GRADUATE SHOWCASE
Welcome to my Master of Art in Education (MAED) Showcase! This page highlights my work during my graduate studies at Michigan State University (MSU). This program is unique because even though we are all virtual students in nearly every class, we have been asked to work collaboratively with peers via discussion boards, Zoom meetings, book clubs, and video discussions. These discussions have fostered an incredible community and allowed us to think critically about the issues we deal with inside our classrooms. Throughout this program, I've been challenged to think creatively, collaborate with peers, and discover what education means.
Many assignments have been group assignments, or we have been asked to think creatively instead of solely writing papers. Therefore, I have chosen to include a mixture of documents I have written and creative projects I have completed throughout the program. The artifacts I've selected for this Showcase are categorized into four key areas: research methods, diversity, research practice, and cumulative projects. These categories represent the core themes of my studies and have significantly shaped my perspectives. The artifacts below illustrate my growth in these areas and demonstrate my growth as an educator and researcher.
RESEARCH METHODS
This category encompasses different research projects I have done on the types of research methods used in education. For the three papers, I read a different research study about issues in education.
Project 01:
Schools as Socializing Institutions: Zora
In this project, I evaluated an educational research study in two elementary schools in the United States. I analyzed how the author used portraiture to tell the story of four "troublemakers" in their classrooms and how we might have the wrong idea of handling them. I also outlined how schools are being used as socializing institutions instead of a place where children can be unapologetically children and grow in that instead of fearing making a mistake. By including this artifact, I want to show my ability to synthesize information from a text and apply it to everyday situations.
Project 02:
Activism in Chapter 2
In this project, I evaluated Antebellum America's role in desegregating schools in the United States. I also showcased my understanding of historical analysis in educational research. By including this artifact, I want to showcase my ability to work across disciplines such as history and education.
Project 03:
Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: Alayna, Kyyalyn, and Waaruxti
This project was my first introduction to Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, and the book I am analyzing is an example of Indigenous Research Methodologies. In the paper itself, I analyze how the mother of the selected family interacts with her children and how it illustrates Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy. I chose to include this in my showcase because this is where my passion for this type of research and pedagogy started. I also wanted to showcase my ability to use qualitative evidence to form a thesis and defend it.
Diversity
These two projects showcase how I have interacted with different types of diversity in education. They also showcase how I can use different mediums to present information.
Project 04:
Equity Traps
For this project, we were asked to create an infographic for the article that we had selected to help lead a discussion in class. By showcasing this project, I want to show my ability to think creatively and transform written information into a lesson. This infographic also played a big role in encouraging me to apply for the doctoral program at Michigan State because I enjoyed the research aspect of it.
Project 05:
Heteronormativity, Sexism, Sizeism
In this project, I wrote a reflection paper on the creation of the infographic to accompany the actual infographic. We were asked to create an infographic using an article we would discuss in class. I chose to showcase this infographic because it involves a different type of diversity in education that I don't usually cover. I want to demonstrate my ability to work on a variety of topics.
Research Practice
This category includes a research paper where I collected my data and then analyzed it. I included this category to show how I can be a researcher and data collector.
Project 06: Motivational Interviewing and Effective Communication
This project was done for my secondary concentration in Sport Coaching and Leadership. For this project, we were asked to conduct two motivational interviews, a style of interview used in many disciplines. We were then asked to go through our interviews and analyze different aspects, such as a summary of what the person said and how long each person spoke. We then did a quantitative and qualitative analysis of our findings. My reason for showcasing this piece of work is to demonstrate my ability to conduct and analyze research, a skill I will need in the future.
CUMULATIVE PROJECTS
This category includes two final projects to once again show how I am about to use different types of mediums. It also shows how I am able to synthesize information from across disciplines and topics.
Project 07:
ED 800 Final Presentation
This presentation was the final project for a course that focused on different types of educational research. We were asked to analyze different educational research methods and different course topics and make connections. I wanted to showcase this project because it shows my ability to make a creative project and synthesize information from across a semester. Another motivation to include it was to showcase my ability to make and give a presentation.
Project 08:
Resources on Critical Pedagogy
and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy
In this project we were asked us to create a community asset map to help teachers engage with diverse students. Since I was teaching in a private school in an area I knew I wasn't going to be working in for long, it was more beneficial to me to create resources to give to any educator, administrator, or lawmaker to help them understand and implement Critical Pedagogy and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy. I wanted to showcase this piece of work because it gives a good understanding of why I am passionate about Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy and how I have been able to communicate that to others.
