Education Commons^™

The Embodied Experience Of Adult Educators, Heather Drew Francis

Theses and Dissertations

This interview study investigates the embodied experiences of adult educators, exploring how they perceive and utilize bodily knowledge in their instructional practice. Through interviews and observations with five adult educators, the study highlights challenges in articulating the role of physical experiences in teaching. The study reveals four major themes: (a) participants perceive or approach instruction as a performance, engaging with various performance tools like voice, sound, proximity, and posture to impact content delivery and classroom management; (b) bodily knowledge informs the educator's improvisational skills as they receive sensory input and adapt to student and environmental cues during teaching; (c) while …

Preschool Instructional And Assessment Practices At Stepping Stones Preschool, Julie Hoogland

Master of Education Program Theses

This phenomenological study included interviewing four individuals involved with the formation and current operation of Stepping Stones Preschool in Sioux Center, Iowa, to determine if their instructional and assessment practices as well as their mission and core values aligned with best practice. Analysis of these practices and experiences was undertaken with the purpose of deepening the understanding of what instructional and assessment best practices look like in a preschool setting. The results of this study show that the best practice recommendations that assessment should be directly connected to the instruction, child-centered, continual, include developmentally-appropriate practices in multiple formats with learning …

Physical Education Teachers' Instructional Adaptations To Teach Motor Skills To Children With Language Disorders, Kristen Morgan

Dissertations

Children with language disorders have a unique blend of impairments related to communication, memory (Gray et al., 2019; Montgomery et al., 2019), executive functioning (Kapa & Plante, 2015), motor skills (Hill, 2001), imitation, gestures (Wray et al., 2017), and reaching early motor milestones (Diepeveen et al., 2018). These deficits may negatively affect learning motor skills in physical education (PE). Instructional adaptations to overcome these learning impairments in PE has not been greatly explored in the literature. Nor has teachers’ level of self-efficacy in providing adaptations to children with language disorders. The purpose of this study was to examine instructional adaptations …

Lolita In The Contemporary American Classroom: Pedagogical And Learning Approaches, Jasmine Revels

Master’s Theses and Projects

The purpose of this study is to discover effective collegiate-level teaching and learning strategies for Vladimir Nabokov’s 1958 novel Lolita in the midst of the current American political and social climate. Some of the factors of the current political and social climate in the United States thought to have an effect on the teaching of Lolita, and were thus considered for further inquiry, were cancel culture, the Me Too Movement, and trigger warnings. Primary research was collected from college students and English college professors. To obtain this research and the opinions of respondents regarding this topic, a combination of both …

Perceptions Of Factors Leading To Forensics-Drama Coaching Efficacy, Anthony Wooley

Ed.D. Dissertations

Participation in nonacademic activities that focus on creative skill improvement, like forensics‑drama, can increase high school students’ intrinsic desire to learn. Intrinsic motivation to learn resulted in academic success at the secondary and collegiate levels and career success at the professional level because the students felt confident in their abilities. Because the forensics-drama coach was the primary factor affecting students’ forensics-drama abilities, a greater understanding of the sources of forensics-drama coaching efficacy was required to discover how to better serve the students. Ten forensics-drama coaches in the state of Tennessee participated in this qualitative interpretive study in which they were …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of Student Opportunity In Consolidated Rural High Schools, Bradley Smith

Ed.D. Dissertations

Since the early 1900s, educational leaders and policymakers looked to consolidation as a way for rural schools and school systems to overcome financial challenges and improve the educational experiences for students. Stakeholders were met with conflicting claims about the effects of school and system consolidation. Proponents of consolidation claimed a consolidation would provide students with more curricular and extracurricular options by way of financial savings experienced from economies of scale, while opponents of consolidation claimed the consolidation would not relieve financial stress but would risk more behavioral problems and a loss of community identity. In this case study of a …

The Athletics Behind The Academics: The Academic Advisor’S Role In The Lives Of Student Athletes, Max J.R. Murray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

College athletics is a mainstay in the United States entertainment market. The public will often recognize the names of high-profile college athletes as they move from college sports to professional sports. However, while they are in college, sports is not the only focus of their attention. Student athletes are in college to get an education. The academic advisor is someone that works with the student to better facilitate the academic aspects of college. Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews, I find out how an academic advisor views their formal and informal roles and responsibilities and how they accomplish them. Among prior research …

The Lived Experiences Of People With Disabilities And Their Families: Transitioning To Adulthood And The Role Of Independent Facilitation, Emily Christine Tang

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

ABSTRACT

Objective

Emerging adulthood can be a stressful life stage due to the many life choices available and is especially challenging for emerging adults with disabilities (EADs) who face additional barriers in accessing supports and information regarding adult opportunities. This qualitative study investigated the experiences of transitioning to adulthood, and the role of a person-directed facilitation service, for EADs and their families.

