JBC Commons (New College of Florida)
Not a member yet
9773 research outputs found
Sort by
Early Environmental Progressive Pedagogical Practices
No full textThrough a culmination of personal experience, it became clear that there was a great need for improved environmental education as global climate change and associated environmental degradation continue to rapidly worsen. In this, for education to be practical and accessible it needed to be geared towards public education, thus giving as many students the tools for a sustainable future. This thesis aims to work through education to foster environmental consciousness from an elementary age level, continuing beyond to create environmentally and socially responsible adults. In order to accomplish that goal this thesis begins with a literature review section to gain nuanced perspectives, then moves into lesson plan critiques, finally followed by original lesson plan development using current best pedagogy practices. The modern pedagogical framework designed in this thesis creates a well rounded approach to early environmental education to be utilized in a wide variety of settings including, but not limited to, a public school classroom
INTEGRATIVE ARTS: THEY’RE EVERYWHERE
No full textFrequently throughout human history, we question the nature of prominent concepts and ideas present in our lives. One such concept is that of the nature of art. Throughout my education, starting in high school and continuing at New College, I have been pursuing the notion of integrative and interconnected artistic ideals. While this has been a growing and ongoing study, the process came into focus last year during the conception of my fully original stage musical. This musical is called Symphony of A Survivor, and creating it provided me with an opportunity to experience the complexity of art firsthand. During the conception and writing of the musical, I was presented with a number of new outlooks on art’s possible definitions and place in our society. This experience culminated in artistic theories that encapsulate the notion of art forms as inherently integrative
Job Satisfaction and Commitment in Student Employees: An Investment Model Approach
No full textStudent employees are a unique and understudied population in the field of industrial-organizational psychology. The present study investigated job-related factors of student employees to determine if the Investment Model applies to a student-employee job context. The present study also aimed to determine if organizational attachment (anxious and avoidant) predicts job commitment amongst student employees, and investigated how key demographic variables (gender, time spent at job, time spent at the college, etc.) relate to job commitment, satisfaction, and organizational attachment. Student employees at New College of Florida (N = 49) responded to an online survey that measured Investment Model variables (investments, rewards, costs, satisfaction, quality of alternatives, commitment, and intent to turnover), organizational attachment (anxious and avoidant), and key demographic variables. Participants also had the opportunity to provide any additional information regarding factors affecting their job commitment through an open-ended question. Results were overall consistent with the Investment Model, providing evidence that the Investment Model can be applied to a student-employee context. Additionally, avoidant attachment was negatively associated with job commitment. Regarding demographic variables, students who had entered New College during the 2023/2024 academic year on average reported lower levels of job commitment than those who had been at New College for longer. Student employees who identified as non-binary were on average, less satisfied with their jobs than their male and female counterparts. Implications and directions for future research are discussed
HABITAT UTILIZATION PATTERNS OF SEMI-FREE-RANGING LEMURS IN HUMAN CARE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RING-TAILED & RED RUFFED LEMURS’ RESPONSES TO DIFFERENT KINDS OF ENRICHMENT
No full textLemurs are at risk; 98% of Madagascar\u27s 106 species of lemurs are threatened with extinction. As a result of this conservation emergency, research and conservation facilities have prioritized studying and breeding lemurs, especially in naturalistic conditions like fenced forests. However, sometimes lemurs in these facilities do not use the extent of the land available to them, and we do not always know why. This research investigates the effect of enrichment devices on the habitat preferences and behaviors of ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta), a species that often spends time on the ground, and red ruffed lemurs (Varecia rubra), a primarily arboreal species, at the Lemur Conservation Foundation (LCF) in Myakka City, Florida. The enrichment items were classified into two primary categories: ground and aerial, each serving distinct purposes in the animals\u27 environmental engagement. Within these categories, three sub-categories were identified: familiar, novel, and fire hose enrichment. Familiar enrichment items consisted of those regularly employed at the LCF, while novel enrichments were approved items that had not yet been introduced to the lemurs. Fire hose enrichment refers to fire hoses attached to trees within and outside of the lemurs\u27 initial range. The enrichment items were strategically employed to entice the lemurs into underutilized sections of the forest, to encourage exploration and activity. Familiar and novel enrichment items were placed both within and outside of the lemurs’ initial range. The enrichment items were moved to different locations 30 minutes into 60-minute observation sessions to control for habituation to the objects. During the enrichment observation sessions, I discovered that resting was the most prevalent lemur behavior, followed by locomotion, exploration, social interactions, species-specific activities, and enrichment interactions. The red ruffed lemurs preferred ground-based enrichment items over arboreal ones. The ring-tailed lemurs were more evenly distributed when it came to interacting with ground-based or