Education Commons^™

Iowa Schoolmarms: The Significance Of Rural Schools And The Feminization Movement, 1865-1920, Ashley Nicole Loper

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Approximately twelve to fourteen thousand one-room schoolhouses occupied the Iowan landscape during the late nineteenth century. Rural schools possess a strong connection to the memories Iowans have of their state and have a particularly strong impact on women’s recollections. The state was established during the climax of the educational reformation led by Horace Mann and Catharine Beecher. Consequently, Iowa mostly negated schooling by religious leaders and developed public school systems almost immediately upon the state’s foundations. The majority of the people settling Iowa already contained firm beliefs on public education being accessible for all citizens. Women began entering the schoolhouse …

An Investigation Of The Assessment Practices Of Elementary General Music Teachers In Iowa, Michelle Linn Hyde Swanson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Assessment, leading to informed decisions, is an integral part of music education and may be a means to justify the importance of music as a valued content subject (Brophy, 2000). The purpose of this study was to describe the elementary general music assessment practices in Iowa. The study was framed using Stiggins’ (2005) categorical definition of assessment as gathering, organizing, summarizing, and reporting data. Mixed methodologies were utilized to gather data regarding these four categories through survey questions (N=211) and two focus group discussions. The participants were from a variety of school district sizes as well as teachers with varying …

"A Special Program For Highly Gifted Students:" The Evolution And Growth Of Uni's Honors Program, 1959-2009, Matthew Christian Miller

Honors Program Theses

In 1959, the faculty of the Iowa State Teachers College (ISTC), what is now known as the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), approved the creation of an honors program for gifted students, those who performed “above the norm for their age.”¹ Over the next 50 years, this program’s structure evolved and expanded to meet the changing needs of both the university and students from various backgrounds. The UNI Honors Program’s creation and evolution were not isolated events; rather, they reflected various local and national trends in education. UNI’s first honors program began as a reflection of ideas promoted by …

Observations Of Music And Literacy In Early Childhood Education, Ann Strom

Honors Program Theses

Students spend as many as nineteen years in a classroom by the time they are twenty-two. They have countless teachers who all teach in a different style and say that it is the best way for their students to learn. Students have experienced classrooms where they are given a lecture for an hour and then expected to know and understand the content when the test comes. They have also experienced classrooms where they are up and moving, creating models, doing research, or conducting experiments, throughout the class to come to an understanding to share with their peers on the topic …

The Pura Belpré Award And The Portrayal Of Disability, Zoe Houser

Honors Program Theses

The Pura Belpré Award is one of the lesser known literary awards. Because other literary awards have been around longer and received a large amount of attention, there has been much research done over the other literary awards, including how the award books portray disabled characters within their pages. However, there is a lack of research about the portrayal of disability in books that have been awarded or honored by the Pura Belpré Award.

This paper will address the question of how many Pura Belpré Award winning books include prominent characters with disabilities and if they are portrayed positively or …

A Technical Method For The High School String Classroom: Priorities And Presentation Of Essential Skills, Nicole Elizabeth Cody

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis and its accompanying appendices synthesize pedagogical information from classroom method books, classroom pedagogy texts and individual instrument methods presenting new manuals for technique acquisition on violin, viola, cello and double bass in the secondary orchestra classroom. After reviewing the literature, the following categories were determined to be most important for this level of student: 1) Finger Patterns/Tetrachord Exercises, 2) Scales, 3) Bowing, 4) Shifting, 5) Position Etudes and 6) Chorales/Tonal Development. This paper focuses on these categories reporting on how different texts teach the various skills and creating a guide that encourages both a vertical and horizontal understanding …

Reconciling The Two Cultures : A Case Study Of The University Of Northern Iowa, Elizabeth Ann Collins

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In 1959, chemist and author Charles Percy Snow gave a Rede Lecture at the University of Cambridge in which he named “Two Cultures”—the sciences and the humanities—which, according to his experience as someone who worked in both, were at odds with one another. His words elicited impassioned responses from critics who either agreed with Snow, believing this to be a detriment to society, or vehemently disagreed, believing Snow’s statements to be unfounded, and even antagonistic. This conversation, which had also found relevance in the United States, continues to be important today, and has changed over the years as institutions of …

Competition And Extrinsic Motivation In The Band Classroom: A Review Of Literature And Suggestions For Educational Practice, Stephanie Kay Opsal

Honors Program Theses

Public school bands teach students valuable artistic expression as they work together to learn and perform music in instrumental ensembles. Music educators who claim this purpose need to sustain student interest and involvement in band to continue the art form, because band is an elective course in which students join voluntarily. Factors that motivate students to participate in band include the intrinsic desire for music and the extrinsic stimuli for participation, including a large emphasis on competitions.

