Lehman College Research Articles

Interprofessional Education Integration in Lehman College’s Undergraduate Social Work Program: A Case Study of Transformative Implementation and Student-Centered Impact

Background:This case study explores the dynamic inclusion of interprofessional education (IPE) in Lehman College Undergraduate Social Work Program, a Hispanic-Serving Institution in the Bronx.Objectives:We aim to contextualize the case within social work’s historical engagement in healthcare and evolving interprofessional practices, with an emphasis on the role of social work in healthcare.Methods:A comprehensive literature review was conducted to connect theoretical foundations to practical implementation, highlighting IPE’s significance as a student-centered pedagogy and its potential impact on patient care. The narrative details the transition from individual classroom use to widespread adoption in the practicum seminars in the undergraduate program.Results:The program demonstrates a proactive response to healthcare changes, underscoring a commitment to comprehensive education.Conclusion:This case study makes Lehman College’s program a valuable resource for educators, practitioners, and policymakers by showcasing its effective incorporation of IPE, ultimately enhancing patient care through improved interprofessional collaboration.

Whiteness, Curriculum, and the Infrastructures of Victorian Studies

This essay makes a case for viewing curriculum and the historical assemblages of slavery, racialization, and migration as infrastructures of Victorian literary studies. It does so by taking the recent curricular revision that the English department at Lehman College, a public, Hispanic-Serving Institution in the Bronx, New York, underwent as its starting point. I reflect on how this curricular overhaul, which was catalyzed by student activism, helped me see not only how curriculum has operated as an infrastructure of whiteness in my department and English studies at large but also how disentangling Victorian studies from its white Anglo assumptions will require reconceptualizing the methodological, epistemological, and historical foundations of the field.

Privacy Audit of Public Access Computers and Networks at a Public College Library

In 2021, the assessment-data management librarian at Lehman College Library decided to conduct a privacy audit of the Library’s public computers and networks. This audit comprised one of the Library’s two annual formal assessments of resources and services. The American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Privacy Checklist for Public Access Computers and Networks was selected to review 17 key items related to protecting user privacy and confidentiality. Faculty and staff from Circulation, Library Technology, and Online Learning identified 10 indicators needing work. Suggestions are provided for collaboratively resolving these issues and future steps are described to continuously maximize the online security of the campus community.

A call for critical and open pedagogies in Spanish heritage language instruction: Students as knowledge producers of Open Educational Resources (OERs)

This paper stresses the urgent need to implement critical and open pedagogies in language teaching, especially in the Spanish heritage language classroom. Language courses are often compulsory in secondary and higher education and typically employ traditional pedagogical models that are structured by grammar and/or communication tasks. This study introduces how heritage language teaching emerged as a field of study in the United States and offers a brief overview of critical and open pedagogies and their connection to open educational resources. This paper then introduces critical and open pedagogies to teaching Spanish as a heritage language, followed by a critical look at the existing Spanish teaching material. As an alternative to this material, this article shares a project titled “Discovering El Barrio” which addresses an innovative and productive pedagogical practice carried out by a Spanish heritage language class at Lehman College, CUNY. In this project, Spanish heritage language learners (HLL) became producers of authentic teaching and learning materials for second language (L2) Spanish learners.

Democracy, dialogism, therapy, progressivism, anarchism, and other values in Martin Duberman’s innovative pedagogy

My essay aims to develop my authorial map-account of Martin Duberman’s various educational paradigms manifest in his experimental seminars at Princeton University, Hunter College, and Lehman College CUNY, 1966-1971 (and beyond) that I abstracted from his claims about his innovative educational teaching. I tried to develop a terrain of educational philosophical paradigms that shaped his goals, judgments, definitions of success, frustrations, and so on, and engage in a dialogic analysis of this terrain. His innovative pedagogy was driven by diverse and often conflicting educational philosophies involving democracy, dialogism, and therapy, among other values. I discuss the synergies and conflicts of these values in Duberman’s pedagogy.

Building an Innovative Online Teaching Toolkit.

