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Utilizing Information Technology and Hands-on Learning Practices to Improve Student Learning Outcomes in a High Failure Rate Introductory Programming Course
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to introduce and examine the impact that two interventions have on a high failure rate introductory programing course: a pedagogical approach of introducing Live Coding instruction technique to the in-person lecture portion, and a technological approach of introducing remote collaboration software (VS Code Liveshare) to the online lab portion. This study used convergent parallel mixed methods approach for both data collection and analysis; utilizing four data collection methods: 1) online survey questionnaires 2) in-depth interviews 3) in class observations and 4) quantifiable data collection (ie., student demographic, IT experience, GPA data). The Live Coding intervention findings initially showed a final grade difference between intervention and control groups in the pilot study, but did not persist in the primary study. All other indicators suggest that this learning intervention had a positive effect in the classroom, including that students (a) prefer to see live demonstrations of how to code from scratch at a rate of 90%, (b) students who preferred to see live coding had a positive correlation on their final grade, (c) students interviewed unanimously wanted to see more live coding both now and in future iterations of the class, and (d) the faculty that implemented the intervention enjoyed using it and will voluntarily utilize it in future semesters. The second intervention of introducing remote collaboration software (VS Code Liveshare) was considered a success by the faculty and students who participated in the study. Students who completed the class (a) unanimously somewhat or strongly agreed that VS Code Live Share enhanced their ability to work with others and complete the lab assignments, (b) recommend using this software in future semesters, and (c) faculty stated it enhanced their ability to interact and help students, especially in an online style class
Rural Perspectives on Design: A Citizens\u27 Institute on Rural Design National Participant Study & Multimedia Research Exhibit
Get PDFSierra Mack-Erb is a 2025 graduate of the Stevenson Center’s Applied Community and Economic Development Fellows Program at Illinois State University, earning their M.S. in Cultural Anthropology. This report summarizes their experience conducting capstone research during their second year professional practice with the Housing Assistance Council, a national nonprofit that supports affordable housing efforts throughout rural America, and overviews their graduate capstone research study. As a fellow at the Housing Assistance Council, Sierra spent significant time supporting the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design, a national rural design program and the focal point of their capstone research study. CIRD is a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Housing Assistance Council. Focusing on rural communities with populations of 50,000 or less, CIRD’s goal is to enhance the quality of life and economic vitality of rural America through planning, design, and creative placemaking. This research study sought to understand the value and meaning rural community members ascribe to design as a result of participation in this program and served as the program’s first in-depth participant evaluation. Leveraging ethnographic methods that prioritize in-depth interactions with rural community members, this research finds that CIRD’s unique community-engaged design process is significantly valuable to rural participants, both socially and economically, due to its emphasis on locally led solutions development and its stewardship of a vast rural network that connects communities facing common obstacles. As such, it is a vital resource to rural communities engaged in design and development projects and rural revitalization efforts
No Evidence of Immune Priming in Bumble Bee Hosts Against Novel Exposure to a Honey Bee Virus
No full textOngoing global change presents novel challenges to species persistence, including heightened emerging infectious diseases (EID) exposure. While invertebrates lack vertebrate acquired immunity, many species exhibit “immune priming” with enhanced protection to repeated pathogen exposures. This phenomenon could be critical for species of conservation concern, such as for wild bumble bees, where EID risk is amplified through contact with managed bee pollinators. We investigate the potential for immune priming against the honey bee-derived Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) in Bombus impatiens bumble bees. We test the hypothesis that prior pathogen-associated exposure affords greater resistance and tolerance upon secondary pathogen exposure, due to the adaptive benefits of immune plasticity. However, we find no evidence from viral infection levels or survival for either specific or general priming from low dose or inactivated virus, or synthetic viral RNA constructs. Infection levels, however, show patterns indicative of immune senescence and an intriguing bimodal distribution that warrants further investigation. Our results indicate that antiviral immune priming in bumble bees may be limited in capacity against viral spillover and utility for strategic conservation interventions. They also contribute to our growing understanding that beneficial immune priming is not a universal phenomenon across or even within invertebrate host taxa
Workplace Sexual Harassment of Men: Impact on Job Satisfaction, Job Stress, and Withdrawal Behavior
