Education Commons^™

Extreme E-Service Learning: Remote Learning For Undergraduate Students And Telehealth Intervention For Children With Autism, Madiha S. Muzammal

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Extreme e-service learning courses in higher education, in which all components of the course including the instruction and service is provided online (Waldenr et al., 2012), offer rich educational experience as well as mutual benefits to the students, community and the higher education institutes. Very few studies have examined extreme e-service learning. We examined an undergraduate extreme e-service learning course in psychology; students learned through a virtual class and provided telehealth behavioral intervention services to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Utilizing mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative measures including student observations, assignments, and self-reports) and a mixed design (single subject …

The Effects Of Isolated Affordances On Preschool Counting Improvement When Using A Digital Coloring App, Katherine Papazian

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Counting is an important preschool math skill that is necessary for building a strong foundation in mathematics. Previous research has demonstrated that guided counting activities can improve counting ability in preschoolers and that drawing on paper while learning can deepen processing, but research has not included digital drawing as a potential means of deepening processing while children count. This study developed a novel touch-screen app, which used a guided coloring activity to encourage effective counting skills and serve as a home numeracy tool that could be employed by all parents, including those with math anxiety. To evaluate the benefits of …

Investigating Epistemic Violence In Schools Using Machine Learning (Ai) To Explore The Effects Of Culturally Inclusive Curricula On High School Students’ Racial-Ethnic And Civic Identities, Leylah M. Bighach

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study investigated the impact of culturally sustaining/inclusive curricula (CSP/CIC) and experiences of racism in school on racial-ethnic identity, racial self-worth, civic efficacy, and activism for African American/Black, Latino(a)(x), Asian, and Indigenous youth. The effect of CIC/CSP on developmental psychological self-concepts and the impact of the public health crises occurring in 2020 on curricula and activism was explored. The effect of CIC/CSP on non-White youth from New York City was captured using an interactive web-based survey (n=155) and quantified using a branch of artificial intelligence called machine learning. Consensus narratives and focus groups (n=20) were used to follow up on …

The Effect Of An Elephant Conservation Education Program On The Knowledge Base Of Children In Thailand, Angela Larios

Theses and Dissertations

Habitat fragmentation and human-elephant conflict (HEC) are two factors that have caused harm to both Asian elephants and humans in Thailand. Think Elephants International (TEI) is a non-profit organization whose goal is to educate children on these issues to encourage more interest in and knowledge about elephant conservation in the youth of Thailand. TEI has developed a systematic education initiative and established a method for assessing the program’s efficacy using a pre- and post-survey. The current study analyzes student responses from one open-ended question from this survey collected both before and after the students participated in the TEI program. This …

Somebody Gave Somebody Some Kind Of Heat About Something: Teaching Controversial Topics In The Politically Polarized Suburbs, Melanie Waller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Scholarship on social studies education, agrees that there is inherent value in teaching students to deliberate, consider multiple perspectives, and work together. Teaching with deliberative pedagogies means teaching students to discuss and consider multiple perspectives. This kind of teaching can engage with controversial topics, or topics that spark disagreement in the classroom. At their best, deliberative pedagogies and engaging with controversial topics can prepare students to participate in deliberative, democratic life (Hess & McAvoy, 2013; Parker, 2003; Gibson, 2020). Deliberative pedagogies can work to prepare students to engage in an ideal democratic environment, where all perspectives are given fair weight, …

Teaching Beyond ‘Kings Leopold’S Ghost’: New Sources And Voices In A Global History Curriculum On The Democratic Republic, Jen Chapin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The complicated history of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not typically part of high school curricula, yet events and historical trends concerning this nation connect with many key topics and themes, including feudalism, Haitian Revolution, New Imperialism, genocide, World War I & 2, Decolonization movements, Cold War politics, neo-colonialism/globalization, modern China’s economic power, authoritarianism, cult of personality, grassroots democracy movements, responses to climate change, etc. Designing and delivering a rigorous yet accessible curriculum on Congo poses a challenge for teaching beyond “King Leopold’s Ghost”, meaning, working past the prevalence of materials focusing on Belgian king’s genocidal two-decade rule over …

Is Gifted Education And Its Program A Brand?, Farzana Begum

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The education system has been under constant construction. What will make our students successful has driven education to make a number of changes, and therefore, over the years, the importance of differentiation evolved, mandating the education system to acknowledge that education should not be standardized and that all students learn and retain knowledge differently. As a result, a number of classroom environments and programs have been established to cater to these differences. One example of this is the establishment of the Gifted and Talented Program or Gifted Education in the education system.

