Digital Commons Network^™

Mindfulness: Solution For Stumbling Students, Kylee Zimmerman

Tutor's Column

Students who come to the Writing Center are often stressed, anxious, and very concerned about their essay’s health, even those who procrastinate. Learning to understand procrastination as a sign of stress rather than laziness betters us as tutors; this is done through developing mindfulness. Mindfulness can be applied to those struggling with procrastination by accepting the student’s stress and setting small goals. Mindfulness is defined as being aware of emotions without judgment. Procrastination is defined as submitting work inconsistently, ignoring homework, and denying feelings of stress.

Widespread Mortality Of Trembling Aspen (Populus Tremuloides) Throughout Interior Alaskan Boreal Forests Resulting From A Novel Canker Disease, Roger W. Ruess, Loretta M. Winton, Gerard C. Adams

Aspen Bibliography

Over the past several decades, growth declines and mortality of trembling aspen throughout western Canada and the United States have been linked to drought, often interacting with outbreaks of insects and fungal pathogens, resulting in a “sudden aspen decline” throughout much of aspen’s range. In 2015, we noticed an aggressive fungal canker causing widespread mortality of aspen throughout interior Alaska and initiated a study to quantify potential drivers for the incidence, virulence, and distribution of the disease. Stand-level infection rates among 88 study sites distributed across 6 Alaska ecoregions ranged from < 1 to 69%, with the proportion of trees with canker that were dead averaging 70% across all sites. The disease is most prevalent north of the Alaska Range within the Tanana Kuskokwim ecoregion. Modeling canker probability as a function of ecoregion, stand structure, landscape position, and climate revealed that smaller-diameter trees in older stands with greater aspen basal area have the highest canker incidence and mortality, while younger trees in younger stands appear virtually immune to the disease. Sites with higher summer vapor pressure deficits had significantly higher levels of canker infection and mortality. We believe the combined effects of this novel fungal canker pathogen, drought, and the persistent aspen leaf miner outbreak are triggering feedbacks between carbon starvation and hydraulic failure that are ultimately driving widespread mortality. Warmer early-season temperatures and prolonged late summer drought are leading to larger and more severe wildfires throughout interior Alaska that are favoring a shift from black spruce to forests dominated by Alaska paper birch and aspen. Widespread aspen mortality fostered by this rapidly spreading pathogen has significant implications for successional dynamics, ecosystem function, and feedbacks to disturbance regimes, particularly on sites too dry for Alaska paper birch.

Substrate Purity And Its Effect On Prmt1 Activity, Tate Shepherd

Student Research Symposium

Protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) catalyzes the transfer of a methyl group from S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet) to specific arginine residues of a target protein. This type of reaction can impact the activity of the target protein and is an important regulatory process in human cells. Dysregulation of PRMT1 has been associated with severe disease in humans, including cancer. Accurate data concerning PRMT1 activity is important to the characterization of the enzyme. The activity of PRMT1 is studied by combining the enzyme with AdoMet and a target protein for methylation and measuring the amount of methylation that occurs over time. AdoMet that …

Nitrogen Use Efficiency And Soil Bioavailable Nitrogen In Corn Silage Production In A Semi-Arid Environment, Phearen Miller

Student Research Symposium

As agriculture intensifies, the world faces a dual challenge of increasing food production while reducing impacts of excess reactive nitrogen (N) in the environment. A field study examining different N sources in corn silage under semi-arid conditions was conducted at the Greenville farm in northern Utah (41°45’ N, 1111°48’52 W) since 2012. The experimental design is a randomized complete block design with four blocks and four treatments: control (no nitrogen), low ammonium sulfate (AS 112 kg N/ha), high ammonium sulfate (AS 224 kg N/ha), and steer manure compost (224 kg total N/ha). We examined yield, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), and …

Borderline Personality Disorder: Interventions For Adolescents And Caregivers, Addison Odum

Evidence-Based Social Work Practice Guide Series

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) encompasses a wide range of symptoms characterized by emotional dysregulation, including challenging interpersonal relationships, impulsivity, disturbances in cognition and identity, and is often accompanied by intentional self-injury and suicidal behaviors. In this guide, emphasis is placed on three aspects of intervention: (1) clinical interventions for adolescents who meet the criteria for BPD; (2) interventions clinicians can teach to parents/caretakers so they can better work with their child’s diagnosis; and (3) due to the negative impact this can have on adolescents, clinical interventions for parents/caregivers diagnosed with or exhibiting common symptoms of BPD is also provided.

