Education Commons^™

Reflections On Critical Pedagogy In America Latina: La Lucha Continua, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"When I speak in Mexico, I support efforts there to create a revolutionary critical pedagogy—one that has not been domesticated and depotentiated by neoliberal dogma. This means the inclusion of a decolonial pedagogy which challenges the “coloniality of power” (patron de poder colonial) that still resides at the heart of post-colonial societies. I would advise as a central, overarching goal of critical pedagogy the struggle for a socialist alternative to the “value form of labor” that exists in capitalist societies throughout North and South America, and that such efforts must be transnational in scope since capitalism is now transnational in …

A "Choose-Your-Own" Classroom-Based Activity That Promotes Scientific Inquiry About Rna Interference, Jeremy L. Hsu

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

RNA interference (RNAi), the process that results in the degradation of a target gene’s mRNA, is a fundamental part of eukaryotic gene regulation and is also an important molecular technique that allows for experimental manipulation of gene expression without altering DNA sequences. Despite the importance of RNAi, there have been relatively few lecture-based activities designed to teach about the consequences of this process and counter common misconceptions. I present here an inquiry-based activity that is centered around a “choose your own experiment” design where students generate hypotheses and critically evaluate their ideas by choosing several simulated experiments. The activity presents …

A Simple And Flexible Model To Calculate Annual Merit Raises For Health Sciences Faculty, Reza Mehvar

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

The objective of this study was to develop and implement a simple and flexible mathematical model to generate merit-based salary increases as a percentage of the faculty base salaries, with the flexibility to choose the range of merit raises.

Methods

Annual faculty performance scores, faculty base salaries, and available salary increase pool were used in a relatively simple linear model to determine the individual faculty merit raises as a percentage of their base salary. The core model allows the selection of a slope value that determines how steeply the merit raise changes with a change in the performance score. …

Let’S Talk: An Examination Of Parental Involvement As A Predictor Of Stem Achievement In Math For High School Girls, Nicol R. Howard, Keith E. Howard, Randy T. Busse, Christine Hunt

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This research was conducted to examine the influence of parental involvement, in the form of parent conversations, on mathematics achievement for high school girls. Data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) public-use file provided a sample of 13,694 students, including 6,592 girls for our analyses. A scale for measuring parent conversations was developed and regression analyses were conducted to examine whether this scale variable predicted mathematics achievement. Results indicated that conversational parental involvement was a significant predictor of mathematics achievement for Black and White girls, but not Hispanic and Asian. Implications for research and policy initiatives are …

Exploring The Implementation Of Lesson-Level Udl Principles Through An Observation Protocol, Joanne M. Van Boxtel, Trisha Sugita

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The researchers piloted an observational protocol to examine the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and checkpoint strategies used during daily instruction with a small sample of general and special education teachers. Observational research on UDL has been recommended within the literature. Researchers used the high-leverage practice of explicit instruction as the anchor for the design of the observation protocol. Findings indicate there is alignment between observed UDL principles and strategies employed at the lesson level and teachers’ self-reports of the UDL principles and strategies employed. Findings also suggest that teachers are using several UDL principles within their daily instruction …

Smoller And King: California Should Have Its Own Solar Decathlon, Fred Smoller, Richard King

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

"While the Federal Government has pulled back on the reins, California is vigorously going green. California’s legislature has passed ambitious climate change legislation while governors of both parties have made tackling climate change a priority. Last month, the City of Los Angeles released its own ambitious Green New Deal.

To increase its impact, the California competition could be expanded to include a sustainability exposition which would include professional development and consumer workshops, as well as K-12 education events. Sustainability vendors would display and explain their products, services and new technologies. As many as 100,000 visitors per day could visit the …

School-Wide Implementation Of Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports In An Alternative School Setting: A Case Study, Amy-Jane Griffiths, Elena Lilles Diamond, James Alsip, Michael Furlong, Gale M. Morrison, Bich Do

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Aims

The purpose of this 1‐year case study was to identify how School‐Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SW‐PBIS) can be adapted to meet the needs of students in alternative schools and to evaluate the early impact of SW‐PBIS on discipline outcomes.

Methods

Suggestions for adaptations are provided at each stage of the intervention process with a focus on buy‐in, training, data collection, and resource allocation.