Gifted Education provides identified students with a stimulating …

English Learners In Nyc, Raquel Neris

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

English Learners in NYC is a Digital Humanities project that intersects Migration Studies and Foreign Language Learning Studies by presenting a podcast series about the learning experience of international students in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs at English schools in New York City. The project aims to provide visibility to the educational migration in this specific context and to promote a discussion on how international students and educators can reimagine their teaching and learning experience. It also aims to reveal ESL schools' challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they incorporated digital technologies during and after this event. …

Conservative And Cultural Clashes With Comprehensive Sexuality Education, Bryan Z. Anderson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis analyzes the multifaceted debate over the use of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in United States public schools, while also emphasizing the ways in which withholding CSE is a strategy to uphold the white supremacist patriarchy. The work begins by historically framing the evolution of sexuality education through the United States’ history. This leads to the current discourse around CSE and the ways in which it is the optimal support for American youth today. After setting this foundation, the thesis looks at conservative figures and groups who are seeking to prevent public school adoption of CSE standards, as well …

Who Are Our Teachers? The Impact Of The Composition Teaching Practicum On Writing Studies, Maxine Krenzel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For first year writing instructors, the teaching practicum is vital for navigating both the writing classroom and the institutions in which the classroom is embedded. The composition teaching practicum, or the often-required training course for new writing instructors, is where new instructors are typically first introduced to their institutional and departmental policies as well as to the field of Writing Studies. While the practicum is a course that is immensely important for new instructors, I have found that this course is nevertheless understudied, under- historicized, and—in institutional and disciplinary rhetoric—too often aligned with an abstract set of “best practices” that …

Identity, Access, And Equity: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study Of Mathematics Identity And Socialization In Pre-Service Teachers, Ashley Renaire Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Teaching practices in early childhood through post-secondary learning settings continue to reproduce inequities in mathematics education despite recognition of math’s utility and its necessity for competitiveness in the global economy. For reform efforts to be successful, teachers must change the way mathematics is presented in classrooms where students often experience differences in exposure to mathematics content and time spent covering particular mathematics topics. Therefore, teachers represent a critical component in the cycle of reproduction of unequal access to mathematics. This mixed-methods study examined the processes of mathematics identity formation and mathematics socialization in a diverse sample of pre-service elementary and …

“I’M Now Always Thinking About Math”: Exploring Mathematics Identities, Beliefs, And Lived Experiences Through Ypar, Maya A. Severns

Theses and Dissertations

This youth participatory action research (YPAR) study employing survey and case study design sought to explore and document the influence of YPAR participation on Black and Latine high school students’ perceptions of their mathematics identity development, what they learned about their peers’ and their own mathematics perceptions and lived experiences, and their recommendations for change in their own school and mathematics education in general. Eight high school participants were invited to engage in 12 YPAR study sessions that drew on the literature of mathematics identity, equity in mathematics education, and YPAR and were grounded in a theoretical framework including culturally …

Exploring Motivational Factors Related To Teachers’ Retention And Attrition In Urban Schools, Andrew Wintner

Theses and Dissertations

Retention of educators within urban settings is an essential consideration. More specifically, the retention of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) educators within urban schools is of great importance as the demographic of students grows increasingly multicultural due to shifting demographic patterns within large urban cities. I explored educator perceptions of motivational factors associated with retention and attrition through the theoretical lens of Situated Expectancy Value Theory (SEVT). A convergent parallel mixed methods design was utilized. Semi-structured interviews (N = 18) occurred simultaneously to quantitative data collection using a 44-item survey (N = 53). Analyses of the …

The Connective Tissue Of Well-Developed Interests: A Case Study Of A Science Research Classroom, Deborah M. Brand

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine ways that long-term interests in high school students could be inspired and facilitated in educational contexts. In particular, it explored how a high school Science Research (SR) program cultivated belonging and supported autonomy in ways that inspired and promoted well-developed individual interests. This type of interest is characterized by an enduring desire to pursue learning out of an intellectual and emotional need to gain understanding; it drives behavior, motivation, and cognition toward particular activities and ideas. Classroom belonging is derived from this sense of connection and purpose a student feels from the …

Balancing Inference And Prediction In Institutional Research: A Practical Comparison Of Logistic Regression With Machine Learning Techniques In Modeling Student Persistence, Alison Weingarten

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In higher education research, causal inference has traditionally been the focus over predictive power, with statistical models designed to understand and explain the relationships between variables. In the field of institutional research in particular, there is a growing need to not only understand these causal relationships, but also predict what is likely to occur in the future (Which students are most likely to succeed at our college, and who should we admit? Which students are we most likely to lose to attrition, and how can we engage them? Which students are most likely to struggle academically, and what interventions can …

