Digital Commons Network^™

“In My Blood”: External Factors For International Stem Postdoctoral Scholars’ Career Decisions, Kathryn J. Watson, Sylvia L. Mendez

Journal of Global Education and Research

This instrumental case study (Stake, 1995) explores the external factors that influence international science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) postdoctoral scholars in the United States to pursue a career in STEM. Interviews with 20 international STEM postdoctoral scholars were analyzed deductively to shed light on their unique backgrounds and experiences. Three themes emerged: (a) parents were highly encouraging, (b) a love of science was nurtured in school, and (c) they were eager to engage in and promote scientific innovation. These findings illustrate the ways in which family, schools, and community influence the STEM career trajectories of international postdoctoral scholars.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Restorative Practices In English Language Arts: My Journey Towards Linguistic Justice, Ariana Skeese

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

In this final portfolio, I examine anti-racist pedagogy in English Language Arts Education.

Input And Output In An English Classroom: A Young Learner Corpus Of English (Yolecore), Thomas Zapounidis, Marina Mattheoudakis

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

This article highlights the need for a new type of corpus that will combine both a learner and a pedagogic corpus. The need for such a type of corpus is underlined by the interaction between input and output and the expected impact of the former on the latter within all instructional settings. Such a corpus will allow us to collect data, including teacher language, learner language, coursebook content, etc. and relate it to students’ output at specific points in time. Our study aims to present and describe the Young Learner Corpus of English (henceforth,YoLeCorE), which is an …

The Inclusion Of Classroom-Related Dispositions In Teacher Evaluations, David K. Griffin

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This paper examines various approaches to evaluating the classroom teacher and discusses the inclusion of dispositions in the evaluation process. A random sample of 150 teachers were asked to complete an online survey focusing on the inclusion of dispositions in their formal evaluations. They were asked to report what specific dispositions were evaluated, and if the specific dispositions were operationally defined. A summary of their responses to the survey items is discussed.

Teachers' Experiences Of Using Play And Al's Pals To Teach Socio-Emotional Skills Through Coaching Support Models, Deborah Tamakloe, Elizabeth Powers, Alisa Landis, Lori Mccracken

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Interactive teaching strategies provide opportunities for engaging children in discussing difficult concepts such as socio-emotional wellbeing and wide range of ideas about their social and personal lives. However, few studies have explored preschool teachers’ efficacy of using coaching through ‘Play and puppetry programs as approaches to developing children’s emotional regulation, socio-emotional learning and wellbeing. This paper reports on a “Labyrinth Project” aimed to gain in-depth understandings of preschool teachers’ experiences and perspectives pertaining to their efficacy of using play and puppetry as tools to promote children’s emotional learning and development. The results showed that despite early challenges with the use …

Generational Poverty And Education: Breaking The Cycle Of Ignorance, Leland Jackson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Generational poverty is a problem that is not limited by race, gender, geography, or any other demographic. It is widespread and found in every state and city in the United States. Currently, over 17% of the population of the United States lives in poverty, based on a 2019 study. Of those, the vast majority are at least second-generation poverty dwellers. There seems to be no shortage of opinions on why a person lives below the poverty line, and many are willing to share them with those they know and those living in poverty. It is not unusual for one living …

The Role Of Emotions In Qualitative Analysis: Researchers’ Perspectives, Hilary Lustick, Xiaoye Yang, Abeer Hakouz

The Qualitative Report

Qualitative research is an inherently social and relational endeavor. Yet, researchers receive little guidance on how to engage emotions without being swayed by personal biases. Lustick (2021) developed a framework called “emotion coding” for systematically engaging thoughts and emotions in qualitative data analysis by asking what a chunk of data can teach us about ourselves, our participants, and our study. In this study, we interviewed 15 researchers who had tried using the emotion coding technique, about their impressions of this technique and the role of emotion in qualitative research overall. Framed by Goffman and Hochschild’s theories of emotion work, we …

A Comparative Analysis Of Japan And United States School Lunch Programs, Julie Phillips

Honors Theses

Question: Are school lunch policies and programs in Japan beneficial and applicable to the United States?

Main points: Japan has a certification program that allows dietitians to teach nutrition. Japan also includes agricultural experiences as part of its academic curriculum to promote holistic development in students.

Conclusion: The School Lunch program in the United States would benefit from providing an avenue through which dietitians are able to teach students nutrition and from increasing the number of schools involved in Farm to School so that more students have experiences with nature.

Perception Of Emotional Intelligence And Self Efficacy For School Business Officials At K-12 Districts, Agha Mirza

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy in Chief Business Officials (CBOs) working in School Districts in the state of California.

