Digital Commons Network^™

After-School Success: Associations Between Youth Participants And Youth Outcomes, Dana Miller

Graduate Research Papers

After-school programs (ASPs) are becoming more and more popular among children and their parents, with an abundance of children lacking access to ASPs. Participation in ASPs has been proven to positively impact participants. The positive impacts of ASPs include higher grades, less behavioral problems, and healthy youth development. After-school programs that provide a structural environment, influential leaders, goals, and evaluation of the program are characteristically proven to be more successful than programs who do not have these characteristics. Funding of ASPs can come from various sources and can be classified into one of three sectors; private for-profit, non-profit, and public.

Mindfulness In The Classroom: Cultivating Peace From Within, Maya Vandriel

Honors Program Theses

Teachers are placed with the difficult task of transferring knowledge to the next generation of leaders. This knowledge transfer can be measured in various ways. What cannot be easily quantified is the impact of the life skills taught to accomplish this handoff of reading, writing and math skills. Often times, teachers are the role model of how a student can cope with life inside and outside of the classroom. Teaching mindfulness in the classroom is a powerful method that shows students how to self-regulate emotions in order to cope with whatever life brings them. These life skills are essential for …

The Impact Of Teacher Prompting And Questioning On Third Grade Students' Comprehension, Jenna Francois

Honors Program Theses

This qualitative research study explores how teacher prompting and questioning impacts students’ comprehension of texts. The researcher observed a third grade teacher, Mrs. G., at a local elementary school in order to discern patterns in how this teacher used verbal prompts and questions to assist her students in understanding what they read. An initial interview was conducted with Mrs. G. to determine how she typically teaches and assesses reading comprehension, as well as the types of verbal prompts and questions she utilizes to assist students in comprehension. The researcher observed two literacy lessons in which Mrs. G. instructed the whole …

Increasing Vocabulary And Oral Language Skills Of Pre-K English Language Learners Through Shared Storybook Reading And Take-Home Literacy Bags, Angela Butler

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Shared Storybook Readings and Take Home Literacy Bags utilizing Dialogic Questioning Techniques on the oral language skills and vocabulary knowledge of preschool-aged English Language Learners.

Eleven preschool students identified as English Language Learners in a suburban school district took part in the six-week intervention. Each week students were exposed to three read-aloud experiences utilizing Dialogic Reading Techniques and Questioning and a Take Home Literacy Bag for further reading experiences with their families. Student growth was assessed weekly using three tools: Teaching Strategies GOLD observations, a Teacher-Created Vocabulary Assessment, and …

Effects Of Gamification On Motivation And Engagement In Secondary Curriculum, Matthew J. Molumby

Graduate Research Papers

This literature review investigates the ways and means schools have attempted to influence motivation through the process of gamification in secondary curriculum. This literature review analyzed 31 peer-reviewed empirical studies that sought to understand the links between motivation and engagement with gamified lessons. This review attempts to analyze and synthesize the studies that are related to the definitions of gamification and beyond, the successful implementation along with the failures for motivation and engagement, and a whole system that afford school districts a more deliberate approach to gamification in the high school curriculum. The reviewer has attempted to chronicle studies to …

The Effects Of Control Threat On Women's Acceptance Of Benevolent Sexism And Traditional Gender Roles, Zheng Li

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

System Justification Theory (SJT; Jost & Banaji, 1994) predicts that people tend to accept and endorse the current socioeconomic and political arrangement when they feel threatened. Based on SJT, women should support traditional gender roles and benevolent sexism when they feel threatened because these system-justifying beliefs can mitigate anxiety and distress elicited by existential threats. In the current study, female participants’ responses to a control threat were measured by an author-generated scale on attitudes toward traditional gender roles for women and Benevolent Sexism Scale (Glick & Fiske, 1996). In a community sample (but not in a student sample), participants whose …

An Investigation Of Prosocial And Health Risk Behaviors As Predictors Of Academic Motivation, Tess Garceau

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Motivation is described as being one of the most valuable foundational constructs essential for student success (Steinmayr & Spinath, 2009). However, not all students are motivated by school-wide practices and/or the general curriculum. In order to promote and nurture students’ motivation effectively, we must understand what motivates students, and also begin to analyze other coexisting risk factors that may hinder students’ success.

