Digital Commons Network^™

A Master's Recital In Clarinet, Sayyod Mirzomurodov

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Sayyod Mirzomurodov performed his graduate recital on March 26, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. in Davis Hall at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center. The recital was in partial fulfillment of the requirement for his Master of Music degree in Clarinet Performance. The recital program included The Shepherd on the Rock D. 965 by Franz Schubert, Clarinet Sonata No. 2, Op. 120 No. 2 by Johannes Brahms, and Klezmer Dances No. 2 by Göran Fröst. Following intermission, another part of the recital program included Prelude for Solo Clarinet by Krzysztof Penderecki, Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra, with Harp and Piano by …

Graduate Recital In Trombone, Thomas Mortenson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this recital is to partially fulfill the requirements for the Master of Music degree in Trombone Performance. It features repertoire selected to demonstrate the performer’s musical and technical abilities while exploring a wide range of historical differences in trombone pedagogy. Consideration was given to creating a cohesive program arranged to help prevent stamina issues related to the technical demands of the repertoire. The program features Georg Christoph Wagenseil’s Concerto in E-flat Major for Trombone; two selected Lieder from Johannes Brahms’s Vier Gesänge, op. 43; Henri Tomasi’s Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra; Frigyes Hidas’s Fantasia for Trombone; and …

Increasing Student Perceptions Of Success And Inclusion Through Strategic Programming Of Underrepresented Composers, Joyce J. Beyer

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

There is a disproportional representation of women and people of color in orchestra and classical music. Both on the stage and in the music being performed, white and male musicians are more prominent than women and people of color. This disproportionality impacts underrepresented people, especially young students.

A study was done to see if introducing students to successful women and people of color who were musicians would increase student perceptions of success and inclusion in orchestra. The study included 37 students from 5 public school orchestra programs. The treatment was a series of pre-designed mini-lessons on underrepresented musicians. Growth was …

The Price Of Progress: American Agricultural Innovations In Relation To Economic And Social Change, 1920-1989, Zachary Cass Moye

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Agriculture is an industry that defines a unique society in the American Midwest. When farming technologies changed, agriculture as a system and society also changed. This thesis explores the critical changes that farmers faced during the 20th Century. Those links include a changing educational system, which would guide farmers into the world of mechanical farming technology, and the permeation of that technology in farm society. The economic cost of the changing aspects of agriculture drove social and technological change that took place during the years of the Great Depression through the 1980s Farm Crisis. Finally, this thesis covers the future …

Master's Recital In Jazz Pedagogy: A Performance-Demonstration Of Rhythm Section Instruments, Trumpet, Electric Wind Instrument, Synthesizer, Compositions, And Arrangements By Demetrio Lyle, Demetrio Lyle

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

My education at the University of Northern Iowa in the Master of Music, Jazz Pedagogy track has included two full academic years of continuous study as well as one year of independent study. During my two years in residence, I had the pleasure of experiencing an in-depth curriculum of classes, ensembles, and applied lessons, as well as opportunities to lead large and small ensembles. All of these components were designed to make me into a more effective jazz musician in the disciplines of performance, composition, arranging, and pedagogy.

The latter of these disciplines acts as the synthesis of the recital …

A Master Of Music Recital In Clarinet, Lucas Randall

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Lucas Randall presented a graduate clarinet recital on Friday, November 22, 2019 at eight o’clock in the evening in Davis Hall of the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center at the University of Northern Iowa. This recital, in collaboration with Dr. Robin Guy (piano) and Jarod Kral (bassoon), was given in partial fulfillment of the Master of Music degree. The program includes works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Leslie Bassett, and Robert Muczynski, representing a variety of styles and periods from the clarinet repertoire.

Using Critical Literacy And Emotionally Responsive Teaching To Discuss Racism In A Literature Circle Unit, Autumn Rose Den Boer

Graduate Research Papers

This paper contains an instructional unit designed to create space in the classroom for open and honest conversations about racism through enhancing the literature circle format with the incorporation of critical literacy and emotionally-responsive teaching. The unit utilizes strategies that are research-based and referenced in the paper. Detailed lessons as well as all additional needed materials are included.

