Digital Commons Network^™

Developing Moocs To Narrow The College Readiness Gap: Challenges And Recommendations For A Writing Course, Shoba Bandi-Rao, Christopher Devers

Publications and Research

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have demonstrated the potential to deliver quality and cost effective course materials to large numbers of students. Approximately 60% of first-year students at community colleges are underprepared for college-level coursework. One reason for low graduation rates is the lack of the overall college readiness. MOOCs offering "remedial" writing have the potential to better prepare high school graduates for college, thereby increasing their chances of completing a degree and reducing the cost of education for students, families, institutions, and taxpayers. However, MOOCs are typically more suitable for motivated and prepared students. Designing a MOOC on writing …

Benefits Of Hybrid Classes In Community Colleges, Joel Barker

Publications and Research

This article discusses hybrid courses and their impact on educational facilities, their students, and instructors. Instructors now have over ten years of data related to hybrid courses and by trial and error have devised different strategies to plan and execute lesson plans via partly online forums. Programs are in place that gives students the opportunity to excel; these types of courses promote a unique balance of guidance by the instructor and acceptance of responsibility by the students. Students have responded in a positive manner in pursuing these types of courses.

Investing In Haiti’S Future: Cuny’S Partnership For Student Success, Ashleigh B. Thompson, Cidna R. Valentin

Publications and Research

After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, City University of New York (CUNY) Chancellor Matthew Goldstein recruited CUNY faculty and staff to lead a university-wide effort to support the people and institutions of Haiti. A CUNY-wide Advisory Group was convened and began meeting with Haitian educators and government officials. Partners agreed that CUNY would initially support the development and consolidation of Haiti’s public university network in the regions to emphasize decentralizing higher education, promoting greater access, broadening workforce development opportunities and strengthening regional economies. One facet of this effort would be scholarship support for exemplary students at these public universities in …

Grown Unschoolers’ Evaluations Of Their Unschooling Experiences: Report I On A Survey Of 75 Unschooled Adults, Peter Gray, Gina Riley

Publications and Research

Seventy-five adults, who had been unschooled for at least the years that would have been their last two years of high school, responded to a survey about their experiences. Their responses indicated that their parents generally played supportive, not directive roles in their education and played bigger supportive roles for those who started their unschooling early than for those who started later. The great majority of respondents reported that they were very happy with their unschooling. Nearly all of them valued the freedom it gave them to pursue their own interests in their own ways, and many reported that unschooling …

A Principle Of Economy Predicts The Functional Architecture Of Grid Cells, Xue-Xin Wei, Jason Prentice, Vijay Balasubramanian

Publications and Research

Grid cells in the brain respond when an animal occupies a periodic lattice of ‘grid fields’ during navigation. Grids are organized in modules with different periodicity. We propose that the grid system implements a hierarchical code for space that economizes the number of neurons required to encode location with a given resolution across a range equal to the largest period. This theory predicts that (i) grid fields should lie on a triangular lattice, (ii) grid scales should follow a geometric progression, (iii) the ratio between adjacent grid scales should be √e for idealized neurons, and lie between 1.4 and 1.7 …

Burnout: Absence Of Binding Diagnostic Criteria Hampers Prevalence Estimates, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

Comments on an article by Jef Adriaenssens et al. (see record 2015-00662-015). In a recent review paper, Adriaenssens et al. concluded that about 26% of emergency nurses (EN) suffer from burnout and described their results as alarming. While commentators applaud Adriaenssens et al. efforts to provide a clearer picture of ill-health in EN, they thought that these authors' conclusions were weakened by a fundamental fact, namely, the absence of consensual, clinically valid diagnostic criteria for burnout. Trying to determine the prevalence of a condition that has no binding diagnostic criteria is problematic. Indeed, depending on how researchers decide to …

Proceedings Of The 2nd Annual Cuny Games Festival, Robert O. Duncan, Joe Bisz, Francesco Crocco, Carlos Hernandez, Kathleen Offenholley, Maura A. Smale, Deborah Sturm, Cuny Games Network

Publications and Research

Proceedings of the CUNY Games Conference, held from January 16-17, 2015, at the CUNY Graduate Center and Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Health Games - Language and Composition - Design: Classroom Considerations - Games in the Physical Environment - Games and Behavioral Science - Play, Politics & Economics - Gaming Curricula, Disciplines & Programs - Gaming and History - Institutional Programming with Games - Philosophy and Roleplaying - Ed. Game Design: Strategy & Tactics - Repurposing Game Genres - Narrative, Storytelling & Games - Community & Social Justice - Extemporaneity - Personal & Social Transformation - Cognition, Design & Play …