arboreal enrichment items. Furthermore, after an enrichment item was placed in new territory, the lemurs did not interact with it. Because the lemurs already had and used fire hoses attached to trees to freely and safely explore their surroundings, we also installed more fire hoses in under-utilized habitat areas. After this installation, my findings indicate that the red ruffed lemurs used the fire hoses to increase their range: Red ruffed lemurs expanded their original range by 0.04 acres using fire hoses and 0.1 acres in response to a crow calling. In contrast, the ring-tailed lemurs did not expand their range at all. These findings emphasize the relevance of enrichment tactics for specific species in confined situations for promoting natural behaviors and potentially improving lemur welfare. Further studies should investigate the long-term consequences of such enrichment and the implications for lemur wellbeing and conservation
Birthmarks: Exploring Cultural Connections in Adult Asian American Adoptees
No full textThe purpose of this thesis is to explore how transracial Asian American adoptees relate to their cultural heritage. To understand this I ask: 1) What are the different perspectives that adoptees choose to culturally reconnect to their cultural heritage? 2) What are the reasons why they might choose to or not choose to connect to their heritage? 3) How do adoptees wrestle with and reflect on their upbringing, transition into adulthood, and respond to current events? 4) How can public awareness of cultural diversity within the Asian American adoptee experience be increased? To answer these questions, I conducted ethnographic research by interviewing ten Chinese American transracial adoptees to gain their perspectives and reflected upon my own experiences as an adoptee through auto-ethnography. Based on the narratives collected, I structure my thesis in three chapters. In the first chapter entitled “Familial Influence,” I study themes on kinship and parenting approaches. Within the second chapter entitled “The experience of Cultural Identity as Adoptees Approach Adulthood”, I explore kinship tourism and the college experience as examples of “Reculturation,” which is an independent process that adoptees may embark on in order to connect to their cultural heritage. Finally for the last chapter entitled “Societal Influence,” I focus on anti- Asian sentiment and Asian representation as influencing factors. This thesis also addresses gaps in research on transracial Asian Americans and offers original recommendations, notably through post-adoption programming recommendations and the presentation of two original ethnic identity models for Asian American transracial adoptees. Finally, another goal of this thesis is to spread public awareness about this topic. To do this, I created a public exhibition that focused on the perspectives of my adoptee participants through their voices and the objects they shared with me. This exhibition project served as a companion piece to the written thesis
Science Communication: The Human Connection to Marine Science through Digital Storytelling
No full textThis thesis comprises three parts, serving as a platform to integrate two disciplines, creative writing and marine biology, to delve into the realm of Science Communication. The first part delineates the essence of digital storytelling, the principles of science communication, and elucidates the process of crafting a digital narrative. The second part is a partial collection of my digital stories, podcast and short essays entitled The Human Connection to Marine Science. The third part encapsulates reflective insights garnered from the journey of merging creative expression with scientific inquiry
An Analysis of The Economic Underdevelopment of Gaza & A Theory-Driven Look Forward
No full textThis thesis conducts a review of the ancient and contemporary history of Gaza and its economy, as well as an in-depth review of the theories of economic development for the purpose of looking forward to Gaza’s future. The economic theories reviewed provide the theoretical basis necessary for understanding how to develop a nation, but all assume that sufficient, functioning, and non-corrupt institutions are in place. The section reviewing the pitfalls that Gaza has experienced make clear that Gaza lacks the necessary institutions for the theories in the theory section to work in Gaza. In practice, that means that first the institutions that Gunnar Myrdal’s \u27Institutionalism\u27 & New Institutional Economics outline must be created in Gaza. Then, a development process using the takeaways and lessons from the theory section and Gaza’s pitfalls can commence. The review indicates that at the heart of Gaza\u27s economic underdevelopment have been: (1) acute corruption & rampant misuse of funds, (2) a lack of independent institutions (such as a vibrant judiciary and suitable business laws), (3) constant conflict, (4) Egypt & Israel\u27s blockade of Gaza, & (5) a vicious cycle of poverty. These have conspired to produce a Gaza that has failed to move forward and has been stuck in a constant-conflict environment leading Gaza’s economic growth rate to stagnate and overwhelming poverty to run rampant. The pitfalls have left Gaza jarringly underdeveloped. The in-depth review of development economic theories provides theoretical explanations for Gaza\u27s underdevelopment as well as methods through which Gaza can move towards escaping its current underdevelopment, after the necessary institutions are put in place. With Gaza’s manufacturing largely non-existent, no tourism and a complete lack of the other industries that the nations at the \u27center\u27 of the world\u27s production structure rely on, the ‘Prebisch-Singer Hypothesis\u27 makes clear that expecting Gaza to be anything other than falling behind would be foolish. Using the takeaways from the theory section, this thesis ends with a concise few pages on the lessons that Gaza should take from this thesis and a series of wide-angle guidelines and advice for the future of Gaza
Reimagining lives radically in a human and non-human world How do we come to know lives; how do we move towards a better balance?
