Digital Commons Network^™

Bridging The Gap Between Neuroscience And Education: What Are Teachers’ Perceptions Of Applying “Neuropedagogy” To High School Classrooms?, Hanan Rashwan

Theses and Dissertations

Teachers can use neurobiological explanations to evaluate students' behavior and performance and create more supportive learning settings in their school environment. There is a growing interest among educators regarding the potential benefits of incorporating neuroscience into teaching practices. However, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of how to effectively integrate cognitive neuroscience into teacher education programs to maximize its impact on student learning and teacher development. This study focuses on understanding teachers' views on the integration of neuroscience principles in educational settings by utilizing a questionnaire and interviews to gather data from participating teachers. The findings reveal that the …

Adaptations And Transformations: Perceptions Of Change In Academic Motivation, Resilience, And Covid-19 Stress, Ella V. Gregorio

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Of concern to educators, post-COVID-19 assessments have revealed significant achievement gaps in student performance, as well as significant decreases in adolescent mental health. Less is known about changes in achievement motivation. Here we ask how students perceive their own motivation and whether it changed between “before” the pandemic to the present (Fall 2022 - Spring 2023), about three years after the beginning of the pandemic when many school routines were returning to “normal.” To understand how variance in these perceived changes might be related to pandemic-related stressors, trait resilience, and current mental health, we conducted a large survey study (N …

Community Engagement In Art & Design Colleges, Mah Rukh Raja

Masters Theses

This thesis titled ‘Community Engagement in Art & Design Colleges: Case Studies from Pakistan’ highlights the importance of community-engaged practices in education, specifically within the realm of art and design, and examines the effect of community engagement on student learning. It focuses on the importance of creating opportunities for reciprocal, community-engaged learning where responsibilities, roles and credit are shared equally among students, community partners, and educational institutions to develop projects that are in the best interest of communities.

This research coincides with the introduction of community and civic engagement in undergraduate education in Pakistan. Its primary objective is to serve …

The Importance Of Art Programming For Underserved Youth, Aja Delgado

Masters Theses

Arts programming for underserved youth holds great significance in fostering holistic development, empowerment, and a creative outlet for students. This thesis dives into the importance of such initiatives by addressing the multifaceted needs of marginalized communities.The arts serve as a catalyst for self-expression, creativity, and emotional well-being, offering a platform for individuals to explore their identities and narratives. For underserved youth facing socio-economic challenges, access to arts programming can be transformative, providing avenues for personal growth, and empowerment. Through collaboration, exploration and experimentation I’ve investigated the ways in which underserved youth can benefit from artmaking, through a collaborative workshop titled …

Factors That Impact New York City Public High School Graduation: Finding Barriers To Education Through Data Analysis And Visualization, Kyoung Kang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone project is to provide visual evidence about the factors related to high school graduation rates of New York City public high school students. By analyzing the NYC public high school data, including graduation rates, school survey results, and school funding allocations, this project explores the graduation gaps among different student bodies, such as ethnic groups and school locations. The graduation disparities across the five boroughs are further examined for students with disabilities, economic difficulties, and language barriers. School-level data is used to visualize the gaps in school performances and funding allocations across the five boroughs. Lastly, the visualization …

Analyzing The Cognitive Complexity Of The Questions On The Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles Exam, Lauren Zirpoli

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This convergent parallel mixed methods study with qualitative and quantitative content analysis was conducted to analyze and describe the cognitive complexity of the publicly released Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles Exam questions compared to the language of higher-order thinking found in research literature. Hess’ Cognitive Rigor Matrix was used to determine the frequency and percentage of questions categorized as higher-order thinking within each cell of the matrix. The qualitative method consisted of content analysis of the language of each question analyzed, followed by deductive coding, and culminated with categorizing the depth and type of thinking required on Hess’ Cognitive Rigor …

Black School Leader Truth: How Black School Leader Epistemology Influences Liberatory Mindset Development In Their Staff, Orpheus Williams

Dissertations

Black students in the United States have consistently been denied access to empowering, culturally affirming, and responsive learning experiences in the traditional public system. The epistemological and pedagogical beliefs embedded in a liberatory mindset can subvert this pattern of disempowerment (Shujaa, 1998). Black school leaders (BSLs) who understand the systemic and institutional pressures Black children may face and have to overcome, having undergone similarly racialized experiences in school, are uniquely placed to create liberatory spaces for Black students by recruiting and developing these liberatory mindsets in their staff. This instrumental case study used qualitative research methods of front-porch pedagogy (McTighe …

