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Full-Text Articles in Education

Impact Of Modeling Practices On Middle School Science Students, Anna Caspar Apr 2021

Impact Of Modeling Practices On Middle School Science Students, Anna Caspar

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The objective of this extended literature review was to answer the question: What is the impact of modeling practices on understanding phenomena and engaging all students in a meaningful science curriculum and pedagogy in the secondary science classroom? Through research of current literature this paper summarizes how the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) uses modeling to create an engaging and inclusive learning environment for all students. The literature suggests modeling is an effective practice to promote student self-efficacy, motivation, and engagement to help students from diverse backgrounds find success and feel as though they can do science. However, the implementation …

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Figuring-It-Out: Fostering Independence Through Transferable Problem-Solving Competence, Maya Kruger-Steinrueck Apr 2021

Figuring-It-Out: Fostering Independence Through Transferable Problem-Solving Competence, Maya Kruger-Steinrueck

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

When faced with unknowns, there are those who wait and those who figure-it-out. For middle school students to be happy, healthy, and successful, they need to be able to independently navigate the unknown—to figure-it-out, no matter what it is. Figuring-it-out refers to a person’s ability to independently solve problems or determine a workable solution through their capacity to regulate, cope, apply strategies, and take action. This capstone project uses a five-part professional development series for educators to answer the question, how might the explicit teaching of figuring-it-out combined with sustained practice help students to become more independent? The series emboldens …

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Teaching Mindfulness In High School Settings, Gena Roisum Apr 2021

Teaching Mindfulness In High School Settings, Gena Roisum

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Roisum, G. (2021). Teaching Mindfulness in High School Settings. This capstone project addresses the following research question: How can engaging in mindfulness lessons impact high school student and educator stress levels? Research suggests that mindfulness practice is linked to, among other benefits, statistically significant decreases in student and teacher stress in diverse educational settings. The mindfulness curriculum created for this project is intended for implementation in high school settings, including content area classrooms, case management settings, and other educational programs. Key concepts include stress, trauma, and mental health; mindfulness; social-emotional learning (SEL); and teacher self-efficacy. The lessons are trauma-informed in …

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Teaching Through A Social Justice Lens: A Unit Of Study Designed For Second-Year Heritage Spanish Students, Ellen Chirhart Apr 2021

Teaching Through A Social Justice Lens: A Unit Of Study Designed For Second-Year Heritage Spanish Students, Ellen Chirhart

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Chirhart, E. (2021). Teaching through a social justice lens: A unit of study designed for second-year heritage Spanish students. Research has demonstrated a positive relationship between social justice education and heritage Spanish students’ pride in their identities. The idea for this project originated from the need for a curriculum that honors heritage student knowledge and experiences while inspiring students to be advocates against injustice. The unit of study designed for this project addresses the research question: “How does teaching through a social justice lens impact heritage Spanish students?” Social justice standards and essential components of social justice education are implemented …

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Test-Optional Admission: Why And How?, Emma Scott Apr 2021

Test-Optional Admission: Why And How?, Emma Scott

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Scott, E. (2021). Test-Optional Admission: Why and How Throughout my time as an admission counselor, I have come to the conclusion that there are many students who are not served by including a standardized test as a part of their admission application This has lead to the research question addressed in this project Why might test-optional admission be beneficial and what does that mean for a student’s application? Among colleges and universities, there has been a growing trend of adopting test-optional admission policies. Schools have made this decision in large part due to the dubious history of standardized testing (Lemann, …

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Word Problem Wednesday, Elizabeth Ackerson Apr 2021

Word Problem Wednesday, Elizabeth Ackerson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

My research question for my capstone project is: How does incorporating real-world word problems into weekly math curriculum in middle school affect students' learning, engagement, and understanding? I have created a math word problem curriculum, “Word Problem Wednesday”, to be used in my own math classroom to create real-world learning opportunities through problem-solving. I teach 5th-grade math, and I have noticed a lack of understanding of word problems related to problem-solving in the classroom. The curriculum I have developed is based on the need for a curriculum where word problems are purposefully incorporated weekly with meaning while creating understanding. Every …

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Asset-Based Kindergarten Readiness For Black Children In Preschool And The Implications For Racial Equity, Jocelyn Mcquirter Apr 2021

