Education Commons^™

For Critical Language Awareness And Against The “Exclusive-Use-Of-The-Target-Language” Myth: The Effects Of Sociolinguistic Content In English In An Elementary Spanish Classroom, Beatriz Lado, José Del Valle

Publications and Research

Scholars have advocated for critical approaches to language education (e.g., Del Valle, 2014; Leeman & Serafini, 2016), including those that promote the development of Critical Language Awareness, CLA (e.g., Alim, 2010; Leeman, 2018). The goal is to develop students’ critical knowledge of the cultural, political, and social dimensions of language. To this end, Del Valle (2014) suggests the inclusion of language-related content units taught in the first or shared language from the early stages of language learning. This proposal entails revising strong beliefs such as the use of the non-target language in the new language classroom. The purpose of our …

“It Wasn’T Just About Learning How To Speak Spanish”: Engaging Histories Of Oppression And Enslavement In Spanish Heritage Language Education, Tania Avilés, Anthony J. Harb

Publications and Research

We present a curricular intervention in elementary Spanish heritage language in a Hispanic serving institution located in the US Northeast (Bronx, NYC), that aims to contextualize Latinx students’ experiences and perceptions of Blackness within broader histories of oppression and enslavement. Our practice brings together critical Latinx pedagogy and critical approaches to Spanish heritage language education to facilitate sociohistorical consciousness for both language instructors and students through the use of open-access Latinx archival resources. We outline a three-week unit designed using the First Blacks in the Americas online collection curated by the City University of New York Dominican Studies Institute. During …

Diversifying And Transforming A Public University’S Children’S Book Collection: Librarian And Teacher Education Faculty Collaboration On Grants, Research, And Collection Development, Alison Lehner-Quam

Publications and Research

An education librarian and faculty member collaborated on research grants to study teacher education student’s experiences with diverse books and to develop library collections. This study explores the development of internally grant-funded linguistically and culturally sustaining children’s book collections and assesses the impact of the grants with a model that analyzes research guide use, library instruction sessions, and reflection on grant-funded research, among other components. Intentional collection practices, including grant-funded collection development; faculty partnership; nontraditional bibliographic tools; and alternative forms of access, discovery, and shelving led to a vital and linguistically and culturally sustaining collection which reflects education student’s diverse …

Worth The Time: Exploring The Faculty Experience Of Oer Initiatives, Stacy Katz, Shawna M. Brandle

Publications and Research

Open Educational Resources (OER) initiatives, organized efforts to facilitate the adoption of OER, are increasing in popularity throughout the United States as a means of encouraging faculty to teach with these materials. Faculty participate in these initiatives despite other demands on their time and the lack of recognition for OER usage in the tenure and promotion process. To better understand this phenomenon, the authors conducted in-depth interviews with full-time faculty at senior colleges of the City University of New York (CUNY) and thematically analyzed the transcripts. Faculty were interviewed across colleges, teaching disciplines, and tenure status, yet their experiences with …

Assessing The Benefits Of College Internships At A Hispanic Serving Institution, Amy Adamczyk, Katheryn Crawford, Yuna Kim

Publications and Research

Few studies have investigated the usefulness of internships at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI). Focusing on a 4-year public university (HSI), this study examined differences between the internship and the non-internship students, and changes across the semester for development. A structured internship appears to have some value; including increased interaction with faculty outside the classroom, confidence in verbally expressing ideas, and class presentations.

Dialogical Self And Shifting Mathematical Identity, Nadia Kennedy

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Large Scale Open Educational Resources (Oer) Initiative In Mathematics, Alioune Khoule, Abderrazak Belkharraz Idrissi, Sandra Sze

Publications and Research

A team of LaGuardia Community College math faculty designed and launched the OER (Open Educational Resources) project in Spring 2017 to allow to take mathematics courses at zero or low textbook cost. Our first pilot phase started with 10 sections in Fall 2017 using three different OER platforms: Myopenmath, Webwork and Khanacademy. One out of the three platforms, Myopenmath used in phase 1 was selected to pilot 34 sections in Spring 2018. In Fall 2018, the OER team moved to a full-scale implementation on all remedial and gateway courses of 164 sections including Fundamentals of Algebra, Intro to Algebra, Elementary …

Beyond "Bad" Cops: Historicizing And Resisting Surveillance Culture In Universities, Amy J. Wan, Lindsey Albracht

Publications and Research

In this article, we define and examine surveillance culture within US college classrooms, a logical extension of pervasive carceral and capitalist logics that underlie the US educational system, in which individual success is tied to behavior monitoring, rule following, and sorting, particularly within marginalized student populations. Reflecting anxieties about the expansion of educational access, we argue for how crisis and change have historically contributed to the
urgency and opportunity to expand surveillance culture and consider why this has continued to happen as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. We offer suggestions and alternatives to surveillance culture that have helped us …

