Education Commons^™

Measuring The Effectiveness Of Critical Literacy As An Instructional Method, Edward Lehner, Kaemanje Thomas, Jean Shaddai, Toni Hernen

Publications and Research

This paper reports the results of a quasi-experiment investigating the efficacy of using critical literacy as an instructional method. Using a quantitative comparison method, critical literacy is the study’s treatment. The treatment measures the final exam scores of linguistically diverse urban community college students enrolled in college developmental reading courses against 13 other statistically similar classes. The primary data are the results of a standardized final exam. This quasi-experimental study demonstrates the effectiveness of a critical literacy model when employed in a community college setting. Further, this study introduces a quantitative rationale for using critical literacy and establishes the practice …

Achievement Goal Task Framing And Fit With Personal Goals Modulate The Neurocognitive Response To Corrective Feedback, Jennifer A. Mangels, Sylvia Rodriguez, Yuliya Ochakovskaya, Belén Guerra-Carrillo

Publications and Research

Past studies have demonstrated the educational impact of achievement goals, but have not yet captured their effects at a critical learning moment—students’ response to negative feedback and their subsequent engagement with error remediation opportunities. We used event-related potentials to investigate how neural substrates of feedback processing were influenced by a within subjects manipulation of mastery and performance goals. Task goal framing did not affect event-related potentials to performance feedback, but did modulate neural activity predicting successful learning. Under a mastery frame, successful learning modulated fronto-temporal activity linked with semantic processing; under a performance frame, it modulated parieto-occipital activity linked with …

Contextualizing Developmental Math Content Into Introduction To Sociology In Community Colleges, Stuart Parker, Amy E. Traver, Jonathan Cornick

Publications and Research

Across community colleges in the United States, most students place into a developmental math course that they never pass. This can leave them without the math skills necessary to make informed decisions in major areas of social life and the college credential required for participation in growing sectors of our economy. One strategy for improving community college students’ pass rate in developmental math courses is the contextualization of developmental math content into the fabric of other courses. This article reviews an effort to contextualize developmental math content (i.e., elementary algebra) into Introduction to Sociology at Kingsborough Community College and Queensborough …

College Presidents Mostly White And Aging, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Despite the fact that the leadership of colleges and universities in this country is in dire need of fresh ideas, a report released last week by the American Council on Education (ACE) shows that the people in these positions continue to be largely white, male – and getting older. And while women represent the majority of undergraduate and graduate students in this country and that the number of minorities attending colleges and universities keeps growing and will continue to grow in the years to come, by 2016 less than a third of college presidents were women and less than a …

Understanding Young Students' Problem Solving Pathways: Building A Design Process Model Based On Sequential Analysis, Euisuk Sung, Todd Kelley

Publications and Research

Many STEM-related K-12 education standards, such as the Next Generation Science Standards, Standards for Technological Literacy, and Common Core Mathematics Standards, place great emphasis on designing as a way of delivering their core concepts. However, the classroom delivery of core design concepts has been the focus of very few studies. Particularly, most design-based lessons use a design process model, which poses a challenge for many engineering and technology educators. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the actual process of engineering design using the sequential pattern analysis method. The researchers collected ten Concurrent Think-Aloud (CTA) protocols from fourth …

Best Practices For Recruiting And Retaining Diverse Faculty For Institutions Of Higher Education., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Research has shown that increasing diversity in organizations and the workplace is not only a matter of social justice. It suggests that including diverse voices and experiences makes groups more knowledgeable, sensitive, efficient, creative, and successful. Examples cited claim that increased diversity (in its broadest sense, i.e., gender, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, religious and socioeconomic background) affords groups rich opportunities to respond more effectively to the challenges of society that require multiple perspectives and broad approaches to complex problem-solving. Unfortunately, among the faculty represented in higher education, diversity remains an issue. And, the proportion of diverse individuals …

‘Speaking Truth’ Protects Underrepresented Minorities’ Intellectual Performance And Safety In Stem, Avi Ben-Zeev, Yula Paluy, Katlyn L. Milless, Emily J. Goldstein, Lyndsey Wallace, Leticia Márquez-Magaña, Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Mica Estrada

