Digital Commons Network^™

Syrup Process Optimization, Anelis Susana Chiluisa Calvache

Honors Theses

The purpose of this project involves the optimization of a marshmallow syrup process, sponsored by the owners of the line, the Kellogg Company was the sponsor. This report shows the work that was done for the period of three months, and covers the objective of the project, as well as the problem statement. The Kellogg Company currently produces a Syrup as an ingredient in the production of several cereal bars. The process is divided in four sections: Gelling Mix Tank, Syrup Mix Tank, Syrup Cool Tank and Syrup Use Tank. The entire process itself takes around 80 to 120 minutes …

Vice & Virtue As Woman?: The Iconography Of Gender Identity In The Late Anglo-Saxon Psychomachia Illustrations, Stephenie Mcgucken

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

In the Late Anglo-Saxon illustrated manuscripts of Prudentius's Psychomachia, vice and virtue are often shown ambiguously and the audience is encouraged to question what is male and what is female, and whether such categories are appropriate in understanding these illustrations. This paper utilises transgender theory to demonstrate how gender could be deployed in Late Anglo-Saxon manuscripts to question the roles of men and women with the ultimate aim of stressing the importance of righteous behaviours.

Medieval Trans Lives In Anamorphosis: Looking Back And Seeing Differently (Pregnant Men And Backward Birth), Blake Gutt

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

This article employs Lacan’s notion of anamorphosis, and the retrospection which Kathryn Bond Stockton presents as fundamental to the assumption of queer identity, as it demonstrates the functions and value of transgender readings of medieval texts. The article analyses two thirteenth-century literary works, Le Roman de Saint Fanuel and Aucassin et Nicolette, both of which feature pregnant male characters, alongside A.K. Summers’ 2014 graphic novel, Pregnant Butch. This juxtaposition reveals the resonances between these medieval and modern portrayals of gender non-conformity, as well as the highly gendered cultural norms surrounding pregnancy. Finally, attention to Janice Raymond’s transmisogynistic claims …

Back Matter, Medieval Feminist Forum, V.55, No.1, Summer 2019

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

October 2019 Cehd Newsletter, College Of Education And Human Development

College of Education and Human Development News

• Schoolcraft Community Schools Walk to Western
• Students work with local youth in new programs
• Are you ready for giving day?
• President Montgomery delivers state of the University address
• Technology creates new layer of safety for people with visual impairments
• Have you heard? The WMU Alumni Association is back!

Fall 2019 Fcs News Round-Up, College Of Education And Human Development

Family and Consumer Sciences News

• Presentations
• Publications
• Grants
• Other News

Gaining Access To The Language Of Science: A Research Partnership For Disciplined, Discursive Ways To Select And Assess Vocabulary Knowledge, H. Emily Hayden, Anupma Singh, Michelle Eades Baird

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

To equalize access to science learning across genders and demographic groups, access to the disciplinary language of science is one place to start. The language of science is highly challenging and specialized, and difficulties acquiring this language contribute to disparities in science achievement across diverse student groups. This study used a pre-post design to analyze effectiveness of a brief classroom science vocabulary assessment designed to assess receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge across multiple sections of one 7^th grade science teacher’s class. Vocabulary was selected and analysis conducted by an interdisciplinary research partnership including the science teacher, a literacy specialist, …

Breaking Through The Noise: Literacy Teachers In The Face Of Accountability, Evaluation, And Reform, Catherine M. Kelly, Sara E. Miller, Karen Kleppe Graham, Chelsey M. Bahlmann Bollinger, Sherry Sanden, Michael Mcmanus

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

In an era of increased accountability, it is important to understand how exemplary teachers navigate the demands placed on them by their schools, districts, and states in order to support student learning aligned with their beliefs of effective instruction. To understand these negotiations, tensions facing exemplary literacy teachers were examined through a qualitative interview study. Participants included nineteen experienced PK-6th grade teachers from across the U.S. Results of the study indicate that teachers experience discrepancies between their beliefs and state and local mandates, and they discuss a variety of strategies for negotiating these discrepancies. Findings suggest that schools can support …

