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Full-Text Articles in Education

Understanding Cultural Competence Training With Trauma-Informed Clinicians, Emily Slater, Brayden Gulso Apr 2022

Understanding Cultural Competence Training With Trauma-Informed Clinicians, Emily Slater, Brayden Gulso

Student Research Symposium

Our USU research team partnered with the Intensive Outpatient Clinic (IOC) at the U of U. The IOC is a multi-disciplinary clinic serving diverse, and vulnerable patients. The IOC identified a need for ongoing cultural training in their organization, and the medical field more broadly. We worked with the IOC to co-develop a cultural competence training with both online and in-person components. Currently, the IOC has completed the training course, and our research is in the data collection phase. We will shared the story of our partnership work, research design, anticipated findings, and next steps. Acknowledgement: This research is supported …


Care, Wellness, And Mindful Movement: Supporting The Needs Of Educators And Students During Challenging Times, Ashlyn Birchell Apr 2022

Care, Wellness, And Mindful Movement: Supporting The Needs Of Educators And Students During Challenging Times, Ashlyn Birchell

Student Research Symposium

Studies have shown that teachers who implement social emotional learning (SEL) and wellness practices have improved attitudes, show more engagement with students, families and colleagues, and demonstrate increased educational efficacy. The challenge teachers often face is that they are required to do so much that their own wellness practices may take a back seat. Additionally, since the start of the global pandemic, teachers and students have had to learn to repeatedly shift on the fly for health and safety reasons. This draws even more attention to the importance of promoting self-care as a form of community care. Previous literature reveals …


Challenges In Integrating Computer Science Into K-12 Education And How We Approach It, Mengying Jiang Apr 2022

Challenges In Integrating Computer Science Into K-12 Education And How We Approach It, Mengying Jiang

Student Research Symposium

A promising approach to make sure all students have opportunities to learn about computing is to integrate computer science (CS) into existing disciplines such as math and science. This project aims to integrate CS into Montana schools while also offering content that aligns with the Indian Education for All Act (IEFA). We are developing elementary and middle school units and teacher training materials that integrate CS, Indian Education, and other K-12 standards in Science, Language Arts, and Visual Arts. Our approach to curriculum design is through Research-Practice Partnership and a three-level strategy framework that supports students’ CS and disciplinary learning.


Milestones In Computational Thinking And Mathematics Competencies In Early Childhood, Katelyn Childers Apr 2022

Milestones In Computational Thinking And Mathematics Competencies In Early Childhood, Katelyn Childers

Student Research Symposium

In Utah, the technology industry is rapidly growing, and with it the demand for a STEM workforce. Similarly, there is a push to integrate Computational Thinking (CT) and Computer Science (CS), usually in the form of coding, into K-12 education. While Utah has adopted standards to inform CS instruction, the standards lack an evidence-based foundation. Further, K-12 schools lack instructional minutes and resources to teach CT and coding. In order to address these needs, this project aims to collect empirical data on how students engage with computational thinking throughout early childhood. Our goal is to inform the further development of …


Investigating Student Learning About Disease Spread And Prevention In The Context Of Agent-Based Computational Modeling, Siyu Wu Apr 2022

Investigating Student Learning About Disease Spread And Prevention In The Context Of Agent-Based Computational Modeling, Siyu Wu

Student Research Symposium

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a need to help students learn about public health issues, including the transmission of disease and methods for the prevention of epidemics. This study presents data from a project aimed at developing a computational modeling microworld to help middle school students learn about the spread of disease. The microworld is meant to help students model and test their ideas about how a disease spreads through a population and how an epidemic can be prevented. I employed a lab-based case study approach to conduct one-on-one 1.5-hour interviews through Zoom with four middle school students (ages 12-14). …


A Systematic Review Of Group Contingencies In Alternative Education Settings, Milad Najafichaghabouri Apr 2022

A Systematic Review Of Group Contingencies In Alternative Education Settings, Milad Najafichaghabouri

Student Research Symposium

Previous reviews show that group contingencies (GC) are an effective intervention for improving student outcomes in school settings. However, those reviews do not specifically examine the effects of GCs in alternative education settings. Given that these settings typically support individuals who are displaying severe challenging behaviors or are diagnosed with specific behavior disorders, synthesizing the evidence for GCs will be a useful contribution to the literature on how effective these procedures are in reducing problematic student behavior. In addition, this review will assess how relevant stakeholders in these settings rate the social validity of GCs. The quality of the studies …