Methodology: The primary objective of this study was to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy characteristics, employing a quantitative, correlational research design. The study involved a non-experimental approach to establish correlations between the identified variables and an explanatory design to elucidate the relationship between variables. Correlational research has been established as the most effective approach for examining correlations between phenomena and distinct population samples, which made …

Associations Between Learning Environment And Study Satisfaction Across Time: Two Cross-Sectional Analyses Of Occupational Therapy Students, Gry Mørk, Susanne G. Johnson, Astrid Gramstad, Linda Stigen, Tove Carstensen, Tore Bonsaksen

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

There is increasing attention toward students’ satisfaction and how they perceive the quality of the program they attend. This study examined stability and change across time with regard to the relationships between learning environment factors and occupational therapy students’ satisfaction with the program. In the two consecutive cross-sectional analyses performed in this study, 163 second-year students and 193 third-year students from all six occupational therapy education programs in Norway participated. The Course Experience Questionnaire was used to assess learning environment factors and study satisfaction. The data were analyzed with Pearson’s correlation coefficient r and with hierarchical linear regression. Bivariate associations …

Teaching Citation Politics Through Literature Review Topographies: Towards Cultivating Relational Writing Practices, Mairi Mcdermott

Feminist Pedagogy

Feminism teaches how power works and circulates through our often-unquestioned everyday practices. Since becoming a professor, I have committed myself to this feminist teaching by demystifying--and reimagining--habituated practices, relations, and expectations in higher education that produce and are produced through cis-hetero-patriarchal capitalist White supremacy. Since literature reviews and citation practices are core materials scholars work with, I invite doctoral students to consider different ways these materials can be engaged in efforts to craft transgressive knowledges and worlds through our research. In this article, I describe an assignment designed to disrupt hegemonic patriarchal inheritances in the conventions of writing literature reviews …

Closing The Gap: The Relationship Between School Climate And Student Achievement In The Middle School Sector, Brad Boykin, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Summer Pannell, Richard E. Cleveland, Suzanne B. Miller, Mary Josephine Carney

School Leadership Review

School leaders must make decisions and implement strategies to improve a school climate and student achievement, and it benefits them to understand which areas of school climate have the greatest impact on student achievement. The State of Georgia measures school climate and student achievement with its school accountability measure, the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). This study employed a quantitative research design using archival data that was publicly available from CCRPI data for a two year span to examine the relationship between school climate and student achievement statewide in the middle grade sector. Findings revealed that all four …

Sport Management Experiential Learning: Faculty Perceptions Of Opportunities, Benefits, And Support, Janet M. Howes Phd, Cheryl R. Rode Phd

The COSMA Journal

Experiential learning is an important aspect in any learning program, but in sport management programs, it might be considered essential to the learning process and post-graduation career success. There are several types of experiential learning which include in-classroom activities, internships, practicums, cooperatives, and service learning. In many instances, more than one type of experiential learning is being used to enrich the student’s experience and prepare them for post-graduate careers. The purpose of this study is to understand the experiential learning opportunities available in collegiate sport management programs in the United States. This study utilizes interviews and open-ended questionnaire responses to …

The Security Of Deep Neural Networks, Jalaya Allen

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

Our society has transitioned from our primitive lifestyle to soon, an increasingly automatic one. That idea is further exemplified as we shift into an AI era, better known as Artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence is classified as computer systems that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. However, a common thought or question that most might have is, how is this done? How does AI process information the way we want it to and have access to so much information? AI is trained by systems called AI models. These modeling programs are trained on data to recognize patterns or make …

Tools For Capturing Outcomes In Virtual Educational Programs, Leyla Marandi, Eleanor Haworth, Vikram Koundinya, Katherine Webb-Martinez, Kit Alviz

The Journal of Extension

During the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations increased virtual programming and adoption of online technologies. This article outlines the [University redacted] assessment of tools for gathering data on participant learning outcomes from virtual educational programs. After assessing colleagues’ experiences and searching for new web applications, a central repository was created. [University redacted] team will use this information to assist extension professionals in collecting program planning and evaluation data. We believe that these tools can help other extension programs nationally and globally with similar efforts, as more virtual programming is likely to increase in the future.

Examining The Factor Structure Of A Subjective Well-Being Measure In A Medical Student Sample, Hoan Do, Mary Wurm-Schaar, Gordon Brooks

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

Accreditation standards for U.S. medical education programming require that training programs promote trainee wellness and well-being, although constructs such as psychological distress and depression commonly serve as proxies for well-being. A direct measure of subjective well-being would be invaluable to inform programming efforts to promote medical trainees’ well-being and advance the study of the well-being construct itself. This study investigated the structural validity of subjective well-being as measured by the Well-Being Scale in a sample of 548 osteopathic medical students. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated that subjective well-being is best represented by a bifactor model with a general …

Effects Of A Mentorship Program On High Need College Students: Reflections From Mentors And Mentees, Stephen Miske, Olusegun Sogunro

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

On average, the college graduation rates for minority and/or high-need students are generally low. To address this situation, a Mid-Atlantic Consortium recently secured a grant to improve 4-year graduation rates of high-need students (i.e., new first-time students and transfer students who qualify as low-income students, first-generation college students, adult students, and/or students of color) by 20% over each selected college’s baseline. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the experiences of students and faculty mentors toward accomplishing this goal. Data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed thematically. Some of the effects identified in this study included enhanced academic …

