A Qualitative Inquiry of Adult English Language Instructor Experiences Fostering Inclusion, Community Building, and Student Motivation

Abstract By Kathrene Marie Razo University of the Pacific 2025 The central focus of this inquiry is on understanding adult English instructor experiences fostering inclusion, community building, and student motivation in the language classroom. In addition, it highlights contextual background relative to common life barriers faced by the adult English language learner population as they relate to an immigrant’s journey of establishing themselves in a new land. Furthermore, this inquiry was prompted by a need to gain a clearer understanding of the best practices that are revealed by educators’ shared lived experiences to assist in the support of learners in their efforts to attain personal, educational, and professional goals as well as positively impact English language program retention. For this inquiry, the participants taught adult English as a second language in a California Adult Education Program (CAEP) school, which included adult schools and community colleges for at least 5 years in the northern region of Central Valley, California. This inquiry used a general qualitative approach, along with a conceptual framework composed of Malcolm Knowles and Associates’ (1968) Adult Learning Theory and Geneva Gay’s (2010) Culturally Responsive Teaching will benefit adult English language programs of study because it will help educators, program administers, and staff to more thoroughly understand the lived experiences of seasoned adult English instructors who have fostered inclusion, community building, and student motivation while also answering the study’s research questions. The data collection tools for this study included an initial participant interest form, semi-structured one-on-one interviews that were recorded and transcribed, researcher notes, and a researcher positionality journal. The findings for this study revealed five major themes that were identified through the data analysis process. Theme 1: Creating a Positive Learning Environment is comprised of one subtheme: (a) Modeling Positivity, Compassion, Kindness, and Sensitivity. Theme 2: Incorporating Culturally Diverse Content, is comprised of two themes, (a) Sharing Students’ Cultural Background and Traditions, and (b) Culturally Responsive Curriculum. Theme 3: Being a Reflective Instructor included three subthemes, (a) Consider Lesson Topics with Care, (b) Check Biases, and (c) Get to Know Your Students. Theme 4: Offering Opportunities for Student Collaboration encompasses two subthemes, (a) Students Teach One Another, and (b) Be Mindful of Student Pairing. Lastly, Theme 5: Success Breeds Success unveiled two subthemes, (a) Building on Student Prior Knowledge, and (b) Immigrant Success Stories. The insights and understandings obtained from this research study can contribute to and assist new instructors of adult English programs, program staff, and administrators in an effort to enhance program retention and facilitate the successful completion of language learning by students

Stronger Binders, Better Probiotics: Evaluating Mucin Affinity in Yeast Strains for Probiotic Potential

The goal of our lab is to determine if the yeast, Pichia pastoris, can survive and secrete recombinant proteins in the murine gut. To possibly increase the retention of P. pastoris in the gut two strains were created. Strain yJGGA contains an agglutinin protein and strain yJGG33 contains a fusion protein of agglutinin and mucin binding domain. Both agglutinin and mucin binding domain have affinity to mucin. Mucin is the major protein found in the mucus linings of the gut. The ability of these strains to bind mucin was determined by incubating the strains with mucin-coated glass coverslips. Coverslips were washed to remove unbound cells and bound cells were collected through vigorous pipetting. Bound cells were then counted by plating onto a selective medium. This binding assay suggested that yJGGA had higher affinity to mucin than yJGG33. Immunofluorescence microscopy was then used to examine the presence of agglutinin and mucin binding domain on the cell wall of the two P. pastoris strains. The results showed that only yJGGA expressed agglutinin on the cell wall, further supporting the results of the binding assay. The affinity of yJGGA to mucin suggests that this P. pastoris strain would have higher binding to the mucus lining of the gut. This adhesiveness may extend the time yJGGA lives in the gut compared to yJGG33 and wildtype P. pastoris

