Digital Commons Network^™

Kindergarten Phonics Instruction, Erika Hall

Master of Education Program Theses

Understanding phonics is a critical component in a young student's ability to read. Research studies have shown the important role phonics plays in helping students become strong readers. The purpose of this study was to discover the ways that kindergarten teachers in Christian schools in West Michigan are teaching phonics in their classrooms, and to determine if kindergarten teachers share a list of common phonics goals for each of their kindergarteners to achieve by the end of kindergarten. The present study was a qualitative design using a survey to collect information from teachers in private elementary school kindergarten classrooms in …

Best Practices In The Foreign Language Classroom, Allison Kleinsasser

Master of Education Program Theses

This action research project attempted to determine the best practices in teaching a foreign language to high school students. In order to determine these best practices, the researcher read literature and studies that had been previously conducted with foreign language students. This study attempted to determine if students would learn better in the context of real-life communication rather than overt grammatical lectures. Students were given a pre- and post-test to determine whether or not their levels of language acquisition and grammatical understanding improved over the course of the study. The results of the study revealed that more time is needed …

Diverse And Resilient: Insights Into The Demography, Quality Of Life, And Gender-Related Life Experiences Of Transgender Wisconsin Residents, Claire Van Fossen

Professional Projects

The purpose of this study was to describe the demography, quality of life, and genderrelated life experiences of Wisconsin’s transgender residents. For this mixed-methods pilot study, a snowball sampling technique was used to recruit transgender Wisconsin residents (n=29) to complete an anonymous online survey that included demographic measures, quality of life measures, and free response questions on experiences related to respondents’ gender in specific contexts. The original survey instrument was modeled on similar reliability and validity-tested instruments and was field-tested before being used. Descriptive analysis was used to interpret demographic and quality of life data and thematic content analysis was …

Enhancing Sensory Environments Of Crematoria, Tanya Bhatia

Architecture Thesis Prep

How can technology today enhance or amplify the social interactions of people in crematoria through the simulation of nature? Crematoria typically, are religious and neutral spaces appropriate to those who want to participate. One of the most significant aspects of crematoria is location. Most crematorium complexes today are located next to either a noisy motorway or in an industrial park. The reasoning behind this is usually to make sure it is not open to the public for viewing unless they want to be a part of it. Usually the crematoria end up in an open landscape, but have walls that …

Experiments In Love: Longus’ Daphnis & Chloe And Henry De Vere Stacpoole’S The Blue Lagoon, Kirsten Day

Classics: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

Despite a chronological gulf of nearly two thousand years, the second century C.E. Greek romance writer Longus and the early twentieth century Irish novelist Henry de Vere Stacpoole were prompted to produce their best works by a similar motive: an urge to explore the world, and particularly the phenomenon of love and desire, from a standpoint of complete innocence. Although the resulting novels, Daphnis & Chloe andThe Blue Lagoon respectively, have no evident direct connection, they exhibit surprising similarities not only in plot, setting, and characterization, but also in the values, perspectives, and worldviews they advance. The striking intersections …

What Kind Of Possibilities Do We Have?: Educators’ Complex Images Of Latino Immigrant Students And Families, H. James Mclaughlin, Stacie Pettit

Journal of Contemporary Research in Education

The Latino population in the United States is on the rise, but historically, Latino graduation rates have been low. Many educators lack sufficient intercultural preparation, and therefore, teachers may tend to blame student failure on cultural and familial deficiencies. In this study, we elicited educators’ perceptions of Latino students and the students’ families through 10 focus group interviews at 6 target schools (4 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 high school). Findings include contradictory views of students’ and families’ attitudes towards education, and consistently negative views of students’ and families’ educational backgrounds. Latino families were seen as close, caring, …

13th Seminar Of The International Association For Tibetan Studies, Nicole Willock

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

No abstract provided.

Attachment Representations And Mother-Child Dialogue, Baiba Barene

Open Access Theses

With the emerging linguistic competencies of the child, dialogue becomes a regular part of mother-child everyday interactions, and may serve as one of the mechanisms of transmission of attachment in early and middle childhood. The goal of this study was to investigate the hypothesis about the co-constructive nature of children's knowledge of secure base script. Formation of the secure base script is a result of child-caregiver interactions that have been consolidated into a unit of knowledge available for use in attachment related situations. Individual attachment narratives and mother-child co-constructed narratives were collected from 86 mother-child dyads when children were 3.7 …

The Faculty Notebook, April 2014, Provost's Office

Faculty Notebook

The Faculty Notebook is published periodically by the Office of the Provost at Gettysburg College to bring to the attention of the campus community accomplishments and activities of academic interest. Faculty are encouraged to submit materials for consideration for publication to the Associate Provost for Faculty Development. Copies of this publication are available at the Office of the Provost.

English Department Newsletter 2014, English Department, University Of Southern Maine

Department of English Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Editorial, Sienna Craig, Mark Turin

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

No abstract provided.

Living Reminders Of A Heroic Age, Don Doll S.J., John Thiede S.J.

Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Indigenous Management Strategies And Socioeconomic Impacts Of Yartsa Gunbu (Ophiocordyceps Sinensis) Harvesting In Nubri And Tsum, Nepal, Geoff Childs, Namgyal Choedup

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

The harvesting and selling of yartsa gunbu (literally “summer grass, winter worm”; Ophiocordyceps sinensis) is contributing to economic and social transformations across the Tibetan Plateau and Himalayan region faster than any development scheme could envision. Meanwhile, the rising demand for the commodity has been linked to violence and environmental degradation, and has generated concerns over resource sustainability. Although good data is emerging on harvesting practices, medical uses, and the booming market for yartsa gunbu, especially in Tibetan areas of China, little systematic research has explored village-level management practices and socioeconomic impacts. This paper seeks to partially fill that void through …

Obituary: Roland Bielmeier (1943–2013), Felix Haller

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

No abstract provided.