By Natasha Nurse-Clarke, PhD, RN, Associate Professor, Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, Human Services and Nursing, Lehman College, City University of New York, Bronx, [email protected]. The author declares no conflicts of interest. Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citation appears in the printed text and is provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal's website (www.nurseeducatoronline.com).

Running Head: Using Computers to Teach Science Can Computer Technology Improve the Quality of Science Education at Urban Universities?


 
 
 Research has shown that technology can be a powerful educational tool in facilitating a constructivist approach to teaching science. Research also shows that academic support for students and faculty development activities are positively linked to supporting science teaching and learning. However, despite the availability of these resources at many urban universities, instructors rarely engage students in collaborative learning. This article uses a case study to describe both the challenges and results of implementing a constructivist model of instruction at a mid-size urban college. The article demonstrates the successful implementation of an online interactive course management system and Supplemental Instruction in large classrooms, with the caveat that such practices require extensive training for instructors, staff and students to be feasible. At Lehman College of the City University of New York, both Title V grant and college administrative support has enabled the creation of a model of collaborative engagement that has successfully fostered partnership among instructors, students and staff in constructivist learning and active use of computer technology at an urban college.
 
 

A Linguistic and Socio-affective Approach to Developing an Online Spanish Heritage Placement Exam

Abstract This article describes the development and validation of a placement exam designed to identify and place Spanish heritage language learners in the heritage language program at Lehman College, the City University of New York (CUNY), an urban institution located in Northeastern United States (Bronx, New York City). Building upon previous research (e.g., Fairclough et al., 2010; Potowski et al., 2012), we provide an overview of the process we followed, including selecting content, computerization of the exam, and reliability analysis. A combination of quantitative analyses and qualitative observations during the pilot phase allowed us to identify the linguistic areas that were better at discriminating among levels, and the socio-affective factors that had to be taken into account to understand learners’ needs. As we continue to improve subsequent versions of the exam, this approach will allow us to better place students while reassessing and redesigning the curriculum.

Female black, indigenous, and students of color demonstrate greater resilience than other students during a global pandemic

Background: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education institutions was particularly severe for those serving low-income students and/or students of color (BIPOC). Due to systemic inequities and intersectionality, the pandemic likely had a different impact on students depending on their identity. Purpose: This longitudinal study measured the stress of college students at a Hispanic-serving institution during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic to understand how their racial/ethnic and gender identities shaped their experience. Research Design: A survey, including a refined and validated Perceived Stress Scale, was used to measure participants’ stress, academic concerns, and pandemic concerns. Study Sample: Undergraduate students enrolled at Lehman College: n=849 in April 2020, n=701 in October 2020, and n = 686 in April 2021. Data Analysis: Descriptive statistics and ANVOA were used to analyze the data, group participants, and compare stress and concerns across groups. Results: Results indicate that female-identifying BIPOC students exhibited greater resilience than other students (by race/ethnicity and gender). Conclusion: These findings support prior research highlighting the resilience of BIPOC undergraduate students.

Implementing a Chatbot on a Library Website

A library’s website is a virtual point of contact for interacting with its patrons. Ensuring a library’s website has easily findable content is critical for providing access to library resources and highlighting services and events. One tool for assisting with content findability is a chatbot, a form of artificial intelligence software. In this case study, Lehman College’s Leonard Lief Library implemented Ivy, a proprietary educational software chatbot on its website, the first of its kind for an academic library. This chatbot functioned as a new tool that assisted users seeking information and provided insight to librarians about the kinds of topics students search for via the library website. This article provides the first detailed description in the literature of an implementation of a proprietary chatbot for an academic library.

A Call for Action to Address the Root Causes of Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities

Many diet-related chronic diseases disproportionately impact racial/ethnic minority populations, resulting in a higher prevalence of obesity, hypertension, cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and kidney disease. Consequently, dietitians, nutrition professionals, and food and nutrition practitioners practicing in all sectors—from clinical settings to the food industry, to community nutrition, and nutrition research and advocacy—play an important role in addressing racial/ethnic disparities in diet-related chronic diseases. 1 Schwan B. Responsibility amid the social determinants of health. Bioethics. 2021; 35: 6-14https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12782 Crossref PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar A. Brown is the past chair, National Organization of Blacks in Dietetics and Nutrition, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Chicago, IL. K. Burt is an assistant professor, Dietetics, Foods & Nutrition Program, Lehman College, City University of New York, Bronx, NY. E. Campbell is a senior director, Legislative and Government Affairs, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Washington, DC. C. Doby is a manager, Policy and Advocacy Communications, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Washington, DC.