Imperatives In Informal Organizational Resource Exchange In Central Europe, David Jancsics

Publications and Research

This paper challenges the mainstream social scientific approach that emphasizes “moral inferiority” in corruption and bribery in Central and Eastern Europe. We argue that in many cases, people participate in informal organizational resource exchanges not because of immorality or greed but rather because of powerful external forces. By using the case of contemporary Hungary to support this argument, this paper provides a systematic analysis of such imperatives. The findings of 50 in-depth qualitative interviews suggest that two main imperatives can be distinguished; macro-level social and meso-level organizational forces. Macro-level forces may be linked to historical paths, Hungary's socialist and pre- …

A Qualitative Study Of Stress In Individuals Self-Employed In Solo Businesses, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Joseph J. Mazzola

Publications and Research

This qualitative study involved 54 individuals who were self-employed in a variety of solo businesses. All participants were administered a semistructured interview that inquired into various aspects of their work experience with the data subject to reliability and validity checks. The study identified stressful incidents, coping strategies, and emotional strains arising from those stressful incidents. Uncertainty about income was a common background stressor. Recent specific stressors included dramatic slowdowns in business, reputational threat, betrayal, unreasonable customers, and medical problems. Commonly occurring strains included apprehension/anxiety, frustration, anger, and sadness/depression. The self-employed used problem-focused coping much more often than emotion-focused coping. We …

Specters Of Kurdish Nationalism: Governmentality And Counterinsurgent Translation In Turkey, Nicholas S. Glastonbury

Publications and Research

This essay examines translations of the Kurdish epic poem Mem û Zîn into Turkish, tracing the logics behind these state-sponsored translations and examining how acts of translation are also efforts to regulate, translate, and erase Kurdish subjectivities. I argue that the state instrumentalizes Mem û Zîn’s potent nationalist currency in order to disarm present and future claims of Kurdish national autonomy. Using translation as a counterinsurgent governmental tool, the state attempts to domesticate Kurdish nationalist discourses even as it reproduces them, thereby transforming Kurdish nationalism into a specter of itself. Attending to this specter, however, allows us to see how …

The Use Of Psychological Defense Mechanisms – By Librarians And The Public – In Response To Traditional And Binary Librarian Stereotypes, Beth Posner

Publications and Research

Images of librarians in popular culture include the traditional stereotype - of a mousy spinster who cares more for protecting books than for helping people - as well as several contrasting or binary images - such as librarians who are wild by night (although quiet by day), know-it-alls (rather than know-nothings), or high-tech (instead of old-fashioned.) In response to the anxiety provoked by the more pernicious aspects of these images, both librarians and the public may employ a variety of common unconscious defense mechanisms. This chapter examines some of those used by the public - including stereotyping, and splitting or …

Patchy Progress On Obesity Prevention: Emerging Exemplars, Entrenched Barriers, And New Thinking, Christina A. Roberto, Boyd Swinburn, Corinna Hawkes, Terry T-K Huang, Sergio Costa, Marice Ashe, Lindsey Zwicker, John H. Cawley, Kelly D. Brownell

Publications and Research

Although there have been positive pockets of change, no country has yet turned around its obesity epidemic. Preventing an increase in obesity prevalence will require urgent actions from government as well as a broader spectrum of stakeholders than previously emphasized. In this paper, we review a number of regulatory and non-regulatory actions taken around the world to address obesity and discuss some of the reasons for the patchy progress. In addition, we preview the papers in this Lancet series, which each identify priority actions on key obesity issues and challenge some of the entrenched dichotomies that present obesity and its …

Knowing Your Value For Academic Career Negotiations, Alyssa Dana Adomaitis, Diana Saiki, Sherry Schofield, Eulanda Sanders, Rachel Eike, Beth Myers

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

In Pursuit Of Peace: A Qualitative Study On Subjectification And Peaceful Co-Existence In Four Elementary School Classrooms, Debbie Sonu

Publications and Research

This paper presents qualitative data gleaned from four New York City elementary classrooms and focuses on how teachers attempt, each in their own distinct way, to create educational cultures of peace. Here, classroom vignettes are reconstructed from two months of observational and interview data with attention to how teacher beliefs on peaceful co-existence manifest in the playing field of a child's subject formation. Drawing from Judith Butler's concept of subjectification, this study asks: what conditions of possibility do teachers conceive of when thinking about peace in their classrooms? Findings show that teachers create conditions that emerge from their particular theories …

