Education Commons^™

Throwing The Doors Wide Open: The Library’S Role In Fostering Accessibility, Christina Wray

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Libraries play a variety of important roles, but perhaps the most important is as a place where ALL members of our communities are welcomed. But, what does it really mean to be inclusive? How do we encourage our patrons to be inclusive outside the library walls? What impact are we having in the lives of our patrons? In this session we will explore how we can facilitate an inclusive mindset in our libraries and our communities.

Strategies To Use Work-Study Research Program To Enhance Professional Development Of Transferable Skills, Jaclyn Chastain, Hulya Yazici, Melodie Eichbauer

Florida Statewide Symposium: Best Practices in Undergraduate Research

Florida Gulf Coast University started a work-study program to provide students with financial need the opportunity to engage in undergraduate research. Faculty working with students research facilitate the development of traditional skill sets, including discipline knowledge, interpersonal skills, methodology development, analytical skills for the discipline, etc. To accompany this traditional research experience, the WiSER Eagles program (Work-study in Scholarly Experiential Research) provides an opportunity to enhance the professional development of transferable skills. We will discuss the connection between undergraduate research and transferable skills, the incorporation of professional development in the program, enhancing this effort moving forward.

Research Roundtables: Connecting Research Mentors And Undergraduates, Alicia Batailles, Alexandra Oldham

Florida Statewide Symposium: Best Practices in Undergraduate Research

The Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) at FSU allows students to engage in research projects that professors, graduate students, and community leaders facilitate. This poster outlines FSU’s Research Mentor Roundtables, an event where UROP students have the opportunity to meet a variety of research mentors in a casual setting to learn about their research and ask questions. Through this event, student researchers gain the confidence needed to approach research mentors with the intent of creating a new working relationship. This event can be scaled up for a wider audience across campus and help students get into research groups on campus.

A Cohort-Based Program To Help Students Prepare A Conference Research Presentation, Alanna Lecher

Florida Statewide Symposium: Best Practices in Undergraduate Research

Students move through many first time experiences when navigating their undergraduate and graduate education. Such experiences include the first time students submit an article to a peer-reviewed scientific journal, attend a conference, and conduct fieldwork. The cohort model has been shown to be effective in increasing success in undergraduate education, and it can be adapted to helping students succeed in these novel experiences as well. This presentation will explore one program where the cohort model was implemented to aid undergraduate students preparing their first conference presentation on a scientific research project. Program structure and implementation will be described.

Underserved Student Population: Nontraditional Students, Wesley F. Lewis

Florida Statewide Symposium: Best Practices in Undergraduate Research

40 percent of students enrolled in postsecondary institutions are nontraditional students (NTS), but many of the services offered are designed for traditional students (NCES, 2017). How does an undergraduate research office support this growing student population? To answer this question, a literature review was conducted, and the following themes were discovered: barriers to nontraditional students participation, programs designed for NTS, and a gap within the literature of student’s perception on participating in UR programs. Before addressing this issue, programs should first conduct an analysis of available data on their NTS to determine if special programs are warranted.

Developing A Distance Learning Closed Captioning Solution On Your Campus, John Raible, Jordan Cameron

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of 8th Grade Student Achievement Of Private And Public Schools In The Dominican Republic In Rural And Urban Settings, Daniel Boyd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in student academic achievement in private and public schools in the Dominican Republic in rural and urban settings. The 2016 8th Grade National Exams school mean scale scores were analyzed to determine if statistically significant differences existed among the different school types and school settings. There was a lack of literature on student academic achievement in the Dominican Republic, in particular on private and public school and rural and urban school students. The extant literature indicated that in the Dominican Republic, private school students historically had higher academic achievement on …

Framing Up Digital Literacy: Reviewing And Reframing Information Literacy Modules, Christina C. Wray, Rachel Mulvihill

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

When it comes to updating Information Literacy modules, it can be a daunting task to know where to start. This article will explore utilizing the ACRL Information Literacy Framework to identify skill gaps in the modules, create learner-centered experiences, and incorporate 21st-century literacy skills.