Interdisciplinary Gerontology in Higher Education: A Case Study From Soup to Nuts

Through the lens of a multi-year joint project initiated by faculty in Social Work and Digital Arts at Lehman College, the City University of New York's senior college in the Bronx, NY, this paper provides a guide on how to initiate, implement and evaluate interdisciplinary collaborations in gerontology. The paper also suggests ways to ensure that these collaborations can support tenure and promotion processes, funding initiatives, and pedagogical enhancements. The paper focuses on how to make use of campus resources, including departmental Chairs, research offices, and campus-wide committees to identify appropriate collaborators and funding sources; how to nurture productive interdisciplinary relationships, such as clarifying disciplinary expectations and participants' professional needs; and how to maximize return on the effort for tenure and promotion, such as producing publishable content, identifying appropriate opportunities for interdisciplinary publishing and presenting, advocating for interdisciplinary collaborations, and developing interdisciplinary syllabi, an example of evidence-based high-impact pedagogy.

Joseph Tusiani: A Man for All Seasons

Joseph Tusiani: A Man for All Seasons

Contributors

Contributors

An investigation of NMR‐Derived Structures for the SARS Coronavirus E Channel Protein

During the current Covid‐19 pandemic, college laboratories are shut down and undergraduate students who need research experience are having a hard time gaining those skills. Against this backdrop we developed a pilot project that would introduce students to internationally available online biochemical databases, open‐source modeling software and animation tools. The students received individual hands‐on training to generate data allowing them to engage in discovery and contextualize learning as they would in a face‐to face laboratory setting. We describe an investigation of NMR‐based structures of a SARS coronavirus E channel protein, structures found in the 5X29 pdb file deposited by Surya, Li, &, Torres, and described in (2018) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1860: 1309‐1317. These small proteins form ion channels that are of interest because live attenuated vaccines target these channels promising prevention and treatment for coronavirus infections. The SARS coronavirus E channel protein, a right‐handed alpha‐helical bundle, is composed of 5 chains, A through E. Each chain has 16 NMR structures in the database. Incorporating computational and molecular visualization tools students generate data to observe, measure, and communicate the dihedral angle backbone movement of the whole pentamer, the separate chains, and individual amino acid residues on a bond‐by‐bond basis. All the open access software and programs used worked within a Windows/Mac environment except one program that used Linux command lines to create models from the PDB file. Afterwards these models were animated to demonstrate and analyze dihedral angle movement within structures. The students used this work to fulfill the laboratory component of their undergraduate independent study program at in the Biological Sciences and Chemistry Departments of Lehman College, a 4‐year college within the CUNY system.

