Gifted Education Commons^™

First-Generation College Student Network, Ashleen Williams, Ainsley Ash

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Authors describe the college’s First-Gen Student Network, a cohort of faculty, students, and practitioners committed to equity, access, and success of firstgeneration learners. Optional biweekly meetings address a range of topics, including financial aid and opportunities for employment.

The Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at the University of Mississippi often prides itself on being the edge of the knife in conversations about equity and access, yet such conversations only work in honors when we commit tangible actions and resources to generate positive outcomes. Over the last couple of years, we have recognized a group that was consistently forgotten in our …

Virtual Honors Forum, Bruce Thompson

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This article describes how one honors leadership team adapted a traditional in-person Forum to a digital platform during the coronavirus crisis. Integrating a variety of asynchronous and synchronous remote technologies created a positive virtual learning experience for honors practitioners and students.

One of the hallmark experiences of honors learning at Frederick Community College (FCC) in Frederick, MD, is participating in the Honors Forum each semester. The Forum is a mini-conference on campus in which students are required to participate whether enrolled in an honors class or attempting to complete an honors contract. There is a registration desk where presenters, faculty …

Modeling Vulnerabilities In The Research Process, Rebecca Summer

Honors in Practice Online Archive

When honors faculty share experiences from their own research, students learn that making mistakes and trying again is an important part of the learning process.

For all our emphasis on independent student inquiry in honors curricula, students get limited examples of the inevitable bumps in the road of advanced research. In our courses, we typically assign published works, which means that the research students read about is complete, polished, and deemed successful by the broader scholarly community. What students do not encounter in these models of successful research are the many uncertainties, missteps, and revisions along the way. Students are …

Putting Community Voice And Knowledge At The Center, Lynn Sondag

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Service-learning curriculum is grounded in a critical, asset-based framework of community engagement to guide honors students beyond a mere acquisition of skills toward understanding how participatory and democratic processes increase social equity and justice. An innovative, collaborative community arts program is described.

Place, Self, Community: City As Text™ In The Twenty-First Century, Bernice Braid, Sara Quay

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs

Acknowledgments

Introduction — Place, Self, Community: City as Text™ in the Twenty-First Century by Bernice Braid

PART 1: Theory and Practice of City as Text™ — Brain Activity and Experiential Learning by Paul Witkovsky • Lost in Learning: Mapping the Position of Teacher in the Classroom and Beyond by Susan M. Cannata, Jesse Peters, Alix Dowling Fink, Edward L. Kinman, JoEllen Pederson, Phillip L. Poplin, and Jessi B. Znosko • Learning from the Land: Creating Authentic Experience-Based Learning that Fosters Sustained Civic Engagement by Ted Martinez and Kevin Gustafson • Integrating Dynamic Systems Theory and City as …

Identification Process Of Black And Hispanic Students In Elementary Gifted Education, Verschello Maria Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A substantial disparity exists between the proportion of students of color, (SOC), compared to White students in gifted and talented (GT) education. The problem of SOC not being proportionately identified for the GT program relative to the total school population at a Southeastern U.S. suburban school district was the problem addressed in this study. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to identify educators’ perspectives of how the GT identification process supports or hinders the identification of SOC. Using Warne’s theory of GT identification, and Renzulli’s theory of intelligence, the research questions focused on educators’ perspectives of how the …

Spatiotemporal Interactions Between Deer And Cattle, Sydney Brewer

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Mule deer, white-tailed deer, and cattle are sympatric on the landscape throughout many portions of Nebraska and encounter each other in time and space. By considering variation in daily activity patterns and non-random patterns in the timing of passage through specific locations, we can better understand whether animals may be avoiding each other temporally when sharing space. I investigated temporal activity patterns and avoidance/attraction ratios to investigate if deer altered their activity patterns in the presence of cattle and if they exhibited avoidance at a study site near McCook, Nebraska, USA. We collected data from 19 game cameras that were …

The Relationship Between Time And Plant Diversity In Prairie Restorations Within The Prairie Corridor On Haines Branch, Elizabeth Park

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This study focuses on better understanding the relationship between the age of prairie restorations and their plant diversity. The study looks specifically at the prairie restorations within the Prairie Corridor on Haines Branch, located west of Lincoln, Nebraska. The data gathered from these restorations show a positive correlation between age and native plant diversity. This diversity indicates that the restorations are fulfilling their purpose by bringing native prairie plants back to the area. From the data I came to these four conclusions, 1) Because the study only included two restorations greater than 10 years old, it is unclear if the …

How Do Art Teachers Describe The Ways In Which Choice-Based Art Lessons May Contribute To An Inclusive Learning Environment?, Skylar M. Gerken

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this research was to highlight the many different ways art educators in New York City create lessons, prompts, and projects with the use of choice-based lessons. By using a choice-based curriculum students will become empowered to make artworks that best represent them. When working within choice-based parameters an inclusive classroom can emerge. The research is backed by literature, theorists and educators that work or have worked in the field of art education. The topic explores how choice should be at the forefront of lesson making, if educators are interested in creating a classroom that could be seen …

Playing At The Crossroads Of Religion And Law: Historical Milieu, Context And Curriculum Hooks In Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This chapter presents the use of Lost & Found – a purpose-built tabletop to mobile game series – to teach medieval religious legal systems. The series aims to broaden the discourse around religious legal systems and to counter popular depiction of these systems which often promote prejudice and misnomers. A central element is the importance of contextualizing religion in period and locale. The Lost & Found series uses period accurate depictions of material culture to set the stage for play around relevant topics – specifically how the law promoted collaboration and sustainable governance practices in Fustat (Old Cairo) in twelfth-century …

Reflections From Gifted Students: A Qualitative Study Examining Social-Emotional Development In Relation To Social Justice-Oriented Citizenship, Margo A. Nauert