Cracking Under Pressure: Vocal Stress and Warm-Up in Humpback Whale Food Calls

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are baleen whales that travel to the northern Pacific Ocean in summer to forage on herring. Some of these whales engage in a cooperative foraging strategy known as bubble-net feeding, in which group members release a net of bubbles which surrounds a school of fish, and produce loud, low-frequency vocalizations, known as food calls, which function to further aggregate prey into denser schools (Hanser, 2009). These calls can be classified into two primary categories: tonal and modulated. The fundamental frequency, or lowest frequency component, of tonal food calls remains relatively stable, but it fluctuates rhythmically in modulated food calls. We observed that sometimes the whale’s voice seems to ‘crack’ during a food call, exhibiting a brief but sudden shift in fundamental frequency. We proposed that the exertion associated with food call production induces stress on the vocal tract, leading to voice cracks (Fitch et al., 2002). Previous research has shown no differences in the occurrence of vocal cracks between tonal and modulated food calls, suggesting both are equally stressful. We hypothesized that longer call series would contain more vocal cracks due to stress generated by repeated production of difficult calls. We further hypothesized that whales may need to ‘warm up’ their vocal tract before producing food calls to avoid vocal cracks. We tested these hypotheses by using Audacity sound software to analyze acoustic recordings of humpback whales performing bubble-net feeding. We matched food call series with cracks to randomly selected call series containing similar call types but without voice cracks to examine the effect of series length and the presence of calls preceding the series on the occurrence of voice cracks. If ‘warming up’ helps prevent vocal cracks, we expect that food calls series without vocal cracks will be preceded by calls containing significant frequency modulation, much like those produced by professional singers prior to performing

Improve Your Tomorrow Advocates

This project attempts to improve the awareness of our program, Improve Your Tomorrow, to more schools, communities and parents. With Improve Your Tomorrow, we work to enhance the chances of young men of color of getting into college and furthering their education. The program addresses the systemic barriers and opportunity gaps that often limit educational access for underrepresented groups particularly in underserved communities. By promoting IYT’s mission and services more broadly, this project seeks to build stronger partnerships with local schools, engage parents and guardians, and connect with community leaders who can help guide students toward success. Through survey\u27s and school presentations the goal is to ensure that more young men of color are aware of and can benefit from the life-changing opportunities offered by IYT. Ultimately, this effort supports the larger vision of educational equity, college access, and the empowerment of future leaders

Investigating the Effects of Evodia rutaecarpa on Caffeine-Infected Water

Caffeine is an emerging contaminant in waterways, raising concerns about oxidative stress, reproductive issues, and increased mortality in aquatic life. Due to caffeine’s water solubility, it stays within waterways for a long period of time creating hazards for aquatic wildlife. The available treatments for caffeine-polluted water all have drawbacks making large-scale implementation futile as well as necessitating preventative measures. Evodia rutaecarpa, also known as Wu Zhu Yu, is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that has been used to combat the negative effects of caffeine. Evodiamine, a major constituent of Evodia rutaecarpa, was found to decrease sleep disruptions and erratic behaviors in caffeine-treated mice (Ko et. al., Biomol. Ther. 2018). Planarian worms, Girardia dorotocephala, are a species of flatworms we have used to study the protective effect of E. rutaecarpa on regeneration. In assays with caffeine-treated G. dorotocephala, we measured the rate of regeneration in order to find the small molecule from E. rutaecarpa responsible for caffeine protection, allowing for higher rates of survival and regeneration. Partitions of a commercially available tincture were made: ethyl acetate, chloroform, and the remaining water soluble tincture constituents not soluble in ethyl acetate and chloroform. Caffeine-laced water was treated with each partition and compared to the negative control group (no treatment) and the original tincture (positive control). It was found that ethyl acetate and chloroform partitions had the most stable growth of planaria with the lowest mortality rate. Ethyl acetate and chloroform partitions were then fractionated using silica gel to create four fractions per partition. These fractions are currently being tested. The known molecules will then be identified in the fractions by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Any novel compounds with bioactivity will be isolated and their structures determined. The most biologically active molecules could be used to reduce the negative effects of caffeine in waterways

Inhibitory Activities of Surface-Associated Bacteria from California and Florida Algae