Asset-Based Kindergarten Readiness For Black Children In Preschool And The Implications For Racial Equity, Jocelyn Mcquirter

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Early childhood education represents both a significant and formative moment in a child’s entry into the K-12 education system. While preschool children learn from well-meaning educators, inequities persist in kindergarten readiness outcomes for Black children. Some of the most saliently known disparities include the preschool to prison pipeline (i.e., discipline and suspension practices), poverty, and literacy rates. The Capstone Project sought to answer the research question: How might teacher preparation utilize an asset-based approach to reduce bias in Kindergarten readiness for Black children in lower socioeconomic status households? Explored were effective instructional and curriculum practices to increase learner engagement, empowerment, …

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Effective Differentiation Of Vocabulary Instruction For Upper Elementary Classrooms, Erin Johnson Apr 2021

Effective Differentiation Of Vocabulary Instruction For Upper Elementary Classrooms, Erin Johnson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question examined in this project was, How can I develop effective differentiated vocabulary instruction materials for upper elementary classrooms? It outlines one teacher’s research and the resulting development of a collection of engaging vocabulary activities suitable to be used throughout the entire school year within upper elementary classrooms. These vocabulary activities are reflective of both the learning that occurred through this research process, as well as the author’s personal experience of encountering vocabulary curriculum which lacked cohesion and effectiveness for all learners. Multiple learning styles were considered, as well as simple ways to differentiate the materials for different …

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A Visual Phonics Curriculum Resource For First Grade Teachers Of Struggling Readers, Fiona Mcgraw Apr 2021

A Visual Phonics Curriculum Resource For First Grade Teachers Of Struggling Readers, Fiona Mcgraw

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

McGraw, F. (2021). A Visual Phonics Curriculum Resource for First Grade Teachers of Struggling Readers This project addresses the question of how visual phonics can be integrated into a phonics curriculum to improve reading achievement in first grade students. Visual phonics is an intervention tool that provides a hand sign for every phoneme in the English language. It has the ability to reduce the burden of phonological memory by providing a visual and kinesthetic support through the use of hand cues as a way for students to visualize a sound. The goals of this project are to improve phonemic awareness …

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Implementing Outdoor Education Curriculum: The Benefits Of, Barriers To, And Materials Required For Successful Outdoor Education, Jacob Hradsky Apr 2021

Implementing Outdoor Education Curriculum: The Benefits Of, Barriers To, And Materials Required For Successful Outdoor Education, Jacob Hradsky

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Examining research shows that outdoor education has a number of benefits for students. These benefits range from academic to social emotional to physical (Fagerstam and Blom, 2012; Mygind, 2007; Pretty et al., 2009). Research also shows that many teachers report a variety of barriers to successful outdoor education implementation (Ernst, 2007; Powers, 2004), and that teachers need to understand how to use outdoor spaces to teach effectively (Eick, 2012; House, 2008). As a result, outdoor education is not being implemented widely by teachers and the benefits that come with the outdoor exposure are not being utilized. This project seeks to …

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Utilizing Public Involvement As A Driver For Conservation Efforts, Alexander Colling Apr 2021

Utilizing Public Involvement As A Driver For Conservation Efforts, Alexander Colling

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Public lands have long been treasured by the citizens and communities that surround them. They provide a multitude of recreational opportunities to the people as well as needed ecological services to the greater ecosystems in which they are located. The management of these lands traditionally on governmental agencies or non-profit organizations. The goal of this project is to explore and develop avenues for public involvement in the natural resource management process and to answer the question of: How can land managers harness public involvement and understanding to advance conservation efforts? The Public Parallel Natural Areas Management System (PPNAMS) was developed …

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Call To Climate Action: Leveraging Living Collections To Inspire Pro-Environmental Behavior In Virtual Informal Science Education Programs, Meghan Carter Apr 2021

Call To Climate Action: Leveraging Living Collections To Inspire Pro-Environmental Behavior In Virtual Informal Science Education Programs, Meghan Carter

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

With high visitation rates, Informal Science Learning Centers (ISLCs) have the opportunity to use their broad reach and trusted relationship with the community to initiate critical conversations around urgent global challenges, like climate change. This is especially true for engaging adolescent audiences, like high school students, that are acutely aware of the threat of climate change and the lifelong impact it could have on their physical and mental health (Sanson, Van Hoorn, & Burke, 2019). While the complex and inherently negative nature of the problem can make climate change communication difficult, research suggests the use of living collections, like live …

