Digital Commons Network^™

Becoming “Living Matter”: Alive Things In Octavia Butler’S Xenogenesis Series, Zackary Gregory

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

This project seeks to explore the ways Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy complicates humans' understandings of subjectivity and human exceptionalism by challenging the concept of Otherness. Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis series focuses on adaptability and acceptance of the nonhuman Other by depicting a forced encounter between humans and an alien species called the Oankali. Characters within the series grapple with a dynamic understanding of themselves, having to renegotiate the concept of the Other as they deal with intelligent nonhuman Beings and animate objects. Further, characters in the series are coerced into accepting the transformation of humanity into something other than human as …

Immigrants’ Attitude Toward Immigration, Aflatun Kaeser

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

This study analyzed the relationship between immigration attitudes and demographic and socioeconomic factors. It examined the difference in attitudes toward immigration in the immigrant population using General Social Survey 2021 data. The analysis with an ordered probit model reveals significant relationships between immigration attitude with several socioeconomic and demographic factors and how that differ between natives and immigrants. As age increases, support for limiting immigration increases, but this is not true for immigrants. With the increase of years of education, support for limiting immigration decreases; however, in the immigrant population, support for limiting immigration increases as the education level increases. …

Historic Downtown Streetscape Plan Price City, Utah, Patricia Beckert

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

The idea of a small-town Main Street has profound meaning within the American culture that has prevailed for the past two centuries. Historically, Main Street serves as the beating heart of a community, a place where economic, social, cultural, and civic activities are centered (Francaviglia, 1996; Main Street America, n.d.). Since the beginning of the 19th century, many factors have led to the decline of Main Streets, and despite a variety of efforts from different stakeholders, that decline has only intensified in recent decades (Isenberg, 2008; Orvell, 2014 Howard, 2015). In 1980, after a three-year project conducted by the National …

Utah State University Commencement, 2023 – Eastern Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2023 Commencement Ceremony for the Eastern campus of Utah State University.

Utah State University Commencement, 2023 – Uintah Basin Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2023 Commencement Ceremony for the Uintah Basin campus of Utah State University.

Elementary Classroom Views Of Nature Are Associated With Lower Child Externalizing Behavior Problems, Amber L. Pearson, Catherine D. Brown, Aaron Reuben, Natalie Nicholls, Karin A. Pfeiffer, Kimberly A. Clevenger

Kinesiology and Health Science Faculty Publications

Exposure to nature views has been associated with diverse mental health and cognitive capacity benefits. Yet, much of this evidence was derived in adult samples and typically only involves residential views of nature. Findings from studies with children suggest that when more greenness is available at home or school, children have higher academic performance and have expedited attention restoration, although most studies utilize coarse or subjective assessments of exposure to nature and largely neglect investigation among young children. Here, we investigated associations between objectively measured visible nature at school and children's behavior problems (attention and externalizing behaviors using the Brief …

Vertical Accountability Among Ministries Of State In An Emerging Economy: A Case Study Of Ghana, Joseph Ofori Acheampong, Michael K. Dzordzormenyoh, Justice Nyigmah Bawole, Albert Ahenkan, Emmanuel Kojo Sakyi

Political Science Student Research

Since 1992, Ghana has implemented several initiatives and reforms such as the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACAP), Right to Information (RTI) Act, Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) with the goal of improving accountability while reducing corruption. These policies provide researchers with a lot of opportunities to examine how effective these programs have been as well as their impact on accountability. Hence, the present study seeks to accomplish three main objectives: 1) to explore the factors that facilitate vertical accountability; 2) to explore the limitations to vertical accountability; and 3) to investigate the …

Utah State University Commencement, 2023 – Tooele Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2023 Commencement Ceremony for the Tooele campus of Utah State University.

Utah State University Commencement, 2023 – Kaysville Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2023 Commencement Ceremony for the Kaysville campus of Utah State University.

Utah State University Commencement, 2023 – Southwest Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2023 Commencement Ceremony for the Southwest campus of Utah State University.

