Digital Commons Network^™

The 2022 Symposium On Dementia And Brain Aging In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: Highlights On Research, Diagnosis, Care, And Impact, Raj N. Kalaria, Gladys Maestre, Simin Mahinrad, Daisy Acosta, Rufus Akinyemi, Suvarna Alladi, Ricardo F. Allegri, Faheem Arshad, David Oluwasayo Babalola, Noe Garza

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Two of every three persons living with dementia reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The projected increase in global dementia rates is expected to affect LMICs disproportionately. However, the majority of global dementia care costs occur in high-income countries (HICs), with dementia research predominantly focusing on HICs. This imbalance necessitates LMIC-focused research to ensure that characterization of dementia accurately reflects the involvement and specificities of diverse populations. Development of effective preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic approaches for dementia in LMICs requires targeted, personalized, and harmonized efforts. Our article represents timely discussions at the 2022 Symposium on Dementia and Brain Aging …

Developing Community-Based Sociolinguistic Corpora To Promote Social Justice, Ryan M. Bessett, Katherine Christoffersen, Ana M. Carvalho, Isabella Calafate, Mayte Vega Mudy

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This chapter explores the many components that are involved in creating a student-based sociolinguistic corpus. Sociolinguistic corpora can be used as tools for social justice in that they promote local (or often stigmatized) varieties of language and students who speak said varieties often experience heightened language pride or greater esteem for their own language. Using the Corpus del Español en el Sur de Arizona (Carvalho 2012-) and the Corpus Bilingüe del Valle (Christoffersen and Bessett 2019-) as models, this chapter first details how to build the corpus, including the documents needed, the interview protocol, the transcription protocol, and the creation …

A Science Teacher’S Experiences When Fostering Intercultural Competence Among Students In Multilingual Classrooms: A Narrative Study, Uma Ganesan, Amanda R. Morales

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Increased globalization of the world economy, growth in human migration, and rapid devel-opments in science and technology have required people to develop intercultural commu-nication skills. Teachers play a crucial role in developing intercultural competence among students in our globalized, multilingual classrooms. The need for fostering collaborative discourse among students with diverse cultural and linguistic repertoires and building in-tercultural competence among students is a common blind spot in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics teacher praxis. This can inhibit efforts to cultivate safe and supportive learning environments for all students and can ultimately threaten multilingual student success. As part of a larger …

Using A Two-Way Engagement Community- And Family-Centered Pedagogy To Prepare Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers In A Hispanic-Serving Institution, Olga Ramirez, Mayra Ortiz Galarza, Luis M. Fernandez

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research on effective methods to prepare pre-service teachers (PSTs) in teaching mathematics to K-12 Latin* students has been gaining significant momentum. These efforts have focused, in part, on promoting pedagogical practices that recognize and incorporate the culture and language that K-12 Latin* students and their communities share. As teacher educators, we argue that if we are to further prepare PSTs to serve the needs of such increasingly diversifying K-12 student population, the same pedagogical focus on the learner’s cultural wealth should also be applied to the preparation of PSTs themselves, especially among Latin* PSTs in Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) like …

University Students Suicide In Us: Issue That Needs Attention And Prevention, Mona Muzammil, Washain Muzammil, Muzammil Arshad

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Here is the first single book to exclusively address this tragic behavior. From the foreword by Dr. Mamoona Muzammil to the final conclusions and recommendations, College Student Suicide serves as both a primer and a state-of-the-art volume on youth suicide in the higher education setting. Experts provide important data on suicide, examine the risk factors for suicide, and explore preventive interventions and the delivery of other necessary services. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 18-24. What is not always captured by this statistic is the strong emotional impact that suicide has on young people …

Mapping The Problem Statement And Study Purposes To The Quantitative Analysis: Insights From Mixed Methods Perspectives, Zhidong Zhang, Blanca N. Ibarra

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study introduces a novel approach to assess the quality of doctoral dissertations using a mixed methods design, specifically the convergent parallel model. Initially, the research focuses on qualitative data obtained from the context, research problem statement, and study purpose within a doctoral dissertation. As an example of quantitative data, the study examines self-confidence in creating a database based on years of experience using a questionnaire. The qualitative analysis employs semantic and thematic analysis techniques, revealing a clear alignment between the identified themes and the quantitative evidence. These findings underscore the effectiveness of the mixed methods approach in comprehensively evaluating …

