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Honors In Practice, Volume 19, 2023

Honors in Practice Online Archive

In This Issue:

Dedication to Kathleen B. King

Editor’s Introduction • Ada Long

2022 Presidential Address: The NCHC’s Inclusive Mission • Christina M. McIntyre

NCHC Article Reprinted from Inside Higher Ed: Can Honors Education Reach More Students? • Richard Badenhausen and James Buss

Essays:

Promoting Holistic Wellness in Honors Students through Peer Coaching • Leah Horton, Aaron Conrad, and Patricia J. Smith

Empowering Student Leadership amid Transition: Student-Centered Revision of First-Year Honors Peer Mentoring • Jacob R. Schlange and Tamy Burnett

Relational Peer Review Practices in the Honors Research Methods Classroom: Toward a Scaffolded and Multidisciplinary Model • Holly Riley …

Front Cover, Masthead, Contents, Call For Submissions, Dedication For Kathleen B. King

Honors in Practice Online Archive

No abstract provided.

Epigenetics And Social Inequalities In Asthma And Allergy, Elizabeth S. Clausing, Cassidy J. Tomlinson, Amy L. Non

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

Respiratory illnesses, such as asthma and allergy disorders, are disproportionately more common among minority racial/ethnic groups and those of low socioeconomic status. In the United States, asthma prevalence and severity are highest among Puerto Ricans (19.2%), American Indians/Alaska Natives (13%), and Black Americans (12.7%) and higher in families living below the poverty threshold than among those living above it (11% vs 8%–9%).¹ Many studies of asthma/allergy inequalities assume that genetic differences underlie racial/ethnic differences in these disorders, pointing to genetic ancestry differences between races, but most genetic variants fail to explain racial/ethnic differences and are usually studied only in …

Exploring The Role Of Environmental Features On Student Experience In The University Classroom With The Community Of Inquiry Framework, Heather R. Kennedy, Gloria E. Stafford

Faculty Publications

An active learning classroom design recognizes the importance of students becoming engaged in their own learning. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study compared student-reported data (n = 219) and used the community of inquiry framework to evaluate the impact of environmental features on students’ experience. Students occupied traditional or active-learning classrooms, but the same course content was delivered by the same instructor. Findings indicate a preference for seating at tables versus fixed desks, appropriate personal space and sightlines to the teacher and projector screens, and gratification for forming social connections (i.e., social presence).

Empowering L2 Learners: The Role Of Relational Empathy In L2 Learning, Gabriela Olivares-Cuhat, Giovanni Zimotti

Faculty Publications

In this article, we explore the relevance of the concept of relational empathy to L2 learning. To this end, we first provide a short overview of the notion of empathy in second language acquisition (SLA). Then, we present ideas that gave rise to the introduction of relational empathy in the field of intercultural communication, along with potential benefits of taking this perspective in SLA. Next, we describe the post-method framework for L2 teaching as a strategy that is both well-suited for the fostering of relational empathy and is facilitated by the exercise of this approach. Following this lead, we explain …

U.S. Law And Discrimination In Health Care, Kimani Paul-Emile

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Binding Hercules: A Proposal For Bench Trials, Maggie Wittlin

Faculty Scholarship

Should the Federal Rules of Evidence apply at bench trials? By their own terms, they apply, but courts have been reluctant to enforce them on themselves with the same rigor that they enforce them on juries. Scholarship on the issue has been mixed. Although McCormick deemed the rules of evidence "absurdly inappropriate" outside of the jury context, more recently, scholars have suggested that many reasons for imposing exclusionary rules on jurors also apply to judges. Yet practical problems persist. For one, once judge evaluate the admissibility of evidence, they can’t “unring the bell” and ignore evidence they've decided to exclude. …

The Future Of Mobility-As-A-Service: Trust Transfer Across Automated Mobilities, From Road To Sidewalk, Jacob G. Hunter, Elise Ulwelling, Matthew Konishi, Noah Michelini, Akhil Modali, Anne Mendoza, Jessie Snyder, Shashank Mehrotra, Zhaobo Zheng, Anil R. Kumar, Kumar Akash, Teruhisa Misu, Neera Jain, Tahira Reid

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

While trust in different types of automated vehicles has been a major focus for researchers and vehicle manufacturers, few studies have explored how people trust automated vehicles that are not cars, nor how their trust may transfer across different mobilities enabled with automation. To address this objective, a dual mobility study was designed to measure how trust in an automated vehicle with a familiar form factor—a car—compares to, and influences, trust in a novel automated vehicle—termed sidewalk mobility. A mixed-method approach involving both surveys and a semi-structured interview was used to characterize trust in these automated mobilities. Results found that …

Evaluating Biophilic Design Characteristics In Lincoln Public Schools, Sarah Burr

