Digital Commons Network^™

Monitoring Archaeal Persistence In Cultivation, Payton Hall

Honors Program Theses

It was previously thought that microbes in the domain Archaea were only found in extreme environments such as hot thermal vents at the bottom of the ocean and hypersaline environments, but as scientists began to use environmental DNA to survey soil, they detected archaea from the phylum Thaumarchaeota in relatively benign environments including farm fields, forests, and prairies. In spite of their widespread global distribution, relatively few of these species have been grown in laboratory culture. It is now known that Thaumarchaeota play an important role in the nitrogen cycle because they can generate energy through ammonia-oxidation. To increase the …

The Impact Of Exercise On Mental Health: The Use Of Exercise As Prevention And Treatment For Mental Health Disorders, Abigail Stivers

Honors Program Theses

Mental health is one of the most crucial dimensions of well-being that is necessary for human wellness. However, it is also one of the most neglected aspects of individuals’ health, often resulting in the development of mental health disorders. There are multiple methods of treatment that can be used to support and improve mental health, one of which is exercise. While exercise is commonly prescribed as a form of prevention and treatment for physical ailments, such as hypertension and heart disease, it is often overlooked as being applicable to illnesses related to mental health. Furthermore, medications and therapy are more …

Evaluation Of Methods To Analyze Microbial Composition In Soils, Joseph Correa

Honors Program Theses

DNA testing has become a vital tool for studying microbes in their natural environments, but there is a lack of standardization in the protocols for extracting environmental DNA. Cave systems provide a special and unique area to research how life thrives in extreme environments. Many parts of caves receive no sunlight and very little nutrients yet harbor microbial communities. Previous work in our lab developed a DNA extraction protocol that works with a wide range of microbial species and with different soil types. I updated this protocol by adding a pre-lysis rinse step and tested whether it performed better with …

Admittance Processes In Gifted Education And Their Influence On Equity, Rachel Wohlgemuth

Honors Program Theses

A gifted education program is present in most public schools throughout the country. The goal of these programs is to challenge academically advanced students more than they would be in a general education course. However, there are disparities within all types of gifted education; these disparities span race, socioeconomic status, gender. In this study, the focus was on the inequity present in gifted education and look at the admission processes that are used to identify and therefore serve gifted youth. I will look into policies in place in 15 states to find similarities and differences. The purpose of this study …

Investigation Into A Potential Dna Polymerase Of Thermomyces Lanuginosus, Kameron J. Kruger

Honors Program Theses

Thermomyces lanuginosus is a species of fungus with ever-expanding applications in the world of industrial chemistry. Primarily, this fungus is known for producing enzymes with a wide variety of industrial uses. These enzymes include xylanases, which are produced by T. lanuginosus in greater amounts than any other fungus (Mchunu et al., 2013). Xylanase is a degradative enzyme that breaks down hemicellulose, a key component of plant cell walls (Singh et al., 2003). Due to its stability over broad temperature and pH ranges, this enzyme serves many industrial purposes, primarily as a food additive and an alternative to chlorinecontaining compounds in …

Nature-Based Education: Expanding The Walls Of The Classroom, Halle Louise Kilburg

Honors Program Theses

Are the current practices of education one that best benefits a student? Every day, millions of children go to school. While there is a wide variety of what this experience may look like, there are common factors, such as sterile classroom environments, canned experiences, and dry lectures that often contribute to leaving students feeling burnt out, exhausted, and unmotivated. The purpose of this study was to explore how various schools use Nature-Based education to run their programs and the impact of this approach on students and teachers. For this study, four educators from three various programs were interviewed and asked …

Annual Report Of The Registrar 2022/2023, University Of Northern Iowa

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

Contents:

--Definitions
--Some Comparisons
--Annual Report Data
--Summary of Attendance
--Attendance by Session
--Degrees Granted 2022/23
--Degree Summary 2022/23
--Program Certificates 2022/23
--Miscellaneous Enrollment Information
--Degrees Granted by College, Degree and Racial/Ethnic Classification

Welcome From The Editor, Kristen L. Majocha

Iowa Journal of Communication

No abstract provided.

