Education Commons^™

Acceptability Of Behavioral Bully Interventions: Mexican Descent And White American Elementary School Students' Ratings Of Assertiveness And Seeking Adult Help Skills, Devin J. Healey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of school-based interventions for children to use to deal with being bullied. However, the research has not looked at the effectiveness of these interventions for Latino students. These students come to school with different cultural experiences and values. In theory, treatment that is evaluated as acceptable and potentially effective is more likely to be used. This study investigates and compares the treatment acceptability ratings of White American (n = 87) and Mexican descent (n = 28) students for two intervention skills that are often taught in bully intervention programs: assertiveness and seeking help …

A Qualitative Case Study Of Developing Teacher Identity Among American Indian Secondary Teachers From The Ute Teacher Training Program, Virginia Norris Exton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this foundational study was to explore the factors that contributed to developing teacher identity among new American Indian teachers. Multifaceted research into the history of American Indian education, the design of American Indian teacher training programs, and the beliefs and experiences of four American Indian secondary teachers gave this study a richly detailed context.

Three overarching patterns emerged during the process of analyzing the data: (a) solidarity and independence, (b) habit and change, and (c) tradition and invention. From these patterns, six factors were identified as contributing to developing teacher identity. School-based experiences that affected developing teacher …

Developmental Students' Perceptions Of Unsuccessful And Successful Mathematics Learning, Laurel Howard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe what experiences, attitudes, and learning strategies developmental mathematics students believed contributed to their failure to gain basic math skill proficiency in the past and what experiences, attitudes, and learning strategies these students now believed were most likely to enhance the successful learning of basic math skills.

To gain an understanding of the lived experiences of successful developmental mathematics students who were previously unsuccessful, structured, open-ended interviews were conducted, classroom observations were made, and formative and summative assessments for the students were collected. Fourteen students from a western 4-year college were selected …

What We Do Best: Quality Collections Care Practices In Small Museums In Utah, Pamela Wilder Miller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Small museums occupy a distinctive niche in the world of museums. They hold unique objects in their collections, exhibit them, and educate the public about them. All museums have the challenge to care for collections in a manner that will enhance their preservation for future generations. Large museums have paid staff and budgets for collections care. Small museums, as used in this study, have one full-time staff person or less, who are often inadequately trained in caring for collections. Nevertheless, they still must work to preserve their collections for the future. In this qualitative study, the grounded theory method was …

The Risk Of The Female Athlete Triad In Collegiate Athletes And Non-Athletes, Carla Southwick

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Prior research has found the female athlete triad in both female athletes and female non-athletes. This study consisted of 192 female participants attending Utah State University with 103 collegiate athletes and 89 non-athletes. The instruments used included the EAT-26, menstrual cycle history questionnaire, osteoporosis questionnaire, and time spent in exercise questionnaire. Results from the present study found a statistically significant difference between athletes and non-athletes being at risk for the triad with female athletes having a higher percentage (4.8%, 3.4%). No statistical significant correlation was found between the risk of the triad and excessive amounts of time spent in exercise …

Factors Relating To The Success Or Failure Of College Algebra Internet Students: A Grounded Theory Study, Christine Walker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to discover the factors that contribute to the success or failure of college algebra for students taking college algebra by distance education Internet, and then generate a theory of success or failure of the group of College Algebra Internet students at one Utah college.

Qualitative data were collected and analyzed on students’ perceptions and perspectives of a College Algebra Internet course that they took during the spring or summer 2006 semesters at a bachelor’s degree-granting college in Utah. The participants were chosen from any of the six sections, and purposeful sampling was …

Evaluation Of Three Parent-Focused Disability Information And Healthy Lifestyle Curriculum Modules For Latino Parents Of Children With Developmental Disabilities, Martin E. Blair

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Parents of children with disabilities need accurate information to help them provide tailored services and supports to their families. This is especially true for immigrant Latino families who tend to experience poor overall health and who tend to avoid formal services and supports. Based on input gathered from Latino Parents of children with disabilities, a three module curriculum, "Empowering Families," was developed. Following a cultural appropriateness review of the curriculum and associated measurement instruments, revisions were made to the content and presentation procedure. This was followed by a field test of the curriculum with two groups of Latino parent/caregivers of …

Nutritional Analyses Of Intuitive Eaters As Compared To Dieters, Anne Wilson Banks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rates of obesity in the United States have been increasing despite an increase of dieters. A new paradigm, intuitive eating, has been introduced to counter the negative effects of dieting. Intuitive eating has not been compared to dieters on a nutritional level, however. The main purpose of this study was to determine the nutritional differences between intuitive eaters and dieters.

