Digital Commons Network^™

The Motherhood Penalty: Examining The Wage Gap And Workplace Discrimination Against Working Mothers, Joanna Mills

Community Engagement Student Work

For my capstone project I explored the motherhood penalty and examined the wage gap and workplace discrimination, specifically the wage gap for mothers of color. Also, I examined the importance of childcare to a family’s survival to be able to work. This study was conducted by gathering secondary data about how much childcare costs for black single moms, Hispanic Latino single moms, and white moms making minimum wage. I used the MIT wage calculator, Fiscal Year 2024 Child Care Financial Assistance Daily Reimbursement Rates from the Department of Early Education and Care, and The U.S. Census Bureau to collect the …

La Importancia De La Comunicación No Verbal En La Interacción Humana, Bradley Wilson

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

Nonverbal communication is an essential element in human interaction, influencing how we convey and receive emotions, intentions, and messages beyond words. The studies reviewed in this paper explore how aspects such as facial expressions and gestures influence diverse contexts, from education to intercultural and professional interactions. Throughout, my sources emphasize the importance of nonverbal communication as a tool for communicating with or without speech.

La Historia Externa Del Español Hasta La Reconquista, Alicia Westmoreland

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

This paper talks about the romance language, Spanish, which evolved from Vulgar Latin after the fall of the Roman Empire. Influenced by the Visigoths, Moors, and the Christian Reconquista, its linguistic development reflects centuries of cultural exchange. The Moors introduced Arabic vocabulary, while the Reconquista reinforced Castilian dominance. Despite external influences, Spanish retains a phonetic system closely linked to Latin. This essay examines Spanish’s historical linguistics, highlighting how conquests, migrations, and societal shifts shaped its evolution.

Los Beneficios De La Enseñanza De Lenguas Extranjeras Con Cuentos Bilingües En Escuelas Rurales, Morgan Gosdin

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

This action research explores and reflects on the use of bilingual storytelling as a model for foreign language education in third-grade classrooms. Previous research indicates that familiar stories foster an ideal environment for young learners, shifting the focus to language rather than content (Kirsch, 2008). Stories invoke curiosity in students and allow learners to view a foreign language as comparable to their own rather than simply a list of rules and vocabulary words. The action research, conducted in rural Middle Georgia third-grade classrooms, incorporates cultural and linguistic education. A class of undergraduate language students conducted biweekly lessons reading Spanish stories, …

El Uso De Las Prácticas Curativas No Occidentales En Lugar De Y Dentro De La Cultura Biomédica, Lynda Gulledge

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

This paper explores the difficulties that the Hispanic community faces when accessing healthcare in the United States, which emphasizes the use of biomedical culture. Topics such as cultural and linguistic barriers, past and present healthcare policies, and the use of non-Western medical practices are examined. Furthermore, this paper explores the history and use of curanderismo as an accessible and culturally appropriate form of healthcare. Lastly, the integration and acknowledgement of curanderismo in biomedical culture is explored and encouraged in order to create a more holistic healthcare experience for the Hispanic community.

Impact Of Teachers’ Perceptions On The Identification Of Gifted English Language Learners, Marissa Wilkerson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This mixed methods study explored the research question “How do teachers' perceptions of giftedness influence their gifted identification practices of ELL students?” The research included 11 participants—six ESL teachers and five general education teachers—from six schools within the same district. Quantitative data showed that while both ESL and general education teachers expressed confidence in identifying giftedness in ELL students, ESL teachers demonstrated greater awareness and advocacy for nontraditional assessment methods and emphasized the importance of cultural considerations during identification. In contrast, general education teachers were less likely to view cultural differences as a factor. Both groups identified language barriers as …

Wine As Gossip: The Making Of Living Objects And Human Experience, Elena Angerman

American Studies Honors Papers

In this honors study Wine as Gossip: The Making of Living Objects and Human Experience, I argue that there is an inherent power to wine as a means to subvert the narrative of the current American myth. I emphasize how the living nature of wine reflects how objects can have a level of consciousness and power. In the opening chapter, “Gossip and Wine: Uncovering Forms of Resistance and Methods to Subvert and Revise Power Structures” gossip serves as a means to understand how wine can be used in this subversion. I argue that wine and gossip are linked in …

Transient Stress And Childhood Maltreatment: Unraveling Their Impact On Working Memory And Emotion Dysregulation, Serena Veith

