Centering Equity and Social Identity: Reflections on Culturally Sustaining Literacy Lessons from Two Elementary Classrooms

Two elementary teachers illustrate how awareness of children’s sociocultural contexts and social identities can inform literacy instruction

Fostering Creativity in the Workplace: Unlocking the Power of Diversity Through Psychological Safety

With a growing recognition of the advantages associated with forming culturally and cognitively diverse teams, understanding the crucial role of psychological safety in leveraging diversity for creativity and innovation is paramount. Additionally, since leaders establish the tone of the workplace culture, it\u27s crucial to ensure they possess the necessary expertise to lead inclusively to establish psychological safety. This project aims to meet the demand for skill development by producing a facilitator guide and workshop presentation. These resources are designed to empower workshop leaders with the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities to facilitate a workshop with the goal to promote workplace psychological safety. By fostering a culture of psychological safety, diverse teams can harness their collective power to drive creativity and innovation

Redefining Creativity: Applying Design Thinking in the Art Classroom

In my qualitative research study, my big idea was creativity. I specifically wanted to know how learning a design thinking process would impact fine art students’ creative confidence, because prior to my study, I found that a lot of my students would say things such as “I’m bad at art” and “I’m not an artist”, and I was curious about why they felt this way. I also wanted to know what the impact of learning a design thinking process would be on students’ understanding of creativity. My methodology was arts-based action research, and I used highly structured interviews, observations, student self-reflections, and student artworks as my data collection methods. I taught participants the Creative Design Thinking (CDT) process, which was adapted from the Henry Ford Learning Institute’s Design Thinking (HFLI DT) process. The main inductive themes I found in my data analysis were “frustration,” “uninspired,” “accomplished,” and “creative confidence.” I found that teaching visual arts students the CDT process positively affected their creative confidence by increasing their understanding of how the creative process works, which can help them in the future to feel accomplished when making art

Supporting At-Risk Elementary Students With Creativity in the Classroom: Creativity Skill Based Interventions

This plan consists of developing an after school club for students who are struggling with grade-level objectives throughout the school year. The purpose of this club is to provide at-risk elementary students with the opportunity to explore and discover new ways to achieve specific academic goals, based on the required curriculum standards that should be mastered in order for them to advance to the next grade level. This club will include students in Kindergarten through first grade, and they will be recommended by their current teacher, or any other professionals that are involved in their academic progress. Throughout the school year, each week will have a theme based on the Thinking Skills that were created by E. Paul Torrence. Students will be able to practice skills in hands-on, interactive, and engaging ways in an intervention based program

Establishment of Protocols to Measure Near-IR(NIR) Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) Signals of NIR Dye

Biomedical imaging techniques are crucial for early disease diagnostics, particularly for life-threatening conditions. However, traditional methods have inherent limitations, such as restricted spatial resolution and potential risks associated with repeated exposure to ionizing radiation. Near-infrared (NIR) surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) presents a promising alternative due to its minimal risks and potential for high-resolution biomedical imaging. A key challenge in NIR-SERS biomedical imaging is the development of biocompatible, nontoxic SERS substrates that can be safely introduced into the human body, targeting specific cells and tissues effectively. NIR-SERS substrates typically consist of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) modified with biorecognition elements and reporter molecules, which exhibit strong absorption and Raman scattering signals in the NIR region. Over the past years, Suwal\u27s lab at Buffalo State University synthesized twelve polymethine NIR dye molecules and identified three that showed superior NIR SERS performance compared to a reference dye. They utilized quick freezing-induced Au nanoparticle aggregates (QFIAA), discovered by Dr. Heo\u27s lab, as NIR-SERS substrates. This project aims to revisit previous protocols and validate the conclusions drawn from earlier findings. The repeatability of SERS test results may be influenced by variations in QFIAA substrates, instrumental conditions, solubility of dye molecules in solution, and AuNP aggregation, which can also vary based on dye concentration. Results indicate that the aggregation status of QFIAAs remains stable for almost a year. While there may be day-to-day variations in the absolute SERS signals of dye molecules, the relative SERS intensity order of different NIR dye molecules remains consistent across different test dates, confirming previous conclusions. Additionally, the results underscore the importance of dye solubility. Monitoring the repeatability of absorbance of certain dye molecules is critical, as those with poor solubility may precipitate over time, leading to changes in absorbance

