Education Commons^™

Personality And Academic Performance In College, Jacob E. Alderson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Despite mounting evidence for the role of personality in predicting college level academic performance, there are aspects of this association that are still unexplained. With a sample of U.S. undergraduates at a large Appalachian university, this study sought to further establish what is already known about the association between personality and grade point average, credits earned, and retention rates by testing for both linear and quadratic effects. Results showed linear positive effects of conscientiousness, negative linear effects of openness and nonlinear effects of neuroticism for GPA. However, personality traits were not associated with either retention or credits earned. These findings …

Exploring Early Childhood Educators’ Attitudes About Addiction And Their Association With Student-Teacher Relationships, Megan E. Mikesell

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This project aimed to address significant gaps in literature around addiction-related attitudes by identifying early childhood educators’ addiction-related attitudes and how these attitudes associate with their relationships with students who come from homes with addiction. A sample of 501 ECEs completed an online survey which included the Public Attitudes About Addiction Survey (PAAS; a 54-item measure used to identify a person’s beliefs about addiction across five models), the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS; a 15-item scale used to measure the level of closeness and conflict), and various demographic and community questions. Path analysis revealed that both moral and nature aligned attitudes …

Intercultural Competence In The Esl Classroom: Challenges And Successes, Breno Santos Rodrigues Pereira

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This action-based research study investigated the challenges and successes involved in the teaching of intercultural competence in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. Most studies on intercultural competence take place in English as a foreign language classroom, and very few are centered on ESL instruction. It is this gap in the research that motivated the present study, in which the following research questions were posed: 1) How do targeted training practices in the classroom promote the development of intercultural competence as demonstrated by quantitative data?; 2) What challenges are associated with teaching intercultural competence to ESL learners?; 3) …

Confluence: Evaluating The Individual Learning Outcomes Of A Combined Citizen Science And Environmental Education Project, Evan A. Harms

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Citizen Science has moved beyond a methodological tool for ecologists to crowdsource data to a novel platform for environmental and informal science education. However, few studies document the individual learning outcomes of citizen science as an educational tool, particularly in youth or extension education. This quantitative study focused on evaluating the individual learning outcomes of an environmental education and citizen science non-formal learning experience about water quality.

In this study, an existing lesson plan using four sequenced activities was adapted for use with West Virginia 4-H summer camps in 2022. Potential outcome areas were first identified from foundational environmental education …

First Year Teacher In Appalachia: Place, Identity, Tensions, Michael Renee Lane

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This study centers on one first-year Social Studies teacher who is beginning her teaching career in a rural middle school in central Appalachia. Grounded in sociocultural theory, this qualitative study focuses understanding how the focal teacher discursively constructs her teaching identity including how she makes use of sociocultural resources, social practices, and the discourses she draws from as she describes her experiences. Data is drawn from a five-month interpretive qualitative case study that included semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and the focal teacher’s personal journals. Data analysis indicated that place is crucial in shaping teachers’ beliefs and practices—including their conceptions of …

Understanding Being A Special Education Teacher In The Era Of Covid-19: Teacher Perceptions Two Years In, Amanda N. Walkup

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The COVID-19 pandemic not only caused a disruption to the education of children, but has contributed to the ever-growing teacher shortage in the United States. In an effort to better understand the effects of the pandemic on special education teachers, this study utilized a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology to explore the lived experiences of special education teachers in one southeastern state. Lived experiences of these teachers during the pandemic focused on “Frustrations Beyond Their Control,” “Unorganized Processes and Procedures,” and “Building Relationships.” Overall, participants were found to either languish in the ramifications of the pandemic on their schools and students, or …

The Expectations, Experiences And Satisfaction Of Students Within A Nutrition And Dietetics Program Regarding Faculty Academic Advising Using A Prescriptive Or Developmental Advising Lens, Nettie Puglisi Freshour

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This research study examined student’s expectation, experiences and satisfaction with faculty academic advising using a prescriptive vs. developmental lens. The intent was to explore the student’s expectations of academic advising, determine if their experiences aligned with their expectation and if this led to satisfaction of their academic advising. This study utilized the Systems theory to determine how academic advising is performed by the program and if that experience for the student is how the systems (institution, college, department, and program) are promoting the form of advising. This study utilized a qualitative case study approach, guided by three research questions. Data …

Art-Based Social And Emotional Learning Curriculum In The K-6 Classroom: A Mixed Methods Study, Michelle Fegeley

