Education Commons^™

Effects Of Racial Oppression, Joana Reyes

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

During influential African-American movements, such as the Harlem Renaissance and Civil Rights, texts were created to illustrate oppression and one’s search for identity within that oppression. This is most notably presented in works such as Invisible Man and A Raisin in the Sun; they accurately depict racial and social-economical differences and the struggle of the characters to find both their place and society as well as their confidence as defined by their race. Through both literary works, each was able to describe and show how these individuals faced oppression. Therefore these two individuals were able to break away from the …

The Discovery Of A Lifetime: Gravitational-Waves, Maria I Dominguez Barraza

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

This presentation offers an insight to one of the biggest discoveries made in science. The discovery of gravitational-waves had been a long journey to achieve for physicists and scientist. Now gravitational-waves are helping scientists study the universe in a more efficient way never seen before. The discovery of gravitational-waves is a sign that a new era of astronomy and physics is about to open doors for many scientists and astrophysicists.

● Gravitational-waves are energycarrying waves propagating through a gravitational field, produced when a massive body is accelerated or otherwise disturbed. ● Gravitational-waves prove the existence of Black Holes. ● Laser …

Low Income Families: The Struggles Of Living In America, Rianne Rodriguez

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Living in America can be difficult at times. The amount of low income families is rising as years go on and no one seems to notice. Parents who have no college degree, low paying jobs with no benefits, or no job at all can make it difficult to provide for a family. Children also experience challenges of their own that their parents may not be aware of. Together a family can endure the hardship of being evicted from their home.

● Parents will often do odd jobs in order to make more money (Hill & Kauff, 2002, p. 3) ● …

The Demonstrable Value Of Honors Education: New Research Evidence, Andrew J. Cognard-Black , Editor, Jerry Herron , Editor, Patricia J. Smith , Editor

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs

“We all know—instinctively, experientially—that what we as honors teachers and administrators do for our students adds value to their college education and general college experience. Providing hard, demonstrable evidence for that which we know in our bodies as it were . . . turns out not to be so easy, a fact anyone who has had to make the case for additional, or even simply continued, honors funding to a new dean or college president has likely encountered. The results presented in this volume provide, in a diversity of ways via a diversity of research approaches, the sorts of evidence …

Exploring Predictors Of Sense Of Belonging In Trinidad And Tobago, Elizabeth Niehaus, Letitia Williams, Stephanie Zobac, Miles Young, Adam Fullerton

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Over the past two decades, Trinidad and Tobago has promoted explosive expansion of tertiary education. As with many growing postsecondary education systems, this increase in tertiary enrollment has led to the development of student support services (Haddad & Altbach, 2009). The field of student services is growing throughout the Caribbean (Reynolds, 2008), but there is currently little research on the role of student services in fostering students’ sense of belonging specific to the Caribbean cultural context. Using data from over 900 students at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, we examined students’ sense of belonging in the context of T&T. …

Finding A Fulcrum: Positioning Ourselves To Leverage Change, Laurie L. Grupp, Deandra Little

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Educational developers are called to serve as thought leaders, change agents, and advocates while also working to fulfill the teaching and learning mission of their centers. Research on change leadership informs our understanding of the work, yet may not go far enough to describe the complex roles, responsibilities, and positions of educational developers. In this study, we analyze survey and interview data to explore the meta-competencies that guide the work of developers as they navigate a shifting landscape and serve as “levers” for change.

Wiser Together: Sustaining Teaching Excellence With A Self-Study/Critical Friend, Tracy W. Smith, Leslie U. Bradbury

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article examines the development of a self-study/critical friend (SSCF) model of educational development. The SSCF model provides benefits for the self-study teacher in the form of personalized, sustained support. The critical friend in the pairing described here also serves as an educational development fellow, so this study provided an experiential development opportunity for her to try a potential model of response, documentation, feedback, and support for a single faculty member. This article describes the rationale, process, and outcomes of a SSCF investigation, a promising model for providing support that is significant, sustained, and individualized to higher education teaching faculty.

The Sotl Scaffold: Supporting Evidence-Based Teaching Practice In Educational Development, Laura Cruz, Kathryn Cunningham, Brian Smentkowski, Hillary Steiner

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article presents a scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) scaffold, a conceptual model designed for educational developers (and others) who support the values, practices, and production of the SoTL, both on their campuses and beyond. The SoTL scaffold explicates distinct support levels, ranging from spark to lead, each of which call for differentiated strategies and programs to be used by Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) and similar units.

Broaching Threshold Concepts: The Trouble With “Skills” Language In Defining Student Learning Goals, Angela J. Zito

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This essay argues that description of student learning goals as various “skills” presents a conceptual threshold lying between and connecting routinely dichotomized characterizations of student learning—most notably, “concrete” versus “abstract.” Qualitative analysis of instructor interviews shows that “skills” language tends to conceal abstract (that is, affective) learning goals behind more concrete (that is, cognitive) ones. Ultimately, this essay proposes that cognitive and affective student learning goals might be more clearly articulated using threshold concepts within and across disciplines, and that the recognition of “skills” as both affective and cognitive is itself a threshold concept in educational development.

The Fearless Teaching Framework: A Model To Synthesize Foundational Education Research For University Instructors, Alice E. Donlan, Sandra M. Loughlin, Virginia L. Byrne

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

There is often a disconnect between the unit of analysis in rigorous education research, and the types of recommendations that instructors find the most useful to improve their teaching. Research often focuses on narrow slices of the student experience, and university instructors often require broad recommendations. We present the Fearless Teaching Framework to address this gap between research and practice. In this framework, we define four pieces of effective teaching: classroom climate, course content, teaching practices, and assessment strategies. We argue that these are appropriate areas of focus for instructor growth, based on their relations to student engagement.

A Framework For The Strategic Leveraging Of Outside Resources To Enhance Ctl Effectiveness, Thomas M. Brinthaupt, Laura Cruz, Sheila Otto, Mike Pinter

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Many centers for teaching and learning (CTL) are challenged with developing new programs and services that are constrained by limited staff and resources. Tapping into on- and off-campus expertise is one way for CTL to expand their range of options for faculty development. In this paper, we present a framework that describes how CTL can assess the likely impact, value, and range of prospective leveraging opportunities when deciding whether to pursue on- and off- campus partnerships. We then discuss applying the framework as an analytical tool, developing leveraging strategies, and creating a strategic leveraging plan. Throughout this discussion, we provide …

Impostor Phenomenon In Educational Developers, Kristin J. Rudenga, Emily O. Gravett

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

While impostor syndrome or impostor phenomenon (“IP”) is prevalent in higher education, with known negative effects, no study has yet investigated the experiences of IP among educational developers. After first reviewing prior research on the phenomenon, we use survey data to describe its frequency and manifestations within educational development. We identify factors and experiences that contribute to IP among educational developers, focusing on those that are distinct to the field. We conclude with suggestions for future research and broad recommendations for educational development as a field to tackle this problem.

What Moves You? How Sbae Teachers Navigate Program Migration, Becky Haddad, Johnathan Velez, Josh Stewart

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

Little data exists to examine the stigmatized phenomenon of program mobility within agricultural education. Our research starts the conversation through interviews with eight School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) teachers across the United States, using qualitative phenomenology, to provide a unique perspective of retention through migration. We define teacher migration as a program move while choosing to remain in SBAE. Utilizing the theoretical lens of expansive learning through activity systems (Engeström, 2009), we present teacher migration as a means to learn and grow in the craft of teaching within SBAE, particularly among teachers with more than eight years of experience. Although additional …