Digital Commons Network^™

Working Outside The Binary: Experiences Of Nonbinary Employees In The Workforce, Mordeky C. Dullum

University Honors Theses

Transgender issues in the workplace have only recently become a focus in research, and it is still new and understudied. Even less studied is the demographic of gender expansive individuals including nonbinary and gender non-conforming individuals. This qualitative study aims to explore and highlight workplace experiences for nonbinary people, with a particular focus on younger nonbinary people who experience less employment stability in more public facing jobs. Thirteen participants engaged in interviews where they were asked to describe their experiences dealing with discrimination, harassment and transphobia in the workplace, in addition to sharing their ideas for practical solutions or changes …

Working Paper No. 74, Some Influential Effects Of The Typewriter On The American Economy, Bander Qadan

Working Papers in Economics

This inquiry seeks to establish that the introduction of the typewriter generated effects upon the American economy by promoting productivity increases, enhancing communications, and improving management. In addition, this inquiry seeks to illustrate how the typewriter affected American businesses by providing efficiency in time management and documents’ production. Furthermore, this inquiry shall showcase how the typewriter affected women’s work in the American economy, especially with respect to inclusivity within the workplace as well as the enhancement of communications. Additionally, this inquiry shall analyze how the development of the QWERTY keyboard and its related “lock-in” generated effects on the American economy.

Media Portrayals Of Wildfire Displacement And Homelessness With Maude Hines And Janet Cowal, Maude Hines, Janet Cowal

PDXPLORES Podcast

In this episode of PDXPLORES, Portland State professors Maude Hines (English, Black Studies, Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative) and Janet Cowal (Applied Linguistics, Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative) discuss their recently published article, "Natural/Disaster: Differential Media Portrayals of Wildfire Displacement and Homelessness in Portland, Oregon," co-authored by Idowu (Jola) Ajibade, Emily Leickly, Marta Petteni, and Stefanie Knowlton. The research explores media coverage of the 2020 wildfires in Oregon and the differential language used to cover those affected by the devastating blazes.

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K-12 Racial Equity Work In The Predominantly White Pacific Northwest: Interracial Conversations, Counter-Stories, And Considerations, Bradley Justin Parker

Dissertations and Theses

K-12 public education in the United States, post Brown v. Board of Education (1954), has historically maintained a predominantly White teaching force, and has persistently underserved students of Color in terms of academic, social, and emotional outcomes. Additionally, K-12 school-based racial equity work that strives to address the operation of racism is inconsistent, difficult to measure, and has not demonstrably created more racially equitable experiences or outcomes for students or educators of Color. In this project, I critically explore K-12 school-based efforts towards more racial equity in the predominantly White Pacific Northwest, and I take an intentional and critical look …

Teaching And Learning Social Change, Amie Thurber, Helen Buckingham, Jordenn Martens, Rebecca Lusk, Darrylann Becker, Stacey Spenser

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

How can social work courses prepare students to be scholars of social movements, and also to act in solidarity with movements for social justice? How can graduate programs reimagine the professional socialization of social work students from aspiring for expertise toward a stance of life-long learning? How can instructors more deeply leverage our teaching practice to advance justice in our communities? This paper traces one attempt to answer these questions through a three-quarter graduate social work course designed to deepen students’ skills and knowledge in practices for social transformation, while amplifying existing social justice movements. Drawing on reflections from the …

Towards A Healing Curriculum: Addressing Cultural Inclusion For The Indigenous Sadri Community In Bangladesh, Jurana Aziz

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Bangladesh is a Southeast Asian country where the indigenous people of the northern and southeastern region speak a variety of native languages. But none of their languages is included in the main curriculum for teaching or learning. As a result, these people are often not motivated to send their children to school. The language policy of the country does not include these indigenous languages in the core curriculum. Though the government of Bangladesh has started an initial plan to introduce education in mother tongues of five major indigenous languages in the country, they are not yet implemented. A large number …

Counteracting Epistemicide: Social And Cultural Capital Of Teachers In A Dual Language Program, Katrina Liu, Richard C. Miller, Jorge Inzunza