Color Blindness In The Built Enviornment, Candice Buttars

Student Research Symposium

Color blindness is very common in our society, affecting approximately 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women. Although, not technically considered a disability according to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), there are many challenges related to color blindness. ADA aims to remove barriers by creating accessibility, largely impacting our built environments. Color blindness can impair some very basic life activities, so why does it seem to be overlooked in the built environment? Web and graphic designers have already begun working towards designing in a way that is accessible to all users. Using an existing building, plans were …

Designing For Developmental Education, Michela Staker

Student Research Symposium

Designing in a universal context allows for an environment to be accessible, innovative, and conducive to the success of the user regardless of physical, emotional, or mental capabilities. This project integrates evidence-based design in order to convey a meaningful and uniquely curated environment for children with developmental disorders and/or sensory impairments to thrive in the context of developmental education.This research and design project focuses on the challenge of creating a space where children on the autism spectrum with learning disorders and/or sensory sensitivities feel educationally productive and comfortable with the stimuli around them at any given time. This project delves …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Utah Women And Work: Changes, Burnout, & Hope, Jared Hansen, Chris Hartwell, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020–2021 has impacted all Utahns in profound ways. Yet, a host of national and global reports have argued that women’s employment and careers have been disproportionately impacted during this time. For example, a McKinsey & Company and Lean In report stated that women are more likely to have been laid off or furloughed, leading to greater financial instability and stalled careers. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research reported that women, and particularly women of color, have unduly experienced job losses and have had greater struggles with managing paid work, caregiving responsibilities, and other types of unpaid …

Psychosocial Experiences Of Parents Of Young Children Who Use Hearing Devices: A Scoping Review, Karen F. Munoz, Natalie Nichols, Sydnee Hill

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Objective: The purpose of this scoping review was to provide information about the research base related to psychosocial experiences of parents of young children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) and use hearing devices. A scoping review identifies trends and gaps in available evidence and this information can be used to inform practice and identify areas in need of further research.

Design: A scoping review was conducted in June 2020 to identify English-language peer-reviewed journal articles published through May 31, 2020.

Study sample: Nine articles were found that investigated psychosocial factors of parents of children birth through five …

Canadian Families’ Decisions Of Communication Options* For Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing: An Initial Exploration, Holly F. Pedersen, Suzanne Nichol, Nicole Swartwout, Daniel R. Conn

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Communication is an essential aspect of human interaction and helps connect us to the people around us. The majority of children who are deaf or hard of hearing are born to hearing parents who are likely unfamiliar with hearing loss. These parents are then asked to make critical decisions about communication options for their children. It can be a challenging process but one that needs to be done quickly in order to capture the critical language development period. Little research has explored the factors associated with parents’ decisions about communication options for their children who are deaf or hard of …

Visual Reinforcers Designed For Children With Developmental Disabilities, Angela Yarnell Bonino, Amanda Hemann, Deborah Mood, Emily Kay, Elizabeth S. Pancoast, Kristin K. Sommerfeldt

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

A library of visual reinforcers has been created to facilitate visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA) testing in children with developmental disabilities. The library includes 45 reinforcer sets – photos or videos grouped by a common theme – that were created based on commonly reported interests of children with developmental disabilities. Each reinforcer set contains a minimum of 20 unique photo or video files that can be download in two formats: one for commercially available VRA reinforcement systems and another for a custom setup. The library is freely available for download online under a Creative Commons License (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International …

Diagnostic Infant Abr Testing Via Telehealth: A Survey Of Professional Opinions And Current Barriers, Haley B. Prins, Kimberly A. Peters, Douglas P. Sladen

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Purpose: To examine the barriers to Washington State audiologists adopting telehealth as a means of improving accessibility to diagnostic audiology for infants.

Methods: A Qualtrics survey was distributed via e-mail and social media. Survey participants were required to be audiologists practicing in Washington State. The sixteen-question survey consisted of topics related to participant demographics, previous telehealth experience, and barriers to the use of telehealth for diagnostic infant auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing. A total of 17 participants completed the survey.