University Of Central Florida Graduate Catalog, 2018 - 2019, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.

University Of Central Florida Undergraduate Catalog, 2018 - 2019, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.

The Prestigious And The Predatory: Helping Online Students Navigate Open Education Source In A World Of "Fake News", Kathleen Hohenleitner Phd, James Campbell Phd, John Raible Ma

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Teaching early literature students to conduct research online poses a challenge when students encounter Open Education Resources. Some are predatory, published for profit, and not well vetted. Others are highly credible and perfectly appropriate for use in student essays. An instructional designer and two faculty members collaborated to design a module to help English literature students think critically about the online sources they find and how to best participate in the existing literary conversation.

Teaching "Like A Girl": Student Reflection Of The Benefits And Challenges Of Feminist Pedagogy, Ashley Torres

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Current unemployment rates, job market competition, and the thirst for the college experience has more millennials attending college than any other previous generation, but with the increase in university tuition and courses that feature both online and face-to-face segments for over-sized classrooms, approaches to teaching that keep students engaged can be challenging. Using my own personal reflection, anonymous midterm survey results, and Student Perception of Instruction survey results, the author analyzes the challenges and benefits of feminist pedagogy—a student-centered teaching method that focuses on student responsibility for learning, a decentralized classroom hierarchy, and strategies that promote self-reflection and participation—utilized in …

The Efficacy Of Peer Presentations For English Language Learners, Courtney A. Roy

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

This study investigates whether the instructional strategy of peer presentations positively influences English Language Learners' (ELLs') relationships with peers and their personal perspectives on their institution, the sciences, and public discourse. Data collection instruments included a pre- and post-sociometric survey to quantitate each classroom's social status, and a pre- and post-qualitative inquiry of appreciation concerning academic topics via oral interviews. Three ELLs from two learning environments participated in an eight-day intervention, comprised of 45-minute instructive sessions, to become proficient with an arrangement of scientific experiments. After the three ELLs presented these experiments to their classmates, analysis of pre- and post-sociometric …

All Deliberate Delay: Desegregating The Public Schools Of Orange County, Florida, Brittany Bernstein

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Discussions of the Deep South often ignore Florida and neglect to note the complexities of race relations throughout the state's history. Central Florida particularly has been overlooked and historians have yet to establish firmly the history of mid-twentieth century race relations in the region. Since there are few existing written accounts of the civil rights movement in Central Florida, this study attempts to contribute to the scholarly discourse about race in the region by investigating the desegregation of Orange County public schools.

The bulk of this study is devoted to the 1962 case Ellis v. Board of Public Instruction of …

The Assessment Of University Students' Knowledge, Attitudes, And Behaviors Toward Sex, Melissa Castora

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Previous research provides varying results in the affects of sex education. While the goal of sex education is to educate and therefore protect one's self from high-risk sexual behaviors, research provides support that knowledge and attitudes do not always comply with behavior. The purpose of this study is to test college students' knowledge about sexual topics, their attitudes toward condom use, and compare these with the assessment of students' sexual behaviors. Results from the study support the hypothesis that knowledge about sexual issues and attitudes toward condom use can not predict sexual behavior. The study indicates that students' knowledge about …

Design And Production Of Calculus Assessments, Lorna Wenzel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The AP Calculus program at Green High School was not adequately preparing students for college level calculus as more than 80 percent of the students failed the AP exam. The students were concurrently receiving high marks on in-class assessments. Hence, the in-class assessments were not good indicators of students calculus understanding according to the AP standards. A needs assessment was conducted, focusing on the difference in high school and college calculus, how to assess calculus and where Green High School's assessments were falling short. More research was conducted to examine the college Board expectations of calculus learning. A content matrix …