Broken Film Narratives: The Invisibility Of Latinx Women In Education Through Film And Literature, Virginia Hernández, Lisset Delgado Apr 2022

Broken Film Narratives: The Invisibility Of Latinx Women In Education Through Film And Literature, Virginia Hernández, Lisset Delgado

Student Research Symposium

Our research aims to explore the lack of Latinx women being portrayed in films with education as the central theme. Although there are Latinx women in films today, they are not portrayed in an entirely positive light. They are commonly represented in an oversexualized manner compared to latinx men who are portrayed as hard workers and commonly seeking education. A good example would be the film McFarland USA by Niki Caro in which young male adolescents are a part of a cross country team. Although the film does a great job of portraying their lives as latinx adolescents living in …


Computational Thinking And Professional Learning For Paraprofessionals, Aubrey Rogowski Apr 2022

Computational Thinking And Professional Learning For Paraprofessionals, Aubrey Rogowski

Student Research Symposium

In the past decade, there has been increasing emphasis on preparing K-12 students for the workforce, including an increased emphasis on science, technology, engineering, math, and computing (STEM + C). One way in which this is reflected is in K-12 computer science (CS) standards that have been adopted by many states. However, many current teachers lack sufficient skills and knowledge to teach CS. In addition, there is a lack of time in the school day for teachers to teach the CS curriculum. To address this issue, many school districts throughout Utah have delegated the teaching of the CS curriculum, which …


Make Your (Punctuation) Mark!, Bethany Nay Apr 2022

Make Your (Punctuation) Mark!, Bethany Nay

Student Research Symposium

Punctuation marks are a part of our daily lives, and yet, we rarely take time to think about them. This presentation serves to counter that, diving deep into the histories and origins of various punctuation marks. Each student in Honors 1320 chose a punctuation mark to individually research, learning more about why we use the marks that we do. We hope that through this research, people can gain a deeper appreciation for punctuation marks and their histories. Students and additional presenters from Honors 1320: Annie Bramson, Audrey Douglas, Micaela Garcia, Erin Hamilton, Lucy Hankins, Gillian Jarrard, Eli Moss, Cynthia Narkin, …


Curricular Adaptations By Paraprofessionals During Their Computer Lab Instruction Using Block-Based Coding, Prasina Parameswaran Apr 2022

Curricular Adaptations By Paraprofessionals During Their Computer Lab Instruction Using Block-Based Coding, Prasina Parameswaran

Student Research Symposium

Classroom adaptation is one of the key elements in filling the gap between understanding and application of knowledge in the real world. Our work emphasizes upon the classroom adaptations in the Math classroom. We are studying 5th grade students and computer science (CS) paraprofessionals in the Western United States. Paraprofessionals are provided professional development (PD) to familiarize them with CS and Scratch. Scratch is a block based coding program which uses visual interface and is used for making animations, games, digital stories etc. As paraprofessionals are not certified teachers, this PD works towards helping them understand the Math content and …


Divorce: Another Barrier To Marginality, Shelby Green Apr 2022

Divorce: Another Barrier To Marginality, Shelby Green

Student Research Symposium

Divorce is an ever growing social problem that affects individuals from all corners of the world. People from all walks of life experience the effects of divorce, but marginalized groups that already have reduced access to social and legal resources and accurate representation are especially affected by divorce. The research at hand aims to determine exactly how marginalized groups, specifically children, LGBTQ, and ethnic minorities experience the effects of divorce in comparison to non marginalized groups. Research was conducted through the use of university sponsored data bases and analysis of primary and secondary sources. Peer reviewed scholarly articles and first …


Implementation Of Humanized Elements In Online Courses And User Testing Feedback, Roxie Christensen Apr 2022

Implementation Of Humanized Elements In Online Courses And User Testing Feedback, Roxie Christensen

Student Research Symposium

Online courses in higher education often lack key elements that invite students into a course. The absence of these elements may make the course lack social presence and connectedness. Students can experience a sense of aloneness the course which can cause disengagement and loss of motivation. However, the implementation of humanized elements in a course can facilitate engagement and motivation. This study facilitated the implementation of humanized elements in order to make online courses more inclusive for minoritized students by focusing on social presence and connectedness. During the pilot course, humanized elements were implemented and user testing was conducted at …


