Digital Commons Network^™

Teacher Questions In The Classroom: The Effects Of Using A Low- To High-Level Questioning Sequence On The Text-Based Reading Comprehension Outcomes Of Low-Performing Students, Shannon Harris Brown

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Teacher questioning may be an effective instructional procedure for building students’ reading comprehension. Strategically asking questions at two different levels, low-level (text explicit) and high-level (text implicit), may be needed to assist students to engage in higher order thinking skills.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a low- to high-level questioning sequence without or with linking prompts on the text-based reading comprehension outcomes of fifth-grade students who evidenced poor reading comprehension. A secondary analysis was used to determine whether the questioning sequence was effective regardless of students’ interest in the narrative …

How Student Perceptions Of The Online Learning Environment And Student Motivation Predict Persistence, Completion, And Retention In Developmental Mathematics Courses, Samuel K. Gedeborg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Online developmental mathematics courses have high dropout rates. The focus of this study is to improve understanding of how students’ perceptions of the online learning environment and student motivation from course design predict student drop out. This understanding will benefit faculty and institutions on student support for online developmental mathematics students.

The study included 330 undergraduate students enrolled in online developmental mathematics courses during the Fall 2018 semester at eight public universities and colleges in the Utah State Higher Education (USHE) system. Participants completed a survey with questions measuring their perceptions of the learning environment. They also completed a survey …

Dramatic Play Affordances Of Outdoor Settings For First And Second Grade Children With And Without Disabilities, Nicholas R. Leschofs

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Unstructured play is crucial for children’s development. Dramatic play is play involving a transformation of objects, actions, or self-identity. During dramatic play, children may operate at more advanced cognitive levels than they do in non-dramatic play, thereby furthering their cognitive, social, and emotional skills. Interactions among children with and without disabilities are valuable opportunities to further a children’s development.

This study compared dramatic play behaviors among first and second grade children with and without disabilities to determine which play settings encouraged children to engage in quality dramatic play. Eighty-nine six-to-eight-year-olds were observed during lunch recess daily on an inclusive playground. …

The Environmental Impact Of Immigration In The United States, Guizhen Ma

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Population growth increases pressure on the environment. Immigration may be harmful to the environment because it is the major force of population growth in the United States. However, this argument has not been supported by research findings. A few studies on this topic show that locations with higher numbers of immigrants experience better air quality than locations with greater proportions of U.S.-born residents. This research investigated the environmental impact of immigration through three independent studies. First, I tested the relationship between U.S.-born population, foreign-born population, and air quality across all the U.S. continental counties. This study analyzed the air quality …

Exploring Park Quality In Urban Setting With Environmental Justice, Alternative Measurements, And Social Interaction, Shuolei Chen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

With rapid urbanization, urban green resources, such as parks have become important assets for quality of life in urban settings. Parks provide urban residents with both physical and psychological health benefits through various mechanisms such as physical activity and social interaction. Quality is an important non-spatial dimension of urban parks and has started to gain attention among researchers. To better understand park quality in an urban setting, additional knowledge should be explored. This dissertation studies the quality of urban parks from three different perspectives: 1) the equal distribution of park quality resources and its relationship to environmental justice issues, 2) …

Family Development And The Marital Relationship As A Developmental Process, J. Scott Crapo

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Despite the commonly held idea that families develop, there is not a theory in common use within the family science field that is developed specifically for the study of the development of the family. Family development theory, developed in the post-World War II era, was used previously, but an inability to be adapted to contemporary families and a lack of scientific utility have kept it from use. Additionally, research on how families develop has not considered how relationships may develop over time.

In this dissertation, I seek to address these holes in the family studies field. I do this over …

Go With Your Gut: The Role Of Gut Microbiota In Health, Lydia Bangerter, Mateja R. Savoie-Roskos, Jeffrey Chapman, Abbigail Sundell, Carrie Durward

All Current Publications

Living within your gastrointestinal tract (gut) are about 100 trillion bacterial cells—your gastrointestinal microbiota—a host of bacteria that play a vital role in your body (Ghaisas, Maher, & Kanthasamy, 2016). Your gut microbiome is responsible for a wide variety of functions that contribute to overall health and may be linked to many chronic diseases including cancer, obesity, and cardiovascular disease (Ghaisaset al., 2016; Peregrin, 2013). This fact sheet will discuss the role the gut microbiome plays in various aspects of health and how to improve your gut health.

