Education Commons^™

50 Years Of Publication: A Document Analysis Of Social Justice In The Educational Considerations Corpus, Tracey Conway, Nelofar Khamisani, Vajiheh Shahsavari, Ernestina Wiafe

Educational Considerations

The purpose of this research article is to explore how social justice in education has evolved over the past 50 years of peer-reviewed article publications in Kansas State University College of Education’s academic journal, Educational Considerations. The research sought to unveil how social justice in education has evolved over the past 50 years based on publications in Educational Considerations. The study utilized a qualitative research approach, specifically adopting a document analysis methodology. This research drew its data from peer-reviewed articles published in Educational Considerations spanning from 1973 to 2023. Literature not originally found in Educational Considerations—but relevant …

A Retrospective Of Educational Considerations And The Evolving Nature Of School Partnerships, Eileen Wertzberger

Educational Considerations

Over its 50-year journey, Educational Considerations has been a platform embracing diverse voices in education, aiming to stimulate critical thinking on educational matters. From its inception, it invited input from educators and stakeholders, fostering a broad discourse on educational concerns. This inclusivity attracted contributions from various quarters often overlooked by mainstream academic journals: administrators, teachers, non-profit leaders, etc. Their insights have chronicled important shifts in public education, including the evolving nature of school partnerships. These intentional relationships between K-12 institutions and various stakeholders have become pivotal in shaping educational practice and supporting student success. This article explores how Educational Considerations …

Reminiscing African Presence In Text: A Content Analysis Of 50 Years Of Published Works In Educational Considerations, Ernestina Wiafe

Educational Considerations

In an era characterized by evolving perspectives on diversity, inclusion, and decolonization within the domain of education, the exploration of African presence in educational literature emerges as an important endeavor. This study delved into a half-century of published works in Educational Considerations, with a particular focus on texts about and from Africa. Employing a qualitative content analysis methodology, the research traversed a vast corpus of published works spanning five decades. The analysis showed a progressive transition from underrepresentation to an emerging exploration of Africa in Educational Considerations, which signifies the growing acknowledgment of Africa’s invaluable contribution to shaping academia, …

Postsecondary Teachers’ Perspectives On Effectively Engaging Learners In Today’S Post "Pandemic Pedagogy" Era, Deepak P. Subramony

Educational Considerations

This article presents the findings of a recent study surveying and interviewing post-secondary teachers within a college of education at a large, Carnegie "R1" public university in the Midwestern United States to unearth their perspectives of how to better engage their learners within the hybrid/multiple-modality instructional contexts that represent the new normal in today’s post "pandemic pedagogy" era. Within the current context of potentially emerging new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and/or other pathogens, it also discusses key findings related to the teachers’ views regarding the current levels of institutional support they receive to this end, and their perspectives regarding …

Examination Of Ugandan Educators’ Cultural Preferences When Teaching Agriculture: A Q Methodological Study, Rebekah Mccarty, Shannon Norris-Parish, Don Edgar, Lacey Roberts-Hill, Jeff Witte

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

Increasing human capital is a critical challenge of developmental aid. Secondary education is known to be the single greatest contributor to agricultural productivity in developing countries. Ultimately, as technology advances, researchers and curriculum designers must investigate variables influencing the successful transmission of agricultural information or the gap will widen. We used framing theory to examine the impact of culture on the adoption of educational resources in a developing nation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cultural preferences of educators in Uganda when engaging with educational materials created by individuals from a developed nation. We used Q methodology …

Daily 5 Implementation To Improve Ell Students’ Performances, Phu Vu, Lan Vu

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This paper focuses on an action research project that integrated the "Daily 5" literacy framework into a fourth-grade classroom in a small rural town in Kansas. The study aimed to enhance the literacy skills of English Language Learners (ELL) using the Daily 5 method, which includes five key activities: Read to Self, Work on Writing, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, and Word Work. The research involved a six-week intervention and used student performance data, including daily assignment scores and oral reading fluency, to assess the impact of this framework on ELL students. The findings indicated significant improvements in students' …

To Choose Or Not To Choose: Establishing A Correlation Between Choice, Collaboration, And Classroom Engagement, Krisandra Johnson

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Not all 8th-grade students have an outspoken passion for reading; however, most of them do like choices. This action research study establishes a correlation between offering choices in the English Language Arts classroom and increased affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement. The participants for this research were an 8th-grade class at a Midwest, urban public school. Providing students with reading choices, assignment options, opportunities to collaborate with peers, and multiple assessment forms to choose from demonstrated an increase of not only effective engagement but also cognitive and behavioral. From observations and student data, collaboration, the researcher determines that collaboration is a …