Changes And Implications Of Parents’ Differential Treatment Of Adolescent-Aged Offspring From Before To During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sybil Cutler Apr 2022

Changes And Implications Of Parents’ Differential Treatment Of Adolescent-Aged Offspring From Before To During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sybil Cutler

Student Research Symposium

Restrictions and regulations implemented during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic presented unique challenges for families that may have influenced family processes and relational qualities. This study investigated: (a) whether maternal differential treatment of children increased from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic; and (b) whether the linkages between maternal differential treatment and sibling intimacy were moderated by household chaos during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants included parents and two siblings from 682 families in the Midwestern U.S. Participants completed web-based surveys prior to and during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from a …


The 6 Levels Of Gamification: Introducing A New Organization Structure To Game-Based Learning, Treion Muller Apr 2022

The 6 Levels Of Gamification: Introducing A New Organization Structure To Game-Based Learning, Treion Muller

Student Research Symposium

Gamification has become a popular buzzword and learning strategy in educational settings from K-12 to Higher Education, and to business learning and development (L & D) teams. Since the term 'gamification' was first coined there has been a significant increase of research on the topic as it relates to training and education, as well as a rapid rise of many new commercially sold gamification and learning technologies, tools, and platforms. However, what's lacking is a formal definition, theoretical approach, and taxonomy. The purpose of this study is to identify and organize the core gamification taxonomies, theoretical frameworks, and design elements …


Depression, Event Load, And Personal Vulnerability In Mothers Of Young Children, Matthew Cook, Kamilah Mauldin, Makenzy Turner Apr 2022

Depression, Event Load, And Personal Vulnerability In Mothers Of Young Children, Matthew Cook, Kamilah Mauldin, Makenzy Turner

Student Research Symposium

Social support has been shown as a protective factor for parental mental health and for parents’ ability to deal with daily stressful events. Parenting stress and mental health can negatively impact child outcomes. The current study examines the role of social support in mental health, stressful events, and family interactions of mothers who are students at USU. Data from 38 student-parent mothers were collected as part of the Childcare Access Means Parents in School grant. Mothers completed various surveys and questionnaires via Qualtrics that were related to social support, mental health, stressful events, and family interactions. Results indicate negative associations …


Esports Course Design: Balancing Multiplayer Gameplay Within Structured Curriculum, Daelynn Hunter Apr 2022

Esports Course Design: Balancing Multiplayer Gameplay Within Structured Curriculum, Daelynn Hunter

Student Research Symposium

There is a noticeably large interest growing across the globe for Esports expansion. Esports has grown to become an affinity space for competitive ambition/growth and a discipline of enormously varied learning techniques. Techniques to build esports into education often follow a 3 credit format, where esports can be studied in various areas (e.g., business, psychology, media/production). However, there’s been an absence in courses that are focused solely in gameplay. Traditionally, gaming has been observed to be a distraction over opportunity for growth. The course is currently centered to target said assumptions by utilizing student discipline techniques. Assignments are centered around …


Applying Cognitive Load Theory To Video Materials To Increase Metacognition And Improve Academic Performance Of Structured Query Language Course, Kyle Lam Apr 2022

Applying Cognitive Load Theory To Video Materials To Increase Metacognition And Improve Academic Performance Of Structured Query Language Course, Kyle Lam

Student Research Symposium

Structured Query Language (SQL) is a standardized programming language used to manage relational databases and perform various operations on the data in them.This course was highly technical for the undergraduate students, to make the learning more effective, the teacher must assess the intrinsic cognitive load on the learner and adjust the extraneous cognitive load when creating video materials.This study applied cognitive load theory (CLT) to remove split attention and redundancy effects; offer suitable worked examples and segmentation to decrease the cognitive load demand of learners.This study tries to address the relationship between cognitive load level and metacognition, and clarify how …


Normative Interventions: Are They Ethical When Helping Individuals With Autism?, Annie Bramson Apr 2022

Normative Interventions: Are They Ethical When Helping Individuals With Autism?, Annie Bramson

Student Research Symposium

When helping individuals with autism, both in school and in their later adult lives depending on when one receives their diagnosis, normative interventions have been the main treatment alongside therapy. Normative interventions look at behaviors an individual may express that others deem as inappropriate, disruptive, or even just autistic. Targeting said behavior, interactions are held to train the behavior out of the individual through various methods, including video modeling, self-management, and social stories. While these methods have seemed to be helpful with eradicating target behaviors, it does so without looking at the reason behind said behavior, as well as at …