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This case study explored the social and cultural capital of teachers in a rural Midwestern Spanish-English dual-language immersion (DLI) program as they overcame an Anglocentric epistemological hegemony in their daily practice. Working from Bourdieu’s (1986) theory of social capital and Rios-Aguilar and Kiyama’s (2012) approach to funds of knowledge, this research demonstrated that DLI teachers faced challenges ranging from resistance by non-DLI teachers in the school afraid of losing their jobs, to a broader fear of the DLI program taking resources away from the monolingual anglophone classrooms. To overcome these challenges, the DLI teachers drew extensively on their global social …

Why Arts Education, At All?: An A/R/Tographic Inquiry, Darshana Devarajan, Brittany M. Brewer, Karenanna Boyle Creps, Reyila Hadeer

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

In the wake of curricular epistemicide, the authors draw your attention towards the theoretical and practical constraints created around arts education. As a/r/tographers (artists, researchers, and teachers), we argue that our ways of knowing and creating in the space of curriculum and instruction are dynamic ways to think about and through curricular epistemicide. In foregrounding our own experiences of “(un)becoming through the cracks”, when we are faced with restrictive ways of knowing in a Department of Teacher Education, we put forth a question through our arts-based practices of knowing: why arts education, at all?

Challenging Epistemologies Of Objectivity Through Collaborative Pedagogy: Centering Identity, Power, Emotions, And Place In Teacher Education, Camille Ungco, Rachel S. Snyder Bhansari, Manka Varghese

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

In this essay, we discuss how we have attempted to counter the ongoing dominance and (re)inscription of White supremacist, ableist, and settler colonial ways of knowing and being within an elementary teacher education program (TEP) through a consideration of identity and power, emotions and place-based pedagogy. Our approaches indicate means for regenerating and expanding upon marginalized epistemologies in TEPs, challenging curricular epistemicide, while our stories also indicate that these approaches and related ways of knowing are intertwined with our own identities, histories and felt experiences as well as challenges to our enactment of this work.

Climate Change Curricula In Alberta, Canada: An Intersectional Framing Analysis, Greg Lowan-Trudeau

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This article is comprised of a climate change-focused framing analysis of proposed revisions to Alberta, Canada’s K-6 curriculum as an ideologically motivated manifestation of curricular epistemicide. Eisner’s three curricula—the explicit, implicit, and null—and scholarship related to intersectional climate and environmental justice, education, and communication provide the theoretical framework. This inquiry concludes with a critical discussion of and possible alternatives to the revised curriculum with further consideration of the implications for those involved with similar endeavours in other jurisdictions across Canada and around the world.

Do We Look Back To Move Forward? A Discursive Look At "Back To Normal", Shirley R. Steinberg

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This short narrative is taken from my current research using a critical discourse analysis; a methodology used since the 1970s, largely attributed to Normal Fairclough and Michel Foucault. These critical notions relate to critical theory, and in education, certainly to critical pedagogy. In the spirit of this research, I note that the purpose of my narrative is to lead us to question and continue to question our capitalized world, which continually requires answers. In this instance, to examine what I see as a gestalt for our times, to ask more questions, to seek more dialogue, and to understand how privilege …

Of Back Stories, Byways & Entangled Aesthetics Of Epistemology: Teaching Art, Poetic Protest And Curricular Alterity In A Time Of Ethicide, Molly Quinn

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Of Back Stories, Byways & Entangled Aesthetics of Epistemology: Teaching Art, Poetic Protest and Curricular Alterity in a Time of Ethicide engages autobiographical analysis to illumine and offer examples of what art and poetry may offer as forms of nonviolent resistance and protest for teachers and teacher educators in challenging curricular epistemicide and advancing educational ethics and justice.

