47 research outputs found
Curiouser and Curiouser: Cultivating a Love of Learning within Elementary-Aged Children through an Activity-based Curiosity Program
No full textThis synthesis paper explores how a curiosity-centered educational design can promote lifelong learning (LLL) in elementary-aged children by actively engaging caregivers as co-learners. Grounded in the author’s personal and professional experience, the project responds to the underutilization of natural curiosity in traditional education. Drawing from metacognition, Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), and Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory, the author develops an activity-based curiosity program that integrates caregiver involvement into reflective, autonomy-supportive learning experiences. The program design applies principles such as collaboration, relationship-building, creative problem-solving, and metacognitive scaffolding, all explored through coursework in the Critical and Creative Thinking Graduate Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Using an action learning approach, the author piloted and iteratively refined the program in real-world caregiver-child settings, exploring how reflective questioning and adaptive roles—such as coach, model, and co-learner—could build trust and sustain engagement. The paper argues that making curiosity a foundational habit, rather than a byproduct of content instruction, enhances learning motivation and strengthens caregiver-student relationships. While still in a prototype phase, the curiosity program offers a model that supports both academic development and relational growth. It is particularly relevant to parents, alternative educators, and those seeking approaches that prioritize agency, adaptability, and lifelong learning. The paper concludes that cultivating curiosity in relational contexts fosters metacognitive awareness, supports student autonomy, and provides caregivers with a meaningful role in shaping their children’s learning journeys
A G4MP2 theoretical study on the gas phase enthalpies of formation for various polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other C~10~ through C~20~ unsaturated hydrocarbons
No full textGas phase enthalpies of formation at 298.15 and 1 atm (Δ~f~H~(g),298K~) were calculated using the atomization approach at the G4MP2 composite method level of theory for 86 polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other C~10~ through C~20~ unsaturated hydrocarbons. Where available, good agreement with prior experimental data and/or high level theoretical estimates was obtained. Linear regressions between semiempirical MNDO, MNDO-d, AM1, PM3, RM1, and PM6 estimated Δ~f~H~(g),298K~ and the corresponding G4MP2 values were employed to obtain G4MP2 corrected semiempirical Δ~f~H~(g),298K~ for a suite of 156 C~11~ through C~42~ unsaturated hydrocarbons and PAHs
Visual communication in mapping the life and afterlife of Nicholaus Maniacutius
No full textThis project is a faculty-student research collaboration with Dr. Marie-Therese Champagne and mentored by Prof. Thomas Asmuth. The faculty-student group consists of multidisciplinary students from the Kugelman Honors Program and faculty stemming from the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities. Respectfully with Prof. Thomas Asmuth from the art department and Dr. Marie-Thérèse Champagne from the history department. The project's research director and author. The students include Rayne Henry, Lucas Alderfer and Isabella Cameron.
The research is a component of Champagne's research of the text, Ad incorrupta pontificum nomina conservanda by Nicolaus Maniacutius, a 12th-century Cistercian scholar from Rome. The text is devoted to preserving the 'proper' naming and lineage of Catholic popes. Ad incorrupta is an important work by Maniacutius; in other writings, he condemns the brutalization of texts and history by faulty scribal transcriptions. Champagne has painstakingly spent years locating surviving copies of Ad incorrupta revealing that the manuscript is located in multiple sites across Europe. The text was reproduced by hand for many institutions in the later Middle Ages, indicating the significance and popularity of the subject
Benchmarking the SPARC software program for estimating solubilities of naphthalene and anthracene in organic solvents
No full textThe SPARC software program was benchmarked for calculating the solubilities of two representative polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), naphthalene and anthracene, in a range of organic solvents at various temperatures. Although SPARC was able to reasonably approximate the solubilities of naphthalene in some organic solvents, gross errors were obtained for other solvents. For anthracene, poor prediction performance was observed in all solvents considered. Overall, the results suggest that SPARC is currently not suitable for accurately predicting the solubilities of representative PAHs relevant for the petroleum sector in various organic solvents