The Effect That Parents Expectations Have On Their Students, Molli Esplin Apr 2022

The Effect That Parents Expectations Have On Their Students, Molli Esplin

Student Research Symposium

Parents in this modern world have been causing their children more stress and in turn their mental health has been suffering. I wanted to see what can be done to help young adults and parents through this challenge. What I discovered was that a big cause of the increased stress was the parents' high expectations that they put on their kids. I used the library and internet databases to complete my research. I was able to use primary and secondary sources. In these sources I tried to be diverse in my source selections. This helped as I looked for different …


2nd Graders Being Creative With An Open-Ended Coding Robot Geometrical Math Task, Lauren Nix Apr 2022

2nd Graders Being Creative With An Open-Ended Coding Robot Geometrical Math Task, Lauren Nix

Student Research Symposium

This semester, I've been working with Dr. Joseph S. Kozlowski in his 2nd-grade classroom at Edith Bowen Laboratory School here at Utah State University. While student teaching, I've also been observing and facilitating what we call Botley Fridays. Each week, we give our students an open-ended math task to work on, explore, and complete using the coding robot Botley 2.0. This presentation contains the cool things our students did during a geometrical math task about shapes.


I'M Telling You, It Just Won't Work, Bonni Jones Apr 2022

I'M Telling You, It Just Won't Work, Bonni Jones

Student Research Symposium

Science teachers feel pressure to align with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), embrace innovative methods and technology tools with their supporting pedagogies, yet daily classroom practices rarely incorporate them. Investigations of this phenomenon include professional development (PD) effectiveness, teacher learning, beliefs, views, and resistance to change. Investigation findings have not uncovered how to reverse the trend. A search to understand the tensions and barriers that outweigh the pressures mentioned above is one aim of this study. Tensions surface when teachers and students are expected to replace lectures, worksheets, teacher-led labs, and tests with the following: asking questions, defining problems, …


Student Loan Borrowers: Who Figured Out Student Loan Monthly Payments Prior To Taking Out Student Loans?, Emily Shaffer, Sierra Walters Apr 2019

Student Loan Borrowers: Who Figured Out Student Loan Monthly Payments Prior To Taking Out Student Loans?, Emily Shaffer, Sierra Walters

Student Research Symposium

Student loan debts are fast growing in the U.S. Individuals who are considering taking out student loans need to be fully aware of the choices they will make. Using data from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS), this study examined the association between financial capability and student loan decisions among borrowers, while focusing on how the association differs across age groups (age 18-34, 35-54, and 55+). The study sample included 7,491 student loan holders. In the study, 51.4% of student loan holders are age 18-34, 20% of those age 35-54, and 11.7% of those age 55+. The descriptive results …


Preservice Agriculture Teacher Attitudes Toward The Education Of The Gifted, Olivia Hile Apr 2019

Preservice Agriculture Teacher Attitudes Toward The Education Of The Gifted, Olivia Hile

Student Research Symposium

Agriculture classes are heterogeneous in ability level, and agriculture teachers have the responsibility of teaching a wide range of students but it is unclear how much preservice teacher training undergraduates receive regarding gifted students in their future classrooms. Preservice agriculture and technology engineering education teachers were surveyed using Gagné and Nadeau's (1991) Opinions About the Gifted and their Education questionnaire on a 6-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 6 = strongly agree), as well as additional questions to assess their preservice teacher education program. When asked if their Education of Students with Disabilities course (SPED 4000) addressed teaching …


An Exploration Of Kindergarten Students' Use Of Perspective And Computational Thinking, Joseph S. Kozlowski, Hannah Evans, Lise E. Welch Apr 2019

An Exploration Of Kindergarten Students' Use Of Perspective And Computational Thinking, Joseph S. Kozlowski, Hannah Evans, Lise E. Welch

Student Research Symposium

Computational thinking (CT) is a research topic that has garnered increased interest, however investigation of CT amongst early childhood populations is sparse. Recent research suggests that coding toys present beneficial CT learning opportunities for young students. The purpose of this study is to explore 1) kindergarten students' first- and third-person perspectives as they interact with coding toys, and 2) the influence of these perspectives on kindergarten students' CT skills. Four kindergarten students, aged 4-5, participated in five, 30-minute tasks with a Code-a-Pillar robot. The video-recorded final task in this series of five tasks was the main data source for this …


