Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Obesity On Knee Extensor Structure, Function, And Gait: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Michael N. Vakula

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Obesity is a common, costly, and critical disease that increases the risk of disability and premature death. Most commonly, obesity is caused by an increased consumption of energy dense foods and decreased time spent being physically active. The greater weight with obesity interrupts normal musculoskeletal function which can lead to physical adaptations such as decreased lower-extremity muscle strength and abnormal walking patterns, both of which are among top risk factors for falls in older individuals. However, the effects of obesity on walking and lower-extremity muscle strength have not previously been examined by incorporating the results of all existing studies in …

Storytelling To Promote Mental Health: A Conceptual Analysis And Application With Acceptance And Commitment Therapy For Depression, Carter H. Davis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mental health treatments can be delivered in many ways. One approach is to use storytelling to communicate healthy practices. While societies across the world have engaged in storytelling for thousands of years, these practices have been used less in the mental health field. The aim of this project was to study the overlap between the areas of mental health and storytelling. We also tested how a storytelling-based mental health treatment could help solve a particular clinical problem. In this case, the problem of people who receive inadequate help for managing depression through medication alone.

We examined one particular mental health …

Investigations Of Prokaryotic Defense Systems, Hannah Domgaard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Bacteria are constantly threatened with infection by mobile genetic elements (MGE) such as bacteriophage and plasmids. Bacteriophage and plasmids require the bacteria's cellular infrastructure to replicate their genomes. Rampant replication can lead to cell death which is one reason why bacteria have developed a diverse array of immune systems to prevent or limit infection. This thesis studies three types of bacterial immune systems, type IV-A CRISPR-Cas (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat –CRISPR associated), type V-A2 CRISPR-Cas systems, and Wadjet systems.

The type IV-A system lies adjacent to a dinG-like helicase gene. Research has shown that this system can target …

Modeling And Control Of Battery Management Systems With High-Frequency Ac Link Coupled Multiport Series Resonant Converters For 2nd Life Battery Applications, Brooks Jace Maughan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

While the use and production of Electric Vehicles becomes more prevalent, it is also important to make this economical and ensure the reduction of a carbon footprint. Second-life batteries can satisfy both problems as batteries can be used in a second-life application for lower power purposes such as supplementing the grid so the infrastructure needed to charge the expanding fleet of Electric Vehicles can be easily supplied. This thesis goes through the process of Active Cell Balancing which will produce equal capacities, or similar batteries, that can be more efficiently used in these and other types of second-life applications. The …

Serendipity Shape Function For Hybrid Fluid/Kinetic-Pic Simulations, Trevor V. Taylor

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Sun in our solar system and stars are capable of generating enormous amounts of energy. The process by which these gaseous, celestial bodies are able to produce such large amounts of energy is called thermonuclear fusion. Fusion happens when particles collide with one another at energy levels high enough to overcome the Coulomb force and then release vast amounts of energy. Plasma, the fourth state of matter, is the natural state of stars. Plasma is an ionized gas that consists of negatively and positively charged particles. Stars, which have immense mass, can confine the plasma through their gravity to …

Design Of Environment Aware Planning Heuristics For Complex Navigation Objectives, Carter D. Bailey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A heuristic is the simplified approximations that helps guide a planner in deducing the best way to move forward. Heuristics are valued in many modern AI algorithms and decision-making architectures due to their ability to drastically reduce computation time. Particularly in robotics, path planning heuristics are widely leveraged to aid in navigation and exploration. As the robotic platform explores and navigates, information about the world can and should be used to augment and update the heuristic to guide solutions. Complex heuristics that can account for environmental factors, robot capabilities, and desired actions provide optimal results with little wasted exploration, but …

Integrated Concept Mapping As A Method For Democratically Evaluating A Teacher Preparation Program In The Area Of Classroom Assessment Proficiency, Carrie Elizabeth Ashcraft

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation reviews current policies regarding Teacher Preparation Program (TPP) evaluation and addresses “accountability era” influences which often minimize factors related to equity and promote a limited view of teacher and school “effectiveness.” Integrated concept mapping is proposed as an alternative method of evaluation because of its democratic framework for accountability. Using this method, a TPP in the Mountain West was evaluated in the area of classroom assessment.