Methods

Fourteen participants were recruited through purposeful and convenience sampling. Data collection procedures consisted of background questionnaires and one-on-one semi-structured interviews which were then thematically analyzed. Field notes, member checks and triangulation were used throughout the analysis process …

How To Get A Job In Book Publishing, Grecia Medina

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

There are many different doorways into the world of book publishing and it can be challenging, but there are choices that can make it easier. Aspiring publishers often have a hard time breaking into this world because they have no guide. This thesis will be a guide to traversing the different avenues into the world of publishing. Prospective publishers, editors, and writers will be provided with a landscape of what it’s like to work in book publishing. It will also cover the two different ways that people become publishers, an overview of the basic requirements that publishing houses look for …

A Single Case Study Of Sophomore College Students’ Self-Awareness And How It Relates To Teamwork At A Private College, Jeanne Thomas

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Teamwork is considered an essential 21st-century skill and is now included in most university curricula. Working in teams helps college students learn skills such as leadership and problem-solving, that can transfer to the workplace. Effective teams are defined as those with members who communicate well and whose members possess a high degree of self-awareness (SA). SA is the primary component of Goleman’s framework of emotional intelligence (EI). A single case study was conducted at a private college in the United States to better understand how sophomore students described SA and how it relates to teamwork. The participants were sophomore …

Admission Criteria: A Focus On Using The Interview, Vanessa Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The growing number of candidates for allied health programs and the continued quest for identification of ideal candidates increases the pressure for allied health programs to continually improve their selection process. Despite past and recent research and the significant amount of literature on admission criteria for selective allied health programs, there is limited research on faculty perceptions of the interview as part of the admission criteria.

For this study, interviews were conducted with fifteen allied health faculty members who teach in a program with selective admissions. The interviews consisted of seven open-ended questions and were audio-recorded, then transcribed through Temi.com. …

Cyberbullying In Education: A Literature Review, Harvey Kenworthy

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will analyze different pieces of literature on the topic of Cyberbullying and how it affects education. The project will outline the differences between traditional bullying and cyberbullying. The various psychological, social, and academic outcomes of cyberbullying. Some of the current intervention strategies used in schools to combat cyberbullying. This project will also include interviews from administrators and educators from Summit County Schools about anti-cyberbullying programs that are implemented in their schools and analyze whether or not these programs are consistent with what the literature suggests.

Expectations And Experiences In A Modern Physics Laboratory Course, Helen Mae Cothrel

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines students’ expectations for and experiences within a modern physics laboratory course. The course instructor and several students were interviewed using a semi-structured protocol at the beginning (pre) and end (post) of the semester. Interviews were video-recorded, then transcribed to text. This thesis presents the results of three students’ interviews as case studies; their interview transcripts were adapted to a more narrative style for inclusion in this report. An interpretation of each student’s responses from pre- to post-interview is given, followed by conclusions which incorporate all three students’ interviews. Particular attention is paid to students’ ideas about experimenting …

Community College Transitioning Experiences Of Dual Enrollment Students, Sandra Lucille Fuline

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Dual enrollment transitioning experiences of students are poorly understood, leaving higher education stakeholders without the proper information to smooth the transitioning process and keep students in college. This basic qualitative study using interviews explored how 10 dual enrollment students described their transitioning experiences from high school to community college by investigating their motivations, ability to acknowledge self-efficacy, and understanding of social interactions using Badura's self-efficacy model and Keller's motivational theory and the attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction model. Data were analyzed through an open coding method to categorize themes and patterns as well as discrepant information. Key findings indicated that …

Going The Extra Mile: Successful Transfer Of Latino/Latina Students From Two-Year Institutions To Four-Year, Christopher S. Card

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative dissertation was to provide insight as to the experiences of Latino/a students at community colleges preparing to transfer as compared with those from Latino/a students who had already transferred. The Latino/a population is one of the fastest growing minority populations in the United States yet despite the growth experienced by this population in the United States, particularly in states such as California and Texas, accessing equitable higher education opportunities and achieving educational success have both been a tremendous challenge to this culture (Perez & Ceja, 2010). Eight Latino/a students preparing for transfer from two different …

