Education Commons^™

A Very Small Pond: Discovery Systems That Can Be Used With Folio In Academic Libraries, Jaime Taylor, Aaron Neslin

University Libraries Presentations Series

FOLIO, an open source library services platform, does not have a front end patron interface for searching and using library materials. Any library installing FOLIO will need at least one other software to perform those functions. This article evaluates which systems, in a limited marketplace, are available for academic libraries to use with FOLIO.

Nens, Jaime Taylor

University Libraries Presentations Series

NENS (non-student non-employee) are a group of designations for people who are somehow connected to UMass, but who are neither students nor employees. A person’s NENS designation determines what they have access to at UMass, including at the Libraries.

Exploring Faculty Consideration Of Instructional Resource Cost To Students, Christine N. Turner, Sarah Fitzgerald, Anne Graham

University Libraries Presentations Series

This study investigated how instructors consider resource cost and availability to students when selecting reading and viewing assignments. It employs a critical incident technique method, asking instructors to consider one course syllabus when considering their assignment practices. Findings address differences across formats including books, chapters, articles, and media. Most instructors never consulted library personnel regarding their reading and viewing assignments. Social and behavioral science instructor responses demonstrated interest in course material cost to students. Humanities and fine art instructor responses also demonstrated interest in cost and familiarity with library services. Responses from natural science, nursing, and engineering demonstrated less familiarity …

Barriers Behind Bars: Examining Gender Inequality In The Texas Prison Education System, Juliette Rice

Reports and White Papers

This brief is one in a series aimed at providing higher education policymakers and advocates with an evidence base to address how to best serve students in light of the challenges facing higher education. This brief was authored by a University of Massachusetts Amherst student as a course assignment for EDUC 674B: Higher Education Policy and was reviewed for accuracy by Professor Ryan Wells.

Expanding Access In Massachusetts: Inclusive Education For Students With Intellectual Developmental Disabilities And Autism Spectrum Disorder, Kerri Jarzabski

Reports and White Papers

This brief is one in a series aimed at providing higher education policymakers and advocates with an evidence base to address how to best serve students in light of the challenges facing higher education. This brief was authored by a University of Massachusetts Amherst student as a course assignment for EDUC 674B: Higher Education Policy and was reviewed for accuracy by Professor Ryan Wells.

A Tai-The-Math Historian Ai-Enhanced Time Travel Adventure!, Robert W. Maloy, Sai Gattupalli, Sharon Edwards

Digital Choice Boards and Interactive Learning Materials for Teachers and Students

Also available online at https://usablemath.org/

Online Version

Women In Sports Herstories Digital Choice Board, Robert W. Maloy, Torrey Trust, Brianna Hastry, Matt Seastrand, Jason Rivera

Digital Choice Boards and Interactive Learning Materials for Teachers and Students

This choice board invites students and teachers to:

• Create a timeline of gender equity in sports since the passage of Title IX in 1970.

• Develop a media campaign (videos, social media posts, ads) that highlights the history of female athletes in mixed gender sports.

• Design a mini-golf hole based on the achievements of one of the founder members of the LPGA (Ladies Pro Golf Association)

• And more ways to explore and learn women's sports herstories.

Go here to make your own Google Doc copy of this choice board to remix.

American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month Choice Board, Robert W. Maloy, Torrey Trust, Sharon Edwards

Digital Choice Boards and Interactive Learning Materials for Teachers and Students

This choice board invites students and teachers to:

• Write proposals to restore native names to local geographic places.
• Learn about the contributions of American Indian code talkers during World War II.
• Create trading cards of pre-contact American Indian dwellings and the biomes where they were found.
• Discover many more activities about First American histories and cultures from past to present day.

"Go here to make your own Google Doc copy of this choice board to remix."

Math Tutoring Choice Board (Version 2), Sharon A. Edwards, Robert W. Maloy, Torrey Trust, Madeline Hill, Sara Shea

Digital Choice Boards and Interactive Learning Materials for Teachers and Students

This choice board invites students and teachers to

• Draw math comics about mathematical concepts.
• Create a 3D monument to honor women mathematicians.
• Make a math story using stop motion animation.
• Write a poem using the Fibonacci sequence in nature.
• And many more ways to explore and learn math.

