Digital Commons Network^™

Developing And Modifying High Quality Instructional Materials For Biology, Lee Christians

Graduate Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Annual Report Of The Registrar 2024/2025, University Of Northern Iowa

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

Contents:

--- Definitions
--- Some Comparisons
--- Annual Report Data
--- Summary of Attendance
--- Attendance by Session
--- Full-Time Equivalency Enrollment
--- Degrees Granted 2024/25
--- Degree Summary 2024/25
--- Program Certificates 2023/24
--- Miscellaneous Enrollment Information
--- Degrees Granted by College, Degree and Racial/Ethnic Classification

Motivations And Challenges For African International Students In Choosing On-Campus Housing And Transitioning Off-Campus, Francis Dugbartey

Graduate Research Papers

The findings of this qualitative phenomenological study explained the motives and challenges faced by African international students (n = 10) who initially chose to live on-campus and subsequently transitioned to off-campus accommodations. The research was conducted through semistructured interviews with African international students who were currently enrolled at a predominantly White institution in the Midwestern United States, discussing their experiences with housing, cultural adjustment, and financial constraints. Although the initial choices to stay on-campus stem from convenience and institutional support, various challenges pushed the students toward going off-campus. To begin with, the costliness of staying in an institution may be …

Graduate Portfolio, Amber Ellen Hoodjer

Graduate Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Addressing The Overemphasis And Impacts Of Academic Language In English Language Learner Instruction, Rebecca Pint

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Backgrounds And The Perception Of Tones In Mandarin, Abigail Franks

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

Language Assessment In Pediatric Speech-Language Pathology, Sierra Kay Buscher

Honors Program Theses

Standardized language assessments of children are commonly used to diagnose language disorders, yet these tools are often normed on a narrow demographic of monolingual, middleclass, white children. This narrow normative data has led to misdiagnosis of children who fall outside of the norm created. Studies highlight how cultural, linguistic, and normative test biases disproportionately affect children who speak non-mainstream dialects, are multilingual, have disabilities, or are from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The findings of this literature review calls attention to a disconnect between research, policy, and clinical practice, indicating that SLPs rely on standardized assessment tools out of accessibility or in …

Acoustic Analysis Of Vowels In Foreign-Accented English, Hannah Nedder

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Of Both Parent And Child Technology Use On Developing Literacy Abilities, Ava Mcmenomy

Honors Program Theses

This study explored the effects of both parent and child technology use on developing literacy abilities. Research is limited in this area, but is becoming increasingly important as technology continues to evolve and become more commonplace in the lives of both adults and children. This study aimed to determine if there was a correlation between technology use and decreased literacy abilities of children. This study also explored if increased technology use in conjunction with decreased quality of parent-child interactions resulted in decreased literacy skills. Research was conducted through a survey and 15 responses were analyzed. No decreased literacy abilities of …

Language As Privilege: Socioeconomic Status And The Politics Of Foreign Language Learning, Brenda Koumondji

Honors Program Theses

This study investigates the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and foreign language learning among young adult learners. Much research suggests that parental education level, household income, and access to educational resources significantly shape language learning attitudes and behaviors. However, United States scholars have lagged in this analysis. Through a mixed-methods research approach, this study combines quantitative surveys and qualitative data to gather comprehensive insights on how SES influences foreign language acquisition, motivation, and advantages. Findings reveal that students with higher SES backgrounds consistently report greater access to language learning resources and significantly higher proficiency levels. While parental education might not …

Investigating Pronunciation Teaching Practices And Teachers’ Beliefs About Pronunciation Instruction In Efl/Esl Classrooms, Barry Moussa

Graduate Research Papers

This literature review aims to explore existing research on pronunciation teaching practices and teachers’ beliefs about pronunciation instruction in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms. To achieve this, I will first delve into teacher cognition research, intending to find current reported and actual practices surrounding pronunciation teaching. The importance of pronunciation instruction has been widely discussed and acknowledged by scholars in applied linguistics and teacher education programs. Various studies have identified pronunciation instruction as a key component for fostering effective oral communication skills in second language acquisition, specifically enhancing intelligibility (i.e., accuracy …

Authenticity At Issue: Legislative Resistance To Gen Ai In Constituent Communication, Amy Mccoy

Iowa Journal of Communication

As legislators manage a fast-paced environment including an increasing number of legislative proposals, this research examines their perceptions around and understanding of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) and its potential applications related to constituent communications. This study explores how technological shifts in legislative communication, examined through New Media and Constructivist lenses, are interpreted and experienced by lawmakers. Through a mixed-methods approach using survey and interviews, this research provides insights on the contradiction of using Gen AI for legislative efficiency with concerns of how it may impact perceptions of authenticity and affect democratic engagement.