More Than Reterritorialization: Pre-Service Preschool And Kindergarten Teachers’ Use Of Translated Picture Books In Chinese Culture, Zitong Wei

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

With the trend of globalization, pre-service teachers are challenged to co-construct curricula following their cultural ways of thinking. To understand three Chinese pre-service teachers’ ways of using translated picture books, i.e., following or altering the discourses of imperialism and commercialization, the study examines three cases of post-glocalized practices. Research finds that the pre-service teachers’ selections and different ways of using the translated picture books enable children or prevent them from engaging in relational understanding. The study suggests engaging the pre-service teachers in reflective learning, providing guidance for their curriculum-making, and supporting their process of learning in professional development. Also, more …

Reading The Word, Not The World: A Critical Analysis Of Close Reading, Jessica E. Masterson

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This article critically analyzes a Common Core-aligned English Language Arts curriculum with particular attention paid to the ways in which it constructs docile subjects in and through literate practices. Through a critical reading and content analysis of this textbook--one that the author was required to teach to her eighth grade students--this paper argues that under the guise of “college and career readiness,” the curriculum contained within the textbook represents a neoliberal approach to literary criticism, one whose ideology is evident through the material practices of “close reading” and in the disciplinary methods it employs in teaching students the “correct” way …

Leveraging Storytelling And Digital Artifacts To Design Social Justice Curriculum In Urban Communities, Kari Goin Kono, Sonja Taylor

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Many students in Portland’s schools face racism and other forms of discrimination on a daily basis. Storytelling is a practice that is fundamental across all cultures and provides a vehicle that students from all backgrounds can access as a mechanism for engaging in the development of their academic identity. This article shares about how a digital workbook assignment was designed as an outlet for student self-expression dealing daily with racism and prejudice related to systems of oppression in education and the rapidly changing and evolving life of a city.

Disrupting The Hegemonic Practices Way Of Knowing: Moving Toward A Posthuman Perspective, Jordan Gonzalez, Brett Elizabeth Blake

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Sings Which Story?: Narrative Production And Race In The Curriculum Of Film Musicals, Joanna Batt, Michael Joseph

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Film musicals serve as a tool to infuse historical and cultural content into social studies curricula towards greater student engagement—for example, Lin Manuel-Miranda's Hamilton has become a celebrated classroom piece due to its ability to blend history with hip-hop and pop culture. Yet beyond language and content scans, teachers rarely examine or utilize musicals for how their narratives (mis)represent racial communities. This critical film analysis of three film musicals, using the theoretical framework of history production, reveals themes of historical morality, romantic relationship and race, and implicit/explicit racial messaging. Although troubling in their overall contribution to racial projects, film musicals …

Applying Biomimetic Passive Dynamics To A Quadruped Robot Leg, Emma Krnacik

Dissertations and Theses

The study of synthetic nervous systems is an emerging field within biomimetic robotics as an alternative to more classic control techniques. As the modeling of these nervous systems becomes more accurate, it is important to note that the nervous system and physical system co-evolved and continue to operate in an interdependent fashion. Many legged robots, including the existing quadruped in the AARL, have leg systems that may have similar geometrical properties to that of a mammal, but have significantly different dynamic properties. This paper presents a method for designing a limb so that the passive dynamics more accurately represent that …

The Effects Of Online Learning Experience During The Covid-19 Pandemic On Students’ Satisfaction, Adjustment, Performance, And Loyalty, Michal Wilczewski, Oleg Gorbaniuk, Terry Mughan, Ewelina Wilczewska

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

This research investigates the student online learning experience (SOLE) during the 2020 spring Covid-19 pandemic. We collected quantitative data through an online survey from 362 international and 488 domestic students at a large Polish University. Correlation and path analysis within a conceptual model of SOLE and its academic outcomes established that (1) SOLE explained adjustment, performance, satisfaction, and loyalty, (2) academic adjustment predicts performance, satisfaction, and loyalty, (3) that academic performance and satisfaction predict student loyalty, and (4) that academic performance predicts satisfaction. Interestingly, time spent in quarantine/self-isolation did not exert any effect on academic outcomes in SOLE. Moreover, qualitative …

Splitting Gaussian Densities To Minimize Variance Along A Direction Of Nonlinearity, Amit Kumar