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

A mixed qualitative-quantitative study was conducted in Lincoln, Nebraska to observe and evaluate the biophilic design characteristics in Lincoln Public Schools (LPS). There is a significant lack of nature in urban environments, especially in older buildings and schools, therefore incorporating natural elements in school buildings can promote the success of students and contribute to improved well-being. The research question this study aims to address is: How and to what degree are Lincoln Public Schools integrating biophilic design characteristics in their high school buildings? Four high schools were toured utilizing an evaluation form with 10 biophilic design characteristics and a 5-point …

Making The Case: Examining Outcomes Of Religious‑Based Claims In Federal Litigation Involving Lgbt Rights, Emily Kazyak, Kelsy Burke, Marissa Oliver, Maia Behrendt

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Introduction In this manuscript, we analyze 62 US federal cases from 1990 to 2020 that implicate the issue of religious freedom and LGBT rights. Popular and scholarly commentary on the advancement of LGBT rights in the twenty-first century has speculated a rise in religious exemption litigation as a strategy to oppose such rights. Yet, we lack empirical data to confirm or reject this assumption and to understand patterns and trends within such cases.

Methods We perform bivariate analyses to examine trends with regard to how the court rules on these cases.

Results Our findings show that religious litigants are not …

Living Alone During Old Age And The Risk Of Dementia: Assessing The Cumulative Risk Of Living Alone, Benjamin A. Shaw, Tse-Chuan Yang, Seulki Kim

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: This study examines the association between living alone during old age and dementia. Whereas most previous studies on this topic utilize measures of living alone status that were obtained at a single point in time, we compare this typical approach to one that measures long-term exposure to living alone among older adults and assesses whether dementia is more likely to occur within individuals with more accumulated time living alone. Methods: Data come from the Health and Retirement Study, with a follow-up period of 2000–2018. A total of 18,171 older adults were followed during this period, resulting in 78,490 person-waves …

Inspiring Macro Practice Through Rural Social Work: Teaching Notes On Experiential Learning, Dana C. Branson

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

Experiential learning is the cornerstone of social work education and has been shown to be highly beneficial to students, especially with increased self-confidence in skills, interest in similar work post-graduation, cultural humility, application of theory to practice, problem solving skills, and critical thinking. Additionally, experiential learning opportunities support the nine competencies of social work education and provides students with an opportunity to try out their budding skills with the guidance and supervision of seasoned social workers. This paper discusses an innovative course project that allowed a group of social work students to engage in macro-level social work practice and grant …

Does Parent Report Of Child Physical Abuse And Supervisory Neglect Differ By Method Of Study Recruitment Or Mode Of Survey Administration?, Bridget Freisthler, Christiana Kranich, Jennifer Price Wolf

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

General population studies find that rates of child maltreatment are higher than those identified in the child welfare system. Some modes of administration may result in higher disclosure rates of child maltreatment by respondents. This study assesses differences in characteristics of parents who are recruited using telephone sampling techniques or via the internet and whether the survey was administered by telephone or the web. We have 1599 parent respondents recruited from listed samples and Craigslist advertisements. Surveys were administered via the telephone or online. Survey included measures of parenting behaviours, psychosocial characteristics and demographics for the parent, child and family. …

Sex Differences In Perceptions Of Sleep Inertia Following Nighttime Awakenings, Cassie J. Hilditch, Sean Pradhan, Gregory Costedoat, Nicholas G. Bathurst, Zachary Glaros, Kevin B. Gregory, Nita L. Shattuck, Erin E. Flynn-Evans

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Study Objectives: The influence of biological sex on sleep inertia symptoms is currently unknown. We investigated the role of sex differences in the subjective experience and objective cognitive manifestation of sleep inertia following nighttime awakenings. Methods: Thirty-two healthy adults (16 female, 25.91 ± 5.63 years) completed a 1-week at-home study with one experimental night during which sleep was measured by polysomnography and participants were awakened during their habitual sleep time. Participants completed a psychomotor vigilance task, Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), visual analog mood scales, and a descending subtraction task (DST) prior to sleep (baseline) and at 2, 12, 22, and …

Place Conditioning In Humans: Opportunities For Translational Research, Seetha Krishnan, Rick A. Bevins, Harriet De Wit

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Rationale Translational research, especially research that bridges studies with humans and nonhuman species, is critical to advancing our understanding of human disorders such as addiction. This advancement requires reliable and rigorous models to study the underlying constructs contributing to the maladaptive behavior.

Objective In this commentary, we address some of the challenges of conducting translational research by examining a single procedure, place conditioning. Place conditioning is commonly used with laboratory animals to study the conditioned rewarding effects of drugs, and recent studies indicate that a similar procedure can be used in humans.