International Saudi Female Students' Experiences Of Acculturation During Their Study At An American Public University In The South (Apus), Hnan Alzahrani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to my literature review and my reflection of its meaning, few studies have been conducted that explore the adjustment and acculturation experiences of female international students in US colleges and universities specifically on Saudi female students. Therefore, this study explored the academic and socio-cultural experiences of Saudi female students before and after arriving in the US. Furthermore, this study identified the sources of acculturative stress and Saudi female students' successful strategies for coping with these stressors. Eight Saudi female students participated in one-on-one semi-structured interviews and Moustakas' (1994) transcendental phenomenology was utilized in analyzing students' voices. During the data …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Successful Women In Science Fields, Jonathan Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Girls and women face several forms of gender-based biases and discrimination in the science community. These issues create difficult circumstances for them to develop positive science identities. Since these difficult circumstances exist, science education and sociology researchers have used a deficit model to learn about their experiences, achievements, and attitudes. Understanding the experiences of successful women in science offers insight into how women can navigate the challenges presented by the science community and how science educators can support them. However, research studies that explore the experiences of successful women in science are scant. Therefore, the objective of this study was …

A Causal Comparative Analysis Of A Computer Adaptive Mathematics Program Using Multilevel Propensity Score Matching, Justin Seabolt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a computer adaptive mathematics program, i-Ready® Mathematics Instruction in Central Florida School District (CFSD) using a variety of quantitative analyses. In particular, students in the fifth grade at CFSD were examined in relation to the gains made on their end-of-year statewide mathematics assessment, known as the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA Math). Per i-Ready®, students who use i-Ready® Mathematics Instruction for a minimum of 45 minutes per subject per week for at least 25 weeks show significantly greater gains than those who do not (Curriculum Associates, 2017b). Therefore, two propensity …

Analyses And Comparisons Of Three Lexical Features In Native And Nonnative Academic English Writing, Xiaoli Yu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Built upon the Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis (CIA) framework, this corpus-based research analyzes three lexical features (lexical diversity, lexical sophistication, and cohesion) in native and nonnative English writers' academic writing and examines the potential differences in lexical performance 1) between native and nonnative English writers and 2) across all writers from various language backgrounds. The differences in lexical performance in academic writing between native and nonnative English writers and the unique characteristics of writers from different language backgrounds suggest the necessity of targeted academic writing instruction based upon learner needs. Using text length as the covariate, two Multivariate Analysis of Covariate …

An Examination Of The Insights And Support Of Self-Advocacy By Academic Advisors When Working With Students With Disabilities In Higher Education, Jennifer Farran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Self-advocacy for students with disabilities was noted throughout the literature as a necessary element for student success (Brinckerhoff, 1996; Daly-Cano, Vaccaro, & Newman, 2015; Gould, 1986; Williams & Shoultz, 1982). The literature also found that self-advocacy was particular crucial as students entered higher education (English, 1997; Stodden, Conway, and Chang, 2003; Vaccaro, Daly-Cano & Newman, 2015). In regard to student persistence, academic advising was the most cited student service (Hossler & Bean, 1990). Academic advisors assist students through their academic journeys and are tasked with assisting students to navigate college life (Kuh, 2008). However, there was a lack of research …

Reimagining Composition One As A Course In Storytelling Across Disciplines Using New Media, Angel O'Keeffe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the role that College Composition courses can and should play in addressing the digital divide and the literacy divide. For this project, digital divide refers to the space between those students who have opportunity to participate in online discourse communities and to contribute to the collective intelligence described by Henry Jenkins and those who have not had this opportunity even though they do have access to current technology. The literacy divide discussed is created when literacy is defined simply as the ability to read and write. Students need to be visually, digitally, and technologically literate. In …

Academic Advisors' Attitudes Toward Students Experiencing Mental Health Issues, Danielle Aming

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As students continue to pursue higher education, the potential for them to experience mental health issues will exist (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2011; Center for Collegiate Mental Health, 2012; Gruttadaro & Crudo, 2012; Salzer, 2012; Center for Collegiate Mental Health, 2013). When entering a new environment, students will look to make connections with the institution; one of these connections can be with an academic advisor (Harper & Peterson, 2005; Harper & Wilson, 2010; Kuh, 2011; Pearson, 2012). It is important for individuals experiencing mental health issues to make connections to the institution so that they are more likely to …

A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual And Transgender + Student Support Group Within A Central Florida State College: A Qualitative Study, Remy Ansiello