Effectiveness Of A Leadership Development Program That Incorporates Social And Emotional Intelligence For Aspiring School Leaders, Maria Trinidad Sanchez-Nunez, Janet Patti, Allison Holzer

Publications and Research

Focus on social and emotional intelligence competencies to improve effective leadership has become commonplace in the corporate arena and is now considered by many a prerequisite to successful job performance and outcomes (Antonakis, Ashkanasy, & Dasborough, 2009; Grant, Curtayne, & Burton, 2009; Spence & Grant, 2007; Kampa-Kokesch & Anderson, 2001; McGovern, Lindemann, Vergara, Murphy, Barker, & Warrenfeltz, 2001). Only recently has a similar trend become recognized and more accepted in the field of education (Patti, Senge, Madrazo, & Stern, 2015; Patti, Holzer, Brackett, & Stern, 2014). Few studies exist that study the role that educational leaders’ social and emotional competencies …

Roads To Progress: Public Perceptions Of Highway Construction In Peru, 1920–30, Mark Rice

Publications and Research

This paper, presented at the AHA/CLAH Annual Meeting in 2015 examines how Peruvians viewed the ongoing construction of roads in the early twentieth century. I argue that public support for road construction stemmed from the perception that such infrastructure would economically and culturally modernize Peru.

Campuses Struggling With Mental Health Issues, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Racial Issues In Higher Education Will Continue, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Exploring Social Networking Technologies As Tools For Hiv Prevention For Men Who Have Sex With Men, Jorge Ramallo, Thomas Kidder, Tashuna Albritton, Gary Blick, John Pachankis, Valen Grandeleski, Trace Kershaw

Publications and Research

Social networking technologies are influential among men who have sex with men (MSM) and may be an important strategy for HIV prevention. We conducted focus groups with HIV positive and negative participants. Almost all participants used social networking sites to meet new friends and sexual partners. The main obstacle to effective HIV prevention campaigns in social networking platforms was stigmatization based on homosexuality as well as HIV status. Persistent stigma associated with HIV status and disclosure was cited as a top reason for avoiding HIV-related conversations while meeting new partners using social technologies. Further, social networking sites have different social …

Promoting Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Haitian Americans, Steven S. Coughlin, Erica I. Lubetkin, Jennifer L. Hay, Renald Raphael, Selina A. Smith

Publications and Research

Background

Few studies have examined colorectal cancer screening among Haitian Americans, although striking disparities in colorectal cancer screening and mortality are well-documented among U.S. Blacks. Race, socioeconomic status, and place of birth are factors associated with colorectal cancer incidence and mortality patterns.

Methods

In this article, we summarize published studies on colorectal cancer screening among Haitian Americans, identified through bibliographic searches in PubMed and CINAHL through August 2015, and offer recommendations for further research.

Results

Only one qualitative study and three quantitative surveys have examined colorectal cancer screening among Haitian Americans. A qualitative study found important differences in perceptions of …

Role Of Home Environment, Parental Care, Parents’ Personality And Their Relationship To Adolescent Mental Health, Sibnath Deb, Kevin Mcgirr, Banhisikah Bhattacharya, Jiandong Sun

Publications and Research

The study examined relationships among home environment, parents’ personality and mental health of adolescents with a focus on adjustment, anxiety, self-concept and self-confidence. A group of 370 adolescents were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire and three psychological tests; subjects were selected following a two-stage sampling technique. Participation of the adolescent students in the study was voluntary. Results indicate that parental care was associated with high self-confidence while parental pressure associated with high anxiety. Fathers’ “friendliness” associated with low emotional adjustment and high self-concept while mothers’ short-temper associated with high anxiety. Disturbed families contributed to adolescent anxiety, inability to share personal …

Special Education Professional Standards: How Important Are They In The Context Of Teacher Performance Evaluation?, Sara B. Woolf

Publications and Research

Teacher performance evaluation represents a high stakes issue as evidenced by its pivotal emphasis in national and local education reform initiatives and federal policy levers. National, state, and local education leaders continue to experience unprecedented pressure to adopt standardized benchmarks to reflect and link student achievement data to formal teacher performance evaluations. No teacher performance evaluation measures have been developed for use with special education teachers or the settings in which they teach. Dedicated focus is needed to ensure that adopted evaluation measures are sensitive to the specific expertise reflected in the practices of specialty teachers and valid for use. …