Dissertations and Theses

Nonlinear functions of random vectors are frequently used in signal processing, and especially in state space tracking algorithms. Many of these algorithms require a way of estimating the probability density of the state vector at the output of the nonlinear function. Algorithms derived from Kalman Filter, such as Extended Kalman Filter and Unscented Kalman Filter, are popular choices for this, but they only estimate mean and covariance which may be insufficient to describe the non-Gaussian densities. On the other hand, Monte Carlo methods such as particle filters can be more capable but require much more computation. Gaussian mixture filters aim …

Domain Knowledge As Motion-Aware Inductive Bias For Deep Video Synthesis: Two Case Studies, Long Mai

Dissertations and Theses

Deep neural networks have been part of many breakthroughs in computer graphics and vision research. In the context of visual content synthesis, deep learning models have achieved impressive performance in the image domain. However, adapting the successes of image synthesis models to the video domain has been difficult, arguably due to the lack of sufficiently strong inductive biases that encourage the models to capture the temporal-dynamic nature of video data. Inductive bias refers to the prior knowledge incorporated into the learning models to explicitly drive the learning process toward the solutions that capture meaningful structures from data, which is critical …

Most Recent Rupture On The Boulder Creek Fault Triggered Bedrock Landsliding In The Nooksack Watershed, Whatcom County, Washington, Abigail Catherine Underwood

Dissertations and Theses

Catastrophic bedrock landslides with volumes ranging from 10⁶ to 10⁸ m³ contribute to rapid landscape evolution, often resulting in erosion rates that exceed the long-term average rates caused by tectonic uplift. Understanding the spatiotemporal trends of large bedrock landslides helps us understand previous drivers of landscape evolution as well as predict how the landscape will respond in the future. The Nooksack Watershed, Whatcom County, Washington, is particularly susceptible to large slope failures because of its high relief, seismic activity, local geology, and relatively abundant precipitation. Specifically, folded and faulted bedrock structures conducive to landsliding in addition to …

Urban Nesting Biology, Population Viability And Ecology Of The Willow Flycatcher, Empidonax Traillii, Stephanie Alexandra Byrne Doorly

Dissertations and Theses

Reproductive success, in any species, relies both on the habitat utilized to reproduce and on the successful reproductive output of individual animals within a population. Populations in turn rely on the reproductive fitness of the individual. Whether populations remain stable, grow, or decline ultimately relies on the combined reproductive output of the individuals within that population.

We studied the Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii; henceforth WIFL), a well-studied Neartic-Neotropical migrant passerine whose breeding range extends from the east to west coast of North America. Across much of their range, and in particular in the western regions, breeding population are …

Collective Proving Activity In A Synchronous Online Environment, Tenchita Alzaga Elizondo

Dissertations and Theses

Given the well documented fact students often struggle with proof and proof-related activity for various reasons, more educators have shifted to incorporating pedagogies involving collaborative learning given their benefits to student learning. However, there is still surprisingly little research focused on the nature of students' collaborative proving activity. Moreover, the recent COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent shift to remote learning, forced educators and students to adapt and learn how to work within a new learning environment. In this dissertation project, I investigate how students engage in collaborative proving activity in a synchronous online introduction to proofs course. In the first paper, …

Explaining Backlash: Social Hierarchy And Men’S Rejection Of Women’S Rights Reforms, Lindsay J. Benstead, Ragnhild L. Muriaas, Vibeke Wang

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Governments promote gender-sensitive policies, yet little is known about why reform campaigns evoke backlash. Drawing on social position theory, we test whether marginalized (women’s organizations) or intrusive (Western donors) messengers cause resistance across public rights (quotas) and private rights (land reform). Using a framing experiment implemented among 1,704 Malawians, we find that females’ attitudes are unaffected by campaigns, while backlash occurs among patrilineal and matrilineal males. Backlash among men is more common for sensitive private rights (land reform) than public rights (quotas) and Western donors than women’s organizations, suggesting complex effects generally more consistent with the intrusiveness hypothesis.

