Education Commons^™

Parent Nutrition Education And The Influence On Family Lifestyle Behavior Changes, Kelsey Rich

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Utah State University in the collaboration with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) proposes to develop and implement a program to help families develop healthy eating habits and lifestyle behaviors. Recently, childhood overweight and obesity has reached epidemic proportions. The diseases associated with adult obesity are now being seen in the pediatric population; therefore, there is a call for preventative efforts. A diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in combination with an active lifestyle discourages the presence of obesity. Currently, most childhood obesity prevention efforts have taken place in the school setting and have only had short term …

Treatment Of Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Utilizing Parent-Facilitated Acceptance And Commitment Therapy, Jennifer Yardley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects as many as 2.7% of children. Pediatric OCD is associated with significant distress for both families and children in multiple domains. Unfortunately, the majority of children with OCD do not receive adequate treatment. Without treatment pediatric OCD often persists into adulthood.

The current primary psychological treatment for pediatric OCD is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with exposure and response prevention (ERP). However, there are multiple limitations of this treatment. Some children either do not respond to current treatments or respond only minimally, while others drop out or refuse treatment.
Exposure-based treatments yield problems with treatment adherence, …

Explicit Instruction Elements In Core Reading Programs, Angela R. Child

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Angela R. Child at Utah State University conducted a content analysis study aimed at describing the inclusion of seven explicit instruction elements, namely, direct explanation, modeling, guided practice, independent practice, feedback, discussion, and monitoring, found within five widely published core reading programs (CRPs). These seven elements of explicit instruction will be sought in essential reading component lessons which include: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension only.

The study sought to describe the instructional recommendations found within the CRPs lessons to benefit society by; aiding educators in the selection of a CRP for their school or district; assisting classroom teachers …

A Multicase Study Of The Impact Of Perceived Gender Roles On The Career Decisions Of Women In Science-Related Careers, Stephen Frank Hren

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was done to determine how the perception of gender roles developed throughout childhood and early adulthood affected the career decisions of women who showed early promise in science. In addition, this study was done to determine if my experiences as a researcher would have any impact on me personally. Four women were chosen as case study participants, providing for comparison within and across cases.

Gender roles were found to relate to the career decisions made by the four cases in three ways: (a) support from family members, teachers, mentors, and collaborators; (b) opportunities within the family, school and …

Using Script-Fading Procedures To Teach Children With Autism To Initiate During Free Play, Kara Anne Reagon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Children with autism often display deficits in social interaction, communication, and play. Unlike typical peers during free play with a variety of games and toys, they often do not initiate to others or engage in interactive game play for sustained periods of time. Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of script-fading procedures in increasing initiations and conversational repertoires for children with autism. However, these procedures were examined in arranged environments using an activity schedule or in structured settings. In addition, the role of the conversation partner has not been studied. The use of activity schedules has also been effective in …

Effects Of Sustained Teacher Professional Development On The Classroom Science Instruction Of Elementary School Teachers, Nancy Hauck

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which sustained teacher professional development in science education affects the classroom instruction of
elementary school teachers in third through sixth grade over a 3-year period. The teachers in the study were all elementary endorsed and prepared to be generalists in the content areas.

Science reform has led to more content-specific science standards that are difficult for most elementary teachers to address without professional development. Recent studies on improving elementary science instruction suggest the need for professional development to be long term, embedded in teaching practice in the classroom, and …

Designing For Problem-Based Learning: A Comparative Study Of Technology Professional Development, Lei Ye, Andrew Walker, Mimi Recker, M. Brooke Robertshaw, Linda Sellers, Heather Leary

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Despite of much focus on professional development aimed specifically at developing teachers' technology integration skills, rigorous studies of effective PD (professional development) are lacking. Evidence is also lacking on how these skills can best be integrated with pedagogical and content knowledge to improve student learning. The purpose of this article is to present two "design-oriented" TTPD (technology-related teacher professional development) designs and investigate the designs' impact on teachers. In one TTPD (tech-only), teachers learned technology skills to create activities using online learning resources. In the other (tech+PBL), teachers learned to create PBL (problem-based learning) activities using online resources. All teachers …

Increasing Student Voice And Empowerment Through Technology: The Perceptions Of Communication Apprehensive Latter-Day Saint (Lds) Seminary Students, Doran H. Christensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Many students find themselves unwilling or unable to participate vocally in traditional classroom settings. This study examines a group of LDS (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) seminary students who were hesitant to participate vocally in the classroom, but were highly involved in peer-to-peer communication through technology. The objective of this research was to determine the perceived value of technological implementations as it provides a potential forum for increased student participation.

As educators find and utilize teaching methods and resources that engage students more fully in the educational process, the students themselves become the primary beneficiaries. …

What Is The Lived Experience Of The Learners In A Coteaching Classroom?, Janet Adams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experiences of the learners in a fifth-grade coteaching classroom. Because the practice of coteaching is gaining popularity in schools, there is increasing use of this teaching method in general education classrooms. If learning in a coteaching classroom is to be meaningful for students, it is important to have their perspective of this instructional delivery option. Through careful listening, observation, and interpretation of the students’ lived experience, a better understanding of the students’ perspective in a coteaching classroom was gained.

