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The Impact Of Readers' Workshop In A First Grade Classroom, Tara Lynn Seery

Graduate Research Papers

In this research I describe the Readers' Workshop approach, the impact that it has on a first graders' motivation, self-selection, and comprehension. This study was implemented during the 2006-2007 school year over a six week period. The observations at the beginning of the study indicated that the three focus students in this study lacked motivation, struggled with self-selection, and were in need of assistance to develop their comprehension skills. However, as Readers' Workshop was implemented, the students began to develop motivation to read on their own. They developed interests in books, and their comprehension strategies improved.

Full Inclusion And Collaborative Teaching : The New Wave In Education, Mindy Underwood

Graduate Research Papers

Throughout the history of education, the pendulum of best practice continuously swings. In the beginning, special education programs were practically nonexistent in schools, whereas now full inclusion and collaborative teaching are the new wave. This paper will explore the history of special education, full inclusion, collaborative teaching, and what it means for the regular education teacher in the general education classroom.

Using Technology To Assist In The Teaching Of Reading Instruction, Hallie M. Wyatt

Graduate Research Papers

A professional literature review was conducted on the use of technology in assisting teaching of reading instruction. Technology reviewed was categorized according to the essential elements of reading as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act (i.e., phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). Vygotskian and Piagetian theories were used to evaluate the technology reviewed. The review ends with a series of recommendations for teachers who may consider integrating technology into their curriculum.

Educational Programs In Correctional Facilities: Are They Worth The Cost?, Adam Robert Baggett

Honors Program Theses

The examination of correctional facility education programs is important because it will identify whether or not the correctional system is going beyond just confining inmates and is actually attempting to help prevent inmates from returning to its facilities. This study will focus on Iowa's correctional facilities due to the fact that residents of Waterloo, Iowa voiced their concern about correctional facility education, which was then passed on to the principal investigator. If the correctional system is not providing educational programs to inmates, then this will verify local concerns. It will also show that the correctional system is not providing inmates …

Repeat After Me: The Use Of Errorless Learning In The Foreign Language Classroom, Mark Adam Foster

Honors Program Theses

Errorless learning is one of these concepts. It is a technique that allows for efficient learning devoid of the frustrating process of making countless errors; something that is usually associated with the mastering of almost any topic. Errorless learning has proved beneficial to many specialized populations, yet has eluded implementation in a normal classroom setting. It seems especially well suited for use in foreign language classrooms. It has been noted that these classrooms often lack specialized teaching strategies, particularly in regards to vocabulary and pronunciation learning (Gonzalez-Bueno, 2001; Barcroft, 2004). Errorless learning is an effective teaching strategy, and could be …

Everybody's Doing It But Me: Comparing Pluralistic Ignorance Across Behaviors, Katherine S. Corker

Honors Program Theses

This study examined pluralistic ignorance (PI) for a variety of behaviors and attitudes such as health behaviors ( exercise frequency, fruits and vegetables consumed, personal hygiene, marijuana use), subjective well-being, and television habits. Student and nonstudent participants indicated their, their best friend's, the average student's, and the average American adult's attitudes on various topics (e.g., drugs, personal well-being; Prentice & Miller, 1993) and completed measures of alienation (Dean, 1961 ). Student and nonstudent populations showed PI; however, some items showed greater PI than others. High PI items tended to be health behaviors for the student sample and television habits for …

Utilizing Heart Rate Monitors As A Program Assessment Tool In A Fifth Grade Physical Education Curriculum, Kelly Wieser

Graduate Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Learning Cycles In The Biology Classroom, Christine Winstead

Graduate Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Holocaust On Your Plate: The Role Of Peta Extremism In The Animal Rights Movement, Christine Miller

Iowa Journal of Communication

This essay explores the ideological motivations behind PETA's 2003 vegetarian billboard campaign "Holocaust on Your Plate." The campaign's argument is dissected into a theoretical framework built on controversy, moral shock, confrontation, and oppositional argument. The more abstract cultural choices behind PETA's Holocaust billboards are further understood through rhetorical analysis, particularly focusing on visual messages of audience segregation (choosing sides), the transfer of guilt, and equal suffering between animals and humans. This essay concludes that PETA was successful in its aim to create new dialogue on the issue of animal rights with regard to the food industry.

The Cup Heard Round The World: A Burkean Analysis Of The Nba's Reaction To The Brawl At Auburn Hills, Katherine L. Lavelle

Iowa Journal of Communication

The November 19, 2004 brawl in Detroit provided vivid evidence of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) damaged image. The league embraces hip-hop culture to attract young fans, however, it ignores the violent aspects of urban life often associated with hip-hop. NBA Commissioner David Stern blamed the melee on Ron Artest. Artest had a troubled history, but he was not solely responsible for this incident. This paper uses Kenneth Burke's Terms of Order to show how scapegoating Artest highlighted a conflict in the NBA among its older fans and the younger fans and players who identify with hip-hop culture.

Iowa Journal Of Communication, Volume 39, Number 2, Spring 2007 [Download Entire Issue]

Iowa Journal of Communication

No abstract provided.

