Education Commons^™

Identification Of The Constraints And Barriers To The Adoption Of Distributed Design Education, Benjamin H. George

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The design field of landscape architecture has yet to witness the broad adoption of online education, despite multiple studies that have demonstrated the efficacy of online education in design fields, or distributed design education (DDE), in teaching design. While previous research has focused on the structural, institutional, social, and pedagogical aspects of DDE, little work has focused specifically on barriers to the adoption of DDE from a faculty perspective. This dissertation reports the results of a meta-synthesis of the current literature on DDE and a national Delphi study. A list of the identified constraints of DDE was created through the …

The Effects Of High-Tech Stimuli And Duration Of Access On Reinforcer Preference And Efficacy, Audrey N. Hoffmann

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Reinforcement is commonly used to increase individuals engaging in certain behaviors. We can alter the value of the reinforcers by manipulating how long they get access to the reinforcer (i.e., magnitude) or by varying the type of reinforcer we use. The use of high technology items (i.e., high-tech) as a reinforcer has not been examined. We examined the interaction between high- and no-tech items and duration of access and the effects of that interaction on reinforcer preference and efficacy (i.e., how effective the reinforcer is in increasing behavior) in three individuals with disabilities. We conducted two preference assessments to identify …

The Impact Of Computer-Adaptive Benchmark Data And Assessment Literacy On Student Achievement And Motivation In Mathematics, Sheryl J. Rushton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Over the past several decades there has been an emphasis in educational research on student assessment and achievement in mathematics. Formative assessments are designed to inform the instructional decision making process and require assessment literacy to interpret and use data provided by these assessments. Many teachers and students were lacking assessment literacy; therefore, they were unable to adjust their instruction and study habits to increase student performance on summative assessments.

This study investigated the impact Scholastic Math Inventory (SMI) benchmarks and assessment literacy training had on summative assessments and student motivation in mathematics. The researcher analyzed unit posttest scores and …

Engaging Alternative High School Students Through The Design, Development, And Crafting Of Computationally Enhanced Pets, Maneksha Katrine Dumont

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A new kind of technology combines making in the physical world with computing in the virtual world. These technologies are simultaneously physical and virtual, require the design of artifacts like computer programs and the crafting of physical components. Combining approaches encourage youth to participate in computing who might not otherwise be interested by harnessing existing hobbies and interests. Because fluency with computing is important to success in a 21st century society, increasing the ways in which young people can experience and connect to computing is important. Computational thinking, and with it the process of debugging computer code, is an example …

Global Quality Change Through The Baby Steps Project For Infant And Toddler Child Care Programs In Rural And Urban Utah, Maegan Lokteff

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

High quality infant and toddler (IT) child care has repeatedly been linked to better outcomes for children. However, in the U.S., IT child care has also been plagued by poor quality. Using a mixed-methods design, the purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth explanation of quality change in IT classrooms and the myriad of factors that contribute to higher quality. Framed in an ecological model that views quality as the product and interaction of process, structural, and caregiver characteristics, this study addressed the impact of a variety of variables on quality change. The sample was comprised of 86 …

Adults With Intellectual Disabilities In A Day Program Setting Using Activity Schedules, Julia A. Hermansen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Often we require calendars and or electronic devices, to remind us to get started on something. Individuals with intellectual disabilities are no different, in terms of needing a reminder to begin a task. However, the reminders that individuals with disabilities receive often come from another person thus making it more difficult for individuals with disabilities to independently complete tasks. In addition, it can be exhaustive of the other person’s time and resources that is constantly having to prompt the individual to complete tasks. However, if individuals with disabilities can learn to complete a schedule that prompts them through each step …

Teacher Orientation To Social Studies: A Phenomenological Study, Jeffrey A. Olsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of the dissertation is to research a practitioner-informed orientation model for social studies, utilizing the lived experiences of teachers including their connections to and with technology. The number of participants was bound to three secondary social studies teachers from an urban, suburban, and rural district respectively. Data collection was completed through a series of detailed interviews: three modified narrative identity protocols, one elicited response interview, and one observation interview. Phenomenology formed the epistemological lens and the method from a transcendental or psychological approach to phenomenology with a grounded theory approach to analyzing the data. There existed overlaps with …