Constructivist Teaching In A Virtual Space, Aviva Dorfman

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Due to the pandemic undergraduate course, ECE 340: Constructivist Teaching with Young Children, moved to an online, asynchronous format. The in-person methods I used, group work, in-class activities, and discussion, could not be directly transposed online as might lecture and recitation. Toward the term’s end students expressed appreciation for the degree of choice they had in assignments, examples of programs in text and video, and repeated opportunities to design centers and instruction. Some declared a greater sense of confidence as educators. The comments, suggested that the shift into an asynchronous provision of the course had been effective. This study is …

In Search Of More Mature Uses Of Data: Problematizing Education And Poetry, F. Todd Goodson

Educational Considerations

Alex Romagnoli’s article in this issue, a discussion of the use of quantitative metrics in education and baseball, provides a thoughtful discussion the limitations inherent in those metrics as well as ways they can be enhanced to provide more useful information. This manuscript extends Romagnoli’s manuscript with specific illustrations of the ways grade point averages can be interpreted in context along with a call for a much more nuanced approach to data by policy makers and decision makers.

Stand Up Comedy To Develop Critical Analysis In The Dei Classroom, Caitlin Hawkins

Adult Education Research Conference

This research explores how stand-up comedy from marginalized voices enriches diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) education, to foster critical analysis and emotional intelligence through self- and other awareness.

Fifty Years Of Considering Education: Looking Back And Looking Forward, F. Todd Goodson

Educational Considerations

In recognition of 50 years of publication of Educational Considerations by the College of Education at Kansas State University, we invited submissions that examined the scholarship from those 50 years, and we invited forward-looking scholarship that anticipated the next 50 years. I am delighted with the contributions to this issue. We have an analysis of the theme of social justice as it manifested itself across the five decades of the journal’s existence. We have an overview of the representations of school-university partnerships, and we have a contribution focused on the presence of scholarship addressing African education. Finally, we have that …

Advancing Educators Towards Social Justice Through Policy Analysis, Courtney J. Hoffhines, Susan Yelich Biniecki

The Advocate

Both pre-service and practicing educators are entering classrooms with limited preparation for the social landscape, affecting a range of professional considerations such as educational equity, culturally responsive teaching, and effective assessment. In an effort to consider greater impact and meaningful development of teachers for social justice concepts, this study is aimed directly at K-2 Kansas classrooms. A review of KSDE policies, utilizing a critical policy discourse analysis, allowed for the consideration of plausible responses for educational change regarding the advancement of educators for social justice. This research demonstrates the opportunity that exists within policy to create greater awareness for social …

Strategy For Expanding Nutrition Professionals’ Competency: A Pilot Case Study In Dissemination And Implementation Science Training, Ayron E. Walker, Elizabeth A. Claydon, Samantha E. Scarneo-Miller, Daniel Totzkay, Melissa D. Olfert

Health Behavior Research

Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) science trainings are essential to build knowledge among a variety of current and future health professionals.

The objective of this study was to pilot-test and assess implementation of a nutrition-specific D&I science training.

Participants (students enrolled in nutrition and public health programs) completed pre/post surveys and exit interviews. Descriptive statistics and a qualitative thematic analysis used deductive coding; in which coding and theme development are directed by existing concepts. Initial coding was completed by one researcher and validated by an additional researcher to describe and provide examples of the categories the Kirkpatrick Model and Implementation Outcomes …

Between Mandates And Molding Minds: The Challenge Of Teacher Autonomy Today, Joshua Cole Hill-Cloyd, Cynthia L. Miller

Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences

In recent years, Texas schools have witnessed a significant decline in teacher autonomy, attributable primarily to three factors: an increased emphasis on standardized testing, the prevalence of top-down leadership and bureaucracy, and the adoption of third-party curricula and commercialized content. These elements have collectively constrained educators' ability to adapt and innovate according to the unique needs of their students. Additionally, this issue has had profound ripple effects on families and communities in several ways. Possible solutions for increasing teacher autonomy will be provided that offer multiple benefits to the education system, teachers, students, and the broader community.

Library Transformation: The Futures School Experience Applied To Practice, Gloria F. Creed-Dikeogu

Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Proceedings

Attendance as a member of the Plains Cohort at a three-day Futures Foundations in Natural Foresight Workshop taught by the Kedge Futures School (TFSX), provided the researcher with the opportunity to explore the theoretical ropes of library futurism alongside the natural foresight framework and the many futurist tools, like futures wheels and scenario building, that are so vital when participating in library futures strategic planning. This paper explains trend patterns and analyses and the importance of sensemaking to futures scenarios creation and how each connects to library transformation.

