Education Commons^™

Model Evidence Links (Mels) And The Impact Of Critical Thinking On Open Ended Responses, James Gregory Zabel

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this dissertation, which was conducted in a rural school district that is equidistant from three major urban areas in central Iowa, and employed an action research methodology, was to examine the relationship between graphic organizer use and critical thinking. A multitude of studies have provided evidence that graphic organizers aid in the recall and understanding of basic facts in the lower grade levels; however, little research exists that supports a connection between graphic organizer use and the ability of students to recall information used on open-ended critical thinking assessments or the ability to create what Bickel and …

Understanding The Use Of Crisis Communication In Clery Act Compliance, Allyson L. Rafanello

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research explores the experiences of eight individuals with positional responsibility for the implementation of the Clery Act as a part of a college or university campus community, specifically seeking to understand the use of crisis communication theory in the issuance of timely warnings. Qualitative methods, specifically semi-structured interviews and a content analysis of previously issued timely warnings,were employed. These methods allowed the researcher to explore and seek understanding of a focused area of Clery Act compliance while hearing directly from the individuals charged with managing a detailed and ever complicated process in their efforts to protect their campus communities. …

The Zones Of Regulation In Schools, Kyle Andrew-Kelly Wiebers

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Emotion regulation is a concept that has existed within the literature for decades, but the presence of emotion regulation programs in schools is a relatively new concept in research (Durlak et al., 2011). Research suggests that emotional regulation skills are related to improved peer relationships and academic success (Denham & Brown, 2010; Durlak et al., 2011). Students who exhibited well-adjusted, or adaptive, emotion regulation had better peer relationships and were more productive and accurate when completing academic tasks (Denham & Brown, 2010; Dvir et al., 2014; Kim & Cicchetti, 2010; Kim‐Spoon et al., 2013; Lereya et al., 2015). For this …

Exploring The Experiences Of One Team Of Teachers: Well-Being And Navigating The Demands Of The Education Profession, Abby Weiland

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Much is changing in K-12 education contexts, including an emphasis on performativity and accountability (Au, 2016; Connell, 2009). Against this backdrop, teacher burnout and attrition have been the focus of numerous studies, including examination of organizational structures and factors contributing to burnout (Buckley et al., 2005; Konu et al., 2010). Insufficient attention has been given to how teachers are able to navigate the demands of this profession (Matteucci et al., 2017; Wilcox & Lawson, 2018). Efforts to retain teachers should not only emphasize factors associated with burnout or attrition, but also how they are affected by the systems in place, …

Recommender Systems In Higher Education: The Effectiveness Of Meta-Data Analysis In Predicting Academic Success, Michael J. Holmes

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

A recommender system is: “a software technology that proactively suggests items of interest to users based on their objective behavior or their explicitly stated preferences” (Pu et al., 2011, p. 157).

Whether we realize it or not, much of our lives are influenced by recommender systems. These systems may recommend where we eat, what movie we watch, what music we listen to, what products we buy, or even what news and social media content we see.

Recommender systems have been effectively utilized in higher education to recommend courses as well as customizing content within an online course to meet specific …

Including English Language Learners In Algebra One Instruction, Callie Irene Neighbor

Honors Program Theses

Inclusion in the classroom can be difficult for teachers, but it is essential for all students to have equal access to education while feeling included and engaged in the classroom. I am a senior in the Mathematics Teaching program at the University of Northern Iowa whose graduates teach secondary mathematics. I have chosen to focus my research on this topic to inform my future in student teaching and in my own classroom, I have decided to focus my research on high school Algebra One courses. Algebra One is the first high school level math class students will take, so including …

Precarious Enjoyment: Suicide Contra Schizophrenia, Mohammed Rawwas

Honors Program Theses

Mainstream psychology denies the unconscious, and is therefore unequipped to properly address the problematic of mental health, instead providing the coordinates for the symptom-formation of mental unwellness as a reaction to the inherent split of the subject, through the installation of the myth of the self-identical I. This same myth is perpetuated through capitalist individualism and the imperative to enjoy, and in the University through the discourse of science. The aim of psychoanalysis is to traverse the fantasy of this symptom-formation, and return the split to the subject. Finally, suicide is posited as the inevitable result of a self-identical notion …