Toxic Sweetness And Abstinence: The Citationality Of Robert Lustig's Anti-Sugar Rhetoric, Tyler J. Snelling

Iowa Journal of Communication

Robert Lustig’s (2009) lecture on YouTube “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” animated a widespread conversation about whether sugar poisons bodies. Discourse following the lecture warrants analysis to gage how the meaning of the lecture transformed from a critique of food systems into individual actions. I argue that citationality of “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” fosters healthism by grounding sugar’s toxicity in scientific and affective reasoning that compels individual actions like abstinence from sugar. The pediatrician's lecture enabled the construction of a supposedly "moral eater" who removes sugar from consumption to avoid the poison's consequences. This paper offers tools for examining the spread …

Remembering July 36th: A Semiotic Analysis Of The Student-People's Revolutionary Graffiti, Jordan D. Smith

Iowa Journal of Communication

The use of graffiti as a tool for political solidarity has been universally documented in the academic lexicon. Using symbols of resilience, justice, disenfranchisement, and hope, graffiti is a unique phenomenon for visual rhetorical studies. The variety of artifacts spanning millennia document socio-political shifts, economic disparity, and messages of rebirth for systems in crisis. This study conducts a semiotic analysis of protest graffiti created during Bangladesh’s Student-People Uprising of July 2024 to explore how visual and linguistic signs construct messages of hope and solidarity. Using Ferdinand de Saussure’s (2021) semiotic framework, this research examines the symbolic and rhetorical elements present …

Front Matter - Table Of Contents - Preface

Iowa Journal of Communication

No abstract provided.

Iowa Journal Of Communication, Volume 57, Number 1, Fall 2025 [Download Entire Issue]

Iowa Journal of Communication

No abstract provided.

Fixation On Viruses: Eye-Tracking, Image-Based Agency, And Fear-Appeal Desensitization, Braden Bagley, Lijie Zhou, Hayden Coombs, Matthew Barton

Iowa Journal of Communication

This study examined the effects of image-based assignment of agency (IAA) on COVID-19 and flu fear-appeals by employing eye-tracking technology. Volunteers participated in a 2x2x2 between-groups experiment. Fixation-count and fixation-duration were collected by a Tobii Pro X3-120 Screen-Based Eye-Tracker. After reviewing a fact sheet, participants answered a 29-item survey that included items aligning with the extended parallel process model. The flu/agentic-image/virus-agentic-language message produced significantly higher fixation-frequency to the image and a higher perception of severity than the COVID-19/real-image/human-agentic-language message. Fixation-frequency on the image produced significantly higher fear perceptions, but significantly lower message-quality and message-credibility perceptions. Flu messages led to significantly …

Unheard Voices: The Hidden Influence Of Non-American Accents On Patient Outcomes And Provider Perception In Healthcare Situations In The United States, Gift Oluwatosin Olalusi

Iowa Journal of Communication

Stigma surrounding non-native American accents in the United States adversely influences the health-related decisions and behaviors of those who speak with such accents. Grounded in stigma management communication theory (SMCT), this study explored how individuals with non-native American accents communicatively manage accent stigma experiences in healthcare situations in the United States through ten semi-structured interviews. SMCT’s strategies of accepting, avoiding, ignoring, evading responsibility, and denying were identified by participants as the management strategies employed when they face stigmatization. The findings suggest that stereotype threat and patients’ stigma management strategies are important phenomena that can impact the healthcare outcome of patients …

The Next Generation Science Standards And Their Implementation In Iowa High Schools, Janell Wright

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Almost a decade ago, the state of Iowa used the Next Generation Science Standards’ (NGSS) performance expectations as the basis for its state science standards for K-12 students. Several key changes were implemented within these standards, including an increase in the amount of Earth and space science content at the high school level and a three-dimensional approach interweaving science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts along with disciplinary core ideas. In this dissertation, I used a three-paper format in an explanatory sequential mixed methods design to explore how districts in Iowa are using scope and sequence to address the NGSS. …

What Are Teacher Beliefs And Perceptions About Teaching Children To Read Within A One-Way Spanish Immersion School?, Kathleen Konrardy

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Immersion schools are a growing portion of schools in the United States. In 2021, there were over 3,600 immersion schools across the United States, a 1000% percent increase in the number of immersion schools in the last 40 years. Immersion schools may follow different models for instruction. In one model, children learn to read and write in the second language before they are taught to read and write in English. The purpose of this study was to explore practices in English literacy instruction delivered to students enrolled in one-way language immersion programs. The study also sought to examine the experiences …

Check All That Apply: The Persistence And Problem Of The Black/White Racial Binary In Iowa Public Schools, Jessica Nessan Kluck

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The promotion of monoracial normativity has profoundly influenced the language used in policies, creating societal expectations that other the identification of Black/white Biracial and multiracial identities. Despite the reality of our quickly shifting demographics, multiracial identities continue to be marginalized and misconstrued through racial reporting guidelines. Racial reporting used on forms required by the Iowa Department of Education are comingled with non-racially categorized data to further distance reality in education and the public-school rankings (Iowa Department of Education, 2012; State of Iowa, 2024).