Chastity And Celibacy: A Rhetorical History Of A Rhetoric Of Sex And The Priest In The Catholic Church, Teresa Morales

Iowa Journal of Communication

The seemingly never-ending instances of reported sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests is commonly thought to be a matter of deviancy and crime. This is true; but there is more to the story. The RC Church has, for two thousand years, known of the sexual behaviors and deviancies of its priests, yet has accomplished little in controlling the situation. The rise of the lawsuit against the Church has led, finally, to the need to examine more deeply the reasons for this ongoing criminal behavior. This paper uses a method of rhetorical history to uncover and understand how and why this …

Front Matter - Table Of Contents - Preface

Iowa Journal of Communication

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Crisis Communication: A Study Of Public Perceptions And Trust Of Ai, Travis Loof, Rachel Ehlers, Julia Lobo Paes, Prah Haider, Rachel Spinks

Iowa Journal of Communication

Organizational crises can be detrimental if not offset with an appropriate communication strategy. The Situational Crisis Communication Theory (Coombs, 2007) has been studied as a framework for understanding how organizations can respond to crises. The current study explores the effectiveness of a nontraditional message source, artificial intelligence (AI), when delivering a rebuilding crisis response strategy. The current study empirically tests and discusses future research in AI trust building and crisis communication response strategies.

Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr) Activities And Communications In Response To The Covid Crisis: Evidence From The U.S., Hyun Ju Jeong, Deborah S. Chung

Iowa Journal of Communication

This study investigates how corporations responded to the COVID-19 crisis through their fulfillment of corporate social responsibility (CSR). We quantitatively analyzed a total of 60 CSR news stories published during the year of 2020. We then provided context through the close readings of all 60 news stories. CSR news coverage was selected as the focal content because it is considered to be a more objective communication of CSR compared to corporations’ self-disclosed CSR reports. Results show that CSR was provided throughout the year as corporations’ timely responses to the unprecedented pandemic. Specifically, corporations emphasized philanthropic CSR activities to support health …

Welcome From The Editor, Kristen L. Majocha

Iowa Journal of Communication

No abstract provided.

Iowa Journal Of Communication, Volume 55, Number 2, Fall 2023 [Download Entire Issue]

Iowa Journal of Communication

No abstract provided.

Is It Just About Guns? Abc News Framing Of Mass Shooting Stories On Digital Platforms, Maurice N. Emelu

Iowa Journal of Communication

Analyzing news frames in the context of mass shootings is a pertinent and timely subject in the current discussions on gun violence in the United States. This study uses the Analysis of Topic Model Networks frame analysis method to examine ABC News coverage of the 2017 Sutherland Springs, Texas, mass shooting. The study analyzed 202 news stories from ABC's X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and website. The results support previous research on legacy news channels concerning Victims, the Shooter, and Community frames. Additionally, it supports recently discovered frames— Empathy, Interventions, Reactions, and Security. The chi-square test reveals significant differences in the …

Methods Of Teaching Early Literacy, Nandita Gurjar, Sohyun Meacham, Constance Beecher

Faculty Book Gallery

Theories, teaching strategies, and instructional materials pertinent to teaching reading and writing in grades PK-3, with an emphasis on integrating reading, writing, speaking, and listening, as well as integration across content areas while addressing diversity and inclusion. -- Provided by the publisher

The Contemporary Reader Of Gender And Fat Studies, Amy Erdman Farrell, Susan E. Hill

Faculty Book Gallery

The Contemporary Reader of Gender and Fat Studies is a key reference work in contemporary scholarship situated at the intersection between Gender and Fat Studies, charting the connections and tensions between these two fields.

Comprising over 20 chapters from a range of diverse and international contributors, the Reader is structured around the following key themes: theorizing gender and fat; narrating gender and fat; historicizing gender and fat; institutions and public policy; health and medicine; popular culture and media; and resistance. It is an intersectional collection, highlighting the ways that "gender" and "fat" always exist in connection with multiple other structures, …

Communication For College, Career, And Civic Life, Ryan Mcgeough, C. Kyle Rudick, Danielle Dick Mcgeough, Kathryn B. Golsan

Faculty Book Gallery

To address the challenges facing us as a society and a species, students must develop a robust set of skills, ethics, and dispositions that help them work with others to promote justice, peace, and equity. This OER, in promoting a robust set of communication skills, will serve as a foundational preparation for students who want to be successful in their education, careers, and civic lives.