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Preparing elementary school students to succeed in a learning environment that was significantly transformed by a global pandemic will require a major investment in new curricula that focuses more on social and emotional learning and less on standards that primarily emphasize just knowing and doing. This research investigates how the implementation of social emotional learning and SEL-based art activities in the art classroom can help to lower student stress levels in the elementary school art classroom. By providing learners with an opportunity to grow socially and emotionally, teachers may help students understand their feelings and use artmaking as a way …

Factors Influencing High School Physical Education Teachers' Content Selection, Olivia J. Gillispie

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

There is limited research that has examined the factors that influence the selection of content for high school physical education. Addressing this gap in the literature is important, as those decisions influence student attitudes and engagement in physical education. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, this study aimed to explore what factors influence high school physical education teachers’ decision-making processes when selecting content to include in their curriculum (phase one). Second, this study investigated the facilitators and barriers to selecting and teaching the content areas suggested in the SHAPE America (2013) High School Grade-Level Outcomes (phase two).

This …

The Eruption Of Disruption: The Manifestation Of Disrupting Whiteness In Secondary Social Studies In Appalachia, Elizabeth Disalvo Osborne

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This phenomenological dissertation explores the lived experiences of secondary social studies educators situated in the Appalachian region. Hermeneutic phenomenology was used as a philosophical and methodological approach to gather insights into this phenomenon. Interviews were conducted with three educators to capture their experiences from their childhoods, to their teaching careers, and into their current personal lives. These experiences were analyzed using a Whole-Part-Whole process to understand how they came to disrupt whiteness, the ways they did so, and their understanding of the impact disrupting whiteness for creating learning environments, developing curriculum and making instructional decisions. The findings revealed how these …

An Action Research Evaluation Of An Online Inclusive Sport Peer Coach Training, Margaret Roberts Condon

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Background: Trained peer tutors are a proven pedagogical technique that can help eliminate barriers to inclusion in physical education and extracurricular sport, including a reported lack of training and experience of professionals. When adequately trained, peer tutors can encourage social interactions, provide constant feedback, and increase active learning and engagement. While recommendations for training peer tutors have been provided, there are currently no known studies examining a peer tutor training in an online format for middle and high school-aged students participating in an inclusive sport program.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an …

Seeing Our Voices: Using Photovoice With Trauma-Affected Black Women College Students Within A Pwi To Explore Success And Persistence, Dariane B. Drake

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The number of students reporting or seeking assistance for trauma has steadily risen over time. Research suggests that between 67% and 84% of students in college will experience a potentially traumatic event (PTE) in their lifetime. This percentage increases for women and for Black students. As the number of PTE exposure rises so too does the need to understand how trauma impacts education, learning, and personal development. Researchers have expressed a growing concern over the needs of trauma-affected students in recent decades. There is a dearth of research on the experiences of trauma-affected students and their overall inability to persist …

Physical Educators’ Socialization And Self-Efficacy Toward The Behavior Management Of Students With Disabilities, Amelia Chloe Simpson

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Intro: Although studies have evaluated how physical educators learn behavior management, little effort has been made to identify the socializing experiences and sources of self-efficacy that influence how physical educators approach the behavior management of students with disabilities (SWD).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand how physical educators develop self-efficacy toward the behavior management of SWD throughout the phases of occupational socialization theory.

Method: Data for the mixed-method study included 85 U.S. public (K-12) physical educators who completed a survey that collected demographic information and responses to the Teaching Students with Disabilities Efficacy Scale (Solomon & Scott, …

Identifying Factors That Increase Sustainability Of Swpbis In Us Middle Schools, Heather L. Hoffert

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School-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS) is a multi-tiered framework with decades of documented success in reducing problem behavior, increasing academic achievement, and promoting positive school climates. Approximately 20% of schools nationwide (n=26,000) implement SWPBIS (Kittleman et al., 2020). However, many schools that adopt SWPBIS abandon the program after only a few years of implementation. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate factors that promote sustainability of SWPBIS. By identifying factors that increase schools’ likelihood to sustain practices, we can target our implementation efforts both effectively and efficiently thereby improving student outcomes. The Benchmarks of Quality (BoQ) is used annually …

Student Understanding Of The Definite Integral When Solving Calculus Volume Problems, Krista Bresock

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The concept of integration appears in many different scientific fields, and students’ understanding of and ability to use the definite integral in applications is important to success in their STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) classes. One of the first types of application problems that students encounter is finding the volume of a solid using the definite integral. How students approach these problems and how they use the definite integral to find volumes can have an impact on their future use and understanding of the definite integral.