Borderland Voices: Exploring The Educational Journey Of Transfronterizx Students, Families, And Educators For Enhanced Engagement And Empowerment, Sobeida Velazquez

Dissertations

Transfronterizx students and their families cross the U.S.–Mexico border for academic, economic, social, cultural, and linguistic reasons. Socioeconomic disparities, deportation, and work have propelled some families to live in Mexico and enroll their U.S.-born children in U.S. schools to provide more socioeconomic opportunities in the United States. Educators of transfronterizx students are uniquely tasked to work with these nontraditional students. Moreover, transfronterizx students and their families have distinct needs in U.S. schools; as such, there is a need for further research on the transfronterizx experience in the U.S. K–12 system. This qualitative narrative inquiry study aimed to understand the experiences …

Black Genius: An Achievement Distortion, Brenda Burgo

Dissertations

Is the achievement gap real? Using a mixed-methods approach, this study reframed standardized testing through a Quantitative Critical and Black Critical lens. It interrogated the deficit framing of Black student achievement by asking the following questions: (1) To what extent do the aggregated standardized test scores for Black students in California correlate with other measures of achievement? Included in this analysis are: (a) To what degree does the ratio of Black students relate to the achievement variables? and (b) To what extent did COVID impact this correlation? (2) What beliefs do Black educators have regarding the standardized test scores of …

Financial Literacy And Aspirations: Experimental Evidence From Eastern Uganda, Ester Agasha

Master's Theses

Financial literacy and the cultivation of aspirations are pivotal in empowering individuals and fostering economic growth, particularly within disadvantaged com munities. Although prior research has extensively analyzed the individual effects of financial education and motivational interventions on economic behaviors, there is less clarity on how the synergy between them can collectively impact the socioe conomic status of individuals in developing economies, especially women. Through randomized control experiment(RCT), this study explored the effectiveness of two interventions; 1) a financial literacy digital gaming application and, 2) an aspirations intervention (a short video documentary and a follow-up curriculum) in not only enhancing financial …

Dance Drama Fusion: A Reflection On Community Pedagogy, Practice, And Arts Education, Caroline Ruth Frederick, Lily Kirn Mcmahon

Senior Theses and Projects

For our senior thesis project, we conducted five theater and dance workshops for youth that centered around emotional identification and movement-based storytelling at three community sites within the Hartford region. We did two workshops with the YWCA KidsLink at two of their after-school programs, two workshops at the Montessori Magnet School, and one workshop with the Boys and Girls Club. We chose this project with the intention of growing as educators and building relationships with community partner organizations. A community partner organization is “an existing organization within the community who already serves the target population in some way” (Community Access …

Phenomenological Research Examining Administrators And Special Education Teachers' Perception, Experience & Knowledge Of The Mississippi Special Education Growth Rubric, Tricia Pittman

Dissertations

In the current era of accountability, public school administrators’ responsibilities may include evaluating special education teachers and providing them with feedback and support to improve their effectiveness. The problem that exists is that administrators who do not have a background in special education are charged with the responsibility of evaluating special education teachers, resulting in special education teachers not getting the support or feedback necessary to improve their instructional practice.

In addition to administrators not having the background knowledge necessary to effectively evaluate and support special education teachers, the problem of developing an effective evaluation model to evaluate special education …

Politics, Policies, And Procedures: The Iron Triangle Of Implementing Education Reform, Clint Reardon Jr

Honors College Theses

Education is often seen as a living thing, something that should grow and change with time. However, for far too many people who experience education from both within the school structure and for those who experience education from outside the school structure it can often seem like the educational system is stagnate, dying, and in some cases dead. One shared reason for this perception is perceived barriers in education that stifle creativity and allow educational systems to grow, adapt, and change to meet the needs of the students they serve. This study set out to identify what those barriers are …

The Impact Of The Master Schedule On Student Perception Of Teacher-Student Relationships In Minnesota Middle Schools, Jonathon Graff

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Teacher-student relationships have been shown to have a marked decline at the transition to middle school (Hughes & Cao, 2018). The decline has been linked to a potential mismatch between middle school structure and the unique needs of the young adolescents that they serve (Eccles et al., 1993). This quantitative, correlational study explored the impact of school master schedules (i.e., school structure) on teacher-student relationships (i.e., TSRs) in Minnesota middle schools. The study searched for potential associations between student perceived teacher care and master scheduling type with the intent to fill a gap in literature and to help inform district …

A Teacher And Her Language Minoritized Students In A Translanguaging Mathematics Classroom: Activating And Suppressing Our Full Linguistic Repertoires For Increased Mathematical Reasoning And Sense-Making, Ana M. Bogota

