California State University, Monterey Bay
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Effects of Bullying on Elementary School Students\u27 Education and Well-Being
Get PDFThis senior capstone project identifies the relationship between students’ learning and bullying, and how educators/parents can learn to identify signs of bullying and how to prevent it. Through the use of literature review and two anonymous interviews, one with a parent of a child who has been bullied and one with a person who has personally been bullied themselves, the result findings showed that bullying has a significant amount of negative effects in students education and overall well-being. However, the relationship between bullying and its effects on students\u27 education and well-being can be complex as identifying the root causes of bullying and having access to the bullying is harder with technology advancing everyday online. This project aims to educate teachers and parents on signs of bullying and how to help students who are involved in bullying
Awareness of Mental Health Among Adolescents
Get PDFThe focal point of this capstone project is to bring mental health awareness to the adolescent community in Soledad, California. With the numbers rising in the likelihood of adolescents developing a mental health disorder, it is extremely important for adolescents to know the different types of mental health disorders and the signs of these disorders (Abrams, 2023). Between 20-30% of adolescents have a form of depression, 37% have anxiety disorders, and there has been a 16% increase of suicide in youth 12 and older (Valdez et al., 2022).
Because of adolescents’ increasing risk for mental health issues, there is a need for increasing their awareness of mental health illnesses. To address this need, I developed a set of lessons that educated students on mental health illnesses and provided them with resources and coping methods. My capstone project started with teaching adolescents the different types of mental health disorders and teaching them the signs for each mental health disorder. Second, this project will teach adolescents the reasons why it is important to learn about mental health. Lastly, this project will teach adolescents ways to cope with their mental health disorders by participating in art therapy and mindfulness therapy which includes breathing exercises. At the end of the lesson the students were provided with many different resources. My capstone project was presented in three lessons over a span of 3 consecutive days. The lesson plan was taught to 11th grade students at Soledad High School. In the class of 11th graders, 100% were of the Hispanic culture. The students were also bilingual but predominantly spoke English
The Impact of Parental Social Involvement in Children\u27s Cognitive and Language Development Amongst Low Income Families
No full textThis Capstone project will focus on parent-child social interactions and how this relationship may impact language and cognitive development in toddlers. Parent involvement is defined as a family’s responsibility to guide and provide care to their children to ensure their healthy development and overall life success (early childhood research and practice). According to Reynolds et al (2022) researchers have discovered that parental involvement and engagement during the early years of a child’s life may positively impact early childhood education. Since this project focuses on educating parents of lower income households about the importance of parental involvement, it was crucial to have this workshop at a proper location where families with economic disadvantages may be part of. Therefore, this project took place at Orom’s Preschool/Daycare Center. Orom’s Center developed a program that was built to support families with economic disadvantages and provide affordable and high quality care to children. Research has shown that parents of low income families are more likely to have unpredictable schedules or may work long hours (Walther & Pilarz, 2023). This may cause parents to have very little to no time to engage and interact with their children on a regular basis. The early stages of life are crucial to determine one’s future success, therefore, parent social interactions with their children should be prioritized. The lack of parent-child engagement may lead to cognitive and language development delayed (Tamis-LeMonda et al, 2019).
