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From Ghorer Golpo to Global Voices: Digital Storytelling as a Decolonial Pedagogy for English Language Learning in Bangladesh
No full textFrom Ghorer Golpo to Global Voices: Digital Storytelling as a Decolonial Pedagogy for English Language Learning in Bangladesh highlights how Digital Storytelling operates as a culturally sustaining and technologically supported approach within Bangladeshi undergraduate English education. Informed by my own navigation of Western and South Asian narrative traditions, the study responds to a longstanding challenge in English instruction: exam-focused, Eurocentric pedagogies often marginalize learners’ cultural identities and lived experiences. The research investigates how participants engaged with Digital Storytelling as a multimodal, technology-enhanced practice that supports language development, identity expression, and intercultural communication.
The study employed an arts-informed case study design with seven university instructors and twelve undergraduate students. Data were gathered through pre- and post-workshop questionnaires, individual and focus group conversations, Digital Storytelling artifacts, and six researcher field notes. Thematic analysis, supported by AI as an analytic companion, guided the interpretation process and strengthened analytic rigor. Digital Storytelling required participants to use a range of digital tools, including audio recording, photo and video editing, and multimodal presentation platforms, which shaped both the creative process and the learning experience. Findings show that Digital Storytelling enabled students to express cultural identity in English by drawing on local traditions, memories, and community narratives as epistemic resources. Students moved from linguistic anxiety to more confident self-expression, positioning English as a medium for voice, agency, and cultural meaning-making. The integration of digital tools enabled learners to transform personal stories into multimodal compositions, deepening engagement and fostering intercultural understanding by balancing cultural specificity and communicative clarity.
Advisors: Guy Trainin and Justin Olmanso
Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TSVIs) Assistive Technology (AT) Competencies: An Update Study
No full textAssistive technology (AT) is essential for supporting access, independence, and learning among students with visual impairments. Teachers of students with visual impairments (TSVIs) are expected to integrate AT into instruction and ensure their students are prepared for academic, social, and workforce demands. The original list of 111 AT competencies for preservice TSVIs, developed by Smith et al. (2009), provided an important foundation but has not been revised despite significant technological advances over the past decade. Outdated competencies risk limiting teacher preparation programs and leaving educators underprepared to address the realities of today’s classrooms. A revised and streamlined competency framework is necessary to ensure TSVIs receive relevant and effective training.
The purpose of the study was to revise the existing AT competency framework and identify which competencies experts considered most essential for preservice TSVIs. The Delphi methodology was employed with a panel of 32 experts in the field of visual impairments, of whom 24 completed all three rounds. Round 1 collected demographic data, including self-efficacy questions that provided insight into participants’ knowledge and confidence with AT, and introduced the original competency list for review.
Qualitative feedback from Round 1 was used to refine competencies in Round 1A, during which panelists suggested consolidations, clarifications, and additions. Items reaching the consensus threshold of 75% advanced to subsequent rounds. In Round 2, panelists rated their level of agreement with the revised list, and no qualitative feedback was collected.
The Delphi process resulted in a final set of 58 AT competencies organized into eight domain areas. Expert feedback emphasized the importance of balancing breadth with practicality, ensuring that competencies reflect both foundational skills and emerging technological demands. Self-efficacy data contextualized the results by highlighting overall panel confidence while also identifying areas where additional preparation may be needed.
The findings provide an evidence-based framework for AT instruction that can inform teacher preparation programs, guide professional development for in-service educators, and shape policy decisions in the field of visual impairments. By refining the competencies, the study addresses a critical gap and establishes a framework that is both responsive to present demands and adaptable to future technological change.
Advisor: Guy Traini
Communication and Privacy Management Between Female Veterans, Their Military Voluntary Kin, and Biolegal Family Members
No full textMilitary voluntary kin (MVK) refer to relationships between Service members and/or Veterans that they consider to be “like family,” despite lacking blood or legal ties. The purpose of this qualitative/interpretive communication study was to explore how female Veterans, who are the largest growing population of U.S. Veterans, discursively construct MVK relationships, navigate communication, privacy management, and boundary turbulence with their MVK and biolegal families (BLF). The researcher undertook in-depth interviews with nine female U.S. Veterans who reported having at least one MVK. The researcher posed four research questions, engaging in an interpretive analysis.