Think-Alouds : Thinking Beyond The Text To Increase Reading Comprehension, Jennifer Marie Lee

Graduate Research Papers

This literature review focuses on how the Think-Aloud strategy can be implemented in order to help readers comprehend text. This strategy is one that will allow all readers to visualize and verbalize what is taking place during the decoding of the text. Teachers need to provide direct instruction in forms of modeling and scaffolding when implementing the Think-Aloud strategy. This helps to aid in the students' ability to effectively gain a full understanding of what the strategy looks like. In the end, it is expected that the students will begin to utilize the Think-Aloud strategy automatically when comprehending any type …

Interior Design For The Classroom, Jessica Hellmann

Honors Program Theses

For my honors thesis, I chose to investigate the topic of classroom design. 1 specifically focused on classroom layout and seating arrangement, color schemes, visual displays (student work compared to commercially prepared products), and accommodations that could be made in the physical environment for students with special needs. All of these components of the interior design of the classroom greatly impact student learning and should be carefully analyzed and evaluated before setting up one's classroom.

Quantifying Granivory In A Reconstructed Prairie: Affects Of Season, Species, Seed Predators, Sacrificial Food, And The Chemical Deterrent Capsaicin, Craig M. Hemsath

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Floral diversity of reconstructed prairies is often low compared to remnant prairies. Studies have demonstrated it is feasible to increase forb diversity in these prairies through overseeding and mowing, but overall rates of seedling establishment range from 0.1% to 1% of sown pure live seed. One explanation may be the ubiquitous populations of granivorous animals eating much of the seed . In this thesis I measured the amount of granivory occurring in a reconstructed prairie. I also tested how season, seed species, seed predator, sacrificial food, and chemical deterrents affect granivory in the reconstructed prairie. I hypothesized that granivores remove …

Considerations For Delivery Of Online Professional Development Courses For Childcare Professionals, Heather Marie Bauer Olsen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In an age of increasing accountability, childcare professionals are held responsible for providing young children quality early care and education. The unfortunate reality is that it is challenging for childcare professionals to pursue training because of the cost of training, family responsibilities, and scheduling conflicts. The Internet has the capability to knock down those barriers in the childcare profession, and has expanded the availability of information and has created avenues for teaching and learning.

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the factors that will give online professional development instructors a better insight into the characteristics …

(Un)Gendered Sentiments: The Relationship Between Modernism And Gender In The Works Of Barnfield And Woolf, Brittany Kay Jungck

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

By examining the history of literature through the lens of a gender critic, a person is able to discern how society and history frame our understanding of certain concepts. In this study, I have examined the lives and works of Richard Barnfield, a famed poet from the English Renaissance, and Virginia Woolf, a noted twentieth-century British novelist. The analysis of various aspects of Barnfield's and Woolf's creations reveals a connection between gendered language and modernity.

Gender Inequalities In Toddler Confrontation Teachers' Responses, Jessica Hermeyer

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research examined the differences in confrontational interaction between boy and girl toddlers, and differences in how caregivers react to the children involved based on the children's gender. It is important to examine these differences in order to understand how gender differences are reproduced as children are socialized in day care culture.

Using content analysis of teacher-reported incidents occurring in a day care center, I explore the details of toddler confrontational behaviors from the teachers' perspectives following the incidents. My findings indicate that during confrontational interaction the children's gendered behavior in this study was similar to adults' gendered behavior revealing …

Assessment Of The Source And Transformation Of Nitrate In The Cedar River Watershed By Using Stable Isotopes Of Nitrogen, Sushil Gautam

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Stable isotopes of nitrogen were used to assess the source and fate of nitrate in the Cedar River Watershed, Iowa. Ground water samples from 20 private wells and surface water samples from 10 sites in the Cedar River and its tributaries were collected. A total of 90 samples were collected during the growing season from May through September 2006. In 35% of the wells, nitrate concentration exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recommended maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 45 mg/1 (as NO3-) for drinking purposes. Eight (8) out of 10 samples exceeded MCL for nitrate in the first set of …

Bomb Media 1951-1964, Tristan Edward Abbott

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis looks at nuclear films, commercial and governmental, that were released between 1951 and 1964. Special attention is paid to the recursivity that existed between the propagandic, often outrageously inaccurate Civil Defense films made by the United States government and the subversive popular films made by visionary dissidents.

The films are divided into three periods. The earliest period focuses on Samuel Fuller's Pickup on South Street and the Robert Aldrich 's Kiss Me Deadly (based on the novel by Mickey Spillane), along with some of the earliest Civil Defense films. Special attention is paid to the politically minded creation …

Hegemonic Masculinity Within Television Commercials, Jonathan A. Hutchins

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examines the portrayal of masculinity and the socialization patterns that can be found within television commercials. Television commercials' depiction of social members and their roles act as guides for social members in which they desire to portray during day to day social interactions and situations. Social members are generally unaware of this social phenomenon because they take for granted their social world and the logistics within it. While television commercials aim to create and encourage consumption, the purchasing of a product, service or event, television commercials also create and encourage social members to believe that these advertised items …

