Better Together: Collaborative Approaches to Teaching Primary Source & Information Literacy

Special collections librarians and their research & instruction colleagues discuss collaborative approaches to primary source and information literacy instruction in the university classroom. Through presentations and panel discussion they cover the types of classes where they collaborate, including a representative example class; how they work with teaching faculty; their favorite learning objectives; and how their partnerships have made them better teachers.Panelists represent public universities in Arkansas, Illinois, and Maine, and a private college in Ohio

From Unprepared to On Track: Closing the Kindergarten Readiness Gap by Using a Team-Based Approach to Implement a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Framework with Fidelity

We live in a world where preschool and even kindergarten are optional years in schooling, only perpetuating the problem of incoming kindergartener students systemically lacking foundational skills necessary to successfully begin their academic careers. Access to quality preschool is an equity problem that needs to be discussed and researched. Preparing a student to enter kindergarten with the appropriate foundational academic skills does not just set them up for kindergarten success, but also for success in future grade levels. Therefore, a co-design team focused a problem of practice at an elementary school to provide the kindergarten teacher with additional support by using a team-based approach in planning and implementing the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Framework with fidelity in order to increase kindergarten students’ reading scores. This mixed-method study included 19 kindergarten students at a Midwest K-5th elementary school where three research questions were examined: 1) What was the effect of the team-based MTSS intervention planning process on the kindergarten students’ MAP reading scores?; 2)What was the effect of the team-based MTSS intervention planning process on the kindergarten students’ FastBridge Early Reading Screener Scores?; 3) What were the co-design team’s perceptions of the team-based MTSS intervention planning process? Utilizing the quantitative measures of the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress MAP) assessment and the FastBridge Early Reading Screener and the qualitative measure of a six-question open-ended educator survey, the co-design team examined growth in kindergarten students’ reading scores and the co-design team’s perception of utilizing the team-based approach to implement the MTSS Framework with fidelity. Upon the conclusion of the 90-day cycle of inquiry, 84% of the 19 kindergarten students showed an increase on their MAP reading assessment from fall to winter. Additionally, there was an observed growth from 21% of students falling in the “low risk” range on the fall FastBridge Early Reading Screener to 53% of students falling in the “low risk” range in the winter. Lastly, the survey results showed three themes: collaboration, instruction, and time. The three co-design team educators who completed the six-question open-ended survey unanimously recommended the team-based approach to implementing the MTSS Framework with fidelity. As practical implications in an elementary school are considered, the co-design team wonders what this team-based approach to planning and implementing the MTSS Framework with fidelity could look like when done with multiple teachers. If this intervention proved to be successful with the co-design team for this 90-day cycle of inquiry, could it be expanded to provide the same support to more classroom teachers throughout an elementary school building, resulting in all the more students with improved reading achievement

No Evidence of Immune Priming in Bumble Bee Hosts Against Novel Exposure to a Honey Bee

Ongoing 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

Nutrient Transport and Transformation in Anaerobic Co-digestion of Crop Residues and Swine Manure

Cover crops may improve soil quality, water quality, soil health, reduce soil fertilizer use, and increase nutrient availability to cash crops. The benefits of cover crops are discussed due to the below ground presence of cover crops, but the aboveground biomass can serve as a source of sustainable energy through anerobic digestion. The nutrients in the above ground biomass can also be recycled and reused through land application of digestion effluent. We have tested anaerobic co-digestion of different biomass feedstocks: cover crops, soybean stalk, and corn stover with swine manure using both small and pilot scale digesters. Nutrients, specifically NPK, were analyzed in different forms and their distributions. It was observed that co-digestion improved biogas production of all feedstocks. Soybean biomass that was co-digested with swine manure a 60:40 mixing ratio was observed and this system yielded 271.10 L/kg-VS of methane. The liquid fraction of the digestion effluent contained about the same amount of the ammonium nitrogen and organic nitrogen, and about 60-80% of the potassium, while the solid fraction of the digestion affluent contained more organic nitrogen than the ammonium nitrogen. Overall, 94% nitrogen, 94% phosphorus, and 85% potassium recovered in the digestion effluent from the 60:40 soybean-swine manure mixing conditions. Cover crops including cereal rye, annual ryegrass, and pea, clover, radish, oat (PCRO) mix were also tested in anerobic digesters for energy production and nutrient cycling. It was observed that co-digestion also improves biogas production with the cereal rye yielding 387.21L/kg-VS, annual ryegrass yielding 349.27L/kg-VS, and the PCRO mix yielding 306.92L/kg-VS of methane. An 80:20 cover crop-swine manure mixing conditions was observed for the pilot scale experiment. Nutrients recovered from the cereal rye pilot scale digestion effluent include 95% nitrogen, 94% phosphorus, and 105% potassium. The nutrients recovered in the annual ryegrass pilot scale experiment were 95% nitrogen, 105% phosphorus, and 97% potassium. Nutrients recovered in the PCRO mix pilot scale experiment includes 97% nitrogen, 103% phosphorus, and 94% potassium. Corn stover was also co-digested with swine manure at a mixing ratio of 80:20 biomass-swine manure. It was observed that co-digestion at a mixing ratio of 40:60 swine manure to corn stover improves biogas production with a yielding 304.64L/kg-VS of methane. Nutrients recovered from the pilot scale digestion effluent include 93% nitrogen, 88% phosphorus, and 102% potassium. The modified Gompertz model was used to evaluate the theoretical methane yield, maximin daily yield, and lag phase of the methane yields from the pilot scale reactors. A pretreatment experiment was also tested on each of the biomasses. Soybean biomass was pretreated with Sodium hydroxide pellets and the other four biomasses were treated with a Calcium hydroxide powder. For all biomass types a 0%, 5% and 8% concentrations were observed. The only biomass that proved to be statistically significant was the soybean biomass. All other biomass types the results from the ensiling test were not statistically different than the control. Based on the measured results, we estimated that co-digestion of swine manure with biomass harvested from one acre of land within a three-crop rotation (soybean-cover crop-corn) can produce 5,461–6,823 m3 of methane, and provide 160–211 kg of N, 29-37 kg of P, and 254–288 kg of K. This presents significant economic potential of co-digesting crop residues with swine manure

