Education Commons^™

Youth Character Building Programs: Why They’Re Important, Celeste Arroyo

Criminology Student Work

No abstract provided.

Adult Education For Japanese Immigrant Community: Social Bonding To Social Bridging, Naomi Nakamura

Community Engagement Student Work

Many Japanese who have been living in the U.S. for more than decades identify themselves as Japanese, not U.S. citizens. This so called transnational identity has an impact on how they assimilate or integrate to American social life. The purpose of this project is to explore the better learning environment and the effects of education for Japanese adult immigrants who may not actively participate in local communities. A workshop was held with Japanese residents in the Boston area to explore microaggressions and how people can think about their engagement with their communities. Workshop evaluation findings suggested that there is a …

What Works For You: Engaging With Antiracism Resources Within A College Setting, Grace Chitam

Community Engagement Student Work

Higher education is often fondly described as the great equalizer. Society has ingrained the idea that if one is able to get to college and earn their degree, they can pave better outcomes for themselves post-graduation. While that may be true for some, this notion oversimplifies how challenging the college experience is, particularly for students of color and other marginalized backgrounds. This project examined how the burden students of color bear of battling racism in its every-day forms on top of their student responsibilities undermines their success. A two-hour workshop was held which endeavored to familiarize participants with antiracism education, …

Educating For Democracy: Policy Recommendations For The Revitalization Of Civic Learning In The United States, Meghan E. O'Brien

Community Engagement Student Work

The recent decades have brought upon a dramatic shift in the United States’ political and social climate. Increases in ideological polarization and extremism have taken hold as individual trust, knowledge, and participation in democratic processes has declined (Gould et al., 2011). These trends have contributed to the rising severity of social issues facing the United States - climate change, income inequality, systemic racism - as well as an inability to collectively address these issues. The need for a solution to these trends has never been greater as the nation struggles to perfect a democratic structure in which citizens are equitably …

The Policy Of Substance Abuse In Liberia: Analysis And Recommendations, Yamah Dolo

Community Engagement Student Work

Countries all over the globe are affected by substance abuse. Substance abuse is a traumatic issue that people around the world battle. Substance use has occurred for many years and seems to keep increasing. According to Parekh, “Substance use disorder (SUD) is complex a condition in which there is uncontrolled use of a substance despite harmful consequence.” (Parekh, 2017). Substance abuse has a significant effect on health, an individual’s well-being, families, relationships, and the post-war community. However, with the information on Liberia, little is known about the substance abuse cases. Liberia is a country that has no health, and there …

Complicating Homelessness: A Workshop For Students And Volunteers, Madeline Wadley

Community Engagement Student Work

Homelessness effects 17 out of every 10,000 people in the United States, and approximately 22 out of every 10,000 people in the city of Asheville, NC. Homeward Bound of Western North Carolina (HBWNC) is a nonprofit organization working to prevent and end homelessness in Asheville through low-barrier services and Housing First practices. HBWNC relies on volunteers from the community and higher education institutions for support in running its programs. While most volunteer training focuses on the day-to-day tasks, boundaries, and procedures related to volunteering with HBWNC, this project focuses on the importance of giving volunteers a solid understanding of homelessness …

Incorporating Environmental Justice Into Youth Education, Morgan F. Prittie

Community Engagement Student Work

Social Justice is a concept which is often glossed over or excluded from student education, particularly the issues associated with Environmental Justice. Discrimination, oppression, and poor environmental practices all coalesce into dangerously impactful issues, which can be combated by further education and exposure. This project seeks to spread awareness of Environmental Justice issues, provide educators with the tools to implement social justice education, and express the importance of such exposure to students. This interdisciplinary project utilizes the facilitation of a workshop with lessons, activities, and opportunities for participants to engage in discussions. The goal of the workshop was to describe …

Environmental Social Justice Issues And Health Risks In Younger Kids From Vulnerable Communities In The United States: Educating Youth Of Immigrant Communities To Address Social Justice Issues, Shilpa J. Kulkarni

Community Engagement Student Work

This project was conducted to examine the environmental social justice issues in the United States and how they are linked to health issues in younger children in low-income communities and people of color through the lenses of multiple theoretical frameworks. The workshop was focused on educating youth from other communities of people of color, providing them resources so that while bridging the cultural gaps they will become allies. The targeted audience was Asian-Indian youth of Maharashtrian communities across the country. The youth of mixed age group and first and second generations of immigrants from those communities participated in the workshop. …

English Language Learner’S Inequities And The Social Reproduction Theory, Cintia Khouzami

Honors Program Contracts

This poster explores the Social Reproduction Theory and connects it to the experiences of English Language Learners (ELL) among various social classes. The research looks into the inequity of resources and opportunities that ELL students receive and how it impacts the rest of their life.