The results of this study suggest coteaching can be an effective …

Web Usage Mining: Application To An Online Educational Digital Library Service, Bart C. Palmer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation examined how users of the Instructional Architect (IA; http://ia.usu.edu) utilized the system in order to find online learning resources, place them in a new online instructional activities, and share and use them with students. The online learning resources can be found in educational digital libraries such as the National Science Digital Library (NSLD; http://nsdl.org) or the wider Web. Usage data from 22 months of IA use were processed to form usage features that were analyzed in order to find clusters of user behavior using latent class analysis (LCA).

The users were segmented into two samples with 5–90 and …

A Study Of Secondary District-Level Literacy Coaches’ Beliefs About How To Teach Reading, Pamela Sharp Crawford

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This case study explored the knowledge and beliefs held by six district-level reading coaches about how to teach reading at the middle-school level. It narrowed in on the possible influence past personal experiences, past academic and work experiences, and the influence of domain specific knowledge (i.e., English, social studies, elementary education, special education, ESL, etc.) might possibly have had upon the development of their knowledge and beliefs about how to teach reading. Finally, the study looked at how these influenced practice and decisions made in their roles as a cohort of district-level literacy coaches involved in developing and implementing a …

A Comparison Of Balance And Postural Stability Assessment Tools: Bess Versus Neurocom Balance Manager, Jamie Joliffe

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The BESS and the NeuroCom Balance Manager are two tests used to assess concussions. Utah State University uses a modified version of the BESS and this study looks at the correlations of this modified test to that of a more objective tool, the NeuroCom Balance Manager. Both testing tools were administered to 114 Utah State University football players. A Pearson product-moment correlation was used to observe the correlations between the two tests. The correlations reported that the overall score of the modified BESS was correlated to one stance (double leg stance on foam) of one of the tests administered on …

Effects Of Noncontingent Peer Attention On Problem Behaviors In Students With Autism In General Education Settings, Alison L. Walker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As more children are being identified with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), more of them are being served in public schools with their typically developing peers. Many of these students have behavioral challenges that impact their ability to learn, or the ability of other students in their classes to learn. It is therefore increasingly important that schools are equipped with behavioral interventions that are both effective and easy to implement in order to meet these students’ needs. This study evaluated the effects of one such intervention in which classroom peers were trained to provide attention to the student with autism on …

Can A Pedagogical Agent Help Reduce Mathematics Anxiety?, Q. Wei, Yanghee Kim

Yanghee Kim

No abstract provided.

Taking A Closer Look: Teaching Students To Be Metacognitive, Sarah K. Clark

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sustainability Beliefs Of First-Year Students In Natural Resources, Donald J. Orth, Kim Hodge Cowgill, Dean F. Stauffer, Eric P. Wiseman

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

A crux of the environmental problem is change resistance and few college students possess the critical analysis and persuasive communication skills needed to engage in this dialogue. Furthermore, there is little appreciation among college students for the diversity of beliefs regarding sustainability issues. We surveyed students enrolled in a First-Year Experience class in Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. We used the Dunlap and Van Liere New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) measurement scale to assess the individual student orientations toward nature and the environment. The students enrolled in this class had enrolled voluntarily based on their interest in the …

Site Planning Using Gis: University / Agency Service Learning Collaboration, Rob Porter

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

This case study presentation outlines an ongoing partnership between Western Illinois University and the Army Corps of Engineers Mark Twain Lake (ACOE) that allows students to integrate classroom knowledge into field-based work. While attending a series of classes students receive appropriate natural resource management curriculum, practice GIS skills through labs, and engage in the planning and implementation of an actual facility. First, the students visit the area, engaging in a tour giving them an overview of the area. Second, they create an open space plan for a recreation area that is devoid of facilities or underutilized. GIS is utilized in …

How Service-Learning Can Support The Practice Of, And Education About, Collaborative Natural Resource Management, Kimberly J. Coleman

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Many researchers agree that contemporary natural resource management requires successful collaboration between diverse stakeholder groups. However, achieving successful collaboration can be challenging. So what makes stakeholder collaborations work and what models exist for educating the next generation of natural resource professionals about successful stakeholder collaboration? The Harwood Union Forest Project, a community-based forestry initiative in Vermont, provides such a model. By forming service-learning partnerships between a public high school and natural resources students at the University of Vermont, the Harwood Union Forest Project has successfully supported community-based forestry activities at the high school’s 180 acre forest, and educated both high …

Gis In Natural Resource Education: Where Are We Headed?, Joseph K. Berry

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Over the past three decades, GIS education in natural resources has evolved from a focus on automated cartography, to spatial database management, to geo-web applications. Within these contexts, curricula have emphasized the mechanics of descriptive mapping (“Where is What”) involving acquisition, storage, retrieval, query and display of spatial objects. However, the future of GIS education is moving from a “down the hall and to the right” specialist’s role for providing mapped data, to a broader and more active role of providing spatial information for natural resource research, policy, planning and management. The instructional emphasis is shifting from data–centric tools to …

Understanding Scholarly Communication – Tools To Help Graduate Students Publish, Susanne Clement