Career Exploration Opportunities for DP Students

This study examined the differences in American school systems at the high school level to the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program (DP) . This study looked at student exposure to extensive amount of information on career clusters, future job options, and life pathways. Although core curriculum in United States schools such as mathematics, science, and English prepare students for common core assessments and state testing, high schools need to spend more time in career exploration for students tailored to their own interests. “A national survey commissioned by The Hunt Institute found that a solid majority of parents of school age children (64 percent) and especially parents of high school students (71 percent) believe having programs and courses that teach job skills for future workforce needs is very important.” (Siddiqi, 2022) The purpose of my research is to show how business classes with a guided and controlled curriculum can be beneficial by guiding students to utilize project-based learning and internships to set themselves up for secondary education or the workforce in a career they are interested in.https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/ipds_research/1014/thumbnail.jp

Benefits of Fostering a Multicultural Classroom Community

Through Buffalo State University’s IPDS (International Professional Development Schools), I gained experience student teaching at the International School of Siena for 8 weeks in Siena, Italy. This study explored if and how multiple cultures and student backgrounds are integrated into the classroom and the benefits of doing so. Examining how that is done at the International School of Siena, a school with students from various countries, can demonstrate the positive impact of fostering a multicultural classroom community. The results of this research would be beneficial to schools in the United States, as culturally responsive teaching can enhance the learning experience of both the student and teacher.https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/ipds_research/1015/thumbnail.jp

Balancing Act: An Exploration of Polarities in Personal and Professional Life

This purpose of this project is to explore the concept of polarities. I have been using creative problem solving for years, but recently, I have come to realize that some of the complexities we face in our everyday lives are not actually problems to solve, but rather are polarities to manage (Johnson, 2014). By undertaking this project, I aimed to build my skill set around polarity management in order to help me develop in both my personal and professional spheres. This project allowed me to explore some of the literature of polarities as well as put the concepts into practice by creating ten polarity maps. I started with five polarity maps focused on polarities that challenge me in my personal life, and then extended the scope to explore and map five polarities that I encounter in facilitating creativity. Ultimately, this project has expanded my capacity as a creative leader and stoked the flames of my passion for learning

Peer Relationships & Friendship

In this module, students will discuss some of the important factors surrounding peer relationships and friendships. What does it mean to be a friend? How can we teach children to resolve conflict in friendships? How can peer pressure influence behavior? Using clips from Sesame Street and other children’s media, students will consider these, and related, questions about the power of peers.https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/themed-coursework/1025/thumbnail.jp

The Phygital Design Process: Using Emerging Technologies to Create a Phygital Fashion Brand Rooted in Nostalgia

This Master\u27s Project is a comprehensive exploration of the intersection of digital fashion design, nostalgia, and sustainable practices. Its primary objective is to create \u27project CYBERBAE,\u27 a phygital fashion collection that draws inspiration from early 2000s video game characters, trends, and aesthetics. The project utilizes advanced digital tools like Clo3D to demonstrate a comprehensive digital fashion design process that emphasizes inclusivity and sustainability. It also pioneers the development of a 3D virtual world, providing users with an immersive environment to interact with and experience digital fashion. This virtual space serves as a platform for a community of fashion, technology, and creativity enthusiasts. The project also underscores the significant role of nostalgia in fashion design, drawing from personal experiences with early MMOs and fashion-focused games. Through the use of innovative design sprints and digital prototyping, the project showcases how digital tools can effectively reduce waste and streamline fashion production. The project\u27s outcomes highlight the potential of digital fashion to revolutionize traditional fashion design, promote sustainable practices and inclusivity. The creation of digital garments, their translation into physical counterparts, and the development of a virtual fashion ecosystem mark significant advancements for the digital fashion community, offering new opportunities for creative expression and sustainable design