Blended Librarianship—20 Years Later, Amanda Hovious, Andrew Smith

Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Proceedings

In 2004, Steven J. Bell and John Shank introduced the term blended librarian to describe an emerging skill set of academic librarians in teaching and learning roles as a combination of “the traditional skill set of librarianship with the information technologist’s hardware/software skills, and the instructional or educational designer’s ability to apply technology appropriately in the teaching-learning process” (p. 373). Several years later, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) officially recognized instructional design skills as a core proficiency for instructional librarians in the Standards for Proficiencies for Instruction Librarians and Coordinators (ALA, 2008). Yet, alongside the ACRL’s …

Impact Of A Study Abroad Course In Helping Undergraduate Students Affirm Their Career Aspirations To Become Veterinarians: A Qualitative Inquiry, Jose M. Uscanga, M. Craig Edwards, J. Shane Robinson, Rob Terry Jr., Udaya Desilva

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

Twenty-five students who participated in a study abroad course tailored to veterinary medicine during the summer of 2019 were the study’s sources of data. Using photovoice and phenomenology research methods, we sought to explore, understand, and interpret the impact of a study abroad course on pre-vet students’ views regarding veterinary medicine and their aspirations to become veterinarians. Students perceived that veterinary medicine in Mexico was structured differently from the U.S. approach and the nation’s socioeconomic and agroclimatology conditions impacted the delivery of veterinary care and affected the work settings and practice of veterinarians. They not only discerned the uniqueness of …

Ready, Set, Communicate: Measuring Usability Of Instructional Modules Designed To Improve Communications Skills Of Students Studying Agricultural Sciences, Theresa Pesl Murphrey, Audra W. Richburg, Holli R. Leggette, Shannon L. Norris-Parish, Jean A. Parrella

Journal of Applied Communications

Well-developed communications skills are essential to a proficient agricultural workforce. Online instruction via reusable learning modules (RLMs) is one way agricultural science faculty can provide their students with expert communications skills training. Although RLMs have many benefits, their value degrades rapidly if the learner cannot access or use the technology efficiently. Therefore, online instruction must be tested to ensure usability. The purpose of our study was to assess the usability of RLMs developed to bolster the communications skills of students studying in the agricultural sciences and provide guidance for future curricula and online instruction development. We used quantitative and qualitative …

Never Going Back: Lessons To Carry Forward In Online Instruction, Howard Pitler, Amanda Lickteig, Seth Lickteig

The Advocate

Research has long demonstrated that students thrive best in an online learning community when some basic tenants are followed. These tenants include establishing a peer community, module supports, studying while balancing life commitments, confidence, and the approach to learning (Farrell & Brunton, 2020; Kahn, Egbue, Palkie, & Madden, 2017; Dixson, 2010). Cultivating active engagement in online communities is a purposeful and deliberate practice that requires educators to bring together an assortment of innovative instructional techniques to foster the establishment of Communities of Practice (COP). Wenger, Trayner, and de Laat (2011) define a CoP as a “learning partnership among people who …

Developing Writing Self-Efficacy: Perspectives From Agricultural Communications Students, Haley M. Banwart, Shuyang Qu

Journal of Applied Communications

While there is mounting consensus writing is an essential skill required of agricultural communications graduates, there are opposing views as to what educators can do to improve students’ writing education and performance. Self-efficacy research provides one perspective for exploring the relationship between students’ performance and their beliefs in their writing abilities. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore how agricultural communications students perceive their writing self-efficacy and what underlying sources shape their self-efficacy beliefs. The findings confirmed agricultural communications students use a variety of sources to inform their self-efficacy beliefs including their interpretations of their writing performance and …

Farmer-Centered Pesticide Risk Reduction Education In Senegal: A Novel, Participatory Approach, Mary L. Halbleib, Berit Dinsdale

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

As pest pressures continue to intensify across Sub-Saharan Africa, many smallholder farmers are increasing their use of pesticides, including highly hazardous options, to meet the market demands for high-quality fresh produce. Many of these farmers, however, have not had access to pesticide risk reduction training or have participated in programs that have not enabled them to protect themselves and their families. Given the risks posed by dried and invisible though still toxic pesticide residues, new forms of information and realistic learning strategies are required. This study combined the innovative Adaptive Learner-Centered Education (ALCE) approach with the Farmer Field School (FFS) …

The Effect Of Task-Based Writing Instruction On Iranian Pre-Intermediate Efl Learners’ Self-Efficacy And Epistemic Beliefs, Nooshin Iravani