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Varied Verbal Prompts Paired With Visual Prompts On Echoic Verbal Behavior With Minimally Verbal Students, Chelsea Nielsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Previous research conducted by Valentino, Shillingsburg, Conine and Powell (2012) has recommended that practitioners do not utilize the word “say” before or in an instruction to reduce the word “say” being echoed. The current study sought to extend previous research by including the word “say” and comparing it with the condition of not using the word “say”. Components compared included how frequently responses occurred and how long it took for a response to occur. Two participants were included in the study, but only one participant completed the study. Findings agreed with the recommendation made by Valentino, Shillingsburg, Conine and Powell …

Normative Evaluations Of Resource Conditions: The Influence Of Visitor Characteristics And Implications For Recreation Management In Urban-Proximate Parks, Jordan E. Nesbitt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Urban-proximate parks and protected areas provide a unique recreation landscape to individuals living in and near urban centers. They have been shown to provide similar recreation experiences to traditionally studied parks and protected areas such as National Parks, National Forests and Wilderness areas. This study takes place in a set of four urban-proximate parks in Orange County, California, USA. These parks are designated as urban-proximate because they are located within 100 miles of an urban center with 1 million or more people. Using norm theory, a well vetted social science theory, this work sought to identify thresholds of acceptability for …

Investigating The Use Of Quartz Luminescence And Rock-Color Alteration To Characterize Wildfire Exposure; Applied To The 2020 Mangum Fire, Kaibab Plateau, Arizona, April I. Phinney

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wildfires appear to be increasing in size, severity, and frequency. Land managers need information on past wildfire behavior to make effective and adaptive land management plans. However, there are only a few techniques and data sources that provide information on past fire heating. This study aims to provide new methods to equip managers with a more robust understanding of historic and modern fire behavior. Fire behavior is assessed using novel methods that can assess soil and rock response to past wildfire heat exposure.

This study examined samples from the 2020 Mangum Fire, in northern Arizona. Sediment and rock were gathered …

Treason Town: Cities As Traitors During The U.S.-Mexican War, Kelsey Foster

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

During the U.S.-Mexican War (1846-48) the U.S. army invaded Mexico from several fronts. The Mexican Army was unable to prevent U.S. troops marching into and occupying Mexico City, resulting in the transfer of a vast swath of territory from Mexico to the United States. Historians offer several explanations for Mexico's inability to repel this invasion, and one of them is the disunity of the Mexican nation. Evidence of this disunity can be seen in the response of some local leaders when they were confronted with the invading army: instead of fighting, they elected to surrender, allowing U.S. troops to occupy …

Examining Geographic Variations In Disaster Preparedness Across The United States And Puerto Rico, Forest Kane Cook

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Disaster events, such as floods, wildfires, and earthquakes increasingly cause damage to livelihoods, the economy, and the environment. Preparing for these events to occur is an important part of increasing resilience, however studies have found that households are generally not prepared for these events to happen. When it comes to identifying where these households are, there is typically no related tool or series of maps that can indicate location. In order to fill this gap, we use public survey data from FEMA to create estimates of household preparedness across a number of actions, such as developing an evacuation plan or …

Shame-Proneness And Sexual Satisfaction Among Conservatively Religious Sexual Minorities, Sydney A. Sorrell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study examined how various aspects of religiousness and sexuality were related to sexual satisfaction among conservatively religious sexual minorities and explored whether dispositional proneness to feeling shame changed these relationships. Analysis of survey data from 315 current and former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints revealed numerous factors that were related to sexual satisfaction. Sexual minorities who attended more religious services and who were more religiously committed were less sexually satisfied. This may be a result of the conflict a religious sexual minority individual experiences when engaging in same-sex sexual behavior due to stigmatizing religious …

Approaches To Supplementing Silicon In Soilless Media And The Value Of Silicon In The Mitigation Of Drought Stress, Mackenzie Grace Dey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Silicon (Si) is not considered an essential element for plants to complete their lifecycle, but is known to be beneficial for plants under environmental stress such as drought. Unlike natural soils, Si is minimally bioavailable in soilless media. With indoor agriculture and greenhouse production increasing, the benefits of Si have been seen and Si should be supplemented. This work aimed to characterize and quantify the dissolution of Si from media substrates and additives to achieve a steady-state release of Si in soilless media. Typical media components such as coconut coir, peat moss, perlite, rock wool, sand, and vermiculite minimally released …