Structures, enthalpies of formation, and ionization energies for the parent and binary mixed carbon, silicon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cubane derivatives: A G4MP2 theoretical study
No full textGas phase standard state (298.15 K, 1 atm) structures, enthalpies of formation, and ionization energies (IEs) were calculated at the G4MP2 composite method level of theory for the parent and binary mixed carbon, silicon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cubane derivatives. Increasing nitrogen content increases the enthalpies of formation for the carbon-nitrogen, nitrogen-phosphorus, and silicon-nitrogen binary cubanes, with the opposite enthalpies of formation trend for increasing phosphorus content within the carbon-phosphorus, nitrogen-phosphorus, and silicon-phosphorus derivatives. Varying carbon/silicon content in the carbon-silicon cubanes results in no general trends for enthalpies of formation. Isomerization enthalpies within the homolog groups having more than one isomer vary widely with atomic composition and substitution patterns. Increasing nitrogen content of the carbon-nitrogen and nitrogen-phosphorus derivatives increases the IE, increasing silicon content in the carbon-silicon cubanes and phosphorus content of the carbon-phosphorus cubanes decreases the IE, while no IE clear trends are evident based on relative atomic content for the silicon-nitrogen and silicon-phosphorus compounds. The binary mixed carbon, silicon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cubane derivatives are predicted to display potentially tunable thermodynamic stability and redox behavior depending on the atom identities and relative positions
Correction: Turn-on fluorescent glucose transport bioprobe enables wash-free real-time monitoring of glucose uptake activity in live cells and small organisms
No full textCorrection for “Turn-on fluorescent glucose transport bioprobe enables wash-free real-time monitoring of glucose uptake activity in live cells and small organisms” by Monica S. Hensley et al., RSC Chem. Biol., 2025, 6, 987–995, https://doi.org/10.1039/D4CB00239C.
The authors regret that two contributors, Micaela Rayne Geborkoff and Professor Dr Thomas Werner, were inadvertently omitted from the original author list of this article. Both individuals made significant contributions to the research reported.
Micaela Rayne Geborkoff was involved in the design, planning, and execution of the Drosophila experiments, specifically in the growth and treatment of fruit fly larvae. Professor Dr Thomas Werner provided laboratory resources and supervision, and played a key role in the experimental design and execution of the in vivo work, particularly contributing to the results presented in Fig. 7
Performance of the M062X density functional against the ISOL set of benchmark isomerization energies for large organic molecules
No full textGas phase standard state (298.15 K, 1 atm) isomerization energies were calculated using the M062X functional with the QZVP, 6-311++G(d,p), 6-311++G(2d,2p), and cc-pVTZ basis sets against the 24 reactions in the ISOL set of benchmark isomerization energies for large organic molecules. The M062X functional appears to offer comparable isomerization energy prediction performance to the best performing currently available dispersion corrected functionals against this benchmark dataset
Visually communicating the life and afterlife of Nicolaus Maniacutius through the medieval reproduction of his text, Ad incorrup
No full textThis research project originated as a faculty-student research collaboration with Dr. Marie--Thèrése Champagne. The research is a component of Champagne's book project, tracing the circulation of one text throughout Europe over about 150 years in the High Middle Ages. The text, Ad incorrupta pontificium nomina conservanda, was written by Nichlaus Maniacutius, a 12th century Cistercian scholar from Rome. The text is devoted to preserving the 'proper' naming and lineage of the Catholic popes. Dr. Champagne has spent years locating surviving copies of Ad incorrupta, revealing that the manuscripts are multiple sites across Europe.
Last spring, a small group and I began this project, attempting to reflect the, then sixteen, now twenty versions of Maniacutius's text through legend symbols and an accurate contour map of Europe to be used on an ArcGIS story map
On Christology in Culsalmond and Rayne and Daviot
No full textThis paper describes a project intended to encourage and enable two rural churches to develop an appropriate Christology for their personal lives and for the on-going life of the congregations. Raising questions about the radical Christology of John Dominic Crossan, the author rejects the Historical Jesus approach as a suitable tool for engaging the congregation, choosing instead to apply narrative criticism techniques to the study of Mark’s Gospel. A major part of the practical outworking of this was a renewed focus on pastoral care which, while it sought to learn from current counselling methodology, was grounded in the values and perspectives of Scripture, particularly those gleaned from the congregations’ investigations in Mark
