Digital Commons Network^™

The Importance Of Mood And Motivation Of An Individual In The Success Of Physical Therapy, Spencer Wagner

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Physical therapy is a health profession that helps people improve their movement and range of motion in certain body areas. Since the time it was founded, physical therapists have mainly focused on the physical health of the patient. While that is their job, they may not have been as successful because they neglected the mental health of the patient. The mindset of an individual, particularly their mood and motivation, can influence how they progress through physical therapy and how successful they are in regaining functionality in their affected body area. The purpose of this study is to determine how the …

An Exploration Of Influences On Consumers' Behaviors/Decisions In Relation To Animal Agriculture, Abigail Durheim

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Animal agriculture provides many daily resources for consumers around the globe. While the average American is at least three generations removed from agriculture, they still hold power to influence the industry with the dollar and their vote. The purpose of this study was to identify influences on consumer behaviors/decisions in relation to animal agriculture. Seven hundred four complete and usable responses were collected via a researcher-developed online survey. Using branding concepts as a framework, the first study evaluated how visual stimuli influenced consumers' intention to purchase Nebraska beef products. Researchers found that visual stimuli did influence respondents to choose Nebraska …

Creative Play Pedagogy, Leah M. Hedrick

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis serves as a primer text for creative play pedagogy, a new approach to teaching arts subjects. In accordance with the author’s teaching experience, this text is primarily concerned with the application of new pedagogical shifts to center creative play in the community college creative writing classroom.

Part One lays out a definition and rationale for creative play as a concept for teachers. The research outlined in this section illustrates how engagement with the arts benefits students’ mental-emotional and social well-being. Following this research, the author investigates barriers to creative play that exist in traditional pedadogies as well as …

Studying Developer Eye Movements To Measure Cognitive Workload And Visual Effort For Expertise Assessment, Salwa D. Aljehane, Bonita Sharif, Jonathan I. Maletic

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Eye movement data provides valuable insights that help test hypotheses about a software developer’s comprehension process. The pupillary response is successfully used to assess mental processing effort and attentional focus. Relatively little is known about the impact of expertise level in cognitive effort during programming tasks. This paper presents a quantitative analysis that compares the eye movements of 207 experts and novices collected while solving program comprehension tasks. The goal is to examine changes of developers’ eye movement metrics in accordance with their expertise. The results indicate significant increase in pupil size with the novice group compared to the experts, …

A Multi-Case Examination Of Leadership Development Programs For Emerging Educational Leaders In K–12 School Districts, Jason Thomsen

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In recent years, a greater emphasis has been placed on leadership development programs across a wide array of sectors in an effort to improve organizations. A growing body of research indicates that strong educational leadership practices have the ability to impact virtually all aspects of a school system. What is less evident in the research is how K-12 school districts utilize leadership development programs and make decisions regarding the implementation of those programs in order to cultivate educational leaders. The purpose of this multi-case study was to examine how K-12 school districts utilize leadership development programs and the role that …

Physiological Response To Political Messaging, Kelsey Wright

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The overall goal of this study was to understand if individuals who politically identify as Democrats or Republicans have a statistically significant difference in their emotional response to congruent and incongruent political media clips. I used physiological measures of arousal, valence, and emotional control to understand threat response while participants watched congruent and incongruent political media clips. There was no significant difference between the response to congruent and incongruent media in individuals who identify as Democratic or Republican. There was no significant difference in physiological measures when individuals viewed congruent media clips than viewing incongruent media clips. However, there was …

Recycling Attitudes And Behaviors Toward Single-Use Plastics At The University Of Nebraska–Lincoln, Jadyn Chasek

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Today, single-use plastics pose an issue in the world with pollution from improper disposal as well as from the manufacturing of single-use plastic products. There is a need for change, plastic products have begun to consume the planet and harm life on Earth. Many people look to college universities for an opportunity to change issues such as the overconsumption of single-use plastics. A college campus is the perfect environment to study what changes can be made to fix an issue as well as how to implement those changes. This study was conducted at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where the undergraduate …