Review: Indigenous Borderlands: Native Agency, Resilience, And Power In The Americas, Edited By Joaquín Rivaya-Martínez, Thomas A. Britten

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

“It’S Not That We Care Less”: Insights Into Health Care Utilization For Comorbid Diabetes And Depression Among Latinos, Sharon Borja, Miriam G. Valdovinos, Kenia M. Rivera, Natalia Giraldo-Santiago, Robin Gearing, Luis R. Torres-Hostos

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite robust knowledge regarding the socio-economic and cultural factors affecting Latino* access to healthcare, limited research has explored service utilization in the context of comorbid conditions like diabetes and depression. This qualitative study, embedded in a larger mixed-methods project, aimed to investigate perceptions held by Latinos and their social support systems (i.e., family members) regarding comorbid diabetes and depression and to identify barriers and facilitators to their help-seeking behaviors and treatment engagement. Bilingual and bicultural researchers conducted eight focus groups with 94 participants in a large U.S. metropolitan area and were primarily conducted in Spanish. The participants either had a …

Exploring International Educators' Learning About Local And Global Social Justice In A Virtual Community Of Practice, Bima Sapkota, Xuwei Luo, Muna Sapkota, Murat Akarsu, Emmanuel Deogratias, Daphne Fauber, Rose Mbewe, Fidelis Mumba, Ram Krishna Panthi, Jill Newton

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this chapter, the authors report themes that emerged when a cross-cultural team of researchers involved in a virtual international community of practice (Global Social Justice in Education-GSJE) investigated reflections on activities focused on social justice in local and global contexts. The findings suggested that the activities elicited GSJE community members' understandings of the complexities of social justice associated with naming practices, privilege, and the arts within their own and across contexts. The authors discuss implications of the activities to advance diverse educators' understanding of social justice in global and local contexts. They also unpack the opportunities and challenges that …

Latina Voice In Dialogue With Literacy, Xiaodi Zhou

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study follows the literacy experiences of four Latina middle schoolers as they read Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and compose home language narratives in their heritage voices. Both their vibrant ethnic cultures and other intersecting rays of identities are analyzed in the vein of their literate identities. Through analysis of their writing and speech, the girls present hybridized identities on the border between cultures and languages. Their position and identities in the social world of middle school are discussed and how transactions with literacy can dialogically influence those identities to enact critically conscious pedagogy.

Assessing Concepts, Procedures, And Cognitive Demand Of Chatgpt-Generated Mathematical Tasks, Bima Sapkota, Liza Bondurant

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

In November 2022, ChatGPT, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) capable of generating human-like responses, was launched. ChatGPT has a variety of promising applications in education, such as using it as thought-partner in generating curricular resources. However, scholars also recognize that the use of ChatGPT raises concerns, such as outputs that are inaccurate, nonsensical, or vague. We, two mathematics teacher educators, engaged in a collaborative self-study using qualitative descriptive approaches to investigate the procedures, concepts, and cognitive demand of ChatGPT-generated mathematical tasks focused on fraction multiplication using the area model approach. We found that the ChatGPT-generated tasks were …

Expanding Understandings Of Race In Postsecondary Language Classrooms: A Call For Multiraciality In Teacher Identity Research, Marcela Hebbard

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

While issues of race in relation to teacher identity have been addressed in language education research, they have often been confined to special issues. Factors contributing to the “absent-present” nature of race include an imbalanced focus on intersectionality which tends to prioritize the teacher's linguistic identity over other social categories, such as race and the persistent dichotomy between the idealized native speaker and non-native speaker. To broaden the understandings of race in teacher identity research within postsecondary language classrooms, this chapter advocates for considering the notion of multiraciality. To support these arguments, results from a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of …

Student Perceptions Of Community-Engaged Scholarship Courses: Developing A Sociolinguistic Corpus On The U.S.–Mexico Border, Katherine Christoffersen, Aubrey Villanueva, Ryan M. Bessett

