Towards integrating transformative pedagogies to generate social justice

Current debates and heated public dialogue about multicultural issues and minority rights underline the social importance of how to best understand, conceptualize and approach multiculturalism within an educational context. Recent research suggests that teacher educators lack the necessary information and academic curricular support to adequately deal with multicultural issues; thus, if a central aim of education is to create a more democratic and inclusive society, we must reflect on establishing a sound multicultural teacher education curriculum. This thesis examines and explores varying understandings, differing perspectives, and contrasting foundational approaches to both multiculturalism and anti-racism, and identifies common criteria in these theoretical and pedagogical approaches which support a social justice agenda and facilitate social change. Through summary and discussion of conservative and liberal multicultural approaches, the problematic aspects inherent in these approaches are identified which effectively limit, and, in some cases, even undermine the possibility of generating social justice. An in-depth examination and critique of critical multicultural, anti-racist, critical, black feminist, and women of color theory and pedagogy serves to identify the important shared fundamental principles upon which all of these theories/pedagogies are founded, which include addressing and challenging institutionalized racism and structural inequalities, and addressing white racism and whiteness as an invisible normative force. The practical extensions, implications and challenges involved in the implementation of these theories within teacher education programs are discussed, and recommendations for future research are presented

Design of a Green Microbial Fuel Cell for Soft Robotics

This work introduces the design and fabrication of a green-sourced and mostly biodegradable microbial fuel cell for use in soft robotic applications from environmental sensing to wastewater remediation. Theorized from other biodegradable fuel cells, this prototype achieved maximum power densities of 4.0 x 10−4 W/m2 in the single-chambered design and 5.6 x 10−7 W/m2 using the double-chambered design. Additional modifications to the current design were proposed to optimize fabrication and performance, and can be implemented in later studies. Key Words: Microbial Fuel Cell, soft robotics, green, biodegradabl

LANXESS Corporation

# 78-42-2] is being provided to OEHHA in response to its identification and subsequent consideration and review by the Carcinogen Identification Committee (CIC). LANXESS respectfully requests that these comments be reviewed by OEHHA and that they be made available to the CIC for its timely consideration at its next meeting on October 12 and 13, 2011 and in advance of its prioritization of the 39 chemicals scheduled for review at that time

Geographic Effects on Vehicle Reliability: Developing Proportional Hazards Models for a Deployable Military Vehicle

Unlike many industries that have their equipment in one location with consistent usage patterns, armies move their vehicles between different geographic locations with varying environmental, and usage conditions. This creates interesting conditions for study, as those geographic changes can be studied to detect their effect on system reliability.Unfortunately, this is not being fully exploited, due in part to the poor capture and storage of information, a problem faced by many operators of maintenance databases.This thesis develops a method to characterize failure data contained in a maintenance database using a standardized naming system, and applies a proportional hazards model for each geographic location using covariates to represent the conditions. In addition to understanding how a system has performed, the proportional hazards model will allow geographic location factors to be used in predicting system reliability and spares parts requirements in a new location.M.A.S

A Case Study Investigating Therapy Methods Used by Speech Language Pathologists Working with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

This study was an in-depth examination of the experiences of five speech language pathologists (SLPs) working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) during language therapy sessions. This case study aimed to better understand the various therapy techniques being used by the SLPs through interviews and a reflective journal kept by the researcher. It also sought to examine the ways those therapy techniques may have included creative dramatics. Through thematic analysis, major and minor themes emerged from the interviews. The main theme of the study was the importance of individualizing therapy for students with ASD. Individualizing therapy was supported by minor themes involving the severity of the child’s ASD, special interests of the student, and incentives for communication. The other main themes were temporality issues, counseling caregivers, and traditional therapy versus creative therapy. The SLPs identified interventions they used in their practice. They also discussed their most successful interventions and the interventions that were most enjoyed by their students. This study also investigated whether SLPs were using creative dramatics with students with ASD. Three of the SLPs interviewed were successfully using creative dramatics. Role playing was the most popular and successful creative dramatic therapy technique listed by the SLPs. Lastly, this study found a need for further research not only on the treatment experiences of SLPs during language therapy, but also exploring creative dramatics as a therapy intervention