The Impact Of External Audience On Second Graders' Writing Quality, Meghan K. Block, Stephanie L. Strachan

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The overarching purpose of writing is to communicate; as such, the intended audience is a critical consideration for writers. However, elementary school writing instruction commonly neglects the role of the audience. Typically, children are asked to compose a piece of text without a specific audience that is usually evaluated by the classroom teacher. Previous studies have found a relationship between audience specification and higher quality writing among older children; this study examines the impact of audience specification on young children’s writing. Using a within-subjects design, the study compared writing quality when second-grade students wrote for internal versus external audiences and …

18-01 Sustainable And Smart-Growth City Ranking: Multifaceted Transportation Performance Measures In Smart Cities, Jun-Seok Oh, Valerian Kwigizile, Ahmad Feizi

Transportation Research Center Reports

The concept of smart city is fast becoming a key instrument in transforming living environments in a way better to enhance operational efficiency of a transportation system. This study identifies a framework to assess transportation performance measures and smart-growth of cities around the U.S. The proposed assessment framework is comprised of the evaluation of individual criterion and the assessment of comprehensive results. The criteria are categorized into four groups including network performance, traffic safety, environmental impact, and physical activity. This study provides a multifaceted approach to integrate the criteria’s performance measures. As a case example, the proposed performance measures were …

Increasing Family And Caregiver Engagement In Benton Harbor Area Schools, Susan V. Piazza, Patricia A. Edwards

Academic Leadership Academy

Increasing Family and Caregiver Engagement in Benton Harbor Area Schools

Creating Efficiencies Through Process Improvement, Stephanie Radant

Academic Leadership Academy

As a college, our primary mission is to serve students enrolled in our programs. To ensure our students are receiving a quality education complete with rewarding research opportunities, we need to hire exceptional faculty and provide those faculty members with the resources they need. Our college funds are allocated annually, these funds provide for: graduate assistantships, part-time instructors, research expenses as well as new faculty start-up packages. As the largest of the seven colleges which comprise Western Michigan University, the College of Arts and Sciences must make decisions strategically, with regard to the allocation of resources among our twenty-six departments …

Pay For Performance And Motivating Professional Development, David Longjohn

Academic Leadership Academy

Pay for performance, also referred to as merit pay, is a compensation system that rewards employees relative to their job performance. When meeting or exceeding goals, individuals receive greater compensation compared to if they fall short of targets.

Advocates of PFP believe that compensation is a motivator and that greater quality and quantity of work can be incentivized by rewarding employees accordingly. Employees whose work does not meet goals may be incentivized to seek relevant training to strengthen skills or pursue a different role that is a better fit. Proponents believe PFP can lead to fairer compensation, strengthen the organization …

2019 State Of The University Adress, Edward Montgomery

WMU President Edward Montgomery

President Edward Montgomery's State of the University Address.

What A Career In Teaching Could Look Like For Me: My Journey Of Self-Reflection And Self-Discovery, Jashaun D. Bottoms

STEM Instructional Graduate Teaching Assistant Posters

I started the STEM Instructional Program the summer before my first teaching experience as a graduate student at WMU, and I saw it as a great training opportunity for the upcoming school year. As a General Chemistry II lab instructor, I would encounter students from various majors and backgrounds, with different learning styles and attitudes toward chemistry and math.

In order to effectively engage these students in a pre-lab lecture and to prepare them to complete the experiments, I needed to learn how to keep their attention, clearly explain and relay information in an interesting way, check their understanding, and …

Polemic And Literature Surrounding The French Wars Of Religion, Jeff Kendrick, Katherine S. Maynard

Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Culture

Polemic and Literature Surrounding the French Wars of Religion demonstrates that literature and polemic interacted constantly in sixteenth-century France, constructing ideological frameworks that defined the various groups to which individuals belonged and through which they defined their identities. Contributions explore both literary texts and more intentionally polemical texts that fall outside of the traditional literary genres. Engaging the continuous casting and recasting of opposing worldviews, this collection of essays examines literature's use of polemic and polemic's use of literature as seminal intellectual developments stemming from the religious and social turmoil that characterized this period in France.