An Analysis Of Students' Perceptions Of Online Multimedia Tutorials To Assist Classroom Instruction, Alex A. Goerdt

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Multimedia has become the new learning environment. As technology advances and becomes more prominent, traditional education needs to adapt and utilize all the benefits that can be achieved with computer-assisted instruction. Awareness of students' attitudes toward multimedia-based education is critical in the evaluation of multimedia courses and development of multimedia-based curriculum. The purpose of this study was to examine students' perceptions of multimedia-based instruction. Educational institutions are faced with the challenges of delivering valuable training options to meet the varying needs of students and staff; computer technology has become and will continually be integrated into the classroom to make learning …

The Role Of Interpersonal Communication As A Branch Of Relationship Management In Law Enforcement, Nermin Ferkic

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Police officers are often recognized as tough action figures whose only job is to fight ruthless criminals. A highly rated TV show called "Cops" presents police officers as such figures. Police officers drive noticeable squad cars with top lights and a printed motto reading "to protect and serve." They are well known for their work equipment, such as: night sticks, pepper sprays, armor, handcuffs, and most noticeably, guns. This, of course, easily confirms people's idea that police officers' jobs are all about using their physical abilities. However, while working as a police officer and with police officers I realized that …

The Use Of Aflp To Create A Genetic Linkage Map For Fusarium Graminearum, Eric Von Berns

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Fusarium head blight (FHB) of wheat and barley has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. FHB in the United States is mainly caused by Fusarium graminearum within the Fusarium species complex. Current methods such as crop rotation and the use of fungicides to control outbreaks have been poor at best. Knowledge of the organism's genome could focus and further research for new methods to control this pathogenic fungus. This study seeks to create a genetic linkage map from an intraspecific cross of the isolates Z-3939 and Z-4243, both isolated from the fields of Kansas. Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLP) …

Masculinities, Femininities, And Fundamentalisms: Gender Confrontations And Collaborations In Global Conflict, Joane Nagel

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

In this multimedia presentation, I combine images and text to argue that organized violence in the global system depends on shared gender cultures, networks, and transactions: Wars are violent confrontations AND collaborations among men and manhoods. Contemporary conflicts are very often depicted as "clashes of civilizations," but in many important respects they are collaborations of masculine cultures and systems of honor. Although organized violence involves men on opposing sides of ethnic or class or national boundaries, ironically, such violence depends on cooperation both among allies and among enemies. Men join forces with comrades as bands of brothers, as men in …

Ballast Quarterly Review, V21n4, Summer 2006, Roy R. Behrens

Ballast Quarterly Review

A journal devoted to wit, the contents of which are intended to be insightful, amusing, or thought provoking.

Ists E-Newsletter, May 15, 2006, Iowa Academy Of Science

ISTS Newsletter

In this issue:

--A Message from Your (New) President

--Announcements

--Opportunities

--Your ISTS Leadership

Should Corporate Farming Be Limited In The United States?: An Economic Perspective, Nathan Wittmaack

Major Themes in Economics

Farming in the United States has changed drastically over the last century. Technology has improved farmers’ ability to produce. Economies of scale available from new technology have led to restructuring in the agricultural industry. Fewer and larger farms are now the norm. As technology improved, corporations began to increase activity in agricultural sectors. Sectors such as livestock are more susceptible to corporate farming. Many Americans are opposed to corporate farming because of the perceived negative effects on rural America. Limiting corporate farming, though, is not a good way to protect rural America. Corporate farming leads to a more efficient industry …

The Effects Of Natural Disasters On Long Run Growth, Aaron Popp

Major Themes in Economics

This paper seeks to determine the relationship between natural disasters and long run growth. Natural disasters affect several important macroeconomic variables, most notably technology, that can increase or decrease economic growth. Recovery following disasters is important, and the institutions of a country help determine how the recovery progresses. Institutions also help determine the outcomes of some events, such as inflation, that could affect long run growth. Countries can help maximize the positive effects of natural disasters on growth by improving their response to disasters and preparing for the next disaster.

Instructional Techniques For Social Work Education, Fred H. Besthorn

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

This article briefly examines the historical and cultural context of Norwegian ecological consciousness and demonstrates the viability of integrating its Deep Ecological awareness into social work curriculum and education for practice. It shall address the most salient and practical elements that Norwegian views of nature and conceptualizations of Deep Ecology have brought to global, environmental activism and emerging conceptualization of earth-based awareness. It is designed to assist educators in helping their students to become more fully cognizant that individual well-being and relationships with human and other-than-human beings is deeply influenced by internalized experiences of the natural world.

The History Of Reynard The Fox: How Medieval Literature Reflects Culture, Anne Lair

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Teaching about the Middle Ages in French culture or literature courses is always an enlightening experience to me because of the richness of symbols, events, and starting points occurring during this time period. Very often, when thinking about the Middle Ages, Christianity, chivalry, and nobility come to mind, all values still of high importance in contemporary Western societies. However, medieval culture presents itself with an array of other behaviors and values, some of which may today be considered as offensive and even sometimes “alienating”: primitive, barbaric, or even animalistic forms of behavior.