Education Commons^™

Delving Into The Forbidden: Banned And Challenged Literature Syllabus, Grace Burns

Senior Honors Projects

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them,” (Ray Bradbury).

Literature is a mirror which unites even the most unlikely characters, invites us to reflect on our lives, promotes critical thinking and discussion as well as explores the themes of humanity over time. As the world around us changes, then, it is only natural that literature changes along with it. Exposure to literature of many kinds can only aid in the development of a richer appreciation for the world around us and the many lives within it.

Further, the consistent evolution …

Elevating The Environment Through Artistic Expression, Becky Gumbrewicz

Senior Honors Projects

REBECCA GUMBREWICZ (Environmental Science and Management)

Elevating the Environment Through Artistic Expression

Sponsor: Judith Swift (Communication Studies, Coastal Institute)

Currently there are multiple areas of environmental concern that require not only scientific research but increased public awareness in order to motivate further action toward preservation of our environment or remediation of human impacts. To promote a broader perspective of the most effective ways to communicate science, this project offers the culmination of an environmentally-focused art showcase of student interpretations of science that one could posit elevated public perception of the environment. An integral part of conducting research is understanding how …

Bilingualism And The American Family, Caitlin M. Nickerson

Senior Honors Projects

Bilingualism is the ability to speak more than one language fluently. People of all ages may aspire to learn a second or third language in order to fulfill both personal goals and communicate with a variety of people in different contexts. Irrespective of one’s walk of life or socioeconomic status, being bilingual is a valuable skill. Although English is the language of power in the United States, there are hundreds of other languages spoken in this country.

There are a number of different ways in which children can become bilingual. For example, they may enter the school system speaking the …

Play Time Theater: A Non-Profit Children's Theatre Company, Alexander Diehl

Senior Honors Projects

I grew up participating in the theatrical performing arts since the age of three. Since then, I have been in, on average, at least one production a year for eighteen years. I attribute much of my success to the life lessons I learned growing as up a “theatre kid.” Theatre is a great creative outlet for individuals to grow into their best selves in a diverse atmosphere where each person’s uniqueness is celebrated. From my experience, and the experience of others around me, I have found that theatre helps individuals build self-esteem, confidence, and happiness. Although there are so many …

Pairing Technology With Effective Literacy Strategies, Alexis L. Carlson

Senior Honors Projects

School districts and policy makers have pushed schools toward tomorrow, without preparing them for today. Regardless of whether a district decides to spend thousands of dollars becoming a 1-1 school (i.e. one device per one student), or save money by instituting a bring your own device policy (B.Y.O.D), the results are the same. Students and teachers have been thrown into a digital world without first receiving training on personal and professional use of technology. Though I originally set out to combine literacy strategies and technology, I realized I needed to first build own my personal knowledge based on education technologies …

China's 80后 And 90后: The Next Generation Of Leaders In The World's Next Superpower, A Students-Teaching-Students Course, Patrick Slavin

Senior Honors Projects

In light of China’s recent reemergence as a global superpower, it is becoming increasingly important for westerners to understand its history and culture. For current college students, the culture of China’s youth is particularly pertinent.

In this project, a course, HPR 107: Chinese Youth Culture, was designed and taught through the Students-Teaching-Students program, which provides senior Honor’s Program students the opportunity to design and teach their own Honor’s Program course. The HPR 107 course focuses on China’s 80后 and 90后 generations, those born in the 1980s and 1990s, respectively.

