SPARK Bethel University
Not a member yet
2160 research outputs found
Sort by
Balancing AI and Human Creativity: Adaptations in Art Education
No full textThis thesis explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping the learning and creative processes within visual art education. Through comprehensive literature reviews, it examines the integration of AI tools into artistic practices and their impact on student creativity. It will also address the challenges they pose, including ethical, philosophical, and access-related concerns. AI presents significant opportunities to expand artistic exploration, offering innovative tools that complement traditional methods. However, its rising influence includes critical questions about preserving human creativity, originality, and authenticity in art education. The reviewed literature emphasizes the importance of adopting AI thoughtfully, fostering critical thinking and creativity while ensuring equity and ethical use. It advocates for a balanced approach where AI supports, rather than replaces, human artistry, empowering students to engage confidently with technology\u27s evolving role in the arts. Future research should address gaps in long-term impact studies and equity to ensure AI’s responsible and inclusive integration into art education
The Rise in Racial Tension: Metropolitan High School Administrators\u27 Perceptions of School Resource Officers
No full textAlthough heuristic models on safety for Black students have been proposed following the death of George Floyd (Edwards, 2021), little research to date has highlighted how Minnesota educational leaders perceive school resource officers (SROs) in schools. This phenomenological investigation explored the shared lived experiences of six Minnesota high school administrators from one school district that employed SROs. Five themes were determined in the course of data analysis, including qualified advocacy for SROs, SRO contributions to de-escalating for safer schools, SRO assistance in emergency situations, SRO caused escalation, and SRO caused racial harm. Findings from this study revealed support for SROs amongst study participants for reasons related to legal socialization theory. While acknowledging the trauma that some SROs have caused, member participants did not consider George Floyd’s death or the subsequent racial protests of 2020 as cause for SRO removal. Participants highlighted the relational and educational contributions that SROs produce, thus advancing the notion that SROs contribute towards a positive legal socialization experience. Study findings may be valuable for district policy leaders who serve a vital role in determining what procedures and actions promote a safe learning environment
Underrepresentation of English Language Learners in Gifted and Talented Education
No full textFor many years in the United States of America, as the number of students who speak a language other than English in the home has increased, the representation of these students in gifted and talented programs has been lacking. Research shows that although close to ten percent of all students are multilingual learners, typically only 2-4 percent of these students are represented in gifted programs. Since the percentage of gifted students overall is the same across all languages and cultures, it would make sense that the percentages of gifted students would be representative of that same percentage, however, there is a consistent disparity of identification and placement of English learners in gifted programs. This literature review seeks to understand the context and reasons behind the well documented underrepresentation as well as examine how certain school districts have found proven ways to increase the participation of gifted language learners in gifted and talented education and how these programs and ideas can be replicated. The vital role of the classroom teacher in the identification, nomination, screening, development and placement of gifted English language learners in appropriate levels of high potential courses is addressed as an essential component of needed movement towards a more inclusive, culturally and linguistically diverse field of gifted and talented education
The Intersection of Health and Education: How School-Based Health Centers Address Health Disparities to Promote Learning
No full textThrough a review of studies and literature, this thesis examines the role of school-based health centers (SBHCs) in addressing disparities in health and education among student populations. By integrating public health services within educational settings, SBHCs aim to enhance both student well-being and academic achievement. This comprehensive review explores the history, services, and funding models of SBHCs, alongside their impact on physical and mental health, school connectedness, and academic outcomes. Findings reveal that SBHCs significantly improve access to preventive and intervention-based health care, reduce barriers to education, and foster environments that support student engagement and success. Furthermore, the review discusses the challenges of sustainable funding and equitable service delivery while highlighting the economic and social benefits of SBHC implementation. This thesis advocates for the expansion and support of SBHCs as a strategic solution to bridging the gaps in health and education
Flipping the Classroom: Exploring Engagement, Technology, and Student Perceptions
No full textThis literature review examined the effects of the flipped classroom on student engagement, perceptions, and academic performance. It reviewed studies comparing student outcomes in flipped classrooms to traditional classrooms. Meta-analyses were used to support overall trends. Quantitative and qualitative results were used to support the effects in five areas of the flipped classroom: independent learning, active in-class sessions, teacher-student interaction, technology, and academic performance. Results suggest that the emphasis on independent learning fosters self-regulation, but students may require support when transitioning to this new model. Technology tools were shown to enhance out-of-class learning and motivation. The model facilitated stronger student-teacher relationships. Academic performance results were mixed, with improvement found in specific areas and with low-performing students. Overall, the flipped classroom has the potential to transform traditional learning into a flexible, active, and student-centered environment that supports diverse learners
Understanding The Lived Experiences of Special Education Teachers Tasked with Ensuring Parental Involvement in Special Education Processes
No full textThe Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) mandates parental participation in special education processes, yet families, especially culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) families, often face obstacles in their active involvement as an equal team member in Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. Although there has been research on identifying the barriers families face in their active involvement in their child’s special education programming, little has been done to understand the impediments teachers face in alleviating this problem and adequately enforcing parents’ rights within special education processes. This qualitative phenomenological study investigated the lived experiences of special education teachers responsible for implementing parents’ rights to participative activity in special education processes. The study explored special education teachers\u27 self-efficacy in facilitating parental rights in special education processes, and whether special education teachers\u27 self-efficacy was impacted when working with White families versus CLD families. This study revealed that 100% of participants had positive beliefs about parent-teacher collaboration, and felt confident in their ability to collaborate effectively with families within special education. Special education teachers’ confidence in fully enforcing parents’ rights in special education varied; the three educators that reported lower self-confidence attributed their low confidence to a lack of understanding of special education laws and factors outside of their control. All participants self-perceived their confidence in collaborating effectively with CLD families lower compared to White families
Was Homer Ahead of His Time?