This study involves a deep and thorough investigation of how ten students understand …

The Business Of Behavior: Appalachian Teachers’ Experiences In Using Positive Behavior Interventions And Support, Erin Michele Coffield

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This dissertation explores the lived experiences of Appalachian elementary and middle school teachers who have been identified as working in Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) schools. This study used Lifeworld Theory to engage in discussion about the teachers’ individual experiences in using PBIS in their classrooms in relation to resilience frameworks and childhood trauma. The teachers’ individual experiences were analyzed using a Whole-Part-Whole analysis to bring the individual stories together to better understand how PBIS and childhood trauma are experienced in a specific Appalachian school. Discussion opens up through the participants' experiences about grit models in school, trauma their …

A Narrative Inquiry Into The Influence Of School Shooting Survival On College Transition And Experience, Jayne M. Piskorik

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

There is an extensive body of school-related shooting research exploring causes, how to recognize a threat, and what preparedness measures are effective (Lee et al., 2020; Muchert, 2007). However, there is insufficient research on how the broader context of school-related shootings in American society has influenced college-aged students. The purpose of this study was to tell the story of how students have been influenced by their experience surviving the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting during their transition to and performance in higher education. Narrative inquiry provided a deeper understanding through narrative retelling of the perceptions, decisions, and experiences …

Appalachian Adolescents In An Out-Of-School-Time Program: Examining The Role Of Social Support From Family And Friends For Coping Skills And Intellectual Risk-Taking Outcomes, Summer Kuhn

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Research on young adults has emphasized the importance of social support for generating positive physical, mental, and academic outcomes. This study aims to understand the impact of social support from family and friends on coping skills and intellectual risk-taking among high school seniors participating in an Out-of-School-Time (OST) program in Appalachia. Data from the program’s annual evaluation (2014-2018) was analyzed to measure associations between perceived social support from family and friends and students’ coping skills and intellectual risk-taking. Moreover, potential differences in these associations across genders were considered. Analyses found a significant association between family-based social support and coping skills, …

Possible Paths Forward For A Practice-Based Teacher Education Centered On Justice, Joshua Harlan Karr

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This dissertation seeks to address limitations of Practice-Based Teacher Education (PBTE) in relation to (1) narrow conceptions of practice and teacher learning, and (2) peripheralization of equity and justice. After aiming to understand the landscape of limitations in PBTE, this study situates itself within specific manifestations of these limitations that exist in common conceptualizations of teacher learning and practice-based pedagogies. To (re)emphasize the situated nature of practice and center equity and justice in PBTE, I theorize an expanded notion of teacher learning, develop design features for contextually situated pedagogies of practice (Grossman et al., 2009), and implement the design with …

Examining The Efficacy Of A Self-Paced Online Training For Goal Writing, Allison Rosborough

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Educational goals can control critical aspects of intervention and progress monitoring for students with disabilities and as such are a central feature of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Despite its importance, school staff frequently report not receiving enough training or support on IEP documentation. Rosborough and Brandel (2020) investigated the quality of IEP goals written in the state of West Virginia. Findings indicated that professional development activities needed to be designed and analyzed related to immediate and long-term efficacy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a self-paced, online training for goal writing. Participants were recruited by …

Narrative Inquiry Of Early Career Teachers’ Experiences Teaching During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kinsey Ann Wright

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This study utilized narrative inquiry to learn the stories of early career teachers of students with disabilities as they navigated teaching during a global pandemic. Five early career teachers participated in a series of three semi-structured virtual interviews. Interviews were transcribed then analyzed using a six-phase approach to thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Nine themes were identified: Teaching, Communication, Parents, Special Education, Workload, Resources, Training and professional development, job satisfaction, and teacher preparation. Themes were organized and presented to answer the research questions of the study. The findings contribute to understanding pandemic-related challenges faced by early career teachers of …

Developing Teaching Adaptability In Pre-Service Teachers Using Practice-Based Teacher Education, Kyuil Cho

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The purpose of this study was to examine how pre-service teachers (PSTs) develop their teaching adaptive competence through teaching rehearsal and repeated teaching, which is one of the focused teacher education strategies in practice-based teacher education (PBTE). This study was conducted in an introductory teaching methods course of a physical education teacher education (PETE) program. A total of 22 PSTs participated in the study. Fourteen were male, and eight were female. The PSTs had varied coaching experiences ranging from little to no coaching in limited recreational sports settings, and none had teaching or coaching experience in the school setting.