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Although graduate students are increasingly expected to publish before graduation, they are rarely offered formal education in the full range of the scholarly communication process in their discipline. They quickly learn how to do the research and to present their findings in a format suitable for submission to an academic peer-reviewed journal, but seldom do they (or their faculty advisors) understand the business of publishing and how that may affect their ability to get published. At Utah State University, the Department of Environment and Society (College of Natural Resources) started in 2010 requiring first-term graduate students to take a 2-credit …

Creating Environmental Leaders Through Service Learning: A Classroom Transition From Theory To Real World Application, Roslynn G. Brain, Robert H. Schmidt

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Incorporating service learning opportunities into classroom instruction has been well documented as a successful teaching strategy in the literature. For example, service learning has been linked to outcomes ranging from increased student self esteem to enhanced critical thinking skills. Service learning provides an opportunity for reflection and community engagement in addition to classroom teaching and learning. This approach ultimately fosters a sense of community responsibility and encourages lifelong community engagement. In other words, when students are involved in service learning, they develop life skills that will benefit them well into the future. This oral presentation will introduce 1) a redesigned …

Conducting Mountain Lion Research: A Citizen Science Project, Barbara Patterson, Don Hunter, Caroline Krunn

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Rocky Mountain Cat Conservancy, a Colorado-based conservation group dedicated to promoting wild cat conservation through research and community stewardship, seeks to mitigate human-mountain lion conflicts through an innovative community stewardship project that engages local students and volunteers in citizen science research. In addition to establishing a permanent, outdoor, wildlife-based curriculum at Front Range Community College - Larimer Campus, Communities, Cameras and Conservation establishes a connection to conservation through hands-on education where no such opportunity currently exists. It creates a new prospect for community members to engage in citizen science research and serve as conservation envoys by raising the level of …

Impact Of Extraordinary Experiences On Teachers Science Identity, Michael P. Marlow, Brad Mclain, Bruce Nash, David Krueger

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Experiential science learning is all about personal close encounters with the content, processes, and emotions of science. It is a philosophy that emphasizes learning from direct first-person experience and a holistic perspective that includes the self-construction of knowledge as well as emotions, attitudes and beliefs that combine to form a learner’s “science identity.” The Experiential Science Education Research Collaborative (XSci) at the University of Colorado Denver provides extraordinary experiences, internship and professional opportunities in collaboration with a large number of community, academic and government partners. Activities include local, regional and international field studies, internships, conference group presentations and science identity …

Meeting Students Where They Are: Adapting Natural Resource Education To Emerging Digital Landscapes, Zachary D. Cole

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

For students, connecting through text, email, chat, and social media has become an integral part of their daily lives. The near endless supply of digital media outlets and information sources has created a new landscape at the interface of the student-professor relationship; incorporating these emergent platforms into hybrid educational environments can enhance student engagement with course material while improving communication between and amongst classmates, including the instructor. This new hyper-connected reality, however, presents both challenges and opportunities in educating tomorrow’s natural resource leaders and professors must “meet students where they are” by communicating and teaching in relatable ways (i.e. through …

Undergraduate Experiential Learning Activity To Improve Communication Skills And Engage Public School Students In Forest Ecological Principles, John R. Seiler, Nick Fuhrman, Carolyn Copenheaver, John Peterson, Shannon Fowler

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Since 1988, Virginia Tech has had various programs in which undergraduate students visited public schools and presented natural resources-based information One of the more popular presentations involved teaching public school students how to identify and measure forest vegetation. In 2008, the Ambassadors for Conservation Education (ACE) Program was developed to enlist a larger, more diverse student body to participate in forestry and agriculturally-related undergraduate degree programs. In this program, undergraduates visited two parks and six high schools with forest nearby to collect forest ecological data with high school students. At each park and school we established a series of 0.02-ha …

Environmental Attitudes And Intentions: The Effects Of An Environmentally-Focused Study Abroad Program, Craig Matisoff, Roger L. Moore, Annette Moore, Michael Tarrant

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

No abstract provided.

Pre- And Post-Course Assessment To Assess – Agri-Nres 103 Introduction To Agricultural And Natural Resource Systems, Gary L. Bailey, James Brandle, John E. Quinn

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

No abstract provided.

Joomla As A Tool For Hybrid Or Online Course Development, Jeremy P. Stovall

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Joomla is a freely available content management system that streamlines development of complex websites. It is well-suited to the development of hybrid educational environments where online resources augment traditional classroom learning. While requiring more time and effort than most online learning management systems (e.g. Blackboard), Joomla-developed content can be made easily accessible to those not enrolled at an institution and can be maintained on department or college servers where faculty members can have greater control over their course materials. A user-friendly graphical user interface allows easy creation and management of individual webpages, while numerous freely available plugins and extensions requiring …

Uwsp Cnr International Programs: Showcasing Three Models, Bobbi Z. Kubish

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

No abstract provided.

Contrasting Student Values About General Education Vs. Major Courses: Differences Among Majors, Sexes And Standing, John D. Bailey, Susis Brubaker-Cole, Bill Bogley, Milo Korstsky

Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

No abstract provided.