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Increasing Student Creativity And Connection To Nature Through Equitable Nature-Based Experiences During Middle School Distance Learning, Benjamin Olofson Apr 2021

Increasing Student Creativity And Connection To Nature Through Equitable Nature-Based Experiences During Middle School Distance Learning, Benjamin Olofson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This paper seeks to answer the question: How can middle school teachers increase student creativity and connection to nature through equitable nature-based experiences during distance learning? This paper reviews the history of nature based learning (NBL) and exploratory learning, and examines the positive outcomes of these practices. These benefits include increased engagement and interest in normally uninterested students (Dettweiler et al., 2015; Truong et al., 2016), improved grades (Camassao & Jagannathan, 2018), and reduced disruptive episodes and dropouts among “at risk” students (Ruiz-Gallardo et al., 2013 as cited in Kuo et al., 2019). Although many research studies have shown positive …

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Creating A Flipped Elementary El Classroom That Is Effective And Engaging For Students, Laura Brueggeman Apr 2021

Creating A Flipped Elementary El Classroom That Is Effective And Engaging For Students, Laura Brueggeman

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The Covid-19 pandemic closure of schools has had and will continue to have an impact on education. In order to keep students equally engaged in a virtual learning environment as an in-person learning environment, different blended learning teaching strategies can be explored and implemented. This capstone helps to answer the research question, How does an EL (English Learner) teacher create a flipped elementary EL classroom that is effective and engaging for students?. Research supports that flipped classrooms are supportive of an engaging community of learners where teachers create flipped classroom lessons that are student centered and collaborative.

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Foundational Literacy For Slife, Allison Knutson Apr 2021

Foundational Literacy For Slife, Allison Knutson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE) are a subset of English learners who may have no previous schooling, limited schooling, or interrupted prior schooling; they have had at least two fewer years of schooling than their peers. They not only lack English proficiency but also tend to have limited or no first language literacy (DeCapua & Marshall, 2015). This project looks to address English literacy instruction for SLIFE, knowing current practices are not meeting the needs of this population, as evidenced by SLIFE having some of the highest high school dropout rates (DeCapua et al., 2007). The research …

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Culturally Sustaining Indigenous Education Within Agricultural Education Curriculum, Emily Trout Apr 2021

Culturally Sustaining Indigenous Education Within Agricultural Education Curriculum, Emily Trout

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

When Agricultural Education was founded in 1917 from the Smith-Hughes Act, it was not inclusive to all students. Agricultural education and the National FFA Organization have excluded people based on their race, gender, and religion in the past. Though steps are being made today to right the wrongs of the past, there is still progress to be made. One group that has been left out and excluded from the agricultural education archives, are Indigenous students. Indigenous students face many challenges within the school system that stem directly from the intergenerational trauma that the westernized educational system has created. This capstone …

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Guided Reading Adaptations For Multilingual Learners, Ashley Morlock Apr 2021

Guided Reading Adaptations For Multilingual Learners, Ashley Morlock

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Elementary educators continue to face the challenge of providing an equitable education for all students. As more multilingual students are seated in the classroom, the challenge to support literacy and language development becomes increasingly important. This capstone seeks to answer the question: How can elementary educators improve guided reading instruction, and what adaptations support multilingual learners? The research concludes that guided reading modifications should be made through the additive approach to language, translanguaging, teacher and student participation, corrective feedback, and assessment. Using these modifications during guided reading can have many positive benefits on a student’s academic achievement and linguistic identity.

