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Redefining Success: A Case Study of the Lived Experiences of Big Picture Learning Graduates
No full textThis qualitative, phenomenological study investigated the influence of the Big Picture Learning (BPL) high school model on graduates\u27 perceptions of success and upward mobility. Traditional comprehensive high schools often narrowly define success through standardized metrics, potentially alienating students with diverse interests and learning styles. In contrast, BPL emphasizes personalized learning, real-world experiences, and student agency. This research explored how the BPL model differs from traditional education, its impact on students\u27 educational experiences, post-secondary pathways, and personal fulfillment. Using semi-structured interviews with BPL graduates, the study revealed five prominent themes: dissatisfaction with traditional education and BPL\u27s appeal, personalized and interest-based learning, development of real-world skills, the importance of relationships and community, and a redefined understanding of happiness and success. Findings indicate that BPL graduates perceive their educational experiences as profoundly influencing their upward mobility, attributing this to the cultivation of essential skills, real-world exposure through internships, and personal growth fostered by the BPL model. They often prioritize career paths aligned with their passions and a sense of purpose over traditional metrics. While some graduates felt less prepared for conventional academic rigor in college, they consistently reported an advantage in workplace readiness and practical problem-solving. This study suggests that BPL fosters a holistic view of success, intrinsically linking it to personal fulfillment, genuine contentment, and positive community impact, advocating for a broader definition of success in K-12 education
To an Indiscernible Heart
No full textTo an Indiscernible Heart compiles visual art and poems to explore the author\u27s experiences with anxiety, grief, relationships, and learning how to navigate change and life lessons. Themes travel across four sections, each marked by a different piece of visual art: \u27Trip into the Unsaid,\u27 \u27Sugarcoat,\u27 \u27Undertow Confessions,\u27 and \u27Speed Painting through Comfort Zones.\u27 Featuring craft elements including enjambment, repetition, and erasure, the collection pulls readers into the rocky nature of learning how to human
Gain Staging Careers: A Data-Driven Exploration of WWU’s Audio Technology, Music, and Society Program
No full textThis paper explores topics and issues within Western Washington University\u27s Audio Technology, Music, and Society (ATMS) program, including structure/curriculum, what attracts students to the program, how the program has evolved over time, its treatment of minority groups, its demographic makeup, high registration competition, sense of community (or lack thereof), program alums, ultimate goals of the program, and impacts on careers. Using 11 student, staff, and alum interviews and 23 responses to an online survey of current students, opinions on the program are presented qualitatively and quantitatively. Analyzing survey data through chi-square testing and linear regression modeling, trends (or lack of trends) between variables are revealed. I ultimately find that opinions about the program are quite positive overall, with instructor quality, academic difficulty, and feelings of career preparation at good levels. While experiences within the program vary slightly by demographics (gender, race), this variance is much smaller compared to the program\u27s past and experiences within the wider audio industry. Increasing demand for the program and a resulting difficulty registering is confirmed by the data. I propose that creative solutions involving restructuring classes/program curriculum to increase class supply without adding additional studio spaces or harming student experiences may be the most effective and efficient ways to address this surplus demand. Interviews and survey data also reveal an almost complete disconnect between current students and alums. I propose that this issue can be addressed by having alums provide career guidance, an area of improvement students had an existing desire for. By incorporating working alums into class experiences (such as through Zoom, field trips, alum panels, etc.) the ATMS community can be strengthened, while setting a precedent for more alum involvement. While recent state and federal budget cuts to the university make funding improvements difficult, I focus on providing more realistic and cost-friendly solutions, as well as ways these data may aid in effectively soliciting more resources for the program. This paper is targeted at a general audience without a familiarity with the ATMS program and may be used for both the better understanding of this academic program, as well as others that may be in similar positions
Investigating the Mechanisms Underlying Remote Myofascial Release on Hamstring Flexibility
No full textFascia connects adjacent muscles to create a body-wide network, allowing manipulation of one segment to affect a distal body segment. Research has shown that performing a bout of self-myofascial release (SMR) on the plantar fascia with a foam rolling device acutely increases hamstring flexibility. Thus far, there has been no research examining the mechanism of action underlying this effect, although it is hypothesized to occur due to an interaction of mechanical, neural, and physiological factors. The purpose of this study is to examine the acute effects of a bout of SMR on the plantar fascia on hamstring stiffness, flexibility, hydration, and joint position sense (JPS). Seventeen healthy postmenopausal participants were recruited for this repeated measures study. A myotonometer measured biceps femoris stiffness, bioelectrical impedance (BIA) was used to estimate total body water concentrations, a JPS test was administered to assess proprioception, and a passive straight leg raise (PSLR) test measured hamstring flexibility in a foam rolling condition (FR) and a no-foam rolling condition (NFR). Results from separate repeated-measures ANOVA tests revealed a significant interaction for condition and time for both stiffness (p \u3c 0.001, η2p = 0.543) and flexibility (p \u3c 0.001, η2p = 0.564). There were no significant interactions or main effects for JPS and BIA measurements. The increase in hamstring flexibility aligns with previous findings. The significant increase in hamstring stiffness was unexpected, warranting further research into the contractile activity of myofibroblasts