Music Lessons, Cecilia-Rose Louise Bender

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

music lessons is a digital chapbook that explores the relationships between James Baldwin’s writing and Beauford Delaney’s paintings through music. From Delaney’s “Composition 16” (1954-56) to Baldwin’s “The Uses of the Blues” (1964), their collaboration with the core elements of jazz music gives their work rhythm and melodic contour that any/body can vibe with. Absorbing the influences of artists Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, and putting them to paint and text, music lessons demonstrates how music not only transforms the ways we experience and move our bodies but also the ways that we perceive space, relationships, and time. What’s …

Defining Twice Exceptional Learners: A Study Of Self-Concept, Alyssa D. Landau

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In 2014, the first operational definition of twice exceptional (2e) learners was published in Gifted Child Quarterly to provide a clear and identifiable profile of the population (Reis, Baum, & Burke, 2014). The article defines 2e learners as, “students who demonstrate the potential for high achievement or creative productivity in one or more domains such as math, science, technology, the social arts, the visual, spatial, or performing arts or other areas of human productivity AND who manifest one or more disabilities as defined by federal or state eligibility criteria” (Reis et al., 2014, p. 222-223). Publishing an operational definition of …

Using Bayesian Generalized Structural Equation Modeling To Analyze Latent Agreement, Sydne T. Mccluskey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Rater comparison analysis is commonly necessary in the social sciences. Conventional approaches to the problem generally focus on calculation of agreement statistics, which provide useful but incomplete information about rater agreement. Importantly, one-number agreement statistics give no indication regarding the nature of disagreements, nor do they distinguish between agreement on presence versus absence of a state or trait. Latent variable models can address both problems, as well as overcoming other well-documented limitations of agreement statistics (e.g., sample dependence, inappropriate population assumptions). Whether raters exactly agree is usually not the question of interest – researchers almost never care whether the difference …

Diversity Still Matters: School-Level Racial Diversity, Poverty And Performance Of New York City Public Schools, Byunghwa Kim

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

During the last few decades, schools in New York City (NYC) have experienced great demographic changes due to the massive influx of various ethnic and racial groups. Although the race and ethnicity makeup of NYC is 42% white, 29% Hispanic or Latino, 24% Black or African American and 14% Asian, 74% of Black and Hispanic students attend a school with less than 10 percent white students, while 34% of white students attend a school with more than half white peers. Also, more than 60% of Hispanic and Black students are attending schools where more than 75% of peer students experience …

Sit Less, Move More: A National Study Of Physical-Activity Behavior And Cancer, Stella O. Nwogugu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: Physical activity is associated with lower risks of cancer, the second leading cause of death among Americans. Yet, sedentary behavior is the prevailing lifestyle for about 80% of American adults. Additionally, cancer survivors remain significantly inactive, even though physical activity has been shown to decrease risk of cancer and cancer recurrence, improve tolerance of cancer therapy, and reduce mortality. This research explores the relative impact of personal agency, social support, and key demographic variables on physical-activity behavior for a national sample of adults as well as how these relationships differ for cancer survivors and their counterparts.

Methods: Using the …

The Nawat Language Revitalization In El Salvador And How Its Digital Activism Transcends Borders, Sergio J. Mendoza Gallardo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this research project I seek to show how digital activism for Nawat revitalization can transcend beyond the Salvadoran borders. The goal is to show how the revitalization of Nawat can have a better chance to be successful thanks to technology. Nawat is the last indigenous language in El Salvador, and its position within Salvadoran society has been uncertain for many years. Thus, I aim to show how technological efforts can help revitalize Nawat language with the efforts that are already being done. Although El Salvador has had a dark ethnic history regarding indigenous people, there are actions being taken …

What Is The ‘E’ In Esol? Three Papers On Linguistic Borders, Normativity, And Race In Adult English Education, Kelsey Swift

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this three-paper dissertation project, I explore how ‘English’ becomes a recognizable object within the context of adult ESOL education. Building on scholarship on named languages (García, 2019; Makoni & Pennycook, 2006), the historical construction of languages (Bonfiglio, 2010; Irvine & Gal, 2000), and raciolinguistic ideologies (Flores & Rosa, 2015; Rosa & Flores, 2017), I analyze how language, both as an abstract concept and as a collection of linguistic features, is treated within adult ESOL, looking at specific contemporary classrooms, as well as historical texts. This work culminated in the three studies I present here – focused, in turn, on …

Coloniality, Western Science, And Critical Ethnic Studies In Stem Education, Latoya M. Strong

