Education Commons^™

An Evaluation Of Authenticity: A Content Analysis Of K-6 Mandarin Matrix Textbooks For Chinese Dual Language Immersion Programs, Hsiaomei Tsai

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Authentic texts are suggested for building practical language skills that go beyond the classroom, helping language learners to communicate with native speakers. This study used content analysis and a teacher survey to examine how the Utah Chinese Dual Language Immersion (DLI) literacy curriculum, featuring the Grades K-6 Mandarin Matrix textbooks, reflects realistic Chinese language and culture. Additionally, this study explored the pedagogical value of these textbooks in Utah’s Chinese DLI programs via a teacher survey. The results showed high linguistic authenticity in word usage, order, and situations, consistently above 99% across Grades K to 6 books. Cultural authenticity, particularly in …

Reinvigorating The Post-Covid Gen Z English Major, Gaby Bedetti

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

The decline in English majors has energized instructors to upskill for the post-COVID Gen Z student. Toward that end, this small-scale (n=20), one-semester study of an upper-division literature class identifies the preferred learning styles of English majors at a public comprehensive regional university in Kentucky. The participants represent national English major demographics. The research methods are quantitative and qualitative. Eight figures and an appendix are included. Three guidelines emerge for responding to the needs of Gen Z students: 1) keep communication brief, 2) co-create, and 3) interact in-person. The findings about …

Exploring Multiliteracies And Other Approaches To Second Language Teaching, Saralee Dunster

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

This teaching portfolio offers a selection from the author’s graduate coursework, teaching experience, and research undertaken while enrolled in the Utah State University Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program. The documents included are a reflection of her pedagogical approach and teaching practice, developed through varying contexts of professional experiences, including teaching English and French as a second language. This portfolio includes: reflections on the author’s teaching environment, a teaching philosophy statement, a professional development peer observation, a reflection paper that demonstrates the author’s experiences teaching with stories within the context of the multiliteracies framework, specifically multimodal fairy tales with …

In Search Of Effective Second Language Arabic Vocabulary Teaching Strategies: Theory And Implementation, Asmaa Yazidi Alaoui

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

This portfolio is the outcome of the author’s studies in the Masters of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University (USU) as well as her experience as a graduate instructor of Arabic at the same university.

This work has two main parts. The first comprises the three major components that present the author’s perspectives as a teacher, such as professional environment, teaching philosophy statement and the teaching observation.

The second part demonstrated the author’s research interest that aligned with her teaching perspective as an Arabic teacher. It was a position paper that called for Arabic vocabulary teaching strategies …

It Happened Here: The Civil Rights Movement In Utah, Jace Jones

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

This plan B project is a series of lesson plans focusing on the Civil Rights Movement in Utah. These lessons are designed to give students a broad understanding of the Civil Rights Movement as well as the tools and knowledge to understand how the Civil Rights Movement manifested in Utah. To fulfill this goal these lesson plans focus on local and lesser-known history. This will allow students to gain an understanding of how the movement operated in Utah and how it relates to their own lives.

These lessons use the Stanford: Reading Like a Historian framework by the Stanford History …

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 …

Paths To Equity: Parents In Partnership With Ucedds Fostering Black Family Advocacy For Children On The Autism Spectrum, Elizabeth H. Morgan, Benita D. Shaw, Ida Winters, Chiffon King, Jazmin Burns, Aubyn Stahmer, Gail Chodron

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Racism and ableism have doubly affected Black families of children with developmental disabilities in their interactions with disability systems of supports and services (e.g., early intervention, mental health, education, medical systems). On average, Black autistic children are diagnosed three years later and are up to three times more likely to be misdiagnosed than their non-Hispanic White peers. Qualitative research provides evidence that systemic oppression, often attributed to intersectionality, can cause circumstances where Black disabled youth are doubly marginalized by policy and practice that perpetuates inequality. School discipline policies that criminalize Black students and inadequate medical assessments that improperly support Black …

Correlates Of Christian Religious Identification And Deidentification Among Sexual And Gender Minorities: A U.S. Probability Sample, G. Tyler Lefevor, Lauren J. A. Bouton, Edward B. Davis, Samuel J. Skidmore, Ilan H. Meyer