Caterpillars On A Phytochemical Landscape: The Case Of Alfalfa And The Melissa Blue Butterfly, Matthew L. Forister, Su'ad A. Yoon, Casey S. Philbin, Craig D. Dodson, Bret Hart, Joshua G. Harrison, Oren Shelef, James A. Fordyce, Zachary H. Marion, Chris C. Nice, Lora A. Richards, C. Alex Buerkle, Zach Gompert

Biology Faculty Publications

Modern metabolomic approaches that generate more comprehensive phytochemical profiles than were previously available are providing new opportunities for understanding plant‐animal interactions. Specifically, we can characterize the phytochemical landscape by asking how a larger number of individual compounds affect herbivores and how compounds covary among plants. Here we use the recent colonization of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) by the Melissa blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa) to investigate the effects of indivdiual compounds and suites of covarying phytochemicals on caterpillar performance. We find that survival, development time, and adult weight are all associated with variation in nutrition and toxicity, including …

Branding The Writing Center, Courtney Akagi

Tutor's Column

Brand identity affects student’s perceptions of the writing center. Referencing an article on the seven key elements of brand identity design, this article goes through a step-by-step analysis of how writing centers can create a brand to establish trust between students and tutors.

The Place Of Procrastination, Grace Taylor

Tutor's Column

Understanding a student’s writing process can help to diffuse some confusion between the tutor and the student. Sometimes in a student's process, they procrastinate due to hesitation from past experience with writing. Knowing how to address this can help further the student’s confidence in their own future writing.

The Impact Of The Illness Label ‘Gout’ On Illness And Treatment Perceptions In Māori (Indigenous New Zealanders), Nicola Dalbeth, Meihana Douglas, Kate Mackrill, Leanne Te Karu, Maria Kleinstäuber, Keith J. Petrie

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Despite contemporary advances in understanding pathogenesis and effective management of gout, beliefs about the disease continue to be focused on gout as a self-inflicted illness. The illness label itself may contribute to inaccurate perceptions of the disease and its management. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, Māori (Indigenous New Zealanders) have high prevalence of severe gout. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the illness label ‘gout’ on perceptions of the disease and its management for Māori. Methods: Māori supermarket shoppers (n = 172) in rural and urban locations were recruited into a study examining the perceptions about …

Improving Instructional Practice Through Peer Observation And Feedback: A Review Of The Literature, Brady L. Ridge, Alyson L. Lavigne

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

The Every Student Succeeds Act provides an opportunity for policymakers and researchers to revisit what is known about effective teacher evaluation practices to make better-informed decisions moving forward. Principals—responsible for implementing new teacher evaluation reforms and accommodating the demands to spend more time observing and providing feedback to teachers—are overworked. They have little time to provide high-quality feedback, and may lack important content-based expertise. With these considerations in mind, we explore the role of peer observation and feedback as a vehicle to move beyond high-stakes evaluation and re-center efforts on instructional improvement. Our systematic review of extant literature (n …

Improving Instructional Practice Through Peer Observation And Feedback, Brady L. Ridge, Alyson Leah Lavigne

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

The Every Student Succeeds Act provides an opportunity for policymakers and researchers to revisit what is known about effective teacher evaluation practices to make better-informed decisions moving forward. Principals—responsible for implementing new teacher evaluation reforms and accommodating the demands to spend more time observing and providing feedback to teachers—are overworked. They have little time to provide high-quality feedback, and may lack important content-based expertise. With these considerations in mind, we explore the role of peer observation and feedback as a vehicle to move beyond high-stakes evaluation and re-center efforts on instructional improvement. Our systematic review of extant literature (n …

Women's Leadership In Higher Education: Status, Barriers, And Motivators, Susan R. Madsen, Karen A. Longman

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Advancing more women into institutional leadership roles in higher education matters. Although numerous studies have documented the value of involving diverse perspectives in decision-making processes (Donovan & Caplan, 2019; Gero & Garrity, 2018; Williams, 2013; Woolley & Malone, 2011), many individuals and organizations—ranging from the corporate sector and the political realm to postsecondary education—have voiced commitments to increasing the representation of women in higher ranks, yet they have been stymied in achieving measurable results. A variety of examples in the research-based literature reflect the glacial pace of progress for women into leadership roles across a variety of fields. Examining the …

Mind-It: An Approach For Incorporating Mindfulness Into Higher Education, Joana Franco

Student Research Symposium

Among practices of contemplative education, mindfulness has gained a great amount of attention. Research has suggested it should be incorporated into the school curriculum. However, implementing mindfulness in higher education is difficult, as the curriculum still largely focuses on building domain expertise. Structural constraint simply that mindfulness in higher education must rely on students' individual interest to engage since it is typically not a required subject within disciplinary contexts. Moreover, the ways in which mindfulness has been introduced into higher education may be restricted to small groups of students or only highlight one aspect of mindfulness, which may further contribute …