Passion For Teaching: Self-Efficacy Of Elementary Special Education Teachers Who Have Persisted In The Special Education Teaching Field For At Least 5 Years., Lisa Diane Stewart

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology study was to gather perceptions of elementary general curriculum special education teachers who have persisted in the special education teaching profession past the 5-year mark. Based on Bandura’s (1977) Social Cognitive Concept of Self-Efficacy Theory, this study sought to understand self-efficacy in elementary general curriculum special education teachers who have remained in special education for at least 5 years. Lived experiences of nine elementary general curriculum special education teachers were gathered through three in-depth interviews. Follow-up interviews provided rich, thick description and member checking was utilized to triangulate the data.

Reflections On Donor-Funded Reports And Education Programs In Pakistan: A Qualitative Analysis On Pakistan’S English Education, Amy M. Puett

MA TESOL Collection

The extensive rise in aid from aid organizations and donor agencies for education in Pakistan at the beginning of the 21st century has resulted in a rise of the number of studies and reports on Pakistan’s education system and newly developed education programs. This was partially due to the concern about the status of the religious schools known as madaris and the quality of education they provided. The majority of the existing reports on education offer quantitative analyses and pay little attention to English taught in schools although English is critically important for job opportunities and professional growth in Pakistan. …

Developing And Implementing A Sustainable Assessment Program For The Self-Aware College Language Tutor, Brian L. Adler

MA TESOL Collection

The aim of this project was to determine whether language tutors at a community college in the U.S. state of Virginia who play an active role in the design and implementation of new assessment strategies will see an increase in awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses and whether this awareness will drive them to change and adapt their learning and tutoring for the better. The author will show that assessment can be used as an avenue for tutors to share strengths with one another through indirect observation in the form of recorded tutoring sessions, qualitative surveys, and informal interviews. …

Struggling Adolescent Writers Describe Their Experiences, Teri A. Spargur

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

Writing continues to be difficult for adolescents throughout the United States. There is little known about writing from the adolescent's perspective. This case study describes six 8th graders' thoughts and motivations on writing. The purpose of the current study was to examine the perceptions and experiences of struggling adolescent writers by taped participant interviews of six students, three male and three female, which scored below proficient on their state writing assessment. The conceptual theoretical framework for the current study is Bandura's social cognitive theory. The central research question of this study focused on the experiences of adolescents who struggle …

Clinical Interviews Shed Light On Relationships Between Next Generation Science Standards Dimensions In Upper Elementary Students, Sean Thomas Mullins

Theses and Dissertations

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) call for the use of classroom discourse and investigation into the relationships between their dimensions of science education. This study investigated how upper elementary students use the dimensions when responding to interview questions involving real world data. Results indicate a strong relationship between these responses and the demonstration of the scientific practice of constructing explanations and designing solutions. To support this practice, students primarily drew upon the scientific concepts of cause and effect: mechanisms and explanation and systems and system models. When these concepts were utilized at or above grade level, as determined by …

A Narrative Study Of Latinas' Experiences With The Leadership Pipeline In Higher Education, Ana Cecilia Marrero-Lopez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to report the stories of Latina’s experiences with the leadership pipeline in higher education, and determine what venues within that pipeline facilitate or impede access to executive level administrative positions. The practical significance of this study would include expanding the quantity of academic research on Latinas’ interest and inclusion in obtaining executive leadership positions in higher education, where little has been recorded of their presence or successes (Lopez-Mulnix, Wolverton & Zaki, 2011). In addition, though many studies have been conducted on racial and ethnic minority faculty (Eddy, 2009; Moses, 2009; Green & …

Perceptions, Beliefs And Practices About Technology Among Teachers In A Jamaican Infant School, Suzette Anissia Kelly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this interview study was to describe and explain perceptions, beliefs, and practices about technology among four teachers at a Jamaican infant school, by answering: What are teachers' perceptions and beliefs about the role of technology in young children's learning? What are the practices regarding technology among Jamaican infant school teachers? I used criterion sampling to identify participants for my inquiry. For data collection, I used semi-structured interviews, teachers' lesson plans, and my reflective journal. I applied a socio-cultural approach (Rogoff, 1990) for the data analysis to make sense of the teachers' perceptions and articulated practices. The findings …