No full textWhen critics and teachers find older authors relevant they often say they\u27re ahead of their time. These assumptions, which have dominated higher ed for 40 years, have distorted history, literature, education, and even our view of human nature. Come to listen and participate as Dan Ritchie, Emeritus Professor of English, analyzes this phenomenon and proposes an alternative. This talk is based on a forthcoming article in National Affairs.https://spark.bethel.edu/primetime-presentations/1005/thumbnail.jp
Method Development and Validation of an Home-Built Open-Source Spectrophotometer
Get PDFGiven the explosive increase in cheap and reliable retail-grade 3D printers along with the development of microprocessors for home use, there has been a parallel interest in the development of lab-usable and validated scientific equipment. Open-source developers and creators report cost savings, as compared to retail equivalent equipment, of between 75-95% (Pereira, 2019). Additionally, the availability of these tools to build sophisticated scientific equipment has provided great opportunities for novices and trained scientists alike to explore topics such as method development and validation, performance characteristics, and geometric constraints, which serve to demystify the “black box” of chemistry instrumentation. This work seeks to report on recent updates to a previously reported modular and open-source smartphone spectrophotometer (Winters, 2021) by developing and validating methods for visible spectroscopy using an everyday kitchen chemical: food coloring. The method development process will include comparing said open-source instrument with retail equipment, such as research grade Perkin-Elmer, instructional grade Perkin-Elmer, and Ocean Optics instruments (PE-R, PE-I, OO respectively) and validating it using a set of parameters including limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) to name a few (Uhorvčík, 2013). Results and the future of this open-source spectrophotometer, displayed in figure 1, will be discussed at length
Effects of Single Ionic Foot Bath on Urinary pH in Health College Aged Individuals
Get PDFPURPOSE: Ionic foot baths have become a common modality to detoxify clients in a clinical setting. A reported benefit of this practice is an increase in urinary pH, which helps neutralize acid in the bloodstream. Normative physiological pH is between 7.35-7.45, due to environmental stressors, most people operate under pH homeostasis. Undergoing an ionic foot bath can stabilize the urinary pH to dynamic equilibrium. However, there is limited evidence to support this practice. This study examined the effects of a single-session ionic foot on urinary pH in a healthy population. METHODS: 17 males and 12 females took part in this study with a mean age of 21.4 ± 0.903. Prior to participation, subjects self-monitored their sleep ensuring they got at least 7 hours a night, 2 nights before their scheduled appointment. Water intake was also monitored with men drinking at least 70% of 250 oz. and women drinking at least 70% of 182 oz. within 48 hours of appointment. Both sleep and water intake were confirmed via google spreadsheets and verbally confirmed. After informed consent was obtained, researchers collected initial urinary samples and tested pH before conducting a 35-minute ionic foot bath, immediately followed by the second urine sample and pH test. Each foot bath contained 2 tbsp of himalayan pink salt and was operated between 1.70-2.00 amps. During the footbath, participants were not allowed to be in contact with any metal objects in order to keep the microcurrent consistent. RESULTS: SPSS V28 was used to run a paired sample t-test. No statistical significance was found (p\u3c0.001) between pre- and post- test urinary pH levels (p=0.489). The mean pH value pre-footbath was 6.667 ± 0.4011 while the mean post-footbath pH was 6.633 ± 0.2916. CONCLUSION: The results show a single 35 minute ionic foot bath does not affect urinary pH on healthy college aged individuals. Stable pH levels through homeostasis are typical in healthy individuals, eliminating the need for fluctuation of pH. However, in diseased populations such as cancer, where cellular repair is vital, cellular alkalization is required. An ionic foot bath is not beneficial in healthy populations, but it may be useful in diseased populations as mentioned above
The Influence of Music Tempo on Bench Press Power Production in College-Aged Males
Get PDFPURPOSE: Previous research suggests that music with a tempo exceeding resting heart rate may stimulate the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), releasing catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine). These hormones have physiological effects such as increased heart rate and muscle strength in cardiovascular exercise. This study aims to see if the effect of music in cardiovascular exercise is also present in strength training. This will be done by examining whether pre- and intra-exercise music listening at different tempos affects power output during bench press repetitions in young adult males. It is hypothesized that music at a higher tempo will stimulate the SNS and result in the same effects as in cardiovascular exercise