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For decades, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) + students attending institutions of higher education have been marginalized and have experienced hostility and outright discrimination, causing the need for student support groups for this population on college campuses. Recent laws passed at a national level have brought a greater level of equality to this minority group; however, feelings of marginalization, homophobia, heterosexism, and heteronormative culture persist. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to ask how students participating in an LGBT + support group within a Central Florida public state college perceive their experiences in college. The researcher also asked …

Middle Grades Science In Florida: A Comparison Of Student Achievement In Comprehensive And Subject-Specific Science Courses 2013-2017, Kenneth Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As with U.S. student achievement on national and international science assessments, Florida's 8th grade student achievement on the 2013–2017 8th grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) 2.0 Science/Statewide Science Assessment (SSA) was stagnant. To break this stagnation, many Florida school districts have changed middle grades science course offerings from traditional, subject-specific, discipline-based, layered, or field-specific science courses to comprehensive, integrated, spiraled, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, thematic, or general science courses. There was a lack of research showing if either type of science course improved student achievement on standardized science assessments. Controlling for school district student population, low socio-economic status (SES) student percentage, …

Learning Spaces Are Wac: Investigating How Classroom Space Design Influences Student Disciplinary Identities, Landon Berry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation used classroom observations, movement mapping, instructor interviews, and student focus groups to examine the ways in which both instructors and students navigated the classroom spaces they were assigned in upper-level, discipline-specific courses. By focusing on three diverse disciplines (writing and rhetoric, education, and chemistry), this dissertation makes arguments about how the design of classroom spaces (as well as the tools that are housed therein) support, facilitate, and detract from a student's ability to develop a disciplinary identity, which is defined here as the social and linguistic construction of a practitioner of a discipline that is shaped by the …

Warrior Women: A Phenomenological Study Of Female Veterans Transitioning Into And Through College, Alma Sorensen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Current research and theory primarily focuses on identifying holistic challenges of the veteran student demographic and does not focus on challenges specific to female veterans when transitioning into and through college. Additionally, current research and theory does not focus on positive and negative experiences of female veterans within four key areas of academia: courseware, faculty, staff/administration, and student services. As a result, current research and theory do not adequately explain why female veterans may or may not successfully transition into and through college, resulting in a lack of resources available for female veterans, and Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). This phenomenological …

Quality Indicators For Classrooms Serving Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Construct Validation Study, Rebecca Hopkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A rise in the prevalence of students with ASD points to the need for more qualified and effective teachers to meet the needs of this population. Existing research delineates evidence-based practices and teaching standards positively improve educational outcomes for students with ASD. Teacher evaluation systems have the potential to highlight strengths and areas for improvement in special education teaching practices. Research on observation instruments to evaluate the unique skills and knowledge of special education teachers of students with ASD is limited. A need exists for high quality observation instruments to measure teacher performance in special education classrooms serving students with …

A Multiple Case Study Exploring The Relationship Between Engagement In Model-Eliciting Activities And Pre-Service Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Mathematical Knowledge For Teaching Algebra, Aline Abassian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research study was to explore the nature of the relationship between engagement in model-eliciting activities (MEAs) and pre-service secondary mathematics teachers' (PSMTs') mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) algebra. The data collection took place in an undergraduate mathematics education content course for secondary mathematics education majors. In this multiple case study, PSMTs were given a Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT) pre-assessment designed to measure their MKT algebra, and based on those results, three participants were selected with varying levels of knowledge. This was done to ensure varied cases were represented in order to be able to examine …

Transitioning From A Monolingual To A Dual Language Program: A Case Study Of An Elementary School, Alex Davies

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study investigated the lived experiences of administrators, teachers, and parents from an elementary school that was in its first year of dual language transition. The majority of past studies conducted on dual language education focused on students' linguistic and academic outcomes (Lindholm-Leary, 2012). Studies investigating dual language schools' planning, policies, and classroom implementation are significantly less, and those that have, were at schools that were already functioning as dual language with the intent to examine what made the school successful (Alanis & Rodriguez, 2008; Freeman, 1996; Hunt, 2011). Through a phenomenological and case study approach, the current study …