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I use a critical transdisciplinary approach to examine how the coloniality of Western Science impacts science education teaching, learning, and research. Weaving together Black geographies, settler colonialism, and decolonial theory, I illustrate how the historical, symbiotic relationship between colonization and Western Science created a culture that continues to shape modern science practices and science education. The coloniality of Western Science was codified into science education, resulting in three approaches to teaching, learning and research—the assimilationist model, the capitalist model, and the imperialist model. Moving from theory to research, I collaborated with STEM educators over six weeks to …

Information, Communication, And Technology In Developing Countries: The Impediment To Nigeria Economic Growth, Fatima Ali Muhammed

Dissertations and Theses

Technological revolution has shifted the world to a post-industrial society as information communication and technology (ICT) govern the centrality of human interaction. ICT has become widely influential at all levels of life, especially socially and economically.

In the 21st century, innovative technologies have become a crucial element of accelerating all factors of production to deliver rapid and effective results in every sector of the economy. The Internet, as a component of ICT, has become the global computing network that facilitates the access, analysis and dissemination of infinite information rapidly using advanced technology.

Policy makers, researchers, business leaders, academics are all …

El Valle Del Río Grande Siempre Ha Sido Bilingüe. ¿Por Qué Sus Escuelas No?, Karina Guerrero, Jesus Chapa-Malacara

Capstones

Months before the pandemic began its wrath on education in the U.S., highlighting inequities that disproportionately impact English Language Learners, the Texas Legislature passed legislation (HB3) that created a funding incentive for starting dual language programs – a type of bilingual education found to be the most beneficial for English learners. As schools presumably “return to normal” and at an inflection point that could define the future of multilingual education in the United States, we catch up with several district’s in the country’s most bilingual region as it wrestles with and fights for how to preserve and promote bilingualism. English …

Marginalized Communities Are Facing The Brunt Of Student Homelessness, Alicia Gajraj S. Gajraj

Capstones

Headline: Marginalized communities are facing the brunt of student homelessness.

My capstone is a news article focusing on the rising number of students who are homeless in New York City. It explores how advocacy groups and active community members are working to help those in marginalized communities experiencing homelessness at higher rates.

Data: Data collection on the number of students unhoused in the past 11 years was done on Datawrapper. The numbers were found on NYSTEACHS.ORG.

Keywords: Student homelessness, Shelter system, Unhoused, Advocates for Children, Mckinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Schools, Education

Here is the link to my capstone: https://gajrajalicia57.wixsite.com/website/general-8

Report Card: Nyc's Student-Powered Newsroom, Julian Roberts-Grmela

Capstones

During my time in the engagement journalism program at CUNY, I aimed to use journalism to serve the community of students in New York City’s public school system. At first, I tried to serve students through my reporting, by aiming to center student perspectives in education-related stories in order to uplift their feedback about the system. But I realized I could do more to report with students, instead of just about them. So, during my final semester, I launched Report Card: NYC’s Student-Powered Newsroom. Report Card is a Substack-based newsletter and a training program for middle-high school aged students …

Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions Of Self-Determination Supports In Inclusion Classrooms, Suzanne Tiffany-Salogub

Theses and Dissertations

The outcomes presented in this dissertation were motivated by a scarcity of research that explores self-determination practices explicitly within inclusive classrooms. Three overarching goals motivated my research. The first was to understand what inclusion teachers know and do in relation to self-determination (Chapter 2). The second was to understand how their practices align with existing knowledge about self-determination in the field (Chapter 3). Finally, I sought to create an accessible, research-based tool tailored to inclusion teachers who seek to support their students in developing self-determination skills (Chapter 4). To achieve these goals, I designed an investigation using a case-study design …

Children And Technology: Why Technology Is Important For Our Children, Jill Mactiernan

Student Theses

Many people get scared when they hear about how much technology runs the world today. They tend to get frightened when they go to a store and have to use a selfcheckout instead of a cashier. Parents are scared of the dangers of the internet and how it will affect their children, so they tend to try to prevent/limit their children’s usage of the internet and other technologies. However, that may not always be the right move. Technology can not be avoided; it is a part of our everyday lives. With proper guidance and teachings, children can learn how to …

The Perceived Impact Of Project-Based Learning (Pbl) On Middle School Students’ Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (Stem) Identity And Engagement, Jonathan Olivera

Theses and Dissertations

Despite multiple calls to action, the United States educational system is not producing enough viable contributors in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). These fields continue to grow, and the STEM workforce continues to expand. However, the pool of citizens prepared to enter these professions is not keeping up with the demand. Part of this issue can be attributed to a diminishing interest in STEM by students, particularly during their identity forming adolescent years. Active learning strategies have proven successful in preventing this decline with project-based learning (PBL) being one of the most successful active learning strategies. …