Methods: Through interviews with ELL District Coordinators and ELL Alumni, the quality of education for ELL students will be assessed. Information from scholarly articles, charts, and course content will be used to further the findings and conclusions in the research.

Civic Engagement Beyond Voting: Preparing Community Engaged Citizens In American Secondary Schools, Alexandra Souris

Community Engagement Student Work

No abstract provided.

Stem Ready: Inspiring And Preparing Undergraduate Students For Successful Volunteerism In After-School Stem Programming With Marginalized Youth, Bailey N. Wagner

Community Engagement Student Work

The activities in which children and youth engage while outside of school hours are critical to their development, highlighting the need for quality afterschool programs that engage students – regardless of gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or minority classification. STEM Ready set out to study the effectiveness of an experiential education pedagogy approach in the design of a professional workshop for undergraduate volunteers who work directly with these marginalized populations in afterschool programs. This project hosted a training that gave the opportunity for afterschool volunteers to come together to be trained on STEM curriculum that has been developed in collaboration with …

The Unheard Stories Of Service-Learners: An Exploratory Study Of The Assumptions Of Race, Identity, And Privilege Within The Service-Learning Experience, J. Faith Krefft

Community Engagement Student Work

Service-learning has become a powerful pedagogical practice in Higher Education. Yet many of its practices have been premised on the idea that participants are white and serving a community unlike their own. Research suggests that the perspectives and identities of students of a diverse background participating in service-learning experiences may be unheard and/or misunderstood. Through a qualitative exploratory study, this study examined the perspective of nonwhite students. Four students from two higher education institutions selected to participate in a set of longitudinal, semi-structured, in-depth interviews in order to better understand their perspectives and experiences in their service-learning field site. Service-learning …

Poverty Through Simulation: Examining Concerns With Affordable Housing In Relation To The Cycle Of Poverty, Emily Mccaffrey

Community Engagement Student Work

This social justice-based project used evaluated the level of understanding that students of Endicott College had regarding poverty within the United States. This project provided a space for students to communicate with each other using discussion questions about poverty to guide the conversations. All students were given the chance to participate in an online simulation during class that provided them with an opportunity to live in someone else's shoes for thirty days, after losing their housing. This project was conducted with one traditional class setting while the other was conducted completely online using an online platform provided by Endicott. The …

“I Can’T Believe I’M In Charge”: How Zlotkoswki’S “Students As Colleagues” Model Prepares Bentley University Service-Learning Students For Civic Leadership, Brian Shea

Community Engagement Student Work

Business schools exhibit a remarkable ability to produce graduates who are exceptionally analytical; however, these students have been shown to lack sensitivity to the impact of actions taken in the workplace, in communities, and in society. Service-learning is a method that has been proven to instill stronger ethics in business students. Bentley University, a business school in Waltham, Massachusetts, models its Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Center after the “Students as Colleagues” framework championed by its founding Director, Dr. Edward Zlotkowski (2006). By employing this approach, Bentley positions its undergraduate students as leaders in social impact initiatives, thereby preparing these students …

Assessing The Impact Of Mentoring Underserved Youth Through Service Learning, Breanna Walukevich

Higher Education Student Work

Mentoring underserved youth through service learning can provide various positive impacts for both mentors and mentees (Banks, 2010; Hughes et al., 2012; Rhodes, Grossman & Resch, 2000; Thompson & Kelly-Vance, 2001; Washburn-Moses, Fry & Sanders, 2014; Weiler et al., 2013). This qualitative interview study assessed the perceived impact that a mentoring program had on mentees, who were underserved youth at an elementary school in a low-income community, and mentors, who were college students participating through a service learning course. The findings revealed overall positive outcomes for both the mentors and mentees. The mentees benefited academically and looked up to their …

Logged In And Engaged: Examining How Social Media Can Develop, Maintain, And Increase College Student Engagement, Matthew Moquin

Higher Education Student Work

The purpose of this study was to examine how student affairs professionals, primarily those working in student involvement, utilized various social media technologies to increase their engagement with undergraduate college students. This study utilized Astin’s (1984) theory of student involvement, as well as a collection of literature surrounding the impact of social media on college students and their engagement in order to understand the influence social media can have when engaging with students. Since there is a limited amount of literature and research surrounding the subject of social media and its role in student engagement, a study was done that …

Assessment Of A Professional Development Program On Adult Learning Theory, Melinda Malik

Higher Education Student Work

Librarians at colleges and universities invested in graduate education must understand and incorporate adult learning theories in their reference and instruction interactions with graduate students to more effectively support the students’ learning. After participating in a professional development program about adult learning theory, librarians in this study reported that, in many ways, they already employed teaching and learning strategies grounded in one or more adult learning theories. They also indicated gaining a greater awareness of student development, enabling them to more successfully tailor their interactions.