Digital Commons Network^™

Black Women Family Childcare Providers’ Roles As Community Mothers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Crystasany R. Turner

Theses and Dissertations

BLACK WOMEN FAMILY CHILDCARE PROVIDERS’ ROLES ASCOMMUNITY MOTHERS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Black women family childcare providers have withstood and adapted to numerous socioeconomic and political challenges and have remained a source of stability and connection within the Black community. This study is situated in the midst of the social disruption resulting from a pandemic that deeply impacted the landscape of early care and education. The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to describe the cultural knowledge of Black women early childhood educators as they reacted and organized to support young learners and their families in conditions of hardship, …

Struggling Student Teachers: Interventions For Support And Success, Sheree Moser

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Teacher shortages in K-12 schools have created unique challenges for teacher preparation programs. University instructors face the task requirements of supporting candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds at the undergraduate and graduate level. While some of these candidates enter higher education programs skilled, eager, and committed, others are less prepared, requiring significant attention to make it through the program. Exams required by state departments of education and minimum grade point averages influence each candidate’s ability to move forward within the program, causing some students to experience additional struggles related to mental health and financial burdens.

The problem of practice …

Survey Of Teachers In Pre-Primary Education (Stepp): Lessons From The Implementation Of The Pilot Study And Field Trial Of International Survey Instruments, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Maurice Walker, Yoshie Kaga

Early Childhood Education

The present publication documents the achievements and lessons learned from the first phase of the Survey of Teachers in Pre-primary Education (STEPP) project, implemented by UNESCO from 2016 to 2019, with the participation of seven countries, namely, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Indonesia, Namibia, the Philippines, Togo, and Viet Nam. It is the first international survey for low-and-middle-income countries designed to collect information that is known to affect the quality of pre-primary education from pre-primary teachers and centre heads. The collected information concerns training and professional development, pedagogical and professional practices, working conditions and job satisfaction, and characteristics of pre-primary personnel …

Teacher Perceptions Of Blended Learning To Support 21st Century Learners, Nikki Hensley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand teacher perceptions of blended learning as an instructional methodology for addressing the needs of diverse learners. The researcher explored the perceptions of teachers who were participating in an ongoing professional development program within their school district. This program focused on improving teaching and learning through the implementation of a blended learning approach. The researcher examined the experiences of teachers as they learned to adapt pedagogical practices to address the learning needs of 21st century students through blended learning. The researcher sought to gain a better understanding of how teachers perceived that …

A Survey Of Pre-Service And In-Service Teachers On Training And Knowledge Of State Anti-Bullying Laws And Policies Related To Students With Disabilities, Molly Henry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bullying is a serious problem on its own but emerging research suggests that bullying may present differently in students with disabilities and affect them more severely than previously thought. The purpose of this study was to explore the multi-layered issue of bullying involving students with disabilities, examine the programs and legislation developed around this issue, and determine the training and knowledge teachers and teacher candidates have regarding the problem. An exploratory survey was completed by 105 teachers and teacher candidates in northeast Tennessee. Descriptive statistics and T-tests revealed that in-service teachers were more knowledgeable in identification of bullying and the …

Collectivism, Individualism, And Interprofessional Education: A Comparison Of Faculty Across Five Academic Health Sciences Colleges, S. Alicia Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collaborative practice among interprofessional groups of health care providers is essential to the provision of safe and effective medical care. However, health professions training programs have not traditionally prepared students for interprofessional practice. One challenge in transforming health professions education programs has been a limited number of faculty prepared to teach students in an interprofessional learning environment. Thus, faculty development programs aimed at preparing faculty to provide interprofessional learning experiences across disciplines are increasingly important. Unfortunately, best practice in training faculty for interprofessional education programs is not well-defined.

Interprofessional education faculty development programs should aim to train faculty to model …

Teachers' Interventions To In-Person Bullying And Cyberbullying Situations, Amaia Lojo Novo

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation comprises five chapters, and it is an article-based format that studies teachers’ needs and characteristics regarding bullying intervention. It is divided into two phases that are explained through the different chapters. Chapter One explains the problem's overall background and provides an introduction to the three papers presented in the next chapters. Chapter Two presents the First Phase of the dissertation, which provided information about teachers’ knowledge, concerns, and practice regarding bullying. Findings demonstrate that Idaho education professionals need training and resources to help them intervene appropriately, especially with cyberbullying. Chapter Three focuses on the following potential teachers’ characteristics …

Struggling Student Teachers: Interventions For Support And Success, Sheree Moser

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Teacher shortages in K-12 schools have created unique challenges for teacher preparation programs. University instructors face the task requirements of supporting candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds at the undergraduate and graduate level. While some of these candidates enter higher education programs skilled, eager, and committed, others are less prepared, requiring significant attention to make it through the program. Exams required by state departments of education and minimum grade point averages influence each candidate’s ability to move forward within the program, causing some students to experience additional struggles related to mental health and financial burdens.