Primary Care Pain And Opioid Monitoring Program, Alise Williams Condie

Student Research Symposium

Chronic pain and opioid use have become topics of importance as opioid overdose deaths have risen to epidemic proportions throughout the nation. Chronic pain lasts for long periods of time, and can be caused by a past injury or arise without a known cause. Opioids have largely been utilized to treat pain in the past, but it has been discovered that opioids are better used to treat acute pain and not chronic pain. Opioids can have negative consequences including changes to the brain, depression, increased pain, constipation, sedation, and even death. There are many evidence-based alternatives to opioids available, but …

An Evaluation Of Web-Based Acceptance And Commitment Therapy For Dementia Caregivers, Hannah Cragun

Student Research Symposium

With increased prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, family caregivers are providing up to ten years of unpaid care. Informal dementia caregivers are frequently exposed to behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) that can cause distress. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an empirically tested subset of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy shown to improve caregiver depressive symptoms, use of positive coping skills, and management of role demands. Caregivers face barriers to accessing face-to-face therapy because of factors that delay seeking help until post-crisis. Online ACT is easily accessible, navigable, and free, and has been demonstrated to improve mental health indicators …

Do Traditional Values Create Stress That Interferes With Positive Parenting?, Kelsey Smith

Student Research Symposium

Parents' attitudes and experiences likely influence parents' interactions with their young children. Parents' attitudes may be based on traditional or progressive parenting ideals, with traditional attitudes emphasizing obedience and control of children but progressive attitudes associated with more maternal sensitivity, cognitive talk, supportive behavior, positive regard, and decreased intrusiveness. Parents' experiences of parenting as stressful may also influence the quality of interactions with their children, with high parental stress associated reducing positive parent interactions cognitive stimulation. The present study examined whether parental stress at 24 months is a mediating variable for the relationship between parental attitudes at 24 months and …

Gender Bias And Race Bias In Student Evaluations Of Teaching, Megan Boyce, Audree Britte

Student Research Symposium

There is mixed evidence regarding the presence of gender bias in student evaluations of teaching (Foote, Harmon, & Mayo, 2003; Morgan et al., 2016). Given the importance placed on student evaluations of teaching in regards to promotion and tenure, it is essential to determine whether gender bias is present and to what extent (Laube, Massoni, Sprague, & Ferber, 2007). Many previous studies have shown there is strong evidence of implicit bias in the traits we expect to see from female and male professors, but these studies have been limited by how they identify the presence of bias (e.g. Basow, 1995; …

Modeling For Spatial Memory, Derek Jenson

Student Research Symposium

The purpose of this research is to help establish a framework of knowledge around people's spatial gist capacities that can inform the creation and implementation of spatial memory aptitude tests. This research overlaps the fields of psychology, computer science, and urban design. The aim of this project is to create a versatile, 9-block, 3D-modeled cityscape that can be used as a tool in future research projects. The virtual cityscape will be designed by adhering to psychological principles of wayfinding which include five principles of urban design: districts, edges, paths, nodes, and landmarks (as prescribed by Kevin Lynch in the book …

Discounting Of Delayed Food And Water In Rats, Shasta Rebalkin

Student Research Symposium

Humans often make decisions between outcomes that occur at different times. For example, students may have to decide whether to study to get a good grade on a test tomorrow or hang out with friends tonight. One of the ways we describe how people make these decisions is called delay discounting. Delay discounting is the decline in present value of an outcome because of its delay. Thus, students might prefer hanging out with friends now over a good grade because getting a good grade occurs later and is less valuable. The study of delay discounting is important because a preference …

“They Aren’T Even Old Enough To Get A Driver’S License”: Variations Among Age Of Consent And Romeo And Juliet Laws, Yocheved Ramirez

Student Research Symposium

American culture is concerned about sex among teenagers, especially with the continuing rise in use of social media and fears of a growing "hookup culture". Sex outside of marriage appears to be relatively common, and there is a lot of concern about teenage pregnancies, teenagers in "relationships" with adults, and minors engaging in sex in general given how emotionally immature adolescents can be. Because of these concerns about sexual behavior among teenagers, every state in the United States of America has implemented a law about age of consent, and some have gone further to define what acceptable age differences between …

“Home Sweet Home”: Effects Of Home Environment On Children’S Behavior Development From Infancy To Fifth Grade, Shelbee Johnson

