Education Commons^™

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Edition 11, December 2022, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

This edition includes:

Teachers' corner, K-12 resources

Links to partners' newsletters

Top 5 success stories

FEWSS 2022 highlighted impact

Looking toward 2023

CASNR focus areas

Send your students to campus!

Scholarship opportunities

Why I Keep Doing Science Fair: Using Constructivist Grounded Theory To Study Out-Of-School-Time Science Learning Among Females And Underrepresented Minorities, Justin Andersson

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Science education in the United States has endured substantial reform due to national needs for a bolstered, more diverse science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce. Recent reform efforts call for students to be engaged in scientific inquiry through the practices of scientists and engineers. Opportunity gaps exist in science education and in the STEM pipeline for those who have traditionally been underrepresented, especially females and minorities. Research highlights the potential of science fair experiences to engage students in inquiry learning that could meet the needs of updated standards. Furthermore, students from diverse backgrounds might benefit from out-of-school time science learning …

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Edition 10, November 2022, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this edition:

Curriculum and classroom resources for all levels

K-12 Partners website is live

Eye on curriculum and resources

Teacher opportunities

Link to list of new partnerships

Ask an expert

Eye on CASNR research: Yu Feng Ge

Student experiences

Send your students to campus: Husker weekday visit

Success stories: Art, science, and ag combine in a mural and Lincoln Northeast High …

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Edition 9, October 2022, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this edition:

K-12 Partners website is live

Curriculum and classroom resources for all levels

Eye on curriculum and resources

Idena Nebraska Ag Expo career exploration event

Teacher opportunities

Link to list of new partnerships

Ask an expert

Students experiences: Student internship opportunities with USDA NRCS and Scholarships available

Eye on CASR research: Commodity marketing for high school students

Send your students …

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Edition 8, September 2022, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this edition:

Curriculum and classroom resources for all levels

Eye on curriculum and resources

K-12 Partners website is live

Ineda Nebraska Ag Expo career exploration event

Teacher opportunities

Link to list of new partnerships

Ask an expert

Eye on CASNR research: Eric Knoll

Student experiences

Sens your students to campus: Husker weekday visit

Success stories: University TAPS Program coming soon

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Edition 7, August 2022, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this issue:

How can we support you and your students in the 2022-2023 school year?

UNL CASNR Teaching and Learning K-12 Partners website is live

Eye on curriculum and resources

Curriculum and classroom resources for all levels

Biological Systems Engineering announcement

Teacher opportunities

Link to list of new partnerships

Ask an expert

Eye on CASNR research: Erin Blankenship

Student experiences

Send …

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Edition 6, July 2022, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this issue:

New editions and archived L.I.N.K.S. Newsletters coming soon

Eye on curriculum and resources

Teacher opportunities

Link to list of new partnerships

Ask an expert

Eye on CASNR research: Judy Wu-Smart

Send your students to campus

Success stories

Discourse In Inquiry Science Classrooms, Diisc, Version 2.0 (User’S Manual For An Observation Research Instrument), Elizabeth B. Lewis, Dale R. Baker, Lyrica L. Lucas, Amy Tankersley, Elizabeth Hasseler, Ana Rivero, Brandon Helding

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This is a user's manual for the externally validated Version 2.0 of the Discourse in Science Inquiry Classrooms (DiISC) instrument. The instrument is best suited for use in conducting research in secondary (grades 6-12) science classrooms that focuses on teachers' instructional practices, but can also be used as a professional development tool for teacher self-reflection and identifying goals for instructional change. The DiISC Version 2.0 is aligned with a model of a scientific classroom discourse community and articulated characteristics of social constructivist lessons in the categories of inquiry, oral and written discourse, and academic language development and essential learning principles.

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Edition 5, May/June 2022, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this issue:

Scientist Spotlights initiative

Eye on curriculum and resources

Teacher opportunities

Link to list of partnerships

Ask an expert

Eye on CASNR research: Sara Roberts

Student experiences

Sned your students to campus

Success stories

Efficacy Of Audio-Visual Aided Instruction For Improving Students’ Interest And Achievement In Stem Subjects: Implications For Library Practice, William Onu, Anthony Uchechukwu Uzoigwe, Fakolade Benjamin Ayodele, Oluwatoyin Comfort Oluwatosin, Deborah Dele

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Considering that science and technology is key to comprehending and providing solution to problems plaguing humanity, STEM education is vital to a great future. With this being so, students are encouraged to develop skills and competencies needed to become educators, innovators, researchers, and leaders in different STEM domains, who can solve the most pressing problems facing humanity, now and in the future. However, there seem to be shortage of interest from students to pursue STEM careers. In a bid contribute to raising the level of interest in STEM subjects, this study, conducted in Nsukka education zone of Enugu state, sought …

Curiosity, Motivation, Autonomy, And Lifelong Learning In Education And The United States Marine Corps, Cynthia Malmquist

