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Setting the Stage for Learning: Equitable, Evidence-Based K-12 Instructional Design and Assessment
No full textThis book is about how to teach well. While it draws on our personal experiences in education and will include anecdotes, it is grounded in research on classrooms and students in a wide variety of contexts. It may come as little surprise that teachers often tend to teach in the ways that they were taught (Lortie, 2002); that can be wonderful for learners who are similar to you, but terrible for students who did not have the same background, experiences, and interests.https://scholar.umw.edu/education_books/1002/thumbnail.jp
The possibility of an Intelligent Designer
No full textAttribute of design are complexity, structure, function, art, and intentionality. When an intelligent designer designs it is with a specific function in mind. Even if an intelligent designer makes adjustments to a product it is because there is a plan or function for the product. Philosophically, for the same reason we can look at a piece of art and know an artist designed it and know that it is not an accidental mixture of colors on a canvas, we can observe nature and life on Earth and assume that its cause was not accidental. Similarly, we observe cave writings and paintings and equate them to the intentional mark or design of early humans, philosophically one observes the universe and finds some sort of intentionality and signs of an intelligent designer. In the words of William Demski, “Nature does exhibit observable features of being a product of intelligent agency” (Dembski, 2002
The Effect of Photoperiod on Male Zebrafish Sex Hormones
Get PDFThe goal of this research was to explore how photoperiod affects the reproductive endocrine axis in zebrafish (Danio rerio). It is known that the reproductive endocrine axis controls zebrafish reproduction. Additionally, it is known that photoperiod determines both reproductive seasonality (long days promote reproduction) and daily timing of spawning (initiates at the start of the light phase). However, there is limited research examining the effects of photoperiod on those endocrine pathways controlling zebrafish reproduction. I hypothesized that in males, long-day photoperiods promote the synthesis of key reproductive hormones, the gonadotropins (FSH and LH). To test this hypothesis, I used qPCR to compare gonadotropin transcript levels in male zebrafish that have been exposed to long photoperiods with those exposed to short photoperiods. I compared relative gonad sizes by calculating the gonadosomatic index (GSI). I found no significant differences in gonadosomatic index between groups. Additionally, I found no significant differences in mean LH transcript levels. However, there were significant differences in mean FSH transcript levels between the 14-day control group and 14-day short-day group, as well as the 14-day control group and 14-day long-day group. These results indicate photoperiod may affect FSH transcript levels. Future directions include conducting more trials using more fish and tanks to allow for a larger sample size, as well as using an ELISA to detect 11-KT concentrations
Stories in Motion: Integrating Creative Dance in a Language Arts Classroom
Get PDFAs learning gaps have widened in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increased need for research-based strategies to improve student academic achievement and engagement. This study explored the integration of creative dance as a form of storytelling in a kindergarten language arts classroom. Students were introduced to an element of dance and used it to create short dance phrases in a unit on retelling. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected using pre/post tests and student interviews measuring students’ engagement and enjoyment. Students involved in this study showed significant growth in their ability to orally retell a story (p \u3c .05) and analysis of student interviews suggested that students were highly engaged in the unit
The Curious Incident of the Senior with a Project
No full textThis senior project detailed the rehearsal process and character work I did for the show The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stevens, which was performed in November 2021. As an actor within this show, this project was where I recorded the blocking process throughout the months leading up to the show, as well as getting to know the five characters I played in the show. Finally, I also recorded how the show did during performances, and a final reflection after the show had closed
The Creation of Political Survival Strategies by Black Collegiate Women on Virginia’s Predominantly White Campuses
Get PDFThe University of Mary Washington is a liberal arts institution founded in 1908 as a normal and industrial school for women (Our History - About UMW, 2015). Because of its small size, Mary Washington was historically known as Virginia’s “undiscovered gem” (Boyer, 2011). Mary Washington is described as a place built to support the “innovative, passionate, intellectual, and genuine” (Boyer, 2011). However, in 2020, the deaths of Breonna Taylor and Tony McDade and a racial protest that took place near the college’s campus caused many Black collegiate women at Mary Washington to question if their university was built to support them or exclusively the white women who were first welcomed there. Historically, Black women in predominantly white places have had to protect themselves when their institutions abandoned them. Black women at Mary Washington have had to