Supplemental Information for Probabilistic injury assessment and quantification for natural resource damage assessment using Bayesian networks: A case-study of the PCB-contaminated Mississinewa River Basin
No full textSupplemental Information
Bayesian network Images of the Subregional Bayesian Network models
The following pages contain images of the Bayesian network model with each of the six individual subregions selected. They are presented in order of distance from the PCB release site as follows: Little Mississinewa River Headwaters Mississinewa River Halfway Creek Pike Creek / Big Lick Creek Massey Creek Mississinewa Lake
The Netica file below can be opened and read with the free download version of Netica available at https://www.norsys.com/netica.html. The structure of the model and the notes for each node and the conditional probability tables can then be accessed. A licensed version of Netica can run and modify the file
Walters Ag Research Assistant
No full textNorthern Whatcom county sits in the floodplain of the Nooksack river making the soil very fertile, and it has been farmed since European settlement of the area. While working this job I met a blueberry farmer, Kevin, who’s great grandpa had grown up farming in the area. Kevin himself is in his 70s. But when Kevin was growing up much of the area was dominated by small dairies. Farming and ranching has become increasingly unprofitable across the nation over the last century, and agricultural communities have increasingly consolidated from many small operations into larger farms. This story has played out in Whatcom county. It became unsustainable to have small dairy herds, so farmers often sold their land, or switched to growing berries. Berries have to be frozen in roughly 24 hours, so the opening of nearby processing plants made growing berries for the frozen market possible. The climate of the region also plays a role. Two types of raspberries are grown for different purposes. Trailing raspberries are more delicate, more flavorful, and are grown for fresh-market, the type of thing you would buy in a grocery store. Caning raspberries are hardier, less flavorful, and often grown to be frozen. Whatcom County’s (relatively) cold winters make growing trailing raspberries economically impractical, but it is an ideal climate for canning varieties. All told, the agriculture that we see today in Whatcom County is a result of many complicated and interdependent variables. Before my internship, I wasn’t aware of any of this, but through meeting growers and asking questions, I have come to have a much better understanding of how different forces shape agriculture
NSEA Community Program Intern
No full textThe Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) is a local 501c(3) non-profit based out of Bellingham, Washington and is one of fourteen organizations that make up the Washington Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups (RFEG). The RFEG was established by the Washington legislature in 1990 in an effort to create connections between communities and local organizations to improve salmon habitat. Within the RFEG, each organization is its own independent entity defined by watershed boundaries. NSEA operates across Whatcom County, the most crucial watersheds being Lake Whatcom, Birch Bay, and the Nooksack River
Reimagining Anglo-Egyptian Relations at the Fin de Siècle: An Undisciplined Reading of Richard Marsh’s The Beetle (1897)
No full textSimilar to Dracula, and published the same year in 1897, The Beetle follows a reverse colonization narrative and is filled with characters which reference British modernity, such as “the new woman,” the quote-un-quote Eastern other, and a detective trained in forensic science. However, rather than following a seductive, Vampiric aristocrat, Marsh’s plot follows a shapeshifting Beetle-like character which spends the length of the novel dominating and outwitting these supposed symbols of British progress. In the end however, rather than being staked in the heart and providing readers with empirical proof of Dracula’s demise, the only thing Marsh provides readers with is a pile of bloodied rags. While the Beetle is technically out of sight by the novel’s end, Marsh’s detective never solves the mystery of the text. This open-ended resolution, and seeming reversal of the reverse colonization narrative itself, continues to puzzle Victorian scholars. In this project I argue that one way to solve this puzzle is to perform what scholars Ronjaunee Chaterjee, Alicia Mireles Christoff, and Amy R. Wong term an “undisciplined” reading the novel, or, to contribute to the project of radically re-making the field of Victorian studies by engaging across disciplines and elevating Pan-Africanist voices. In my reading of The Beetle, I center anticolonial voices like Duse Mohammed Ali and Edward Said, while also putting the text in conversation with disciplines such as disabilities studies, disability rhetoric, and biopolitics. Ultimately, this project read the Beetle’s character as representative of the epistemic violence which British subjects unknowingly or even willingly accept—even to their own detriment—at the end of the nineteenth century