2019 Diversity, Equity, And Student Success Conference Association Of American Colleges & Universities, Julie Apker

Instructional Development Grants

Instructor Objectives:

Identify students’ diversity and inclusion needs and how they integrate with learning and student success. Develop pedagogical skills to better convey diversity and inclusion throughout a course. Anticipate and effectively manage instructional dynamics regarding sensitive topics when teaching health communication (e.g. health disparities related to race, socioeconomic status). Recognize and effectively manage instructional dynamics regarding sensitive topics when teaching organizational communication (e.g., multicultural workplaces, intercultural team interactions, discrimination).

Conversations On Color Workshop: Lisa Pressman & Richard Frumes, Cat Crotchett

Instructional Development Grants

I applied for an Instructional Development Travel grant to assist me in attending the workshop Conversations on Color, September 27-29, 2018, at R&F Handmade paints taught by R&F founder Richard Frumes and nationally recognized painter Lisa Pressman.

This workshop provided me with a unique opportunity to participate in advanced intensive instructional paint and properties that will enhance my teaching within the Painting Area of the Frostic School of Art. The people co-teaching this workshop, Richard Frumes and Lisa Pressman, are experts in the painting arena of color. Richard, as a painter and paint manufacturer, understands the science and history of …

Canadian Association Of Applied Linguistics (Caal) Annual Conference, Virginia David

Instructional Development Grants

The Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics Annual Conference was hosted in conjunction with the Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, from June 3rd to June 5th. As stated in the association’s website,

“The Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics / L’Association canadienne de linguistique appliquée, also known as ACLA/CAAL, is an officially bilingual scholarly association with approximately 200 members from across Canada and elsewhere. CAAL’s overarching objective is the promotion of research and teaching in all areas of applied linguistics across Canada.”

The conference included renown names in the field of …

American Association Of Applied Linguistics (Aaal) And Language Testing Research Colloquium (Ltrc), Magda Tigchelaar

Instructional Development Grants

My goal in attending these two conferences was to find papers that would be of interest to my Master’s level students in the MA TESOL and ESL Certificate programs. Specifically, I used some of the information presented at these conferences to share with students in my ESL Teaching Methods (TEL6310) and ESL Assessment (TEL6320), and Advanced Assessment (TEL6320) classes.

The Five Essential Elements Of Storytelling, Kelly Wittenberg

Instructional Development Grants

I attended Five Elements of the Novel, taught by Kelly Dwyer, M.F.A. Each day of workshop was focused on one of the following five essential elements of storytelling — plot, character, dialogue, point of view, and theme — with evenings reserved for individual writing to be shared in group the next day. Also explored were practical strategies for creative inspiration and motivation toward the daily practice of writing.

Lessons Learned: Experience At A Vestibular Teaching Conference, Robin Criter

Instructional Development Grants

Over June 13-15, 2019, the University of Pittsburgh hosted its biennial communication sciences and disorders teaching conference. The topic this year was “Teaching Vestibular Assessment & Rehabilitation Across the Lifespan in the Classroom and Clinic”. I was fortunate to receive an Instructional Travel Grant Award to support my attendance.

As an audiologist with expertise is in vestibular and balance sciences, I was especially interested in learning new and innovative ways to teach our students in the Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) program. In this poster, I outline my three main objectives for attending this meeting and share some of what I …

Evaluation Competencies, Instruction, And Academic Leadership, Daniela C. Schroeter

Academic Leadership Academy

Background and Context

My primary research interests center on evaluation theory, methodology, practice, and capacity building. In particular, my current research focuses on evaluation competencies among public and nonprofit sector employees. In light of the 2018-2019 Academic Leadership Academy and Instructional Development grant, this poster revisits findings from a federal evaluator survey and examines: What evaluation and leadership competencies should be emphasized in the developments of public administrators?

Interdivisional Technology Collaboration, Peter Poggione

Academic Leadership Academy

Information technologies such as computers, mobile devices and telecommunications have become the principle change agents associated with the reshaping of higher education. As these technologies advance and evolve, end-user’s expectations continue to increase as they expect ubiquitous and reliable access to those technologies. At the same time many university technology support operations have struggled to keep pace with the needed infrastructure upgrades as well as maintaining the qualified support staff with expertise to meet these issues head on.