Communicating About Being Parents In The Workplace, Ruqayah Almuzayn

Graduate Research Papers

The primary purpose of this research project is to shed light on ways employed parents communicate about parenting in the workplace. This study explores how and with whom employed parents talk about their families in the workplace and how this talk is perceived. Qualitative methods, semi-structured interviews, with ten parents were conducted. The interviews revealed several functions of parent talk, the contexts in which talk about parenting occurs, the conditions in which parent talk is perceived positively, and how parent talk influences people's relationships with colleagues.

Computer Science Is Elementary: Comprehensive Plan For Computer Science Implementation At The Elementary Level, Erin Chute

Graduate Research Papers

Teaching students computer science in the classroom can have many benefits. Several students in today's education system will go into career fields that do not yet exist and the skills taught through computer science can prepare them for the future. This project outlines the steps for planning a computer science initiative at the elementary level. A literature review examining the effect of teaching computer science on student achievement at the elementary level is used to support an award proposal for funding a high quality computer science curriculum in a rural, underserved district. This project can serve as a model for …

The Effect Of Digital Game-Based Learning On Student Learning: A Literature Review, Katrina Serrano

Graduate Research Papers

Digital game-based learning can be used by educators to support students in developing skills. This review examined the effect of digital game-based learning on student learning at the K-12 level. Sixteen peer-reviewed research studies, two meta-analysis studies, and two literature reviews published between 2011-2019 were selected for analysis. The reviewed research indicated that when digital game-based learning is used that includes key game design elements (collaboration, choice, feedback) as well as instructional design, there typically is a positive impact on student engagement. Research also indicated that digital game-based learning along with collaboration can have a significant effect on student motivation, …

The Effects Of Text-To-Speech On Students With Reading Disabilities, Melissa Oberembt

Graduate Research Papers

Text-to-speech (TTS) is becoming a common accommodation/support for students with reading disabilities to improve reading skills. This review examines the effects TTS has on reading comprehension, reading rate, written language, as well as the social validity of students with reading disabilities and other print disabilities. Twenty-eight peer-reviewed studies published between 2002 and 2019 were selected for analysis in this review. The reviewed research indicates that reading rate increased, while reading comprehension had mixed results, and writing skills did not significantly improve when TTS was used. Research also confirmed the social validity of TTS. Future research into the effects of TTS …

Best Practices In Assessment And Evaluation Of Literacy At The Secondary Level, Meaghan Kathleen Johnson

Graduate Research Papers

Research over the century has shown that grading practices in schools, especially at the secondary level, are commonly inconsistent, unreliable, and invalid amongst teachers. Grades have a large impact on students’ futures, determining scholarships, colleges, and career paths. Therefore, it is important that assessment and evaluation practices are consistent, reliable, and fair. This paper contains a review of research on the reasons for discrepancies in grading practices, followed by what research suggests is best practice for fair and reliable assessment and evaluation practices. Finally, these findings have been combined to develop a presentation on best practices in assessment and evaluation …

An Investigation Of Pre-Service Teacher And Faculty Knowledge On Rti, Nichole M. Beckman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Response to Intervention (RTI) is being used in schools more often and continues to be a more accepted way to help students prior to the need for special education services. RTI is a three-tiered system of support that provides an opportunity for teachers to look at their instruction and curriculum and adjust based upon student progress and needs. The RTI framework, when implemented with fidelity, has been shown to effectively assist students get academic help early and limit the number of special education referrals (VanDerHeyden, Witt, & Gilbertson, 2007).

Although RTI has been shown to promote positive change in student …

The Representation Of Controversial Materials In Middle School Library Collections In Iowa, Danielle Ramsey

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study is to explore a sample of middle school library collections to determine if titles recommended by the ALA's Notable Children's Book list from 2012 to 2016 that may contain controversial topics and those not likely to contain controversial topics are equally represented within the collections.

In order to determine the prevalence of self-censorship in Iowa middle school libraries that employ a teacher librarian, eight rural and eight urban middle schools were randomly chosen. Each school's catalog was examined to determine the presence or absence of selected titles within the school's library collection. The selected titles …

Germination Rates Of Carex Spp. Seed After Long-Term Storage, Jonathan N. Nzombo, Kate Sinnott, Laura E. Fischer Walter

Undergraduate Student Work

This study explores the germination rates of Carex spp. seed that has been in storage for five to ten years. The genus Carex is a group of ecologically important grass-like species that constitute up to 25% of the aboveground biomass in tallgrass prairies. In the early 2000s, seed production plots of 18 Carex species were established from remnant prairie seed at the Tallgrass Prairie Center in Cedar Falls, IA. Seed harvested from the Carex plots from 2009 to 2014 was made available for release to the native seed industry for commercial production, with the remainder stored in an onsite …

Informed Hearing Loss Prevention For Theatre Uni, Mallory Park

Honors Program Theses

This study explores the opinions and behaviors related to hearing loss and hearing loss prevention in the demographic of theatre workers at Theatre UNI. Data was collected through a survey dispersed in a department-wide email and by measuring sound level in the scene shop and the costume studio. Survey responses from 11 participants indicated that theatre workers at Theatre UNI may be at risk for noise-induced hearing loss and that further education may aid in prevention of hearing damage.