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

Childhood maltreatment is associated with cognitive impairments and emotion dysregulation, with prior research documenting structural changes in stress modulation in affected individuals. This study examined the relationship between childhood maltreatment and working memory (WM), focusing on the roles of stress and emotion dysregulation. While childhood maltreatment has been linked to cognitive deficits, its specific impact on adult WM remains underexplored. It was hypothesized that childhood maltreatment would negatively affect WM. However, initial analyses found no significant relationship between childhood maltreatment and baseline WM. Post-hoc analyses revealed a positive relationship between childhood maltreatment and WM improvement over time, suggesting potential resilience …

Disproportionality Of English Learners In Special Education, Alysa Gordon

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the presence of disproportionality of English learners in special education. The search process yielded evidence of both overrepresentation and underrepresentation of English learners in special education, with some studies indicating disproportionality in specific disability categories. Underrepresentation was found to be present in categories of emotional behavioral disability, speech and language impairment, other health impairment, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism. Overrepresentation was found to be present in multiple disability categories, especially with specific learning disabilities and speech language impairment. Potential variables that could be contributors to overrepresentation were found to be educators’ …

Stories Of Navigating Higher Education Toward Success: A Narrative Inquiry On The Experiences Of Thai American College Students, Archawee Dhamavasi

Dissertations of Practice

This narrative inquiry explores the experiences of Thai American college students, focusing on how cultural identity influences their academic success, sense of belonging, and progress toward graduation. Despite the growing body of research on Asian American students in higher education, Thai Americans remain an underrepresented and understudied group. Through in-depth interviews, this study examined how participants navigated dual cultural identities and drew upon familial values, community engagement, and cultural practices to define their place in academic and social environments. Findings revealed that cultural identity is a dynamic and lived experience, deeply intertwined with students’ motivations, behaviors, and aspirations. Using Yosso’s …

"This College Is Run By Women": The Narratives Of Overburdened And Burnt-Out Community College Women Faculty, Lindsay Spence Carson

Dissertations of Practice

At community colleges, a noticeable gender divide exists among faculty who participate in college operations, such as committee and service work, department chair and other leadership positions, as well as unpaid labor. This narrative inquiry explored how tenured community college women faculty experience the gendered division of labor and privilege. I was particularly interested in the ways in which their experiences influence burnout and how community college structures, policies, practices, and social norms perpetuate gender differences in labor distribution. Ten participants who represent three midwestern community colleges, a variety of academic divisions and departments, and who are in different stages …

An Exploration Of Change In Teachers’ Sel Pedagogical Content Knowledge And Beliefs After Participation In A Sel Professional Development Course For Uruguayan Teachers Of Secondary Schools, Sheila Coli

Dissertations of Practice

This convergent mixed-methods study explored how secondary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Uruguay changed their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of social emotional learning (SEL), and their beliefs about their role in SEL integration, after participating in a six-week online professional development (PD) course. Amid increased international emphasis on the importance of social and emotional competencies (SECs) for students’ academic and personal success, Uruguay’s EFL national curriculum calls for the promotion of these competencies, yet offers limited guidelines or training for their EFL educators. The PD course was designed by the researcher to address this gap, providing …

A Qualitative Examination Of Multilingual Latino Students’ Perspectives Of Their Educational Journeys In Preparation For Careers In Stem, Rebecca S. Powers

Dissertations of Practice

This qualitative study examines the perspectives of six bilingual Latino students regarding their experiences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses in high school, and how these experiences influenced their decision to pursue STEM careers. Using Norton-Peirce's investment theory as a theoretical framework along with Gay’s culturally responsive pedagogy, the study explores how participants' identities, social and cultural capital, and ideologies interact with their educational experiences.

The findings reveal that family involvement, bilingual mentors, and students' funds of knowledge played a crucial role in their academic success and career choice. However, participants also faced significant challenges, including: segregation, negative …

Proficiency And Positivity: Investigating Learner Affect Toward L2 Instructional Methods, Learner Goals, And L2 Success, Natalie Spiva

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Second language (L2) learning outcomes vary widely due to factors both internal and external to the learner, including learning and usage contexts and learner goals and motivations. Learners may feel more proficient in and positive towards an L2 if they have intrinsic motivation and positive experience with the L2. Many students in the United States are first exposed to an L2 later in life as an academic requirement, which often impedes L2 learning success and can limit the learner’s relationship with the L2 and related cultures. Because of the highly interconnected global society, investigating the experiences of today’s language learners …

Indigenous Artists Working With Digital Materials, Luke A. Meeken

Teaching Resource Archive

This is a static PDF version of the online resource found here: https://www.gildedgreen.com/indigital This document contains the five thematic curricular modules from the online resource but does not contain the always-growing online database of contemporary Indigenous digital artists, who can be found at the above link.

