Education Commons^™

Digital Humanities At Cuny. Building Communities Of Practice In The Public University, Stefano Morello

Publications and Research

In this essay, I reflect on my experience working in the field of Digital Humanities at The Graduate Center (GC) of the City University of New York (CUNY) to refute the misconception that the point of intersection of humanities and computation is dependent on robust technological infrastructure and, therefore, outside of the reach of underfunded public institutions. On the contrary, my tenure as a GC Digital Fellow suggests that the development of DH communities of practice can be an especially valuable asset for public universities, due to the waterfall effect they can produce for both the academic and the local …

Open Educational Resources: What Do Students Want?, Aneeza Hussain, Joyette K. Noel

Publications and Research

This project aims at identifying the needs and requests of students for Open Educational Resources (OERs) in order to develop rubrics for design, evaluation but also revisions of OERs. For this purpose literature searches on the matter were conducted to determine if information on students’ perspective on OER content and expectations existed. Simultaneously, feedback from fellow City Tech students with experience using OERs has been collected. Our results provide insight on how City Tech students perceive OERs, in comparison with traditional resources. This also pinpoints the key pedagogical features that OERs should offer in order to attract, engage and better …

Testimony To The Cuny Board Of Trustees In Opposition To The Resolution To Approve A Contract With Turnitin For Plagiarism Detection Software, December 14th, 2020 Meeting, Luke Waltzer, Lisa M. Rhody, Roxanne Shirazi

Publications and Research

This statement was drafted in response to the Board of Trustee's consideration of a resolution to approve CUNY's contract renewal with Turnitin in 2020. The authors circulated the petition on December 3, 2020, and submitted the final version -- signed by 1065 members of the CUNY community -- to the Board of Trustees on December 7, 2020 for consideration at their meeting on December 14th, 2020.

A Positive Impact During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Virtual Cataloger's Experiences, Wendy W. Tan

Publications and Research

It is well known to all catalogers of physical materials, such as: print books, rare objects, DVDs, CDs, that onsite environment is an optimal place for carrying out the job duties. Coming out of the blue, the impact of COVID-19 pandemic has radically transformed this tradition to an amazing way for many catalogers of this type. In this essay, the author delineates, from her own experiences in coping with the unprecedent situation, the process of making the best use of this period while working virtually, away from the familiar second home—Hunter College Library. The surprisingly great outcome is also documented.

10 Steps To Reform Graduate Education In The Humanities, Katina Rogers

Publications and Research

Desperate times call for big changes. Here’s a summary of ten things professors and administrators should do to fix a broken graduate system—and suggestions for graduate students on how to survive in the mean time.

Covid-19 Impact On Radiology Students’ Distance Learning (Fall 2020), Mary Lee, Zoya Vinokur, Jason Chan, Renzo Marmolejo, Cherylann Jackson-Holmes

Publications and Research

Distance learning (DL) is a teaching tool that offers education to students remotely in various locations (Ruiz, 2006). The increase in distance learning education is evident in all types of educational programs including those in Radiologic Sciences. DL education programs are expected to comply with all standards just as traditional programs are (Aaron, 2015). With traditional class settings, knowledge is taught at a given time and day and is structured in terms of course development and attendance. It does not factor in the domestic and familial responsibilities of the students outside the classroom walls or the effects of a worldwide …

Reopening America's Schools During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Protecting Asian Students From Stigma And Discrimination, Daisuke Akiba

Publications and Research

The COVID-19 outbreak has prompted a rise in stigma and discrimination against people of Asian descent in many areas in the world, including the United States1. Anti-Asian hate incidents, which have ranged from verbal attacks, refusal of service to physical assault, continue to transpire in the U.S., and they put psychological and physical well-being of Asian children at increased risk. Discussions toward reopening of U.S. schools thus far, however, seem to have exclusively included the infection-related concerns and pedagogical consequences of continued disruptions in face-to-face instructions. Hence, educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders need to have plans in place …

(Un)Affirming Assimilation: Depictions Of Dis/Ability In Health Textbooks, Sherry L. Deckman, Ellie Futts Fulmer, Keely Kirby, Katharine Hoover, Abena Subira Mackall

Publications and Research

Purpose – In light of the systemic and pervasive nature of ableism and how ableist ideology structures – or limits – educational opportunities, this paper aims to contribute to the ongoing conversation within the field of multicultural education regarding how to meaningfully include dis/ability in K-12 curricula.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper explores how elementary and middle school health textbooks from two prominent publishers in the USA portray dis/ability through quantitative and qualitative content analysismethods of 1,468 images across texts.