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Curiosity, intrinsic motivation, and autonomy-supportive teaching all promote lifelong learning in both the classroom and Marine Corps. Humans are all born with curiosity. Children inherently practice forms of intrinsic motivation. Most would agree that they do not like being micromanaged - they enjoy a sense of freedom when completing tasks. Despite this, many students learn in a controlling environment and many Marines work under controlling leaders. Though a large amount of time is spent on learning through the first 18 years of life, lifelong learning does not come naturally and is not commonly practiced. The research and ideas discussed below …

Integrated Honey Bee Education And Research Aids For Promoting Pollinator Conservation, Courtney Brummel

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Extension and outreach programs combine University instruction and research, with off-campus outreach and service to the community. Successful public education requires training in which colleges and their education services provide programs relevant to today’s needs. To better engage with the public, institutions and Extension professionals often partner with private and not-for-profit organizations to provide training opportunities. The following thesis reviews one such partnership with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Kimmel Orchard & Vineyard that provides science-focused, on-farm experiences and agriculture production training programming. Chapter 1 reviews their partnership since it began in 2005 and highlights examples of current farm-to-table education …

Developing Regional Extension Programs And Research Tools For Beekeepers, Sheldon Brummel

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The body of work presented in this thesis describes the development and structure of the Regional Great Plains Master Beekeeping training program, which started in 2019, serves 1500+ beekeepers across five Midwest states (IA, KS, MO, NE, WY), and is supported through local partnerships and beekeepers. This chapter also discusses the leadership structure and aspects I developed for program advancement and long-term sustainability, such as incorporating mentorship and volunteer service goals as well as requiring independent projects to become a certified Master beekeeper. Independent projects may focus on research or teaching goals but must illustrate the candidate’s ability to apply …

Contact Sports With Mental Health And Aggression, Jai Alvarez

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Sports have many benefits that can develop new motivations, drives and goals within a person. Contact sports, specifically, benefit someone's mental health and a healthy mindset by giving people an outlet to take out their aggressions. Being physically active can produce certain parts of the brain being activated and release serotonin, overall affecting someone's mood. Although contact sports such as football have been in a negative light within in society recently, contact sports have improved protection against injuries and research has shown that contact sports can improve your mental health by letting out aggression in a safe manner.

Plastic Pollution’S Affect On Coral Reefs, Alexander Gomez

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Plastic pollution has been an increasing problem in the world. This is getting worse every year and it is having an impact in our world specifically in our oceans. A big thing in the ocean is coral reefs, coral reefs end up dying by diseases and debris caused from plastic pollution. Coral reefs are important in the lives of humans and fish so if we do nothing about it many will suffer the consequences. With coral reefs gone many fish suffer from change and do not adapt quick enough and later end up dying. Plastic pollution stays on top of …

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Edition 4, April 2022, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this edition:

Nebraska Game and Parks Wildlife education resource giveaway

Eye on curriculum and resources

Teacher opportunities

List of new partnerships

Ask an expert

Eye on CASNR research: Amy Schmidt

Send your students to campus

Success stories

Tiny Earth, Tinier Microbes: An Experiential Learning Approach To Antibiotic Discovery, Emily Kassing

Honors Theses

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest global health challenges of the 21^st century as antibiotic discovery has slowed even as scientific knowledge about AMR has progressed. At the same time, science education has turned to active learning approaches like CUREs, or course-based undergraduate research experiences, to achieve educational objectives while engaging students in real-life research. The Tiny Earth Project is a global research initiative that seeks to crowdsource antibiotic discovery by recruiting undergraduate students to screen soil samples for antibiotic producers. The goal of this study was to determine the viability of translating the Tiny Earth programming to …

Justice For All: Social Justice Curriculum For The Young Adult Centered English Classroom, Genevieve Hawkins

Honors Theses

This project is a curriculum-based approach to exploring the integration of social-justice texts, topics, and themes into the secondary English classroom. Discussion of such topics will take place in the context of teaching the contemporary novels The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed, two young-adult novels that discuss how the teenage experience is impacted by instances of racism and police brutality. This examination of race in modern society will be accompanied by supplemental texts, included but not limited to Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine and NPR’s podcast “On the Shoulders …

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Edition 3, March 2022, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this edition:

Classroom resources for all levels

Eye on curriculum and resources

Teacher opportunities

List of new partnerships

Ask an expert

Eye on CASNR research: Trenton Franz

Send your students to campus

Success stories

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Edition 2, February 2022, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this edition:

Classroom resources for all levels

Eye on new curriculum

Teacher opportunities

List of new partnerships

Ask an expert

Eye on CASR research: Travis Mulliniks

Student experiences

Send your students to campus

Success stories

Accessibility And Usage Of School Library Materials And Facilities By Social Studies Teachers In Sapele Metropolis, Sunday Obro

