Education Commons^™

Conversational Alignment: A Study Of Neural Coherence And Speech Entrainment, Kristen M. Jensen, Stephanie A. Borrie, Breanna E. Studenka, Ronald B. Gillam

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

Conversational alignment refers to the tendency for communication partners to adjust their verbal and non-verbal behaviors to become more like one another during the course of human interaction. This alignment phenomenon has been observed in neural patterns, specifically in the prefrontal areas of the brain (Holper et al., 2013; Cui et al., 2012; Dommer et al., 2012; Holper et al., 2012; Funane et al., 2011; Jiang et al., 2012); verbal behaviors such acoustic speech features (e.g., Borrie & Liss, 2014; Borrie et al., 2015; Lubold & Pon-Barry, 2014), phonological features (e.g., Babel, 2012; Pardo, 2006), lexical selection (e.g., Brennan & …

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 …

The Use Of A Signal Device Self-Monitoring Program To Improve On-Task Behavior Of Special And General Education Students, Casey L. Allie

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

Research has shown that self-monitoring can increase on- task behavior with students in the classroom setting. This project examined the use of a signal device to teach self monitoring to increase on-task behavior of special education students with behavioral problems. Participants were two elementary school para-educators and two K-4th grade students. During a two part process, baseline and intervention was conducted by the researcher with each student evaluating his/her on-task behavior. The researcher examined the reliability of the data on the student’s on-task behavior. The researcher found that the student’s on-task behavior increased with implementation of the signal device self-monitoring …

Identifying Motivations To Encourage Women To Adopt Positive Financial Behaviors, Megan E. Rowley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Seventeen women between the ages of 25 and 54 who self-identified as having made a positive financial change within the past two years were interviewed in four focus groups. Participants were asked to identify their motivations for financial behavior change.

The analysis of this research data indicated the participants in this study progressed through the stages of change in Prochaska's Transtheoretical Model while making personal financial changes. Factors such as emotion, family influence, and life transition helped many women move from earlier stages (Precontemplation, Contemplation) to later stages (Preparation, Action) of change. Although participants utilized a wide variety of first …

The Impact Of Knowledge, Attitudes, And Peer Influence On Adolescent Energy Drink Consumption, Alyson C. Ward

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Adolescents are labeled as sensitive to caffeine, though despite this predisposition, consumption is high among this population. Energy drinks are a current trend in soft-drink-like beverages and are marketed to 11-35 year olds. However, unlike soft drinks, energy drinks are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and therefore do not have to limit their caffeine content.

This cross-sectional, correlational study sought to identify the role that knowledge, attitudes, and peers play in adolescent energy drink consumption. Adolescents (n = 199), ages 18 to 21, at a university in the west were surveyed. Descriptive statistics revealed that 25% …

Centering Pregnancy And Traditional Prenatal Care: A Comparison Of Health Practices, Kaylynn Shakespear

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Centering Pregnancy is an alternative method of providing prenatal care with increased education and social support with health assessment in a group setting. This study, a cross-sectional, correlational, convenience-sample design, sought to determine the difference between women who receive prenatal care in Centering Pregnancy prenatal care and those in traditional prenatal care in regards to health behaviors. Adult pregnant women (n = 125) were surveyed from at least 28 weeks gestation. The sample comprised primarily White low-income women. Using multiple linear regression, it was determined that women in Centering Pregnancy had significantly lower index health behavior scores compared with …

Effects Of A Parent's Intervention To Decrease Stereotypic Behavior And Increase Interactions Using Self-Management Treatment For Students With Autism In Korea, Jeongil Kim

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present investigation examined the effects of a parent's intervention to teach students with autism self-management to decrease their stereotypic behaviors. A time-lagged ABA (A represents the first baseline, B does intervention, and A does the second baseline) design was used. Three mothers of children with autism were trained to reduce their children's stereotypic behaviors using a self-monitoring strategy. The training for the parent was conducted in two settings after the first baseline condition. A classroom was used for the first training session and the home was used for the second training session. The intervention by the parent was conducted …

The Effects Of Pregnancy On Behavioral Interdependence In Premarital Relationships, Joan V. Wareham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to compare couples who experienced a pregnancy early in their courtship, late in their courtship, or not pregnant at all on their development of behavioral interdependence across three levels of involvement; regularly dating, a couple, and committed to marriage, and into marriage. Data were collected by means of a semi-structured interview schedule which permitted couples to retrospectively graph their courtship from the first time they met until marriage. Partners divided their courtship into the three levels of involvement and then completed questionnaires which ascertained the activities they performed and with whom they performed them …

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

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

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

Utah History Learning Activity Modules That Enhance Positive Affective Behavior And Develop Critical And Creative Thinking, Katherine Ann Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this paper was to produce supplementary curriculum materials which would provide junior high school Utah history students with growth experiences in critical thinking, creative thinking, and positive affective values. These materials were produced in the form of forty separate, self-contained learning activity modules using the study of presentday Utah or Utah history as a focus of study.

Each Utah history learning activity module consists of two parts: (1) information, and (2) learning activities. The activities engage students to work with factual data to solve problems; to explore moral, ethical, or other controversial issues; or to otherwise develop …

A Comparison Of The Drinking Behavior Of Delinquent Youth Versus Non-Delinquent Youth In The States Of Idaho And Utah, Henry Dean Garrett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A questionnaire on drinking behavior and attitudes was administered to 292 delinquent youth confined in youth detention homes in St. Anthony, Idaho, and Ogden, Utah, and to 466 students i n the secondary schools of the Pocatello. School District, Pocatello, Idaho.

Using a Chi Square analysis, comparisons were made of responses between the delinquent and non-delinquent groups to questions regarding first drinking experience, present drinking behavior, attitudes toward drinking, criminal acts while drinking alcoholic beverages, age, race, sex, family income, population of area lived in, with whom the students lived, and parents' drinking behavior. Significant differences at the .001 per …

The Effect Of An Extended Music Curriculum On The Behavior Of Nursery School Children, Dorothy Ann Miller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The free play behavior of two of the Utah State University nursery school groups was observed and recorded according to the time sampling instrument devised to assess the musical activity of children. Twelve group music experiences, in addition to those of the regular curriculum, were presented to the experimental group while the control group received two such experiences.

Sex was found not to be a significant factor in the amount of musical activity; however, girls were slightly more active rhythmically than the boys. The children between 3 years 10 months and 4 years 4 months were the most active musically …

An Evaluation Of The Promotion Policy Of The Iron County Schools, Claudia J. Forsyth

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

In 1931, the Department of Superintendents, National Education Association, in their Nineth Yearbook, put "Pupil Promotion" as first in a listing of five factors needing study . In 1966, more than three decades later, the effects of promotion or nonpromotion, still remain the subject of serious consideration among educators. The problem has been the subject of research studies and many opinion articles.

The Iron County School District, Cedar City, Utah, has advocated a policy of careful evaluation for each child considered for nonpromotion . The philosophy of the district which advocates adjusting instruction to meet individual differences should eliminate, except …

Determining The Extent, In Terms Of Behavior Growth To Which Industrial Arts Teachers In Utah Are Achieving The Objectives Of Industrial Arts, A. Kent Randall

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It is evident that, if industrial arts teachers have subscribed to a set of objectives to guide or give direction to their teaching program, they should be used. It is not sufficient to formulate the aims then lay them aside to collect dust. Rather these aims or objectives should be used effectively as a learning guide. Upon these objectives the teacher should build his whole program.

It has been said that objectives really mean behavioral growth on the part of the students. If such is the case, the objectives must be translated into a desired behavior pattern outcome. The student's …