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Gifted students have unique social-emotional needs that are amplified through their heightened sensitivities or overexcitabilities. Common traits that gifted students exhibit in addition to their social-emotional needs are similar to those needed for the optimal level of citizenship, the justice-oriented citizen. This qualitative study asked a convenience sample of gifted students to reflect on their social-emotional development and overexcitabilities and how their gifted traits have begun to prepare them for justice-oriented citizenship.To gather data to be coded, nine incoming 7th grade students in a gifted program were recruited from a self-contained gifted program. These students participated in this study by …

Australian Gifted And Talented Education: An Analysis Of Government Policies, Jennifer L. Jolly, Jennifer H. Robins

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Education policy signals the level of support or importance for high-performing or gifted and talented students to school leaders, educators, parents, and other stakeholders. These policies communicate the value or goals of departments of education. Given the importance of education policy, there remains a void in the analysis of gifted and talented education policy, which accounts for less than 1% of the empirical literature. We sought to understand how publicly available individual state and territory departments of education’s gifted and talented education policies and guidance documents coalesce with the NAGC (2019) Pre-K–Grade 12 Gifted Education Programming Standards. Although not developed …

Climate Change Is A Drag: A Mini-Collection Exploring The Intersection Of Drag And Sustainability, Joelle Tangen

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The goal for the outcome of this project is to look at the market where drag and sustainability intersect by focusing on a specific member of this subset, Pattie Gonia, and analyzing their current work to inform a mini-collection of three garments for the same target market. First, observational research was done on Pattie Gonia’s previous work to identify the prevailing themes and styles of the garments. Three central ideas were then chosen to inform the three garments, including a look based on a common piece of outdoor clothing or gear, a look based on an environmental problem, and a …

A Strategic Audit Of Medical Solutions, Christina Gay

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Medical Solutions is a healthcare staffing company that primarily staffs travel nurses. A travel nurse is a licensed, registered nurse who accepts temporary assignment on a contract basis. Founded in 2001 Medical Solutions has grown to include six brands, seven locations, staffing in all 50 states. This report is an industry analysis to better understand their business model. Ranging from external to internal analysis using a PESTE analysis, Porter’s 5 Forces, a SWOT analysis, their competitive advantage, and future recommendations to continue their differentiation approach.

Esperanza Rising And Identity: Exploring Literature And Self In Upper Elementary School, Emma Fuller

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Upper elementary students benefit from exposure to windows and mirrors in literature. The term “mirrors” refers to when students can relate to characters and situations, and see their own lives valued in an academic context. Mirrors are important for representation in schools because it allows students to reflect on their own learning. “Windows” allow students to see a perspective into other people’s lives. They are important because they encourage reflection on different ideas and empathy among students. One of many literary works with strong “windows” and “mirrors” is Pam Munoz Ryan’s Esperanza Rising. In this Senior Project, I focused on …

Special Considerations In Gifted Identification: Increasing Access And Equitable Practices For Underrepresented Populations In An Urban School District, Veda Stewart

Online Theses and Dissertations

Low-socio economic and/or minority students are substantially unidentified for gifted education programs. The disparities in gifted education for underrepresented students persist despite the growth in schools across the country of low income and minority students. Despite efforts to tackle equity issues in gifted education the large gaps of disproportionality persist. Explanations for this occurrence of underrepresentation is linked to the general processes for identifying gifted students, which are based largely on norm referenced standardized tests, with a single score criterion and a referral process that relies heavily on teacher and parent nominations. These identification processes tend to overlook the cultural …

Promoting Privilege: Selecting Students For A Public Gifted School, Douglas G. Wren

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Point of view: I am a cisgender, White male in my sixties. I retired recently after working with children in a professional capacity since the mid-1970s. During my education career, I was an elementary school teacher, gifted teacher, research specialist, and director of research and evaluation in a historically White school district that became majority African American during my tenure.

Value of submission: Numerous educational policies and procedures in the United States benefit children from privileged families over their traditionally underserved counterparts, which include students of color and low-income students. This piece describes a public school district’s inequitable practices related …

Investigating Teachers’ Perspectives Of Gifted Students With Specific Learning Disabilities In Saudi Arabia, Mohamed Aladsani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ perspectives of gifted students with SLD in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, this study aimed at examining the relationships between teachers’ perspectives and background factors, including years of teaching experience and gender, that might affect the teachers’ perspectives. In addition, it investigated the teachers’ perspectives about the existence, identification, and education of gifted students with SLD in different regions in Saudi Arabia. This study used statistical analysis of quantitative data collected from an online survey that was adopted and modified specifically for this study. The study participants included 936 teachers with various backgrounds …

Amazon.Com, Inc Strategic Audit, Ningzhi Luo

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Amazon.com, Inc (Amazon) was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 as an online marketplace for books but later expanded to e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. This large variety of products and innovations has contributed to Amazon as one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world (Eugene Kim, 2018). This study would specifically focus on the e-commerce area and analyze Amazon's position in this market from an external and internal perspective by using three models: Porter's Five Forces, PESTEL, and the SWOT model. The report would identify Amazon's competitive advantages and the challenges it …

Personal Reflections / 12.14.20, José M. Torres

Personal Reflections

On Saturday, December 7, 2020, I got up early at 5:00 a.m., put on a white shirt, a black jacket, and shorts, and joined a zoom call broadcasted from Alexandria, Egypt. A longtime friend, Bill, passed away at age 90 from COVID-19 complications. Bill and his wife Peg, who passed away 12 years ago, opened their home to me in 1980, when I was only 20 years old and needed a place to stay. Six months later, I found a more permanent home. While my time living with them in their home was short, this experience and our continued relationship …