Participants described three ways they navigated interactions in five different types of MVK relationships, including the new MVK to BLF type discovered in this study. These MVK types were discursively constructed and transformed at different points during and after time in service. Guided by Petronio’s communication privacy management theory, the researcher found female Veterans interacted and navigated privacy boundaries via individual and collective ownership. They coordinated privacy boundaries between MVK and BLF and navigated boundary turbulence via explicit understandings and implicit assumptions. Participant responses were organized into five themes: (a) mental health especially surrounding military sexual trauma (MST), (b) personal values, (c) mentors, (d) pregnancy and motherhood, and (e) family rituals.
Theoretical implications included: (a) support for CPM in translational research; (b) insight into boundary turbulence between Veterans, MVK, and BLF; (c) support for Petronio’s five criteria of privacy rule development with MVK and BLF; and (d) extending CPM via the confidant roles. Practical implications for the greater military community included: (a) allowing military leaders to better provide for their troops; (b) creating understanding of how emerging technologies affect communication within that community; and (c) aiding Service members, Veterans, and their families. Future researchers should consider the influence of combat roles on privacy management, how military demographics affect disclosures of pregnancy and sexual trauma, and the impact of military rank on MVK.
Advisors: Dawn O. Braithwaite and Jordan Soli
Development of Databases for Glycan Utilization and Anti-prokaryotic Defense in Microbiomes
No full textMicrobiomes in humans, animals, plants, and other environments are necessary components of the biosphere for global nutrient cycling and maintaining ecosystem balance. In particular, the gut microbiome plays an essential role in modulating human health through glycan utilization. Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes), CAZyme gene clusters (CGCs), and polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs) are key genomic features that determine microbial capacities for carbohydrate metabolism. Meanwhile, the arms race between phages and prokaryotes has led to the evolution of various anti-prokaryotic immune systems (APIS) in phages to counteract prokaryotic immune systems (PIS).
As bioinformatics methods used to analyze microbiome information advance rapidly, there is a growing need for integrative resources to support large-scale functional analyses of microbiomes in specific research domains, such as glycan utilization in the human gut microbiome and APIS proteins in phages/viromes. To address these needs, we developed two comprehensive databases.
The first database, dbCAN-HGM (https://pro.unl.edu/dbCAN_HGM), consists of human gut microbial CGCs from global populations. It provides glycan substrate inference based on CGC families, identifies differentially abundant CGCs and genes through diet-associated metagenomic read mapping, and improves functional annotations with predicted protein structures. The second database, dbAPIS (https://bcb.unl.edu/dbAPIS), servs as the first curated database for experimentally verified APIS genes and their associated protein families in human viromes. In addition to curated entries, it provides pre-computed data on the genomic context, predicted structures, and homology information of APIS proteins. The web server also allows users to submit their own phage genomes for the annotation of potential APIS homologs.
Together, dbCAN-HGM and dbAPIS represent foundational resources for advancing microbiome research in glycan utilization and phage-host immune interactions. They promote exploration of microbial functional genomics, bring insights into human nutrition and health, and provide perspectives on future biotechnological and therapeutic developments.
Advisor Yanbin Yi
Large-scale Experimental Study on the Impact of Air Cleaning & Ventilation on Indoor Air Quality and Student Illness-related Absenteeism
No full textThis large-scale randomized experimental field study investigated the effect of portable air purifiers (PAPs) on classroom’s air quality and student’s illness related absenteeism. PAPs were installed in 317 classrooms from various school districts located in Eastern Nebraska. The classrooms were randomly assigned into four conditions: three treatment conditions (T1, T2 & T3) and one control condition (device without any filter). T1 was equipped with HEPA filters, T2 added Activated Carbon (AC) layer to HEPA, and T3 further integrated Germicidal Ultraviolet (GUV) alongside HEPA and AC filters. The measured variables were carbon dioxide (CO2), fine particles (PN2.5) and coarse particles (PNcoarse), total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), ozone (O3), relative humidity (RH), and temperature (T). Continuous CO2 data were used to calculate ventilation rates (VR), and comparisons were made with design VRs as specified in ASHRAE Standard 62.1. PAPs did not significantly reduce TVOC or ozone levels in the tested classrooms, likely because those classrooms had low pollution levels. Generalized Linear Mixed-Effects Modeling (GLMM) was used to estimate the effect of treatment condition on particle counts and illness related absenteeism (IRA) in classrooms. The predicted coarse particle counts showed significant reductions during unoccupied time at, above, and below the Mean Design Ventilation Rate (MDVR). In contrast, during occupied time, there were significant reductions at and below MDVR, but a slight increase above MDVR. For fine particles, significant reductions were observed during unoccupied time across all treatments, whereas during occupied time, reductions were observed for T1 & T2 but not for T3. VR had no significant effect on fine particles but affected filter performance for coarse particles. The impact of VR with and without PAPs on students\u27 Illness-Related Absenteeism (IRA) was modeled. 7-day, 10-day, and daily VR models were used to predict IRA across Fall, Winter and Spring seasons. The model predictions showed an increase in IRA with the increase in daily VR but a decrease with the increase in average school level VR. The increase in average classroom level VR was also associated with decrease in IRA except in fall season.
