Education Commons^™

Conjunctional Concepts: The Conceptual Teaching Technique In Biology Classes, Igor V. Zaitsev

Publications and Research

Conceptual teaching relies on concepts in conjunction with a bigger conceptual category (or categories). Revealing and using conceptual conjunctions in the science classroom means teaching conceptually. To make conceptual teaching more accessible to biology instructors, a three-concept model was described to be used during a lecture. This model has allowed the author to develop a relatively simple method that starts with an active concept or concepts, then introduces conjunctional and supporting concepts to relate the content to other concepts and relevant real-world applications. This method is intended to help instructors in preparing to teach biological concepts conceptually, in order to …

Teaching For Transformation: Developing Agency And Solidarity Consciousness In A Critical-Transdisciplinary, Garden-Based Urban Environmental Studies Program, Pieranna Pieroni

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation focuses on “Community Roots,” an instantiation of urban, garden-based environmental education that employs a “critical-transdisciplinary” design framework and pedagogies. The “crit-trans” construct, articulated by the Urban Environmental Studies Research Coven (Strong et. al., 2016) is offered as both a generative approach to liberatory (environmental) pedagogies with applications across the curriculum and as a form of resistance to neoliberal logics shaping educational (and other) settings. After situating Community Roots in its socio-environmental, institutional, historical and theoretical contexts, a detailed description of the course’s instantiation of crit-trans pedagogy is offered. Additionally, reflections of 14 youth and adult participants are analyzed, …

The Lopez Effect Remixed: The Significance Of Mattering Through A Hip-Hop Lens In Education And Beyond, Kashema Hutchinson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The goal of this dissertation is to examine the theoretical frameworks of mattering (Rosenberg & McCullough, 1981; Schlossberg, 1989; Love, 2018) in traditional and non-traditional spaces through a Hip-hop lens. When mattering is applied to marginalized groups, it centers them to a certain extent. In my dissertation, I examine how Dr. Nadia Lopez, the former principal of junior high school, Mott Hall Bridges Academy (MHBA), employed mattering in her holistic approach to education. Her dedication to her students, faculty and staff went viral on the popular blog Humans of New York in January 2015. Lopez’s commitment is to “open a …

Covid-19 Impact On Radiology Students’ Distance Learning (Summer 2021), Mary Lee, Jason Chan, Cheryann Jackson-Holmes, Renzo Marmolejo, Zoya Vinokur

Publications and Research

The Radiological Technology students have adjusted from the urgent distance learning that was enacted in the Spring of 2020, to the hybrid distance learning that is currently in place. This hybrid distance learning is the same way the incoming class of radiological technology students were taught. Both cohorts of students were tracked over the year by online anonymous surveys. We wanted to know how students were adapting to distance learning, if their focus and motivation varied over the course of the year due to changing pandemic conditions. For the students that were working, what impact did it have on their …

Linguistically Diverse Read Aloud Analysis, Ivana Espinet

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Coalition And Creativity On The Bridges And Fringes With Immigrant Student-Contributors In Nonprofit Adult Education, Katherine E. Entigar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The nonprofit education of adult immigrants is an under-researched aspect of U.S. education. Adult immigrants, often perceived as passive and quiescent, bring voices and contributions to learning in powerful yet unheard ways. This research agenda invokes a new critical lens in education scholarship to uplift and center these contributions as a coalitional, dialogical project. Drawing upon critical sociocultural, women of color feminist, and poststructual theories, critical intersectional epistemology, and Bakhtinian dialogical thinking, this research project pursues inductive, recursive meaning making as an innovative exploration. A multiphase, sequential study including surveys and two focus groups foregrounds the complex, fluid ways adult …

Refugee Higher Education And Participatory Action Research Methods: Lessons Learned From The Field, Hadas Yanay

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Refugee access to higher education is devastatingly low. Recognizing the complex barriers facing refugee learners, global educational initiatives are innovating flexible learning models which promote blended online and in-person learning modalities. This article describes the implementation of a five month, online-based internship pilot offered to 21 refugee participants in qualitative and quantitative research methods, through a participatory action research (PAR) framework in five different countries -- Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, and Lebanon. The internship is part of the Global Education Movement (GEM), which brings refugees accredited online college degree and career development opportunities. Through direct engagement, observation of the …

Spirits In The Dark: Black Community Education And The Light It Bears, Sydoni A. Ellwood