Programs And Courses Catalog 2023-2024, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Programs and Courses Catalogs

Contents:

Academic Calendar ... 5
General Information ... 7
The University and Its Programs ... 7
Academic Structure ... 9
Admission Requirements ... 16
Enrollment and Registration Procedures ... 21
Fees and Financial Aid ... 22
Student Life ... 28
University Facilities and Educational Services ... 33
The Fine and Performing Arts at UNI ... 39
Academic Regulations ... 44
Undergraduate Information and Degree Requirements ... 62
Graduate Information, Admission, Academic Regulations, and Degree Requirements ... 90
List of Programs by Department ... 120
Department of Accounting ... 126
Department of Applied Engineering & Technical Management ... 129
School of …

From Art To Propaganda: The Shift In The Concept Of The “Most Dead” In True Crime Literature, Hannah Mcconkey

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis studies the shift of the true crime genre from art to inescapable propaganda. This change is due, in part, to the politization of the genre by modern society. This includes the concept of the “most dead” seen within the true crime genre over the past several decades. The idea of the most dead is the belief that some victims of crimes are more or less dead depending on how marketable their demographic is. For instance, a blonde, Caucasian child would be considered the most dead while a woman of color in the sex work industry would be the …

Does Systematic Phonological Awareness In The Early Primary Grades Impact Student Learning Beyond Primary Grades, Renee Lyn Sorenson

Graduate Research Papers

This meta-analysis literature review was conducted by examining 24 scholarly articles to investigate the effects of systematic phonological awareness in the early primary grades and beyond. Children in these studies ranged from preschool, and in some studies continued to be monitored through fourth grade and beyond. The articles were gathered from APA Psycinfo and ERIC with search terms that included phonological awareness instruction in kindergarten aged students. The effects of these studies varied with the extent of the classroom’s rich phonological awareness and their intentional scaffolding.

This review was set up to investigate the correlation between phonological awareness and the …

Exploring The Role Of Environmental Features On Student Experience In The University Classroom With The Community Of Inquiry Framework, Heather R. Kennedy, Gloria E. Stafford

Faculty Publications

An active learning classroom design recognizes the importance of students becoming engaged in their own learning. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study compared student-reported data (n = 219) and used the community of inquiry framework to evaluate the impact of environmental features on students’ experience. Students occupied traditional or active-learning classrooms, but the same course content was delivered by the same instructor. Findings indicate a preference for seating at tables versus fixed desks, appropriate personal space and sightlines to the teacher and projector screens, and gratification for forming social connections (i.e., social presence).

Investigating Faculty Perceptions Of Information Literacy And Instructional Collaboration, Angie Cox, Amandajean Nolte, Angela L. Pratesi

Faculty Publications

This exploratory mixed-methods study investigates faculty perceptions of information literacy (IL), its instruction, and librarian collaboration teaching IL since the adoption of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education at the authors’ institution. Many previous studies examining these questions were completed when the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education was the guiding document for the profession. Like earlier studies, findings from this study clearly demonstrate that faculty value IL and that collaborations occur in differing and inconsistent forms. However, at the authors’ institution, there is a misalignment between faculty and librarians in what IL is and …

Persistence And Quality Of Vegetation Cover In Expired Conservation Reserve Program Fields, Mark W. Vandever, Kenneth Elgersma, Sarah K. Carter, Ai Wen, Justin L. Welty, Robert S. Arkle, Timothy J. Assal, David S. Pilliod, David M. Mushet, Rich Iovanna

Faculty Publications

For nearly 40 years, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has implemented practices to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and provide habitat for wildlife and pollinators on highly erodible cropland in the United States. However, an approximately 40,470 ha (10 million acres) decline in enrolled CRP land over the last decade has greatly reduced the program's environmental benefits. We sought to assess the program's enduring benefits in the central and western United States by (1) determining the proportion of fields that persist in CRP cover after contracts expired, (2) identifying the type of agricultural production that CRP fields shift to …

Empowering L2 Learners: The Role Of Relational Empathy In L2 Learning, Gabriela Olivares-Cuhat, Giovanni Zimotti