Results We discuss the opportunities and challenges of …

Student Experiences Reporting Sexual And Gender-Based Misconduct To The Title Ix Office At A Public State University, Aliya R. Webermann, Kathryn Holland, Christopher M. Murphy

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Twenty-five survivors completed anonymous surveys about reporting sexual and gender-based misconduct to their public university’s Title IX office, including case characteristics, perceptions of the reporting and response process (e.g., helpfulness, respect), and experiences of institutional betrayal and support. Measures and open-ended responses described varied misconduct incidents, reporting behaviors, case outcomes, process issues, and negative process consequences. Additionally, process perceptions correlated with institutional betrayal and support. Findings illuminate how survivors’ Title IX process perceptions relate to experiencing harm or support from larger institutions, and offer insights into developing a Title IX process which maintains student rights and dignity regardless of outcome.

Better To Be Loved By Some? Firm Flaunting As An Impression Management Strategy, A. Erin Bass, Michael D. Pfarrer, Ivana Milosevic, Varkey K. Titus Jr.

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Firms can use a range of proactive impression management behaviors to reduce the impact of a negative event on firmoutcomes. When a negative event is unpredictable, we theorize that firms can engage in ostentatious behaviors that display the firm’s affluence and robust resource base. We term these behaviors “flaunting,” and we present a twopart model that investigates how flaunting can reduce the impact of an unpredictable negative event on firm outcomes and why it is effective at doing so. In part one, we theorize how flaunting can generate net positive stakeholder group evaluations by enhancing distinctiveness among stakeholder groups. In …

A Qualitative Study Of Library Staff’S Understanding Of Disability And Attitudinal Barriers In Libraries, Lisa A. Ferrara

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to examine how library staff understand disability and attitudinal barriers, and to learn how they use this information when planning and implementing library programs and services. Individuals with disabilities are an underserved population in libraries. Although they could benefit from the programs and services that libraries have to offer, individuals with disabilities often experience barriers to participation that prevent them from using libraries. One area that has been understudied is that of the attitudinal barriers experienced by individuals with disabilities.

Participants were recruited through professional library associations throughout the United States using a screening questionnaire. …

Situated Data: Feminist Epistemology And Data Curation, Scout Calvert

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

In the last decade or more, academic libraries have taken up the challenge of providing data curation and research data support, bringing expertise in metadata and digital preservation to key aspects of the research data life cycle. This activity has hastened since 2013, when the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a memo directing federal funding agencies to require data, among other products of research, to be shared as a condition of funding.1 The OSTP memo did not come out of the blue, but recognized changes in data practice in some disciplines as the costs of …

Advocating For A Patient‐ And Family Centered Care Approach To Management Of Short Bowel Syndrome, Vanessa J. Kumpf, Marie L. Neumann, Swapna R. Kakani

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Patient‐ and family centered care (PFCC) is a model of providing healthcare that incorporates the preferences, needs, and values of the patient and their family and is built on a solid partnership between the healthcare team and patient/family. This partnership is critical in short bowel syndrome (SBS) management since the condition is rare, chronic, involves a heterogenous population, and calls for a personalized approach to care. Institutions can facilitate the practice of PFCC by supporting a teamwork approach to care, which, in the case of SBS, ideally involves a comprehensive intestinal rehabilitation program consisting of qualified healthcare practitioners who are …

Sexuality Training In Counseling Psychology: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Student Perspectives, Dena Abbott, Jacob E. Vargas, Hali J. Santiago

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Counseling psychologists are a cogent fit to lead the movement toward a sex-positive professional psychology (Burnes et al., 2017a). Though centralizing training in human sexuality (HS; Mollen & Abbott, 2021) and sexual and reproductive health (Grzanka & Frantell, 2017) is congruent with counseling psychologists’ values, training programs rarely require or integrate comprehensive sexuality training for their students (Mollen et al., 2020). We employed a critical mixed-methods design in the interest of centering the missing voices of doctoral-level graduate students in counseling psychology in the discussion of the importance of human sexuality competence for counseling psychologists. Using focus groups to ascertain …

The Us In Uterus: A Collaborative Autoethnography Of Psychologists Advocating For Reproductive Justice, Dena Abbott, Rin Nguyen, Carrie Bohmer, Millie L. Myers, Jessica A. Boyles, Caitlin M. Mercier

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

In light of the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, millions of people with uteruses have been forced to navigate precarious access to reproductive care. Although health service psychologists have an ethical responsibility to engage in reproductive justice advocacy, training programs often do not adequately address sexual and reproductive health. Therefore, we sought to better understand how health service psychologists’ personal and professional experiences influence each other and explore the ways in which we as reproductive beings and advocates sustain ourselves amidst tremendous sociopolitical uncertainty. In order to do so, we employed a feminist collaborative autoethnography approach …