Factors Influencing The Adjustment Of International Students Enrolled At Public Higher Education Institutions In New York State : An Examination Of Between Group Differences, Jay B. Deitchman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study examines the factors that influence the academic and social adjustment of international students at public higher education institutions in New York State, within both the City University of New York (CUNY) and State University of New York (SUNY) systems. The Achieved Sample was comprised of 503 participants. Five aspects of adjustment to student life were examined: (1) cultural and practical matters; (2) academic expectations; (3) second language communication; (4) near-community and social life; and (5) personal and psychological nature. The Post-Secondary International Student Experience Inventory (PSISEI), an on-line survey instrument developed for this study, was used to gauge …

Chatting About Science : A Qualitative Study On Increasing The Number And Depth Of Science-Based Conversations Among Aquarium Visitor Groups, Erika Kristen Poarch

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Informal science education centers, including aquariums, are often tasked with educating the general public on conservation issues, natural environments, and general science topics. The public tends to see these centers as entertaining leisure destinations in which they have the opportunity to learn something about the presented information. It is widely accepted that learning in informal environments is shaped by the learner’s motivations, interests, background knowledge, and social interactions. However, these impacting factors are rarely studied in depth, particularly across different types of visitors. This qualitative case study project integrates original research on visitor interests, motivations, and self-reported learning into the …

An Analysis Of University Tv Spots Aired During National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Football Games, Daniel Alford Roberts

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Public universities who participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision produce and air university TV spots during televised college football games. The purpose of this research was to analyze TV spots of public universities who participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and determine if university TV spots were successful based on the official theme from the university and how the viewing audience perceived the university TV spot. This research used a qualitative paradigm that involved two phases: Phase I was a content analysis followed by Phase II, …

Factors Prospective Students Consider When Selecting An Mba Program, Lorie Plyler Briggs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper adds to existing literature regarding MBA selection processes and helps identify and better understand the needs that motivate consumers to pursue an MBA degree. Through a series of qualitative, one-on-one interviews with 17 brand-new MBA students or prospective students, this research found that while many people have "always wanted" to earn the advanced degree, most have toyed with the idea of a graduate business degree for many years. The most frequent reasons that people cite regarding their decision to seriously consider an MBA at a large southern university centers around four desires. These are, not surprisingly, the desire …

Positioning Techniques To Reduce The Occurrence Of Dequervain’S Tendonitis In Nursing Mothers, Alison Virzi

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

DeQuervain's tendonitis is an inflammation of two tendons: the extensor pollicis brevis and the abductor pollicis longus as they cross in the first dorsal compartment of the wrist. Symptoms include pain, swelling along the radial aspect of the wrist, and a decrease in thumb motion. A positive Finkelstein's test at examination is seen. Frequently it is caused by repetitively gripping, lifting, and positioning the wrist in flexion, ulnar deviation with thumb extension. It is a common diagnosis in women, referred to as "washerwoman's syndrome". It is also common for new mothers to experience due to the demands their wrists are …

Re-Entry African American Male High School Dropouts Through The Lens Of Critical Race Theory With Content Analysis Of The Case Studies, Robert Paul Walker

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This is a multi-case study, utilizing in-depth interviews, of three African American male high school dropouts who are reentering an alternative high school program in Southern Nevada. The participants tell of their life experiences, broadly considered, in relationship to school, family, peers, and discrimination. Hearing their story in their own voices gives a forceful dimension to the statistics of the group many call the "endangered species." The in-depth interviews reveal the challenging experiences that many young African American men must rise above in order to survive, including the daily incidents of racism--both institutional and individual--that all African Americans endure. The …

Voices Of Summer: Interviews With Middle School Students Repeating Academic Courses In Summer School, James Frye

Theses and Dissertations

As the needs of society changed, states faced increasing pressure from the federal government to raise educational standards. States adopted rigorous standards, however many students failed to meet defined proficiency levels, necessitating summer school attendance or grade retention. Factors associated with academic failure have been extensively documented in the academic literature. The factors identified in the research can be organized into six categories, including motivation, age and ability, withdrawal from school, parents and guardians, school practices, and teacher practices. The purpose of the current study was to explore middle school students’ perceptions of factors which contributed to the academic outcomes …

A Hodge-Podge Of Written Realia, Suzanne Petrick

MA TESOL Collection

No abstract provided.