Education Commons^™

Finding Focus: Authentic Inquiry And Composition In The Third Space, Noah Brewer

Dissertations

This research seeks to better understand the attitudes and dispositions of advanced-level English Language Arts students toward the activities of academic research and writing, and to explore the ways that critical pedagogies focused on authentic inquiry and composition interact with these attitudes. The project draws upon research in student motivation, sociocultural definitions of literacy, and theories of hybrid identity in order to discover the potential impact of engaging students in critical reflection on their own meaning-making practices, and of curricular and pedagogical choices aimed at making the lessons of the classroom more relevant to the demands of real-world literacy practices …

An Examination Of The Impediments To Implementing Student-Centered Teaching Methods In Public Schools, Nicole R H Adewale, Robert L. Bloch, Garry D. Gibbs

Dissertations

In education, traditional methods have long relied upon static textbooks and blackboards to impart knowledge to students. Unfortunately, the lack of dynamism with this approach has failed to foster creativity, motivation, inquiry, individualization, and other practices crucial to serving diverse learners, especially Black children. We sought to uncover barriers and potential solutions to this problem by elevating the voices of educators, from classroom teachers to building and district administrators, at a predominantly African-American suburban secondary school in the Midwest.

We designed a qualitative research study to answer a single yet layered research question: What impedes Black students from experiencing and …

The Practice Of Assessment Data Use In Student Affairs: The Need For An Expanded Conceptualization, Mark D. Manderino

Dissertations

Over the past three decades, student affairs assessment, as an organized functional area, has matured and established itself as an essential and expected component within higher education in the United States (Elkins, 2015; Ewell, 2002; Henning & Roberts, 2016). While professionals know that data use is part of the process of assessment (Banta & Blaich, 2010), there has not been sufficient evidence of what use of assessment looks like both in higher education and specifically student affairs, or how best practice strategies encourage assessment data use (Kinzie, Hutchings, Jankowski, 2015). There is a dearth of empirical evidence related to use …

A Multi Case Study Of Sexual Assault Policies And Procedures Of Two Residential Higher Education Institutions In The Midwest, Slandah Dieujuste

Dissertations

Problem

Sexual misconduct is a public health and safety issue affecting most if not all higher education institutions in the United States. Over the past fifteen years, student on student sexual misconduct cases occurring on American college and university campuses have caught the attention of the federal government and put the American public on high alert. As a response to public outcry, Congress enacted several laws that imposed requirements on institutions regarding how they address sexual misconduct cases to how and when they publish crime statistics. Although many research studies have looked into the issues surrounding sexual misconduct cases on …

Transfer Student Success: Latinx Students Overcoming Challenges At Two- And Four-Year Institutions Towards Baccalaureate Degree Attainment, Ajani Mcarthur Byrd

Dissertations

As the largest post-secondary educational system, community colleges enroll nearly 35% of all college students (American Association for Community Colleges, 2014). However, the vast majority of students attending two-year institutions aspiring to vertically transfer (from community college to four-year institution), fall short of their academic goals and do not obtain a baccalaureate degree (Student Success Score Card, 2013). To this end, the extant literature has illustrated students of color, especially Latinx and African American students, transfer and graduate at disproportionately lower rates than their white counterparts. Qualitative researchers have explored this phenomenon; yet, often fall short of highlighting the specific …

The Impact Of Two Tesol Courses On Four Preservice Teachers' Emerging Teaching Identities: A Case Study, Cynthia C. Chasteen

Dissertations

This multiple case study explores the effect of two Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) courses on four preservice teachers’ (PSTs) emerging teaching identities. The inquiry was guided by a theoretical framework informed by TESOL content, for example Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP), and context, identity and sociocultural theory. Participants reflected on the impact of their prior experiences as students and TESOL coursework on their fledgling identities through individual interviews and assignments in the TESOL Methods course. Other corroborating data collected include classroom observations and unit plans. Two levels of data analysis were used: (1) first cycle coding …

Culturally-Relevant Information Literacy: A Case Study, Rob Morrison

Dissertations

Information Literacy is a process for finding, using, evaluating and incorporating information into an individuals’ knowledge base. This process has been formalized into the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. The concept of Information Literacy as articulated in the ACRL Standards is based on Western knowledge and ways of knowing that resides in academic disciplines. This knowledge is privileged and regarded as universal, rational, and superior to other forms of knowledge and does not incorporate or reflect non-Western epistemologies. This study questioned the universality of this process as reflective of being grounded in Western culture and knowledge.

The …