Colorblind Ideology Expressed Through Children’s Picture Books: A Social Justice Issue

This paper investigates the presence of people of color and white people as protagonists in a sample of recently published children’s picture books. The author proposes that the relative lack of books about people of color in the sample is reflective of colorblind ideology, denies children of color the opportunity to find themselves in books, and may support the development of racist attitudes in white children. The need for children of color and white children to be exposed to a variety of titles in which contemporary children of color are protagonists is presented as a social justice issue, related to the Jesuit values of cura personalis and magis. Recommendations are made for teachers, educators of teachers, and parents for locating quality picture book titles featuring diverse protagonists

Freedom of Commerce: The History and Archaeology of Trade at St. Castin’s Habitation 1670-1701

Settled on the often disputed border of New England and Acadia during the last quarter of the 17th century, the Baron Jean Vincent de l’Abbadie de St. Castin operated a trading post at the confluence of the Penobscot and Bagaduce Rivers near the modem town of Castin, Maine. Castin was an entrepreneur who traded with the Abenaki Indians of Acadia and Maine for peltry. Although he was French, Castin exchanged this peltry with Massachusetts merchants in order to get the European trade items necessary to supply his Abenaki clientele. Castin preferred trade to warfare, nevertheless, he was often embroiled in violent disputes between New England and Acadia, as well as conflicts between the Abenaki Indians and New Englanders. Using 17th-century maps in conjunction with subsurface testing, the site of St. Castin’s Habitation was located in 1983. Excavations followed in 1984 and 1990-1993. Because it was a place where French, English, and Indian cultures converged, St. Castin’s Habitation provides a unique opportunity to study the way Europeans and Indians interacted on the Acadian frontier. Analysis of the thousands of artifacts recovered from the site, especially those associated with trade, show how cultural boundaries were readily crossed in order to survive, and in Castin’s case, prosper

Middle School Teachers\u27 Perspectives of Transitioning from the Traditional Teaching Model to the Blended Learning Model: A Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the shared experiences of teachers going from a face-to-face traditional teaching model (FTFM) to a blended learning model (BLM) in a middle school setting in the southeastern United States. The theory, which guided this study was Schlossberg’s (1981, 2011) Transition Theory. Within the study, one central question and four sub-questions were used to guide the study. The research questions focused on middle school teachers’ experiences, as they implemented a BLM of instruction. To address these questions, data collection included individual interviews, a focus group, and a blogging activity. Using Moustakas’ (1994) procedures of analysis of data, techniques such as bracketing, horzonalization, clusters of meaning and identifying textural and structural descriptions led to an overall composite description of the essence of the phenomenon. Findings from this study revealed that teachers recognized a shift in their roles from lecturer to facilitator and expressed self-efficacy played a role in a successful transition. Teachers described professional development as beneficial; however, it was not the deciding factor in the shift to a BLM but reliance on peers for new teaching strategies, emotional support, and shared knowledge contributed to the shift in teacher practice. Finally, teachers indicated that blended learning was a new concept and they needed more opportunities to devise new strategies through observing colleagues, engaging in collaboration and reflection, and time to research new teaching methods. Keywords: blended learning, blended learning model, hybrid learning, online learning, self-directed learnin

Reconstruction of Coral Reef Ecosystem Health in Lagoon Cay, Belize Using Invertebrate Assemblages in a Reef Matrix Core

Coral abundance is declining worldwide due to anthropogenic factors such as overfishing, agricultural advancements, and human driven climate change. While we have abundant data on reef coverage from underwater surveys completed in recent decades, there remains significant gaps in reef ecosystem data predating the 1970s. Reef matrix cores can help fill this knowledge gap by providing long-term records of reef community change prior to global-scale anthropogenic disturbance. We analyzed subfossil invertebrate assemblages preserved in lagoonal reef-matrix cores from Lagoon Cay, Belize. Bivalves, gastropods, coral, and echinoderm spines were sorted from sieve residue at 5-cm increments. Bivalves and gastropods were identified and counted. Echinoderm spines and coral were identified and weighed to obtain proportional abundance. All were identified to the lowest taxonomic level, typically to genus. Observed in this core is pre-colonial stability amongst the represented taxa. These stability patterns signal the abundance of available hard substrate (i.e., reef building corals). Herbivorous gastropods dominated the gastropod assemblage throughout the core, which is likely due to the abundance of benthic algae accessible to graze on over hard substrate. Despite its role as a keystone herbivore within Caribbean reefs, Diadema antillarum was not the dominant urchin anywhere in the core. Instead, Echinometra spp., the dominant urchin on these reefs today, was the most abundant urchin in all sections. The trends in available taxa show a healthy reef in the represented time. This contrasts other Caribbean cores as well as other cores from Belize. This could be due to the core not extending far enough into the present with the most recent date being 1867. Investigating long-term changes in coral reef invertebrate communities can reveal the ecosystem-level effects of recent declines in Caribbean reef-building corals.The Smithsonian MuseumUniversity of California San DiegoThe Ohio State University School of Earth Science’s Friends of Orton HallNo embargoAcademic Major: Earth Science

Toward a user-centered design of a weather forecasting decision-support tool

Hazard Services is a software toolkit that integrates information management, hazard alerting, and communication functions into a single user interface. When complete, National Weather Service forecasters across the United States will use Hazard Services for operational issuance of weather and hydrologic alerts, making the system an instrumental part of the threat management process. As a new decision-support tool, incorporating an understanding of user requirements and behavior is an important part of building a system that is usable, allowing users to perform work-related tasks efficiently and effectively. This paper discusses the Hazard Services system and findings from a usability evaluation with a sample of end users. Usability evaluations are frequently used to support software and website development and can provide feedback on a system’s efficiency of use, effectiveness, and learnability. In the present study, a user-testing evaluation assessed task performance in terms of error rates, error types, response time, and subjective feedback from a questionnaire. A series of design recommendations was developed based on the evaluation’s findings. The recommendations not only further the design of Hazard Services, but they may also inform the designs of other decision-support tools used in weather and hydrologic forecasting. Incorporating usability evaluation into the iterative design of decision-support tools, such as Hazard Services, can improve system efficiency, effectiveness, and user experience

Mr. Manross and Ruffed Grouse [no location]

https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/jobslides/1662/thumbnail.jp

The Combinatory Method in Ugaritic Exegesis

A great asset in the study and translation of any language is the possession of proper and sufficient tools. It is hoped that this work may be one such tool for the further study of Ugaritic. Naturally in the translation of any language known for such a short time there remain many rough spots, problematic words and phrases. Especially is this true in the texts fraught with lacumae. The thought has been expressed that one of the great needs in Ugaritic studies is a concordance, and undoubtedly this would be a real asset. This present work is an attempt to solve the difficulties and to offer a satisfactory translation of the problematic words and phrases; however, the real value of this endeavor may prove to be not that which is solved, but rather the bringing together in one work of all of these problems with the citations of their occurrences

Ruffed Grouse Strutting

https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/jobslides/1697/thumbnail.jp