Social Communication For Students With Autism: Effects Of Multiple Scripts On Conversational Exchanges Within Social Dialogue, Angela M. Christensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience difficulty in both communication and social skills. These difficulties make it challenging for students with ASD to participate in basic social exchanges within many different situations and environments. This study examined how training four adolescent male students with ASD on social scripts would affect their ability to participate in brief social conversations during their work training. The study involved training sessions where the students memorized up to 9 scripted statements and practiced using them in typical back-and-forth social conversations. It also involved generalization sessions where the students were observed to see if …

Effects Of Digital Video Feedback Package With Elementary-Aged Males Identified With Behavior Problems, Jenifer Buist

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Classroom teachers are constantly trying to find the answer to those many behavior situations that arise on a daily basis in schools. In this study, we looked at the benefits of using a digital recorder in the classroom to help students become more “aware” of their behaviors. The study was done in a rural, public elementary school with three males that ranged from third grade to fifth grade. Each of these three boys has been identified as students with either specific learning disabilities or emotional disturbances. This program was run by the resource teacher and a trained paraprofessional.

The methods …

The Effects Of A Treatment Package Combining Contingency Contracts And Video Prompts On Social Skills In Students With Intellectual Disabilities And Autism, Breana Broadhead Fausett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Many students with intellectual disabilities and autism struggle to have meaningful social interactions with their peers. Research shows that using video modeling can increase social skills in students with disabilities, but it has never been studied in comparison to or in combination with “IF….THEN…” behavior contracts. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of video prompts on elementary-aged students with disabilities to increase appropriate social interactions with their peers through filming the creation of an “IF….THEN…”contract. The participants are four elementary-aged students with intellectual disabilities and autism who have target social skills deficits. The targeted social skills …

Teacher Perception Of Social/Emotional Skills Of Preschool Children And The Relationship To Common Core Standards, A. Mi'kel Price

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

Sampson is a 4-year-old preschooler. It is difficult for him to make friends, understand simple social settings, and interact with peers. He struggles to interpret incoming contextual information (such as talking to a peer about the blocks they are playing with), has difficulty comprehending non-literal/figurative expressions (such as jokes and irony), and implicit messages (such as when a child does not want to play with him). Sampson’s difficulties increase his risk of social isolation and lower self-esteem.

This vignette offers a glimpse into the challenges faced by children with low social/emotional skills. The social use of language, often referred to …

Supporting Students With Psychiatric Disabilities In Postsecondary Education: Important Knowledge, Skills, And Attitudes, Scott I. Kupferman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Students with psychiatric disabilities are the largest subgroup of students with disabilities enrolled in postsecondary education. However, their high enrollment rate does not equate to a high retention rate. Approximately 86 percent of students with psychiatric disabilities withdraw prior to degree completion. As a result, calls for improved disability services in postsecondary education have been plentiful. In an effort to take a step toward answering these calls, the current study began the exploratory process of identifying knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are important for disability service professionals to possess in order to provide beneficial services to students with psychiatric disabilities …

An Exploratory Study Of Purposeful And Strategic Communicative Techniques To Teach Vocabulary From Core Reading Programs To English Learners, Danell Bench Mieure

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study investigated the effect of instructional practices when teaching vocabulary from a core reading program to English learners. Participants were 73 fifth-grade English learners nested in classrooms of 11 teachers who were randomly assigned to the instructional treatment group or to the comparison group. Both the treatment and comparison groups were taught vocabulary words from the district-adopted core reading program. The treatment group implemented an intervention specifically designed to teach vocabulary using techniques with the potential to increase vocabulary acquisition of English learners situated in principles of the communicative approach. Data were collected on a mastery test that measured …

A Qualitative Study Of Women High School Principals' Career Life Histories, Jan Bradshaw Hansen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Gender inequalities in the workplace continue to plague aspiring career-directed women. In public education, it is established that there are fewer women high school principals than there are men. In a profession predominantly employing women, the question remains, “Where are the women high school administrators”? This study examines the sociopolitical genders systems and psychological dynamics that perpetuate gender inequality. It then discusses the encumbered or constrained choices women make that are burdened or made more complicated by gendered sociopolitical or psychological dynamics. This study explored the unintentional career journeys of seven women high school principals and analyzed their career life …