Advisor: Josephine La
Determination of Steroid Hormones and ⍺-Zeranol in Beef Products in East Tennessee
No full textHormone growth implants are commonly used in cattle to increase growth and there is some concern that these implants may result in altered hormone concentrations in the beef from implanted cattle. This study aims to (1) develop a simple, standard, cost-effective method to measure hormones in beef and (2) compare hormones in meat from cattle not exposed to growth implants (negative controls), cattle exposed to growth implants (positive controls), and from a commercial retail store. Extraction and measurement using LCMS/MS was successful in detecting 17b-estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, and a-zeranol in meat, with a trend to lower concentrations in meat not exposed to growth implants. Progesterone concentrations were significantly higher in big box store ground beef (mean=6906 ppb; p=0.0106) and ribeye steaks (mean=909 ppb; p=0.025) when compared to positive (mean=195ppb for beef, nondetectable for ribeye) and negative controls (mean=45.7 for beef, nondetectable for ribeye). a-Zeranol was higher in big box store ribeye (mean=197 ppb) compared to the positive controls (both nondetectable; p=0.025), and testosterone was significantly higher in ribeye positive controls (mean=102.4 than the negative controls (ND ,p=0.0095), and the same was true for ground beef with positive controls (mean=105.7 ppb) having higher concentrations than negative controls (mean=50.8 ppb, p=0.0380). Future studies should use this measurement protocol to examine meat from many more farms and commercial retail stores and should examine the impact of cooking on these compounds in meat
2024 Founders Award Remarks
No full textNCHC Founders Award recipient describes a three-decade career in honors education, highlights the immeasurable potential of honors programs for shaping student lives, and argues for the importance of conference attendance to honors educators.
Incudes
a revised version of remarks delivered at the 2024 National Collegiate Honors Council awards ceremony on November 1, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri
Honoring the Wellness Journey: An Evidence-based Retreat to Build Stress Resilience in Honors Students
No full textHonors students are goal-oriented, motivated, and engaged achievers. As such, they often experience heavy course loads, manage multiple responsibilities, have limited free time, and sacrifice their health (relationships, sleep, nutrition) in pursuit of their goals. This essay presents an evidence-based wellness retreat designed for honors students at a medium-sized university. The authors describe the retreat’s inception, development, curricular advantages, and administration, with specific examples of targeted evidence-based programming. Eight workshops, designed to build resilience and coping skills, address mental agility and mindset, emotion regulation, social connection, and wellness habits. The authors observe student efficacy in the development of skills and point to positive feedback from participants (n = 17). The results indicate that experiential wellness programming can play an important role in promoting stress resilience among honors students. The authors suggest that the flexibility of a retreat model makes it especially adaptable for honors programs throughout the country, thereby contributing to a growing effort in honors to nurture student mental health and well-being. Detailed descriptions of workshops and assessments are provided and limitations are addressed
Mini Movie Master of Science Project
No full textContents
Educational Video Creative Process
Host Plants
Fruit Trays/Nectar Plants
Butterfly vs Moth
Longevity/Lifespan
Includes videos:Butterfly vs Moth.mp4 (2623912 kB)Fruit Trays and Nectar Plants.mp4 (1742827 kB)Host Plants.mp4 (1721714 kB)Lifespan and Longevity.mp4 (2528704 kB
Disrupting Privilege: Community Engagement in the First Year
No full textIn the opening essay for an issue of JNCHC focused on this question of risk-taking in honors, Cognard-Black posits that the problem of students’ apparent rejection of risk may be the structure of honors programs themselves. He challenges honors educators to consider how the structure of their programs perpetuates an elitism that causes honors students to maintain their focus on status and external reward, which are potential barriers to deeper and more critical engagement with ideas (6). In this chapter, we take up Cognard-Black’s challenge and use our experiences creating the first-year seminar at the College of Charleston to argue that first-year programs—by employing a developmental approach and service learning opportunities to harness the disruptive power of the students’ transition into college—can create transformational learning experiences that break down existing structures of privilege and push students to examine deeply held beliefs