Psychology Faculty Publications

Using a U.S. nationally representative sample of 1,529 sexual and gender minorities (SGMs), we examined the demographic and developmental correlates of Christian religious deidentification. We found that SGMs who were older, Black, cisgender men, and/or lived in the American South were more likely to identify as Christian in adulthood, relative to other SGMs. Those who were never Christian reported being more out to family and friends at earlier ages than those who were raised Christian. SGMs who were raised Christian, but did not identify as Christian in adulthood reported, more adverse childhood experiences and bullying than other SGMs. Sexual minorities …

Checking In: Learner Perceptions Of The Value Of Language Study In College, Julian Ledford, Tijá Odoms

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

An understanding of the products that Generation Z students value the most from their college-level language study is essential for instructors who must effectively unpack second language theories within the context of their classroom instruction. This preliminary study examines the value system regarding language study as revealed in the language-learning perceptions of a group of current language learners (n = 53) and recent college graduates (n = 49) at a small, private, liberal arts college in the southeast. Through qualitative analysis of student responses, the following emerged as language-learning …

Student Centered Language Teaching: A Focus On Student Identity, Rachel Mano

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

This portfolio is a compilation of essays that describe what the writer has come to see as essential topics in second language acquisition. It begins with a professional environment piece, and then a teaching philosophy statement focused on student identity and interaction in the classroom. This is followed by an essay on observations of teaching. The next two sections focus on pragmatic resistance among advanced learners and the importance of preparing learners for peer interaction. The portfolio concludes with an annotated bibliography outlining the main concepts associated with Communicative Language Teaching, a method that is commonly employed in second language …

Authorial Agency: Investigating Composition Pedagogies Under A New Lens, Tyler Hurst

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

This essay considers the work of three prominent composition scholars through the lens of authorial agency, which I define as a form of agency that focuses on the individual voice and self-determination of students in the writing space. Though the concept of agency has been previously considered by composition scholars, this contribution might aid in understanding various pedagogical approaches by analyzing how authorial agency is already being engaged within composition pedagogies and investigating how authorial agency aids teachers in understanding their pedagogy so that students learn to take back control of their own authoritative voice and self-determination. By re-investigating …

Oral Histories Help Document The Impact Of Covid-19 On Cache Valley's Latinx Community, Virginia Hernandez, Jasmine Morales

Research on Capitol Hill

Sophomore Jasmine, of Box Elder, is president of the USU LatinX Creative Society, the Parent Committee for Centro de la Familia in Box Elder, and the Region Policy Council for the Migrant Program. She studies social work and Spanish. Junior Virginia is a Spanish teaching major and recipient of an Institute for Mexicans Abroad scholarship for her studies in Mexican language and culture. Jasmine led this project to interview a dozen Cache Valley families about their personal experiences during the pandemic as members of the Latinx community. The documentary these students are producing will discuss the ways that their culture …

Beloved: Born Of Sethe's Slavery And Trauma, Sariah Dutkiewicz

Fall Student Research Symposium 2021

Toni Morrison’s Beloved introduces many characters who exhibit clear signs of trauma due to their past as African American slaves, however, one character in particular stands out: Sethe. Sethe’s life as a slave led her to experience and do horrendous things. The worst being the difficult and violent decision to murder her own child, Beloved, in an effort to prevent her child from being forced into slavery. Though Sethe survived her life as a slave, she was unable to focus on her future because of her past that consistently haunts her. Her trauma is portrayed in many different forms throughout …

Results Of Lexile Level Reading Practices On Rural Middle School Students, Tiffany Sanderson

Fall Student Research Symposium 2021

Many students have experienced, and remember, reading comprehension exams from their time in grade school. These tests examined student ability to comprehend different levels of reading so that educators could ensure a student was reading within grade level targets. ATOS and A-Z along with the Fountas and Pinnell reading programs are all previous methods used in ELA classrooms across the nation. Some of these are still used widely today. ATOS is a program which closely resembles Lexile as it also determines book and student scores with a method that correlates back to grade level. For example, sixth-grade would be 6.0. …