A Trauma-Informed Inquiry Of Covid-19’S Initial Impact On Students In Adult Education Programs In The United States, David A. Housel

Publications and Research

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on adult education programs throughout the world, abruptly transforming in-person instruction to distance teaching/learning. Can the lessons learned from adult students, especially related to the “digital divide,” be leveraged to enhance adult education and create more inclusive policies and practices moving forward? To grapple with this question, this exploratory qualitative study sought the insights of adult learners in the northeastern United States through an online survey of primarily open-ended questions. Through multiple rounds of coding using a trauma-informed lens, the following themes emerged: (a) anxiety and loss; (b) distractions, adjustments, and balance; …

College Majors And Unemployment Rates, Anna M. Gellerman, Harshita Ahuja

Publications and Research

College undergraduates often face the question of whether their major and related job force have high unemployment rates. The perceived high unemployment rates of certain majors due to circulating misinformation presents a need for comprehensive research on college majors and their associated unemployment rate. This paper dives into a ten year trend of unemployment rates by college major, and state to state variabilities of majors and their rates.

Open Educational Resources In History: A State-Of-The-Field Essay, Katherine Tsan

Publications and Research

History practitioners are making steady progress adopting, adapting and creating open educational resources. However, most historians do not have a holistic view of the materials that exist in the open sphere due to poor discoverability and professional standards that still hamper their uptake. This state-of-the-field article discusses the challenges and opportunities of engaging with history OERs as divided into three categories: 1) textbooks and teaching modules, 2) informational websites and interactive experiences, and 3) digital tools for collaborative research. The flexibility and adaptability of these resources, afforded by their open licenses, are key points in their prospects for longevity and …

Linguistically Responsive Instruction In Corequisite Courses At Community Colleges, Heather B. Finn, Sharon Avni

Publications and Research

English Learners (ELs) attend community colleges at a greater rate than four-year schools, making community colleges primary sites of ESL education in American higher education. These institutions’ recent embrace of the corequisite structure – a pairing of a non-credit developmental course with a credit-bearing disciplinary content course in order to accelerate students’ progress in their coursework – has direct implications for ELs. As corequisites are enacted in a wide range of content areas, professors will need to attend to students’ language development in a wide range of disciplinary courses. This qualitative study applies Linguistically Responsive Instruction as a framework to …

Covid-19 Impact On Radiologic Imaging Students Learning, Rohini Mattan, Navdeep Kaur, Safraz Harun, Ralph Ocampo, Zoya Vinokur

Publications and Research

The spread of COVID-19 has impacted how students learn. Traditionally, information is delivered face-to-face. In-person learning provides students the ability to engage, participate, and encourages one-on-one student-teacher interaction. Distanced learning has caused students to transition online due to the unprecedented spread of COVID-19. Classes are conducted via zoom, where students can join a class through a zoom meeting ID and password. The objective of this study is to analyze data gathered by the Radiologic Imaging department at New York City College of Technology on how students feel about this academic transition. This research aims to analyze the impact of COVID-19 …

Peer-Led Team Learning In Mathematics: An Effort To Address Diversity And Inclusion Through Learning And Leadership, Janet Liou-Mark, Melanie L. Villatoro, Ariane Masuda, Malika Ikramova, Farjana Shati, Julia Rivera, Victor Lee

Publications and Research

The Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) model has shown to be an effective instructional method to support females, underrepresented minorities, and first-generation students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The collaborative problem-solving setting, led by a peer leader, fosters learning that engages all the students. There are six critical components that are vital to the PLTL model: 1) The PLTL Workshop is integral to the course; 2) Faculty is actively involved; 3) Peer Leaders are well trained; 4) The PLTL Workshop modules are challenging; 5) PLTL workshops are allocated time and space; and 6) There is institutional support. City Tech …

A New Morning In Higher Education Collective Bargaining, 2013-2019, William A. Herbert

Publications and Research

This book chapter appears in Julius, D. J. (ed.), Collective Bargaining in Higher Education: Best Practices for Promoting Collaboration, Equity, and Measurable Outcomes (Routledge, New York and London). The chapter analyzes and contextualizes data concerning the growth in unionization and collective bargaining involving faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate assistants from 2013 to 2019, the period between the economic fallout from the Great Recession and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. It discusses the democratic values underlying collective bargaining and the historical and legal development of unionization at public and private institutions over the decades. It identifies three significant new trends …

A Review Of Camera Scanning Apps For You And Your Patrons, John P. Delooper

Publications and Research

This article discusses mobile phone apps that can be used to scan photos and documents via the digital cameras built into smartphones. It talks about the history of these apps and what their best utility is in library settings. It also examines one specific project to digitize materials for a local history website.