Education Doctorate Dissertations

This study delves into translanguaging practices within a mathematics classroom led by a bilingual teacher and attended by language minoritized students. Grounded in translanguaging theory and practices, it investigates the dynamic language interactions between teacher and students, shedding light on the activation and suppression of linguistic features within purported “named languages.” Utilizing diverse data sources, such as audio-recorded lessons and student interviews, the study uncovers patterns in classroom language use. Results highlight the prevalent utilization of the full linguistic repertoire by both teacher and students, especially in elucidating mathematical concepts and fostering conceptual understanding. Furthermore, the study examines how translanguaging …

Finding Focus: Authentic Inquiry And Composition In The Third Space, Noah Brewer

Dissertations

This research seeks to better understand the attitudes and dispositions of advanced-level English Language Arts students toward the activities of academic research and writing, and to explore the ways that critical pedagogies focused on authentic inquiry and composition interact with these attitudes. The project draws upon research in student motivation, sociocultural definitions of literacy, and theories of hybrid identity in order to discover the potential impact of engaging students in critical reflection on their own meaning-making practices, and of curricular and pedagogical choices aimed at making the lessons of the classroom more relevant to the demands of real-world literacy practices …

Comparing Online And Traditional Assessment Practices In Middle School Mathematics, Maxwell Krueger, Kathy Enger

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers across the world have been forced to explore different modalities of assessment, many of them virtual. Now that many of the most restricting policies for schools due to pandemic have been lifted, the use of these virtual assessments remain. Due to the recent nature of their use though means that not many studies have looked into the implications of these assessments on students let alone middle school students. This study aims to help fill in some of the gaps in this research. In this study, students will take one of two assessments …

Getting Real: Examining The Effectiveness Of Authentic Learning In The English/ Language Arts Classroom, Tanya Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

To prepare students for the challenges of the future that cannot even be imagined, a paradigm shift is needed to change the focus of classroom to a more organic, learner-centered approach. The purpose of this study was to understand the heightened level of engagement with an authentic learning experience that goes beyond the walls of the classroom. It answers one question: Why does authentic learning affect students’ engagement and motivation to learn in English/ language arts (ELA) classes? This qualitative, instrumental case study used an interpretivist paradigm with a combination of emic and etic lenses. The participants were mostly White …

Implementing Student-To-Teacher Feedback: Analyzing The Effectiveness Of Feedback In A Pull-Out Special Education Classroom, Aubrie Hutson

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

This qualitative case study focused on special education pull-out teachers’ and their students’ perceptions of student-to-teacher feedback forms and how the feedback forms influence their teaching and student learning. The researcher used four data collection methods including feedback forms, interviews, observational notes, and surveys. The patterns and themes found within the data collected were analyzed to determine the study’s findings. The major findings revealed that students who are given the opportunity to openly express their needs through a feedback form felt that the tool helped them to communicate their feelings to their teacher. The students found that expressing their needs …

Examining How Agricultural Education Programs Place Student Teaching Interns In School Based Programs, Mckenna Sairls

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study investigates the criteria and procedures involved in placing student teaching interns within school-based agricultural education (SBAE) programs across land-grant universities within the United States, employing a Modified Delphi survey design. By examining factors that influence placement decisions, this research aims to address a gap in literature as few comprehensive studies on internship placement processes in agricultural education exist. The findings highlight the significance of factors such as program quality, mentorship abilities, and preservice teacher traits in the placement process.

International Special Projects Internship--Mauritius, Jace Reese

Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis explains my international internship in Mauritius. During the internship, we surveyed Mauritian residents to help them battle food insecurity using the USDA's food security survey. Food security is very prevalent in our world, especially after COVID. Included are the results as well as what we learned from surveying the residents.

Hospitality Highway Career Fair: An Exploratory Study, Lilly Miller

Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

The goal of this creative project is to conduct research on career fairs and hospitality events to successfully host the first ever Hospitality Career Fair at the University of Arkansas. The lack of career advancement opportunities on the campus for hospitality management students continued to increase despite the rapidly growing industry across the community, so the creation of the career fair would allow improvement for the students and the companies. With a creative project, it allows more creativity and research to develop the overall plan for the event.