Unemployment And Opioid-Related Mortality Rates In U.S. Counties: Investigating Social Capital And Social Isolation–Smoking Pathways, Tse-Chuan Yang, Seulki Kim, Stephen A. Matthews

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We examine two mechanisms—social capital and sociobehavior—potentially linking unemployment rates to opioid-related mortality and investigate whether the mechanisms differ geographically by the pace of the opioid crisis. Applying path analysis techniques to 2015–2017 opioid-related mortality in U.S. counties (N = 2,648), we find that (1) high unemployment rates are not directly associated with opioid-related mortality rates; (2) high unemployment rates are negatively associated with social capital, and low social capital contributes to high opioid-related mortality; (3) high unemployment rates increase social isolation and the prevalence of smoking, which is positively related to opioid-related mortality; and (4) the pathways are stronger …

The Rise And Fall Of Daca: An Audio Series, Dulce Garcia

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The history of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, commonly known as DACA, is a tumultuous one. In 2012, when President Obama created DACA through an executive order it gave relief to hundreds of thousands of people who were brought to the United States as children without their knowledge, giving them a range of benefits like never before including a work permit, a social security number, protection from deportation, and others. Yet, these last ten years the program has stood on shaky grounds with constant court battles canceling, reinstating or partially rolling the program. This audio series will give a deep …

Exploration Of The Lived Experiences Of Native American Science Teachers Of The Great Plains: A Narrative Inquiry, Uma Ganesan

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

The complicated history of the education of Native American children through U.S. government-sponsored practices has led to the elimination of the Native children’s sense of Indian identity, culture, and language (Noel, 2002). In addition, increased emphasis on standardization and high-stakes accountability under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has resulted in less culturally responsive educational efforts and more Indigenous students left behind in school systems (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008). This has led to Indigenous students being underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields where they account for only 3% of STEM workers (Fry, Kennedy, & Funk, …

Exploring Stem Teaching Assistants’ Self-Efficacy And Its Relation To Approaches To Teaching, Cody R. Smith, Deepika Menon, Annette Wierzbicki, Jenny Dauer

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants (TAs) play large roles in introductory undergraduate education despite having little to no teaching experience or professional development (PD). Self-efficacy and teaching approach have each been studied as independent variables that impact teaching performance and student learning in the absence of practiced skill or developed knowledge. This study explored relationships between TAs’ teaching approaches and teaching self-efficacy. Self-efficacy was measured using the Graduate Teaching Self-Efficacy Scale (GTA-TSES), and teaching approach was measured using the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI). The following research questions guided the study: What is the relationship between TAs’ approaches to teaching …

“The Queer, Lonely, Intense, Inner Lives Of Their Children”: Psychoanalysis, Mysticism, And Mabel Dodge Luhan’S Narrative Approach To The Story Of Her Childhood, Lauren M. Franken

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis explores Mabel Dodge Luhan’s narrative approach to writing Background (1933), the first of her four published volumes of autobiography titled Intimate Memories. In the first section I lay the groundwork for this analysis with a brief examination of Background’s publication history. The succeeding two sections offer a historical framework for understanding late nineteenth and early twentieth-century American conceptualizations of childhood, Freudian psychoanalysis, and mysticism. Considering the various lenses through which Luhan analyzed her childhood memories provides a more complex awareness of her narrative approach. The fourth section engages in a close reading of the sections of …

Career Interests, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

Career interests reflect individuals’ “trait-like preferences for activities, environments, and outcomes that motivate goal strivings and achievement” (Jones et al., 2020). Simply put, interests are a series of likes and dislikes that develop alongside one’s cognitive abilities and personality to shape human behavior (Jones et al., 2020; Low et al., 2005). Interests, thus, drive the amount of time and effort individuals spend acquiring knowledge and abilities within a certain domain and their pursuit of educational and career goals (Jones et al., 2020). According to vocational choice theory, individuals tend to seek work that aligns with their interests, and when this …