“It’S Not Always Poor Decisions”: Shifts In Business Student’S Attitudes Toward Poverty After Completing Spent, Jessica M. Parks

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

This Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) study examined whether undergraduate business students reported having different attitudes towards poverty after completing SPENT. SPENT is an open-access, digital poverty simulation offered through Urban Ministries of Durham. The author used the Reflexive Thematic Analysis approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006) to analyze 17 student reflection papers. The students were enrolled in an introductory finance course at a small teaching institution in the Southwest. The student reflection paper prompts were based on the four-phase Experiential Learning Model (Kolb, 1984). The author constructed four themes about …

Promoting Student Reflection Through Reflective Writing Tasks, Elena Taylor

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

Reflection is a necessary component of learning. Through reflective assignments and tasks, students are given opportunities to evaluate their learning and analyze strategies they use while acquiring and applying course material. Reflections also help students assess and think deeply about the information presented in class and thus better retain it. Through reflecting on their learning, students are also given the opportunity to formulate goals for future improvement. Reflective tasks can be implemented in any classroom, and writing is a powerful tool to do that. This article describes several writing tasks that …

On Becoming Online Educators: Developing Hybrid Learning-Centered Pedagogy, Rachel Toncelli Edd, Leila Rosa Phd

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

Recent global events pushed in-person learning to online formats. As K-12 teachers struggled with shifting from in-person to online teaching while adapting and adjusting instruction, and higher education prepared to do the same, two faculty members in a TESOL teacher preparation program joined forces to question assumptions about online teaching, reflect on praxis, and revisit pedagogy and practices through a critical autoethnographic study. Building from adult constructivist learning theory and collegial inquiry, the researchers utilized the pandemic as a stage for innovation and an opportunity to study their own ability, as …

A Participatory Exercise In Developing Syllabi With Adult Learners, Laneshia Conner, V. Nikki Jones, Jason P. Johnston

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

Transformative participatory approaches in education are positioned to challenge traditional models where instructors bear all responsibility for knowledge creation and learners are passive recipients of knowledge. The promotion of participatory learning and critical pedagogy is essential to helping professionals seeking to understand oppressive structural barriers and employing strategies to dismantle these structures. This article describes a participatory approach undertaken to guide learners through an exercise to co-create syllabus content in a graduate social work course. Learners identified three themes, concerns, fears, and problems, related to the course material. Learners were also …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 7, Issue 1, Spring 2023

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Spring 2023 issue (Volume 7, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

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

The Spring 2023 issue presents research and guidance on topics related to student self-reflection, participatory learning, and returning to the in-person learning following the COVID-19 pandemic. The first article takes a critical approach to understanding pedagogy with adult learners by involving students in the creation of course syllabi as a way to challenge ideologies related the roles of instructor and students. The second article blends research and narrative to explore how the experiences of …

The Utah Statesman, April 17, 2023, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Processes Of Change In Online Acceptance And Commitment Therapy For Hoarding, Jennifer Krafft, Julie M. Petersen, Clarissa W. Ong, Michael P. Twohig, Michael E. Levin

Psychology Faculty Publications

Initial research suggests that acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is efficacious in treating hoarding problems, but processes of change in ACT for hoarding are unclear. Thus, we investigated potential mediators and moderators in a randomized waitlist-controlled trial (n = 73) of web-based ACT for U.S. adults with clinically significant hoarding problems. Hoarding severity was significantly correlated with hoarding-related psychological inflexibility (r = 0.52, p < .01), mindful awareness (r = −0.40, p < .01), and beliefs that people with hoarding disorder are different from others (r = 0.31, p < .01). Effects of ACT were not significantly moderated by age, gender, or baseline hoarding-related psychological inflexibility. Longitudinal mediation analyses did not support mediation by hypothesized processes. However, the effect of condition on hoarding severity at follow-up was significantly mediated by hoarding-related psychological inflexibility at follow-up (ab = −0.41 [95% CI: 0.85, −0.01]), and change in hoarding-related psychological inflexibility (r = 0.73, p < .01) and mindful awareness (r = −0.69, p < .01) was correlated with change in hoarding symptoms over time. Overall, our results suggest that psychological inflexibility, self-stigma, and mindful awareness are indeed related to hoarding symptoms, but we cannot conclude that they underly the effects of ACT for hoarding. Limitations include a predominantly White and female sample.