Faculty Publications

In this article, we explore the relevance of the concept of relational empathy to L2 learning. To this end, we first provide a short overview of the notion of empathy in second language acquisition (SLA). Then, we present ideas that gave rise to the introduction of relational empathy in the field of intercultural communication, along with potential benefits of taking this perspective in SLA. Next, we describe the post-method framework for L2 teaching as a strategy that is both well-suited for the fostering of relational empathy and is facilitated by the exercise of this approach. Following this lead, we explain …

¿Adónde Ir? Los Efectos Perpetuos De La Formación "Inexistente" Para Maestros De Inmersión Lingüística, Cody J. Boozell

Graduate Research Papers

La inmersión lingüística ha sido un fenómeno emergente en muchos contextos en todo el mundo, y las complejidades que rodean este campo no se van tan pronto. Este área docente puede ser una tarea desafiante para muchos profesionales, especialmente cuando participan en formación asimilativa con educadores convencionales. Por eso, los profesores de inmersión lingüística se preguntan adónde deben ir para encontrar los enfoques para la enseñanza bilingüe. Con esto dicho, la visibilidad de los programas de inmersión lingüística ha aumentado sustancialmente en la última década, exponiendo a los estudiantes, profesores y padres a un enfoque diferente para el aprendizaje (Figura …

Understanding Student Perceptions Of Supplemental Instruction: Student Perceptions Of Supplemental Instruction Implemented In Order To Overcome Perceived Skill Deficits, Andrew Miehe

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Supplemental instruction has become so prevalent that it is simply a thing educators do to students without the students’ input or their understanding of its purpose. This prevalence combined with a lack of understanding on the part of the students could create problems around programmatic success and student motivation in addition to the potential of limiting access to coursework. Due to the fact that there is not an abundance of research focused on the student perceptions of supplemental instruction there is consensus that this perspective is often absent despite its critical role (Yazzie-Mintz & McCormick, 2012).

The proliferation of supplemental …

Periodization At Qumran And Its Importance For Understanding Hellenistic History, Kenneth Atkinson

Faculty Publications

Periodization, the belief that God has divided history into fixed segments of time, frequently appears in Second Temple Period Jewish literature. It is especially popular in the Qumran texts, whose authors often display an interest in apocalyptic historiography to explain and categorize historical occurrences. The writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls frequently use periodization to uncover and comprehend historical events. These writings often couple this doctrine with apocalyptic eschatology, specifically the use of Scripture to organize history into discrete historical periods to calculate the end of days. The present study briefly highlights periodization in the Dead Sea Scrolls in light …

Institutional Navigation Of Oceans Governance: Lessons From Russia And The United States Indigenous Multi-Level Whaling Governance In The Arctic, Abigail M. York, Eduard Zdor, Shauna Burnsilver, Tatiana Degai, Maria Monakhova, Svetlana Isakova, Andrey N. Petrov, Morgan Kempf

Faculty Publications

Oceans governance occurs through overlapping, multi-level institutions that often fail to recognize Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) provides pathways for recognizing Indigenous rights. However, observed power asymmetries and cross-level local to international conflicts threatened subsistence rights and generated research and advocacy fatigue for Chukchi, Iñupiat, Saint Lawrence Island Yupik, and Siberian Yupik communities in the USA and Russia. We conduct an institutional analysis of Indigenous bowhead whaling governance based upon lived experiences of Indigenous authors, primary documents from co-management organizations, national agencies, the IWC, and extant literature. We explore how Indigenous co-management organizations increased sovereignty and …

Native Seed Scoop, 2022 End Of Year Edition, University Of Northern Iowa. Tallgrass Prairie Center.

Native Seed Scoop

Contents:

--- ‘Tis (still) the season for seed cleaning at the Tallgrass Prairie Center
--- Iowa Prairie Network Winter Seminar
--- Native Seed Stakeholder Meeting
--- National Native Seed Conference
--- North American Prairie Conference
--- Iowa Source-Identified stock seed for native seed growers
--- New Ecotypes Available
--- Progress in Refreshing Existing Ecotypes
--- Iowa Native Seed Stakeholders in the News
--- A Scoop of Science