The Psychosocial Benefits of Biblioguidance Book Clubs

BACKGROUND: Pedagogical approaches that support young people’s well-being and maximize their potential are among the Journal of School Health research priorities. A unique form of observational learning called biblioguidance could be a pedagogical approach. METHODS: We, a team of researchers and teachers, implemented biblioguidance book clubs with 10th-grade health education students. While the initial focus was health literacy skills, we also aimed to generate psychosocial benefits. Those benefits are the focus of the current descriptive phenomenological research. A final book club reflection captured the benefits students received and documented their transformation. We randomly selected 42 reflections from the sample pool (n=168) and coded them via descriptive document analysis. RESULTS: The results indicate that the book clubs provided psychosocial benefits. Students identified with the stories and characters, gained insight into others’ perspectives, lived experiences, and ‘‘ways of the world,’’ and were, in many ways, transformed. Some students even experienced catharsis, citing hope, validation, and feeling less alone. IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY: Biblioguidance book clubs could offer an innovative pedagogical approach to advance students’ psychosocial well-being and engage them as active participants in their own learning and health. Keywords: biblioguidance and bibliotherapy; young adults and adolescents; curriculum and instruction; young adult literature; National Health Education Standards; social cognitive theory

CAT: Communication Accommodation Theory

Communication accommodation theory (CAT) is an objective intercultural theory of communication that seeks to provide potential explanations for why people adjust how they speak depending on their situational context and to whom they are speaking. CAT is a well-researched theory of communication with a vast array of applications. By learning about CAT, people can improve their communication and relationships. Many goals can be met by ensuring successful communication of intentions and messaging. CAT has come a long way, nearly fifty years since its initial development. It has been utilized in many circumstances and will likely continue to be a very relevant theory in communication research. This presentation will include a synthesis of research findings about CAT’s inception, developments and refinements, key elements, and research applications. It also includes a critique of the current state of the theory, including how it can be studied and applied to modern forms of communication (for example, online and group conversation)

Busting Myths About Nystagmus And Coping Through Writing

When my mom laid eyes on me for the first time, she knew I had nystagmus, more commonly referred to as “dancing eyes.” This condition, which causes uncontrollable movement of the eyes, has struck many in our family, including my grandfather, brother, and cousins. Every case is different. Some people with this condition go on to live a normal life. For others, life becomes a challenge with reduced vision. Our family finds ourselves very fortunate to have our lives mostly unchanged as we live with this condition. However, there are several myths and misconceptions about nystagmus. For those who were born with nystagmus, it is assumed the mother lacked prenatal care or consumed alcohol and/or drugs during pregnancy. When a police officer stops a driver with nystagmus, they might assume the driver is inebriated as a result of the constant moving of the eyes and might require a breathalyzer. This presentation of creative work revolves around my experiences with nystagmus. I will document how a person with nystagmus operates day-to-day and present in-depth case studies on public figures who have the condition. Through my craft, I intend to shine a light on a condition that is rarely talked about

Northeastern Illinois University, Academic Catalog 2023-2024

https://neiudc.neiu.edu/catalogs/1064/thumbnail.jp

Analysis of Liquid CO2 Extract of Hemp Flower and Other Products by GCMS and HPLC

The cannabis industry uses supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO 2 ) to extract terpenes and cannabinoids for use in concentrated product such as hash rosin and edibles. The benefit to using scCO 2 as opposed to other solvents such as butane—also commonly found in industry extraction—is that CO 2 easily vaporizes out of the final product, eliminating risk of solvent residue in what goes to market. In contrast to scCO 2 , liquid CO 2 extraction is conducted at a lower temperature, which may prevent decarboxylation of THC-A and CBD-A. Also, equipment for scCO 2 extraction is very expensive, while the melloeX liquid CO 2 extraction system provides an affordable laboratory scale for this procedure. As part of our long-term effort to develop undergraduate experiments in cannabis analysis, we analyzed liquid CO 2 extracts of hemp flower and other products by GC-MS and HPLC. We compare these results to extracts using ethanol, dichloromethane, and hexane conducted previously

Euphemisms and Empathy: Do Euphemisms for People with Disabilities Affect How We Feel about Them?