Results: Survey responses indicated that Washington State audiologists are largely neutral or disagree with telehealth being an effective means of …

Evaluation Of A Group Music Intervention To Support School-Readiness Skills In Preschool Children With Hearing Loss, Glynnis Dubois, Joanne Deluzio, Michael Thaut, Stephanie Nixon

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Although children with hearing loss are now often integrated into mainstream classrooms, many do not begin school with age-appropriate school-readiness skills. Traditional therapies in early listening and spoken language programs rarely focus on developing the social skills, executive functions, and motor abilities needed for the typical classroom environment of friends, academics, and play. The question, then, is how to incorporate group activities into traditional therapies in order to build skills in these areas, and whether or not the use of music and its social aspects could support this. A quasi randomized, group, facilitated, music intervention was conducted to help support …

The Role Of Early Intervention In Parental Self-Efficacy For Parents Of Deaf And Hard-Of-Hearing Children, Carrie Davenport, Derek Houston, Kristina Bowdrie, Rachael Frush Holt

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Purpose: To investigate the effects of age at enrollment in early intervention (EI) and dosage of EI services (frequency and intensity) on parental self-efficacy (PSE) and to determine whether parents with better PSE demonstrate more involvement in deciding Individualized Family Service Plan goals (IFSP), services, and amount of services.

Method: Sixty-five parent-child dyads were included in this retrospective between-subjects study. PSE was measured using the Scale of Parental Involvement and Self-Efficacy (DesJardin, 2003). Dosage of EI services and parent/professional involvement in IFSP decision-making were measured using a Child Demographic Questionnaire.

Results: Statistically significant correlations were not found between age at …

Evaluating Pennsylvania’S Newborn Hearing Screening Program, Aaron M. Roman, Stacey Gustin, Joseph D. Wagner

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Scope: Pennsylvania’s Newborn Hearing Screening (NBHS) program is a critical state-run program that is imperative for the goal of early identification of children with hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to evaluate Pennsylvania’s administration of the NBHS, as well as analyze Pennsylvania’s adherence to the JCIH 1-3-6 Guidelines.

Methodology: Records from 131,832 newborns born in 2018 were analyzed for this study. Descriptive statistics were utilized to determine outcomes related to the JCIH guidelines. Prevalence of hearing loss and odds ratios were calculated to determine risks of hearing loss in the 2018 newborn population.

Conclusions: The …

Developing A Spoken Language Outcome Monitoring Procedure For A Canadian Early Hearing Detection And Intervention Program: Process And Recommendations, Olivia Daub, Janis Cardy

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Abstract:

Purpose: Routine spoken language outcome monitoring is one component of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs for children who are hard-of-hearing and learning a spoken language. However, there is no peer-reviewed research that documents how spoken language outcome monitoring may be achieved, or what processes EHDI programs can use to develop these procedures. The present paper describes the process used by a Canadian EHDI program, and the final recommendations that were developed from this process.

Methodology: Through consultation with the program’s stakeholders, consideration of the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing’s recommendations, and drawing on our own expertise in …

The Effects Of Early Intervention On Language Growth After Age 3 For Children With Permanent Hearing Loss, Lisa Davidson, Andrea Osman, Ann E. Geers

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Purpose: The overall goal of this study was to examine language performance in children with permanent hearing loss who were enrolled in a Listening and Spoken Language program. The influence of time spent in Early Intervention (EI) on language trajectories and ability to attain age-appropriate language skills was examined.

Methods: Retrospective data were obtained from children (N=48) who attended Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) for various lengths of time between 2004 and 2017. Children were grouped into those who had received EI prior to age 3 years versus those who did not. Standardized tests of receptive and …

Journal Of Early Hearing Detection And Intervention: Volume 6 Issue 1

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

No abstract provided.

Preventing Teen Dating Violence And Promoting Healthy Dating Relationships Among Adolescents Ages 12-18: An Evidence-Based Practice Guide For School Social Workers, Rachel N. Waddell

Evidence-Based Social Work Practice Guide Series

This EBP guide is to help school social workers become familiar with the prevalence of teen dating violence, and learn some of the elements of unhealthy teen relationships. It also provides some guidance in promoting healthy relationship skills for adolescents ages 12-18, while promoting bystander intervention in teen dating violence. It can also be used as a resource for community members, families, and teens.