You Never Really Leave, John Kuligowski

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

YOU NEVER REALLY LEAVE is a thesis which consists in a critical introduction that broadly explores my experience of creating a short story collection, as well as the ensuing collection of five short stories. The critical introduction examines the form and content of the following stories, as well as the influences that have been instrumental to my writing. It furnishes details about themes and subject matter which have been consistent in my fiction thus far, and it depicts some of the motivations behind it. The stories themselves range from a realist mode to what has been labeled by other writers …

Corn Grain Marketing Strategy Unbiasing For 2023, Matthew Stockton, Shannon Sand

Cornhusker Economics

Discusses cognitive biasing errors that may be employed--in the context of corn market strategizing--such as the Dunning-Krueger effect, availability or distancing bias, gambler's fallacy, and anchoring bias.

The Effects Of Anchor Schemes On Performance Fatigability, Neuromuscular Responses And The Perceived Sensations That Contributed To Task Termination, Robert Smith, Terry J. Housh, Jocelyn E. Arnett, John Paul V. Anders, Tyler J. Neltner, Dolores G. Ortega, Richard J. Schmidt, Glen O. Johnson

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

The present study examined the effect of anchor schemes on the time to task failure (TTF), performance fatigability, neuromuscular responses, and the perceived sensations that contributed to task termination following the sustained, isometric forearm flexion tasks. Eight women completed sustained, isometric forearm flexion tasks anchored to RPE = 8 (RPEFT) and the torque (TRQFT) that corresponded to RPE = 8. The subjects performed pre-test and post-test maximal isometric contractions to quantify performance fatigability and changes in electromyographic amplitude (EMG AMP) and neuromuscular efficiency (NME). In addition, the subjects completed a post-test questionnaire (PTQ) to quantify the contributions of perceived sensations …

Classroom Social Support: A Multiple Phenomenological Case Study Of Mathematics Graduate Teaching Assistants’ Decision Making In The Classroom, Brittany Johnson

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Research suggests that support offered by an instructor can have a significant impact on the student experience, both in terms of classroom performance and affective well-being. Research also suggests that there are different types of support that instructors can offer (e.g., emotional support, instrumental support, informational support, and appraisal support). Although such research suggests that students perceive and are affected by these different types of support in different ways, there does not appear to be research surrounding the decision-making process behind instructors offering the support or the extent to which social support is a priority for them in the classroom. …

Job Stress Moderates The Effects Of A Mindfulness Intervention On Early Childhood Teachers' Emotion Dysregulation, Emily J. Starr

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Addressing the current crisis of early childhood (EC) teacher turnover is essential for supporting the development of young children. Teacher attrition remains a concern for policymakers globally, and in the United States, early childhood teachers frequently cite job stress and lack of support as reasons for leaving the field. For over 40 years, researchers who study childcare have been concerned about the consequences of work-related stressors. Even if these stressors do not result in turnover, EC teachers’ psychological well-being may be impacted, leading to increased emotion regulation difficulties and more frequent negative teacher-child interactions. Young children’s emotional development is significantly …

Cats Of Unl: An Investigation Into The Human-Feral Cat Relationships On A University Campus In Nebraska, Jacey Skoda

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), there exists a population of feral cats that is monitored and cared for by a group known as Husker Cats. As the cats wander the sidewalks and gardens of the university, they may appear non-threatening and pleasant to have around. However, a feral cat presence could have detrimental impacts on the surrounding ecosystem, property, and community. The first component of this project, a survey of individuals on UNL campus, ultimately seeks to understand what those in the UNL community know about the feral cats, how they feel about the feral cats, and how they …

Climate Change, Site Formation, And Indigenous Use Of Coastlines In Barbuda, Isabel C. Rivera-Collazo, Sophia Perdikaris