Student Research Symposium

Infant and toddler years are crucial for behavior development, which impacts the likelihood of a successful adulthood. If improper development occurs, it could lead to the child exhibiting externalized and internalized problem behaviors. Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) measures the environments and parenting children are exposed to. Parental responsiveness, ex. paying attention to the child or being in-tune with the child's emotions, increases the likelihood of a child developing adaptive social skills. Responsivity and acceptance in the home are related to development of social behavior, as they are associated with parents modeling pro-social behavior. This project aims …

The Transtheoretical Model As A Predictor Of Fruit And Vegetable Intake In Snap Participants, Keshele Stevens

Student Research Symposium

Background: Many Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants do not consume enough fruits and vegetables (F&V). The transtheoretical model has been used to predict and improve F&V consumption through public health interventions. This study focuses on self-efficacy and decisional balance (perceived benefits and barriers). Measurement scales for each construct have been validated in multiple populations. Repeated analyses of these constructs and measurement scales and their ability to predict F&V consumption will further inform the creation, implementation, and evaluation of nutrition interventions in low-income populations. Purpose: The current study seeks to understand the relationship between decisional balance and self-efficacy and actual …

Assessing & Protecting Dark Night Skies In El Morro National Monument, Leslie Kobinsky

Student Research Symposium

Light pollution is causing the disappearance of dark night skies around the world. In the United States alone, 1/3 of people are unable to see the Milky Way where they live (Ramlagan, 2016). National Park Service sites contain some of the darkest skies in the country. Here at El Morro National Monument, these dark skies are a beautiful and healthy benefit to people in the local community and visitors traveling from afar. El Morroês current park legislation does not include specific measures of protection for the night sky. This capstone project will create a baseline data set of night sky …

Comparing Delay Discounting And Delayed Gratification In Rats, Macie K. Nielsen

Student Research Symposium

Humans often make decisions between outcomes that occur at different times. For example, students may have to decide whether to study to get a good grade on a test tomorrow or hang out with friends tonight. One of the ways we describe how people make these decisions is called delay discounting. Delay discounting is the decline in present value of an outcome because of its delay. Thus, students might prefer hanging out with friends now over a good grade because getting a good grade occurs later and is less valuable. The study of delay discounting is important because a preference …

Equality In Education For Latina Women, Megan Warburton

Student Research Symposium

Latina women in the United States face various educational, social, and familial pressures while striving to obtain a valuable education and break boundaries created by stereotypes in the country. Stereotypes of Latinas in the media have created false beliefs regarding their characters and abilities, in turn causing negative repercussions in communities and social environments. They often face unfair and biased treatment in schools and don’t receive adequate help from teachers or counselors to excel in high school and prepare for college. Much of this inequality inhibits their ability to feel confident in their future of education. Not only must Latina …

From Theory To Practice: Establishing The Classroom As The Setting For Race Talk Through The Intentional Analysis And Discussion Of Poems By Authors Of Color, Cree Taylor

Student Research Symposium

Modern-day racism exists in mostly subtle ways and is often felt most keenly in the classroom. When schools began the legal integration process in 1954, Black teachers were fired, all-Black schools were closed, and Black students were bused to the formerly all-White schools. In this new environment, Black students and all Students of color were forced to accept and adapt to an educational system that favored Whites over all other racial groups. Today, White Supremacy in education affects the establishment of state and national standards, school and district boundaries, and the un-fair disciplinary action taken against Students of Color. White …

Narrative Hijacking: Mothman And The Silver Bridge Collapse, Jack Daly

Student Research Symposium

This paper examines the commemoration and folklorization of the events surrounding the Silver Bridge collapse which occurred in Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1967 that have become associated with the legendary cryptid Mothman. On December 15, 1967, 46 people died as the bridge that connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Gallipolis, Ohio collapsed. During that time, the area around Point Pleasant was being inundated with sightings of a large bird-like creature that came to be known as 'Mothman.' An examination of the narratives surrounding Mothman and the Silver Bridge collapse, which include songs, literature, and film show an intriguing interplay …

Digestive Health Clinic, Jaylee Liston

Student Research Symposium

This research project focuses on a Digestive Health Clinic that specializes in preventing, diagnosing, and treating digestive and liver disorders. In the United States, 60 to 70 million people are affected by digestive health problems and they need this type of facility to be treated properly. The goal of this kind of clinic is to advance the delivery of care for patients suffering from all digestive health conditions. Every aspect from the space planning to the finishing touches needs to be thought through with the end-users in mind. When designing a healthcare facility, it is important to create a universal …