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Improving Engagement And Literacy Skills With Choice Literacy Centers, Katelin Laugen Apr 2021

Improving Engagement And Literacy Skills With Choice Literacy Centers, Katelin Laugen

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

As students transition to middle and high school, opportunities for student choice within curriculum become limited, and there is a need for students to have authentic literacy and decision-making opportunities. Key influences during research of this project include Kelly Gallagher, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, and Linda Gambrell and Lesley Mandel Morrow’s Best Practices in Literacy Instruction. Research indicates that benefits of literacy centers include fostering engagement, literacy skill growth, opportunities for small-group instruction, and developing student autonomy. The curriculum designed for this project took the form of student choice literacy centers. The purpose of this project was to design …

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Behind The Screens: A Social And Emotional Learning Approach To Social Media, Lauren Koller Apr 2021

Behind The Screens: A Social And Emotional Learning Approach To Social Media, Lauren Koller

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question for my capstone project is: How can social and emotional learning (SEL) be used as a tool in the classroom to address and combat the toxicity stemming from adolescent social media usage? I have designed a student curriculum grounded in SEL methods titled “Digital Life Studies” to be implemented in middle level settings during advisory periods. Researchers and educators alike have observed that an increasing amount of students in middle level settings are gaining access to technology that connects them to the internet. A survey conducted by Common Sense Media revealed that 81% of teenagers (defined as …

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Deepening Student Thinking About A Text: Effective Critical Literacy Strategies In The Elementary Classroom, Kelly Jordahl Apr 2021

Deepening Student Thinking About A Text: Effective Critical Literacy Strategies In The Elementary Classroom, Kelly Jordahl

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

While at a critical crossroads of a social movement to end systemic racism, and with schools simultaneously pushing for cultural competency training and practices in the classroom, educators are being asked to take on the task of bringing diversified texts to students in the classroom and deepening student understanding of those texts. While there are many strategies for implementation, one research-based strategy is utilizing critical literacy strategies to expand student view and analysis of said diversified texts. This capstone explores deepened questioning strategies, critical literacy strategies, and frameworks for implementation as support for educators to help answer the research question, …

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Professional Development Activities: Understanding How Cultural Stigmas Impact The Participation Of Japanese English Learners In Universities, Peter Rom Apr 2021

Professional Development Activities: Understanding How Cultural Stigmas Impact The Participation Of Japanese English Learners In Universities, Peter Rom

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

According to a variety of research and literature, existing cultural stigmas in Japanese society and education creates a classroom culture gap between native English teachers (NETs) and Japanese English learners (ELs) at the university level. The specific cultural gap in question is on the differences in cultural expectations regarding participation between NETs and Japanese ELs. The result of this classroom cultural gap generally results in a silent and non-productive class. To combat this issue, I have designed a total of 15 professional development (PD) activities. The project employs culturally relevant pedagogy as understood by Ladson-Billing, and it is specifically designed …

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Code-Switching In The Classroom, Rebecca Maki Apr 2021

Code-Switching In The Classroom, Rebecca Maki

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research has shown that code-switching can aid in students’ English learning and help them feel as if their first language (L1) and its culture are valuable; however, many teachers who are not educated in English Language Learner (ELL) best practices can be hesitant to include code-switching in their lessons and might even actively discourage it. The question addressed in this project is: how can code-switching be used in the mainstream high school classroom taught by monolingual teachers to enhance learning for ELL students in the areas of writing fluency and reading comprehension? The paper explores the literature that supports code-switching …

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Research Based Strategies In Reading And Writing For Content Area Teachers: A Website To Support Growth In Academic Language, Kathryn Schmidbauer Apr 2021

Research Based Strategies In Reading And Writing For Content Area Teachers: A Website To Support Growth In Academic Language, Kathryn Schmidbauer

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The population of English language learners in general education classrooms is growing every year and teachers are finding that they need strategies to support these learners in reading and writing along with helping them adapt to school in another culture. Without classroom support, it becomes more difficult for these students to acquire the academic language needed to be successful and the opportunity gap continues to widen. This website designed for this project focuses on research based reading and writing strategies for content area teachers at the secondary level, specifically grades six through 12. Strategies for skills such as comprehension, vocabulary …

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The Advantages Of Existing English-Medium Models In Meeting The Linguistic Needs Of Elementary Ell Students, Molly Neumann Apr 2021

The Advantages Of Existing English-Medium Models In Meeting The Linguistic Needs Of Elementary Ell Students, Molly Neumann

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research on an equitable education for English Language Learner (ELL) students shows that ELLs underperform on standardized and grade-level assessments as compared to their non-ELL peers. This specific achievement gap persists when ELLs are taught and assessed in only English— a language they are not yet fully proficient in. In order to close this achievement gap, ELL students should be taught content and language simultaneously by teachers who are all experienced in using English language development strategies, while valuing multilingualism as an asset to learning. English-medium schools attempt to meet this goal through the English Language Development (ELD) program models …