This resource includes several thematic modules designed for use by educators of preservice art teachers, which can be adapted for use in graduate and undergraduate level courses (and parts of which will be deployed in my own elementary and secondary methods courses). These could be used in whole or in part, and are designed …

On Trusting Chatbots, P.D. Magnus

Philosophy Faculty Scholarship

This paper focuses on the epistemic situation one faces when using a Large Language Model based chatbot like ChatGPT: When reading the output of the chatbot, how should one decide whether or not to believe it? By surveying strategies we use with other, more familiar sources of information, I argue that chatbots present a novel challenge. This makes the question of how one could trust a chatbot especially vexing.

Increasing Academic Engagement In Underserved Elementary Students, Molly K. Boss

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The issue of student disengagement has been troubling teachers and school systems for years. The COVID crisis brought the issue to the forefront and renewed attention to the critical effects of disengagement on students’ academic and life prospects, most significantly - on marginalized students. This study analyzes the effects of disengagement and the factors that influence student disengagement. It also provides practical tools and strategies that can be implemented to promote engagement for underserved students. The goal of this literature review is to increase the understanding of disengagement and its effects on underserved students and to equip educators with tools …

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In Mathematics Education, Efe Mensah-Brown

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The literature review explored how Ladson-Billings’ (1995) definition of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), with the three tenets of academic achievement, cultural competence and sociopolitical consciousness, could be used in mathematics education. The use of CRP in mathematics education to positively transform mathematics instruction and combat racial stereotypes by improving the mathematics identities of all students was explored. The research found that the integration of CRP in mathematics education improved the academic success of students by making the mathematics more engaging and relevant. The research also showed that the use of CRP in mathematics education positively influenced students’ mathematics identities. For …

Effect Of Praziquantel Treatment On The Nutritional Status Of Children Infected With Schistosoma Haematobium, Louis Fok, Hongying Dai, David Brett-Major, Abebe Animut, Berhanu Erko, John Linville, Yohannes Negash, Abraham Degarege

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

This quasi-experimental trial examined the relationship between Schistosoma haematobium infection and nutritional status, and the impact of single dose praziquantel (PZQ) therapy on undernutrition. A total of 353 children were examined, 112 of which were infected with S. haematobium and treated with PZQ. Children's heights, weights, and mid-upper arm circumferences (MUAC) were measured at baseline and one month post-treatment. Infected children had significantly smaller mean BMI-for-age z-scores (BAZ) (-1.16 vs. 0.11, p < 0.01) and weight-for-age z-scores (WAZ) (-0.61 vs. -0.31, p = 0.03) than the uninfected ones at baseline. S. haematobium infection was associated with underweight (adjusted OR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.63-1.90). One month after treatment, BAZ, WAZ, …

Lawrence University Course Catalog, 2025-2026, Lawrence University

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

The Importance Of Pragmatics In The Foreign Language Classroom, Emma Marie Hatsuko Van Ermen

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pragmatics has received relatively little attention in language instruction, as it is often regarded as a higher level skill and has only recently gained prominence in linguistic research. This literature review examines the role of pragmatics in foreign language teaching and explores why it is a critical component of language acquisition. First, pragmatics is distinguished from other linguistic branches, such as syntax and semantics, to clarify its unique function in shaping context-dependent communication. Then, the importance of pragmatics in language learning is discussed and the benefits of explicit teaching are highlighted. Finally, common methods for teaching pragmatics such as audio-visual …

Responding To The Needs Of Early Literacy Teachers: Designing Online Professional Development To Improve Writing Instruction For Multilingual Learners, Katie M. Crook, Hazel Vega, Emily Howell, Lindsey W. Rowe, C. C. Bates, Kavita Mittapalli, Amlan Banerjee

Publications

While the population of multilingual learners (MLs) in the United States has grown rapidly in recent years, many teachers feel unprepared to teach them. The professional development (PD) teachers receive is often misaligned with their particular needs and experiences. This design-based research study examined the development and impact of online PD designed with teacher input to improve writing instruction for young MLs. Data were collected over twelve months from 25 teachers in six Southeastern U.S. school districts. Researchers evaluated the impact of the PD on teachers’ knowledge and self-efficacy for teaching writing to MLs. Findings highlight how teachers made instructional …

Multilingual Voices: Transforming Professional Development Based On Student Perceptions Of Literacy Learning, Nicole Ferguson-Sams, Emily Howell, Rebecca Kaminski, Mihaela Gazioglu, Victoria Pennington