Findings – Findings indicate that the majority of the textbook portrayals of dis/ability tacitly forward assimilationist ideals. Specifically, the textbooks assume …

Microbiomes For All, Theodore R. Muth, Avrom J. Caplan

Publications and Research

Microbiome research projects are often interdisciplinary, involving fields such as microbiology, genetics, ecology, evolution, bioinformatics, and statistics. These research projects can be an excellent fit for undergraduate courses ranging from introductory biology labs to upper-level capstone courses. Microbiome research projects can attract the interest of students majoring in health and medical sciences, environmental sciences, and agriculture, and there are meaningful ties to real-world issues relating to human health, climate change, and environmental sustainability and resilience in pristine, fragile ecosystems to bustling urban centers. In this review, we will discuss the potential of microbiome research integrated into classes using a number …

A Psychologist’S Perspective For Coordinating Interdisciplinary Courses, Amanda L. Almond

Publications and Research

Developing a student evaluation for interdisciplinary teaching revealed a clearer goal for interdisciplinary course assessment. This chapter summarizes how interdisciplinary course assessment is a cooperative and reflexive process. Using professional judgment and a working group of peers, interdisciplinary courses maintain their integrity through regular reviews. A reflection on experiences with team-teaching, guest lecturing, and learning-communities is also included. Best practices for interdisciplinary course maintenance and concepts of validity are applied to the debate between evaluation and assessment methods. By fostering transparency, accountability, and peer-led critiques, interdisciplinary learning objectives within courses are sustained each semester. Recognizing concerns regarding evaluation, flexible approaches …

Using Monuments To Teach About Racism, Colonialism, And Sexism, Susan Phillip

Publications and Research

This chapter examines how an interdisciplinary high-impact practice approach to teaching and learning using selected contested monuments can reveal intersections of racism, colonialism, and sexism, and lay the foundation for students’ civic engagement. In place-based and virtual experiences, students observe and investigate local and national monuments, integrating knowledge from multiple disciplines, including history, psychology, art, culture, and tourism. Students make critical analyses about how monuments reveal power relationships in our society. Students from various disciplines explore the origin of contested monuments, the evolving national and local debates around them, and their effect on students’ learning to evaluate historical, contemporary, and …

Learning Places: Place-Based Learning In An Interdisciplinary Approach To Undergraduate Research, Jason Montgomery

Publications and Research

High-impact educational practices outlined by the Association of American Colleges and Universities give faculty a toolkit of specific practices that current research identifies as having particular effectiveness in student engagement and learning in the 21st century. Included in this list of effective practices is undergraduate research. While this high-impact educational practice is most often associated with the sciences, it has wider applicability to undergraduate learning where the methods of research can integrate synergistic strategies that further enhance student engagement and learning: place-based learning and interdisciplinary teaching. In this chapter, these two compelling approaches to higher education are presented as …

Impact Of Open Educational Resources (Oer) On Student Academic Performance And Retention Rates In Undergraduate Engineering Departments, Yonchao Zhao, Ashwin Satyanarayana, Cailean Cooney

Publications and Research

To students and families already struggling to afford college tuition and fees, spending an additional $1,240 per year on books and supplies can be a breaking point. This cost constitutes as much as 39% of tuition and fees at a community college and 14% of tuition and fees at a four- year public institution (data obtained from the 2019-20 College Board survey for full-time undergraduate students). Moreover, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for digital textbooks is surging and the problem is compounded by the fact that without on-campus resources, including library reserve textbook collections, students are facing more …

“Helping Me Learn New Things Every Day”: The Power Of Community College Students’ Writing Across Genres, Tanzina Ahmed

Publications and Research

Although community colleges are important entry points into higher education for many American students, few studies have investigated how their students engage with different genres or develop genre knowledge. Even fewer have connected students’ genre knowledge to their academic performance. In the present article, 104 ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse students reported on classroom genre experiences and wrote stories about college across three narrative genres (Letters, Best Experience, Worst Experience). Findings suggest that students’ engagement with classroom genres in community college helped them develop rhetorical reading and writing skills. When students wrote about their college lives across narrative genres, they …

Impact Of Oer In Teacher Education, Denise Cummings-Clay

Publications and Research

The purpose of this research study, which employed a quantitative research design, was to determine if there was a difference in the grades achieved by students who were enrolled in an entry-level Foundations of Education course using Open Educational Resources (OER) versus the grades achieved by students who used textbooks in other course sections. The goal was to find out whether OER was of the same or higher quality as textbooks in our minority-serving higher education institution. The outcomes revealed that there was no significant difference in grades for course sections that used OER when compared to course sections that …

Advancing College Students’ Thesis Writing Ability: A Case Study Of An Online Library Instruction Course, Derek Stadler, Dianne Gordon Conyers

Publications and Research

The following case study adapted a library instruction course to support students’ ability to construct a thesis statement. Given at an urban junior college, the goal of the credit-bearing course is for students to acquire effective research strategies for finding reliable information and to develop information literacy skills. For this study, pedagogy divided thesis writing development over the course of several weeks in which students reviewed sample theses and the work of their peers, providing feedback to fellow students and revising their own work based on feedback from both students and instructors. The class section in this study utilized Blackboard …