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

This article explores the landscape dynamics at the island of Barbuda in the context of changing climate to understand (1) the environmental setting of indigenous settlements; (2) the impacts of current coastal processes; and (3) the potential threats moving forward toward increasing pressure of climate change. Focusing on the site of Seaview, on the east coast of Barbuda, we use geoarchaeological methods to reconstruct the ancient geomorphological setting, investigate changes post-abandonment, and identify the hazards faced under future sea-level projections. Our study shows that (1) sea level stabilization after the Mid-Holocene allowed the formation of coral reefs, seagrass beds and …

How Resilience Is Framed Matters For Governance Of Coastal Social-Ecological Systems, Sarah Clement, Javad Jozaei, Michael Mitchell, Craig R. Allen, Ahjond S. Garmestani

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Effective governance of social-ecological systems (SES) is an enduring challenge, especially in coastal environments where accelerating impacts of climate change are increasing pressure on already stressed systems. While resilience is often proposed as a suitable framing to re-orient governance and management, the literature includes many different, and sometimes conflicting, definitions and ideas that influence how the concept is applied, especially in coastal environments. This study combines discourse analysis of the coastal governance literature and key informant interviews in Tasmania, Australia, demonstrating inconsistencies and confusion in the way that resilience is framed in coastal governance research and practice. We find that …

Comparing Taste Perception Across Modalities In Healthy Adults: Liquids Versus Dissolvable Taste Strips, Ross M. Westemeyer, Angela M. Dietsch

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Taste stimulation has rehabilitative value in dysphagia management, as it activates salient underlying afferent pathways to swallowing which may evoke feedforward effects on swallow biomechanics. Despite its potential beneficial effects on swallow physiology, taste stimulation’s clinical application is limited for persons unsafe to orally consume food/liquid. This study aimed to create edible, dissolvable taste strips matched to flavor profiles previously used in research assessing taste’s effects on swallowing physiology and brain activity, and to evaluate how similar their perceived intensity and hedonic, or palatability, ratings were between their liquid counterparts. Plain, sour, sweet–sour, lemon, and orange flavor profiles were custom-made …

Photographs And Parent Training To Support Conversations About Past Events Between Caregivers And Children With Autism, Naima Bhana, Tracy J. Raulston, Ciara Ousley, Atikah Bagawan

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Objectives Children with autism spectrum disorder experience communication difficulties that can make it challenging to engage in conversations. Their caregivers also often struggle with finding ways to support the child’s communication. Parent-implemented interventions and visual supports are evidence-based practices to support the communication skills of children with autism.

Method A multi-method design (single-case multiple probe and qualitative) was used to evaluate the effects of family photographs, training, and telecoaching on parental implementation of communication strategies. Three parents and their children with and at risk for autism participated.

Results Results indicate that the use of photographs increased the communication strategies used …

Negotiating Asian American Identities: Collaborative Self-Study Of Korean Immigrant Scholars’ Reading Group On Asiancri, Taeyeon Kim, Soo Bin Jang, Jin Keong Jung, Minhye Son, Sun Young Lee

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to understand how Korean immigrant women early career scholars in higher education in the United States explore their Asian American identities in the identity-based community space. The study considered qualitative data generated by five authors in a collaborative reading group learning more about AsianCrit literature. Our analysis revealed that AsianCrit was used as a tool for revisiting our racialized experiences, negotiating tensions around key constructs of AsianCrit informed by transnational perspectives, and embracing Asian American identities in pursuit of solidarity. The findings contribute to expanding the scholarship of AsianCrit by highlighting its utility and …

“You Feel A Sense Of Accomplishment”: Outdoor Adventure Experiences Of Youths With Visual Impairments During A One-Week Sports Camp, Lauren J. Lieberman, Katie Ericson, Melanie Perreault, Pamela Beach, Kelsey Williams

