR …

Education Anywhere? A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study Of Montessori Around The World, Victoria J. Johnson

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Providing education for children residing in remote or difficult-to-access locations, including children in refugee and displacement camps, is a staggering global challenge. In addition to logistical challenges (such as access, infrastructure, teaching professionals and resources), differences in language, culture, environment, and values render conventional (i.e., Western-based, traditional) modes of education unfeasible and frequently ineffective. However, a strengths-based lens reminds us that communities have the capacity to initiate solutions when they have access to the right tools. Historically underrepresented in the literature, Montessori education has been used for over a century by communities all over the world to prepare children through …

Understanding Unwanted Sexual Experiences Of Transgender And Gender Diverse Individuals: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study, Melissa Larosa

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people represent a small percent of the population and yet, they experience sexual violence at disproportionately high rates compared to their cisgender counterparts (Grant et al, 2011; James et al., 2016). The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological study is to gain a more nuanced understanding of the role that unwanted sexual experiences play in the lives of transgender and gender diverse people, particularly in relation to how they conceptualize their gender identity and the construct of posttraumatic growth (PTG). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight TGD participants who met the inclusion criteria. Two superordinate (i.e., …

Correlation Of The Anterior Salience Network With Attention: A Resting-State Fmri Analysis, Matthew Brooks

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Background: Some studies have broadened our understanding of attention while other studies have used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses to identify brain regions that are functionally connected and may be associated with salience processing. This thesis sought to examine the relationship between the anterior salience network and attentional control. The current study hypothesized that resting-state functional connectivity between regions of the anterior salience network would be associated with attentional control ability. Methods: Forty-eight college-aged students completed the affective Stroop task to assess attentional regulation ability. Accuracy on trials of the task was examined in correlation with resting-state functional …

Embracing A Pedagogy Of Care In The Infant And Toddler Classroom, Paige D. Wernick

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Care is a universal concept which connects us all as humans. Everyone comes into this world needing care and most of us will exit this world in need of care. Care is necessary throughout the span of our lives and should be considered a human right. Everyone is entitled to quality care, no matter their age or social status. The U.S. society has been entrenched in a decades long division between education and care which has historically prioritized education over care. This division has contributed to care being hidden and undervalued within the context of early childhood (EC) as a …

Relational Trust In Group Coaching With First-Grade Teachers: A Single Case Study, Jentry Stoneman Barrett

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Coaching has become a prominent professional development tool for helping early childhood teachers implement curriculum and research-based practices in their classrooms. One of the coaching strategies found to create positive changes in teacher practice and child outcomes is building trust between the coach and teacher(s). Despite what is known in terms of the benefits of these positive relationships, there is limited understanding of the nature of trust-building between coach and teachers, in general, and particularly in group coaching configurations. There is also scant literature exploring the nature of trust between teachers participating in group coaching sessions. Researchers call these two …

Validation Of A Brazilian Portuguese Measure Of Family Resources In A Sample Of Parents To Children With Congenital Zika Virus Syndrome, Sarah Barker Ladd

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In the aftermath of the 2015 Zika virus outbreak in Brazil, thousands of children and their families continue to face challenges associated with Congenital Zika Syndrome, a developmental condition associated with microcephaly and other serious birth defects affecting the central nervous system. Family-centered rehabilitative care is critical to optimize the trajectories of children who have significant developmental disabilities like CZS. These services involve assessing for the presence of family resources that may help to promote positive outcomes for children. Little is known regarding family resources in the context of caring for a child with CZS in Brazil due to the …

The Evaluation Of Comprehensibility In Non-Native English Speakers, Quianna Javernick

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As of 2020, accent modification instruction was added to a speech-language pathologist's Scope of Practice. This elective service is for individuals who wish to change or modify their speech patterns to increase speech clarity. In developing assessment and instructional programs geared towards accent modification instruction, considerations must be made for the listener and the speaker. A range of accent modification assessment materials and instruction programs currently exist. The purpose of this study was to determine if a simplified Likert-type rating scale, ranging from "not comprehensible" to "comprehensibility unaffected," could serve as a quick tool to measure a non-native English speaker's …

Current Literacy Interventions For Aac Users, Payton Proud

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Purpose: Literacy provides individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) with an avenue to share their original thoughts through generative communication. There is limited research regarding literacy intervention for AAC users, particularly in high school. This study sought to (a) identify literacy interventions used with high school AAC users, (b) determine the importance placed on literacy by SLPs for high school AAC users, and (c) compare the importance of literacy intervention in high school to other ages of AAC users and other areas of intervention.