Participants for this study included 119 high school students between the ages of 14-18 from schools in Northeast Iowa. All students at participating schools were invited to take part in the study; however, data was collected from only …

The Effect Of Participating On Service Trips On Community Engagement And Student Development, Kristofer M. Czerwiec

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Service-learning is important in the development of the individual and of the community: it enriches student learning, teaches civic responsibility, and strengthens and enhances the community. Service trips allow students to share this enrichment with communities outside their own, giving them an opportunity to experience a diversity of cultures, backgrounds, and community needs. Equally important, student exposure to diverse cultures and individuals will increase personal and social development among participants. In the current study, individuals indicating higher levels of personal and social development resulting from service trips will demonstrate the importance service trips have on the development of the participants. …

Promoting Bullying Prevention And Intervention Through Forgiveness Education, Amy Gregory

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

There is growing recognition of the severe, adverse long-term effects that bullying behaviors have, on the victims or on bullies. Although there are many existing anti-bullying programs that are designed to counteract both the behaviors and their potential long-term negative effects, forgiveness education programs may also be used to help create a positive school climate in which bullies can take responsibility for their behaviors and begin to reintegrate into the social fabric of the school. The purpose of this research proposal is to examine the effects of the International Forgiveness Institute's (IFI) forgiveness education curriculum in comparison to an anti-bullying …

Up Close And Personal : Examining The Role Race Plays In Public Perceptions Of Law Enforcement, Olivia K. Thompson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Perceived racial biases of police officers may impact encounters with Blacks and negatively impact relations between Black communities and police officers. Understanding factors that influence public perceptions of law enforcement may help researchers and policy makers target intervention programs to improve relations. This study examined the role race plays in public perceptions of a routine traffic stop and local local law enforcement. White and Black participants, recruited at public places in a midsize city in Iowa, read a vignette about a Black or White individual who was pulled over by a White police officer. Participants then answered questions regarding whether …

Lingual Pressure Generation In Relation To Saliva And Water Swallowing In Healthy Young Adults, Anna Joerger

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Lingual strength and swallowing pressures have been studied extensively in dysphagia rehabilitation literature; however, little research has considered how lingual pressure generation may relate to parameters of swallowing speed and endurance. Additionally, little is known about the ability of the tongue to generate pressure to a given target, known as lingual control. This project collected measures of lingual pressure and measures of swallowing speed and endurance in 10 healthy, young adults. Specifically it explored if lingual strength or control of the anterior and posterior tongue correlate with endurance or speed during saliva and water swallowing tasks. Significant relations among lingual …

Using One-To-One Computing For Differentiated Instruction In Iowa: An Investigation Of The Impact Of Teachers' Perceptions Of Teaching And Learning, Jodi A. Bermel

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The 1983 seminal work entitled A Nation at Risk recommended that all high school graduates be proficient in the Five New Basics: English, mathematics, science, social studies, and computer science. To address the No Child Left Behind mandates, educators and administrators are evaluating the theory and practice of Differentiated Instruction (DI). One-to-one computer initiatives became an element of DI strategy due to the well-documented advantages in the use of technology to address individual learning needs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine administrators’ and teachers’ perceptions of using one-to-one computing to differentiate instruction and to identify potential …

"Joy For What It Is": Narratives Of Two Mothers On Raising Their Children With Disabilities, Zeina H. Yousof

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of two mothers of children with disabilities on parenting their children and navigating the world of disabilities. For many parents, the diagnosis of a child with disabilities represents a form of interpersonal loss through the loss of the imagined child. Mothers are often identified as the primary caregivers of their children with disabilities and are often at the front-end of seeking, providing, and advocating for medical, education, and social services.