The Utah Statesman, April 5, 2021, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Fostering Resilience In Adolescents: An Evidence-Based Practice Guide For Therapists And Practitioners Of Adolescents In Foster Care, Jordyn Jacobson

Evidence-Based Social Work Practice Guide Series

This guide shares 5 evidence-based suggestions to aid practitioners in helping their clients in foster care increase in resilience.

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda, April 1, 2021, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Approval of 4 March 2021 Minutes

Program Proposals

• Create a Student Money Management Center.
• Create a Community Development Economics Minor.
• Change the CIP Code for the BS Aviation Technology- Professional Pilot degree from 49.0102 to 49.0101.
• Discontinue the Computer Science MS Plan C degree program.

Semester Course Approval Reviews

Other Business

• EPC/Curriculum Handbook Update
• New Curriculum Committee Chair Appointment

Past Perceptions, Present Usage: Latinx Students And Academic Libraries, Niki S. Fullmer, Brittany Paloma Fiedler

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

Over the last two decades, the population of Latinx students enrolled in higher education has increased by 142%, but they are still underrepresented overall. According to 2015 United States census data, only 16% of Hispanic adults have a Bachelor’s degree or higher compared to 54% of Asian Americans, 36% of (non-Hispanic) white people, and 23% of Black people. The needs of Latinx students in higher education are obviously not being met. Academic libraries have long seen themselves as integral to student success, but there is little research about how they are (or are not) serving Latinx students specifically. The IFLA/UNESCO …

Rethinking Behavior - Spring 2021, Midwest Symposium For Leadership In Behavior Disorders

ReThinking Behavior Magazine

A magazine for professionals serving children and youth with behavioral needs.

Spring 2022, Volume 4, Issue 3

Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes, April 1, 2021, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Approval of 4 March 2021 Minutes

Program Proposals

• Create a Student Money Management Center.
• Create a Community Development Economics Minor.
• Change the CIP Code for the BS Aviation Technology- Professional Pilot degree from 49.0102 to 49.0101.
• Discontinue the Computer Science MS Plan C degree program.

Semester Course Approval Reviews

Other Business

• Claudia Radel has become the new Department Head for Environment and Society.
• EPC/Curriculum Handbook Update
• New Curriculum Committee Chair Appointment
• Worked with the Provost and had discussions regarding a new chair for the Curriculum Committee.
• Matt Sanders as the new chair.

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, April 1, 2021, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Subcommittee Reports

• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee

Other Business

• Communication Intensive Outcomes - Rubrics - Narrative
• EPC/Curriculum Handbook Updates
• Educational Policy Committee Chair Nominations

Educational Policies Committee Minutes, April 1, 2021, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Subcommittee Reports

• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee

Other Business

• Communication Intensive Outcomes - Rubrics - Narrative
• EPC/Curriculum Handbook Updates
• Educational Policy Committee Chair Nominations

Through The Eyes Of The Mentor: Understanding The Adolescent Developing Reader, Joanna C. Weaver, Cynthia D. Bertelsen, Timothy Murnen, Jessica N. Glanz

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

While some teacher candidates may believe reading instruction is the responsibility of English teachers, providing teacher candidates across all content areas with opportunities to develop skills working with developing readers may impact this misconception. Since some teacher candidates have limited experience, confidence, and/or reading strategies to instruct developing readers, this study examines the individual experiences of reading mentors at a midwestern university and the effect of their experience on developing readers. This mentoring experience revealed an impact both for the teacher candidates and developing readers. This opportunity proved to be rewarding while providing a glimpse of the reality of working …

The Value Of Instructor Interactivity In The Online Classroom, Greg Lucas, Gary Cao, Shaunna Waltemeyer, B. Jean Mandernach, Helen G. Hammond

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

As the number of faculty teaching online continues to grow, so has the interest in and understanding of the role of instructor interaction in the online classroom. Online education provides a unique platform in which course design and teaching are independent factors. Understanding faculty and student perceptions about the shifting role of instructor interaction in the online classroom can provide insight on policies and procedures that can support student learning through student-instructor interaction. Participants included faculty and students responding to an anonymous online survey who indicated “online” as their primary mode of teaching. Three key “value” themes emerged as significantly …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 5, Issue 1, Spring 2021

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full Spring 2021 issue (Volume 5, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence