Digital Commons Network^™

The Gender Imbalance In U.S. Outbound Study Abroad: A Case Study Of Semester At Sea, Jessica L. Ryan

Capstone Collection

The purpose of this study is to explore the phenomenon of female college students studying abroad with Semester at Sea (SAS) at twice the rate of their male peers, in the hope of better understanding the significant gender imbalance overall in U.S. outbound study abroad. To put this issue into context, this study uses the theoretical framework of Deci and Ryan’s (1985) Self-Determination Theory of Motivation. Data was analyzed through the lens of intrinsic verses extrinsic motivation to answer the guiding research question: Is there a difference between male and female college students in their motivations to study abroad and, …

Travel Tales: The Role Of Storytelling In Abroad Experience And Healing, Colleen N. Mcmurray

Capstone Collection

This capstone paper examines the perceived effectiveness of storytelling in the healing process. It aims to answer the question: What role does storytelling play in the healing of returning travelers? The study was conducted by analyzing forty digital videos, categorizing themes, and analyzing the themes in relation to themes found within several articles about the power and effects of storytelling. Five principal themes were used from the data collected. The themes were then used to gain a deeper understanding of how storytelling makes the storyteller feel and how storytelling can be used for healing. The author of this paper has …

Addressing The Past, Embracing The Future: An Analysis Of How Historic Inequality Has Created Current Obstacles To Learning English In Brazil And A Proposal For A New Community-Based Approach, Aja C. Bryant

MA TESOL Collection

This paper contextualizes current challenges to English learning in Brazil within the educational history of the country. It explores the ways in which language, both native literacy and foreign, has been used to set apart and advantage the elite class, while educational policy and approaches have served to pacify and control the majority. This history has left psychological, cultural, and economic legacies which inhibit learning today. Nevertheless, modern globalization is placing increasing pressure on Brazilians to achieve fluency in English and other languages. This paper briefly outlines the new and complex intellectual and social skills needed to participate in a …

Environmental Education In Vietnam: A Case Study At Le Loi Elementary School, Emily Heck Heck

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of the research I conducted for this Independent Study Project was to get an in-depth understanding of how elementary school teachers and students think about the environment, environmental problems, and how to include environmental themes in education in Vietnam. I chose to focus on primary school-aged children, as they are a generation growing up in an era of global warming and daunting threats to the environment brought on by human activity. I conducted my research at Le Loi Elementary School in Hue, Vietnam, where I used a variety of research methods to learn from teachers and students including …

Jordanian Special Needs Children’S Access To Services: Parental Perspective, Selena Rincon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study was to investigate the point of view of parents of special needs children in regards to their access to financial, medical, and educational services in Jordan. The researcher was interested in the question: Do parents of special needs children believe that the government offers adequate educational, financial, and medical services for their special needs children? This study is significant because special needs children are an important part of Jordanian society and must receive proper services in order to develop their abilities as much as possible and become active members of society. Also, it is important …

Nutrition And Education In An Urbanizing Nation, Molly Pritz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Child malnutrition is a growing public health issue in Nepal, particularly in urban areas. Not eating enough, or not eating enough of healthy foods, can have life-long implications on development and cognitive ability. Because of its relevance to development within the country, many donor organizations and non-governmental organizations are working to promote child nutrition education programs. The purpose of this research is to investigate the implementation and structure of urban child nutrition educational programs involving treatment and prevention in Kathmandu, Nepal. Through qualitative interviews and field observations with three primary organizations, this research analyzes the patterns and disconnects between various …

Furendei Wama Garifuna Aprendemos En Garifuna, Emmanuel Melgoza-Alfaro

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Entre el Pacífico y la Costa de Nicaragua hay una brecha cultural. En la Costa hay comunidades étnicas y una de ellas es la comunidad Garífuna. Esta comunidad ha estado trabajando en la revitalización de su lengua y su cultura. Durante mi primer viaje a Orinoco, escuché a la maestra de lengua Garífuna hablar de la importancia de la revitalización de la lengua garífunas en la cultura. Se han hecho muchos esfuerzos por medio del gobierno regional, la comunidad Garífuna y organizaciones internacionales para revitalizar esta lengua. Esta comunidad ha estado trabajando para revitalizar tanto la lengua como la cultura …

The Role Of Occupational Therapy In Implementing Inclusive Education In A Residential Care Facility: A Case Study, Erica Steinhoff

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

South Africa has been in the process of implementing inclusive education since 1996, and recent research has emphasized that strong education support services are needed to achieve inclusive education. In order to better understand the role that occupational therapy plays in implementing inclusive education, I explored how occupational therapy intersects with the implementation of inclusive education at Lungisisa Indlela Village (LIV), a residential care facility for orphaned and vulnerable children with approximately 200 children in Verulam, South Africa.

I conducted a case study by engaging in participant observation in everyday activities around the village with the children, conducting informal interviews …

Government And Private Primary Schooling In Rural Sikkim: Understanding Perceptions And Problems, Liam Toney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Private school enrollment has been increasing across India, and there is evidence that poor government school quality is the impetus for this trend. Generally, wealthier states have lower levels of private school enrollment due to higher quality government schools. However, in the small, relatively higher-income Himalayan state of Sikkim, almost one third of primary level children from rural areas are enrolled in private schools, and government school enrollment at the primary level is falling year by year. This study explores community perceptions surrounding the relative quality of one government and one private school located in Lingmoo, a rural village in …

Teoría Y Práctica: La Educación Liberadora Y La Disputa Contrahegemónica En Los Bachilleratos Populares Germán Abdala Y Sergio Karakachoff / Theory And Practice: Problem-Posing Education And Counterhegemonic Struggle In The Germán Abdala And Sergio Karakachoff Popular High Schools, Rebecca Millberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Los ‘Bachilleratos Populares de Jóvenes y Adultos’ surgieron en Argentina a fines de los años noventa como una respuesta a problemas sociales graves, como el de una población grande en riesgo educativo, que resultaron de las políticas neoliberales del país. Los bachilleratos populares se basan en la tradición freireana como movimientos sociales de resistencia para organizar y dar fuerzas a las clases populares además de educar a la gente que no recibía el apoyo necesario de la educación pública en Argentina. En la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, el Bachillerato Popular Germán Abdala, en el barrio de La Boca, y …

English Writing In The Micronesian Context, Sylvia Henry

MA TESOL Collection

How and what do students in EN 220, Writing for Teachers class, think when they write? This paper examines students' understanding of the differences between oral and written discourse, students' thought processes and how the processes correlate to their writing. The data were collected through actual classroom observations, surveys and two essays one written before the class and one at the end of the semester. How and what Micronesian students think links to how and what they write. Understanding how and what students think can help teachers in the Micronesian context develop and implement preventive teaching strategies for students to …

Giving A Voice To The Powerless: Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation As A Tool For Inclusive Development Through Microfinance, Evan T. Burke

Capstone Collection

The greatest experts on the situation of the marginalized peoples of the world are the marginalized communities themselves. This paper explores how participatory monitoring & evaluation can be a powerful tool for giving voices to marginalized communities, ensuring that the voices of beneficiaries and local stakeholders are heard and inform sustainable project design. It analyzes a participatory monitoring and evaluation methodology implemented for women’s credit cooperatives in Gujarat, India by the Human Development & Research Centre, and examines lessons to be learned to design evaluations facilitating inclusive development.

Strategies for the monitoring and evaluation of microfinance have evolved along with …

Mind The Gap: Understanding The Lack Of Social Integration Between U.S. National And International Students, Danika Delano

Capstone Collection

This capstone paper explores the issue of social integration between international and U.S. national students and focuses on the international student community of the Foundation for International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS), a non-profit that supports students at the University of Washington-Seattle (UW). A survey was administered to 106 UW students involved in FIUTS to test the hypothesis that the FIUTS community desired to have more U.S. nationals involved in the program. After establishing a desire for increased social integration between U.S. national and international students from within the FIUTS community, fifteen U.S. national students who were not involved in FIUTS …

Applying Systems Theory As A Lens On Teacher And Student Perceptions Of Assessment And Feedback In An Intensive English Program, Thomas A. Germain

MA TESOL Collection

The goal of this project was to apply systems theory, or more generally, systems thinking as a lens on the perceptions of teachers, students, and administrators who work together at an intensive English program (IEP). This goal necessitated a two-part project: a review of pertinent literature on systems theory and a limited qualitative study situated at the IEP. Sixteen participants, including seven teachers (more than half of the current faculty), two teacher/administrators, and seven students from different levels within the program, were invited to participate. The primary focus of the study was on participants’ awareness of and attitudes about two …

Reflection On An Intercultural Communication Workshop For Japanese Executives: Doing Business With U.S. Americans, Kristine E. Menn

MA TESOL Collection

"Vérité en deçà des Pyrénées, erreur au-delà"

(There are truths on this side of the Pyrenees that are falsehoods on the other)

Blaise Pascal (Moran, Harris & Moran, 2007, p. 2).