Effects Of Pornography On Relationships, Naomi Brower

All Current Publications

Pornography is not a new issue in relationships; however, the expansion of the Internet appears to have increased pornography viewing and exacerbated pre-existing tendencies. This fact sheet reviews some of the impacts of pornography on partner relationships and provide steps toward healing a relationship hurt by pornography.

Progress Report On The Effect Of Introducing Biological And Environmental Discipline-Themed Problems In Engineering Mechanics Statics On Students’ Self-Efficacy And Perceived Value Of The Course, Yemisi Oyewola

Student Research Symposium

This study extends the previous research which examined the effect of introducing biological and environmental discipline-themed problems in Engineering Mechanics Statics on students’ Self-Efficacy (SE) and perceived value (PV) of the course. The previous research was carried out using pooled data from 133 participants over 3 semesters. Additional data from 126 participants were collected over the next two semesters making it a total of 262 participants. The result from the previous study showed a statistically significant increase in the perceived value of the students even though their self-efficacy did not significantly change. However, despite an increased sample size, the result …

Bullying In Sport Harms Athletes Mentally And Physically And Impairs Their Performance, Jessica Hamilton

Student Research Symposium

While bullying in sporting contexts is thought to be highly prevalent (Parent & Fortier, 2018), it is understudied and not well-defined within the sport psychology literature. Bullying is defined in the general peer aggression literature as repeated, intentional harm of a person across an interpersonal relationship with an asymmetric power balance (Olweus, 1994) and often occurs across peers. Furthermore, the literature highlights how bullying in academic settings is associated with detrimental outcomes, such as depression, anxiety, suicidality, and substance abuse (Armitage, 2021), so the effects that bullying in sport might have on victims and perpetrators are of particular interest. The …

Reducing Impulsive Choice In Female Rats, Joshua Jones, Christine Layne, Sofia Sperber

Student Research Symposium

Early and prolonged exposure to reward delays has been found to be effective in reducing impulsive choice in male Long-Evans rats. Replication in female subjects ensures that this effect is generalizable across the sexes. Such studies also expand our knowledge of factors associated with impulsive control. The present study randomly assigned 12 female Long Evans rats into a delayed exposure group (DE) or an immediate exposure group (IE). Groups completed 120 sessions (80 trials each) of training. In each of these training trials, rats pressed a lever to earn a food reward. For DE rats, food was delayed by 17.5 …

Comparing Vasopressin Receptor 1a Density In Paired Vs. Widowed Coyote Brains, Jacey Hopkin

Student Research Symposium

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is a neuropeptide known for its key role in the formation of social bonds and acts through binding to the AVP 1a receptor (AVPR1a). Most notably, research has demonstrated that monogamous species have higher levels of AVPR1a compared to non-monogamous species. AVPR1a is typically found in brain regions facilitating individual relations, social memory, and interspecies attachment; these areas are closely associated with partner preference and monogamous behavior. In addition, it has been observed in prairie voles that levels of social neuropeptides, such as oxytocin, will decrease when pair-mates are separated for extended time periods. A majority of …

Delayed Autism Diagnosis In Girls Due To Social Masking, Madeline Abram-Moyle

Student Research Symposium

Objective: To determine if camouflaging social and linguistic skills delays autism diagnosis in girls ages 6-18 years old compared to boys of the same age.

Methods: A rapid review from PubMed database to review relevant evidence.

Results: Evidence that social and linguistic camouflaging lead to delayed diagnosis in autistic girls compared to autistic boys is strong, but evidence is lacking that these forms of camouflaging lead to poor mental health in autistic girls ages 6-18.

Conclusion: Diagnostic criteria for autism should be updated to include female behavior and language patterns.