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“Spirits in the Dark” is a digital space dedicated to the efforts of Black community education. It memorializes the commitment and strategies of spirits, light bearers like Mary McLeod Bethune and Huey Newton – people who devoted their lives to the fortification of their communities via education. This project also presents a variety of answers to one specific question: What lessons can school leaders and educators incorporate from community-controlled education programs to make learning spaces affirming and engaging for Black students? In totality, the digital space contributes to conversations in urban education and sociology, specifically the ones being held around …

Academic Literacy For Deaf Postsecondary Students Through Integrated Reading And Writing Instruction, Sue Livingston

Publications and Research

Based on theoretical findings from the literature on the integration of reading and writing pedagogies used with hearing postsecondary students to advance academic literacy, this article offers a model of instruction for achieving academic literacy in developmental and freshman composition courses composed of deaf students. Academic literacy is viewed as the product of acts of composing in reading and writing which best transpire through reciprocal rather than separate reading and writing activities. Pedagogical practices based on theoretical findings and teacher experience are presented as a model of instruction, exemplified as artifacts in online supplementary materials and juxtaposed with practices used …

Covid-19 Impact On Radiology Students’ Distance Learning (Spring 2021), Mary Lee, Jason Chan, Cherylann Jackson-Holmes, Renzo Marmolejo, Zoya Vinokur

Publications and Research

Radiologic Technology students are well into a full year of distance learning. The Juniors are utilizing a hybrid mode, where they continue to have laboratory classes on campus at half capacity and every other week. The Senior students are completely learning through distance learning and focusing their efforts on reviewing for their licensing exams. Both cohorts are in clinical rotation with COVID-19, a smaller threat to their schooling, but still a hazard that can impact their personal and educational lives. With the use of surveys that are distributed during online classes, we hope to evaluate how a full semester of …

Implementing Digital Portfolios To Document The Writing Process, Patricia George

Open Educational Resources

Implementing digital portfolios to document the writing process offers students a way to curate an exhibit of their work. The Google Sites application provides online spaces for students to upload permanent artifacts. It is user friendly and provides a visual document of student growth over the course of a semester. By publishing drafts and revisions, students are reminded of the progress they have made as writers. In addition, using visual approaches to organizing work also assists students with time management.

Silent Film: A Visual Narrative For Developing Linguistic Competence, Patricia George

Open Educational Resources

Visual narratives in silent films are an effective method for developing linguistic competence in English language education and are equally constructive in developing critical thinking skills across disciplines. “Silent film, more than any other film property, capitalizes on ESL students’ visual literacy, using it as both a foundation and a catalyst for honing the verbal language skills that are key to acquiring and articulating complex knowledge in English” (Kasper and Singer, 2001). Silent films rely on the power of vivid, interactive visual imagery to depict personal struggles, character interactions, and plot development. This medium grabs the attention of ESL students …

Introducing Pre-Service Teachers To Computational Thinking At Scale, Aankit Patel, Ashleigh B. Thompson, Heidi Williams, Octavia Abell, Carolyn Sykora

Publications and Research

This paper describes a replicable partnership model developed by a graduate school of education that aims to improve elementary student performance in science and math through modifications to pre-service methods courses using computational thinking (CT) content and pedagogy. In collaboration with computational thinking subject matter experts at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), a team of childhood education faculty adapted methods courses and field seminars to integrate CT instruction and activities. Pre-service teachers (PSTs) were asked to draw on methods and seminar coursework to design and facilitate CT integrated lessons for grades 1-5 students during field work and …

Guest Editor Introduction: Cultivating Our Field Through Sotl Practice: Teaching And Learning The Art History Of The United States, Julia A. Sienkewicz

Art History Pedagogy & Practice

No abstract provided.

Exploring New Pltl Modalities, Forging New Alliances, Nadia Kennedy, Ariane Masuda

Publications and Research

This essay focuses on rethinking and reimagining elements of a PLTL program, and on the new modalities to meet challenges of online undergraduate mathematics courses and rising demands for flexible student support. It examines advantages and challenges as found in the Integrated PLTL and Virtual Peer-Led Mathematics Study Groups, including issues such as meeting protocols, and the selection and training of peer leaders. Finally, it discusses an alliance with the college’s mathematics education program, which allows the PLTL program to draw on senior prospective teachers to co-organize and facilitate virtual study groups supporting undergraduate mathematics courses.