Publications and Research

We offer and test a brief psychosocial intervention, Speaking Truth to EmPower (STEP), designed to protect underrepresented minorities’ (URMs) intellectual performance and safety in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). STEP takes a ‘knowledge as power’ approach by: (a) providing a tutorial on stereotype threat (i.e., a social contextual phenomenon, implicated in underperformance and early exit) and (b) encouraging URMs to use lived experiences for generating be-prepared coping strategies. Participants were 670 STEM undergraduates [URMs (Black/African American and Latina/o) and non-URMs (White/European American and Asian/Asian American)]. STEP protected URMs’ abstract reasoning and class grades (adjusted for grade point average [GPA]) …

College Staff Continue To Be Unsung Heroes., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

For many of us in higher education, the staff that work at colleges and universities are unsung heroes. After all, most faculty are protected by tenure and academic freedom. Administrators also have a great deal of autonomy and job security. Yet, staff members –whether a department secretary or someone working out of the sight of most people – are usually badly paid, lack many opportunities for advancement and can oftentimes be dismissed rather easily.

Faculty, administrators, and students are all part of the public consciousness, but little is known about staff. Now a new report is shedding some light about …

Quality Of General Ed Generally Satisfactory., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

During the last few years, media have inundated us with bad news about higher education. Whether it is student debt, sexual assaults, or decreased enrollments, colleges and universities seem to be under siege. Add to that the bad press from op-ed writers about political correctness, uselessness of certain degrees, and the fascination with techno- logical fads such as MOOCs, and one can see how controversial higher education has become.

Apparently, someone forgot to ask students what they think.

Now a new national study seems to take care of that. According to a survey conducted with Gallup and Strada Educational Network …

Unafraid And Unapologetic, Still, Alyshia Gálvez

Publications and Research

Luis Saavedra, Melissa García Vélez, and Marlen Fernández were among the cofounders of the Lehman College DREAM Team, the first official group organized by and specifically for undocumented students at the City University of New York (CUNY). From their first semester on campus, until they graduated in 2014, Luis, Melissa, and Marlen worked tirelessly on campus, around the city, regionally, and at the federal level, demanding better services for undocumented students at the college and throughout the CUNY system, while also helping college and high school students mobilize on their own campuses. They engaged with national activist groups and debates, …

For Social Justice, We Need To Look In The Mirror., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

One of the most contentious issues in politics in general – and in higher education in particular – is political correctness.

Usually defined as the avoidance of language or actions that are seen as excluding, marginalizing, or insulting groups of people that have been dis- criminated against because of their gender, race, or other identifying factors.

The term is now oftentimes used in a pejorative sense, particularly in conservative circles.

Learning To Disclose: A Post Colonial Autoethnography Of Transracial Adoption, Joni Schwartz, Rebecca Schwartz

Publications and Research

This autoethnographic research project examines the transformational learning of a transracial adoptive adult mother and daughter through the lens of postcolonialism. As collaborative researchers, adult adoptee and adoptive mother, examine this lifelong learning experience through critical self-reflection, qualitative meta-analysis, and autoethnographic research methods within the overarching historical and sociopolitical context of Haiti. The findings address the lived complexities of increasingly hybrid families, particularly around the contentious boundaries of race, nationality, and colonial history, as they impact transformational learning. Color blindness and racial identity development for both mother and daughter within their relationship are explored. Implications for adult educators around the …

What Impacts Do Oer Have On Students? Students Share Their Experiences With A Health Psychology Oer At New York City College Of Technology, Cailean Cooney

Publications and Research

This article reports findings from a study conducted with students in three sections of a Health Psychology course that replaced a traditional textbook with open educational resources (OER) as the primary course material. The purpose of the study was to learn how OER impacted students. Data were collected in Fall 2015 with students from New York City College of Technology (City Tech), of the City University of New York (CUNY), a comprehensive college located in Brooklyn. Students were assigned the OER by their course instructor, who developed it as part of a library funded OER pilot initiative. Two research instruments …

What The Proposed Federal Budget Really Means., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

The proposed 2018 budget by the Trump administration has been presented and now we have a clear picture of the list of programs related to higher education that will be either severely cut or totally eliminated.