This multi-faceted project includes: subject matter research, course development, pedagogy development, …

La Barbe: Feminine Beards And Other Mysteries Of French Grammatical Gender, Robin F. Keller

Senior Honors Projects

Grammatical gender in French language is one of the biggest guessing games for a native English speaker. Why a table is feminine and a book is masculine is a question that plagues those learning French as a second language. In French, all nouns have gender, masculine and feminine. The complication: only a small percentage of the nouns are assigned gender semantically leaving the remaining which are assigned gender seemingly arbitrarily. For English native speakers, the distinction of these basic parts in a foreign language is not a natural skill. The simple fact that nouns are either feminine or masculine is …

Répétez S’Il Vous Plaît !: L’Enseignement De La Compréhension Auditive Dans La Salle De Classe, Jordan M. Bessette

Senior Honors Projects

Foreign language acquisition is a subject of increasing importance in today’s world, acting as the backbone of international relations, trade and communication. In addition, through examination of a foreign culture and language, individuals can come to appreciate philosophies and values other than those pertaining to their own society. However, the difficulty and apparent uselessness of the subject material in the “here and now” dissuades many students from continuing language acquisition after obligatory general education requirements have been fulfilled. Through examining acquisition theories and factors which affect students’ motivation to continue second language acquisition; I developed a strategy in order to …

A Case Study On Perspectives, Whitney Tallarico

Senior Honors Projects

The Rhode Island Training School becomes a home to juvenile offenders of the law. Home, in so far as it is a place that they sleep, eat, and spend a lot of time in, as well as the atmosphere in which learning and growth occur during the adolescent phase of their lives. There is a very high rate of released inmates who return to the facility for things like running away from group homes, not checking in with their parole officers, or other misdemeanors. It is my belief that this is, at least in part, due to the fact that …

The Act Of Writing A Children's Book, Alexandra Mancini

Senior Honors Projects

Literacy is one of the most important aspects of teaching and education for young children and old in the US and across the world. There have been numerous studies indicating the profound impact that reading has, not only in academia but also in the workforce later on in life. The earlier children are exposed to literacy topics, the better success they demonstrate in the future. It is for these reasons that I selected a topic concerning literacy. The purpose of my project was multifaceted. I had purposes for young children ages 3-5. The essence of my project was to write …

The Value Of Humanities Education And What Higher Education Must Do To Keep It Alive, Stephen A. Yang

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Teaching English In The Dominican Republic, Cassandra Craig

Senior Honors Projects

As thousands of immigrants and refugees are entering the U.S., and our school systems, each year, English as a second language (ESL) classes are becoming more and more necessary. As a future ESL teacher, it is crucial that I am aware of the wide variety of school environments from which they are coming. My curiosity brought me to Altamira, Dominican Republic, where I was able to experience first hand the school environment of my potential future students. Altamira is a small town located a half hour outside of Santiago, Dominican Republic. There, I was fortunate to stay with an extremely …

Living Proof: The Decline In Northeast Arts Education - And What Can Be Done About It., Chris Comer

Senior Honors Projects

All my life, I have been raised and tempered by the public schooling systems of the Northeastern states. As I near the completion of my undergraduate studies, I can look back at all my years of education and see how my personality and skill-sets were forged into what they are today. Now, in the age of the No Child Left Behind Act, and in the middle of a war overseas, public schools nationwide and here in the Northeast are finding it increasingly difficult to produce the test results and proof of knowledge that is being asked of them. This mismatch …

Entertaining Politics And The College Student, Alexandra Rubin

Senior Honors Projects

Mass media is crucial in forming and reflecting opinion in society. Newspaper, television, and the internet all play a critical role in the daily lives of Americans; disseminating information that shapes views of life, culture, and politics. It seems like all forms of media communication, either subliminally or blatantly, reflect the political climate of the day. The news media flood American homes with images, audio, and commentary on political happenings. My questions are as follows: How much basic political knowledge does an average college student possess? Where does the average college student receive his or her political knowledge? Does celebrity …

Biolojam – The Educational Comic, Stacey Barrie

Senior Honors Projects

BioloJam is a biology comic aimed towards 7th and 8th grade students. The goal of the project was to create an educational resource that students would find entertaining and enlightening. The project is available on the web and is free to use for educational purposes by teachers, students, and parents. There are two comics: the larger, more complicated “Cell Breakout” and the smaller, more conversational “Giraffic Park.” In Cell Breakout, the three heroes are trapped inside a video game in a plant cell, and learn all about cell functions as they try to escape. In Giraffic Park, the trio are …