The project studies hospitality career events hosted at other universities to gain …

Love One Another! Merging Biblical Teaching And Social-Emotional Learning: A Framework For Introducing Sel In Christian Schools, Nancy Pittard Jones

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) investigated to what extent professional development impacted teacher understanding of social-emotional learning (SEL) and its potential compatibility with Biblical teachings. The dissertation followed an Improvement Science framework to address a specific problem of practice: an increase in student maladaptive behavior. As student coping repertoires diminished following the COVID-19 and racial pandemics, teachers experienced stress and frustration. To bolster teachers' learning and provide new pathways for teachers to address student behavior and build classroom climate, the researcher introduced SEL to a group of teacher volunteers (n=21) in an independent Christian school through six professional …

Affirming Black Girls: Creating And Sustaining Affirming And More Inclusive Learning Environments For Black Girls Through Professional Learning, Demetria Green Walters

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) qualitative research study aimed to investigate targeted interventions and resources designed to enhance educators' cultural awareness and competence, fostering the creation of identity-affirming learning environments for Black girls as a lever for reducing racial discipline disparities. Identity validation and the provision of inclusive learning environments are necessary elements for promoting academic success while positively impacting the needs of Black girls. The intersectionality of being both Black and female poses an educational challenge that is often misunderstood and overlooked, yet it deserves significant attention to improve outcomes for this student group. Without intervention, racially …

The Effects Of Student Choice On Motivation And Writing Skills, Laura Annunziata

Master's Theses

This mixed methods action research study investigates the potential effects of student choice on motivation and academic performance in writing-based assignments in a fourth-grade classroom. Baseline data was collected prior to implementation of student choice writing activities and then used to compare writing samples collected post intervention. The baseline data suggests that students’ attitudes towards autonomy are positive. Having choices was important to them and helped them learn better. However, data also indicates that while students were motivated to write using choice, many of the reading and writing competency scores dropped during journal entry writing samples. Data shows that while …

The Effects Of Implementing Movement Breaks In Elementary Classrooms, Laura Ford

Master's Theses

This action research project investigated the implementation of movement breaks in a third-grade classroom to enhance academic performance and behavior. The short study aimed to assess whether integrating regular movement breaks into the classroom routine would lead to significant improvements in academic outcomes and behavior, particularly those students diagnosed with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Over a designated period, movement breaks were introduced at a specific interval during the school day. Data was collected through observations, surveys, and behavior tracking. Surprisingly, the findings revealed that despite the incorporation of movement breaks, there was no significant difference observed in overall academics or behavior …

Implementing Music To Increase Elementary Student Focus, Kathryn Garceau

Master's Theses

This action research project used a mixed methods design to address the effect of different types of music on student focus while performing an independent task. Despite its success with memorization, does music work equally as well on student focus? Data was collected over a period of three weeks for 30 minutes each morning for 5 days each week. The music played while students completed the task changed each week. This included lyrical songs during week one, classical music during week two, and instrumental versions of songs students knew the lyrics to during week three. Four behavior markers were observed …

The Components Necessary In A Clinical Day Program For A Successful Transition To Traditional School, Erica Parker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine what components of academic and therapeutic clinical day programs ensure success for students with mental health diagnoses as they transition back to conventional educational settings. This study focused on the importance of developing students' capabilities to fulfill their own needs within Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs through coping skills, academic skills, and ensuring those skills transition to their traditional home school setting. The research questions guiding this study were: 1. How is “successful reintegration” defined for students with mental health concerns by the students, families, teachers, and other school staff? 2. What program …

Key Benefits Of Small Group Instruction For Diverse Learners, Lydia Mcevoy

Master's Theses

Utilizing a mixed method approach this research study investigated the effects of small group instruction on the learning of diverse learners. Informed by a preliminary literature review that supports the use of small-group instruction, the researcher conducted a small-scale action research project to focus on three diverse learners in a 1st-grade classroom over four weeks. One of the findings of this project shows that small group instruction helps promote social and emotional skills as students feel more comfortable interacting with peers in a small group rather than in a whole group. Another finding indicates that students feel more encouraged by …

Re/Writing Identity: A Narrative Inquiry Exploring Stereotype Thereat, Sense Of Belonging, And Self-Efficacy Among Young Men Of Color In First-Year Writing Courses, Jenny O. Arras

<strong> Theses and Dissertations </strong>

This narrative study explored the ways in which two Black male undergraduate students experienced and situated their identity in their first-year composition (FYC) courses. The study sought to reveal how the participants experienced stereotype threat in both the classroom and larger community and the ways in which this perceived threat impacted their self-efficacy and sense of belonging. The participants, enrolled in an FYC course for underprepared writers at a southeastern university, were both performing well in the class, thereby providing insight into the factors and experiences that helped mitigate the potential of stereotype threat. In order to more fully understand …