Educational Considerations

Generally, writing—and second-language (L2) writing in particular—causes a lot of challenges. Indeed, many L2 students who are very proficient in speaking and reading may encounter many difficulties while composing a letter or a biography. They suffer from a low level of self-efficacy and confidence in this respect. Therefore, this research was aimed at shedding light on the effects of task-based writing instruction on improving English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' self-efficacy and epistemic beliefs associated with writing skills. To this end, a sample of 36 Iranian male and female pre-intermediate learners took part in this research. They formed two …

The Pandemic And Teachers: How Teachers’ Daily Life In The Classroom Has Been Impacted, Bailey Mahoney

Educational Considerations

This study explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected educators during the end of the 2019-2020 school year and throughout the 2020-2021 school year. During a time with so much uncertainty, the focus has been on how best to approach the school year for students. Little conversation has happened concerning the impact on teachers. While research on this topic is limited to the short time span of the pandemic so far, teachers have shifted their instructional strategies, assessment strategies, and homework policies to match the needs of students. The following study seeks to highlight these changes and provide a voice …

Building Communication And Collaboration Skills Through Inter-Professional Simulation Design Challenges, Amelia Huelskamp, Chase Dubois

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

This presentation focuses on the benefits of inter-professional education, provides an overview of a sample project, and offers recommendations for inter-professional collaboration in higher education.

Building A Department Community: Connecting With Faculty, Kathleen Everts Danielson

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Participants will learn about building a community within a department to build connections with and among faculty, including strategies for communication, appreciation, and interactive faculty meetings, as well as mentoring suggestions for new faculty.

Action Research In The Time Of Covid-19, Victoria Seeger, Troy Fredde, Brianna O'Neal, Johnna Stewart

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This study provides a picture of the impact the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) had on action research performed by graduate students at a small Midwest university. A qualitative case study was conducted to examine how the participants’ abilities to implement their research, gather data, and analyze the results was impacted by COVID-19. Participants were asked a series of questions regarding modifications made, the impact to the research that was done, the impact to their findings, and implications for future research. Based on the responses to these surveys, researchers determined four prominent themes; altered timelines, limited access to data and materials, quality …

Teacher Inquiry: A Catalyst For Professional Development, Divonna Stebick, Jonathan Hart, Lauren Glick, Jaime Kindervatter, Jenna Nagel, Cathy Patrick

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Teachers seek and require meaningful professional development opportunities to truly grow in the profession. Teacher inquiry, or teacher research, is one way to accomplish professional development goals. Teacher inquiry is thought of as individualized, personalized, and meaningful professional development (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999). In this paper we articulate the learning of a cohort of certificated professionals engaged in a year-long project that included asking research questions, designing data collection tools, and developing an independent study to examine their questions. Nine certificated professionals participated in the year-long project representing various grade levels and experiences. Data was collected through teacher reflections and …

The Symbiotic Relationship Between Reading And Music: A Natural Pedagogical Collaboration, Jarrett D. Moore, Kathryn Simonyak, Kelsey Ruzicka

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Reading and music instruction can form a symbiotic relationship to positively impact lower-elementary literacy and increase student engagement. In this action research study, cross-curricular instruction between reading and music at the 2nd grade elementary level was taught by both the reading and music teacher. This study employed reading, rhythm, rhyme, instrumentation, writing, physical movement, and song to benefit students’ phonemic awareness while reading. Developmental Reading Assessments (DRAs) were used to measure student growth from the start of the study to its conclusion. These DRAs were used as pre- and posttests and were bookended around instruction using reading, rhythm, rhyme, instrumentation, …

Differentiated Spelling: Using Small Group Instruction, Sara Broughton

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Spelling instruction is often overlooked by many teachers during reading and language arts. The purpose of this study was to implement a manageable differentiated word study instruction program, drawn from the Words Their Way (WTW) program, to determine how it affected students’ spelling accuracy and how the participants perceived its effect on students’ daily journal writing time in a fourth-grade self-contained classroom. Students were placed into small groups based on their spelling pre-test scores. Data was collected through field notes, student and teacher interviews, a pre- and post-test, and a survey. Qualitative data was analyzed using the constant …

Editorial Introduction: Better Together, Suzanne Porath

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This issue of Network touches on both topics – the continued impact of COVID on teaching and learning and the importance of collaboration during educator inquiry projects. Adult learning theory, also known as andragogy (Knowles, 1980) is an approach to learning that is problem-based and collaborative. Each of the articles in this issue highlight the importance of educators guiding their own professional learning in collaboration with others.