Publications

Acknowledging student perceptions of academic learning has been shown to increase the effectiveness of classroom instruction. However, existing research on multilingual learners (MLs) often focuses on their pedagogical and linguistic needs, overlooking their perceptions of literacy learning. This research, part of a large-scale, design-based research (DBR) project, explores MLs' perceptions of literacy learning to increase the capacity of instruction through professional development to classroom teachers in a high-needs school district. Using grounded theory coding, we analyzed MLs' responses from a self-efficacy survey to gain insight into their perceptions of literacy learning. Those findings were used to inform DBR modifications, including …

Cognitive Behavioral Strategies And Academic Success Among Students Experiencing Trauma, Michael G. Gibbs

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

​​This study explores literature focused on the impact of implementing the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) method to improve academic achievement among students who have experienced trauma. CBITS is a school-based, evidence-informed intervention designed to address the psychological and behavioral challenges that trauma creates, which often interfere with academic achievement. This literature review examines changes in student outcomes, including emotional regulation, focus, and academic performance, following CBITS implementation. A comprehensive analysis highlights the documented effectiveness and benefits of CBITS across diverse studies and educational contexts.

60th International Congress On Medieval Studies, Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University

International Congress on Medieval Studies Archive

The printed program of the 60th International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 8–10, 2025), together with the Corrigenda.

“Feeling” And Other Problems In Whitehead’S Metaphysics, Michael A. Flannery

Libraries Professional Work

This essay highlights certain problems attending Whitehead’s metaphysics beginning with his ambiguous use of feeling, extending on to his dogmatic rejection of bifurcation due largely to his misunderstanding of Poincaré’s conventionalism, his mathematicizing, and his life-long commitment to logicism first envisioned in his and Bertrand Russell’s Principia Mathematica leading to naturalistic reductionism, and his ill-considered commitment to William James’s radical empiricism. It concludes that these difficulties should not be ascribed to process thought generally. A number of candidates provide process perspectives without this Whiteheadian baggage. Collectively they offer an important and fruitful area of investigation that will accrue to the …

Celebrating Faculty Scholarship 2025, Smith College Libraries

Celebrating Faculty Scholarship: Bibliographies

Scroll down to view the bibliography of selected scholarly and creative work produced by Smith College faculty and submitted by faculty for the 2025 celebration which took place in the Neilson Library Skyline Reading Room, Smith College on April 24, 2025.

Experiences Of Those With "Other" Disfluencies, Kathleen Scaler Scott, Emma Schaedler, Erica Scheinberg, Sarah Hardy, Margaret Koester, Brenna Field, Emma Maley, Kayla Montemarano, Kateri Grice

Student Research Poster Presentations 2025

This ethnographic study collected and analyzed interviews of 8 children with “other” fluency disorders: cluttering, atypical disfluency, excessive non-stuttering like disfluency. Each school-age child participated in a semi-structured interview focusing on grand and mini tour questions. The participants were asked to speak about their perspective and experience with communication in general. Preliminary results of this study revealed the following themes: friendships are hard; high-level communication is a goal; everyone doesn’t ‘get’ me when I talk. Clinical and research implications of findings will be discussed.

Waldorf Education: New Perspectives On A Holistic Approach, Martyn Rawson

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This article outlines some of the core ideas underlying the practices of Waldorf education as re-envisioned by an experienced practitioner, as a contribution to the discussion about the educational implications of transpersonal psychology. It outlines a pedagogical anthropology that takes the spiritual dimension into account. It distinguishes between the lived body, the emergent psyche and the agentic Self as the spiritual core of being in the person. Learning is explained as a transformative process that involves the changing relationships to one’s own body, to others and to the world through which potentialities become abilities. The aim of the transformative education …

Successfully Navigating The Disruption Ai Will Bring To Survey Research, David M. Rothschild, Trent D. Buskirk, Stephanie Eckman, D. Sunshine Hillygus, Frauke Kreuter, David Lazer

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

Surveys are a core methodological tool in government, industry, and academia, providing essential data for theory development and evidence-based decision-making. As artificial intelligence continues its rapid advancement, it stands to fundamentally transform the entire survey lifecycle - from design and administration to analytics and reporting. Previous transitions to new technologies, such as telephone, internet, and non-probability surveys, led to divisions within the survey research community with real consequences for both the trajectory of research and trust in the industry. We believe the survey community should take proactive steps now to avoid similar challenges with AI integration. Specifically, our paper examines …