Evaluating Strategies For Anemone And Ranunculus Cut Flower Production In The Us Intermountain West, Shannon Rauter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

National growth in small-scale, specialty cut flower farms is reflected in Utah, where 145 members have joined the Utah Cut Flower Farm Association since its 2019 founding. Cool season cut flower production is limited in Utah and the Intermountain West by a narrow harvest window and elevated soil salinity. The objective of this research was to optimize production systems for anemone (Anemone coronaria L.) and ranunculus (Ranunculus asiaticus L.) in the Intermountain West by evaluating season advancement methods within a high tunnel and field production system, as well as the salinity sensitivity of each species. Fall planting dates, …

Teaching Chinese As A Second Language: Exploring L2 Reading Via Dynamic Assessment, Siyu Ji

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio includes a collection of essays reflecting the writer’s beliefs and exploration of teaching Chinese as a second language. The first part of the portfolio is the writer’s professional environment and teaching philosophy statement. The second part of the portfolio is the writer’s professional learning experience from a class observation. The third part of the portfolio is a reflection paper on the writer’s exploration of reading dynamic assessment.

Facilitating Second Language Development Via Interaction In An Online Classroom, Jen Cummings

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is a collection of essays tying together perspectives and major themes in second language teaching of importance to the writer. It begins with an introduction piece, followed by a description of professional environment and a teaching philosophy statement focused on teacher-student relationships, varied assessments, and culture-focused teaching. This section is followed by a classroom observation. The main section of the portfolio is a reflection paper presenting perspectives on the importance of providing interaction opportunities in asynchronous online language learning classrooms. The portfolio concludes with a statement of future goals.

Training Needs And Applications For Special Educators With Paraeducator Supervision Responsibilities, Joanna M. Cornejo

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This project highlights the need for training for paraeducators working in Special Education settings. Duties performed by paraeducators often overlap with teacher duties and much of the direct instruction provided to students in self-contained classrooms is delivered by paraeducators. The tasks of training and supervising paraeducators often falls on the special education teacher, who may not have received training in supervision. The project includes a brief review of the literature on this topic and two project reports. I designed my project with the objective of improving the quality of instruction being delivered to students in my classroom through training of …

From Lesson Plan To Observation To Self-Assessment In A Chinese As A Second Language Class, Yu-Shan Lin

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is a compilation of what the author has learned in the field of Chinese as a second language in the Master of Second Language Teaching program at Utah State University. There are three main sections in the portfolio. The first section contains the author’s teaching philosophy statement, with a focus on the communicative approach, a game-based approach, and alternative assessment. The second section consists of a reflection on a classroom observation. The main paper presents how the author designed a lesson plan and implemented it, as well as her analysis and introspection on a video recording of the …

Mountain States Oilseeds: Risk Management For Safflower Production In The Intermountain West, Jameson F. Packer

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Safflower is an oilseed crop primarily produced in the western Great Plains because of its compatibility with cereal grain equipment. Varieties grown in that region are harvested predominantly for seeds high in safflower oil and oleic acid that are processed and used in cooking oil, human nutrition, and other health and beauty products. Safflower is also grown in Utah, Idaho, and California for birdseed mixes due to the region’s arid climate, which yields a crisp, white seed that is highly favorable in the birdseed market. Mountain States Oilseeds, headquartered in American Falls, Idaho, is one of the United States’ largest …

The Impacts Of A Quagga And Zebra Mussel Infestation, Casey Silva

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Invasive species issues have been on the rise in the United States for decades. These organisms can disrupt the natural flow of an ecosystem and overtake native species, altering an environment as a whole. The introduction of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in 1988, followed by the quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis) in 1989 is arguably the most prolific aquatic infestation the nation is currently up against (Hoddle, 2022). Beginning in the Great Lakes, both quagga and zebra mussels quickly spread their infestations through the Midwest and the East coast. The potential invasion of these species across …

Erodibility Evaluation Of An Unlined Rock Spillway: Comparison Between The Erodibility Index Method And A New Method Based On Block Theory, Michael George, Cole Christiansen, Ariel Rickel, Benjamin Israel, George W. Annandale

