Adult Financial Literacy Education and Latina Learners: A Qualitative Case Study

This case study explored teaching and learning in an adult financial literacy program for Latina single mothers, using a framework informed by critical and Latina feminist sociocultural learning perspectives and the transtheoretical model of behavior change. Data included interviews with program administrators, educators, and learners; class observations; and analysis of documents, focusing on pedagogy and the roles of ethnicity, gender, and culture in learning. Thematic analysis was both manual and used the qualitative software, NVivo 8. Findings indicate use of holistic approaches to emphasize community, use of pedagogies emphasizing content, process, and personal stories, and promotion of financial behavior change

Is Complexity Science Embedded in Transformative Learning?

This paper discusses evidence that Jack Mezirow’s (1991) seminal work on transformative learning drew heavily from the precursors of complexity science without making the connection explicit, a trend still present in the transformative learning literature. The use of concepts from complexity theory and its interdisciplinary contributors can improve our understanding of transformative learning and its development

Sociocultural Perspectives in an Online ESL Professional Development Program: Are There Transformative Features?

Colleges and universities across the country are looking for ways to increase accessibility as broad of an audience of learners as possible and are expanding into online formats (Allen & Searman, 2010). This is especially useful for programs designed for both working and non-working adults, who require a more flexible schedule for coursework, or who may not be able to attend courses located at a geographic distance. These institutions of higher education also maintain the larger educational objectives of their programs, including increasing the understanding of the world by the learners and expanding their ―habits of mind‖ (Cranton & King, 2003, p. 33). Academics are often likewise interested in maintaining the ―ideals of transformation and social change and the importance of these constructs for the public—outside of the university‖ (Moore, 2005, p. 77), indicating interest in transformative learning and critical reflection (Mezirow & Associates, 2000; Taylor, 2007)

Fostering Transformative Learning in an Online ESL Professional Development Program for K-12 Teachers

This qualitative study examines evidence of transformative learning surrounding sociocultural issues in the K-12 classroom of in-service teachers, while participating in an online English as a Second Language (ESL) professional development program. Using inductive data analysis, precursors and catalysts to transformative learning were identified to understand the ways in which 24 purposefully sampled participants experienced learning. Areas explored included ways in which the candidates participated in critical reflection of their own perspectives, ways in which this process affected their meaning making of their experiences, potential for action in changing their practice as ESL educators, and transformative learning features present throughout their learning experiences. Findings reveal evidence of perspective shifts in this context that complement the professional dispositions identified as important for K-12 teachers: the importance of carefully choosing resource materials in professional development, and the necessity to encourage critical reflection in course activities

Teaching with Media Violence to Explore a Public Health Problem: A Qualitative Study

This action research study engaged students in a collaborative examination of the construction of knowledge about violence, by introducing critical media literacy through viewing and analysis of a violent film in the context of a class considering multiple aspects of violence as a public health problem

Culturally Responsive Community Based Financial Literacy Education: Practical Implications from a Mixed Methods Study of Financial Educators

This paper provides a summary of findings of a mixed method study of 271 financial literacy educators in community-based programs and offers practical implications for culturally responsive pedagogy

Financial Literacy for Adult Learners in Community-Based Settings: A Mixed Methods Study

This paper discusses the findings of a mixed method study (282 surveys and 15 interviews) of pedagogical techniques and strategies of financial literacy educators in community based settings

Ethanol-induced locomotor sensitization: NPY signaling and histone acetylation in the nucleus accumbens and striatum of DBA/2J mice

Recent evidence indicates that neuropeptide Y (NPY) signaling modulates ethanol-induced locomotor sensitization. Additionally, a growing body of literature suggests that epigenetic mechanisms, including histone acetylation, may play important roles in drug addiction. In the present study, we used immunohistochemical techniques to investigate the expression of both NPY and the acetylation of histones H3 and H4 in the nucleus accumbens and striatum following the induction of locomotor sensitization. Mice sensitized to the locomotor stimulant effects of ethanol displayed increases in NPY in the dorsolateral striatum and increases in acetylated H3 in the nucleus accumbens shell. Interestingly, mice that received an acute injection of ethanol displayed decreases in NPY specific to the core of the nucleus accumbens. Finally, peripheral administration of Tricostatin A, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, augmented the acquisition, but not the expression, of locomotor sensitization. The present observations indicate involvement of NPY and histone acetylation in ethanol-induced locomotor sensitization

Food Deserts

A food desert is a geographical area in which there is not easy access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food.https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/public_health_posters/1013/thumbnail.jp