Stevie Morga

ESL

10/9/2018

In the article Experimenting with Academic ESL: An ESL/Sociology Link, August (2018)

aimed to create a supportive group for English as a Second Language (ESL) students within a

college setting to determine if linking ESL to a content course would be preferable. August

(2018) points out that there are three ways to help ESL students in college readiness, ESL

courses, pre-college ESL courses, or ESL within a content course. For this particular study, the

third option, ESL within a content course, was chosen (August, 2018). Specifically, ESL within

an introductory sociology course was chosen (August, 2018). The participants of this study were

twenty college ESL students from City University of New York (August, 2018). Students could

enroll in this class based on a writing exam (August, 2018). Once accepted, the course would

count as an elective as well as general education requirements (August, 2018). The format of the

class is lecture, discussion, group-work and focuses on reading, writing, listening and speaking

(August, 2018). The specific desired outcomes of the course were to increase critical thinking

skills and acquire academic vocabulary (August, 2018). In the course students read text books as

well as supplemental text which related to their specific life (August, 2018). The results of the

action research study showed that in support groups, with the supplemental text, students were

able to foster productive conversation which allowed them to develop their vocabulary as well as

their critical thinking skills (August, 2018).

It was best for students to be working on their ESL development within a content

course. This is because students were able to develop their critical thinking and vocabulary skills
within the context of college rather than a separate thing, and because it could be counted as an

elective therefore avoiding any extra cost (August, 2018). It was good that the classes used

supplemental text to create a meaningful learning environment. Something that might have been

interesting to see is if an ESL student’s final college career GPA increased after taking the

course. Perhaps a good place for further research would be to see the long-term effects of an

embedded ESL course.

August, G. (2018). Experimenting with academic esl: An esl/sociology link. English Language

Teaching, 11(9), 33-40.

Stevie Morga

Trauma

9/25/2018

In the article Maximizing Academic Success for Foster Care Students: A Trauma-

Informed Approach, Berardi & Morton (2017) look to inform teachers on how to create a safe

space for students who have experienced trauma due to foster care to learn. Children who live in

foster care often have a difficult time self-regulating which results in what educators call

emotional behavioral issues (Berardi et al, 2017). This effects the classroom greatly because

these students are often disruptive. Berardi et al (2017) believe that since educators cannot

experience the trauma the children have experienced, it is important that teachers become as

informed as possible. Teachers must create an environment in the classroom where students feel

secure and quality attachment (Berardi et al, 2017). In order for this to happen the culture of the

school needs to have a school-wide shift in the understanding of the trauma population as well as

a determination to implement strategies for these children who have experienced trauma (Berardi

et al, 2017). It is the educators job to inform themselves and to create an environment where

students who have experienced trauma can still be academically competent.

Stevie Morga

Homelessness

10/9/2018

The article Hosting a Tent City: Student Engagement and Homelessness, McKinney &

Snedker (2017) aim to create a course on homelessness based on applied research. This was a

two-semester course in which the first semester was dedicated purely to research on the topic of

homelessness and the second semester was field work in a Tent City which was being hosted on

their campus (McKinney et al, 2017). The participants of this study were senior sociology majors

at a small liberal arts college in Seattle called Seattle Pacific University (McKinney et al, 2017).

After the fall semester of research was completed, students were to begin their field experience

(McKinney et al, 2017). This field experience consisted of students interviewing residents of the

Tent City, a homeless encampment which was located on Seattle Pacific University’s campus

(McKinney et al, 2017). Students would also attend a seminar to discuss how interviews were

going and to gather any more skills needed to be successful (McKinney et al, 2017). Moreover

students were also required to keep a journal about how the field experience was going

(McKinney et al, 2017). The results of this study showed that the project showed a more positive

impact of the project on the students’ lives (McKinney et al, 2017).

This was a study on how people’s views of homelessness can be impacted by applied

knowledge field work within the homeless community (McKinney et al, 2017). Overall this

article did a good job on relaying student experiences and the shifting of how students look at

homeless people. This course was a response to the homelessness crisis that had heightened in

Seattle (McKinney et al, 2017). The students were positively impacted and became more aware
of the many ways to become homeless as well as the many impacts homelessness had on the

individuals (McKinney et al, 2017). Something that could have been different is there could have

been a survey given at the end of the field experience to show specific measures of growth in

understanding homelessness. Future research should include more studies similar to this

particular one. McKinney et al (2017) noted in the implications that it would be difficult to

recreate such a study due to the lack of Tent Cities in high populated cities. However, other

universities with high homeless rates in the surrounding area could duplicate this study.

McKinney, J. & Snedker, K. (2017). Hosting a tent city: Student engagement and homelessness.

Teaching Sociology, 45(3), 252-259.

Stevie Morga

Poverty

9/18/2018

The article Psychology of Poverty: Attitude Change Via Service-Learning is a look into

how a hands-on look into poverty can change the perception of the poor. T. Andrew Caswell

(2018) sets up a scenario where students must physically work with the poor. This answered the

question, is service-learning an effective way to change attitudes towards the poor (Caswell,

2018). Caswell (2018) decided to set up a senior capstone class on the psychology of poverty in

America. With eighteen students enrolled at his Catholic liberal arts university, the semester of

poverty emersion was well underway (Caswell, 2018). During the first week of class, Caswell

(2018) gave each student a pre-test in the form of a survey which determined pre-conceived, as

well as general beliefs, towards those living in poverty. These surveys were averaged per

question (Caswell, 2018). Students were then sent out to field service hours working with the US

Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (Caswell, 2018). At the end of the semester Students

took the same survey as during the first week of class (Caswell, 2018). These scores were again

averaged to show growth in beliefs and attitudes towards those living in poverty (Caswell, 2018).

Supplementing the surveys, Caswell (2018) gave an end of the semester course evaluation which

determined the overall feelings towards the course itself. Results came back from both showing a

more positive attitude towards those living in poverty and a greater interest in social justice

(Caswell, 2018).

This article aimed to determine if service-learning is the most effective way for students

to change their attitude towards poverty (Caswell, 2018). It was good that the author used a pre-
test as well as a post-test to determine the growth of the student’s feelings (Caswell, 2018).

However, it could have been better if he also had formative assessments throughout the semester

to see how and when the feelings towards poverty grew. While Caswell’s (2018) final results

showed that service-learning is an effective tool, it is difficult to determine if it is the most

effective. In the introduction Caswell (2018) discusses the mainstream way of understanding

poverty, which is via literature. It could have been more effective if he was able to set up three

testing groups: service-learning, literature-based learning, and a control group who simply took

the class exams. This would give a fuller understanding of how effective service-learning is on

changing the attitudes toward poverty. The limitations faced in this study were due to the small

number of participants. Future research could move in the direction of a larger sample size and a

greater variety of tools to change attitudes toward poverty.

Caswell, T. (2018). Psychology of poverty: Attitude change via service-learning. Journal of

Service-Learning in Higher Education, 7(1), 25-34.