Elementary Students Designing Math Learning Slideshows With Nocode Nocost Programming Tools, Sharon Edwards, Robert W. Maloy, Sai Gattupalli

College of Education Faculty Presentations Series

Introducing Usable Math

• Free & Accessible: An OER platform tailored for elementary kids, educators, caregivers and families.
• Interactive Problem Solving: Engages students in grades 3-6 in math problem solving and design thinking.
• Four Virtual Coaches: Estella Explainer, Chef Math Bear, How-to-Hound & Visual Vicuna offer diverse problem-solving strategies through words, images, animations, and more.
• Encouragement & Motivation: After every problem a feedback slide builds children’s learning and confidence while fostering curiosity about maths.
• Multiple Modes of Learning: 17 modules explore essential math concepts and 3 new modules integrate storytelling, history, and science learning.

Enhancing Indic Children’S Tales With Dall-E 3 Ai Imagery Panchatantra: The Story Of The Crows And The Owls, Sai Gattupalli, Sujatha Gattupalli, Girija Talluri

College of Education Faculty Presentations Series

Enhancing Indic Children’s Tales with Dall-E 3 AI Imagery

Panchatantra: The Story of the Crows and the Owls

Comparing Teacher-Written And Ai-Generated Math Problem Solving Strategies For Elementary School Students: Implications For Classroom Learning, Sai Gattupalli, Robert W. Maloy, Sharon Edwards

College of Education Working Papers and Reports Series

Teachers and teacher educators are actively exploring the ways to use Generative AI tools like ChatGPT-4 in elementary math education. In this paper, we compare teacher-written and AI-generated hints and strategies for solving fourth grade math word problems as part of an open online math tutor called Usable Math. When given the perspectives of a 10-year math teacher and four virtual coaches (Estella Explainer, Chef Math Bear, How-to Hound, and Visual Vicuna), ChatGPT-4 provides text-heavy, largely procedural problem solving strategies. Teacher-written hints offer more ways to differentiate learning for students through the use of shorter, more child-accessible language; visual and …

Prompt Literacy: A Pivotal Educational Skill In The Age Of Ai, Sai Gattupalli, Robert W. Maloy, Sharon A. Edwards

College of Education Working Papers and Reports Series

Prompt literacy signifies a major leap in education, offering a potent tool to interact with generative AI systems. As an emerging necessity in the 21st century and beyond, it encompasses the formulation, interpretation, and analysis of AI prompts. Poised to be foundational for all future generations, this discourse brings to light its emergence in parallel with generative AI and its transformative role in pedagogical contexts for the coming decades and beyond.

Developing Usable Math Online Tutor For Elementary Math Learners With Nocode Tools, Robert W. Maloy, Sai Gattupalli, Sharon A. Edwards

College of Education Working Papers and Reports Series

Usable Math, an online OER math tutor, leverages the functions of NoCode tools including Google Slides and Carrd to provide interactive math word problem solving for teachers and students in grades 3-6. The goal is to support elementary learners in developing mathematical reasoning and computation skills through engaging math problem practice, hints and motivational cues. By developing Usable Math and making it available and accessible, we demonstrate to teachers practical ways they can use NoCode tools to support elementary students in acquiring knowledge and skills as math problem solvers.

The Creative Thinking & Learning Studio: A Catalyst For Steam-Based Adult Learning, Sai Gattupalli, Peggy Martalock

College of Education Working Papers and Reports Series

This experience report examines the transformative impact of the Creative Thinking & Learning Studio at the Greenfield Community College, a vibrant hub fostering STEAM education and the Reggio Emilia philosophy of learning and teaching. This case study illustrates how interdisciplinary collaboration and practical engagement in a hands-on environment revolutionize traditional educational practices, shaping innovative, critical thinkers.

Theories And Practices Of Emotion, Movement, And Embodiment In Mathematical Learning, Will Lee, Sai Gattupalli

College of Education Working Papers and Reports Series

• Physical movements, emotion, and embodiment are fundamental to mathematical learning.
• Problem: Lack of study in collaborative embodiment.
• Identified applications of embodiment using virtual reality. An exploratory analysis of a set of videos for an embodied mathematical game was conducted.

Prompt Literacy For Stem Educators. Enhance Your Teaching And Learning With Generative Ai, Sai Gattupalli, Robert W. Maloy, Sharon Edwards, Alexandra Gearty

College of Education Working Papers and Reports Series

Understanding Prompt Literacy and Its Role in STEM Education

● Workshop focuses on prompt literacy, a pivotal skill for educators in the digital age.