This challenge has been compounded over the years by the fracturing and decentralization of technology services and support along divisional and academic …

Leaders Without Titles, Sarah Good

Academic Leadership Academy

According to Brene Brown, a leader is “anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes and who has the courage to develop that potential” (https://daretolead.brenebrown.com).

Brown recognizes that leadership is not solely based upon a title or position; instead, leadership is a demonstrable set of characteristics one possesses and can develop, as well as a set of behaviors that can be shaped to lead people, organizations, and institutions into the future. Leadership is something to be developed with self-reflection, vulnerability, and honesty. Leaders can be found in all places and spaces within an organization and need …

17-09 Assessing The Impact Of Air Pollution On Public Health Along Transit Routes, Stephen Mattingly, Kyung (Kate) Hyun, Shirin Kamali Rad, Mehrdad Arabi, Sina Famili

Transportation Research Center Reports

Transportation sources account for a large proportion of the pollutants found in most urban areas. Also, transportation activity and intensity appear likely to contribute to the risk of respiratory disease occurrence. This research investigates the impacts of transportation, urban design and socioeconomic characteristics on the risk of air pollution-related respiratory diseases in two of the biggest MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) in the US, Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Los Angeles at the block group (BG) level, by considering the US Environmental Protection Agency’s respiratory hazard quotient (RHQ) as the dependent variable. The researchers identify thirty candidate indicators of disease risk from …

Interdisciplinary Projects Help Fulfil Psychological Needs Of University Students, Hamid Mehmood Pasha

STEM Instructional Graduate Teaching Assistant Posters

Every scientific discipline is based on a specific body of concepts and presumptions. These concepts are crucial for understanding the design and implications of a situation.Therefore, it is believed that an interdisciplinary approach to research projects will help in generating a successful change to encourage an evolution in higher learning at University level.

Student retention can be increased by introducing interdisciplinary study projects which may involve students from the engineering, economics, social, history, language and/or human sciences departments. This is done to increase the basic psychological needs of the students in helping promote the academic engagement. Such projects can contribute …

Mentoring & Tutoring Assessment Tool, Yorkiris Alexandra Benitez Franco

STEM Instructional Graduate Teaching Assistant Posters

During the 2018-2019 school year I worked as a mentor for undergraduate students in the STEM fields. The goal of this role is to help students develop professionally by reaching their academic and personal goals.

There are many conversations students in college do not have. Conversations that would help them prepare for today, tomorrow, and their future. For many students, a mentor can help them have those dialogues and expose them to resources and opportunities otherwise left undiscovered. What better way to do so than through local mentoring programs and graduate student mentors?1

Through the STEM Instructional program I learned …

Wmu Board Of Trustees Formal Session September 11, 2019, Wmu Board Of Trustees

WMU Board of Trustees Meetings

• Acceptance of the Agenda
• Approval of the Minutes
• Remarks by the Chair
• Remarks by the President
• Comments by the Faculty Senate President
• Comments by Western Student Associate President
• Comments by the Graduate Student Association President
• Title IX Process Review
• The Power of the Mentorship
• Public Comments Regarding Action Items
• Adoption of a Land Acknowledgement Statement for Western Michigan University
• Conflict of Interest Policy for the Broad of Trustees and Senior Administrative Officials
• WMU Foundation Investment Committee Oversight of Defined Contribution Plan
• Sale of Parcel in WMU BTR Park 2 to Lapeer Development, LLC
• State Capital Outlay Priority List
• Consent Items …

Connections 09/2019, College Of Health And Human Services

College of Health and Human Services Newsletter

• Public health professor receives 2019 Nutrition Education Program Impact Award
• WMU secures federal grant to battle opioid epidemic
• PA students volunteer in Kalamazoo
• Golf tournament benefits client costs
• Say Hello to the WMU Alumni Association
• WMU ranks no. 1 in graduate earnings
• WMU among recipients of $1M NSF grant to boost women in STEM fields