The Language Of Classroom Design: How Aesthetic Impacts Learning, Josie Rivera

Fall Student Research Symposium 2021

Secondary classrooms are the settings where crucial learning experiences occur, yet much of the existing research on classroom design pertains to elementary schools. The general lack of importance placed on the physical layout of secondary classrooms insinuates that while younger students benefit from an attractive, visually pleasing classroom, teenage students do not. Despite this, educators seek to make their classrooms places of refuge and learning. For example, Utah’s 2020 Teacher of the Year, Lauren Merkley, decorates her room with thrifted lamps which emit a warm glow in her classroom. Martin Reeder of Sky View High School curated a ‘book nook’ …

Balancing The Double-Edged Sword Of Implementation: An Eclectic Approach, Spencer R. K. Chun

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

This portfolio is a compilation which expresses the author’s perspective on necessary considerations for teachers when implementing ideas in the classroom. The thoughts and perspectives showed in this portfolio have been shaped by the author’s previous formal and informal teaching experiences and the opportunities to further his understanding of teaching and research during his time in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University (USU).

This portfolio is comprised of two sections: The first section consists of Teaching perspectives, which include the author’s desired professional environment, his teaching philosophy statement, and observations obtained through observing other …

Collaborative Classrooms: Incorporating Pragmatics And Technology In Language Learning With A Focus On Generation 1.5, Brandee Burk

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

This portfolio is a compilation of work that the author accomplished during the Master of Second Language Teaching program at Utah State University (USU). It reflects the culmination of the author’s learning and teaching experiences during her coursework and as a graduate teaching assistant (GTA) in the Intensive English Language Institute (IELI).

The portfolio contains three main sections: teaching perspectives, research perspectives, and an annotated bibliography. In the first section the author explains her desired professional environment, her philosophy of teaching, as well as insights from language classroom observations she will incorporate into her teaching. The research perspectives section consists …

Religious, Secular, And Spiritual Diversity On Campus: Book Review Of Goodman, Giess & Patel (2019) Educating About Religious Diversity And Interfaith Engagement, Karin Dejonge-Kannan

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Book review of

Goodman, K.M., Giess, M.E., & Patel, E (2019). Educating about religious diversity and interfaith engagement: A handbook for student affairs. Stylus Publishing.

Broadening Perspectives: Using Multiple Teaching Approaches To Meet The Needs Of Language Students, Kalen Taylor

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

This portfolio is comprised of research, opinions, and ideas that the author has learned during the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University (USU). It is a representation of experiences gained through teaching lower division Spanish courses at USU. In addition to experiences, it is also comprised of research perspectives which were furthered by coursework in the MSLT program.

Contained within the pages is a road map of the author’s journey of learning and research. The portfolio begins with the author’s perspectives on teaching including his philosophy on teaching and how he has developed by observing …

Enacting Rhetorical Listening: A Process To Support Students’ Engagement With Challenging Course Readings, Jessica Rivera-Mueller

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Many educators assign course readings to purposefully enlarge students’ perspectives. In doing so, though, educators may face a range of behaviors—reluctance, resistance, avoidance, disengagement—from students who feel that such readings negatively press upon their prior knowledge, belief systems, or educational goals. This teaching challenge is often present for social justice educators. However, “rhetorical listening,” a rhetorical theory developed by Ratcliffe (2005), is a pedagogical tool that can help shift students’ understandings of and expectations for the activity of reading, thereby creating a learning environment that supports meaningful engagement with challenging course readings. In this article, the author outlines a process …

Every Step A Novel: Historical Circumstances And Somali American Identity, Haden Griggs

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

This project is designed to help high school students learn about the experiences, history and identity of Somali men who came to Utah as refugees. It is organized around the oral histories of eight Somali men who live in the Salt Lake City area. They were collected by Haden Griggs in the latter half of 2019. Transcripts and audio recordings for all the interviews are available here.

A paper, analyzing the historical circumstances and variations on Somali identity, is included here for scholarly or instructor use. This project also includes a digital exhibit tracing recent Somali history and contextualizing the …

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

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

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. In …

Open Access Textbooks In A Professional Communication Classroom: A Pilot Study, Sherena Huntsman, Avery C. Edenfield, Erin L. Davis

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

In this paper, we share our findings from a curricular innovation project: a small pilot study replacing a conventional professional communication textbook with an open access book. Results showed that students received the change favorably and a final grade comparison showed no variation between similar courses that used conventional books and those that used open access books. While far from definitive, this study demonstrates the promise of open access books and open educational resources (OER), and that further study is needed in this area.