The problem of practice …

Cuban Immigrants’ Experience With Acculturation And How They Cope In The United States, Lourdes Araujo

Dissertations

Objective: This research examines how Cuban immigrants experience cope and adapt to the United States. Cuban immigration is associated with specific stressors related to the immigration experience and the necessary process of acculturation and assimilation. These major stressors can result in mental health concerns among Cuban immigrants; however, no studies have examined how acculturation may influence Cuban immigrants’ coping skills and resultant mental health concerns. This unique study is the first to examine the coping skills Cuban immigrants use during acculturation and the effects of these skills on Cuban immigrants’ mental health. Methods: Seventeen participants completed a semistructured interview and …

Teacher Demoralization: Neoliberal Influence On The Complex Education System And Teacher Morale, Dionne Elvira

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Since the 1980s, neoliberal influence has slowly taken over our education system’s vision and purpose. Presently, marketization in schooling has drawn the attention and influence of those of monetary and political power (Bartlett et al., 2002). Accountability measures set in place by the strings attached to school funding and sanctions encompass blanket demands on classroom instruction not equitably designed to support our diverse student populations (Ravitch, 2013; Reigeluth, 2014; Tsang, 2019). The school system, as it presently stands, is managed and maintained under systematic models that do not align to the complex needs of each unique school within its unique …

University Course Evaluations: A Study Of The Influence Of Faculty, Student, And Course Variables, Tyesha De’Shuan Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Course evaluations impact faculty’ annual evaluations and have become somewhat controversial, yet course evaluations in faculty evaluations persist as a common practice across universities. While many scholars find this success-based tool effective in assessing teaching effectiveness, others question the validity and reliability of this measurement and are opposed to using this tool as a mean of determining faculty members’ success. The purpose of this study is to provide a more in-depth examination of course evaluations by analyzing faculty, student, and course variables. Analyses were performed to address the following research question: “To what degree do faculty gender, faculty race, faculty …

Educational Leadership, Leader-Member Exchange And Teacher Self-Efficacy, Gabriela Flores, Denver J. Fowler, Richard A. Posthuma

Journal of Global Education and Research

The purpose of this article is to examine social cognitive theory and social comparison theory, and how they are integrated to propose that self-efficacy mediates the relationship between leader-member exchange social comparison (LMXSC) and performance. Furthermore, the article supports the need for development and examination of the effects of educational leadership and teacher self-efficacy. That is, to determine if school leadership has an effect on teacher self-efficacy, and if teacher self-efficacy has an effect on student achievement. The preliminary conceptual model developed within the article includes insightful research questions to be considered for impending future studies. The authors hope this …

High School Athletic Administration’S Policies And Rights To Sanction Student-Athlete’S Social Media Use, Eric S. Peterson

Leadership Education Capstones

This qualitative survey investigated how much authority high school athletic directors have when monitoring student-athletes’ social media accounts while also determining whether athletic directors believe it is necessary to implement social media policies for student-athletes. An in-depth literature review supports evidence of the legality of athletic code of conducts based on previous court cases and a theoretical framework. Twenty-five athletic directors from the state of North Dakota participated in the study via an online survey. The study obtained basic demographics and determined how the administrators have implemented current social media policies, along with understand their views on policies for student-athletes’ …

Fostering African American Female Students’ Sense Of Belonging: A Digital Storytelling Participatory Action Research Approach., Rajwinder Kaur

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This Participatory Action Research dissertation discovers what fosters or diminishes school sense of belonging for African American female students. This is achieved by foregrounding the voices of the individual participants and the collective voice of those within this study. Both Critical Race Theory and Black Feminist Thought guide this dissertation study to ensure the intersectionality between race and gender is addressed. Data for this study was collected during five workshop sessions, where participants created digital stories on their sense of belonging. The findings revealed the importance of students’ racial identity, family, peer relationships, fitting in, safety, and being seen/heard by …

Stem Education In College: An Analysis Of Stakeholders’ Recent Challenges And Potential Solutions, Santanu De, Georgina Arguello

FDLA Journal

A vast majority of academic disciplines and curricula in the college center around Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), which are critical to developing the skills necessary for a global workforce. Rapid changes in pedagogical setups, educational modes, and advances in instructional technology entail diverse challenges for key stakeholders (i.e. students, faculty, and the organizations). This paper highlights the most relevant challenges and potential solutions in STEM higher education at the college level, reported in the last decade. The holistic analysis combining the three stakeholders’ perspectives would help elucidate significant contemporary aspects impacting the fields. The goal is to further …

Looking Through The Lens Of Online Faculty In Higher Education, Theresa West

FDLA Journal

This article aims to provide a meaningful, insightful, and educational perceptiveness of online faculty. Specifically, this article will provide specific insight of online faculty’s changing role, cultivate an educational teaching philosophy, incorporate a structural teaching methodology, and exemplify a multicultural teaching presence.

