Bloomington, Ill. – Yesenia Martinez-Calderon ’20 and Maxwell Crowninshield ’20 presented their two-year long research project at the fifth Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment (CREA) Conference in Chicago.
Collaborating with Assistant Professor of Educational Studies Maggie Evans, the group’s research focuses on inclusion in higher education, exploring traits and strategies of inclusive professors who create welcoming, supportive classrooms for all students but particularly students of color, students with disabilities, and students who identify as LGBTQ+.
“One of the phrases that everyone has heard at least once on this campus is ‘Do Good.’ As a Hispanic Studies and Secondary Education double major, I value my Latina identity tremendously and through this research I have unlocked a world where I am able to do good for my people,” Martinez-Calderon explained.
Martinez-Calderon and Crowninshield, a History and Secondary Education double major, started this research project when they were first-year students and have “contributed to every aspect of the project including establishing research questions, designing and distributing a survey, conducting interviews, analyzing our data and now presenting at two major academic conferences,” Evans said.