An Investigation Of How Environmental Science Textbooks Link Human Environmental Impact To Ecology And Daily Life, Yael Wyner, Rob Desalle

Publications and Research

Making direct connections between humanity and the environment is of ever-increasing importance in the context of today’s environmental crisis. We used qualitative content analysis of precollege- and college-level introductory environmental science textbook case studies to study how they portray humanity’s link to the environment. We assessed case studies for how specific and data rich they are and for how they link together daily life, human impact, and ecological interactions. We found that, for many textbooks, case study stories were vaguely drawn and included few data. We also found that, for all textbooks, case studies almost always described human impacts without …

It’S (Not) In The Reading: American Government Textbooks’ Limited Representation Of Historically Marginalized Groups, Shawna M. Brandle

Publications and Research

The Introduction to American Government course, and its textbook, is a nearly universal experience for students in American colleges and universities, but what exactly is being taught in this course? Do the textbooks used in this widely taught course accurately reflect the diversity of populations and experiences in the United States? More specifically, how do textbooks for Introduction to American Government cover historically marginalized groups, if at all? This article builds on previous work by analyzing the representation of individual historically marginalized groups to conduct index search and content analyses on traditionally published and openly licensed (i.e., open educational resources …

Responding To Xenophobia: Politics, Populisms And Our Teaching, Phyllis E. Vanslyck

Publications and Research

This essay explores ways faculty in the humanities may guide students through current manifestations of populism, specifically, this movement’s encouragement of xenophobia. As a member of an English department at a public community college in the United States, I argue, first, that community college students, who often have deep personal connections to the experiences of immigrants, may respond to the anti-immigrant rhetoric in useful and provocative ways. Second, I suggest that the related history of anti-immigration sentiment in American politics since the beginning of the 20th century can provide students with a powerful context for understanding xenophobia today. Third, I …

A Narrative Inquiry Of Associate Degree Nursing Students' Stories About Their Experiences With Academic Misconduct, Bridget Maley

Publications and Research

Academic misconduct is a growing national and global concern. There is a paucity of literature on academic misconduct in nursing. Utilizing the qualitative method of narrative inquiry, this study gives voice to students’ stories of academic misconduct and reveals intimate stories of their experience. The stories contribute to a deeper understanding of associate degree nursing students' experiences with academic misconduct. The findings of the study have implications for future research, nursing education, and practice.

The Case For Oer In Lis Education, Stacy Katz

Publications and Research

The increasingly high cost of textbooks coupled with the pedagogical opportunities presented by Creative Commons licenses has provided fertile ground for the development of open educational resources (OER) initiatives as an impactful practice for improving student success. Librarians are leading advocates for OER, yet little has been published on how librarians learn about OER or how faculty use OER in library and information science (LIS) programs. For this study, the author surveyed LIS faculty about their awareness and usage of OER as well as the role they imagine for future librarians in open education. LIS faculty, current and future librarians, …

50 Anos De Evolução Nos Estudos Linguísticos Transculturais: Da Retórica Contrastiva À Retórica Intercultural, David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

Este trabalho apresenta um panorama histórico dos estudos linguísticos transculturais, discorrendo sobre o surgimento da retórica contrastiva por meio do trabalho seminal de Robert Kaplan em 1966 e as contribuições de Ulla Connor ao rebatizar tais estudos como retórica intercultural. Explana-se também sobre as críticas endereçadas à retórica contrastiva feitas durante os anos 1980, 1990 e 2000 e de que maneira tais críticas redefiniram o quadro teórico-metodológico e o objeto de estudo da disciplina. Conclui-se com exposição de uma crítica à homogeneização das distintas culturas retóricas causada pela globalização e internacionalização do inglês no âmbito acadêmico e nas atividades profissionais.

Yes, You Can Get A Job With That Major! Goal 5 Strategies For Facilitating, Assessing, And Demonstrating Psychology Students’ Professional Development, Kristin M. Vespia, Karen Z. Naufel, Jerry Rudmann, Jaye F. Van Kirk, Deborah Briihl, Jason Young

Publications and Research

The Summit on the National Assessment of Psychology was held on June 2016 to chart a path for assessing student achievement of the goals of the undergraduate psychology major. Our subcommittee was charged with identifying evaluation strategies and tools for students’ professional development, which included applying psychology to various careers; engaging in effective self-regulation, project management, and teamwork; and developing lifelong professional skills. In this article, therefore, we not only review a wide range of assessment tools for facilitating and evaluating professional development in psychology, but we also discuss the larger importance of the learning goal both to students and …