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

There are many cognitive, physical, and social–emotional benefits for youths from participating in outdoor adventure activities. However, youths with visual impairments are not given the same opportunities to participate in outdoor adventure activities as their peers without disabilities. The purpose of this study was to examine the outdoor adventure experiences of youths with visual impairments participating in a week-long sports camp. Thirty-seven youths with visual impairment (ages 9–19 years) attending a one-week sports camp participated in this study. Participants engaged in a variety of outdoor adventure activities throughout the week of camp (e.g., sailing, hiking, rock climbing, biking, kayaking). Participants …

Healthcare Service Use, Help-Seeking Behaviors, And Health And Wellbeing In Attenuated Psychosis, Jasmine Ranjbari-Sisan, William D. Spaulding, Tierney K. Lorenz

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Persons with serious mental illness (SMI) receive poorer-than-standard healthcare, contributing to a 20-year reduction in the average life expectancy of persons with SMI. While extant literature describes the health disparities experienced by persons with SMI, little research examines the relationship between attenuated psychotic symptoms, healthcare service use, and help-seeking behaviors that may contribute to the disparities in this vulnerable population. This study explores the relationships between attenuated psychotic symptoms, physical health symptoms and related distress, healthcare service use, and help-seeking intentions to better understand health disparities in vulnerable and marginalized populations, such as individuals with SMI. Only a portion of …

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 37, Spring 2023, New England Faculty Development Consortium

New England Faculty Development Consortium Exchange

Contents

President's Message, Linda Bruenjes

Faculty peer coaching: Collaborative partnerships for instructional development

Swimming with students: Grading for learning at the University of Rhode Island

The art of the hook: How to engage your students from the first day of class to the last

Using feature films to explore the experience of individuals with severe disabilities: The role of critical reflection

Scoring online class participation based on concrete deliverables

NEFDC Board members

Nebraska Transcript (University Of Nebraska College Of Law), Spring 2023

Nebraska Transcript

Serving with Integrity

Bradford known for his creative approach to teaching, legal scholarship by Adam Thimmesch

Depending on Denicola for care and excellence by Matthew Schaefer

Potuto brought New Jersey toughness to Nebraska Law by Harvey Perlman

Schopp: from "semi-psychologist" to prolific law, psychology scholar by John Lenich

Solving Problems

Schmid Research Fellows reflect on program’s 10th anniversary

Weitzel explores corporate behavior, leverages global experience

Agosto makes a home at Nebraska Law

Jefferis draws on extensive knowledge as former civil rights litigator and clinic professor

Nebraska Law reunion weekend honoring the classes of 1963, 1973, 1983, 1993, 2003, and 2013

The Value Of Process In Racial Equity Work: Reflections From A Faculty Learning Community, Emily R. Shamash, Julie Berrett-Abebe, Latasha Smith, Stephanie Storms, Michael Regan, Jocelyn Novella, Laurie L. Grupp, Emily Smith, Alyson Martin

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article explores how one higher education faculty learning community engaged in reflective practices in pursuit of their commitment to the inclusion of anti-racist content and pedagogy across their multidisciplinary curriculums. As a key initial step in engaging in this collaborative, cross-disciplinary work, they set out to consider collective definitions of key terms that are deemed critical to anti-racist pedagogy. This group engaged in a collaborative exploratory process to explore definitions and understanding of the following terms: whiteness, racism, race, racial equity, racial injustice/inequity, white supremacy, and anti-racism and document the reflective process by which the determination took place. Themes …

Infusion Rather Than Isolation: Integrating Principles Of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Decolonization, And Indigenization In Toolkits For Remote Instruction During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Robin Attas, Lauren Anstey, Lindsey Brant, Karalyn Mcrae

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

In the spring of 2020, our Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) developed the Transforming Teaching and Teaching Assistant Toolkits, consisting of in-house and curated open-access resources on various aspects of remote teaching, along with accompanying webinars. We deliberately infused principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and decolonization and Indigenization across all aspects of the resources for several reasons: our CTL’s commitment to these principles as institutional priorities that are the responsibility of all staff, numerous theorists’ advocacy to adopt inclusive pedagogies across the curriculum rather than tokenistic “add-and-stir” gestures, and a desire to counter the inequities in education …