A …

Choosing Not To Participate: Cyber Truancy And Special Education, Elizabeth A. Popielarcheck

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This qualitative study investigated facilitators and barriers to participation in online instruction for students in grades 9-12 with a high incidence disability from the perspective of the student and adult in the home (AIH). Three AIH-student dyads participated in questionnaires and an online interview. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and then analyzed using the six phases described by Braun and Clarke (2006). Eight categories that aligned with barriers and facilitators to participation were identified: communication, instruction in the home, role of the AIH, attendance, grading, teacher provided student support, overall quality of online learning experience, and suggestions. Categories were …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Causes Of Academic Difficulties Experienced By Students Who Are Culturally And Linguistically Diverse, Courtney D. Miller

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The purpose of the study was to identify in-service general and special educators’, counselors’, and English as a Second Language educators’ perceptions of the cause of academic difficulties for students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD). A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was used to initially collect quantitative data though an online survey with more in-depth qualitative data collected through subsequent focus groups. This design allowed the researcher to better interpret and explain the quantitative data by exploring general and special educators’, counselors’, and ESL teachers’ perceptions of the causes of academic difficulties experienced by students who are CLD, to …

Global Engagement Model For Land-Grant Universities, A Grounded Theory., Lorena Ivonne Ballester

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The purpose of this study is to examine how land-grant universities engage with the public in the era of globalization; to explain the institutionalization of engagement processes accounting for the global context; and, to integrate this analysis into a Global Engagement Model for Land-Grant Universities (GEM) implementing a grounded theory research methodology.

GEM’s foundation is both theoretical and empirical. Applying the intensity sampling method, the universities selected for the empirical base were: The University of California, Davis, Michigan State University, and The Pennsylvania State University. Rather than an exact representation of individual universities’ engagement models, the model is the researcher’s …

Exploring How Children Use Their Everyday Thinking To Construct Scientific Explanations Of The Natural World, Ashley Nicole Kooken

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The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to describe and explain children’s thinking present in multiple related contexts surrounding a single Earth Space disciplinary core idea in order to provide insight on whether and how children’s everyday thinking forms the basis for learning in science classrooms. As most previous work on children’s thinking focuses more on what ideas and thinking are present within specific science learning contexts, there is a knowledge gap as to how children’s everyday ideas across multiple contexts provide the basis from which they construct a deeper conceptual understanding about scientific phenomenon in the world …

“The Illusion Of Collaboration”: An Integrated Examination Of The Antecedents, Processes, And Consequences Of Online Group Work, Jill Cathleen Woods

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Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) presents postsecondary educators with a conundrum: how to design and support small-group activities without stifling deep and meaningful learning. The literature indicates that students are not consistently practicing higher-order cognitive activities, educators are not reliably designing or facilitating them, and/or researchers are not locating or identifying them where they are occurring. The aim of this dissertation is to explore these deficits by identifying the antecedent conditions that most affect collaboration. Specifically, I answer the question, how do learner’s prior knowledge, characteristics, and experiences manifest in their collaborative processes. Addressing a gap in the literature, this study …

Reckoning With Privilege In Appalachia And Higher Education: A Project Of Critical Consciousness, Sarah Powell

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This dissertation sought to interrogate the ways in which White, rural students from West Virginia conceptualized diversity before, during, and since their transition to a large PWI in their home state. Using Critical Whiteness Studies and intersectionality as driving theory, student participants and I engaged in deconstruction of privilege through individual and culture circle conversations. Then, participants engaged in self-reflection using codes established in Critical Whiteness (White normativity, White complicity, epistemologies of ignorance) as well as participant-drive codes that reflected other forms of identity-based power. Three waves of reflection demonstrate the participants’ continued cycle of praxis (reflection, action, repeat) and …

A Narrative Inquiry Into Veterans In Engineering, Miracle David Solley

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Much research has been conducted on student veterans, in general; however, research on student veterans in engineering majors is very sparse. There is national recognition of the importance of student veterans in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields as evidenced in the passage in 2020 of a bill investigating the lack of veteran students in these fields. This study adds to the literature by answering the following two research questions: What are the experiences of veteran engineering students? How has military service impacted those experiences? Twelve students and five professors from a Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity in …

The Process And Case Study Approach To Implementing A Nutrition-Specific Dissemination And Implementation Science Training In Appalachia, Ayron E. Walker

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Introduction: Nutrition professionals face implementation challenges due to their lack of knowledge to incorporate D&I science into intervention design. To improve intervention outcomes, nutrition professionals must be trained in D&I science, which are currently absent in the field.

Aims: To identify and assess nutrition educators and practitioners perceived motivations, self-efficacy, and attitudes in using D&I science to inform the educational design and strategies of a nutrition-specific D&I curriculum for nutrition educators. Then to test feasibility of the nutrition-specific curriculum in increasing knowledge, self-efficacy, and attitudes by a case study approach, pre/post intervention design.

Methods: First, scoping review methodology involved the …