SUNY Empire State University Student Works
Collections in this community
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SUNY Empire Graduate Student Scholarly and Creative Work
SUNY Empire offers 22 graduate degrees and 27 advanced certificates in business, policy, education, and liberal studies through the School for Graduate Studies and the School of Nursing and Allied Health.
Recent Submissions
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Unleashing the Storyteller Within: Using an Integrated Learning Theory and Multimedia Approach to Designing a Digital Online Genre Fiction Writing WorkshopThe purpose of this creative, professional capstone project is to design the first module of a digital online genre fiction writing workshop using an integrated learning theory and multimedia approach. The module will eventually be expanded to a four module creative writing workshop geared toward people who’ve always wanted to write a genre fiction novel, but didn’t know where to start. The digital age has changed the way information is exchanged, researched, and learned. Our busy lives have made learning at a distance especially appealing, and with the advent of free, low-cost, and subscription based online learning sites such as Coursera, Udemy, and Lynda.com, online learning has grown in popularity. This creative, professional capstone project is the first step in creating an online genre fiction writing workshop that is intuitive and easy to navigate for learners of all digital literacy levels.
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Educating Non-Traditional Female Students Through Leadership Development at Delgado Community CollegeWhen a person wants to better themselves, there is no better way to do this than by getting a quality education. In today's world, education is the key to empowerment. Education is a gift and a privilege many take for granted. The purpose of this project is to identify non-traditional female students who are returning to or just beginning their college experience and assist them in obtaining their degree. The intention of the project is to educate these female students on how to locate and utilize financial resources, tutoring, scheduling, etc. as well as develop their leadership potential. The female population at Delgado Community College is 68% female with 52% of those students being age 25 or older. By identifying the ways in which these students can succeed, it will show higher retention and completion rates. By being able to teach students how to recognize their leadership abilities and develop their core leadership strengths, this leadership development studies course will enable them to reach their full potential. A person who is teaching others how and what it means to be an effective leader is sharing his or her knowledge of what it means to be a true leader.
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Your Abortion is in the Mailbox: A Study of Abortion Seekers’ Understanding of their Choices in 2023On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Clinic, overturning its 1973 decision in Roe and allowing states to regulate abortion. Twelve states immediately criminalized abortion care, precipitating chaos around the country. In Texas, abortion clinics had closed in September 2021, causing patients to travel to Oklahoma and beyond. Oklahoma's clinics closed in May 2022. After Dobbs, residents of Oklahoma and Texas joined residents of three other states seeking limited clinic appointments in access states like Kansas, Illinois and Colorado. More than 50% of these appointments were for medication abortions. Due to changes in federal regulations about telehealth care, abortion pills could also be ordered online, letting prospective patients obtain the same pills available in clinics at home, without travel. The goal of this study is to understand why abortion-seekers from Texas and Oklahoma chose to travel long distances for their pills, instead of ordering online. Clinic patients were surveyed to answer the research question: What do women who choose to travel to a clinic for medication abortion, from their homes in states where it is extra-legal or illegal, believe about telemedicine and clinic provision? The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of SUNY Empire State University. Data was collected April-June 2023 at a medication abortion clinic in Kansas. Adult residents of Texas or Oklahoma who traveled to the clinic for a medication abortion were offered a survey during their visit. The survey collected demographics and asked which alternatives the patient considered to end the pregnancy, which factors influenced their decision to travel to the clinic, and whether they thought that mailing abortion pills for home use is legal in their state. If they considered a method using mail-order pills (abortion pills online or telehealth), they were asked why they decided against it. Findings indicate that speed to appointment date was the top priority for the patients sampled; at the time of data collection, mail-order pills could take up to three weeks to arrive. Legality of the clinic appointment was also a concern for a majority. Privacy was a secondary concern. Seeing a doctor, the defining feature of a clinic visit, did not seem important. While many respondents were concerned about the legality of ordering pills for home use, most were confused about whether it was legal in their state. Based on these findings, policy implications of the shift to self-managed abortion and the impact of abortion access on public health outcomes are explored. Policy recommendations are offered to support access to abortion, despite criminalization of abortion practice in 13 states. Further study is needed to understand what information and messaging informs potential users of at-home abortion about their options.
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Art History in the Virtual Reality EnvironmentThe objective of this project is to create a virtual reality environment for teaching art history in an interactive, collaborative way. The environment will make it possible for students to meet, interact with works of art and architecture, and work together on project-based art history assignments. The method for developing this project involved sourcing online teaching materials, and researching effective methods of assessment. Exploration of virtual reality platforms was necessary to find one accessible for most users, that could be developed for use as an art history classroom and galleries. A learning management system was chosen to organize information and materials, post feedback and grades, and be a repository for work done in the virtual environment. Research into online resources found that art museums offer a multitude of images, essays, and videos that are available for download or linking to, as well as online resources for downloading 3D architectural and sculpture models. FrameVR proves to be both the most accessible and user friendly VR environment for this project. The conclusion in the development of the project is that by providing an easily accessible VR environment, populating it with engaging and interactive art history resources, and offering collaborative, constructivist learning experiences with portfolio and project based assessment, a rich environment for the teaching and learning of art history is provided. This project also provides a template for future specialized topical courses in art history.
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INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD - CURRICULUM DESIGNThe purpose of this curriculum design was to create a supplemental unit that would integrate technology to enhance, increase and motivate early childhood learning. The curriculum is focused on literacy skills specifically alphabet knowledge and pre-writing. In this curriculum there are a variety of learning activities that integrate technology while also using traditional ways of learning. It is also important to guide parents on how to reinforce technology effectively at home. In addition to the curriculum, a plan for teachers was also designed. A mentor teacher program and a professional development plan are crucial to ensure that technology is integrated into an early childhood classroom effectively. Teachers must acquire the skills and confidence to use technology in their classroom. They must also receive ongoing support and training throughout the curriculum to create meaningful technology learning experiences for their students. As a result, teachers can use technology as an effective tool by promoting instruction for students that can reach a variety of learning styles and needs.
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Place-Based Curriculum Design for a South Florida Waldorf SchoolWhile there is a tendency to standardize curriculum to make it easier to assess progress and plan intervention, a more localized approach is better suited for reaching the educational goals that societies need. Place-based learning is essential for connecting students’ education to their natural environment, personal experiences, and the societal struggles of their place of living. By being independent of centrally mandated standards, Waldorf schools are excellent candidates for developing and implementing educational programs that make learning meaningful and relevant to the students’ lives and communities. This paper includes research into the theory of place-based education, a list of best practices, and finally, a place-based 6th-grade history curriculum piece. As I started to apply the concepts of this work, I learned that there is no grade level or academic subject that does not lend itself to a place-based approach. It is only a matter of time and effort to understand what local means and how it connects to learning goals. The positive feedback from my students and their increased level of engagement have confirmed the validity of this approach.
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Supporting Self-Directed Play in Early Childhood ClassroomsPublic education has become increasingly standardized and academically focused in the past decade. As a result, traditional kindergartens which provided young children their first experiences out of the home have all but disappeared. Preschool programs have now replaced the kindergarten experience, but with an increased focus on academics. Children have less time to play, and early childhood educators are often not educated about the developmental significance of play or how to support play. The following is a critique of the highly standardize and scripted trend in education as developmentally inappropriate and detrimental to children’s development in the five essential domains of early childhood. Further, it proposes how early childhood classrooms should support self-directed play, why it is the correct cognitive approach to learning for young children, and how to assess if the classroom is organized in such a way that supports children in the essential domains: physical, social, emotional, language, and cognitive development through varied approaches to learning via self-directed play.