Applying The Education Debt To Waterloo, Iowa, Baylee Renae Smith

Honors Program Theses

The Education Debt is largely overlooked in the world of academia. This is despite the fact the Education Debt offers a new lens through which to look at the multiple factors explaining differences in testing scores. While many scholars acknowledge and draw from the Education Debt in their works, it is still often viewed as supplementary to the larger problem of the achievement gap. The purpose of this study is to analyze if Ladson-Billings’ concept is just as applicable and relevant as when she first proposed it. To understand if the Education Debt is still a relevant issue within the …

Financial Literacy On College Campuses And Its Relationship To Student Retention, Completion, And Debt, Jaclyn K. Smith

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study asked Directors of Financial Aid Office at colleges and universities in Iowa to complete a questionnaire and share how they were implementing collaborative financial literacy programs at their institution. The study sought to answer three questions: (1) To what extent are institutions in Iowa working cross-departmentally to incorporate financial literacy into programming on their campus?, (2) What is the connection between cross-departmental financial literacy programming and student graduation and retention?, and (3) How is cross-departmental financial literacy programming reflected in federal student loan data?

The study found that each of the institutions that participated collaborated with at least …

Assessing The Implicit Curriculum In Social Work Education: An Examination Of The University Of Northern Iowa Students' Experiences, Madison Motz

Honors Program Theses

As part of a social work program’s accreditation process, social work programs across the United States are now being asked to assess their implicit curriculum, defined as the educational environment in which the explicit curriculum is presented, as new evidence has shown that implicit curriculum plays an important role in the learning, development, and professional outcome of social work students. Following the wake of a series of student diversity-related injustices across the state of Iowa, our team set out to create an implicit curriculum survey tool shaped by the experiences, concerns, and feedback presented by students within the social work …

Pre-Service Students Understanding Of Professional Roles, Anne Whalen Gradoville

Honors Program Theses

This study aims to begin understanding how well pre-service speech-language pathologists and teachers understand their roles in collaboration in the schools. Data were collected from a survey completed by undergraduate and graduate students in the Communication Sciences and Disorders and Education departments at one middle-sized university in the Midwest. Results indicated a wide range of understanding and preparedness. Several themes emerged as to what students feel confident about in terms of collaboration, as well as what they believe they still need to learn before they can be confident in collaborating in the schools. The data provides insight into what pre-service …

Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers: A Program Analysis Of Teacher Education In Iowa And Its Role In Preparing Preservice Teachers For Emergent Bilinguals, Karrigan Alexandria Mentzer

Honors Program Theses

Throughout my time at the University of Northern Iowa, I have had the opportunity to befriend, live, and work with many future teachers studying a variety of fields. We have often discussed the things we were learning in class and what we saw in field experiences. Something we all noticed is that I, as a student majoring in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), was the only one receiving any training about emergent bilingual students that went beyond a passing mention of the topic. This led me to wonder why I was the only one receiving this education, …

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Asian American Transracial Adoptees In College, Frances Elizabeth Mcdermott

Honors Program Theses

Asian American transracial adoptees are an underserved and underrepresented population in America, specifically on college campuses. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of experiences lived by individuals in this group, focusing on their time in college. Through qualitative interviews, this research captured the feelings, opinions, and experiences of select individuals within this group. Two semi-structured interviews were conducted with six separate participants via video chat. All participants attend(ed) the University of Northern Iowa, were 18 years of age or older, and were adopted from an Asian country into a White, American family. Results showed that …

A Critical Examination Of Corporate Ideology In Educational Policy And Practice: The Real Cost, Grace Brady

Honors Program Theses

In this thesis, I provide a historical background and conceptual analysis of how we arrived at our current educational policy landscape. By tracing educational policy and practice through the 20th century, I offer a critical perspective on contemporary educational policy and practice. Specifically, I assess how corporate culture and corporate ideology influenced contemporary educational policy. Additionally, I explore alternatives and possible recommendations for reforming education in both policy and practice through preservice teacher education and funding for public schools.

Promoting A Culture Of Student Self-Advocacy Within Secondary Science Classrooms, Elizabeth Anne Wessels

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the greatest source of self-efficacy that exists among 5-12 students in science through a meta-analysis of three previous studies. After analyzing the collected data, teaching strategies that aim to boost the most influential source of self-efficacy for students are recommended and briefly discussed. Gaining a better understanding of the sources self-efficacy, along with how to support these sources will help science educators understand how to support student self-advocacy.