Climate Change In South Asia: A Review Of Perceptions, Coping, And Adaptation Strategies, Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed

Student Research Symposium

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing the entire planet. It has been found that South Asia is highly susceptible to the negative consequences of climate change, making it one of the most vulnerable regions in the world. In addition, agriculture makes up the majority of this region's economy, which accounts for the vast majority of GDP. A handful of individuals also occupy an area of arable land that is smaller than 0.1 hectares in size. As a result, local people in the South Asian region, particularly farmers, have utilized a variety of coping and adaptation tactics …

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, April 17, 2023, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• 3:30 Call to Order, Approval of Minutes – March 20, 2023
• 3:35 University Business
• 3:50 Faculty Senate Presidency Business
• 4:00 Information, Educational Policies Committee – April 6, 2023
• 4:05 Reports, Committee on Committees Annual Report, Calendar Committee Annual Report, Recruitment and Retention Annual Report
• 4:20 Old Business
• 4:25 New Business, Faculty Code 405 original | track changes | final (1st Reading). Faculty Senate President Elect, Format and Responsibilities for 2023-2024 Faculty Senate Meetings, Faculty Senate Executive Committee Membership.
• 5:00 Adjourn

Perceptions Of Disabilities Among Native Americans Within The State Of Utah, Erica Ficklin, Melissa Tehee, Sherry Marx, Eduardo Ortiz, Megan E. Golson, Tyus Roanhorse

Psychology Student Research

Currently, little research exists on disabilities among Native American communities and no research exists on how Native Americans perceive disabilities, services currently available, and unmet needs. Understanding these key areas is essential to providing efficacious and culturally relevant care. To address this gap in the literature, we used Indigenous research methodology through sharing circles throughout the state of Utah to listen and amplify the voices of the Native communities. Participants shared how they conceptualize "disability," what they thought of current services, and how they thought the needs of Native persons with disabilities should be addressed. Four major themes emerged in …

Social Isolation And Third Place, Katelyn Bauer

Student Research Symposium

Social isolation and human connection are key to human quality of life. This research was undertaken to understand what spaces could help to foster social interaction and connection. Third places, the place between home and work, were found to have significant positive impact on both individuals and communities. The presentation discusses the criteria of third place, examples, benefits, and some causes of loss of third place in modern society.

The Family Place Utah Princess & Prince Party: Who Attends And Which Activities Did They Enjoy?, Ann Peterson, Clara Alder

Student Research Symposium

Attending community events can have significant benefits for the families who attend. Some of these benefits include providing an opportunity for socialization and strengthen family relationships (Liu, 2022). The Family Place Utah hosts a community event called the Princess and Prince Party. The Princess and Prince Party is an event where families can attend and meet some of their favorite Princesses and Princes. At the event, data was gathered from participants using Qualtrics. The results indicated that majority of the children in attendance were ages 3-5 and families attending because their children enjoy interacting with the characters.

Oxytocin Receptor Binding In The Substantia Nigra In Schizophrenia, Ariel Snowden

Student Research Symposium

Schizophrenia is a chronic, psychiatric disorder characterized by hallucinations, delusions, cognitive deficits, and social cognitive impairments. Although antipsychotic drugs are typically effective in treating psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia, the social cognitive symptoms often persist. As social cognitive functioning is predictive of successful life outcomes in schizophrenia, there is a critical need to determine the biological basis of social cognitive impairments. Due to its ability to affect social behaviors in animals and humans, the oxytocin (OXT) system has become a therapeutic target of interest for schizophrenia. Although several studies examine the OXT system in schizophrenia in the periphery, it is currently …

The Grieving Brain: Effect Of Pairmate Loss On Coyote Oxytocin Receptor Densities, Kaleb Keller

Student Research Symposium

Complicated grief is a severe mental health disorder that can have detrimental effects on individuals who have lost a loved one. Understanding the biological underpinnings of grief is essential in being able to help develop effective treatments and therapies. Oxytocin is heavily implicated in studies about grief and pairmate loss due to its importance in modulating social behavior such as pair bond formation. Previous research has primarily focused on rodents and non-human primates as model organisms of social attachment and studies have shown that monogamous prairie voles showed a decrease in oxytocin receptor (OXTR) binding in the nucleus accumbens after …