Results

Data from this case study included information about key components of the implementation process as well as initial outcomes. Process data revealed the importance of stakeholder buy‐in, training opportunities, and potential adaptations to …

God And Governance: Reflections On Living In The Belly Of The Beast, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

In this critical rage article, Peter McLaren unleashes his revolutionary critique aimed at capitalist injustice behind postdigital socio-technological developments, historical forms of injustice such as racism and colonialism, and recent political events and developments including but not limited to US interventions in Latin America and the presidency of Donald Trump. Rising from two important prongs of McLaren’s work—revolutionary critical pedagogy and liberation theology—the article connects myth, religion, science, politics, technology, and humanity. The article reveals McLaren’s most intimate thoughts and experiences and aligns them with sophisticated theory and philosophy. It dances between the individual and the collective, the realistic and …

The Effect Of Team-Building Interventions On Group Cohesion And Academic Performance, Olivia Boyd, Erica Green, Andie Burns, Carly Nasch, Hannah Pickerell, Benjamin D. Rosenberg

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The present study investigates the effect of group cohesion on academic success in undergraduate students in a semester-long group project. Students in Research Methods classes form small groups at the beginning of the semester and conduct experiments with their teammates throughout the course. Oftentimes, professors do not include any team-building interventions in their class sessions. However, research shows that a sense of group cohesion enhances group performance across various settings (e.g., on sports teams). The more cohesive a group feels both socially and professionally, the more likely they are to work together towards shared goals. This research aims to test …

The Emory-Tibet Science Initiative: Rethinking Cross-Cultural Science And Teaching, Kelsey Marie Gray, Arri Eisen

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The Emory-Tibet Science Initiative was founded when the Dalai Lama invited Emory to develop and teach a comprehensive curriculum in modern science to Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns. The project was built to grow and nurture a two-way exchange between complementary systems of knowledge. In the 10 years since the first days of the pilot, the interactions between people and places and the scientific and learning processes have served as a platform for exploring teaching across cultures and enriching approaches to teaching and science more generally. As a result of these interactions, we expand our definition of inclusivity in the …

Research-To-Practice Brief: Using Labor Market Projections For Successful Transition Planning, Amy-Jane Griffiths, Meghan Cosier, Sara Morgan

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Employment rates and post-school transition outcomes for individuals with disabilities remain alarmingly low compared to peers without disabilities. Transition plans often focus on skills associated with employment opportunities that are immediately available to the individual with a disability. We contend that transition plans must be developed with specific attention to projected labor market needs to ensure that we are preparing students with disabilities for long-term success. This research brief describes how the results of an in-depth labor market analysis can be used to develop strong transition plans that prepare students for careers that will last far into the future.

2nd Place Contest Entry: International Adoption: Its Rise In The United States And Downfall In The Education System, Nicole Williams

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Nicole Williams' submission for the 2019 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won second place. It contains her essay on using library resources, a three-page sample of her research project on developmental challenges and its implication on education for international adoptees, and her works cited list.

Nicole is a junior at Chapman University, majoring in Psychology and Integrated Educational Studies. Her faculty mentor is Dr. Anne Steketee.

Increasing Distance Instruction Through Electronic Newsletters, Lauren Dubell, Edward "Cotton" Coslett

Library Presentations, Posters, and Audiovisual Materials

This poster details the new outreach method we utilized to increase our bibliographic instruction sessions with the distributed Brandman campuses served by the Chapman Leatherby Libraries. The use of our new electronic newsletter increased the amount of bibliographic instruction sessions that we performed during the 2017-18 year.

Fail Forward! Perspectives On Failure In The Writing Classroom, Brandie Bohney, Missy Springsteen-Haupt, Stacy Stosich, Nora K. Rivera

English Faculty Articles and Research

"In this inaugural Teacher-to-Teacher column, three classroom teachers discuss how they approach failure to normalize it and help students work toward problem solving rather than answer getting in their own classrooms. Missy Springsteen-Haupt explains how sharing her own authentic writing failures helps students see the natural emotional connection to their writing as normal and also to prove to them, as Shirley Rose notes, that 'all writers always have more to learn about writing' (59). Framing student writing in terms of growth mindsets, Stacy Stosich discusses a practical strategy for allowing for ugly drafts and redefining success and failure. Finally, Nora …

Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports In An Alternative Education Setting: Examining The Risk And Protective Factors Of Responders And Non-Responders, Amy-Jane Griffiths, Jared T. Izumi, James Alsip, Michael Furlong, Gale M. Morrison

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This research examined the risk and protective factors of responders and nonresponders to a schoolwide implementation of positive behavioral interventions and supports (SW-PBIS) within an alternative school. Students completed self-perception measures of individual, school, community, and home systems. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated a statistically significant difference between responders and nonresponders on the individual and school systems models. Direct logistic regression indicated that within these models, hostility, destructive expression of anger, depression, academic self-concept, attitude to teachers, and attitude to school each made a significant contribution in identifying responders and nonresponders. Findings suggest that factors at the individual and school …

Concept Inventories As A Resource For Teaching Evolution, Robert E. Furrow, Jeremy L. Hsu