Employing qualitative research methods, autoethnography and narrative inquiry were used to reveal the mothers’ experiences. Through conversational interviews and journaling, …

Blurred Lines: Privacy Management, Family Relationships, And Facebook, Joshua H. Miller, Carly Danielson, Erin Sahlstein Parcell, Kristine Nicolini, Theresa Boucher

Iowa Journal of Communication

Social media has enhanced and complicated family communication dynamics. For example, while Facebook gives many family members a space for connection, "friending" a family member on Facebook, or choosing not to do so, can make privacy management challenging and may serve as a potential source of conflict within the family. Such dynamics inspired the authors to ask college students how Facebook use has negatively influenced their family relationships and communication. Sensitized by Petronio's (2002) Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory, we qualitatively analyzed online survey responses (n = 80) and identified four themes in our participants' family experiences with conflicts related …

Iowa Journal Of Communication, Volume 48, Number 2, Spring 2016 [Download Entire Issue]

Iowa Journal of Communication

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Appeal Of Documentary-Based Programming: Discerning Viewer Enjoyment Of Reality Television Thorugh Uses And Gratifications, Kristin M. Barton

Iowa Journal of Communication

This study explores how documentary-based reality shows featuring varied types of content influence the gratifications obtained (GO) by viewers. Participants completed surveys which asked about their overall consumption of reality programming and, more specifically, about their reasons for watching the documentary-based shows Jersey Shore, Deadliest Catch, and The Real Housewives series of programs. Results indicated that perceived reality of these shows and the participants who appear on them are the two primary factors in why people choose to watch this particular reality subgenre. This study concludes with an examination of the current findings within the context of previous studies in …

Perceptions Of Questionable Research Practices In Social Work And Other Disciplines, Anita M. Gordon, Cindy Juby, Helen C. Harton

Faculty Work

Outline

 Background on research misconduct

 Study purpose and method

 Overview of descriptive results

 Regression results

 Limitations

 Implications for reducing misconduct

Annual Report Of The Registrar 2015/2016, University Of Northern Iowa

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

Contents:

--- Definitions
--- Some Comparisons
--- Annual Report Data
--- Summary of Attendance
--- Attendance by Session
--- Degrees Granted 2015/16
--- Degree Summary 2015/16
--- Program Certificates 2015/16
--- Miscellaneous Enrollment Information
--- Degrees Granted by College, Degree and Racial/Ethnic Classification

Reliability And Concurrent Validity Of An Alternative Method Of Lateral Lumbar Range Of Motion In Athletes, Mark D. Hecimovich, Jeffrey J. Herbert

Faculty Publications

Background: Cricket bowling involves combined spinal movements of side bending and rotation and, consequently, injury to the low back is a common problem. Therefore the assessment of lumbar spine kinematics has become a routine component in preseason screening. This includes static measurement of lateral spinal flexion as asymmetrical range of motion may predispose an athlete to low back injury.

Objectives: This study examined intra-rater reliability and concurrent validity of the fingertip-to-floor distance test (FFD) when compared to a criterion range of motion measure.

Methods: Thirty-four junior-level cricket players aged 13‑16 years were recruited. Lumbar spine lateral flexion …

Three Men In The Wilderness: Ideas And Concepts Of Nature During The Progressive Era With Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot And John Muir, Jeffrey A. Duke

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

When I began this research in the summer of 2014, I endeavored to find out how Americans comprehended nature in the Progressive Era. By the Progressive Era the historian Frederick Jackson Turner declared the frontier to be closed. This notion that no wide open spaces remained to be conquered altered the American people’s attitude towards nature. The perspectives of three men who were at the forefront of environmental policy illustrate how America’s understanding of nature had changed. These three men were twenty-sixth President Theodore Roosevelt, professional forester Gifford Pinchot and naturalist John Muir. Describing the similarities and differences in these …

Dancing My Adoptive Identity : An Autoethnographic Analysis Of Adoption Narratives And Performance Of Identity, Montana Jean Smith

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Family storytelling helps individuals make sense of the world around them. Stories not only help people understand their familial relationships, but understand the development of their identity. For adoptive children, family narratives are crucial to the creation of the child’s adoptive identity and how it intersects with the many other identities the child holds. This study considers the construction of identity from the adoptee’s point of view by use of autoethnographic and performance methods.