This paper is a reflection on an intercultural communication workshop developed for sixteen upper-level Japanese executives who work with their U.S. American counterparts in a U.S.A.-based global corporation. This training session was only one part of a much larger training program initiative which was carried out in five countries in Asia as well as in several locations across the U.S.A. Throughout my paper, I will apply the …

What Does It Mean For A Teacher To Bring The Whole Person To The Classroom? Reflections And Strategies To Access The Authentic Self And Connect With The Energy Of Joy In The Classroom Learning Experience, Arline M. H. Saturdayborn

MA TESOL Collection

Since I began teaching 10 years ago, I have been summoned by an energy, a vitality that is guiding me. Most days when I walk into the classroom, no matter what is going on in my life, I connect with an energy that makes my heart feel full, brings my whole body alive and fills me with joy. This thesis is an investigation of what I experience when I enter the classroom. I love the energy I have in the classroom. I don’t think it is special to me. I think this energy is available to anyone, if they are …

Effects Of The Omrit Project On Student And Alumni Participants From Macalester College, Nancy Bostrom

Capstone Collection

As participation in short-term study abroad programs increases, practitioners seek to understand the effects of these programs not just in terms of increasing participation in study abroad, but also with an emphasis on understanding the effects of these programs on student learning. Some research indicates that program design, rather than length, determines a successful experience abroad; however, the literature also reveals concern that there is not enough data to understand the impact of short-term programs on student learning and that much of the available research is too focused on immediate rather than longer lasting effects.

This paper reports on a …

Strategic Study Abroad: A Program Proposal For Continued Faith Development Of Chi Alpha Students Studying Abroad, Erin Leonard

Capstone Collection

With around 28,000 individual participants, Chi Alpha is a diverse network of Christian students on U.S. college campuses. By regularly meeting in groups and collectively reaching out to the community, students develop their faith and build lasting relationships.

Faith development is an integral part of Chi Alpha students’ lives. Yet, because community is an important aspect in faith development, studying abroad can cause challenges. Students expressed missing accessible Christian peer support and mentorship while abroad. They further expressed disconnection from their faith and felt their spirituality had declined while studying abroad.

As study abroad participation has been increasing over the …

A Case For An Ecological Approach And Against Language Commodification In Elt, Vinicius O. Souza

MA TESOL Collection

This paper aims to provide an alternative approach to the English language education practiced in many developing countries which can help reverse their current low-proficiency status, as revealed by standard international examinations such as the PISA scores and others. The author argues that this can be best accomplished by adopting an ecological approach to teaching which promotes language learning as emergent and socially situated phenomena, two concepts largely neglected by current teaching methods. In fact, many of these countries have long been dominated by an extremely commodified and cognitivist ELT market, where business interests have taken precedence over pedagogical considerations. …

The Global Village: Improving Intercultural Experiences At Keene State College Through Living/Learning Communities, Laura Zuelch

Capstone Collection

Comprehensive internationalization is a paradigm in higher education that recognizes the many aspects of higher education affected by an internationalizing world (Hudzik, 2011). At Keene State College, internationalization is limited to the outbound study abroad students and the few inbound exchange students each semester. There are also few opportunities for Keene State students to gain an intercultural experience without leaving campus, which can be difficult for some students to manage. There is an opportunity to build on the existing Living/Learning Community framework to create a new Living/Learning Community that can address the trend for increased internationalization on campus as well …

Engagement And Global Learning Through Philanthropy: A Youth Philanthropy Council For International Baccalaureate Students, Erin Gorman

Capstone Collection

Unprecedented global migration and a flattened global economy have influenced the skills, knowledge, and competencies all high school youth need to be engaged participants and effective workers in the 21^st century global economy (Mansilla & Jackson, 2011). Research indicates that many youth, especially those at risk for dropping out of school or from minority and low-income backgrounds, do not have adequate opportunities to develop the global competence and 21^st century skills needed for engagement and success in the workforce of the 21^st century (Afterschool Alliance, 2010). This paper presents a replicable global learning afterschool program model that …

Ensuring Social Success: Assessing The Factors That Affect The Social Experiences Of International Students At A Large, Urban Community College In Texas, Sharon A. Miller

Capstone Collection

According to the 2014 Open Doors report published by the Institute of International Education, 87,963 international students enrolled in community colleges and/or associate’s degree granting institutions during the 2013-2014 academic year. Community colleges offer many benefits to international students, such as lower tuition, less restrictive English proficiency requirements, smaller class size, and transferability of credits to four-year institutions.

Past studies have found connections between social relationships and the ability to manage acculturative stress and student satisfaction. Nevertheless, international students attending a community college face different social challenges than those who choose to attend a residential four-year university. Lack of student …

Youth Empowerment As Demonstrated By The Jóvenes En Acción Program, Kirstin French

Capstone Collection

This paper uses a review of relevant literature on empowerment and youth empowerment theories and models to develop a comprehensive understanding of key elements that are found in youth empowerment programs. Through the literature review, there are five themes identified which can be used to analyze youth programs for the presence of empowerment. The five themes considered are: a power sharing adult-youth relationship, an individual and community level orientation, a safe and supportive environment, peer collaboration, and reflection. A World Learning youth program, Jóvenes en Acción (Youth in Action, or JenA) is used as a case study to understand the …