Critical Awareness, Reflection, And Action In Head Start Leadership: A Critical Consciousness Case Study Of Head Start Leaders, Christopher Pearce Agudelo

Dissertations and Theses

Diverse families with preschool-aged children are at an enhanced risk of marginalization in the United States. Whether they are of a different race, level of ability, gender, or socioeconomic background, they need early childhood leaders and educators who can focus on caring for their children. In this exploratory qualitative study, I conducted five open-ended interviews with Head Start education managers--a similar position to a preschool Director or a K-12 Principal. The objective was to understand better how Head Start Education Managers attend to equity and inclusion via critical awareness, critical reflection, and critical action. I utilized the three-element construct of …

National Forest Visitation Preferences And Avenues To Participation For Urban Hispanic Recreationists In The Portland Metropolitan Area (Usa), Lee Cerveny, Rebecca Mclain, David Banis, Matthew Helmer

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Health benefits of outdoor recreation have been broadly demonstrated and land managers recognize the equity implications of providing safe and inclusive outdoor spaces. Data on public lands visitation and outdoor participation show that Hispanic recreationists are less likely to engage in outdoor leisure than White persons. Early studies of outdoor preferences of Hispanic persons identified a desire for large-group settings and social activities. To update our understanding of outdoor recreation needs, preferences, and constraints, we collaborated with a Latinx organization in Portland, Oregon (USA). We collaboratively designed three focus groups that combined structured engagement, cognitive sorting, and participatory mapping to …

Pedestrian Wayfinding Under Consideration Of Visual Impairment, Blindness, And Deafblindness: A Mixed-Method Investigation Into Individual Experiences And Supporting Elements, Martin Swobodzinski, Amy T. Parker, Elizabeth Schaller, Denise Snow

TREC Final Reports

In this report we discuss to-date findings of a project that aimed at assessing individual and environmental affordances in the context of human pedestrian wayfinding of visually impaired, blind, and deafblind travelers in public spaces. Our project afforded collaboration, co-design, and co-creation of knowledge between the investigators, partners at the American Printing House of the Blind and GoodMaps, the Portland State University Digital City Testbed Center, and members of the disability community. The objective of the project was to better understand how different wayfinding aids, that is, wayfinding apps, tactile maps, and verbal route descriptions, are employed by visually impaired, …

"It Made Me Feel Like Things Are Starting To Change In Society:" A Qualitative Study To Foster Positive Patient Experiences During Phone-Based Social Needs Interventions, Anna Steeves-Reece, Christina Nicolaidis, Dawn M. Richardson, Melissa Frangie, Katherin Gomez-Arboleda, Chrystal Barnes, Minnie Kang, Bruce Goldberg, Stephan Lindner, Melinda M. Davis

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Many healthcare organizations are screening patients for health-related social needs (HRSN) to improve healthcare quality and outcomes. Due to both the COVID-19 pandemic and limited time during clinical visits, much of this screening is now happening by phone. To promote healing and avoid harm, it is vital to understand patient experiences and recommendations regarding these activities. We conducted a pragmatic qualitative study with patients who had participated in a HRSN intervention. We applied maximum variation sampling, completed recruitment and interviews by phone, and carried out an inductive reflexive thematic analysis. From August to November 2021 we interviewed 34 patients, developed …

Co-Design Of An Nhs Primary Care Health Check For Autistic Adults, Helen Taylor, Barry Ingham, David Mason, Tracy Finch, Colin Wilson, Clare Scarlett, Sebastian Moss, Christina M. Nicolaidis, Multiple Additional Authors

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Autistic people experience more health conditions and earlier mortality. This study investigated views about a primary care health check for autistic adults to inform its design. Fifty-one people participated in consultation groups and interviews, comprising autistic adults (some with co-occurring intellectual disabilities), adults with intellectual disabilities, supporters and health professionals. Participants wanted the health check to cover physical and mental health and social functioning. They emphasised the importance of sharing information about individual needs and associated adjustments before the health check. They highlighted the need to change the way healthcare services communicate with autistic people, such as reducing phone contact …