Obituary: Kumar Pradhan (1937–2013), Swatahsiddha Sarkar

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

No abstract provided.

Changing Our Perceptions And Pedagogical Practices With Respect To Language Diversity, Evan Ortlieb, Yusuke Sasaki

Journal of Contemporary Research in Education

Guest column

Intrinsic Motivation And Authentic Engagement: A Conceptual Discussion, Steven J. Bourgeois

Journal of Contemporary Research in Education

This conceptual discussion problematizes the present view of student engagement and motivation, as exemplified in the current culture of assessment and extrinsic orientation toward learning. Nietzsche’s metaphor of the Three Metamorphoses of the Spirit serves as a philosophical frame through which I trace the origins of the psychological concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Taking an historical approach within the field of cognitive psychology, I present the foundational research upon which self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) was built. Through this lens, I consider the implications of current educational practice, with emphasis upon high-stakes assessment and the potential for autonomy-supportive …

Improving Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge Of Response-To-Intervention (Rti): How Online Professional Development Modules Can Help?, Nai-Cheng Kuo

Journal of Contemporary Research in Education

Response-to-intervention (RTI) is “a multi-tier approach to the early identification and support of students with learning and behavior needs” (RTI Action Network, 2014). RTI began to be recognized around 2004, when the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized. In the midst of a national movement toward increasing uses of RTI, the development of knowledge of RTI for preservice teachers who will be engaged in its implementation is of high importance. This study examined the impact of a set of online professional development modules— IRIS modules—on preservice teachers’ knowledge of RTI. Many federal dollars have been invested in the …

Vol. 2, No. 2-3 (2014): Full Issue, Journal Editors

Journal of Contemporary Research in Education

No abstract provided.

Boletín V.19:No.2 (2014), Fordham University Latin American And Latino Studies Institute

Boletín (Fordham University. Latin American and Latino Studies Institute)

No abstract provided.

Strategic Deployments Of ‘Sisterhood’ And Questions Of Solidarity At A Women’S Development Project In Janakpur, Nepal, Coralynn Davis

HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies

Linguistic uses of ‘sisterhood’ provide a window into disparate understandings of relationality among virtual and actual interlocutors in women’s development across vectors of caste, class, ethnicity and nationality. In this essay, I examine the trope of ‘sisterhood’ as it was employed at a women’s development project in Janakpur, Nepal, in the 1990s. I demonstrate that the use of this common signifier of kinship with culturally disparate “signifieds” created a confusion of meaning, and differential readings of the politics of relationality. In my view, ‘sister,’ as used at this project, was a multivalent, strategically deployed, and divergently interpreted term. In particular, …

Abc Para Un Cuento De Cortázar: Relectura De “Vientos Alisios”, José Sanjinés

INTI: Revista de literatura hispánica

No abstract provided.

Mcnair Messenger- Spring 2014, Mcnair Staff

McNair Messenger

McNair Scholars Program

Human Rights Conventions And Reservations: An Examination Of A Critical Deficit In The Cedaw, Michael L. Buenger

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

Human rights agreements like the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) contain language that seeks to inspire and establish the legal boundaries of state action with regards to protected rights. Such agreements also contain reservation provisions that enable states to join an agreement and simultaneously exempt themselves from the very substantive goals the agreement seeks to achieve. In the past, the issue of reservation compatibility has been treated as political questions under an objection process. Establishing a mechanism for testing reservation compatibility before the International Court of Justice is a better means of ensuring …

Kellner-Heinkele, Barbara And Jacob M. Landau. Language Politics In Contemporary Central Asia: National And Ethnic Identity And The Soviet Legacy. London: I.B. Tauris, 2012., R. Charles Weller

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Rape Fantasy Redux? Textual Victimhood In And Between Versions Of Tony Duvert’S Portrait D’Homme Couteau, Brian G. Kennelly

World Languages and Cultures

No abstract provided.

Prism #79, April 2014, Office Of The Provost

Prism: Western Michigan University's Newsletter for Academic Affairs

No abstract provided.

Language, Cultural Competence, And Workload: Experiences Of Bilingual And Multilingual Social Workers, Kelly Schussler

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Qualitative study that explores the experiences of bilingual social workers.

Coming Home: The Latina/O Queer Zone Of Comfort, Rita Urquijo-Ruiz

Modern Languages and Literatures Faculty Research

An autobiographical account about accepting and utlilizing the multifaceted aspects of one's identity as queers of color in order to transform one's community.

Gjr Volume 37 Number 1 Spring 2014, Lina Soares, Christine Draper

The Georgia Journal of Reading Archive

The Georgia Journal of Reading's Spring 2014 issue includes:

Message from the Editors by Lina B. Soares and Christine A. Draper (pg. 4)

President’s Page by Loleta Sartin (pg. 5)

Quantum Shifts by Gerald Boyd (pg. 6)

Literacy Coaching: Providing Leadership and Support for the Next Generation of Teachers by Katie Stover and Crystal Glover (pg. 8)

Significance of Prior Knowledge Activation: A Close Look at a Bilingual Kindergarten Student’s Response to a Poem by Alma Stevenson (pg. 14)

The Effect of Explicit Instruction with Writing Conventions Among Preservice Teachers by Laurie A. Sharp (pg. 18)

Tacky and a Tambourine: …