create spaces for themselves in an environment that was never meant to facilitate their survival. This practice continues to this day. Guided by Jatia Wrighten’s heavy lifter theory and the Black collegiate women before me, I examine the survival strategies that Black women create at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) and how those strategies translate into policy solutions. To bind my research, I focus on the University of Mary Washington and the University of Virginia. Through historical analysis, literature review, and data collection from social media accounts, I found that Black collegiate women develop innovative and complex survival strategies to affirm their identity and to make space for Black people and other marginalized groups on campus. These survival strategies inherently embody harm reduction and the liberationist policy-making that serves not just the collegiate space, but the world
The Curia Julia: Its History, Materials, Use, and Preservation through the Centuries
Get PDFThe Curia Julia has one of the most fascinating histories out of all the buildings in Rome. Julius Caesar began its construction in 44 BCE in the Forum Romanum as the meeting place for the Roman Senate, and it continued to serve as such until the eventual fall of the Roman Empire. Today, the building stands almost completely intact, a feat that is not common for other structures of the same period. The reason why it has remained standing for so many centuries is due to its history of use: it was transformed into a church in the 7th century where its appearance was altered, and in the 1930s it was completely restored to its appearance from the era of the Roman Empire. These restorations completely removed all traces of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, and instead restored the Curia to what it would have looked like under the emperor Diocletian, who repaired the Curia after a fire. However, the story of the Curia moving into today’s world offers some complications in preservation. Rising automobile emissions and air pollution threaten the materials the Curia is constructed from, so this thesis will examine these construction materials in order to determine the best ways to preserve the Curia Julia for future generations to come
How Does Tik-Tok Present the Mid-Size Community?
Get PDFThe present study was a content analysis of the kairotic period created coming out of the COVID-19 lockdown and a change in women’s fashion, and whether the presentation of this new lifestyle was skewed by the rising social media platform TikTok. The videos (N = 10) selected were the top videos under the #midsize and #midsizecommunity tags, to allow for greater diversity of mid-size content, were analyzed among category, tone, color, and ages of creators. Previous kairotic times in history with women’s fashion were reviewed to support the importance of this time. Results from an unaffiliated account on TikTok under the #midsize and #midsizecommunity tags were generally positive, with bright colors, and of early twenties age. The mid-size content has surpassed the trend lifecycle and became a lifestyle which supports the kairotic history of women’s fashion. Given women’s fight for equity, more research is needed to better understand the impact of these kairotic opportunities
Pupil Dilation is Not Associated with Memory for Prior Remembering
Get PDFThis experiment was conducted to assess the relationship between pupil dilation and memory for prior remembering. Prior remembering is the judgment of whether a memory was previously remembered. Previous studies have suggested that pupil dilation can change in response to emotional stimuli as well as “old” versus “new” stimuli in recognition memory tests. The present experiment had participants view emotional and neutral context image-word pairs before they completed two separate cued-recall tests. Critically, some image-word pairs changed between tests. During the second cued-recall test, participants were also asked to make a judgment about whether they previously retrieved a given word on the first test. It was found that pupil dilation was significantly greater for incorrectly remembered words compared to correctly remembered words during the first cued-recall test. No other hypotheses were supported, and pupil dilation did not differ whether participants were correct or incorrect about their judgment of prior remembering. Differences between the analyses that were run and stimuli presented in comparison with previous studies could have led to the null findings. These results suggested that a relationship may not exist between pupil dilation and memory for prior remembering
Athanasius Pulled Apart: Heresiology and the (Dis)membered (Fe)male Body
No full textIn this article, I engage Athanasius of Alexandria’s invocation of the infamous dismemberment of the unnamed woman found in Judg 19. By the fourth century, this story of gang rape—along with other preserved stories of sexual violence—found in Judges, were scattered throughout early Christian literature. Judges 19 holds a particularly troubling history in the late ancient context. The story of the rape and dismemberment of the unnamed woman in Judg 19 gave life to another story and typified a style of writing that I characterize in the article as a heresiology. The spectacle of Judges, along with other gruesome deaths of women, was one way in which heresiological discourse frames rhetorical arguments for writers like Athanasius of Alexandria. Here, I purposely draw our attention to how Athanasian orthodoxy became reliant on gender-based violence