Comparing Cognitive Theories Of Learning Transfer To Advance Cybersecurity Instruction, Assessment, And Testing, Daniel T. Hickey Ph.D., Ronald J. Kantor

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

The cybersecurity threat landscape evolves quickly, continually, and consequentially. This means that the transfer of cybersecurity learning is crucial. We compared how different recognized “cognitive” transfer theories might help explain and synergize three aspects of cybersecurity education. These include teaching and training in diverse settings, assessing learning formatively & summatively, and testing & measuring achievement, proficiency, & readiness. We excluded newer sociocultural theories and their implications for inclusion as we explore those theories elsewhere. We first summarized the history of cybersecurity education and proficiency standards considering transfer theories. We then explored each theory and reviewed the most relevant cybersecurity education …

Healing A Generation; Implementation Of Higher Education Curricula For Venezuelan Journalism Students Living Under Structural Violence To Promote A Transition Into Democracy, José Luis Jiménez-Figarotti Prof.

The SUNY Journal of the Scholarship of Engagement: JoSE

Venezuela's sociopolitical landscape has deteriorated significantly over the past decade, culminating in a profound humanitarian crisis. This ethnography, conducted from 2015 to the present, explores the experiences of a study group comprising 2000 Venezuelan communication college students, aged 17 to 25, who navigate structural violence while striving for quality higher education. The research employed a multifaceted approach, encompassing interviews, focus groups, and observations. Additionally, this qualitative study examines the outcomes of implementing an interdisciplinary journalism curriculum grounded in human rights and media activism, complemented by online sessions and an environmental education component. This educational project aims to foster critical thinking …

A Content Analysis Of Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles Over The Last 20 Years: To What Extent Does Contemporary Research Focus On The Effects Of Frequent Relocation On The Academic Performance Of Military-Connected Students?, Tyler Fowler

Educational Considerations

This article is a content analysis of peer-reviewed research publications from the years 2001 to 2022 to find the extent to which frequent relocation may affect the academic performance of military-connected students. There are many articles with a focus on civilian students that experience frequent residential and school mobility. However, to what extent has the extant literature focused on the military-connected student that also experiences frequent residential and school mobility? This article pays special attention to the current literature surrounding elementary-aged military-connected students. This article also examines areas of future research surrounding this group of students.

基于二分算法构建的非参数 Cd-Cat 选题策略及终止规则, 李 俊杰, 郑 慧婧

Chinese/English Journal of Educational Measurement and Evaluation | 教育测量与评估双语期刊

CD-CAT 能对学生进行诊断和评估，对提升教学效果具有重大意义。但在课堂教学情景中，无法像大规模测评可以使用大量样本对项目参数进行准确估计，此时非参数 CD-CAT 成为唯一可行的选择。相比于参数 CD-CAT，非参数 CD-CAT 起步较晚，且非参数CD-CAT的研究主要集中在选题策略方面，但已有的非参数选题策略存在效率不高的缺点，且非参数终止规则则是鲜有研究。因此本研究提出了两种更高效的选题策略:非参数动态二分选题策略（NDBS）和一般非参数动态二分选题策略（GNDBS），以及一种非参数二分终止规则(NDBI)。模拟研究结果表明：（1）所有条件下，NDBS的模式判准率均高于NPS，因此，在完全没有样本时，可选用NDBS作为选题策略。（2）在大多数情况下，GNDBS的性能优于其他选题策略，因此，在具有少量样本时，可选用GNDBS作为选题策略。（3）在变长测验中，当研究目的是获得更准确的分类结果时，可以降低NDBI规则的临界值；相反，可以适当提高NDBI和GNDBI规则的临界值。

Evidence Based Practice Change To Incorporate A Standardized Process Checklist For Fecal Microbiota Therapy (Fmt) To Increase Staff Adherence, Alicia Gomez

Student Scholarly Projects

Practice Problem: Staff adherence to new procedures is crucial for ensuring patient safety, maintaining quality care, reducing risks and liabilities, and fostering a positive organizational culture that supports continuous improvement. Having a procedure done safely for patients infected with C.diff provides an overall benefit to the healthcare system.

PICOT: In an endoscopy lab staffed with nurses and surgical technicians (P), does the implementation of a new standardized process of administering FDA approved Fecal Microbiota Transplant Therapy (I) compared to the current process (C), increase staff adherence to the process (O) over 12 weeks(T)?

Evidence: Leadership, supervision, and organizational culture are …

Language Positioning Within Peer Discourse In Dual Language Classrooms, Sophia Jones

Senior Theses and Projects

Bilingualism and biliteracy represent one of the goals for dual language education, but prior research shows that the separationist manner through which programs are structured contradicts this goal. To understand these problems, this study applies a critical framework. Through the lens of positioning theory, I explore peer discourse to discover how students are positioned as bilingual or monolingual speakers in peer interactions in order to understand the nuance of bilingualism within dual language classrooms. This is important for the group of students researched in this study because the language positions they continually undertake ultimately have long-lasting impacts on their emerging …