Open Educational Resources: What Do Students Want?, Aneeza Hussain, Joyette K. Noel

Publications and Research

This project aims at identifying the needs and requests of students for Open Educational Resources (OERs) in order to develop rubrics for design, evaluation but also revisions of OERs. For this purpose literature searches on the matter were conducted to determine if information on students’ perspective on OER content and expectations existed. Simultaneously, feedback from fellow City Tech students with experience using OERs has been collected. Our results provide insight on how City Tech students perceive OERs, in comparison with traditional resources. This also pinpoints the key pedagogical features that OERs should offer in order to attract, engage and better …

Covid-19 Impact On Radiology Students’ Distance Learning (Fall 2020), Mary Lee, Zoya Vinokur, Jason Chan, Renzo Marmolejo, Cherylann Jackson-Holmes

Publications and Research

Distance learning (DL) is a teaching tool that offers education to students remotely in various locations (Ruiz, 2006). The increase in distance learning education is evident in all types of educational programs including those in Radiologic Sciences. DL education programs are expected to comply with all standards just as traditional programs are (Aaron, 2015). With traditional class settings, knowledge is taught at a given time and day and is structured in terms of course development and attendance. It does not factor in the domestic and familial responsibilities of the students outside the classroom walls or the effects of a worldwide …

Learning Places: Place-Based Learning In An Interdisciplinary Approach To Undergraduate Research, Jason Montgomery

Publications and Research

High-impact educational practices outlined by the Association of American Colleges and Universities give faculty a toolkit of specific practices that current research identifies as having particular effectiveness in student engagement and learning in the 21st century. Included in this list of effective practices is undergraduate research. While this high-impact educational practice is most often associated with the sciences, it has wider applicability to undergraduate learning where the methods of research can integrate synergistic strategies that further enhance student engagement and learning: place-based learning and interdisciplinary teaching. In this chapter, these two compelling approaches to higher education are presented as …

A Plan For Democratic Public Schooling, Diana Concepcion

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project addresses concerns within inner-city public schools while restructuring how we facilitate learning in our school buildings. It provides an overview of continued research on challenges faced in public schools including reform policy (testing and curricular changes), privatization, day-to-day structures and how they impact the academic and social-emotional development of our students. By examining our current designs and policies, we are able to identify why and how these systems have not been beneficial to our students, and we are able to find basic solutions in supporting the holistic needs of our students. This project proposes a school plan which …

Examining The Effects Of Reflection On Professional Identity Development In Community College Preservice Teachers, Delia Hernandez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Grounded in the constructivist theories of Dewey (1963) with learning situated as reflective practice, the study explored the impact of guided written reflection on levels of reflection, commitment to teaching and professional identity for community college preservice teachers enrolled in their first fieldwork course in a teacher education program.

Participants in the treatment group received instruction on levels of reflection using Nickel’s (2013) Levels of Deep and Surface Learning. Pre/posttest results were collected using three measures: Reflection Questionnaire (Kember & Leung, 2000), Professional Identity Status Questionnaire - PISQ-5d (Mancini, 2015), and Commitment to Teaching Scale (Van Huizen, 2000). Researcher-designed …

The Objectives Of Public Higher Education In New York City Through The Lens Of Language, John-Nicholas Parker

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper displays the objectives of public higher education in New York City and their relation to changes in the city. Public higher education in New York City relies on the support of the public. This paper details adjustments to the lexicon of the school in response to changing demographics and historical events by examining statements provided by the school during different periods. Changes to the lexicon relating to class, gender, race, ethnicity, and military service are examined in relation to their historical context. Sources examined in this paper include commission reports, student newspapers, and mission statements. The paper finds …

A Single, Narrowly Focused Create Primary Literature Module Evokes Gains In Genetics Students’ Self-Efficacy And Understanding Of The Research Process, Alison Krufka, Kristy Kenyon, Sally G. Hoskins

Publications and Research

Exposure to primary literature using CREATE tools has been shown to have a positive impact on students’ self-efficacy and beliefs when incorporated into semester-long courses taught by extensively trained faculty. However, it is unknown whether similar benefits can occur with a brief exposure to CREATE in an otherwise traditionally taught course. We hypothesized that students who experienced a short-term CREATE module taught by faculty with minimal training in this pedagogy would make gains in scientific literacy and self-efficacy while also experiencing epistemological maturation. To test this hypothesis, we compared sections of students who experienced the CREATE module with sections of …

Democracy For Homework: A Review Of Civic Engagement In Urban Public Schools, Amanda B. Rosenblum

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Civic engagement education prepares students to actively engage in social and political processes and influence community change. Many educators believe that civic engagement ought to be a central mission of schools because: 1. Adolescent civic engagement predicts adult civic engagement; 2. Schools may be able to reduce the inequity in political participation between individuals of different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and 3: Civic engagement orientation and competencies can be developed through any and all content courses and extracurricular opportunities. This literature review on civic engagement education in urban public middle and high schools over the past 15 years explores: 1. …