Enhancing Nonverbal Communication Through Virtual Human Technology: Protocol For A Mixed Methods Study, Analay Perez, Michael D. Fetters, John W. Creswell, Mark Scerbo, Frederick W. Kron, Richard Gonzalez, Lawrence An, Masahito Jimbo, Predrag Klasnja, Timothy C. Guetterman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: Communication is a critical component of the patient-provider relationship; however, limited research exists on the role of nonverbal communication. Virtual human training is an informatics-based educational strategy that offers various benefits in communication skill training directed at providers. Recent informatics-based interventions aimed at improving communication have mainly focused on verbal communication, yet research is needed to better understand how virtual humans can improve verbal and nonverbal communication and further elucidate the patient-provider dyad.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to enhance a conceptual model that incorporates technology to examine verbal and nonverbal components of communication and develop a …

The Impact Of Job Demands And Job Resources On Clery Officers’ Feelings Of Self-Efficacy, Jacqueline Pontius-Hogan

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to better understand how to support university administrators serving in a compliance role. Safety on university campuses is of utmost importance and many collaborators work toward this endeavor. Generally, on any given college or university campus, there is one administrator tasked with compliance with the Clery Act. Administrators had varying direct experience and interest in serving in this role, though all understood the importance of compliance and the consequences of noncompliance.

The researcher interviewed Clery Officers from multiple campuses. Utilizing semistructured interviews, information was gathered as to how self-efficacious these administrators felt. The intent behind …

Professional Development And Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Regarding Research-Based Practices For English Language Learners In Middle School, Lydia R. Escobar

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to describe the research-based practices used by middle school teachers of multilingual or ELL students in the subject area courses and the teachers’ self-efficacy to implement those research-based practices while teaching. Also, this study aimed to describe the impact of professional development regarding research-based teaching practices on the implementation of these practices and to compare the teachers’ practices, their perceptions of self-efficacy, and the impact of professional development had on their teaching.

This study followed a quantitative methodology with a survey design. A non-probabilistic sampling was used for the selection of the participants. The sample …

Relations Between On-The-Job Stress, Mental And Physical Health, And Job Satisfaction Of Correction Officers, Sarah Chandebal

Theses and Dissertations

This research study aimed to examine the direct and indirect relationships between on-the-job stress, physical and mental health, and job satisfaction for correction officers. Correction officers have one of the most stressful jobs in law enforcement, however, they are one of the most understudied groups in their field. It is therefore important to examine how stress can affect these correction officers. In this study, the predictors of stress for correction officers were discussed, along with the impact that this stress can have on their physical and mental health. Ultimately, as their health declined, it was hypothesized that the job satisfaction …

An Analysis On The Effects Of Melodic Based Communication Therapy On Verbal Behavior In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Meghan Kathleen Casperson

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to analyze the effect Melodic Based Communication Therapy has on minimally verbal children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, particularly tact responses and their generalization in the natural environment. MBCT is a replicable protocol for pairing melodies with target words to elicit speech in children with neurodevelopmental and language impairment. There is a call for the MBCT’s replication to widen the research on this approach in natural settings and across children with ASD and other developmental disabilities.

A multiple baseline design across participants was used to determine the impact MBCT has on the tact responding in …

Exploring Challenges Of Undocumented Students In Their Pursuit Of Post-Secondary Education, Yveline Gaspard Dulis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the mindsets and challenges faced by undocumented Latino students who are pursuing a post-secondary education. The study sought to explain the challenges of the DREAM Act and DACA and its challenges for approval in Congress. This study also sought to examine how undocumented students pursue a college education without financial assistance. Understanding immigration laws helped shape Americans’ perception of undocumented Latino students’ status, struggles, and financial hardships. Three leading factors that contribute to undocumented students’ persistence were analyzed in this study: financial assistance, academic issues, and legal issues. This study was conducted …

Human Trafficking: The Impact Of Covid-19 On Labor Trafficking In The Us, Anthony A. Mottola

Theses and Dissertations

Human trafficking is a global phenomenon where traffickers prey upon their victims without discriminating against age, gender, ethnic background, or nationality. The United States (US) is not immune to the human rights violations of human trafficking. The victims of human trafficking are coerced into a life of exploitation through forced labor or sexual exploitation. Many victims are migrants from disadvantaged countries that travel to the US seeking employment but end up the victims of abuse, both physically and mentally, at the hands of traffickers. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the global economy, forcing quarantines, travel bans, and social distancing. …

Comparing 1:1 And Small-Group Instruction With Preschool Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Danyel Hen

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to evaluate alternative and effective forms of instruction for young students with autism spectrum disorder. The researcher examined and compared the difference in the instructional formats of 1:1 discrete trial teaching and small-group discrete trial teaching. Targets were chosen in receptive language and preacademic concepts, and differences were compared based on skill acquisition, speed of acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of skills. The participants engaged in the 8-week intervention phase of the study by following an alternating treatments design schedule during their designated center time rotations in the classroom. All participants engaged in 1:1 discrete trial …