Meet Our Visiting Research Fellows 2010-2011
Ruben Viramontez Anguiano, Ph.D (Bowling Green State University, Ass. Prof. of Human Development and Family Science)
Topic: An Ecological Exploration of Intersecting Capitals and Their Impact on the Educational Success of Latino Students in Northeast Indiana
Area of Study: The relationship between the family, community, and institutions for the academic success of Latino students.
The purpose of this study will be to explore how intersecting capitals, including social, cultural and intercultual capital at the familial, school and community impact the educational motivation and success of Latino students at the pre-college and college levels in Northeastern Indiana. The major overarching goal of the study is to understand how families, schools and communities can work together throughout the educational pipeline to ensure the path to higher education for Latino students.
Kim Case, Ph.D. (Higher Education)
Topic: Experiences of African American and Latino College Students in the Classroom and the Teaching Practices that Contribute to Their Learning
Through previous research, much is known about how students learn best and about the teaching practices that facilitate good learning. Unique dynamics within an intercultural classroom can enhance or sometimes hinder student learning. This study will focus on the learning experiences of African American and Latino students by examining students’ classroom experiences alongside the attributes, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and teaching methods of professors who facilitate learning.
Aliah Carolan-Silva, Ph.D. (Education-Curriculum & Instruction)
Topic: The Influence of Latino Students’ Social Networks on Their Academic Achievement
Area of Study: Educational Experience of Latino Students in Local Schools
Dr. Carolan-Silva’s research explores Latino students’ educational experiences through an ethnographic study in local schools. She uses social capital theory to examine Latino youth as they are nested within family, peer, school and community networks and the combination of factors that lead to students’ educational achievements. Through examining how students’ social networks provide a means to attain resources that contribute to educational achievement, she hopes to offer implications for both schools and families about how to better support the education of Latino children.
Meet Our Resident Research Fellows 2010-2011
Christie Bonfiglio, Ph.D. (Education)
Topic: Response to Intervention (RTI) & the Implications for Minority Students and Academic Success
Area of Study: Educational Experience of Latino Students in Local Schools
“Response to Intervention” (RTI) is an emerging approach to the diagnosis of learning disabilities that holds considerable promise as a student with academic deficits is given research-validated interventions, and the student’s progress is monitored frequently to determine if those interventions are sufficient to help the student catch up with his or her peers. If the student fails to show significantly improved academic skills despite several well-designed and implemented interventions, this failure to ‘respond to intervention’ can be viewed as evidence of an underlying learning disability. One advantage of RTI is that it allows schools to intervene early to meet the needs of struggling learners rather than waiting for them to fail. Another is that RTI maps those specific instructional strategies found to benefit a particular student, which can be very helpful to both teachers and parents (Fuchs, Mock, Morgan, & Young, 2003).
Given this information, this project undertakes the RTI approach for identifying local elementary students of color who are in need of early intervention with regards to reading instruction. Such early intervention will validate this process within the local school district and will potentially dissuade inaccurate identification of special educational services for students who are disproportionately represented within such population and offer them an alternative means for success.
Odelet Nance, Ph.D.
Topic: The Efficacy of Internal and External Support Systems for African American Students at Goshen College
Bob Yoder, (Religious Studies)
Topic: Faculty as Faith Mentors to Goshen College Latino/a Students In and Out of the Classroom
Area of Study: This project will explore the role of teaching faculty as “faith mentors” of our Latino/a students by equipping faculty with specific, tangible ways for effective faith mentorship, in and out of the classroom . This project will further explore what it means for Goshen College to be a mentoring environment to our Latino/a students as we reach out to students with diverse theological backgrounds, particularly among our ever-growing Latino/a population. I will draw from the work of Sharon Daloz Parks in her book, Big Questions, Worthy Dreams: Mentoring Young Adults in their Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Faith, from the recent findings of the National Study of Youth and Religion in their book Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults, from the findings of The Spirituality in Higher Education project (UCLA) in their book Cultivating the Spirit: How College Can Enhance Students’ Inner Lives, and from other books and resources. This project will also draw from personal and group interviews of both students and faculty.
Christine Noria, Ph.D. (Education)
Topic: The Role of Attribution, Motivation and Belonging for Latino Students in Higher Education
Brenda Srof. (Nursing)
Topic: The Experience of Ethnic Identity Formation and Subsequent Caring Practices Among Latino/a Nursing Graduates
Ethnic identity formation is characterized by self identification, feelings of belong, commitment to a group, and a sense of shared values. The experience of college is an important time for ethnic identity formation as the student navigates the feelings of belonging with one’s own cultural group and the belonging within the context of the college environment. Within the profession of nursing, the experience of belonging is imbedded in the construct of caring as a central construct of the profession. The purpose of this research is to describe the meaning of the experience of ethnic identity formation among Latino/a nursing students as reflected among recent Latino/a nursing graduates. A second purpose of this research is to describe the meaning of the Latino/a student’s journey for his/her own caring practices. The design of this qualitative study is interpretive phenomenology. The purpose of phenomenology is to understand the structure of a concept or phenomenon as a lived experience of the person. The expression of experiences of individuals is formulated into the universal essence of the experience. The study is relevant to the development of the science of nursing and the methodology of nursing education.
