Sanor and Jasmin receive Rowe Scholarship for Outstanding Capstone Recognition

 

 

 Kaylen Sanor, Barbara Schmidt-Rinehart, and Joshua Jasmin

This year's graduating class featured 23 seniors who researched, wrote capstone theses and presented their research at an individual capstone defense attended by their Faculty Mentor, the Honors Program Director, and family and friends.  The capstone topics were varied; some titles included: Hē Paideia Agathē: An Examination of the Education in The Republic of Plato and 1984; Bracketology: A Mathematical Approach to Elimination Brackets; and Adsorption of Organic Dyes using Metal-Organic Frameworks.

 

Dr. Howard O. Rowe was a faculty member in Ashland College’s Education Department who was described as a compassionate teacher and a fine scholar committed to the success of the Honors Program.  This scholarship fund was established in 1976 to remember Dr. Rowe’s contributions to Ashland University and is presented to the graduating student (or students) whose Honors Capstone Project is considered to be the best among his/her peers. Based on nominations from their mentors, Kaylen Sanor and Joshua Jasmin were recognized with the Howard O. Rowe Endowed Scholarship this year.

Kaylen’s capstone project was titled “¿Comprenden ustedes?: Using Comprehensible Input to Maintain the Target Language in the Spanish Classroom.”  Kaylen’s mentor (Dr. Barb Schmidt-Rinehart) stated:

“Kaylen was a focused, thorough and enthusiastic researcher. We met weekly throughout the project (even during the pandemic) and she set specific, realistic goals and timelines. She attended astutely to the details of writing a thesis and conducting research. She completed the IRB requirements, applied those human subject principles, developed and distributed her own survey, contacted a wide range of potential participants, and collected data from a total of 150 practicing Spanish teachers. She analyzed the data, translated the results accurately, and provided a thorough, well-reasoned discussion and conclusion.  Her enthusiasm for the project NEVER waned. Her commitment to the project and its significance was evident every step of the way. Her written thesis was excellent, demonstrating her ability to analyze and synthesize very difficult concepts and her oral defense mirrored that professionalism and high level of academic pursuit.”

“Kaylen’s capstone was a true culmination of her course work, professional preparation, and experiences at Ashland University. As a Spanish Education major, she has attained a high level of proficiency, studied in Costa Rica, and completed her field experiences.  The idea for her project came from her foreign language education class, one that stresses communicative, contextualized teaching with a national standard of 90% in the target language (Spanish) . . . [and] has the potential to have a significant impact on the profession as well as to inform her own teaching.”

Joshua’s capstone was titled “Patterns of Power: A Lesson in Empire from the Romans and the Aztecs.”   mentor was Dr. Greg McBrayer, who wrote:

“I believe Joshua’s thesis should be considered because of the enormous amount of diligent work he put into his thesis, the novelty of his topic, and the comprehensive way he defended his thesis.  [We] held weekly thesis meetings this entire academic year.  Every week he came prepared, and we always left with a list of “action items” that he promptly set about to complete.  Many students procrastinate and put off completing their theses until the end of the spring semester, but Joshua has been working on his since before the fall semester started.  I believe his diligence and industriousness ought to factor in in their own right, but they also paved the way for a quality thesis.  His thesis on comparative empires is exciting and novel—he studied the Aztec history entirely on his own, there was no previous coursework in our department and I surely was in no position to advise him. Joshua identified the works to be studied and set about studying them.  As part of his work, he even translated interviews about the Aztecs from Spanish.  With regard to the Romans, there were greater resources and coursework, but he was treating very difficult primary texts.  Every week, Joshua has come in to report some fascinating new fact he has learned, some new point of comparison. . . Joshua was a model for how students ought to go about establishing themselves as researchers.”