Connecting The Point(S), Hunts Point, Bronx, New York, Corey Clarke, Jocelyn Dupre, Leah Feder, Sarah Gelder, Nate Heffron, Stephanie Printz, Josh Thompson, Laxmi Ramasubramanian

Publications and Research

Hunts Point is a notoriously over-planned neighborhood. As the exploration of recent plans on page 15 illustrates, Hunts Point has been both the beneficiary and victim of planning efforts that have left many in the community feeling over-surveyed with inadequate results to show for it. Our client made it clear from the beginning that the community did not need another plan to sit on a shelf. Therefore, the team chose to focus on small-scale, actionable interventions that could be implemented without significant capital outlays. To this end, we began by conducting an analysis of existing conditions, investigating both the physical …

Acute Cocaine Differentially Induces Pka Phosphorylation Substrates In Male And Female Rats, Wei-Lun Sun, Luyi Zhou, Arbi Nazarian, Vanya Quinones-Jenab, Shirzad Jenab

Publications and Research

Background: Sex differences in intracellular dopamine pathways may contribute to the known sex differences in psychomotor responses to cocaine and differential development of dependence. This study aimed to determine whether there are sex differences in the activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK1/2, or p44/p42 MAPK) and PKA phosphorylation-dependent substrates in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) of male and female rats at baseline or after acute cocaine administration.

Methods: 60-day-old male and female Fischer rats were injected with saline or cocaine (30 mg/kg) and sacrificed 5, 15, 30, 45 or 90 minutes later. Total locomotor activity, Stereotypic, rearing, and ambulatory behaviors …

Interpersonal Rejection Sensitivity Predicts Burnout: A Prospective Study, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

We examined whether interpersonal rejection sensitivity (IRS)—the hallmark of atypical depression – prospectively predicted burnout, controlling for baseline symptoms, history of depressive disorders, antidepressant intake, gender, age, and length of employment (mean between-assessment duration: 21 months; n = 578; 74% female). IRS was related to a 119% increased risk of burnout at follow-up. Three of four burned out participants reported to be affected by IRS, or 2.5 times the rate observed in participants with no (or subthreshold) burnout symptoms. Our study highlights a dispositional factor in burnout’s etiology also known to be a key component of atypical depression’s etiology. The …

Burnout Does Not Help Predict Depression In French Schoolteachers, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

Objectives: Burnout has been viewed as a phase in the development of depression. However, supportive research is scarce. We examined whether burnout predicted depression among French school teachers.

Methods: We conducted a 2-wave, 21-month study involving 627 teachers (73% female) working in French primary and secondary schools. Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory and depression with the 9-item depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The PHQ-9 grades depressive symptom severity and provides a provisional diagnosis of major depression. Depression was treated both as a continuous and categorical variable using linear and logistic regression analyses. We controlled …

Demographics And Education In The Twenty-First Century, Norman Eng

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Re-Conceptualizing Developmental Areas Of Assessment For Screening, Eligibility Determination And Program Planning In Early Intervention, Bonnie Keilty, Patricia M. Blasco, Serra Acar

Publications and Research

Contemporary recommended practices in early childhood assessment strive to gain a holistic picture of child learning and development to inform screening, eligibility, and program planning decisions. These practices have traditionally focused on competencies reflected in developmental domains with limited attention to the approaches-tolearning used to acquire those competencies. In this article, we call for the examination of early childhood constructs that impact a child’s ability to learn and develop, such as executive function (EF), mastery motivation, self-regulation and selfdetermination, specifically in the infant-toddler period. With EF defined as a wide range of central control processes in the brain that link …

Literary Translingualism: Multilingual Identity And Creativity, Steven G. Kellman, Natasha Lvovich

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Disciplining Yoga: Foucauldian Themes In Sivananda Yoga Practice, Mark E. Eaton

Publications and Research

This paper considers the yoga practices at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center as “disciplinary” practices. Yoga has a long history of being interpreted as “discipline”; this paper will consider how it is disciplinary and what is being disciplined. To this end, this paper will frame Sivananda yoga as a discipline from two perspectives: Sarah Strauss’ characterization of yoga as an “oasis regime”; and Michel Foucault’s view of discipline as minute “carceral” elaborations of power. These approaches are contrasted and ultimately, following Foucault, yoga disciplines are understood as being constitutive of the subject. The disciplinary character of yoga at the Sivananda …