Wandersoul Of The South: Situating 20th Century Alabama Poet Clement Wood In A Literary Tradition, Skye Rozario

Honors Program Theses

The following is a literary study on 20th century Alabama poet Clement Wood. As a writer, Wood lived and worked mainly in Alabama and New York, and was greatly involved and connected to the literary movements Modernism, the Southern Renaissance, and American Romanticism. He published many poems, short stories, and criticism in a variety of literary magazines, wrote his own columns, and edited journals as well. Though Wood was heavily involved in this community, his work is under-researched on the whole. Wood’s poetry attests to his mastery of rhyme and form and mainly focuses on the value of nature in …

"It's Important To Just Have Your Voice Heard": Young Voters' Change Perception Of Political Efficacy, Christopher Matthew Merck

Honors Program Theses

Youth voter turnout in Iowa spiked in the 2018 midterm election. This paper attempts to figure out why. By replicating a 2004 study examining the voting behavior of young Iowans during the 2002 midterms, this study identified significant shifts in how young voters think and communicate about voting. After conducting 37 open-ended interviews with 18-24-year-olds, it was found that although young people identified many of the same concerns in 2018 as they had in 2002, they were far more likely to vote. Respondents were more likely to identify the consummatory effects of voting, which in turn led to an increase …

Genetic Analysis Of A Parasite Contact Zone In The Southwestern United States, Tanner Storbeck

Honors Program Theses

Studies of cophylogeny (the mirroring of the evolutionary histories of two independent species) lies at the interface of ecology and evolution and therefore is inherently interesting to biologists. The actual mechanisms that lead to patterns cophylogeny are poorly understood. Chewing lice (Trichodectidae) and pocket gophers (Geomyidae) are a model system for the study of cophylogeny. The question to be addressed in this study centers around the fine-scale interactions between pocket gophers and chewing lice in the Southwest United States and whether different louse species actually hybridize within a zone of potential contact. DNA microsatellite techniques, DNA sequencing, PCR, and gel …

She's Not Allowed To Do That: Performing Stigmatized Same-Sex Sexuality, Orion Lee Risk

Honors Program Theses

In the summer of 2018, an emerging theatre company produced Stop Kiss by Diana Son in Waterloo, Iowa, a mid-size industrial town adjacent to the city of Cedar Falls, which hosts a small public university. In Stop Kiss, the two lead characters are women fall romantically for each other, so that in performing their characters the actors embody same-sex sexuality. This paper will explore how the actors playing these two characters engaged with this embodiment, and how doing so affected them.

How Evangelical Ministries Create Social Identity On College Campuses: An Analysis Of The Salt Company, Hannah Gregor

Honors Program Theses

My initial interest in researching college evangelical ministries spurred from my own experience with a ministry on my campus, The Salt Company. As I dug into their media presence, I became fascinated with how The Salt Company creates and performs their social identity as a larger community. The current research over evangelical ministries on college campuses focuses primarily on students involved within the ministry, but there has been little to no research of how these evangelical ministries and their social power affect students who are not members of the ministries. I used media from The Salt Company’s website to do …

The Tuba And Tape: An Exploration Of Repertoire For Solo Tuba And Fixed Electronic Media, Adam Christopher Denner

Honors Program Theses

This project is a combination of my senior recital performance with the Honors Thesis project to present a recital of music that explores the genre of Solo Tuba and Fixed Electronic Media. Fixed Electronic Media is a form of accompaniment that is electronically created before the performance and played back through a data storage format, such as CD, DAT, or digital audio file; use of this is a comparatively narrow and new field that is one of the leading edges in compositions for the tuba. The main goal of this performance has been to provide the audience with a sampling …