Participants were asked to complete questionnaires regarding food consumption and attitudes about eating. Participants (N = 32) were then classified as intuitive eaters or dieters and asked to complete six, 24-hr food logs. Data received from these food logs were …

A Causal-Comparative Model For The Examination Of An Online Teacher Professional Development Program For An Elementary Agricultural Literacy Curriculum, Clay L. Rasmussen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a teacher professional development program as measured by the extent that participants have continued to use lessons and materials up to three years after the professional development experience. The professional development program was delivered online and structured by five key characteristics of effective professional development.

Sixty-five participants of Food, Land, and People (FLP) professional development completed an online survey answering certain demographic variables and indicating the number of lessons and activities they had used from the FLP professional development. An implementation and continued use measurement model was …

A Comparison Of Social Stories And Script Fading To Increase Appropriate Social Interactions Of Secondary Students With Disabilities With Their Non-Disabled Peers, Kristi Dudleston

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effects of social stories and script fading were investigated on increasing interactions of students with disabilities with their non-disabled peers. Social stories and script fading are treatments typically used for persons with autism spectrum disorder. This study examined effects on students with intellectual disabilities and multiple disabilities. In sequential treatments, social stories and "scripts" were read to students just prior to their lunch, so each could be assessed on their effectiveness in increasing initiations and responses in social situations in a lunch line with typical students. Social stories and script fading were analyzed in the context of a multiple …

The Democratic Purpose Of Postsecondary Education: Comparing Public, Private Nonprofit, And Private For-Profit Mission Statements For Expression Of Democratic Social Purpose, Lon Youngberg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Thomas Jefferson envisioned a symbiotic relationship between democracy and public education because he considered educated citizens to be the critical ingredient of a successful democracy. Nevertheless, political and educational reforms over the past two centuries have not always been kind to the relationship that Jefferson envisioned. This study examines frequency that postsecondary education institutions declare a democratic social purpose in their mission statements. The DSP definition, data instrumentation, and theoretical lens for this study were situated from the Jeffersonian perspective.

Although the primary concern for this study was publicly funded/subsidized postsecondary education, recent enrollment growth in private education and privatization …

Predicting On-The-Job Teacher Success Based On A Group Assessment Procedure Used For Admission To Teacher Education, Lavaun Gene Faulk

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of a group assessment procedure used as admission criteria into a teacher education program to predict future teaching success. Information was sought from principals within the state of Utah regarding the teaching success of 151 Utah State University graduates teaching in Utah public schools. Interviewed principals used a self-anchoring scale (1 = unsuccessful to 10 = highly successful) to “anchor” their beliefs about successful and unsuccessful teachers. Scores principals gave study participants when considering their success to other teachers on faculty were compared to scores teachers were given earlier as …

Doctoral Education Among Latter-Day Saint (Lds) Women: A Phenomenological Study Of A Mother's Choice To Achieve, Jonathan Glade Hall

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) have been compellingly counseled by church leaders that motherhood should be women’s greatest ambition, and as such that it should demand mothers’ full-time in the home; at the same time they have been taught to get all of the education that they can. Mothers with young families must decide if they should continue their educational pursuits, or spend their full-time in the home. This study sought to fill a gap in the literature and understand the lived experience of these women by researching how LDS mothers with young children …

Emerging Literacy And Family Rituals, Melanie Williamson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to extend the research on children’s early literacy development by examining the practice of daily family rituals. The assumption was that the predictability and affective meaning that rituals provide would create an environment that fosters the development of literacy skills and motivation to learn. Measures included the PALS Prek, PPVT-III, and Family Ritual Questionnaire. Although there were no significant positive relationships between regular family rituals such as dinnertime and reading aloud practices and literacy outcomes, negative correlations were found between the assignment of roles on weekends, the routine of vacations, mother’s work hours, and …