Among the programs to be eliminated are the Public-Service Loan-Forgiveness program (which currently helps more than 550,000 students), Stafford Loans (offered to eligible students enrolled in accredited American institutions of higher education to help with their education) and the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (a federal assistance grant for college students with the greatest need for financial aid). It also includes plans to allow the …

Immigration Barriers Will Affect U.S. Academia., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

The Nobel Prize is one measure of a country’s intellectual prowess. Whether it is in the sciences, literature or economics, to win one is always a point of pride, not only for the winners but also for their country of citizenship. Since the first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901, 860 individuals from 76 countries have won it. Of these, 363 have been from the United States. More Nobel Prize winners have been American than any other nationality.

And of the 363 American awardees, 98 were born in other countries. Of the six Americans awarded Nobel Prizes last year in …

Colleges May Take Blame For Government Actions., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In the last few weeks a number of news events have taken place that may not have been very noticeable, but which can seriously affect higher education in a very detrimental way.

The first event was the publication of the results of a survey conducted by New America, a non-partisan think-tank based in Washington, D.C. The poll surveyed 1,600 people and found that the American public is becoming more and more ambivalent about the value of higher education. Three-quarters of the respondents agreed that it is easier to be successful with a college degree, but one-quarter said higher education is …

The Rising Gap Between Rich And Poor: A Look At The Persistence Of Educational Disparities In The United States And Why We Should Worry, Roseanne L. Flores

Publications and Research

In 2001 the no child left behind act was signed into law with the promise to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged children and their white and more affluent peers. Ribbons were cut, ceremonies were held, as America set off on a new path to ensure that all children would have the tools necessary to achieve the American Dream. Children who in the past only had access to low-quality schools would now be able to attend high-quality schools and acquire the skills necessary to become productive citizens and obtain jobs that would catapult them into the middle class. They would …

Understanding The Whole Student: Cuny Undergraduates’ Lived Experiences, Mariana Regalado, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

This presentation is a broad overview of research into how CUNY undergraduates fit their academic work into their lives, focusing on study locations, the technology they use, and how they engage in the research process.

Private Colleges Can Partner To Solve Issues., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

One of the discussions around accessibility, cost, and quality in higher education revolves about private colleges and universities. Are they for rich kids only? Do they graduate students at a higher rate than do public institutions? Are they more efficient at managing their money? Can they save taxpayers money? And, more importantly, is there a place for them in the future of higher education? These and other questions have been around for a while and a study recently published on these issues provides us with some of the answers.

These and other questions are particularly relevant, especially in states that …

Understanding The Whole Student: Cuny Undergraduates’ Lived Experiences, Maura A. Smale, Mariana Regalado

Publications and Research

This paper presents a broad overview of research into how CUNY undergraduates fit their academic work into their lives, focusing on study locations, the technology they use, and how they do research in their courses.

A Study Of Cultural Competence And Implicit Bias Amongst Healthcare Students, Jerry Strklja, Natalia Dembowska, Zoya Vinokur, Elaine Leinung

Publications and Research

Cultural competence is defined as the ability of providers and organizations to effectively deliver equitable and unbiased health care that meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of a culturally diverse patient body. By 2050, minority populations will increase to 48 percent of the U.S. population and Hispanics will represent 24.4 percent of the total population (U.S. Census, 2010). This demographic shift brings challenges and opportunities to universities and organizations alike to create policies and curriculums that foster quality health care amongst students, while also contributing to the eradication of implicit biases that may unwittingly perpetuate healthcare disparities amongst racial …

Alternative Venues: An Efl Writing Center Outside The University, Brooke R. Schreiber, Snezana Djuric

Publications and Research

Recent years have seen an increasing presence of writing centers in diverse English as a Foreign Language (EFL) settings, particularly in East Asia and in Europe (Bräuer; Chang). These new centers face familiar issues such as a lack of resources, the need to adapt pedagogy to the local context (Reichelt et. al.; Broekhoff), and ideological resistance to the idea of peer learning (Turner) or even providing support for writing at all (Bräuer). In some cases, these difficulties may force potential writing centers to seek a platform entirely outside of the university, bringing both challenges and new possibilities as the center …