Building An Effective Learning Environment For Chinese Language Learners, Wen-Yu Chang

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

This portfolio is a compilation of papers that the author originally wrote during her study in the program of Master of Second Language Teaching at Utah State University. While pursuing the Master’s degree, the author also served as an instructor, teaching assistant, and research assistant in the Chinese program. Thus, this work is framed by the author's personal reflection accumulated from her day-to-day teaching experiences and class observations.

The portfolio consists of three major sections: (1) teaching perspectives, (2) research perspectives, and (3) an annotated bibliography. With the aim to identify the elements of an effective and communicative learning environment …

Racial Conflict In Early Utah: Mormon, Native American And Federal Relations, Raelyn M. Embleton

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

This website is for teachers to gain information and sources about Utah history during the early territorial period, specifically relating to conflicts between Mormon settlers, Native Americans, and federal officials. The content and site were designed with the C3 curriculum in mind, as such, at the bottom of this page you can find a downloadable Inquiry Design Model Blueprint. As you teach students this information, the compelling question to have students focus on is: “Does culture and the interaction of cultures shape the development of place?” Each event highlighted on this website is related to the other and demonstrates how …

Guiding Language Students To Self-Sustained Learning, Hyrum Boone Checketts

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

This portfolio is a compilation of written pieces which express the author’s beliefs about excellence in second language teaching. The views expressed here have been shaped by the author’s personal experience and by his time in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program and are supported by relevant research throughout.

This portfolio contains three sections: (1) teaching perspectives, (2) research perspectives, and (3) annotated bibliographies. The teaching perspective section is centered on the author’s teaching philosophy, which emphasizes communication in the target language, classroom community, and student motivation. The second section consists of three research papers written over the …

Historical Analysis Of Leadership Theory In The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints And Its Educational System, Kevin D. Whitehead

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An organization’s leadership theory acts as a collection of primary guiding characteristics which influence its identity and direction. Developing leaders has always been important for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Historically, the Church has promoted leadership ideals for all its members through various aspects of its doctrine and organization. This study provides an analysis of multiple leadership texts produced by the ecclesiastical and educational wings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The study helps to reveal how Latter-day Saint leadership theory has developed over time. This study considers the unfolding of Latter-day Saint leadership …

A Qualitative Exploration Of The Current State Of Observation And Feedback In The Seminaries And Institutes Of Religion Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Christopher B. Garner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

While the Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (S&I) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expect supervisors of teachers to observe teachers regularly and provide feedback, they have not provided those supervisors with adequate training materials, or explained how these supervisors are expected to accomplish this.

For this study, three administrators and three teachers were interviewed about their experiences with observation and feedback in S&I. Their responses provided clarification on the purposes of observation and feedback, revealed that a lack of supervisor training has resulted in teachers’ experiences with observation and feedback being different from administrator’s expectations in …

Stories Behind The Berlin Wall: Lesson Modules, Nicholas Redmon

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

I have grappled with my primary collection just as scholars and popular authors have with bringing these stories together with political histories. My goal is to create a digital map and analysis on specific themes like education and guard duty from the lives lived behind the Wall and their discourse with the government. I would like to explore how the divide impacted lives in 1961, created a GDR Society, and produced a division still felt in Germany today. The target audience of this project is U.S. students in high school and higher education. Students will be able to access timely …

Disposition For Change: A Teacher's Quest For Student And Self-Liberation, Morgan Sanford, Elise Maddox

Research on Capitol Hill

The tensions that dominate the lives of Mexican-American adolescents complicate their academic achievement. Many Anglo-American teachers see Mexican-American students as lacking parental and administrative support and capability or intelligence, stereotypes that poison progress and inhibit their learning.

Our research considers the influence of visionary, dedicated teachers in the lives of underprivileged students. The biographical film narratives included in our study detail the experiences of Caucasian and Latino teachers and their Mexican-American students. They point to the power of individual teachers to open doors for positive change and progress in the lives of their students.