Education Commons^™

Turning Theory Into Practice: An Application Of Queer Family Theory For Graduate Students, Shawn N. Mendez, Samuel H. Allen

Feminist Pedagogy

This paper describes an original teaching activity for instructors of graduate students. Leveraging a critical, transformative, and intersectional pedagogical perspective applied to graduate education, this paper prepares instructors to effectively teach queer theory through an application of the Hegemonic Heteronormativity (HH) model, introduced by Allen and Mendez in 2018. The HH model identifies heteronormativity as a pervasive, three-pronged hegemony, each of which shifts and changes intersectionally and over time. The three-part assignment described in this paper asks students to read the Hegemonic Heteronormativity manuscript independently before reviewing the model with instructor facilitation. Then, students apply the model to real-life examples …

My First Time Ungrading: Approach Used And Reflections, Heather Leslie

Feminist Pedagogy

A few months ago, I began devouring information about ungrading with a fervent appetite. I started with the book Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What To Do Instead) edited by Susan Blum and listened to just about every podcast where she was interviewed about this topic. I then read other books she recommended like Wad-Ja-Get: The Grading Game in American Education by Howard Kirschenbaum and Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, and Praise by Alfie Kohn. Recently, I have become much more dialed into the ungrading movement by reading articles from Teachers Going …

Cómo Mejorar Las Clases De Idioma Para Los Estudiantes Introvertidos, Katie Burba

World Languages and Cultures

The intent of this project is to research and observe how current language teaching techniques could be improved to better accommodate introverted students. One third of the population identifies as introverted, yet language classes are obviously designed for extroverted students. Introverted students have unique learning styles that are being overlooked, and this project aims to create options that would improve introvert’s language acquisition.

This project consists in three parts: first, an observation of identified introverts and extroverts in beginning and intermediate language classes at Cal Poly. I kept an informal journal on what is working and what isn’t working for …

Cultural Exposure For Cal Poly Orientation Programs: Training Orientation Leaders To Promote An Inclusive Environment And Creating Respect And Diversity Programming For Incoming Students, Sofia Rodriguez Mata

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo is home to the largest student run orientation program in the nation. The success of the program is due to a combination of student volunteer involvement, comprehensive topic coverage, campus and community involvement, and dedicated leadership. Topics to ensure student success are carefully researched, conceptualized, and implemented to construct programming for Soar and Week of Welcome. As an Executive Board Member, supervising a committee focused on student and student supporter transition and awareness topics, one has the option to specialize on projects. Improvement of respect and diversity training and programming needed to …

Cataloging Lesson Plans Developed By Pre-Service Science Teachers During A Summer Research Experience, Robert Tollman Mclaren

Physics

This study is modeled after the senior project “Teachers Who Conduct Research and their Ability to Apply their Experience to Lesson Plans” by Cal Poly student Megan Ziegler and includes an independent analysis of the 2011 and 2012 lesson plans that participants in the STEM Teacher and Researcher (STAR) Program developed as part of their summer research experience. At the end of the STAR summer research program, STAR Fellows are required to submit lesson plans. During Spring Quarter of 2012, I had the opportunity to catalog lesson developed during Summer 2011. Later in Fall Quarter of 2012, Cal Poly undergraduates …

Teacher Internship Report- Righetti High School, Gabriel Ponce, Gabriel Ponce

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

The Internship/Project report includes validation documents required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary level progress of instruction in Agriculture. The documents are concurrently used for the Ag Incentive Review process at RighettiHigh School conducted by representatives of the California Department of Education. The internship included the development of a comprehensive program plan for Righetti High School. The plan includes information to receive state/local funding, outline the goals and objectives of the program, along with an overview of Righetti High School, the agriculture program and community.

An Examination Of Summer Bridge Programs For First-Generation College Students, Emily Christine Otewalt

Psychology and Child Development

During the last fifty years, nearly half of all students who entered a two- or four-year university withdrew without obtaining a degree. Students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnic minority students, and students who were the first in their family to attend college were particularly vulnerable to this attrition. The following senior project examines current research on the backgrounds and attrition rates of first-generation college students, how "Summer Bridge Programs" aim to assist these students, and where shortcoming exist in current "Summer Bridge Program" assessments.

Agent Based Modeling As An Educational Tool, Jonathan H. Fuller, Rodger Johnson, Vic Castillo

STAR Program Research Presentations

Motivation is a key element in high school education. One way to improve motivation and provide content, while helping address critical thinking and problem solving skills, is to have students build and study agent based models in the classroom. This activity visually connects concepts with their applied mathematical representation. “Engaging students in constructing [models] may provide a bridge between frequently disconnected conceptual and mathematical forms of knowledge.” (Levy and Wilensky, 2011)

Using The R Library Rpanel For Gui-Based Simulations In Introductory Statistics Courses, Ryan M. Allison

Statistics

As a student, I noticed that the statistical package R (http://www.r-project.org) would have several benefits of its usage in the classroom. One benefit to the package is its free and open-source nature. This would be a great benefit for instructors and students alike since it would be of no cost to use, unlike other statistical packages. Due to this, students could continue using the program after their statistical courses and into their professional careers. It would be good to expose students while they are in school to a tool that professionals use in industry. R also has powerful …

Hydroponic Production: An Educational Dvd For High School Agricultural Education, Lindy Mattice, Chelsey Brown

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to create an educational video based upon hydroponic farming. It was created for agricultural educators, in hope high school agricultural teachers would show it in their classrooms. The goal was for students to be able to see a commercial style hydroponic system, and to understand the basic concepts of operation. The video was intended to be supplemented with additional printed information on alternative farming methods. It was not intended to be a sole source of information, but should instead be used to enhance the learning environment for students.

The survey of local high school …