Transformative Learning: An Approach To Understand Participatory Action Research, Roshani Rajbanshi, Bal Chandra Luitel

Transformations

Transformative learning is to observe one’s experience that makes one conscious of one’s knowledge and one’s changing view in the learning community. This paper presents reflection on transformation in learning both the theory and practice of participatory action research as experienced through field visits and interacting with the participants. Critical reflective journal entries and discussions on workshops provided source of data. The purpose of this paper is to provide understanding of participatory action research from traditional conventional research and how reflection helped unfold the ideologies of participatory action research. Following the cycle of participatory action research, authors explored the need …

Winter 2020

Transformations

No abstract provided.

Becoming A Cosmopolitan Teacher: Empirical And Theoretical Inquires, James S. Budrow

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The contemporary conditions of the world are largely defined by global interconnectivity, heightened mobilities and super-diversity. Teachers and students are increasingly immersed in these conditions that prompt the heightened calls for internationalization of curricula and culturally relevant and inclusive school pedagogies. Teachers are also mobile, taking on positions beyond their local educational jurisdiction, where they must learn to navigate the intercultural and/or transnational conditions of unfamiliar locales and school communities. In turn, teacher education must respond by preparing teachers for both the super-diversity they may encounter in ‘local’ schools as well as for teaching ‘beyond their local.’ To better understand …

A Quantitative Assessment Of The Effectiveness Of A Global Online Professional Development Course To Enhance 21st Century Skills In Stem Instructional Design, Chris Link

Dissertations

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines are becoming increasingly important in the 21st century workforce, but there is currently a shortage of STEM professionals around the world. Even when students graduate with STEM degrees, many lack basic interpersonal skills such as communication and problem solving that would position them for success in the marketplace. The New York Academy of Science developed the STEM Education Framework to help ensure that STEM curricula teach the Essential Skills that students need in order to thrive in the modern workplace. In order for educators to proficiently utilize the STEM Education Framework, they must …

The Problem-Based Learning Approach Towards Developing Soft Skills: A Systematic Review, Sadia Deep, Ali Ahmed, Nazia Suleman, Muhammad Zahid Abbas, Uzma Naza, Hina Shaheen, Abdul Razzaq

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we review systematically the role of problem-based learning (PBL) in developing soft skills in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and other fields of studies. The Systematic Literature Review (SLR) includes the most recent empirical, review, and conceptual studies from TVET and other multiple fields of studies including medicine, humanities, and engineering between the years of 2001 and 2016 collected from four databases. A qualitative method was used to accomplish the systematic review. After the collection of articles, the selected studies were analyzed through thematic analysis. From this review, we concluded that PBL as an instructional …

The Capability Approach: A Proposed Framework For Experiential Learning In The Faculty Of Arts, Humanities And Social Sciences, Timothy A. Brunet, Hassan Shaban, Stephanie Gonçalves

Centre for Teaching and Learning Publications

This qualitative case study uses the Capability Approach (CA) as a framework for experiential learning courses in the Faculty of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Windsor, in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, this is a case study of two courses titled Ways of Knowing and Ways of Doing that are offered as undergraduate general credit electives. In this paper, we describe the case study context and provide a brief introduction to the CA. The lead author presents the case study courses' pedagogical framework and describes the materials and methods of the case. Next, we provide a summary of …

Exploring Adult Indigenous Latinxs’ English Language Identity Expressions And Agency: A Malp®-Informed Photovoice Study, Andrea Enikő Lypka

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scholars historically emphasized literate learners’ additional language trajectories. In countries with increasingly large numbers of limited-literate adult language learners, there is an urgent need to inspire limited-literate adults to speak out and be heard. To address the needs of adult language learners with inconsistent schooling, and the ways their identities, agency, and social power influence opportunities for participation in the target language communities of practice, scholars need to implement bottom-up and responsive curricular and research innovations. To this end, informed by poststructuralist and transdisciplinary understandings of English language development, I investigated the identity work (self-positioning and other-positioning) and agency deployment …

An Examination Of An Engagement Indicator For Non-Traditional First-Generation Black Students Enrolled In U.S. Institutions, Chantae D. Still

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

More students than ever have been provided access to higher education; however, the increase in enrollment is outpacing the data on successful completion rates. Student engagement has been identified as fundamental for college student success and retention.