Marine algal surface-associated bacteria (SAB) inhabit highly competitive and diverse marine environments, where they face challenges such as high salinity, osmotic stress, and UV radiation. In response, these bacteria produce secondary metabolites that may serve as chemical defenses, including potential antibiotics active against human pathogens. To discover novel antibiotic drug leads, algae samples were collected from three California beaches (Stinson Beach, La Jolla, and Santa Cruz) and the Florida Keys. SABs were isolated from plates where algal surface swabs were plated on A1 medium, then cultured in liquid A1 medium (10 g/L starch, 4 g/L yeast, 2 g/L peptone), and cryopreserved. We utilized 3 antimicrobial screening methods—pour-over assay, disk diffusion, and single-dose broth assay— to test the 532 isolates against four human pathogens: Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella sp. In the pour-over assay, 11 isolates from an initial pool of 332 California SABs and 17 isolates from approximately 200 Florida SABs, produced zones of inhibition indicative of antibiotic production. The disk diffusion assay also confirmed antibiotic production in 14 samples. These antibiotic-producing isolates were then cultured large scale in 500 mL A1 media for 48 hours, extracted using XAD-16 resin, and then the broth was further extracted using ethyl acetate. Single-dose broth assay was conducted on the fractions from the large-scale extracts. The next steps will be isolation and characterization of the antibiotic secondary metabolites

Adolescence on the Edge: Factors influencing Deviant Behavior

My research focuses on deviant behavior in adolescence. For this research the deviant behavior is defined as “ranging from violent crimes, such as murder, to simple assaults, motor theft, vandalism, and disorderly conduct” (Carlson 2012). Scholarship on deviant behavior typically uses observational measures to investigate the significance of peer and parental influence on adolescence (Carlson 2012). Additionally, I examined scholarship on how substance abuse and transitional changes during the developmental period may increase deviant tendencies (Smith 2022). Findings suggest that negative influences in an adolescent\u27s environment increase the likelihood of engaging in deviant behaviors. I will use conflict theory and social control theory to delve deeper into the sociological effects of these findings. Contrary to the common belief that deviance among adolescents is rare, this research highlights its prevalence. “The capacity in Juvenile facilities has increased by 120%”(Carlson 2012). I examine the reasons that deviance among adolescents leads to more serious problems and discuss solutions to decrease these numbers, such as, increasing the support groups that are offered to children, and positive activities to engage in (Jong, Bernasco, Lammers 2019). This research is important because if we can impact how a child grows up in a positive way we can limit the amount of deviance we have in our society, which may lead to a decrease in crime and violence

Screening The Carlson Lab Natural Product Library for Antibiotic Production

The misuse of antibiotics has deteriorated the efficacy of these medications and led to routine microbial infections becoming untreatable. New antibiotics are urgently needed to combat growing rates of antimicrobial resistance. Natural products make up more than half (55%) of all clinical antibiotics; natural products have either inspired or been directly approved as antibiotics since 1981, (Newman and Cragg, 2020, J. Nat. Prod.). The Carlson Lab Natural Product Library contains fractions and extracts from microbial and algal sources. Our work has been to screen the library for antibiotic compounds through 96-well plate liquid growth assay. The assay tests samples at varying concentrations against 4 pathogens three times (triplicate). Two hundred thirty-three total samples were tested as either crude extracts (fungi and gram-negative bacteria from algal surfaces) or fractions (marine and freshwater Actinomyces) and were tested against four bacteria known to cause human diseases (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella sp., and Eschericha coli) at 100 μg/mL, 50 μg/mL, and 25 μg/mL. Of the total extracts and fractions, 53 showed growth inhibition (about 23%). Eleven extracts inhibited both gram-positive pathogens and two extracts inhibited both gram negative and gram positive pathogens. There were a total of 54 inhibitions against gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus and B. subtilis) and 8 inhibitions against gram-negative bacteria (Salmonella and E. coli). Twenty showed inhibition at 100 μg/mL, 22 at 50 μg/mL, and 20 at 25 μg/mL.We will present our results so far and discuss the significance of these findings. Our future directions are to finish screening the remaining natural product extracts and fractions and to dereplicate any known antibiotics contained in our library