Get PDFThis study investigates male sexual harassment in the workforce and its impact on key occupational outcomes, including job satisfaction, job stress, and withdrawal behaviors as well as perpetrator sex. Using archival data from a stratified random sample of 209 male faculty and staff members at a large Midwestern university, the study explores differences in how verbal and physical sexual harassment relate to these workplace variables. Findings revealed that male employees reported more instances of verbal sexual harassment than physical. Verbal sexual harassment was significantly associated with decreased job satisfaction and increased withdrawal behaviors, whereas physical sexual harassment showed no significant relation with these outcomes. Additionally, none of the harassment types were significantly related to job stress. A significant difference was found in the frequency of overall sexual harassment based on the perpetrator’s sex. These findings contribute to the limited research on male-targeted sexual harassment and highlight the importance of considering harassment type and perpetrator sex in understanding its workplace consequences
Diversity Representation in ILMEA All-State Programming 1990-2025
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine the diversity of ILMEA All-State programming from 1990–2025. This study compiled information regarding the composers and arrangers of the pieces selected, as well as the conductors for each ensemble. In the band category, 3.22% (n = 11) of all composers and arrangers (N = 342) were female and 4.39% (n= 15) were people of color. In orchestra, 1.67% (n = 3) were female and 6.67% (n = 12) were composers of color of all composers and arrangers (N = 180). The percentage of female composers and arrangers in the choral category was 9.96% (n = 49) with composers and arrangers of color making up 11.79% (n = 58) of all composers and arrangers (N = 492). In the band category, 20.00% (n = 14) of all conductors (N = 70) were diverse. In orchestra, 27.15% (n = 19) of all conductors (N = 70) were diverse. In the choral category, 37.14% (n = 26) of all conductors (N = 70) were diverse. ILMEA is showing diversity growth in each decade, but potential exists for further growth and improvement in representation
Genetically Improving Seed Glucosinolate Content, Seed Size, And Abiotic Stress Resilience Of Pennycress
No full textPennycress (Thlaspi arvense L., field pennycress) is a winter annual oilseed plant which we are domesticating for the U.S. Midwest Corn Belt and other temperate regions. Pennycress confers cover crop benefits as an offseason crop and is unique in having extreme cold tolerance, high oilseed yields, and a relatively short life cycle. In the southern U.S. Midwest, pennycress can fit between corn and soybeans resulting in three crops in two years. We have partnered with the startup company, CoverCress, Inc., which has commercialized varieties we co-developed that produce seeds low in erucic acid content and indigestible fiber and which are not weedy. To improve domesticated pennycress further, I employed CRISPR genome editing to introduce dozens of mutations into genes we hypothesized could improve agronomic traits including reduced seed glucosinolate content, increased seed size, and enhanced drought tolerance. After generating a large number of mutant combinations, I identified novel mutant combinations that reduced seed glucosinolate content to within FDA-approved limits, resulting in a pennycress variety having canola-like seed composition with no negative yield impacts. I also meaningfully increased seed size without negative growth effects, identifying unexpected differences in seed oil and protein content which may be due to differences in intracellular lipids packaging. Finally, our morpho-physiological, transcriptomic, and metabolomic studies of pennycress drought responsiveness revealed pennycress naturally is drought resilient and likely has unique molecular mechanisms for dealing with drought stress. Together, my dissertation research has advanced the domestication of pennycress and understandings of the molecular underpinnings, helping pave the way for its planting on millions of acres in the U.S. Midwest
Promoting a Pedagogy of Critical Engagement: Teaching English Grammar and Usage Through a Socio-Historical, Investigative Approach
Get PDFThis dissertation introduces and explicates a novel pedagogical approach to a university course that focuses on the application of English grammar and usage for writers. This approach to the teaching of English grammar and usage is grounded in several related disciplines and fields of study, including linguistics (specifically historical linguistics and sociolinguistics), language ideologies, and inquiry-based education.
The course curriculum combines examinations of historical ideologies and attitudes that have influenced debates about language usage and the value of teaching grammar with explicit instruction of specific grammar terms and concepts. The initial phase of the course introduces rhetorical grammar, usage and style conventions, and other tools that equip writers and speakers to communicate effectively. This phase overlaps with studies of the origins of several oft-cited, so-called grammar rules, which are often associated with traditional grammar teaching (e.g., the proscription against splitting infinitives, ending a sentence with a preposition, using ‘ain’t’, pronouncing ask as ‘aks,’ and others). This socio-historical examination leads into explorations of: 1) the value of studying grammars of English; 2) prescriptive and descriptive grammar; 3) language varieties, including “standard” and “non-standard” English; 4) social and moral judgments about English usage—concepts of proper/improper, correct/incorrect, or good/bad language; and 5) how to make informed choices regarding English grammar and usage for intended effects. The final phase of the course involves student investigations into specific conventions of “Standard” American English, such as confusing grammar or usage points that teachers have circled or “red-penned” on student papers, or a grammar/usage issue or convention that they are curious about.