We Are Each Other’S Breath: Tracing Interdependency Through Critical Poetic Inquiry, Karen Zaino, Jordan Bell

Publications and Research

In this paper, we utilize poetic methods that seek to surface, but not overdetermine, the unanticipated relational excess produced through literacy practices. Karen, a queer white woman, and Jordan, a cis-gendered heterosexual Black man, wrote a series of letters to one another throughout the Spring 2020 semester. We turned to critical poetic inquiry to analyze the letters, interested in poetry’s capacity to highlight literacy’s critical power and its emergent potential. We found ourselves implicated in each other’s lives in new ways; we found our relationship both strengthened and tested. Such relational indeterminacy creates methodological challenges in literacy research. We found …

Engaging Students About Race: Opportunities For Cross-Campus Partnerships During Black History Month, Mark Aaron Polger, Amy F. Stempler

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Graduate Student Employee Unionization In The Second Gilded Age, William A. Herbert, Joseph Van Der Naald

Publications and Research

In debates on the future of work, a common theme has been how work became
less secure through the denial of employee status. Though much of the attention
has focused on other industries, precarity has also affected those working in
higher education, including graduate student employees, contributing to what is
now called the “gig academy.” While universities have reassigned teaching and
research to graduate assistants, they have also refused to recognize them as
employees. Nevertheless, unionization has grown considerably since 2012, most
significantly at private institutions. Utilizing a unique dataset, this chapter
demonstrates that between 2012 and 2019, graduate student …

An Extensive Virtual Outreach Approach By Spe Dhaka University Chapter For Geoscience Education Amidst The Covid-19 Pandemic, Noshin Sharmili, Anika Nawar Mayeesha, Syed Humayun Akhter, Nazrul I. Khandaker

Publications and Research

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Dhaka University (DU) Chapter in Bangladesh commenced its journey on 1st October 2007. From the beginning, it has always been students-centered and fixated to pique broader geoscience disciplined-based interests of the members and arrange several annual seminars, conferences, lecture programs, workshops, and general meetings. Many of these webinars were led by distinguished geoscience professionals known domestically and globally. Engaging and inspiring students, particularly females, in practical and innovative thinking concerning the present energy crisis and exploring the world’s energy sectors remain the central theme in its offerings. The SPE DU Chapter organized a wide …

Active Learning With Silent Participation, A.E. Dreyfuss

Publications and Research

Silence by participants in peer-led learning sessions is often viewed as lack of engagement and interpreted as lack of participation or interest. This paper addresses facets of silence, suggesting linguistic, cultural, and other reasons for quietude, and provides methods of facilitation that incorporate silence to give voice to noiseless participation as a bridge to learning.

Peer Leading Small Group Discussion During Covid-19, A. E. Dreyfuss, Ana Fraiman, Milka O. Montes, Reagan Hudson, Fernando Montalvillo Ortega, Jonathan Muniz, Franziska Piefke, Mikayla Rodriguez, Meinar Sheila, Keyshla Vargas, Nicky Vu

Publications and Research

Peer-led workshops in General Chemistry at the University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB) were affected by COVID-19 restrictions during the 2020-2021 academic year. Most Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) workshops were conducted in person, but with the difference that protocols of distancing had to be observed, and a few were conducted online, so adjustments were necessary to prepare Peer Leaders to conduct their workshops in both types of settings. The facets of the modified PLTL program were supported by the online preparation for facilitation and chemistry content.

The results of an examination of critical incidents are shared here. This qualitative examination …

Practice Based In Learning Theory: Peer Leaders Explain Their Poster Projects, Abubakarr Jalloh, Joshua Grillasca, Amanda H. Abrew, Jacob Thomas Najera, A.E. Dreyfuss

Publications and Research

Three Peer Leaders present their final projects, one in Mathematics and two in Statics (Civil Engineering), for a one-credit course in Peer Leader Facilitation at New York City College of Technology, City University of New York, at the Honors and Emerging Scholars Poster Presentation in December 2015. The impetus for videotaping their presentations was the commemoration of a process which could be termed “How to Make a Poster.” The abbreviated directions are provided here. To aid the viewer of the videos, editing provides the static text of the poster section as the Peer Leader discusses that section. Introducing videos as …

