Benchmarking a sustainable energy engineering undergraduate degree against curriculum frameworks and pedagogy standards from industry and academia

There is an urgent need for educational institutions to produce graduates with appropriate skills to meet the growing global demand for professionals in the sustainable energy industry. For universities to stay at the forefront of meeting this global demand from industry, universities need to ensure their curricula and pedagogies stay relevant. The use of benchmarking is a key means of achieving this and ensuring any gap between university curricula and the practical needs of industry is minimized. The aim of this paper is to present an approach to benchmarking a sustainable energy engineering undergraduate degree with respect to curriculum frameworks recommended by industry and pedagogy standards required and recommended by academia and education research. The method uses the Murdoch University renewable energy engineering degree major as a case study. The results show that the learning outcomes of the renewable energy engineering units, in general, align well with the recommended learning outcomes for a complete sustainable energy degree, as prescribed by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. In addition, assessment task and marking criteria for the capstone unit of the major were at Australian Universities’ standard. A similar approach to benchmarking can be adopted by developers of new or existing sustainable energy engineering degrees in order to align with curriculum frameworks and pedagogy standards required by industry and academic peers

An Analysis of Asian and Asian American Studies A Public Relation Campaign Proposal, a Comparative Look at Other Universities, and The Program at Syracuse University

We now live in a globalizing society. It is important to understand the world around us and the history that gives us the present. As the United States is often deemed “the melting pot” of cultures, it is essential for its citizens and residents to understand the cultures that make up this country. It is, therefore, more of an obligation than a privilege for institutions of higher education to have the resources and means of teaching its students, or future leaders, about the society they live in. So why Asian and Asian American studies? By 2020, the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population in the U.S. is expected to reach 20 million. Asian American experiences in particular have shaped a large part of American history and currently play a huge role in its present and future. Studying Asian and Asian American courses will give students a stronger understanding of the multi-racial character of the United States, as well as the opportunity to make connections among other ethnic and minority groups. The Asian studies aspect of the program is a necessary supplement to better understand the roots of the Asian American experience. As mentioned previously, a practical reason for an Asian/Asian American studies program is the reality of our global society. Many employers now find individuals with strong multicultural perspectives as desirable candidates. Students of Asian and Asian American studies will be better prepared for fields in business administration, government, education, law, and many more. Syracuse University is currently in the process of developing an Asian/Asian American Studies minor. Due to the fact that the program is not yet officially established, there is a strong need to raise awareness about the minor. In order to do so, this capstone project compiled a great amount of research into a public relations campaign proposal to promote Asian and Asian American Studies at Syracuse University. In addition, the capstone project includes further research necessary for a public relations campaign. The primary research in this project consists of outlines of Asian and Asian American studies programs at similar universities and an analysis of the development of the minor at Syracuse University thus far. The conclusions made in this project are drawn from personal conversations with student and faculty members, student documents, and research through academic publications and media articles. I chose this topic because it was of great personal interest to me. I wish that I had had the opportunity to study courses with topics that I could identify with on a personal level. Much of my race awareness has come from personal experiences such as serving as a leader in the Korean American Students Association and with previous internships. I have high hopes for the future of this program and I believe that the student body at Syracuse University is in desperate need of it

Formative Research for Case Management Protocol Addressing Neighborhood Trauma Due to Violence

My capstone project is focused on conducting formative research for developing a case management protocol to reduce recidivism in youths aged 13 to 16. This formative research will serve as a basis for Street Addiction Institute Inc.’s request for proposal (RFP) to Onondaga County Department of Justice. As Street Addiction Institute Inc. is currently in the process of applying for funding at the federal and county levels, the formative research I conducted by integrating knowledge obtained from literature, expertise of community leaders and professionals, and understanding of youth’s specific characteristics, needs, and risks, will inform the development of a case management protocol executed by Street Addiction Institute Inc. This case management program will seek to reduce youth recidivism rate by 20% in Syracuse, New York. In doing so, we hope to affect change concerning gang and neighborhood violence by ameliorating traumatic stress for individuals and communities

Winter 2017

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Self-Care in BSN Students: Developing a Self-Care Plan

Stress is an issue of concern in nursing practice and nursing education. Stress leads to burn out and compassion fatigue in the nurse and student nurse. To combat stress, professional organizations advocate for self-care practices. Research indicates self-care practice can reduce stress levels and increase health and wellness. An evidenced-based DNP project was conducted over a seven-week time frame during a mental health nursing course to educate senior BSN students on different dimensions of self-care to reduce stress levels and increase use of self-care practices

Increasing 4th Grade Student Engagement Through Technology and Other Strategies

Finding ways to engage students in the classroom can be a challenge over the course of the school year. Over the years the focus and attention of students has seemed to shorten. This has led to teachers having a harder time to find ways to engage students in a lesson for a longer period of time. I have been an educator in fourth and fifth grade classrooms for six years and I have noticed this trend as well. This has motivated me to research and look deeper into this issue. My question is how can technology and other strategies increase student engagement? In this project the curriculum is designed by using the Understanding by Design model (Wiggins & McTighe, 2011) and supported by research from professionals in the field as well as prior personal experiences. There are a total of 10 lessons with built in engagement strategies that tie into multiple language arts lessons on making inferences. These lessons were intentionally for a 4th grade classroom, but have flexibility to be utilized in any elementary classrooms. This curriculum was written for teachers to have multiple resources to help students be better engaged during the classroom setting

2016-2017 Graduate Academic Catalog

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Exploring Alumni Valuation of an Undergraduate Leadership Program

This study explored alumni’ valuation of an undergraduate leadership program by gaining an understanding of what leadership learning and leadership behaviors transferred into their work environments. The alumni graduated from the same university in the southeastern United States, and while enrolled completed a four-year, co-curricular leadership program. In this mixed methods study, eight participant alumni engaged in semi-structured interviews as well as completed the Leadership Practices Inventory. Alumni perceived that leadership experiences, learning community, classroom learning, peer coaching, and intentional reflection were the most valuable attributes of the program. The leadership learning that effectively transferred to work environments included collaboration, leveraging differences, communication, diversity awareness, negotiating conflict, strengths awareness, emotional intelligence awareness, and leadership confidence. Program alumni were frequently engaged in the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership at work to some degree. Some recommendations include the program should be more career focused and expressed desire for an alumni group. This study fills a gap in the literature as limited research exists that assesses the transfer of leadership learning from an undergraduate leadership program into alumni work environments. When developing leadership programs, practitioners may consider incorporating similar programmatic attributes and leadership learning deemed valuable by program alumni

Improving Inclusion: The Ongoing and Transformative Process of Improving Education Systems to Meet the Needs of all Students

For this Capstone Project the researcher will investigate how instructors view the environment of the classroom when there is a mix of special needs students incorporated into the general population classroom setting and what they think could be done to improve the environment. The inclusion of special needs is necessary for fair and equal treatment; further, by separating the general population from special needs students, brings about a culture of segregation that can have lifelong impacts. Through an evaluation of scholarly literature and interviews conducted with teachers at an elementary school the findings uncovered three emergent themes: collaboration with teachers in other districts that practice co-teaching, advocate to the local school board the need for more paraprofessionals to support inclusive classrooms, and co-teacher training and workshops to support future implementation. Based upon the findings of this research paper and interviews conducted, an action to provide co-teacher training and workshops, and advocate to the local school board the need for more paraprofessionals to support inclusive classrooms will provide the foundation of support our educators need to be successful