No full textThis thesis begins with writing from Clarice Lispector (1943-1977), a Brazilian author who emigrated with her family at the age of two from the Ukrainian village of Chechelnik to near Rio De Janairo. Her family was Jewish, and they fled in the early 1920s amid a brutal Russian revolution taking place in the country and the resulting violent pogroms that targeted Jewish people. Thus, Lispector grew up with her family in Brazil and claimed it as her own nationality, writing in Portuguese, and causing intrigue in comparison to other Latin American authors for her narrative style. She has been recognized as a Latin American storyteller, although we could also place her in a growing canon of World Literature as a transnational author with multiple overlapping national, cultural and religious identities. As an author, she published novels, and short stories which have been translated into three languages and her work is increasingly being read around the world for its ongoing discussion of narrative structure, feminist post-structuralist literature, and dehumanization
CONNECTING UNDERSERVED ARTISTS OF BIHAR, INDIA TO THE US
No full textThe notion of consonance and dissonance have evolved throughout history as a means of understanding how music is perceived by listeners. Consonance seeks to describe music that is perceived as pleasant, and various systems of music theory attempt to define rules regarding which intervals are perceived as consonant. The justification for these systems has been reinforced over the past century through the study of musical waveforms and perceptual studies. Thus, it is possible to form an intuitive sense of why certain intervals sound consonant to listeners. These results have interesting implications in studying the relative consonance of structures found in Xenharmonic (non-12 tone) and non-Western music
The Potential Role of Endophytic Bacteria in Promoting Growth and Cellular Differentiation in Brassica oleracea var. botrytis
No full textHypothesized to have originated from rhizosphere bacteria, bacterial endophytes dwell in the tissues of every plant tested and provide many benefits to their host, which can range from abiotic/biotic stress tolerance to disease resistance, all because of their influence on plant metabolism, gene expression, and morphology. Totipotency plays an important role in the differentiation of cells into a variety of cell types, in this study pertaining to Brassica oleracea var botrytis (common cauliflower) head explants (or excised fragments), as they develop in culture in the presence of three bacteria: Ralstonia insidiosa, Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Although the metabolites synthesized by endophytes are studied extensively for their value, largely in the healthcare industry, the effects of exogenously applied endophytes on plant growth are studied less frequently. This thesis aimed to focus on the latter aspect of endophytes. The bacteria were tested for influences on the growth and development of cauliflower head (curd) explants, each for six weeks with weekly measurements recorded, totaling four trials. Due to contamination of some plates and their removal reducing the sample size, the results remain largely inconclusive on whether these particular species aid in the development of cauliflower organs. However, the following observations were made. 1) Dipping cauliflower into B. cereus has deleterious effects. 2) Nutrient broth-treated control explants grow exceptionally well and understandably so. 3) R. insidiosa seems to promote more root growth; its inoculated explants exhibited a relatively greater number of roots with numerous root hairs and clusters of roots at the site of emergence. Finally, 4) R. insidiosa conditioned medium supernatant had limited influence in stimulating organogenesis in comparison to the bacterial inoculation itself, suggesting that the presence of the bacteria may be required for altered growth rather than just its soluble metabolites alone. Discussion on alternative ways to eliminate contaminants and further tests that can be done to more definitively elucidate the effects of endophytes are also provided