The purpose of this study was to trace the legacy of the socially constructed racial binary, preserved …

An Account Of The 1453 Ce Ottoman Siege Of Constantinople Interpreted Through A First Century Bce Jewish Text: How An Ancient Collection Of Second Temple Period Poems Changed The Course Of Western Civilization, Kenneth Atkinson

Faculty Publications

On 29 May 1453 CE, the besieged Christian occupants of Constantinople — the capital of the Byzantine Empire and the last surviving portion of the former Roman Empire — knew the end was near when they heard 50,000-80,000 angry Ottoman soldiers, including 5,000 to 10,000 of the elite Janissaries — the Sultan’s shook troops — preparing to breach its walls after a 53-day siege. The 7,000-man army defending the city knew that all was lost. The 21-year-old Sultan Mehmet II — given the sobriquet “the Conqueror” for capturing the city — leveled the roads so his army could reach Constantinople’s …

Imagination Grows A Better World: Courage, Creativity, And Fantastic Futures, Janet Croft

Faculty Publications

Our field is requiring ever more courage from us as we face challenges to our bedrock beliefs in free access to information and the value of diverse viewpoints, of representation of different ways of being and living, of higher education, and of imagination itself. Where can we find inspiration to keep going? In order to meet the challenges we face with creativity and courage, we need both the ability to imagine a better world and the determination to work to bring this world into being. I’ll talk about some inspirational examples of the pairing of courage and creativity in my …

A Representation Of The Normalization Of Multiculturalism And Authentic Language Use In Children’S Animated Bilingual Television Programs, Jordan Carter

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) at UNI

This study explores the linguistic and cultural practices that are portrayed in bilingual children's animated television programs, Santiago of the Seas and Alma's Way. Discourse analysis focuses on the main characters of each show. The analysis of the first season of each program demonstrates that characters primarily use Spanish to make cultural references, express terms of endearment, and as a way to form relationships between friends and family members. By exploring this linguistic practice of emblematic code-switching together with the representation of cultural practices, the authenticity of these practices utilized within multilingual communities can be evaluated. While previous studies show …

Acclaimed Children's Literature As Global Resources, Sunah Chung, Melanie D. Koss, Kathleen A. Paciga

Faculty Publications

Acclaimed children's books in the United States (U.S.) may be utilized as resources to instruct global issues. As children’s literature reflects social context and values, acclaimed books may provide curricular materials for those within the U.S. and to international audiences. Stakeholders, including librarians, teachers, national industry experts, and parents, are among those who review and award prizes to children’s literature. This work has resulted in booklists teachers, families, and librarians use to guide their book purchasing and sharing practices. We investigate the histories, composition, and criteria for 22 award and acclaimed U.S. children’s book lists containing 4,244 titles. Fewer than …

Children’S Reading Of Visuals In Informational Picturebooks And Biographies, Sunah Chung

Faculty Publications

Visuals in picturebooks play an important role in supporting children’s reading comprehension and literacy development. This qualitative case study analyzes three American families’ shared reading practices at home by analyzing their online surveys for family literacy environments, reading logs for a month, mother interviews, and video observation of their shared reading at home. The analysis of the collected data categorizes children’s responses to visuals into three major themes: reflecting personal preferences and thoughts on visuals, interpreting visuals based on prior knowledge, and misreading visuals that interfere with understanding content. The discussion focuses on the roles of visuals in informational picturebooks …

Peritextual Elements In Chinese Nonfiction Picturebooks, Sunah Chung, Jongsun Wee, Sohyun Meacham

Faculty Publications

The present work is a comparison of the peritext typology found across various nonfiction picturebooks focusing on Chinese people, including Chinese Americans. Nineteen nonfiction books were chosen following selection methods described in previous literature. Books were individually analysed to see which of five categories they fit under, and insider/outsider status for each author and illustrator was recorded as well. All five types were found in the surveyed Chinese nonfiction picturebooks; however, none of the books encouraged readers to take action for social change. We also found slight variation in peritext usage between the insiders and outsiders for authors and illustrators. …

Culturally Competent Strategies For Tutoring Writing With International Ell Students, Sara Petersen

Mary Ann Bolton Undergraduate Research Award

Welcome: A brief overview about what will be discussed and what participants can take away

● “International ELL students face a variety of unique challenges that require writing tutors to adjust their approaches to tutoring. In our short time together, I will review some of the many academic and cultural barriers that international ELL students experience in university writing centers as well as culturally competent strategies tutors can implement when working with this population.”

Uni Viola Studio Recital, April 17, 2024 [Program], University Of Northern Iowa. School Of Music.

Music Recital Programs

Program of a music recitals given by faculty, students, or guest artists from the School of Music at the University of Northern Iowa.

Iowa Conference On Communicative Disorders [Program, 2024], Iowa Conference On Communicative Disorders

Iowa Conference on Communicative Disorders Programs

The Iowa Conference on Communicative Disorders provides continuing education activities in speech- language pathology that are acceptable to the State of Iowa and the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. Areas of emphasis include adults and pediatrics.