VanVolkenburg_Poster-3.pptx

Menu-Choice is a program that was developed to provide physical activity support and education to group homes that house adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). It has been shown that the physical activity levels for individuals living in group homes are low. This program was designed to provide direct care service staff and managers with a template to help residents increase their physical activity. In order to design the program, an “Advisory Group” of 19 participants consisting of residents with I/DD, program coordinators, support staff, and a group home agency director, was put together. The “Advisory Group” provided insight into daily operations within the group homes as well as barriers and motivators of physical activity for the residents. Using information provided by the “Advisory Group” a program binder was created. The program includes seven steps to educate staff and residents about physical activity and how to implement it over the course of eight weeks. The several steps also contain information on how to set a goal and how to document those goals once they have been reached. Along with the seven steps, a supplemental materials section was added to include motivational techniques, a number of ways to document baseline activity and progress, and examples of various kinds of activities (i.e. cardio/motor, strength, and flexibility activities). Simplicity was kept in mind when the program was created to ensure full comprehension. Menu-Choice was implemented into five group home sites for adults with I/DD. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with follow-up was conducted. Fourteen program coordinators, 22 staff, and 18 residents participated. The results concluded after the ten-week program will help refine the program for continued implementation trials in the group home community.Keywords: Health promotion, Intellectual and developmental disabilities, Group home

VanVolkenburg_Poster-3.pdf

Menu-Choice is a program that was developed to provide physical activity support and education to group homes that house adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). It has been shown that the physical activity levels for individuals living in group homes are low. This program was designed to provide direct care service staff and managers with a template to help residents increase their physical activity. In order to design the program, an “Advisory Group” of 19 participants consisting of residents with I/DD, program coordinators, support staff, and a group home agency director, was put together. The “Advisory Group” provided insight into daily operations within the group homes as well as barriers and motivators of physical activity for the residents. Using information provided by the “Advisory Group” a program binder was created. The program includes seven steps to educate staff and residents about physical activity and how to implement it over the course of eight weeks. The several steps also contain information on how to set a goal and how to document those goals once they have been reached. Along with the seven steps, a supplemental materials section was added to include motivational techniques, a number of ways to document baseline activity and progress, and examples of various kinds of activities (i.e. cardio/motor, strength, and flexibility activities). Simplicity was kept in mind when the program was created to ensure full comprehension. Menu-Choice was implemented into five group home sites for adults with I/DD. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with follow-up was conducted. Fourteen program coordinators, 22 staff, and 18 residents participated. The results concluded after the ten-week program will help refine the program for continued implementation trials in the group home community.Keywords: Intellectual and developmental disabilities, Group homes, Health promotio

Physical activity health promotion program for the group home setting

Menu-Choice is a program that was developed to provide physical activity support and education to group homes that house adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). It has been shown that the physical activity levels for individuals living in group homes are low. This program was designed to provide direct care service staff and managers with a template to help residents increase their physical activity. In order to design the program, an “Advisory Group” of 19 participants consisting of residents with I/DD, program coordinators, support staff, and a group home agency director, was put together. The “Advisory Group” provided insight into daily operations within the group homes as well as barriers and motivators of physical activity for the residents. Using information provided by the “Advisory Group” a program binder was created. The program includes seven steps to educate staff and residents about physical activity and how to implement it over the course of eight weeks. The several steps also contain information on how to set a goal and how to document those goals once they have been reached. Along with the seven steps, a supplemental materials section was added to include motivational techniques, a number of ways to document baseline activity and progress, and examples of various kinds of activities (i.e. cardio/motor, strength, and flexibility activities). Simplicity was kept in mind when the program was created to ensure full comprehension. Menu-Choice was implemented into five group home sites for adults with I/DD. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with follow-up was conducted. Fourteen program coordinators, 22 staff, and 18 residents participated. The results concluded after the ten-week program will help refine the program for continued implementation trials in the group home community

Practical Considerations for Laser-Induced Graphene Pressure Sensors Used in Marine Applications

Small, low-power, and inexpensive marine depth sensors are of interest for a myriad of applications from maritime security to environmental monitoring. Recently, laser-induced graphene (LIG) piezoresistive pressure sensors have been proposed given their rapid fabrication and large dynamic range. In this work, the practicality of LIG integration into fieldable deep ocean (1 km) depth sensors in bulk is explored. Initially, a design of experiments (DOEs) approach evaluated laser engraver fabrication parameters such as line length, line width, laser speed, and laser power on resultant resistances of LIG traces. Next, uniaxial compression and thermal testing at relevant ocean pressures up to 10.3 MPa and temperatures between 0 and 25 °C evaluated the piezoresistive response of replicate sensors and determined the individual characterization of each, which is necessary. Additionally, bare LIG sensors showed larger resistance changes with temperature (ΔR ≈ 30 kΩ) than pressure (ΔR ≈ 1–15 kΩ), indicating that conformal coatings are required to both thermally insulate and electrically isolate traces from surrounding seawater. Sensors encapsulated with two dip-coated layers of 5 wt% polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) silicone and submerged in water baths from 0 to 25 °C showed significant thermal dampening (ΔR ≈ 0.3 kΩ), indicating a path forward for the continued development of LIG/PDMS composite structures. This work presents both the promises and limitations of LIG piezoresistive depth sensors and recommends further research to validate this platform for global deployment