Using Multiple Texts To Teach Critical Reading Skills To Linguistically Diverse Students, Kaemanje Thomas, Minkyug Choi

Publications and Research

Mastery of developmental reading courses offers both an opportunity for academic enrichment and a barrier to college completion. We examine what it means to use multiple texts in college developmental reading courses, the benefits of using them, and considerations that instructors may employ in their instructions. A review of the literature indicates Linguistically Diverse students often lack the required critical thinking skills needed to tackle the rigor and demand of their college level courses. We conducted a study to tests whether using multiple texts improved LDs critical reading skills. Participants of 30 undergraduate students taking RDL 500 course were analyzed …

Campuses And The Freedom Of Speech Trap., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In the last few weeks we have heard about an increasing number of incidents on campuses across the nation where politically conservative speakers have been prevented from talking. From Middlebury College in Vermont to the University of California at Berkeley, these cases have something in common: They are giving higher education a bad name.

Some op-ed pieces by liberal authors have criticized these incidents on the basis that they represent a violation of the basic principle of free speech, which is seen as a liberal principle.

Teaching The French Revolution From A Global Perspective, Frank Jacob

Publications and Research

The French Revolution (1789-1799) is a process of events in world history that had a tremendous global impact. Regardless of this fact, it is, however, still rather taught in its European context. Without this revolution, it seems, Western modernity could not be the same and many countries in Europe remember the impact of the events at the beginning of the so called “long” 19th century in their national historiographies. While the First World War, called “the seminal catastrophe”3 of the 20th century by George F. Kennan (1904-2005) in the late 1970s, marks the end of this long century, the French …

Knowledge To Action: A Communication And Framing Issue, Norman Eng

Publications and Research

Translating knowledge into action requires that education scholars step beyond their traditional role as researchers and engage the public more deliberately. At the same time, their impartiality must be rigorously maintained. One solution is to focus their engagement on educating, discussing, and sharing—rather than persuading or advocating. Communication studies suggests that framing research in ways that resonate with people’s core values may help the public see complex issues more constructively. It may even stimulate political will. In this paper, I explore four ways to frame education issues, based on widely held American values like achievement, progress, and pragmatism. I also …

For Whom The Scientists Marched Last Saturday., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

One of the best novels by Ernest Hemingway was “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” That title was taken from the metaphysical poet John Donne’s series of meditations and prayers on health, pain, and sickness published in 1624 when we wrote, in the original version, “No man is an Iland, intire of itselfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine (...) any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.”

Hemingway’s 1940 novel is set during the 1936-1939 …

“For A Long Time Our Voices Have Been Hushed”: Using Student Perspectives To Develop Supports For Neurodiverse College Students, Kristen Gillepsie-Lynch, Dennis Bublitz, Annemarie Donachie, Vincent Wong, Patricia J. Brooks, Joanne D'Onofrio

Publications and Research

Although the challenges that autistic students face adapting to college are often pronounced, they are similar to the challenges that students with other disabilities face (e.g., difficulties with social interaction, self-advocacy, and executive functioning). However, extant evaluations of services for autistic college students are very limited despite an emerging literature examining supports for college students with a range of other disabilities. Given that many autistic students do not self-identify as autistic in college, and consequently might avoid autism-specific services, autistic students might benefit from services that are designed to support a broad range of neurodiverse students, or services that are …

Study: Students Often Perceived Differently By Race., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In past columns, I have reported on more than one study that shows that expectations for “brilliance” for women in higher education were much higher than that for males. For example, when a research paper is co-authored by a male and a female the assumption by many is that the male did “the real work.”

Now comes a study showing that there is a similar bias when it comes to students – only this time the differences are based on race.

Moody’S Paints Grim Picture For Higher Education., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Predicting one’s own future is an uncertain business.

But when institutions known for their prognosticating

skills predict your future, you might

want to listen. This lesson is one that America’s

institutions of higher education seem to be failing.

After looking at the budget proposal by the

Trump administration, Moody’s Investors Service

painted a grim financial future for the nation’s

colleges and universities. According to their

analysis, Trump’s budget proposal to slash federal

research funding and end financial support

for the arts and humanities would irreparably

harm institutions that rely on those government

dollars.