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Growing Mindset And Goals: A Blog Designed To Lead Intrinsic Motivation In Students, Alison Prahl Apr 2021

Growing Mindset And Goals: A Blog Designed To Lead Intrinsic Motivation In Students, Alison Prahl

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research conducted by Dr. Carol Dweck clearly demonstrates the importance of building a foundation of growth mindset in order to build resiliency in students. Not only does this resiliency help students overcome challenges but also supports students in building lifelong skills, such as: forming and carrying out goals, receiving and utilizing feedback, and increasing intrinsic motivation in a variety of settings. The educational blog designed for this project focuses on sharing research relating to mindset theory, gifted students, goal setting, feedback, intrinsic motivation in adolescents, and curriculum materials. It also provides educators with free resources to begin implementing a combination …

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Creating An Esl Curriculum In A Type C International School In China, Song Yang Apr 2021

Creating An Esl Curriculum In A Type C International School In China, Song Yang

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question for this capstone project was: what does an ESL curriculum look like in a Type C Chinese international school and how will it reflect the cultural and linguistic needs of its students? The Type C international school is a relatively new kind of school that has become more common in the last few years that caters to affluent families who want their children to gain a Western curriculum and at the same time still maintain their national curriculum. Research on Type C international schools is scarce, but Bala Kumaravadivelu’s postmethod theory would insist that this author’s experience …

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Facing Race: A Project For Talking About Race In A Classroom Setting, Erin Sutliff Apr 2021

Facing Race: A Project For Talking About Race In A Classroom Setting, Erin Sutliff

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research shows that racism is alive and well in American school systems. From achievement gaps, to attendance, to behavior referrals and beyond, it is clear that Black and Brown students are not getting the equitable education they deserve. Educators need to step up and face race in order to truly address the inequities and white supremacy that plague our education system. They need to do their own reflection to check their privilege, do some learning, and take the important step of inviting critical conversations in their classrooms. When educators invite students to talk about race, they are centering student experiences, …

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Engaging Secondary School Students In The Process Of Writing With Expressivist Pedagogy, Alla Boulos Apr 2021

Engaging Secondary School Students In The Process Of Writing With Expressivist Pedagogy, Alla Boulos

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The composition pedagogy of expressivism, which grew out of process theory in the 1960s has been influencing academia’s approach to teaching writing for several decades. The major characteristics of this pedagogy first outlined by its most prominent champion Peter Elbow include the focus on the process rather than the product of writing, the personalization of academic writing with inclusion of personal experiences and pronouns, the lack of textbooks and prescriptive atmosphere, the use of low stakes writing assignments like freewriting and journaling, and the prevalent use of formative assessment techniques such as writing workshops, peer responses, and portfolios. Although expressivism …

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Media Literacy For Political Engagement: A Curricular Unit Design, Adam Bolling Apr 2021

Media Literacy For Political Engagement: A Curricular Unit Design, Adam Bolling

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The question that guided this research was: How can critical media literacy skill development increase students’ ability and willingness to politically engage? Research shows that despite the fact that most Americans view social media use as just a distraction, young people are using the participatory tools and technologies found on social media platforms to engage with political ideas online. Media literacy education frequently focuses on teaching and learning consumption-centered skills like analysis and evaluation; but a media literacy curricular unit that encourages meaningful political engagement would acknowledge the new, production-centered reality that students inhabit. This curricular unit design for a …

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Choice Based Directing: Promoting Inclusivity In Middle School Theatre Programs, Brooklyn Riggs Apr 2021

Choice Based Directing: Promoting Inclusivity In Middle School Theatre Programs, Brooklyn Riggs

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Riggs, B. Choice-Based Directing: Promoting Inclusivity in Middle School Theatre Programs (2021) The research question addressed in this capstone project was, how can implementing Choice-Based Directing promote inclusivity in a middle school theatre program? The capstone documents one theatre teacher/director’s self-created process of directing and teaching middle school theatre students. Choice-Based Directing integrates student voice and choice into learning on stage. The author presents research, personal experience, and the program results of implementing Choice-Based Directing. As an aspect of this work, a professional development for middle school theatre educators was created with the goal of helping teachers and directors learn …

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