Euphemisms have been developed and used to destigmatize different words and groups, however, they do not always have that effect. Previous research found that “special needs” was an ineffective euphemism for “disability.” While there is research about the effectiveness of euphemisms for the disabled population, there has not been any research about whether such euphemisms affect the amount of empathy we have for people with disabilities. The present study evaluates empathetic feelings and helping behavior for the disabled population through a survey that refers to people with disabilities (using the words “handicapped,” “special needs,” “disabled,” or no specifier), evaluates general empathy levels through the Interpersonal Reactivity Index questionnaire, and asks if participants either have a disability or have any family or friends with a disability. Based on previous research finding “special needs” as an ineffective euphemism, it is hypothesized that people will have more empathy for people referred to as having a “disability,” as the other two euphemisms are more outdated

La Mosca - Summer 2023

Contributions by: Ilsa Tucker, Mark Behringer, Mason, Timothy Garrison, S.R., Rachel A. Hale, Thalia Piseaux, Philip Kostov, Ja-Hee, Maribel Cruz, David Wales, Jennifer Terry, Megan Benitez, Amina Murati, J.J. Posey, Sophia Leonard, Indigo, Cyn, yarrow yes woods, Jaritza, Scott Andrews, Cean Gamalinda, Michael Cainghug, Hana Urban, Stephanie Ruelas, Ayushi Kumar, Jasmine Rodriguez, Clay Cofre, Emily Flood, Zebulon B. Hurst, jake stephen james, Sergey Turzhanskiy, I Cofre, Dessi Vaevskihttps://neiudc.neiu.edu/lamosca/1000/thumbnail.jp

Hija De Tu Madre

Hija De Tu Madre is an exhibition of women\u27s empowerment for Hispanic women in design. I am giving a voice to women in design who do not receive as much recognition as male artists. As a Latina designer, I am overshadowed by a field of predominantly white male designers. The title of my exhibition, Hija de Tu Madre, has a negative connotation in Spanish. I am reclaiming it and turning it into something beautiful and empowering rather than negative. Women in design are often overlooked, especially those of color. I am representing women of color that look like me, speak like me, have the same heritage as me, have struggled like me, have endured like me, and have been made invisible like me. My exhibition will include a website, business cards, posters, graphics, and merchandise, such as tote bags, sweaters, and beanies. This merchandise will be utilizing methods of screen printing, embroidery, and vinyl. The exhibition will be a small part of a bigger project to systematically change society’s views

Shifting Meaning in Gorilla Gestures: A Look into Evolutionary Linguistics

This presentation, based on thesis research, analyzes the ability for wild gorillas to demonstrate semantic shift in their gestural communications. Semantic shift, a change in meaning of a word while maintaining its sound, is a common characteristic of human languages. An example of semantic shift in English is the term ‘awful.’ Originally, the term roughly meant ‘full of awe/wonder,’ but it has shifted in Modern English to mean ‘terrible/extremely bad.’ I present evidence from primatological and linguistic literature that wild gorillas have to capacity to engage in semantic shift in their communicative gestures. Building especially off the work of recent research supporting the discovery of wild chimpanzees to demonstrate semantic shift, I point to various observed behaviors of gorillas in natural conditions as well as in captivity that point to at least gorillas’ cognitive capacity to perform semantic shift and, more assertively, that semantic shift has indeed occurred. Since semantic shift has been observed in chimpanzees, and to the degree that semantic shift is a deep property of language, the research thus posits languagelike semantic capacity from being present from some 6 million years ago to about 10 million years ago, significantly pushing back evolutionary evidence of this linguistic and cognitive skill