● Discuss fundamentals of prompt crafting, interpret and critique AI prompts

● Hands-on activities for prompt crafting, using CAST model

● Workshop participant backgrounds include:

• Edtech, speech-language, GenEd, Special Ed, Inclusion, AP Language, English, Business, World Languages, STEM Education, and more, across various grade levels

Developing A Culturally-Responsive Coding Scheme For Game Design, Sai Gattupalli

College of Education Working Papers and Reports Series

This research seeks to advance culturally-responsive computing education (Eglash et al., 2013) by creating an instrument to systematically analyze manifestations of students’ cultural contexts within the collaborative artifacts they produce using the WL curriculum learning activities. With an aim to develop an analytical “tool” to identify, categorize, describe and study cultural signatures in WL game design rtifacts, the RQ becomes:

RQ: How can Pusch’s seminal framework of cultural dimensions inform systematic analysis methodology to decode students’ localized cultural contexts, worlds views, and self-conceptions reflected through their collaborative game designs using the WearableLearning education technology across 3 countries?

Learning By Doing: Preparing Student Activists For Democratic Engagement, Marjorie G. Valdivia

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores how college students' experiences with co-curricular social justice advocacy activities supports capacity-building for progressive, democratic, civic engagement. Given the increasing and widening of economic inequality in the U.S. (Hernandez Kent & Ricketts, 2020), exploring how co-curricular experiences in higher education settings can support students to gain capacities for progressive, democratic, civic engagement. While there is a significant amount of scholarship on how diversity education and service-learning contribute to college students' civic engagement, the literature on student involvement in campus activism on progressive, democratic, civic engagement is sparse (Kezar & Maxey, 2014) Using a mixed methods approach, this …

Design Artifacts As Externalized Mental Models Of Children’S Science Concept Development, Christine Mcgrail

Doctoral Dissertations

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) calls for the integration of the practices of science and engineering across all science disciplines beginning in the early elementary grades. Science and engineering education research has determined that engineering design is a productive means for promoting understanding of science concepts. However, design artifacts created during engineering design problem-solving have not received sufficient attention for their potential to embody children’s science understanding. The aim of this study was to examine how conceptual development of the concepts of force and motion was instantiated in design artifacts by early elementary age children engaged in engineering design. …

Enacting A Critical Media Production Pedagogy, James D. Swerzenski

Doctoral Dissertations

This project draws upon earlier calls—particularly in the critical pedagogy, critical media literacy, and cultural production fields—to outline a teaching approach that balances technical media production practices and critical media studies. I refer to this synthesis as critical media production pedagogy. This blending of critical analysis and technical skill, I argue, is especially important at the university level where my research is focused, as students in these courses will likely enter industry fields in which they can influence culture on a mass level. Creating opportunities for a media theory/production synthesis enables students to translate critical ideas beyond the academy and …

The Gendered, Racialized, & Dis/Abled Experiences Of Neurodivergent Black Women Graduate Students Across Higher Education, Kat Stephens

Doctoral Dissertations

Black women graduate students with dis/abilities; those identifying as neurodivergent are scarce in contemporary research. Throughout widespread disability studies, research, and the research on neurodiversity, this lack is consistent regarding minoritized race and gender groupings (Matthews, 2019; Strong et al., 2020). Larger neurodivergent, ADHD, and Autism conversations tend to skew toward White boys and men (Travers, 2018). The convergence of disability (race, gender, and place/space) as another marginalized community and diverse student population, is an additional gap in the literature, despite the benefits of DisCrit (Annamma et al., 2013). Black women graduate students with disabilities, specifically those identifying as neurodivergent …

How Well Does The New York State Higher Education Opportunity Program Work For Black Men? A Mixed Methods Study, Michael A. Dejesus Iii

Doctoral Dissertations

Previous research trended towards a deficit-oriented approach to understanding and explaining Black male underachievement. The past education research has focused on discussing the underachievement of Black males in Higher education. Finding solutions often were prescriptive in “fixing” behaviors in Black males to improve academic achievement. Additionally, there has been a trend towards race-neutrality in education policies, programs, and admissions criteria. And there is a lack of research on whether race-neutrality further exacerbates Black male underachievement by ignoring key race and gender targeted supports services that could improve Black male academic outcomes in higher education. While Black men have historically struggled …