Spoken Language To Be Embraced And Avoided Around Disability: Words That Impact Identity And Sense Of Achievement, Jessica M. Rodrigues

Capstone Collection

The focus of this capstone is verbal language spoken to or about persons with disabilities. Language in this case study is discussed as words and phrases that are supportive and less supportive of how students see themselves, their identity, and sense of achievement. Three focus groups were held with students at Landmark College in Putney, Vermont to collect samples of their experiences and input their voices into this case study, adding value and depth to the existing literature. Disability is looked at through the lens of multiculturalism; as experiences that people with disabilities have with others and their environment are …

Sit’S Low-Residency Master Of Arts In Tesol Program: Principles And Practices In Online Teaching And Learning, Jaime Durham

MA TESOL Collection

Coursework in the revisioned Low-Residency Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages program at SIT Graduate Institute takes place primarily online. In this paper, the author examines the first two years of the program (which launched in 2013) from her experience as the program coordinator to illustrate how the MAT program’s foundational educational principles influence the program in the e-learning environment. The author uses the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework to give an overview analysis of the design and implementation of the online courses, to measure levels of social and cognitive presence among students, and to …

Babies First: Ensuring Proper Infant Nutrition During Emergencies, Abigail M. Alonso

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Background: Breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for an infant, living in all regions and cultures. Recommendations apply across the board, from developed nations to refugee camps, from women with HIV to those with time constraints regarding feeding. There also exists a complex relationship between corporations that provide BMS and the NGOs working to promote breastfeeding in emergency situations amongst vulnerable populations.

Objective: The objective of this paper is to expose breastfeeding promotion, using the Dadaab camps in Northeastern Kenya as a case study of IYCF programs and support of breastfeeding among low-literacy populations with an emphasis on women …

El Futuro Es La Historia: El Pasado Doloroso Y Las Generaciones Futuros En Los Espacios De Memoria En Buenos Aires / The Future Is History: The Painful Past And Future Generations In Memory Sites In Buenos Aires, Leslie Niiro

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Para contar una historia reciente y dolorosa a otros que no vivieron esta historia, con la esperanza de que no ocurra más, nunca puede ser objetivo en un ‘espacio de la memoria’. Casi siempre se lleva una agenda social, una mirada al futuro y para muchos, esta esperanza es en la próxima generación. En esta investigación, miro a la historia de la última junta cívico-militar (1976-1983) y las décadas después para entender de qué forma trabajan los espacios de la memoria para enseñar la historia reciente a estudiantes. Abordada por entrevistas, visitas guiadas, y observaciones participantes en espacios de la …

La Presencia De La Memoria Histórica Y Derechos Humanos En El Sistema Educativo: Una Comparación De Chile Y Argentina, Morgan Cowie-Haskell

Chile: Comparative Education and Social Change

Este estudio indaga la presencia y inclusión de memoria histórica y derechos humanos acerca de las últimas dictaduras dentro de los sistemas educativos en Argentina y Chile. Se discuten los sistemas educativos de cada país en sus contextos históricos, políticos, sociales y económicos. Luego, se une aquellos contextos con la incorporación y el valor de memoria y derechos humanos en la educación secundaria hoy en día. Se basa en fuentes académicas, las organizaciones derechos humanos, los sitios de memoria, los currículos de los Ministerios de Educación, y la contribución de opiniones profesionales tal como profesores, directores del colegios y trabajadores …

Vamos Creciendo La Educación Bilingüe E Intercultural En Ecuador: Lecciones De Peguche, Imbabura, Samantha Friedlander

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Aunque Ecuador es un país intercultural según la ley y según la sociedad, el pueblo Kichwa, un grupo indígena, ha sufrido mucha pérdida cultural debido al poder del colonialismo. Un sistema de educación bilingüe e intercultural empezó oficialmente en Ecuador con la DINEIB, Dirección Nacional de Educación Intercultural Bilingüe, bajo la dependencia del Ministerio de Educación, en 1988. Sin embargo, debido a problemas metodológicos, falta de profesores preparados y falta de apoyo del gobierno, este sistema educativo no tiene mucho éxito actualmente. El pueblo indígena no tiene autonomía, y hay una deficiencia de recursos y una falta de apoyo estatal …

Las Tomas En Liceos Emblemáticos: Herramientas Para Cambio Social, Daniel Mendoza

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

La investigación está basada en una característica importante de las movilizaciones estudiantiles en Santiago, Chile que son las tomas, o los encierres voluntarios. Las tomas son usadas por los estudiantes para atraer atención a un tema y para hacer demandas a la administración o al gobierno. El trabajo investigó el significado de las tomas en el contexto de cuatro liceos emblemáticos en Santiago, y como los estudiantes se organizan para realizar estas tomas. También se investigó el rol del arte y música de Hip Hop en las tomas de liceos y movilizaciones estudiantiles. La investigación encontró que las tomas en …