Being In The World : An Existential Inquiry Of Knowing One's Self Through A Personal Project : In The Context Of Dissertation Survival, Tomoe Kitajima

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study--a philosophical exploration, partly in an autoethnographical account--provides an empirical demonstration that one's personal project has a strong and positive impact on the dissertation process both for endurance to complete the process and for quality of the product. The concept of project is often explained as one's pursuit of his or her most important philosophical issues. This dissertation originated in the very beginning of my doctoral education in summer 2000 when I first encountered the man behind the coffee shop counter. In his life story he expressed a strong question about the problem of knowledge and authentic living. How …

Raising Good Soviets: Media Depictions Of Soviet Life And Upbringing Under Khrushchev, Chelsea Miller

Honors Program Theses

Policies on education and upbringing affected almost every individual in the Soviet Union, from the youngest child to the oldest pensioner. These policies reflected the current ideological path of the party and the need to train the children to accomplish the country’s goals. On a more personal level, these policies helped the children evolve into successful adults able to easily enter the workforce. When the public saw that these policies were not being enforced or implemented, they expressed their dissatisfaction. These individuals were able to safely voice their criticisms by pointing out the educational system’s failures within the ideological framework …

Multilingual Theatre: Community Value And Future Education Necessity, Diana Milree Garles

Honors Program Theses

This project is the culmination of my two passions: theatre and language. For me, these two things are priceless pieces of human identity, whether used consciously or not. I imagine there are very few people who have never played a role, or portrayed a certain character to embody a facet of their personality. I believe this research presents a natural, practical option for community and educational development through the use of theatre techniques. Language is a supporting element in theatre, and theatre can use language as an educational tool for exposure and for further understanding of many different cultures and …

Religion In The Classroom, Allison Kay Carey

Honors Program Theses

When most people hear that one wants to increase the study of religions in a public high school most think that it will infringe on the constitutional rights of the students, but this is not the case. "Teaching about religion in the schools is often confused with the teaching of religion, or religious advocacy and indoctrination." This quotation describes why the study of religion has been left out, but it is imperative to understand why the study of religion is so important in a 21st century education. Diane L. Moore gave five main reasons why she felt students need to …

Primary Source Use In High School History Classrooms: Categories, Frequency, And Assessment, Michaela Goblirsch

Honors Program Theses

Throughout this thesis project, I will research the many various forms of primary sources as well as a variety of assessment styles. By reviewing literature and analyzing results from a survey of high school history teachers, I will discover the manner and scope in which primary sources are used in history classes. Also, I hope to determine which primary sources students respond best to, taking into account their age and gender. Teachers will be able to use this information to construct more engaging and challenging lesson plans featuring primary sources. Knowing which types of primary sources are most effective for …

A Look At The Little Rock Nine, Stacey Noble

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

The sun beat down on fields of puffy white clouds as glistening backs reaped the new harvest. At the end of the long, grueling day, the people known as slaves returned to their cabins to sleep until the early morning call once again beckoned them to the fields. As the white owners spent their evenings reading books, writing letters, updating the accounts, the people they owned may have sung or told stories, but they did not read. They did not write, and they did not update any accounts. They did not show any sign of education. To be educated and …

In Their Footsteps: Women Faculty Of Wartburg College 1914–1945, Susan Kosche Vallem

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate the hiring and inclusion of women faculty members in private higher education, using Wartburg College as a case study. This study identified and described the educational policies and procedures at Wartburg from 1914 to 1945 related to the hiring of women faculty at Wartburg College.

While the history of women in higher education is well-chronicled, much less is written on the impetus and motivation for hiring women faculty and their impact on the institutions themselves. This dissertation adds to that specific body of knowledge.

Three research questions were investigated in this study: …

Fit To Print: A Content Analysis Of The Regent Universities' Student Papers, Ivy A. Sprague

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first comparative study conducted regarding the student publications for the three Iowa Regents' universities. The data collected shows that the three publications are not as different in terms of content as many of their readers seem to believe. As the data reflects, the Northern Iowan is significantly more campus-centered in its coverage. However, the difference is not so significant that the staff of the Northern Iowan could not increase its national and international coverage to make it more comparable to the other two newspapers. I hope this research can be of …

A Study Of Teaching About Religions In Selected Iowa Public High Schools, Douglas W. Sprague

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study investigated public high school teachers perceptions about religions in the curriculum, and practices of public high school teachers when teaching about religions in public high school classrooms. The study used a modified version of the analytical induction model of qualitative research presented by (Bogdan & Biklen, 1982). Three pre-selected high schools in the state of Iowa were identified by the researcher for study. A common departmental structure was used to identify teachers from across the curriculum as participants in the study. The schools were of three different enrollment sizes. Thirty-four teachers who taught 79 different courses made up …

Recruitment Practices Influencing Enrollment Of Four-Year Undergraduate Students Who Specialize In Graphic Arts, Joseph George Gindele

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to identify recruitment practices and other selected factors that could be utilized to increase undergraduate student enrollment in three types of graphic arts programs: education, technology, and management. The study involved graphic arts faculty and students in 76 colleges and universities in the United States.

Six instruments were used to secure data. These included two preliminary devices, three faculty opinionnaires, and one student opinionnaire. Each faculty opinionnaire focused on one of three graphic arts programs and contained a list of 32 recruitment practices. The student opinionnaire consisted of a similar list, an additional listing …