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study examined the accessibility and usage of school library materials and facilities by Social Studies teachers in Sapele metropolis. One hundred and four (104) social studies teachers were the selected study sample using the purposive sampling method. Two (2) instruments were employed for the gathering of data. They are an observation checklist and a questionnaire. The data gathered were analysed using mean. The study revealed that most library materials and facilities were not accessible. In addition, it was discovered that non-print media were lacking. However, textbooks and print assets and materials were accessible. Also, the study exposed that poor …

Secondary Science Teachers’ Curricular Use Of Ngss Engineering Practices, Elizabeth Hasseler, Amy Tankersley, Ana M. Rivero, Lyrica L. Lucas, Elizabeth B. Lewis

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

We investigated how often teachers integrated engineering into science lessons to address Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) performance expectations using data from a multi-year study of secondary science teachers. Only 7.14% of middle school (MS) lessons contained engineering practices. Engineering was included in lessons for students to apply or support the learning of scientific content.

Presider: Amy Tankersley

Conflict Of Allegiance: Professional Development Challenges In Transforming Science Teachers' Identities And Practices, Elizabeth B. Lewis

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Case studies of two biology teachers, Cathy and David, from the same minority-majority, urban U.S. high school, provide insights into their instructional practices while they engaged in long-term professional development (PD). Findings suggest why science teachers engaged with PD may, or may not, adopt more adaptive pedagogical approaches in the service of reform-based teaching. Gee’s institution- and affinity-identity constructs were used as analytic lenses regarding teachers’ perceptions of teaching, learning, and agency in the dual contexts of their school’s institutional environment and PD community. Over time, Cathy adopted more inquiry-based instructional practices she learned through PD seminars in building a …

Mental Health Vs. Social Media, Alexandra Avalos

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Mental health is a persons condition with their emotional well-being and social well-being. A persons mental health is so important because it affects how you feel, think and act. Your mental health can determine how motivated you are or how you handle stress and or stressful situations. Social media has impacted peoples mental health especially in teenagers that depression rates are higher, as well as anxiety and self image issues.

Performance Enhancing Drug Use In Professional Sports, Moises Cotom Pacheco

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

The use of Performance Enhancing Drugs(PEDs) should not be legalized in professional sports due to the negative effects it has on the body and influencing the youth to participate in its use. Multiple studies have been conducted to show how PEDs affects the body in negative ways. There is also an ethical reasoning to why PEDs should not be legalized. The youth are heavily influenced by athletes that whenever they promote something they are willing to convince their parents to buy it. They are also influenced when it comes to PED use and how they can become like their idol …

Racial Disparities In Organ Donation, Lilly Brown

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Organ donation and its process is a scientific breakthrough that the medical community uses daily and continues to perfect. Although the donation process is well known all around the world, there is still a dent in the percentage of how many people donate. When taking a deeper look at where the majority of organ donations come from, its apparent that minorities’ numbers are significantly lower compared to their white counterparts. Different cultures and ethnicities vary all around the world just like the ever-changing outlook on organ donation. The focus of racial disparities in organ donation is addressed through research papers …

Foster Care And Adoption: Youth Aging Out, Cherish Flyinghawk

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Those challenges are finding employment, housing, financial stability, and educational attainment. Some do not have life skills like other youth in the general population. When youth age out they may not have access to education, guidance, family support, which helps them with responsible decision making. As youth get older we can see whether or not being in foster care made them stronger or broke them into a place they cannot come out of. A percent of youth are resilient from the situation. Reunification with parents or primary care takers is also known to happen until they can get back on …

Talking To A Screen, Maria Dominguez

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Throughout the U.S. 20% of teens and adults between the ages 18 and 49 use a dating app on a daily basis. Dating apps can have a good quality of communication. Studies showed that 60% of the participants have had positive experiences with dating platforms. There is also information that dating apps can also be a sign of danger such as false information and false identity. This research will show what are the good and bad outcomes of using a dating app.

How Homeless People Take Care Of Themselves, Esperanza Aguirre

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Society sees the homeless as the unworthy and less fortunate population of the world. Society looks down on the homeless and pity’s them. They throw spare change in their hands and then go on with their lives not giving them another thought. But what society doesn’t realize is that homeless people spend days on on without getting their basic needs met. They lack money, food, water, shelter, and medical assistance. Which leads them to think outside of the box in order to survive.

Inhumane Experiments On Humans, Dakota Harris

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

This capstone projects is about inhumane experiments on humans around the world and how it effected the people involved or what it brought to light. Many of these experiments are kept secretive because of how they effected people’s livelihood. Inhumane experiments often lead to death, trauma, illness, shortening of life, disfigurement, or permanent disabilities in the victims, plus more trauma for the family. The reason why these experiments are considered inhumane is because they occur when the ‘patient’ couldn’t sign off on informed consent of the experiment, or they were unaware of the possible outcomes of what they were involved …