Method: Ninety-two Nebraska school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) completed an online survey to answer the …

Neurobehavioral Correlates Associated With Melodic Intonation Therapy For Adults With Nonfluent Aphasia, Caitlin Norquist

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Recent trends in neuroimaging, as it relates to the field of communication disorders, have shed new light on the nature of neuroplasticity and reorganization of brain function as it pertains to recovery from nonfluent aphasia following Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT). However, demographic limitations in these client populations necessitate synthesis across individual studies to form meaningful patterns for application to clinical practice. We conducted a systematic review of all studies involving pre-and post-treatment neurological and behavioral measures following MIT treatment for adults with nonfluent aphasia. Ten studies were identified for synthesis involving a variety of languages, treatment conditions, and neuroimaging and …

Teaching Writing Strategies To Students Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Kyrie Kellogg

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) may access language differently than their typical hearing peers, or they may require additional supports and accommodations. This can lead to differences in communication modes and styles that can make communication and language development difficult, which can impact reading and writing skills. When their specific writing concerns are addressed, writing offers these students another outlet to express their ideas, share thoughts, and engage in meaningful communication with others. The purpose of this study was to examine whether Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) persuasive writing strategies would help improve writing length and quality …

Starting School Socially And Behaviorally Ready: The Impacts Of Malleable Home- And School-Based Relationships And Community Setting, Rachel Schumacher

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Children growing up in disadvantage often enter school without the requisite social, emotional, and behavioral skills to be successful. Considering the importance of social-emotional skills for school and later life success, it is critical to understand factors associated with social-emotional development across the transition to elementary school. The current study will utilize an ecological approach to identify the influence of malleable home- (i.e., parent-child relationship [microsystem]) and school-based (i.e., home-school connection [mesosystem]) contextual factors over time (chronosystem) on children’s school readiness and social-emotional adjustment to early elementary school, and uncover the role of community setting (exosystem) in understanding children’s school …

Investigating The Fit Of The Generalized Graded Unfolding Model (Ggum) When Calibrated To Irt Generated Data From Dominance And Ideal Point Models, Abdulla Alzarouni

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The assessment of model fit in latent trait modelling, better known as item response theory (IRT), is an integral part of model testing if one is to make valid inferences about the estimated parameters and their properties based on the selected IRT model. Though important, the assessment of model fit has been less utilized in IRT research than it should. For example, there have been less research investigating fit for polytomous dominance models such the Graded Response Model (GRM), and to a lesser extent ideal point models such as the Generalized Graded Unfolding Models (GGUM), both in its dichotomous and …

Understanding The Needs And Knowledge Base Of Developing Speech-Language Pathology Programs: A Preliminary Mixed Methods Survey In The United States, Elaine Williams

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The field of speech-language pathology provides important rehabilitation services for communication and swallowing disorders. Unfortunately, these services are lacking around the world, specifically in Majority countries, formally known as third world countries. This is significant given the high proportion of people with disabilities in Majority countries. While speech-language pathology services are actively being introduced to these areas, it is often with the inappropriate transfer of Minority world values. In an effort to provide a less biased and more formal approach to collaborating with countries requesting help to establish speech-language pathology services, the author of this thesis is proposing a process …

Examining The Effects Of The Write Sounds Intervention With First Grade Students, Brittany Wambold

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Students who have difficulty with reading and writing are at risk to continue having difficulty throughout their schooling. Lack of time and resources may be a contributing factor for students not receiving additional instruction for both skills. However, there is evidence that balanced reading and writing programs can be effective. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Write Sounds intervention for students who had deficits in reading and writing. This study was a multiple baseline across participants design with three first-grade students who showed difficulty with reading, spelling, and phonemic awareness. Students received 40 minutes …

Exploring Non-Contact Time In Early Childhood Education, Erin Hamel

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Early childhood teachers have been the subject of many studies. Their qualifications, practices, and interactions with children have been widely researched as avenues for improving early childhood education. Yet little is known about the work supports early childhood teachers need to be successful. Non-contact time is one element of a supportive work environment that supports teachers’ ability to address their professional expectations. However, information and guidance on non-contact time is lacking or absent from the literature. This study addresses this gap by exploring non-contact time from the perspectives of directors and teachers.