Contributors

Contributors

Pre-Occupied

Pre-Occupied Jeanne Heifetz (bio) In the Pre-Occupied series, I challenged myself to confront something that terrifies me. I have had death panics since I was eight years old. Ironically, the only real estate I am ever likely to own is a parcel of eight cemetery plots I inherited from my grandfather. The deed to the plots came with a map of the cemetery, which seemed like the logical place to begin to address my fear. Each drawing in this series is based on the map of a different Jewish cemetery, including the ones where my own relatives are buried. (I am not religious, but the historical and familial connection was important: these are all places I could be buried, even though I remain completely unreconciled to the idea of my own death.) I can’t claim that drawing the maps allays my panic. Death remains entirely unknowable terrain: the map can never be the territory. And yet, stripped of identifying text, the cemeteries’ abstract forms are mysteriously compelling, grounding me in the universal human drive to create beauty, order, and ritual in the face of our own mortality. ________ Pre-Occupied is an ongoing series begun in 2016, currently comprising 138 individual works. The drawings are burnished graphite on handmade paper. Portions of the series have been included in group shows at Drive-By Projects, Watertown, MA; Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT; Odetta Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Lehman College Gallery, Bronx, NY; Patchogue Arts Center, Patchogue, NY; The Tobacco Factory, Long Island City, NY; 404 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; BergenPAC Gallery, Englewood, NJ; and in a solo show at the Lobby Gallery of the 14th Street Y in New York City. The full series can be viewed at www.jeanneheifetz.com/pre-occupied. The following is a selection of four images from the series. [End Page 45] Click for larger view View full resolution Pre-Occupied 59. [End Page 46] Click for larger view View full resolution Pre-Occupied 64. [End Page 47] Click for larger view View full resolution Pre-Occupied 90. [End Page 48] Click for larger view View full resolution Pre-Occupied 103. [End Page 50] Jeanne Heifetz Jeanne Heifetz came to visual art by a circuitous route. She has two degrees in English (Harvard AB; NYU MA), spent a year as the writer-in-residence at Exeter, worked at Esquire and American Heritage magazines, and wrote a book on organic food (HarperCollins) and one on the origin of color names (Henry Holt). Heifetz also had a parallel career as a weaver, exhibiting at venues like the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show and the Smithsonian Craft Show. In 2007, she started applying fiber techniques to nontraditional materials; by 2011, her work had shifted entirely from fine craft to fine art. Since then, she has shown in galleries and museums in seventeen states, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, and Israel. Her work is in the Drawing Center’s curated registry and the flat files of the Kentler International Drawing Space. She has curated shows at Schema Projects and the Workshop Gallery in Brooklyn and at the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art. A fellow at LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture in 2018–19, Heifetz lives and works in Brooklyn. Copyright © 2021 Purdue University

Fronts Matter: The Effectiveness of an “Edited Book” Project in Classical Theory

The instruction of classical sociological theory at Lehman College of the City University of New York (CUNY) underwent significant transformation to make it more activity-based and better aligned with departmental learning goals. The article focuses on the effectiveness of an “edited book” project that came of this endeavor, where students become editors and curate “chapters” on a topic by identifying journal articles from specific sociological traditions to then write the “book’s introduction.” In addition to situating the project within the sociology curriculum and scholarship on sociological literacy, the article presents assessment results that revealed improvement in learning outcomes. The latter suggests that discipline-specific writing and literacy activities can be as effective as informal assignments even in anxiety-inducing courses like theory. This is encouraging given Lehman College’s role as a commuter campus, which makes the instructional strategy applicable in a wide range of programs.

Food in Cuba: The Pursuit of a Decent Meal by Hanna Garth Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2020. 232 pp.

American AnthropologistVolume 122, Issue 3 p. 700-701 BOOK REVIEW Food in Cuba: The Pursuit of a Decent Meal by Garth, Hanna Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2020. 232 pp. Alyshia Gálvez, Corresponding Author Alyshia Gálvez alyshia.galvez@lehman.cuny.edu orcid.org/0000-0001-8460-7595 Lehman College, City University of New York alyshia.galvez@lehman.cuny.eduSearch for more papers by this author Alyshia Gálvez, Corresponding Author Alyshia Gálvez alyshia.galvez@lehman.cuny.edu orcid.org/0000-0001-8460-7595 Lehman College, City University of New York alyshia.galvez@lehman.cuny.eduSearch for more papers by this author First published: 26 June 2020 https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.13423Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume122, Issue3September 2020Pages 700-701 RelatedInformation

Lost But Not Forgotten? An Inventory and Use Analysis of an Undergraduate Art Book Collection

The authors embarked on an inventory and analysis of a small art book collection at a liberal arts college in order to understand its contents and usage. This project at Lehman College, CUNY, was designed to match the catalog record with the physical books, thus clearing up many inaccuracies in the online catalog. The authors then assessed the collection’s age and circulation to students at the college, the university system, and to external libraries through interlibrary loan. The article includes the unique history of the art monograph collection, the methods for conducting the inventory, and the analysis of the circulation data.