Coding To Develop Early Mathematical And Computational Thinking In Kindergarten: A Case Study, Lise Welch, Joseph Kozlowski, Hannah Evans Apr 2019

Coding To Develop Early Mathematical And Computational Thinking In Kindergarten: A Case Study, Lise Welch, Joseph Kozlowski, Hannah Evans

Student Research Symposium

An emerging method of integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in elementary settings is through the use of coding robot tasks. These coding robot tasks have the potential to enhance elementary students' mathematics learning and computational thinking (CT) skills. Research documenting how CT skills develop in young children is limited. The purpose of this case study is to examine one student's progression of mathematics and CT skills as they engage in tasks with a coding robot. This investigation documents the progression of a 5-year-old kindergarten student who attends a small, private elementary school. The student and a peer participated …


Effects Of Discussion Strategies And Learner Interactions On Performance In Online Mathematics Courses: An Application Of Learning Analytics, Ji-Eun Lee Apr 2019

Effects Of Discussion Strategies And Learner Interactions On Performance In Online Mathematics Courses: An Application Of Learning Analytics, Ji-Eun Lee

Student Research Symposium

In higher education, a widely used online instructional method to enhance learners' engagement, presence, and achievement is asynchronous online discussions. Yet studies demonstrating their effectiveness, especially in high-failure rate courses like mathematics, remain elusive. The objectives of the study are to investigate 1) what online discussion strategies are associated with positive student performance, 2) to what extent do different structures designed into online discussions impact the kinds of learner interactions, and 3) what types of learner interactions are associated with positive student performance. In particular, by applying a set of text mining and data mining techniques (e.g., Classification and Regression …


Changes In Attitude Towards Science Among College Students In A General Education Life Science Course, Michelle Burrows Apr 2019

Changes In Attitude Towards Science Among College Students In A General Education Life Science Course, Michelle Burrows

Student Research Symposium

General education science courses are often required in higher education in fulfillment of a general science requirement for a degree program. However, students may have negative attitudes toward science when they do not perceive a connection with their degree, career goals, or their everyday life. Students' negative attitudes toward learning science can decrease their desire to further their science knowledge (Gogolin & Swartz, 1992). Because a basic understanding of science is important to function and make informed decisions in society, it is imperative that we recognize ways to improve students' attitudes toward science. Students enrolled in a breadth level life …


21st-Century Skills: A Needs Assessment Of School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers, Kisia Weeks Apr 2019

21st-Century Skills: A Needs Assessment Of School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers, Kisia Weeks

Student Research Symposium

Industry has recognized that students need soft skills to be successful in today's workforce, these skills are otherwise known as 21st-century skills (Rotherham & Willingham, 2009). Incorporating 21st-century skills into the school-based agricultural education classroom will engage students in the learning process which will allow them to graduate being better prepared to succeed in a growing global economy. When a school and educator build upon the foundation of applying academic content learned in all disciplines students become engaged, take an active role in the learning process, and are prepared to thrive in a growing global economy. While the mastery of …


Suicide Prevention In Secondary Schools, Justin Vance Apr 2019

Suicide Prevention In Secondary Schools, Justin Vance

Student Research Symposium

To aid teachers with intense time constraints, the following summary includes the bolded, most important points in the paper Thank you for caring about your students; by doing more than just teaching your content, you will change lives and may save some Teachers are not responsible for student suicide; we carry enough responsibility already Genuine, assertive communication of confidence and support fosters the safe environment needed Improvements to how we view and speak about suicide can help reshape how young people think about it As young men lose what they care about in pursuit of popular disinterest they lose what …


Parenting Classes For Aces Prevention, Melissa Wells Apr 2019

Parenting Classes For Aces Prevention, Melissa Wells

Student Research Symposium

This presentation will be an in progress report of my Spring 2019 URCO grant project Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can impact a person's life dramatically. However, the number one protective factor for preventing negative outcomes of trauma is by having a stable trustworthy adult in a child's life. The purpose of this study is to help local parents in Richmond, UT learn additional effective parenting strategies that support bonding ties and parent success in interacting with their children as well as prevent unnecessary stress in the family. In addition, we are looking for recurring patterns that indicate which parenting strategies …