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The well-documented benefits of community engagement experiences have resulted in its incorporation across a wide variety of disciplines, from health care (Alexander et al., 2020) to aviation science (Belt & Sweetman, 2021) to statistics (Schanz & Giles, 2021). The field of sociolinguistics is no exception with plentiful examples of community-engaged scholarship (CES) or “research of mutual benefit to community and academic interests” (Delugan et al., 2014, p. 155). One way that linguistics and language courses have integrated CES is through the development of community-based sociolinguistic corpora or collections of informal interviews with community members. In these courses, students are trained …

The Accuracy Of Automatic And Human Live Captions In English, Pablo Romero-Fresco, Nazaret Fresno

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Closed captions play a vital role in making live broadcasts accessible to many viewers. Traditionally, stenographers and respeakers have been in charge of their production, but this scenario is changing due to the steady improvements that automatic speech recognition has undergone in recent years. This technology is being used to create intralingual live captions without human assistance and broadcasters have begun to explore its use. As a result, human and automatic captions co-exist now on television and, while some research has focused on the accuracy of human live captions, comprehensive assessments of the accuracy and quality of automatic captions are …

La Conciencia Crítica Empieza Temprano: Young Transborder Children’S Critical Conciousness Y Lo Que Implica Para Las Escuelas Primarias, Melissa Adams Corral, Sarah Gallo

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Drawing upon investigaciones etnográficas with two sets of young transborder children viviendo y aprendiendo in México and the United States, en este artículo we draw upon decolonizing approaches to theorize critical consciousness formation for and with young children. Through careful attention to how children recognize inequity, critique it, and engage in a range of actions to counteract it, argumentamos que los niñes jóvenes ya están formando sus propios aspectos de la conciencia crítica. In our discussion, we highlight como esta forma auténtica de problem-posing education largely unfolds a través de dialogos con sus papas and call for pedagogies to engage …

Consistency Examination Of A Systematic Review And Data Analysis Report For A Social Justice Study—A Mixed Research Model, Zhidong Zhang, David Smith

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study aimed to investigate an approach for assessing the quality of doctoral dissertations, specifically focusing on the consistency between essential elements, namely the literature review and quantitative analysis results. To accomplish this, a mixed-methods design was employed.

The qualitative data were analyzed using semantic network and thematic analysis techniques, while the quantitative data were processed using SPSS procedures.

The study's findings demonstrated that this mixed-methods model effectively facilitates the examination of dissertation quality and consistency among key elements, such as the literature review and data analysis results. By integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches, researchers gain a comprehensive understanding of …

A Socio-Ecological Approach To A Community-Based Health Promotion Intervention On The U.S.-Mexico Border: Insights And Lessons Learned During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Yok-Fong Paat, Elizabeth Camacho, Sarah L. Ruiz, Diego Garcia Tovar, Guillermina Gina Núñez-Mchiri, Maria O. Duarte-Gardea, Guadalupe Corral, Sandra Oviedo Ramirez, Christine Markham, Luis R. Torres-Hostos

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Healthy Families Healthy Kids Initiative (HFHKI) is a community-based initiative developed based on the socio-ecological model to address preventive health care needs in El Paso County, Texas, one of the most economically and health-challenged border communities in the United States. HFHKI’s three main goals are to increase access to experiential learning and health education, service delivery, and sustainable systems/linkages of care. These were accomplished through seven critical activities. We present the rationale, background, setting, and conceptual framework for the initiative, followed by the methods used to develop and assess the success of the activities and results of our project …

The Role Of Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In The Associations Between Minority Stressors And Self-Reported Suicide Likelihood In Lgbtq+ Adults., Ines Cano-Gonzalez, Ruby Charak, Roman Ronzon-Tirado, Jorge I. Cantu

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer individuals (LGBTQ+) report higher rates of suicide-related behaviors when compared to heterosexual cisgender individuals. The minority stress theory proposes that the suicide risk disparities among LGBTQ+ individuals may be explained by the additional exposure to stressors unique to their minority sexual orientation and gender identity. However, less is known about the mechanism of minority stressors and suicide risk among trauma-exposed LGBTQ+ individuals. The present study aimed to explore the role of the International Classification of Diseases, version-11 posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (disturbances in self-organization [DSO] + PTSD) in the associations between …

Fugitive Administrative Rhetorics, Norma Denae Dibrell, Andrew Hollinger, Maggie Shelledy