“Los Programadores Debieron Pensarse Como Dos Veces”: Exploring The Intersections Of Language, Power And Technology With Bi/Multilingual Students, Sara Vogel

Publications and Research

Critical computing approaches to K-12 Computer Science (CS) education aim to promote justice in computing and the wider world. Despite being intertwined with inequitable power dynamics in computing, issues of linguistic (in)justice have received less attention in critical computing. In this article, I draw on theoretical ideas from sociolinguistics and critical computing to analyze qualitative data collected in computing and technology-integrated language and humanities classes serving emergent bi/multilingual middle school students. Conversations about language, technology, and power were close at hand in focal classrooms, and surfaced in moments when students acted as users and critics of, and tinkerers with digital …

Conjunctional Concepts: The Conceptual Teaching Technique In Biology Classes, Igor V. Zaitsev

Publications and Research

Conceptual teaching relies on concepts in conjunction with a bigger conceptual category (or categories). Revealing and using conceptual conjunctions in the science classroom means teaching conceptually. To make conceptual teaching more accessible to biology instructors, a three-concept model was described to be used during a lecture. This model has allowed the author to develop a relatively simple method that starts with an active concept or concepts, then introduces conjunctional and supporting concepts to relate the content to other concepts and relevant real-world applications. This method is intended to help instructors in preparing to teach biological concepts conceptually, in order to …

Foundations Of Linguistics And Identity In L2 Teaching And Learning: Agency Through Linguistic Enrichment, Differentiated Instruction And Teacher Identity, Marnie Jo Petray, Rebecca Shapiro, Gladys M. Vega

Publications and Research

Language, procedure, and identity are L2 teaching/learning essentials that may promote agency and stimulate synergies among knowledge, practice, and reflection (Diaz Maggioli, 2014; Duff, 2012). This meta-report presents three studies that collectively advance agency and endorse linguistic foundations as enrichment, differentiated instruction as engagement, and teacher identity as empowerment. All of these theoretical constructs are key to successful L2 teaching and acquisition. Study 1 quantitatively reports on introductory linguistics’ presence or absence in 114 master’s programs at 54 US institutions. Findings suggest that linguistics’ curricular presence is inconsistent and training for optimal impact in the L2 classroom is lacking. Given …

The City As A Learning Lab: Using Historical Maps And Walking Seminars To Anchor Place-Based Research, Anne E. Leonard, Jason Montgomery

Publications and Research

Information literacy, inquiry, and empirical observation skills are essential to undergraduate students’ success, supporting the development of their independent critical thinking skills. In this chapter, we discuss an interdisciplinary course that we, an architecture professor and a librarian, co-taught at New York City College of Technology. The course, Learning Places: Understanding the City, combines place-based learning with primary source research, developing students’ abilities to observe an urban site chosen for study and to document their observations, and in the process build a line of inquiry for further research. The documented observations, newly created primary sources in their own right, initiated …

Safety And Belonging In Immigrant-Serving Districts: Domains Of Educator Practice In A Charged Political Landscape, Rebecca Lowenhaupt, Dafney Blanca Dabach, Ariana Mangual Figueroa

Publications and Research

Drawing from a context of reception framework, this article asks the following questions: How do educators describe issues of safety and belonging in the context of a charged immigration policy climate? What practices have educators developed to support immigrant-origin youth? And, what are the relationships between educators’ perceptions of safety and belonging and educator practices? We analyze educators’ survey responses administered across six school districts in different contexts across the United States, including the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. We synthesize four domains of educator practice: signaling affirmation, building shared knowledge and capacity, finding and mobilizing resources, and creating space …

Teaching Machine Learning For The Physical Sciences: A Summary Of Lessons Learned And Challenges, Viviana Acquaviva

Publications and Research

This paper summarizes some challenges encountered and best practices established in several years of teaching Machine Learning for the Physical Sciences at the undergraduate and graduate level. I discuss motivations for teaching ML to physicists, desirable properties of pedagogical materials, such as accessibility, relevance, and likeness to real-world research problems, and give examples of components of teaching units.

Refugee Higher Education & Participatory Action Research Methods: Lessons Learned From The Field, Hadas Yanay, Juan Battle

Publications and Research

Refugee access to higher education is devastatingly low. Recognizing the complex barriers facing refugee learners, global educational initiatives are innovating flexible learning models which promote blended online and in-person learning modalities. This article describes the implementation of a five month, online-based internship pilot offered to 21 refugee participants in qualitative and quantitative research methods, through a participatory action research (PAR) framework in five different countries -- Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, and Lebanon. The internship is part of the Global Education Movement (GEM), which brings refugees accredited online college degree and career development opportunities. Through direct engagement, observation of the …