The Effect Of Math Tracking On Students' Growth Mindsets, Amber Lawrence

Honors Program Theses

This study investigated the effects of tracking in math classes on students’ growth mindset in math. A survey was given to students to evaluate their growth mindset in a quantitative way. Students in the 6th, 7th and 8th grade were surveyed. The 6th grade students had not been officially tracked, the 7th grade students were in their first year of tracking, and the 8th grade students had been tracked for over a year. A one-way analysis of variance was performed and showed a statistically significant difference between the growth mindset scores of the students by grade level. A Student’s T-Test …

Learning And Literacy In Music: Activities For Integrating Children's Literature Into The Elementary General Music Curriculum, Taryn Jeanette Kroymann

Honors Program Theses

In summary, there is plenty of evidence that supports the use of reading children’s literature in a music classroom. While this concept certainly is starting to gain more traction, the purpose of this thesis is to provide a starting point for educators that have not yet begun to take advantage of the rich abundance of content that is found in such literature, or to assist educators who simply want more ideas and evidence to support their teaching choices. In order to improve our teaching and provide as best of an education as we can to our students, we must utilize …

Vinyl Advertisement In The Uni Bookstore Windows, Emma Wilker

Honors Program Theses

At my initial meeting with my client representative we discussed his interest in a perforated vinyl advertisement. We met at the UNI Bookstore so I could see these windows in person. The UNI Bookstore windows are divided into sections by thick bars. There are equalsized divisions vertically while horizontally they are divided into three sections: a large middle section and smaller top and bottom sections. He envisioned perforated vinyl on the middle sections of the windows, possibly all of the north facing windows and half of the east facing ones.

Construction Of Crispr/Cas9 Vectors For Directed Mutagenesis Of Fusarium Graminearum, Rebekah Akers

Honors Program Theses

Fusarium graminearum causes the fungal disease known as scab or head blight in cereals, including barley. There is no known resistance in barley against scab disease. Generating mutations in the fungus is a promising strategy to reduce infection. Research has shown that CRISPR/Cas9 is a very powerful tool for gene mutation. In this study, CRISPR/Cas9 vectors containing guide RNA sequences were constructed to mutate one visual marker gene (AUR1) and two genes essential for infection in F. graminearum (Tri5 and MGV1). Plasmids pFC332 and pFC334 were used to create vectors with the target genes using the …

Design Of An Arduino Based Smart Home System, Qi Lu

Graduate Research Papers

Smart home is a home setup where smart appliances can be controlled remotely using networked devices. It has gained widely attentions due to its flexible integrations. However, not everyone is willing to upgrade their old home appliances to smart ones. One alternative solution is to design and implement a wireless controlled smart system that could utilize existing home appliances. This project aims to design an Arduino based smart home system. The system may upgrade existing appliances into smart home devices by integrating the wireless capability through XBee modules and low-cost Arduino boards.

A Feasibility Study On Utilizing Data Science As An Advanced Lean Manufacturing Tool In The Biopharma Manufacturing Sector, Tanya Heerts

Graduate Research Papers

The critical understanding, on which all else hinges in the biopharmaceutical industry, is that value is only added when a drug or a biologic is produced as a safe, efficacious first-pass product, in an efficient and effective manner. Every other activity is an expense and a cost to the company. In a tightly regulated industry that is facing turbulent times, the need to reconcile rising costs while still maintaining quality within the processes and products is imperative within the biopharma manufacturing sector. Current literature suggests that data science will have major implications in the future of biopharmaceutical manufacturing, however this …

Rod Library Annual Report 2019, University Of Northern Iowa. Rod Library.

Library Documents & Reports (entire collection)

Rod Library has had a remarkable year, building on an array of successful programs and introducing varied resources and services to best serve UNI students, faculty, staff and alumni. While we continue to search for a new Dean of Library Services, we remain committed to fostering student success, celebrating diversity and inclusion, and supporting community engagement in accord with the University strategic plan. We have a dedicated faculty and staff, complemented by a corps of student assistants who make important contributions to our operations. We are proud of our continued integration in the university and larger community. We appreciate your …

Biology News 2019, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Biology.

Biology News

Contents:

--Greetings from the Department of Biology
--Upcoming event: Prairie Rendezvous in Celebration of Dr. Daryl Smith
--Staff and faculty news
--May 2019 Study Abroad trips
--Staff and Faculty Transitions
--The Difference He Made-Quotes on Dr. Wiens
--Outreach and Alumni
--Purple and Gold Award Recipient