Adapting To Remote Services: Getting Started With A Knowledge Base For Your Users, Sonali Sugrim

Publications and Research

This disruption to usual services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic forced many librarians to reevaluate the methods with which their users connect with library personnel and library resources. The library is a vital source of information and during these times, it becomes our duty to ensure students and faculty are able to access resources, get research and instructional assistance and be able to continue to do their work with as little disruption as possible. The first step to this would be for the library to organize its contact information, resources and helpful links in one central location, in …

Improving Dental Hygiene Students' Journal Writing, Susan Davide

Publications and Research

During the introductory semester of treating patients, students are in need of assistance and guidance throughout the assessment and treatment phases of patient care. As novice learners, there is little to no prior knowledge on writing a patient case study presentation. To assist and improve dental hygiene student writing of patient case journals, a scaffold assignment was created. Over the course of the semester students were required to submit five patient case studies in the form of a journal. Each journal had a writing focus with specific directions for each along with a detailed rubric; the final journal encompassing all …

Fourteen Recommendations To Create A More Inclusive Environment For Lgbtq+ Individuals In Academic Biology, Katelyn M. Cooper, Anna Jo J. Auerbach, Jordan D. Bader, Amy S. Beadles-Bohling, Jacqueline A. Brashears, Erica Cline, Sarah L. Eddy, Deanna B. Elliott, Elijah Farley, Linda Fuselier, Heather M. Heinz, Madison Irving, Tanya Josek, A. Kelly Lane, Stanley M. Lo, Jeffrey Maloy, Michelle Nugent, Erika Offerdahl, Juan Palacios-Moreno, Jorge Ramos, Joshua W. Reid, Rachel A. Sparks, Ashley L. Waring, Mike Wilton, Cara Gormally, Sara E. Brownell

Publications and Research

Individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and otherwise non-straight and/or non-cisgender (LGBTQ+) have often not felt welcome or represented in the biology community. Additionally, biology can present unique challenges for LGBTQ+ students because of the relationship between certain biology topics and their LGBTQ+ identities. Currently, there is no centralized set of guidelines to make biology learning environments more inclusive for LGBTQ+ individuals. Rooted in prior literature and the collective expertise of the authors who identify as members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community, we present a set of actionable recommendations to help biologists, biology educators, and biology …

Bringing Bilingualism To The Center Of Guided Reading Instruction, Laura Ascenzi-Moreno, Rebecca Quiñones

Publications and Research

Educators consider guided reading one of the most powerful instructional tools in a reading teacher’s arsenal. Yet, when it comes to emergent bilinguals in both monolingual English and bilingual settings, guided reading is implemented monolingually, or in one language at a time. As the field of reading instruction has moved toward a more asset‐based take on students’ bilingualism, integrating a bilingual approach to guided reading is necessary. The authors offer educators a lens to understand how emergent bilinguals’ resources and bilingualism can be incorporated into guided reading, along with concrete examples that can assist teachers in enacting these practices in …

Applied Strategies For Remote Student Teaching Due To Covid-19, Natalie G. Chertoff, Ashleigh B. Thompson

Publications and Research

City University of New York's pre-service teachers in clinical coursework (fieldwork and student teaching) during AY20-21 will face new and emerging challenges. Developing relationships with cooperating teachers, students and families, some of whom may have experienced significant trauma during the pandemic; teaching content remotely; utilizing new technologies — these are just some examples of the topics included in this brief. Sections are intended for pre-service teacher candidates, clinical supervisors, principals and cooperating teachers. Many resources include links to citations so that readers can explore them in greater depth as they think through planning, enacting and assessing remote learning, whether it’s …

National Summer Transportation Institute: Increasing Career Awareness In Civil Engineering For Underserved High School Students, Melanie L. Villatoro, Janet Liou-Mark

Publications and Research

Our nation needs to increase the number of students pursuing degrees in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and those leading to transportation-related careers. In order to meet the demand for qualified graduates in transportation, it is necessary to diversify the pool of students entering college with an interest in these fields. The National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI) is an educational initiative developed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Department of Transportation (DOT). The NSTI at City Tech was designed to increase awareness of transportation-related careers among New York City high school students. The structure of …

Philosophical Inquiry For Critical Mathematics Education, Nadia Kennedy

Publications and Research

This paper argues that critical mathematics education requires reflective knowledge, which lies outside of mathematical and technological knowledge, and which can be generated through philosophical inquiry in the classroom. Philosophical inquiry can provide “thinking tools” for questioning, challenging and critiquing implicit assumptions and misconceptions and for the reconstruction of concepts. As such, it can offer a space for critical reflection on mathematics, for the development of an epistemological approach that encourages an enriched, overarching view of mathematics and its connections to the other school disciplines, society and self. It also offers space for the deconstruction and reconstruction of beliefs about …