Based on the need, I developed a workshop for parents of toddlers between ages 1 and 2 years old. The purpose of this workshop was to discuss the different ways that parents can be involved in their children’s early education by simply engaging in everyday activities with them at home. Research has shown that the first few years of a child are crucial to gain emotional, social, and cognitive skills (Kurtulmus, 2016). Therefore, it is important to educate parents on strategies to help their children’s development. This project will be conducted by a 90 minute workshop with parents at Orom’s Daycare/Preschool Center. This center is located on the East side of Salinas, Ca. This area has the largest population of Latinos/Hispanic in Salinas and it also happens to have the largest percentage of low income families in Salinas. Orom’s Daycare Center has a big diversity, however, as a low income program, it does have a majority of immigrant families enrolled in their programs. During this workshop, parents will be given a brief overview of the importance of their involvement in early development as well as strategies on how to get involved. Parents will be evaluated on the information that will be provided for result purposes
Healthy Use of Technology & The Internet Among University Students
Get PDFThis capstone project focused on technology and internet use among university students. The focal issue is unhealthy use of technology and the internet, as in overuse on a daily basis. What is constituted as overuse of technology and internet use are reduction of physical activity and poor posture, eye strain, poor sleep habits, and anxiety. Given this issue, there is a need for a service that detoxes from overuse of technology, gauges relationships with technology, and informs alternative, mindful means of technology/internet use in everyday lives. This service was a one-time workshop service conducted in fall, 2023, intended to detox users from overuse of technology and internet use. The service targeted three aspects of technology and internet use learning outcomes: meditative exercises as music is played from a device, relationship with one’s usage of technology and internet, and how technology could be helpful to users in everyday lives with mindfulness and moderation. The university students that participated in the project in the one-time workshop service were on campus at California State University of Monterey Bay
Incorporating Social-Emotional Learning in Latino Communities
Get PDFThe capstone project focuses on teaching social-emotional skills to second-grade students in Latino communities. Many second-grade students are still developing socially-emotionally and some have not yet mastered self-awareness, self-management, and relationship skills which all fall under Social-emotional skills. As said by National University, obtaining these 3 skills “helps students of all ages to better comprehend their emotions, feel those emotions fully, and demonstrate empathy for others”. According to Guzman (2022), they are “key components to succeed academically, interpersonal relationships, family, and community life”. Social-emotional development provides long-term skills that can be learned during childhood and is beneficial throughout the lifespan. Therefore I have created a 3 part social-emotional learning lesson for second graders at Frank Paul Elementary School. This 3 part social emotional lesson will focus on self-awareness, self-management, and relationship skills. Self-awareness will allow students to identify their emotions. Self-management will allow students to manage their emotions after identifying them. Lastly, relationship skills will allow them to show empathy for others to be able to build those relationships
The Feeding Habits and Selectivity of Siphonophores in Monterey Bay
Get PDFGelatinous zooplankton are historically understudied, and we have much to learn about how they fit into the larger food web. Siphonophores are known to have widely varied diets and to select for a wide variety of prey. In this study I investigated siphonophore feeding habits in Monterey Bay, CA using a long-term remotely operated vehicle video dataset. In addition, I quantified the degree of specialization for each siphonophore-prey pair, and investigated the relationship between genetic distance and specialization differences. I found siphonophores tended to feed upon one prey group and in some cases fed exclusively on one species. Siphonophores also tended to select strongly for one type of prey. I found that more closely related siphonophores tended to show similar selectivity values, but the relationship was weak. Overall, this study upholds that siphonophores are specialists and very selective, and that phylogenetic distance has some positive relationship with selectivity. These findings uphold and expand our knowledge of the midwater food web, allowing us greater model specificity, the enhanced ability to track energy flow and carbon cycling, and greater capacity to manage the midwater ecosystem
Supporting English Language Learners in California K-12 Classrooms
Get PDFEnglish Language Learners face struggles in the classroom that students who only speak English do not encounter. First I will highlight the problems and difficulties English Language students encounter in all aspects of their learning environment, using Ajay Srikanth’s essays on the equity of funding for English Learners. Then, I will propose solutions and strategies to help them based on thorough research and studies by Roselle Chartock in “Strategies and Lessons for Culturally Responsive Teaching : a Primer for k-12.” Chartock also talks about culturally responsive teaching in “Strategies and Lessons for Culturally Responsive Teaching : a Primer for k-12” which will illuminate the ways integration from ELL classrooms to standard English can be successful. I will also connect that research specifically to high school English classrooms at Seaside High School (both ELL and standard English) in order to best relate it to English Single Subject Matter Preparation and prepare strategies for my future classroom while also accounting on first hand experiences of current ELL students. Lastly, I will highlight the benefits of creating a more inclusive and diverse classroom and how this will impact a student’s future. I will relate these benefits to example lesso
Composition and Distribution of Fish Assemblages in Cap de Creus Natural Park in Relation to Marine Protection Levels, Depth, and Habitat
Get PDFThe Mediterranean Sea has a long history of fishing exploitation that has led to a decline in the populations of many fish species. In order to preserve fish stocks and fishing interests, marine protected areas (MPAs) were established in some areas in the late 1970s. Studies have shown that where no-take areas have been enforced, they have resulted in greater abundance, body size, biomass, and diversity of commercially harvested fish species.