An embedded mixed methods design was used to …

Belonging: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Communication Coaching Workshops On Participation And Self-Esteem For International Students With Non-Native Accents At The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Michaela Reddel

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The current study explored survey results of 17 participants who were international students with accents at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. These participants participated in a communication workshop hosted by the researcher who is a Speech-Language Pathology graduate student. The Acculturation Model (Berry, 1997), the work by Dai and Chen (2014) in Intercultural Communication Competence, and evidence-based practices from the field of Speech-Language Pathology informed the creation of this study and the workshops. The workshops were designed for participants to learn various communication strategies with the purpose of increasing communication participation and self-esteem. The goal of increasing these two constructs was …

Relationship Of Early Life Maltreatment To Self Regulation During An Affective Stroop Task, Sophie Tonjes

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Background: Previous research has found that childhood maltreatment is associated with emotional regulation difficulties, as well associations with brain structures, such as the amygdala and hippocampus. However, there are individual differences in the effect of maltreatment on emotional regulation, and this relationship may be dependent upon amygdala or hippocampal volume. The present study hypothesized that amygdala or hippocampal volume would moderate the relationship between maltreatment and emotional regulation. Method: Forty-nine college students were assessed for their history of parenting and participated in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. Moreover, to measure emotional regulation skills, participants completed the Affective Stroop task, …

Honorable Firsts: The Experience Of First-Generation Students In Honors Programs, Kali S. Lenhoff Sloup

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This constructivist, qualitative research study explored the experiences of first-generation students in honors programs and colleges. This study seeks to fill a gap in the literature regarding students who are both first-generation students and enrolled in honors programs. First-generation students are estimated to be 56% of the college student population (RTI International, 2019), but only 28.6% of the honors student population (National Collegiate Honors Council’s Admissions, Retention, and Completion Survey as cited by Mead, 2018). Two, semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant. The participants in this study included one current student and four recent alumni who were first-generation students …

Keeping The Child In Mind: A Mixed Methods Study Of Reflections On Parenting Among Families In Shelter, Ann Matthews

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Homelessness among families is a growing problem across the United States (Beard, 2020). Homelessness is associated with stressful and impoverished caregiving environments that contribute to problematic parent-child relationships and increase children’s risks for poor health and academic outcomes (e.g., Perlman et al., 2012).

Responsive caregiving may protect children from adverse outcomes and foster resilience during periods of homelessness (Labella et al., 2019; Miliotis et al., 1999; Perlman et al., 2012). A parent’s capacity to understand their own and their child’s behavior as a function of internal mental states supports such responsive caregiving (e.g., Fonagy & Target, 1997; Slade, 2005) and …

Attachment Injury-Related Responses From The Offending Partner And Forgiveness In Romantic Relationships, Shruti Pillai

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Attachment injuries in romantic relationships carry the potential for several negative outcomes for the injured partner, the offending partner, and the relationship. Forgiveness can serve to repair the damage caused by such an injury. The concept of forgiveness, however, has predominantly only been studied as the responsibility of and of primary interest to the injured partner. There is a growing need for closer examination of what the offending partner can do to promote forgiveness. The Attachment Injury Resolution Model (AIRM) proposes eight distinct steps including actions for each partner that can lead a couple towards recovery. This study examined the …

Exploring Supervisor Experiences Of Hope In Clinical Supervision: A Phenomenological Approach, Robert Byrom Jr.

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Supervisory experiences have been identified as one of the primary resources for the clinical training of psychotherapists with respect to both the development of necessary skills and the ability to cope with encountered difficulties. This phenomenological study explored the experiences of clinical supervisors in a current supervisory relationship with one or more supervisees. Specifically, this study explored how supervisors experience their supervisory relationships, how supervisors conceptualize hope as it relates to supervision, how supervisors express hope for their supervisees, and how supervisors promote hope within supervision. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with between 3 to 15 individuals recruited from counseling psychology …