Red Note New Music Festival Poster, 2025

The 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/1044/thumbnail.jp

More Than Players, More Than Coaches: Institutional Agents and Youth Development in Urban and Suburban Minority-Majority Neighborhoods

Institutional agents play a crucial role in shaping youth development. While the institutional agent framework is well established in postsecondary research, less is known about its role during mid-adolescence. Using relational ethnography and responsive interviewing, this study compares an urban and a suburban high school in minority-majority neighborhoods in Cook County, Illinois, to explore how development is influenced through relationships between sport coaches and high school athletes. Athletes in both contexts face significant challenges tied to neighborhood conditions and socioeconomic status. In response, coaches form deeply caring and supportive relationships, though their roles diverge in ways shaped by their urban and suburban contexts. The findings challenge prevailing assumptions surrounding urban and suburban disadvantage, drawing on the narratives of coaches and athletes to reveal distinct yet equally complex dynamics shaping development. This analysis extends Stanton-Salazar’s framework of institutional agents into the realm of high school athletics, offering new insight into the mechanisms that support or constrain development across varied social settings

Painting Pipelines: Kinship, Solidarity, and Ethnic Mobility Entrapment in Chicagoland\u27s Paint and Coatings Industry

Paint and coatings are mostly considered as they relate to artistic expression, however, little has been said about how we primarily encounter these materials, in their functional form. Far less reflection has been given to the Latine workforce responsible for these materials’ ubiquity. Drawing primarily from autoethnographic insights and semi-formal interviews with a network of workers in Chicagoland’s commercial-industrial paint and coatings industry, this thesis addresses the questions1)How do paint and coatings shape our daily lives and its industry?; 2) How do Latine kinship structures shape labor in the paint and coatings industry?; and 3) How do workers in Chicagoland’s paint and coatings ethnic labor niche navigate between labor subjectivity and ethnic solidarity? By documenting how newcomers and undocumented workers are present commercial spheres via subcontracting, the upward mobility achieved through Latine kinship networks, and considering how technological advancements in this sphere necessitate specialization, I argue that the decentering of labor itself in studies about work has resulted in disjointed representations of how workers are connected to one another and propose “Labor niche entrapment” to consider upward mobility as a facet of entrapment. Ultimately, this thesis provides a historical account of paint and coatings, highlights the role of these materials in our daily lives, makes visible this specialized Latine labor force, and underscore how their kinship networks and industry demands are inextricably intertwined, and point out how attempts for solidarity, whether ethnic or occupational, reinforces labor niche entrapment and structures of power

Utilizing Information Technology and Hands-on Learning Practices to Improve Student Learning Outcomes in a High Failure Rate Introductory Programming Course

The 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

The Role of Teacher Efficacy and School Climate in Parent-Teacher Relationship Quality and Congruence for Autistic Students

Parent-teacher relationships are critical for Autistic student success. The purpose of the current project was to better understand parent-teacher relationships for Autistic students. This project was unique in its use of dyadic data from parents and teachers and its mixed methods design to explore parent-teacher relationship quality and congruence for Autistic students. In Wave 1, 37 parents and 37 teachers of Autistic students completed surveys measuring teacher self-efficacy, school climate, and parent-teacher relationship quality. Teacher efficacy was significantly positively associated with teacher reports of parent-teacher relationship quality. School climate was significantly positively associated with parent reports of parent-teacher relationship quality. Wave 2 included individual interviews of seven parents and six teachers from Wave 1. Qualitative analysis (i.e., grounded theory and thematic analysis) revealed key components of positive parent-teacher relationships and relationship congruence (e.g., collaboration), barriers to positive parent-teacher relationships and relationship congruence (e.g., adversarial attitudes), and additional contextual themes (e.g., positive communication). Implications for practitioners include equipping teachers to implement effective two-way communication with parents and families; providing professional development regarding neurodiversity to build knowledge, affirmation, and advocacy; providing consistency and support for transitions for Autistic students and families; and inviting family involvement in culturally sensitivity ways

Unreadable, Unfindable, and Incomplete: Evaluating PREA Information in State Correctional Handbooks

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was enacted in 2003 to prevent sexual abuse in correctional settings through a zero-tolerance framework. While all states formally acknowledge PREA, the accessibility, clarity, and completeness of the information provided to incarcerated individuals remain uncertain. This mixed-methods study evaluates PREA-related content in 62 state correctional handbooks from 49 states, assessing three core dimensions: readability, findability, and substantive content. Grounded in compliance theory and institutional betrayal, the analysis focuses on how correctional institutions communicate PREA protections, prevention strategies, and reporting procedures. Results reveal that most PREA content exceeds the literacy levels of the intended audience, is inconsistently organized, and frequently omits critical guidance. Reporting mechanisms often prioritize staff-based disclosure, lack procedural transparency, and emphasize the danger of false reporting over survivor support. The findings suggest a pattern of symbolic compliance, where handbooks reflect the appearance of adherence without providing meaningful access to protections. Recommendations are offered for creating more accessible, consistent, and legally meaningful PREA messaging that better aligns with the needs and literacy levels of incarcerated populations