Asians Applying For Postsecondary Success: Students, Schools, And Socioeconomic Status, Avery M.D. Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Higher education recruitment rates are rapidly declining as schools are stymied by dynamic demographic shifts and a competitive ecosystem. Despite the constant realities of this challenge for tertiary institutions, the complexities of the interplay for demographics, student motivation, parental influences, and school environments during the postsecondary education application process is often overlooked. This thesis analyses how these four domains impact Asian American students within the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) in terms of the number of postsecondary schools to which they apply? This study examines a sample (N = 662) of the ELS by employing multivariate regression analysis on the number …

Through The Scholastic Looking Glass: The Pedagogical Potential Of Textual Deformation For Poetic Studies, Taylor Dietrich

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines the pedagogical usefulness of the antithetical reading model of textual deformation for the study of poetic works. No formal pedagogical plan exists for the education of students in poetic studies through textual deformance. This thesis does not go as far as structuring one in its entirety. Rather, it surveys the digital humanities landscape, showing a collective affinity within a number of textual studies approaches that advocate for textual deformance as useful for interrogating texts, and aligns the overlapping symmetries within those working methodologies with pedagogical imperatives like those embedded in Ryan Cordell’s Kaleidoscopic Pedagogy Laboratory—the intent being …

Understanding The Student Perspective Of Art History Survey Course Outcomes Through Game Development, Joshua Yavelberg, Kelly Donahue-Wallace

Art History Pedagogy & Practice

This heuristic, design-based research study examines student perceptions of their learning experience in the art history survey course as manifested through a game design process. With the purpose of improving upon the lecture model of the standard art history survey, two sections of a capstone class of interdisciplinary art and design students—who had all taken the survey as part of their degree programs—selected learning objectives and designed games to accompany the introductory class. The researchers used the game design process to understand first how students perceived the survey class, its learning objectives, and the students’ experiences. Then the investigation addressed …

Addressing Visual Literacy In The Survey: Balancing Transdisciplinary Competencies And Course Content, Sarah Archino

Art History Pedagogy & Practice

Inspired by partnerships between medical schools and museums that produce measurable outcomes in the frequency and sophistication of diagnostic observations through limited art history-based interventions, this paper documents the re-orientation of a traditional art history survey course to explicitly address foundational visual literacy skills. This Spring 2019 pilot implemented a series of exercises and assessments designed to directly target transdisciplinary components of visual literacy and to highlight these competencies through student discussion and reflection with minimal disruption. This study employed content analysis and qualitative coding of pre- and post-tests to capture and characterize the number and types of observations made …

Teaching In A Flipped Classroom., Jillian Grose-Fifer

Publications and Research

In this chapter, I describe how I switched to using a flipped class model in an upper-level Sensation and Perception course, by reversing where different types of learning take place. In the flipped model, instead of introducing students to basic concepts in class, they answered guiding questions after watching videos or reading the textbook before attending class. They then spent class time working collaboratively in small groups on more challenging assignments, many of which had been homework assignments in prior (non-flipped) courses. In-class activities consisted of mini-experiments, and other student-centered hands-on learning experiences designed to foster higher-order critical thinking and …

Student Success In Psychology-English Learning Communities., Jillian Grose-Fifer, Kimberly A. Helmer

Publications and Research

Participation in a learning community has been widely recognized as a high impact educational practice. Here, we focus on a highly successful partnership between a psychology professor (JGF) and an English professor (KAH), who codesigned and cotaught a first-year cocurricular (Psychology/English Composition) learning community (LC) course for multiple semesters at a large public Minority/Hispanic Serving Institution in the Northeast. We describe how we created co-curricular links between our courses, which hinged in part on a collaborative podcast assignment based on psychology-themed books. We detail how we built a strong sense of community, designed scaffolded assignments targeting skills, such as information …

Supporting The Changing Practices Of Teaching In Business - Baruch Summary, Ryan Lee Phillips, Louise Klusek, Charles Terng

Publications and Research

This report details the results of a study examining the teaching practices of business faculty at the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College, City University of New York. The contents within cover how instructional resources and services are developed and used to support business faculty and their pedagogy. This report is the local results of Baruch College and the Newman Library’s portion of a larger suite of parallel studies with several other institutions of higher education in the U.S., coordinated by Ithaka S+R, a not-for-profit research and consulting service. Conclusions and recommendations detail targeted library programs and potential collaborations …