Protections Conference

Following the 2017 events at the Oroville Dam spillways that prompted evacuation of nearly 200,000 downstream residents and resulted in over $1B USD repair costs, there is highlighted focus on evaluation of spillways (both lined and unlined) at dams across the USA. In the case of unlined channels, flow conditions are often complex which presents several challenges for erodibility evaluation given methods are often based on idealized circumstances. High-resolution data available for the site (both in terms of 3D point cloud geometry data for the rock mass and 3D CFD model simulations of flow conditions) permitted a more detailed analysis …

Applying The Submerged Jet Erosion Test To Embankment Dam Breach Modeling, Tony L. Wahl, Blake Armstrong

Protections Conference

The submerged jet erosion test (JET) is one of several methods available for quantifying erodibility of cohesive soils, a crucial input for modeling erosion and breach of embankment dams with models such as WinDAM, EMBREA (Morris 2011), and DL BREACH (Wu 2013; 2016a; 2016b). The JET was initially developed in the late 1980s as a relatively large-scale device with a 13-mm diameter nozzle creating an impinging jet that erodes a soil sample submerged in a 61-cm diameter tank. This first device was documented in an ASTM standard (D5852-1995), but the standard was withdrawn in 2016. In the last 15 to …

What Tooele County Leaders And Residents Can Do To Strengthen The Impact Of Girls And Women In Their Area, Angie Kleven, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

This idea sheet is based on a 2022 gathering of 30 leaders in Tooele County. Girls and women face challenges unique to the area in which they live, and the goal of this gathering was to identify those barriers and determine strategies and initiatives that local leaders and residents can implement to address them. This document includes recommendations in the following areas: education, home and family, health & wellbeing, business & economics, and culture & community engagement.

Changes In Obstacles To Learning During The Covid-19 Pandemic For University Students And Recommended Solutions, Becky Williams, Sunshine L. Brosi

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions to student learning from K–12 to universities and continues to manifest negative effects on students. To better understand the challenges our students face and how those obstacles have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we surveyed our undergraduate ecology students who ranked obstacles to learning they experience in technology, learning environment, and economic security. The majority of respondents report conditions have worsened since the onset of the pandemic. Surveys identified the largest challenges on average were being unfamiliar with technology, using a smartphone or tablet for …

Examining Math Instructors’ Knowledge, Beliefs, And Attitudes Of Student Learning Strategies In A Faculty Development Workshop, Roxanne Brinkerhoff, Becky Connelly, Sam Gedeborg

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

A faculty development workshop, focused on incorporating universal learning strategies into developmental mathematics courses, was created and utilized in a developmental mathematics department at an open-enrollment, mid-western university to ascertain the best methods for dissemination of essential learning strategies to developmental math students. Successful faculty development programs were studied and utilized in the design of the workshop. The attributes of the workshop were discussed. Faculty were surveyed and qualitative data was analyzed to determine the workshop’s efficacy. The research aimed to understand if participation in the workshop changed faculty knowledge, beliefs, …

Student Stories Of Online Learning, Carrie Lewis Miller, Michael Manderfeld

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

Instructional designers at a Midwest university piloted a survey based on the Quality Matters general standards asking students about their online course experience prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students were asked to indicate whether they experienced a specific course design element and whether they considered that element to be important to their learning experience. Follow-up interviews with some participants were also held. Data from the survey indicated students perceive their online course experience to be good based on course design elements they encountered. Implications for providing additional faculty development programming based …

Documenting Your Teaching: A Guide To Promote Reflective And Responsive Instruction, María Luisa Spicer-Escalante, Sylvia Read

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

Why is teaching documentation so important right now in the educational context? In the United States, teaching, along with research and service, is a crucial component of someone’s professional profile in academia. As part of the review process for faculty reappointment or promotion, most institutions require evidence of effective teaching. This article provides key guidelines for how faculty can collect, explain, and showcase their impact and potential as effective instructors in their teaching dossiers or portfolios. Teaching dossiers are based on three main components: materials from oneself, materials from others, and …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 6, Issue 2, Fall 2022

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Fall 2022 issue (Volume 6, Issue 2) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

The Fall 2022 issue presents research and guidance on topics related to reflective practice and learning. The first article examines the impact of the SOAP Notes tool on teaching, learning, and instructor reflection. The second article provides guidance for faculty on how to collect, explain, and showcase their efforts in a teaching portfolio. Article three shares the findings of a student survey to identify students' experience with the design elements found in the Quality …

The Utah Statesman, November 28, 2022, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.