The purpose of this study was to provide a description of the student engagement of non-traditional first-generation Black students attending 4-year public institutions in the United States. Using the Student-Faculty Interaction (SFI) National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) scales of student engagement, this study examined the relationship between SFI and selected personal characteristics of traditional and non-traditional, first-generation first-year and senior-year Black students, …

University Faculty Design-Thinking Personas For Online Course Development: A Q Methodological Study, Jennifer Margaret Morrisette

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

To overcome the inherent complexities of planning and implementing effective online learning experiences at scale, it has been suggested that design-thinking tools and practices can be leveraged by faculty and collaborative support staff (e.g., instructional designers). However, little is known about what design-thinking approaches are perceived by faculty to be important to the online course design process, and what tools and practices might be prioritized or avoided given planning stage and individual context. Understanding these nuances would provide much needed insight to align support directly with faculty needs. This study used Q methodology to explore the subjective viewpoints of 20 …

Qualities Of A Good English Language Teacher From The Perspectives Of Textbook Authors In The Field Of Language Teaching, Teachers, And Learners, Mohammad Mohammaditabar, Mohammad Sadegh Bagheri, Mortaza Yamini, Ehsan Rassaei

The Qualitative Report

Researchers in the field of language teaching have long been fascinated by the qualities of good teachers. Such qualities have rarely been approached qualitatively from different angles in a single study. Thus, this research aimed to unearth the qualities in question by employing a qualitative multimethod approach. To this end, 23 randomly selected standard language teaching textbooks were analyzed by two coders using qualitative content analysis. The judiciously adopted codes from the analysis were employed to design and carry out semi-structured interviews with nine effective language teachers as well as ten good learners nominated via purposeful sampling. The data gleaned …

Spilling The Lgbt(Ea)Q: A Study Of Lgbtq Youth Early School Experiences, Nicholas Catania

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this arts-based qualitative study, I explore the experiences of LGBTQ youth regarding inclusion during their early schooling. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of youth participants regarding inclusion during their early school experiences to better assist educators and policy-makers at all levels with information to provide safe and equitable learning environments for LGBTQ youth to succeed. The intent of this study was to uncover the ways schools may marginalize or be inclusive of LGBTQ youth by examining school experiences with a particular focus at the elementary level. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, …

Successful Novice Teachers’ Conceptualizations And Enactments Of The Collaborating Teacher Role: A Dual Case Study, Kia Sarnoff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this descriptive, exploratory, dual case study was to understand the ways two successful novice middle school mathematics teachers serving as first-year collaborating teachers (CTs) for preservice teachers (PSTs) from the same “Grow Your Own” (GYO) educator preparation program (EPP) where they received their initial preparation conceptualized and enacted their CT roles. The CTs’ perceived impact of being alumni of the same middle school mathematics EPP as their PSTs was also explored. Analysis of interview, observation, and document data collected throughout the PSTs’ initial field experience and the CTs’ first-ever mentoring experience resulted in several key assertions including: …

Teachers’ Use Of Standardized Assessments To Monitor Learning And Its Impact On Student Reading Achievement, Eilyn Sanabria

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Reading instruction must be “intentional, systematic, and explicit” and “implemented by a knowledgeable teacher” (Ruetzel & Cooter, 2019, p. 87). The era of accountability has brought standardized assessments to the forefront of reading instruction. However, gaps about assessment-related and instructional practices and their impact on student achievement exist in the literature. The present study aims to provide needed insights on how these practices help or hinder, specifically, historically low-performing students.

Using student achievement and teacher survey data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Kindergarten 2011 (ECLS-K), and through the lens of data use theory (Hutchins, 1995; Spillane, 2012), hierarchical multiple …

Students’ With Blindness And Visual Impairments Level Of Engagement In Science And Engineering Practices, Tiffany A. Wild, Natalie Shaheen, Danene K. Fast, Julia Averill, Karen Koehler, Kathleen Farrand

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

There is a lack of research on science-process skills and abilities of students with blindness and visual impairments to apply those skills (Jones, Forrester, Robertson, Gardner, & Taylor, 2012). This study aims to provide additional information on how students with blindness and visual impairment are engaged in science and engineering practices in order for teachers to gain a better understanding of how students with visual impairments can learn engineering practices. The Student Inquiry Review (Hilson & Wild, 2015) that examines the scientific and engineering practices as defined in the Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Core Ideas …