“Sustaining Peace From Campus To Community”, The Role Of Students To Promote Campus-Level Reconciliation: A Case Study Of Maluku, Indonesia, Julia Novrita

Doctoral Dissertations

In the context of intractable conflict, a higher education institution, especially a public state university, is not only a learning place for youth aged 18-26 years, but also a symbol of control, power, pride, and identity of dominant regional groups. This condition has made some scholars and practitioners in peacebuilding doubt the capacity of higher education to promote peace and reconciliation in the aftermath of war, arguing that the challenges outweigh the opportunities. Learning from the experience of the alumni of the Non-Violent Study Circles (NVSC) program and their affiliations at the University of Pattimura (UNPATTI), the largest public university …

Avatars & Choice: Fostering Student Agency, Engagement, And Equity In Assessment, Sandra M. Sweeney

Doctoral Dissertations

Provision of item choice and use of digital avatars in reading assessment contexts may play a critical role in fostering student agency, engagement, and equity in assessment. Using a mixed methods approach, this study was conducted over four phases within an equity framework. Phase I consisted of a survey, during Phase II an iOS software application and reading test was developed, Phase III was an experimental study, and during phase IV post-experiment interviews were conducted. Research questions for this study (1) explored student interests and experiences related to assessments and technology use, (2) investigated the effect of item choice and …

Investigating Bilingual Aac Practices In Bilingual Communities, Johanna R. Salisbury

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates best practices for teaching and supporting bilingual augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) users as they develop their communication skills. Although there are guidelines that inform best practices for teaching and supporting bilingual AAC users, there is very little information on what these practices look like. This thesis investigates the techniques and strategies that bilingual speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who practice in Catalunya, a bilingual community in northeastern Spain, use to evaluate, teach, and support people who use pictogram-based AAC modalities to communicate.

To do this, six SLPs who practice in Catalunya participated in interviews regarding their practices when …

The Effects Of Spoken Self-Disclosure Scripts On Nonaphasic Listeners' Perceptions Of People With Aphasia, Colleen B. Ward

Masters Theses

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of spoken self-disclosure scripts on nonaphasic listeners’ perceptions of people with aphasia (PWA). Self-disclosure is a tool that PWA can utilize in the event that they want a conversation partner to know of their communication disorder. However, limited research has been conducted on the effects of aphasia self-disclosure or whether it affects perceptions of PWA from neurotypical communication partners. If self-disclosure is determined to make a positive impact on a communicative interaction, it could be grounds for encouraging PWA who are interested to develop a self-disclosure script or use …

Professional Learning Cultures At Work: How Principals Serve As Catalysts For Learning, Christopher J. Tranberg

Doctoral Dissertations

Principals are an influential factor in a child’s academic success (Manna, 2015; Louis et al., 2010; Waters et al., 2003). Although the path of influence is often indirect, principals affect student learning by developing and sustaining strong professional learning cultures (Hattie, 2009; Leithwood & Jantzi, 2012). As a result of the complexities surrounding principalship, a desire to understand the attributes, skills, and leadership actions of successful principals persists as an international focus of educational research. This study examines principalship through the experiences of various stakeholders within a school system utilizing a descriptive single case study ethnographic qualitative approach. This approach …

Active Choice Or Default Decision? When Families Who Reside In A Competitive School Choice Environment Enroll Children In Their District Schools, Julie Spencer-Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations

The expansion of public school choice was an important component of the sweeping educational reforms enacted in the United States at both the state and federal levels during the 1990s. At that time, it primarily took the form of charter schools and inter-district open enrollment programs. Scholars have thoroughly studied the multitude of effects on students who exit their geographically-assigned schools and on those who are left behind. However, there has been little investigation of the school enrollment decision making processes of families who live in competitive educational environments and send their children to the district schools. Such scholarship is …

Who Benefits From Deferred Entry To College?: Exploring The Relationships Between College Deferment, Postsecondary Academic Success, And Institutional Selectivity, Gabriel Reif

Doctoral Dissertations

Prior research on delayed entry and gap years have produced conflicting results on the relationships between deferring entry to college and postsecondary academic success. Specifically, studies on delayed entry have linked the phenomenon to lower attainment rates, while the literature on gap years has shown a positive relationship with college GPA. These conflicting findings make it unclear for students, families, counselors, administrators, and policymakers to understand whether deferring entry to college is an opportunity that should be pursued by more individuals or if it is something to be avoided. The focus of this dissertation was to bring prior findings on …