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Understanding evolution is critical to learning biology, but few college instructors take advantage of the body of peer-reviewed literature that can inform evolution teaching and assessment. Here we summarize the peer-reviewed papers on tools to assess student learning of evolutionary concepts. These published concept inventories provide a resource for instructors to design courses, gauge student preparation, identify key misconceptions in their student population, and measure the impact of a lesson, course, or broader curriculum on student learning. Because these inventories vary in their format, target audience, and degree of validation, we outline and explain these features. In addition to summarizing …

Impact Of Experience Corps® Participation On Children’S Academic Achievement And School Behavior, George W. Rebok, Jeanine M. Parisi, Jeremy S. Barron, Michelle C. Carlson, Ike Diibor, Kevin D. Frick, Linda P. Fried, Tara L. Gruenewald, Jin Huang, Sylvia Mcgill, Christine M. Ramsey, William A. Romani, Teresa E. Seeman, Erwin Tan, Elizabeth K. Tanner, Li Xing, Qian-Li Xue

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

This article reports on the impact of the Experience Corps® (EC) Baltimore program, an intergenerational, school-based program aimed at improving academic achievement and reducing disruptive school behavior in urban, elementary school students in Kindergarten through third grade (K-3). Teams of adult volunteers aged 60 and older were placed in public schools, serving 15 h or more per week, to perform meaningful and important roles to improve the educational outcomes of children and the health and well-being of volunteers. Findings indicate no significant impact of the EC program on standardized reading or mathematical achievement test scores among children in grades 1–3 …

Teaching Against The Grain: A Conversation Between The Editors Of The Griffith Journal Of Law & Human Dignity And Peter Mclaren On The Importance Of Critical Pedagogy In Law School, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This article is a dialogue between the Editors of the Griffith Journal of Law & Human Dignity and leading scholar Peter McLaren, speaking to the importance of critical pedagogy within education and law.

Flipping The Jane Austen Classroom, Lynda A. Hall

English Faculty Articles and Research

The contemporary Austen classroom might appreciate cultural and racial diversity, examine popular culture’s distortions of the original texts, and consider multimodal ways of reading. This paper reflects on a course that “flipped” the research process in order to “find” Austen and her works in the popular culture and to evaluate our understanding in the twenty-first century. Students discovered the commodification and distortion of “Jane Austen” and conducted research for creative projects to learn more about the social, cultural, and historical contexts of the written texts.

Advanced Placement (Ap) Computer Science Principles: Searching For Equity In A Two-Tiered Solution To Underrepresentation, Keith Howard, Douglas D. Havard

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between students’ participation in the two high school AP computer science exam options and their selected fields of study once they enter post-secondary education. Two studies using national public-use datasets of participation and performance were conducted. Study 1 compared score distributions for the traditional Computer Science A exam to those of the newer Computer Science Principles exam during its first two years of implementation. In Study 1, Chi-square analyses revealed large differences in performance between the two exams, with the Computer Science Principles scores clustering more around marginal pass rates. …

All Advanced Placement (Ap) Computer Science Is Not Created Equal: A Comparison Of Ap Computer Science A And Computer Science Principles, Douglas D. Havard, Keith Howard

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This article compares the two most prominent courses of Advanced Placement (AP) computer science study offered throughout 9-12 grades in the U.S. The structure, guidelines, components, and exam formats of the traditional AP Computer Science A course and the relatively newer AP Computer Science Principles course were compared to examine differences in content and emphases. A depth-of-learning analysis was conducted employing Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy to examine potential differences in rigor and challenge represented by the two options, particularly as it relates to acquiring computer programming proficiency. Analyses suggest structural differences in both course content and end-of-course exam components likely result …

Mathematics For Whom: Reframing And Humanizing Mathematics, Cathery Yeh, Brande M. Otis

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"In this paper, we share a process in which we, as mathematics teacher educators and education researchers, have worked in collaboration with K–6 teachers and students to analyze the purported neutrality of mathematics textbook word problems and to consider ways to use mathematics to analyze social inequities in the world. In the sections that follow, we describe the framework that grounds our development of justice-oriented mathematics curriculum and share an example of how textbook analysis can serve as an entryway to investigations that raise students’ awareness of social issues while developing their power as mathematics thinkers and doers. Drawing from …

Construction Of A Scale Of Contemplative Practice In Higher Education: An Exploratory Study, Maryann Krikorian, Randy T. Busse

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Some scholars have formed a more expansive view of knowledge that moves beyond the cognitive notion of intellect. For example, emotional intelligence theory posits that human intelligence encompasses both cognitive and emotional competencies, providing a framework for a relatively new concept known as contemplative practice. The purposes of this study were: (a) to develop a self-report measure, the Scale of Contemplative Practice in Higher Education (SCOPE), and (b) to explore issues of validity and reliability related to the SCOPE. An extensive review of the literature, reference to personal experiences, and consultation with an expert panel were used to generate scale …