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article is a work in defining fugitivity in writing program administration. We return to the intersecting phenomena of the pandemic, of climate change, of state-sanctioned violence, of gerrymandering, and of stolen rights. We recognize the complicity writing programs have with this status quo, and we hope that Fugitive Administrative Rhetorics is a helpful framework for developing WPA practices that diverge from this complicity. Our writing is intended to acknowledge a deep scholarly debt within rhetoric and composition to the first fugitives of the academic space, the multiply marginalized students and faculty that built the undercommons: Black, Indigenous, Latinx, queer, …

How Did Latinxs Near The U.S.-Mexico Border Fare During The Covid-19 Pandemic? A Snapshot Of Anxiety, Depression, And Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, Bianca T. Villalobos, Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: The current study documented levels of anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress, and COVID-19 fears and impacts among Latinxs living near the U.S.-Mexico border during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Participants of this cross-sectional study were 305 Latinx adults living in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) who completed an online survey between June and November 2020.

Results: About half of participants scored above the cut-off for anxiety (50.2%; GAD-7 scores ≥10) and depression (48.8%; PHQ-9 scores ≥10), and more than a quarter of participants showed clinical levels of posttraumatic stress (27.3%; PCL-5 scores ≥31). Latinxs reported on average 22 types of negative …

Opening Up Research On The Teaching Of Reading By Looking Beyond Us Borders: What We Might Learn From Early Literacy Instruction In China, Danling Fu, Xiaodi Zhou

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article discusses early literacy instruction in China, including the impact of biliteracy education on Chinese society. This presentation is based on interviews with over two dozen scholars of Chinese literacy instruction, as well as primary early grades language arts classroom teachers from four different regions across China. The purpose of this examination of literacy education in China is to open our views of literacy instruction beyond US borders, especially in those countries with different language/literacy systems. Because of the rapid increase of emergent bilingual students in our schools, we need to gain a better understanding of literacy and biliteracy …

Language And The Mind: How Language Shapes Our Thinking, Xiaodi Zhou

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper analyzes languages and their connections to thinking and culture using an autoethnographic lens. This autoethnography utilized personal examples and those from the author’s students’ compositions as evidence of the link between languages and cultures. Both named languages and dialects of those languages are contemplated for the basis of how their traits influence perceptions. A neuroscientific rationale is also made between human languages and human cultures. The link between culture and language, including dialects, is made, positioning the act of translanguaging as real time dialogue between cultures. Finally, classroom implications are presented with actual student writing and multimodal performances …

Cognitive Performance And Normative Data Between Hispanic And Non-Hispanic Cohorts: Results From The South Texas Alzheimer’S Disease Research Center (Adrc), Aishwarya N. Patel, Ashley Laroche, Vanessa M. Young, Ney Alliey-Rodriguez, A. Campbell Sullivan, Claudia L. Satizabal, Sarah E. Savoia, Frank G. Gilliam, Rosa P. Mavarez, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Background: The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) in the United States was estimated as 6.5 million people in 2022, with a five-fold increase for the Hispanic/Latinx population expected by 2060. The South Texas Alzheimer's Disease Center (STAC) was designated as a new ADRC in 2021 by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) with a specific aim to serve the growing needs of the local underrepresented Hispanic population. As cultural and linguistic factors can impact performance on cognitive tests, the goal of the study was to compare UDS-3 cognitive test raw scores and normative data in Hispanic …

Black Lives Still Matter: Freedom Schools As An Embodiment Of Critical Literacy Through Reflection And Action, Elena M. Venegas, Lakia M. Scott

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The continuation of racial inequities in the United States has ignited the recent Black Lives Matter Movement, a protest of police brutality and gun violence. Black lives matter in public school classrooms, too—where students of color face barriers to equitable educational experiences. The Children's Defense Fund Freedom School program is a major component in developing critical literacy skills through critique, inquiry, and transformation through social justice and action. Critical literacy is enacted through identity—mainly as difference, self, consciousness, narrative, and positionality. Historical and contemporary relevance of Freedom Schools connects to the urgency of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Customer Value Co-Creation: Environmental Sustainability As A Tourist Experience, Esi A. Elliot, Russell P. Adams, Ernest Kafui Kwasi Tsetse