Parental Perceptions Of The Influence Of Digital Media And Technology On Children's Reading Habits At Home, Kurt W. Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study explored how parents from six participating families in Northern Utah felt about the influence of technology and media on their children’s reading at home. Each family was interviewed about their feelings, filled out a survey about the amount of technology devices in the home, and took photographs of the areas in the home where their children read or used technology. Additionally, each family kept a journal recording the technology and reading activities their children participated in over a 1-week period

Parents talked about how their childhood experiences influenced them to create rules for technology and as well as …

Development And Validation Of An Instrument To Measure Participant Engagement In State-Federal Vocational Rehabilitation Programs, Joshua D. Southwick

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, calls for participants to become “active and full partners in the vocational rehabilitation process.” This study represents the first research to specifically address the actual meaning and importance of participant engagement in the state-federal Vocational Rehabilitation program. Defining the construct of participant engagement is an important first step in creating more effective services for persons with disabilities. It was proposed that engagement in vocational rehabilitation would include three factors: (a) attendance at meetings with the counselor, (b) fulfillment of an expected contribution during meetings, and (c) completion of homework tasks between meetings. Through …

A Sociocultural Analysis Of Latino High School Students' Funds Of Knowledge And Implications For Culturally Responsive Engineering Education, Joel Alejandro Mejia

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Previous studies have suggested that, when funds of knowledge are incorporated into science and mathematics curricula, students are more engaged and often develop richer understandings of scientific concepts. While there has been a growing body of research addressing how teachers may integrate students’ linguistic, social, and cultural practices with science and mathematics instruction, very little research has been conducted on how the same can be accomplished with Latino and Latina students in engineering. The purpose of this study was to address this gap in the literature by investigating how fourteen Latino and Latina high school adolescents used their funds of …

E3: Emotions, Engagement, And Educational Digital Games, Ani Aghababyan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The use of educational digital games as a method of instruction for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics has increased in the past decade. While these games provide successfully implemented interactive and fun interfaces, they are not designed to respond or remedy students’ negative affect towards the game dynamics or their educational content. Therefore, this exploratory study investigated the frequent patterns of student emotional and behavioral response to educational digital games.

To unveil the sequential occurrence of these affective states, students were assigned to play the game for nine class sessions. During these sessions, their affective and behavioral response was recorded …

The Use Of A Discrimination Training Procedure To Teach Mand Variability To Children With Autism, Matthew T. Brodhead

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Repetitive behavior and delays in communication are core deficits of autism spectrum disorder. As a result, individuals with autism often engage in repetitive verbal behavior, and they may not vary their verbal behavior, even when the situation demands it. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a script training and discrimination training procedure on mand variability in preschoolers with autism. Participants were taught to vary their vocal mands in the presence of written scripts, a green placemat, and Lag schedule of reinforcement. They were also taught to not vary their vocal mands in the presence of …

Training Staff Members To Conduct And Implement The Multiple Stimulus Without Replacement (Mswo) Preference Assessment Using Video Modeling, Heather M. Merkley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

For many educators, finding enough time to complete all that is require of them is a daily challenge. Those in special education have the added burden of making sure that their staff members are highly trained in the skills required to work effectively with students. There are many different ways to train staff members, one of which is using a video model. This study looked at the effects of video modeling alone on the training of staff members to use the multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessment. The participants in this study were paraprofessionals who work with preschool students who …

Risk Perception In Online Communities, Jason R. Couraud

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Online communities have become a part of everyday life for many people. The members of the communities use them to keep in touch with family and friends, do business, look for jobs, play games, and more, both savory and unsavory. The ease of sharing personal information comes with the subsequent risk of having that information exposed publically or even stolen. The purpose of this study was to explore how much awareness of the risks affects a person’s decision to post personal information to an online community.

Chapter I introduces the concepts and issues that will be investigated by this paper. …

Regularity Of Performance On A Computer Tracking Task Is Different Between Concussed And Non-Concussed Individuals, Kedric James Glenn

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Concussion in athletics has raised public interest as more is learned about the damage done to the athlete. Some of the current field methods of assessing concussion do not look at neuro-cognitive recover, which can remain impaired long after the symptoms of concussion have passed. Other direct methods of assessing concussion are extremely expensive and are not easily portable.

We created a new assessment for concussion that is relatively inexpensive and portable using non-linear time series analysis of performance on a visual-motor tracking task. Approximate entropy (ApEn) is a tool that enables us to calculate the structure of variability form …