Using a multi-methodological approach, this thesis uses interactive interviews, autoethnography, and performance methods as a way to assess what narratives are told within an adoptive family …

2015-2016 Uni Strategic Plan Accomplishments, University Of Northern Iowa

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

A report detailing the progress on the strategic goals within the University of Northern Iowa's strategic plan.

Family Involvement In Camp Adventure Child And Youth Services, Kimber Alexandra Bell

Graduate Research Papers

The basic social unit of society is the family (Benokraitis, 2003). Aristotle wrote that the family is "nature's established association for the supply of mankind's everyday wants" (Walsh, 2006, p. 76). The terrnfamily has multiple meanings. Traditionally, it is defined as "a social unit living together" or "parents and their children, whether dwelling together or not" (Benokraitis, 2003, p. 4). Families are connected with each other through bloodlines such as brothers, sisters, nephews, cousins etc., or a rite of passage or ritual that recognizes the person as a part of the family such as marriage, adoption or initiation. Western societies …

Sex And Political Participation On Facebook, Rachel Gregory

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Active political participation from the citizenry is essential for a healthy democracy. However, research finds a significant sex gap in political participation, limiting the influence of a substantial group from the political system and democratic representation. This division by sex is further marked by the types of political activities in which males and females engage. Candidates, elected officials, political organizations and voters alike now utilize Facebook as a means to spread political messages and engage the citizenry. Facebook is also a platform dominated by women. Due to women’s position on social media, it is hypothesized that women and men participate …

Fall Commencement [Program], December 19, 2015, University Of Northern Iowa.

UNI Commencement Programs

The program of the commencement ceremonies, including a list of institutional leadership, a list of the departments by college, awards given at the ceremonies, and a list of undergraduate and graduate degree candidates.

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Agenda, December 14, 2015, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting agenda from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, December 14, 2015, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting agenda from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

Uni Grad Student News, V13n5, December 2015, University Of Northern Iowa. Graduate College.

UNI Grad Student News

Inside this issue:

-- Message from the Dean
-- Faculty Profile: Dr. Windee Weiss
-- New Year, New MGSA!
-- Student: Mackensie Smith
-- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Opportunity
-- Alumni: Dr. Tom O'Shea
-- New Faculty: Rubina Chowdhury
-- New Year, New MGSA!
-- MLK, JR. Service Opportunity
-- Tips to Prepare for the 2016 Spring Semester
-- 2nd Annual Elect HER - Panther Women Win!
-- Cedar Valley Family Step Festival - Lyuda Grygorchuk
-- American Association of University Women for UNI - Rachel Gregory
-- New Graduate College Secretary - Rubina Chowdhury
-- 9th …

Rural School Food Service Director Perceptions On Voluntary School Meal Reforms, Disa Lubker Cornish, Natoshia Askelson, Elizabeth Golembiewski

Faculty Publications

This mixed-method study examined rural U.S. food service directors' perceptions of and experiences with voluntary school meal programs, which have the potential to improve school nutrition but have not been widely adopted in rural areas of the United States. Little is known about how rural food service directors perceive these programs. Interview and survey instruments examined how rural food service directors characterize barriers and facilitators to participation in voluntary school meal programs like farm-to-school and school garden programs. Rural school food service directors participated in a semistructured telephone interview (n=67) and an online survey (n=57). We defined rural school districts …

Uni Grad Student News, V13n4, November 2015, University Of Northern Iowa. Graduate College.

UNI Grad Student News

Inside this issue:

-- Message from the Dean
-- Current Faculty Profile: Richard Glockner
-- Current Student Profile: Vanessa McNeal
-- Alumni Profile: Stephanie Johnson
-- Health, Physical Education, & Leisure Services Luncheon
-- Intercollegiate Academic Fund
-- Personality Predictors of Prosocial Personality Across the United States & India
-- 2015 Graduate Student Social Mixer
-- Alumni Profile: Elliott L. Hofts
-- UNI Geography Students Win the Graduate Student Poster Competition at Regional Geography Meeting
-- Graduate Student Advisory Board Meeting
-- Brown Bag Lecture Series: October: The Inferno
-- Graduate College Staff and Contact Information