International Business and Entrepreneurship Faculty Publications and Presentations

Increasingly, environmental sustainability has become an important consideration for customer value co-creation, which is collaboration between a firm-provider and its customers to jointly create value. Our research question is therefore “how does customer value co-creation (CVC) enhance environmental sustainability?” We argue that attention to CVC globally would significantly enhance environmental sustainability in emerging markets. The findings of the study revealed that firms that do not enhance customer engagement and their environmental sustainability will lose patronage. Secondly, the attitude of most of these tourists who continually visit unclean tourism destinations such as littered beaches and polluted water bodies would continue to …

Mapping Ecotourism Potential In Bangladesh: The Integration Of An Analytical Hierarchy Algorithm And Geospatial Data, Muhallil Abtahee, Afra Anika Islam, Md. Nazmul Haque, Hasan Zonaed, Samiha Mahzabin Ritu, S. M. Imdadul Islam, Atiq Zaman

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The significance of ecotourism has been increasing due to its potential for biodiversity preservation, economic advancement, and the promotion of sustainability awareness. In this research, geospatial analysis and the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was employed to identify feasible ecotourism sites in Bangladesh. The study applied Geographical Information System–Remote Sensing (GIS-RS) parameters and weighted overlay techniques for selected ecotourism characteristics, such as natural attractiveness, topographic features, accessibility, proximity to facilities, and community characteristics. The study found that a significant proportion (around 44%) of Bangladesh’s land exhibits high potential for ecotourism. Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, and Rangamati are particularly favorable ecotourism locations. However, …

Cultural Competence Guides For Covid-19 Messaging In Hispanic Communities, Madeline Huff, Shuchita V. Jhaveri, Ayesha Khan, Lina Pedraza, Maria Pesantez Borja, Daniela Santos Cantu, Chelsea Chang

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Purpose: The Rio Grande Valley in South Texas comprises 5% percent of Texas's population yet 17%of Texas's COVID-19 deaths. We aimed to address underlying mistrust and systemic racism in our Hispanic community that contributes to health inequities by developing a cultural competence guide for public health messaging.

Methods: We employed a mixed method design (e.g., focus groups, surveys, interviews) to develop and implement a cultural competence guide in an iterative community-informed process. We created a general cultural competence guide, one for the Hispanic community and one for the hard-of-hearing community.

Results: Our cultural competence guides provide an interpretation as to …

“Make A Reasonable Effort”: Translation Policy For Texas State Websites, Gabriel Gonzalez Nunez, Nazaret Fresno

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Language plays a key role in democracy. In fact, the role of language in democratic societies is so crucial that scholars have addressed it thoroughly through different lenses, ranging from law to language policy. This article, in turn, seeks to add to the scholarship on democracy and language rights by considering the role of translation policy in the development of linguistically inclusive public web pages. To that end, the study considers the State of Texas's translation policy as it relates to its online presence. Specifically, it approaches translation policy by looking at translation management, translation practice, and translation beliefs as …

Contextualizing The Mathematical Knowledge For Teaching Framework For Teachers Of Emergent Bilinguals, Luis Miguel Fernandez, Mayra Ortiz Galarza

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

We are amid a rapid demographic shift, with Emergent Bilinguals (EBs) being the fastest growing K-12 student population. This has created an ambitious goal for teacher education programs as they must prepare mathematics pre-service teachers (PSTs) to assess the needs of EBs. As a response, this study conducted a qualitative analysis of 16 PSTs to propose a contextualized version of the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) framework as an emerging knowledge base of teaching that can be used to further guide the planning and enactment of teacher education programs in the mathematics education of EBs, specifically.

Student Evaluations Of Teaching Are Mostly Awfully Wrong, Noel Otu, Ntiense E. Otu

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) have been used, researched, and debated for many decades. It is a common practice in higher education institutions, with the supposed purpose of improving course quality and effectiveness, but with unintended consequences of encouraging and motivating poor teaching and causing grade inflation. There is strong evidence that SET “effectiveness” does not measure teaching effectiveness. This paper reviews empirical research examining common concerns about the usefulness (positive and negative) and accuracy of SETs. The findings reveal that student satisfaction relates to their anticipated/expected grades in their courses; hence, they want to get good grades and their …