The Cap de Creus Natural Park in Girona, Spain was established in 1998. The park is divided into three management zones: a park zone, a partial reserve, and an integral reserve. Currently, information on fish distribution and habitats is limited; additional information is required to better evaluate the effectiveness of this MPA. The aim of my thesis project is to improve our understanding of the distribution, abundance, and size composition of fishes in Cap de Creus Natural Park.
This project consisted of three objectives: 1) To determine the differences in fish communities along a depth gradient in Cap de Creus Natural Park. I predicted that relative abundance, species diversity, species richness, community composition, and average length of conspecifics would shift across a depth gradient, with trends dependent upon species. 2) To determine how fish assemblages vary in relation to location and habitat factors in Cap de Creus Natural Park. I predicted that assemblage structure, abundance, and diversity would vary by habitat types and between northern and southern sites. 3) To determine the differences in fish assemblages among marine protection zones (Park zone, and reserve/ integral reserve) in Cap de Creus Natural Park. I hypothesized that relative abundance of fished species, especially those at higher trophic levels, would be higher inside reserve areas.
To accomplish these objectives, I surveyed 11 sites across the 3 levels of protection in the park in July 2018. I utilized several video survey methods to complete my objectives, including a baited lander (BRUV), diver-operated video (SCUBA), and two unbaited landers (Landers). I conducted these surveys mainly from 5 to 40 meters depth.
I observed more than 40 fish species across this survey. Overall, many species exhibited differences in their distributions and abundances by depth. Furthermore, community composition, richness, and diversity all differed above and below a depth of 25 meters. I also recorded differences in community composition among sampling sites grouped by protection level. In particular the fish community at site 5, located at Massa d’Or Island, differed from that at site 4, the location of the integral reserve. These differences were driven by higher abundances of vulnerable species at site 5. There were no apparent trends in species on the northern versus the southern side of the Cap de Creus peninsula. While the abundances of some species were correlated to habitat factors, further investigation is required to elucidate these relationships. Communities differed between reserve and open areas in term of richness for both SCUBA and Landers and in terms of Shannon diversity for SCUBA samples. Vulnerable species were most abundant at less than 25 meters depth. Highly vulnerable species were almost entirely confined to reserve areas that prohibited spearfishing. SCUBA surveys did not detect differences in the abundance of moderately vulnerable species between reserve and open areas. However, several moderately vulnerable species, D. sargus, S. cantharus, and D. puntazzo (with the exception of 1 observation in an open area), were only observed with Landers in reserve areas. The total abundance of spearfished species was higher inside reserve areas for Lander samples, but not for SCUBA samples. These differences in spearfished species abundance between tools can likely be attributed to differences in the three aforementioned moderately vulnerable species.
Further investigation is required to determine species-specific differences among tool types. However, a combination of BRUVs and diver-operated video surveys may improve monitoring of this MPA. It is difficult to make conclusions about the true effects of this MPA without baseline data, information from reference sites outside of the MPA, and long-term monitoring information. Moving the integral reserve to Massa d’Or Island or expanding the size of the integral reserve would certainly benefit highly vulnerable species in the park. Many MPAs, particularly in the Western Mediterranean, have shown positive effects on biomass of targeted species. Overall, most MPAs in the Mediterranean are still not well enforced, and large areas of the region remain unprotected. In order to best protect species, MPAs should be expanded and further management measures should be taken to limit the impacts of fishing in the region
Increasing Anxiety Awareness in High School Students
Get PDFMany high school students may experience excessive anxiety. According to the National Institute of Health, nearly 1 in 3 of all adolescents ages 13 to 18 will experience an anxiety disorder. Persistent anxiety can lead to future health problems such as heart disease, respiratory disorders, and substance use disorders. If adolescents learn how to identify symptoms of anxiety and utilize effective coping mechanisms, they are likely to have positive academic outcomes, success in the workplace, and better quality of life. To address this, I have developed a one-day interactive lesson for junior and senior students at San Luis Obispo High School in San Luis Obispo, California
Increasing Awareness of Parental Involvement in Latino Parents
No full textParents play an essential role in their children\u27s academic learning and development. For this reason, some Latino parents are unaware of the importance of parental involvement in supporting their children\u27s education experience. Due to the lack of parental involvement, children\u27s academic performance, self-motivation, and behavior may be negatively impacted. When parents are involved, children do better at school and may have higher aspirations. In order to address this issue, I have created a one-day lesson plan to address parental involvement for parents at the Alisal Family Resource Center in Salinas, California