The proposed pedagogy is designed not only to equip writers with a vast array of tools and resources for communicating effectively in a variety of contexts, but also to offer assistance to instructors and pre-service teachers who lack confidence about teaching a subject that K-12 students are expected to learn. For instructors, knowledge about English grammar and usage is vital, as educators, administrators, and other stakeholders continue to face pressure from government entities about student achievement of established goals of standardized assessments, such as the Common Core State Standards (in the US and its territories), which aim to ensure that all students are ready for the workforce or for college. Equally critical, however, is the ability to teach such concepts in practical ways that students can understand and utilize in various contexts.
The primary research questions of the study were: 1) How do students’ attitudes toward English grammar and usage change over the course? 2)How do students demonstrate the knowledge of grammar and usage they acquire during the course in written assignments and assessments, and how does this knowledge contribute to changes in the way students view grammar instruction? 3) How effective is the pedagogical approach of the course in helping students to acquire knowledge of English grammar and usage?
An analysis of student data collected using a qualitative teacher research methodology during the implementation of this non-traditional instructional approach suggests that a pedagogical approach that studies the socio-historical backgrounds of many so-called “rules” of English grammar and usage, as well as the social and moral judgments often associated with “non-standard” English usage, serves not only to advance individuals’ knowledge about grammar and usage, but also to help them acquire a more sophisticated understanding of language varieties and other issues related to linguistic discrimination. Moreover, such an approach supports and encourages student achievement on standardized assessments, while preparing students to make informed choices regarding language use in diverse contexts.
The findings described in this dissertation have implications for teacher education and professional development, Language Arts programs, writing program administration, and pedagogies for first-year composition, business writing, and TESOL courses
Assessing the Impact of Traditional Gender Roles and Belief in Male Superiority on Attitudes towards Social Issues: Evidence from The World Values Survey
No full textPatriarchal views correlate with negative effects and injustice towards women globally. Previous studies on gender attitudes have generally failed to distinguish belief in male superiority from traditional gender roles. This thesis examines the separate impacts of the belief in male superiority and the belief in traditional gender roles, utilizing data from 63 countries in the World Values Survey wave 7, which was conducted from 2017 to 2020. The findings indicate that the belief in male superiority is significantly correlated with the justification of violence against the wife, violence against children, and violence against others, and the evasion of civic duties, while belief in traditional gender roles is not. Conversely, traditional gender roles seem to have a more significant negative correlation with the justification of abortion than male superiority has. The correlations regarding divorce are essentially the same for both traditional gender roles and male superiority. These findings underscore the need to differentiate between male superiority and traditional gender roles, as the implications for interventions or policy modifications may vary depending on the specific ideas being addressed. This differentiation can facilitate the development of targeted educational initiatives, media campaigns, and legal reforms aimed at confronting beliefs in male superiority and challenging patriarchal attitudes within society, while also paving the way for future research on the wider societal implications of hierarchical versus role-based patriarchal norms
A Tripartite Interaction Framework for Bumble Bee Ecological Immunology and Disease Outcomes
No full textGlobal change in natural environments present a challenge to the performance and persistence of species of huge economic and ecological concern. As a rising consequence of global change, emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are touted as potential drivers of many wildlife declines, including multiple North American bumble bees (Bombus spp.). Bumble bees not only serve a functional role for numerous native plant communities around the globe, but in the United States, they are a multi-billion-dollar asset to the agricultural industry through their pollination services. Although we recognize that pathogen-related declines are concerning, management efforts prove difficult considering that infectious diseases vary considerably in nature and outcome. A principle tenet of ecological immunology may explain such variation. For instance, patterns of disease spread may be explained by variation in host resistance to infection, which can be attributed in part to the cost of immunity, including both the evolution and deployment of effective immune defense. Understanding host defense against pathogens, and subsequent disease outcomes more broadly, requires an extensive examination of not only the underlying benefits and costs of immune activation for hosts against invading pathogens, but also the influence of native microbiota that may offer additional benefits to their hosts. My dissertation teases apart this tripartite interaction in three chapters addressing 1) the capacity for viral EID defense through immune priming, 2) how native microbiota influence the cost of immune defense, and 3) a comparative approach of species susceptibility to a viral pathogen. The findings from my dissertation will not only prove invaluable to imperiled pollinator protection, but also further enhance our understanding of important concepts in ecological immunology
Red Note New Music Festival Composition Competition Announcement, 2025
Get PDFThe RED NOTE New Music Festival at Illinois State University is a week-long event which features outstanding performances of contemporary concert music.https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/rnf/1043/thumbnail.jp