Neumann University is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Aston, Pennsylvania. It is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Francis of Philadelphia.
Reinforcement using bio-waste and recycled materials is increasingly favoured in composite development due to their enhanced sustainability and promising performance when compared to synthetic alternatives. In this study, recycled PET foam was utilized as the core material to control the weight gain in the composite. The composites were fabricated with chopped luffa fiber, recycled PET foam, and walnut shell-derived porous biocarbon, and evaluated for tensile, flexural, impact, hardness, water absorption, and flammability properties, following relevant American Society for Testing and materials (ASTM) standards. Among the specimens, the composite PRC1 (with 3 vol.% filler) exhibited the highest tensile strength (120 MPa), flexural strength (143 MPa), and impact resistance (5.0 J), indicating optimal reinforcement at this filler level. In contrast, PRC2 (5 vol.% filler) achieved the highest hardness and exhibited an excellent flame resistance rate of 6.53 mm/min. The control sample P (100 vol.% vinyl ester) showed the lowest water absorption at 3.2%, reflecting the hydrophobic nature of the matrix. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed to examine the fracture surfaces post mechanical testing, providing insights into failure mechanisms and fiber–matrix interactions. Based on the performance characteristics, these composites show strong potential for use in applications such as lower limb prosthetic sockets, upper limb prosthetic frames and covers, cranial and facial prosthetics, and adaptive sports prosthetics.
Higher education institutions routinely make decisions about student support using incomplete and evolving information. Guided by organizational sensemaking theory, this qualitative study examined 173 CARE Team referrals involving 148 students at a private university. Findings indicate that institutional knowledge emerges through fragmented observations, evolving organizational interpretations, and sensemaking rather than the accumulation of objective information. The study extends organizational sensemaking by conceptualizing institutional knowledge construction as an organizational process and reconceptualizes CARE Teams as mechanisms for organizational knowledge integration.
This study explores early adolescents' understanding of and perceptions about the digital advertising system and the types of responses they feel are available as they engage with digital advertising, particularly personalized online ads and influencer marketing, two forms of digital advertising that introduce unique challenges as users must navigate platform dynamics and processes of datafication. To answer these questions, we facilitated an advertising literacy program for 11- and 12-year-old students. We designed the program using what we call the EASY (Ethics of Actors in SYstems) approach, which engages students in role-play activities and reflective discussion, whereby creating an opportunity for students to grapple with the range of actors and the ethical dilemmas that are introduced by and embedded within the multiple components of the digital advertising system. Here we present findings from this program, including how participating students articulated their understandings of and strategies for negotiating the digital advertising system, as well as their ideas for how the system could work more ethically. This research can inform the further development of advertising literacy education that helps adolescents explore how various actors might work toward a transformed digital advertising system.
Within hours of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, teachers were "floundering," trying to figure out if and how they would discuss what happened with their students the next day. Through the lenses of Days After Pedagogy and white supremacy culture, we examine the following research questions: (1) How, if at all, did teachers pedagogically address January 6, 2021 in their classrooms? (2) What language did they use to describe their choices? We utilized an open-ended online questionnaire to learn about teachers' experiences around the U.S. and analyzed their responses through Critical Discourse Analysis. Findings illustrate that educators' beliefs about the purposes of schooling, teachers' roles and responsibilities, and students' abilities and skills manifest in teachers' discourse about their pedagogical choices in critical moments on days after, as they did after the Capitol Insurrection. These beliefs are often rooted in the characteristics of white supremacy culture and represent a critical facet of teachers' work in contentious times.
Traditional undergraduate science courses often prioritize content mastery over authentic engagement with the scientific process. Course-based research, also referred to as course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), addresses this limitation by immersing students in authentic scientific practice. In course-based research, assessment practices can also mirror the authentic scientific practice, where extensive formative feedback supports refinement of skills and understanding. Here, we present two rubrics designed to support the teaching and assessment of science communication in a way that reflects how scientists prepare to disseminate their research findings. One rubric is for creating scientific posters and another for writing short-format manuscripts. Developed by approximately 100 faculty members who collaboratively implement CUREs through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Science Education Alliance (SEA) program, these rubrics outline the authentic steps scientists take when preparing to communicate their research and provide performance levels that clarify expectations for both students and instructors. Together, these tools aim to further align undergraduate science education and authentic scientific practice.
