Education Commons^™

Key Stakeholders' Perceptions Of Stem Education In Zambia: A Mixed Methods Inquiry, Choobe M. Maambo

Dissertations

In the recent past, the concept of STEM education has become a “buzz phrase” in the Zambian education system, and yet, very little is known about STEM education let alone what those involved in STEM think or know about STEM in the country. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate key STEM stakeholders’ perceptions of STEM education in Zambia. To better understand STEM in the country, it was critical to explore the perceptions of STEM held by STEM teachers, STEM administrators, and STEM policymakers in the perception domains of STEM vision, STEM definition, STEM purpose, STEM relevance, and …

Culturally Relevant Practices And Community: Increasing Minority Leadership In School Administration To Improve School Climate, Cassandra Suggs, Joy N. Rogers

Dissertations

This dissertation and research looks into the area of Culturally Relevant Practices and Leadership in K-12 schools and the potential effect on all students in having minority leadership present. The research dives into interviews of teachers, hiring leaders, district leaders and building leaders. It also uses survey results from over 700 students, with the central theme of the questions around school safety, climate, culture, support, academics and a sense of belonging. The research purpose was to look into the potential positive effect on students and staff, if Culturally Relevant Practices and hiring of minority leadership was in place within school …

Participation In Open Up Resources By Gender And Family Income Level On Mathematics Achievement Of Grades 7 And 8 Students, Timothy Brister

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine the effects by gender and by family-income level between students using Open Up Resources (OUR) curriculum (a Problem-Based Learning [PBL] curriculum) versus traditional curriculum on mathematics achievement of Grades 7 and 8 students. A stratified random sample of 320 students from four Central and Southeast Arkansas schools (n = 160 for Grades 7 and 8, respectively) was drawn for this study. Data analysis involved the use of 2 x 2 factorial ANOVAs. The key findings of the study were that the mathematics achievement of Grade 8 students using OUR was significantly higher …

Home Economics And Food Literacy: An Investigation Into The Factors Influencing The Effective Delivery Of Food Literacy Curricula In Irish Post Primary Schools As Perceived By Key Stakeholders, Aisling Geraghty

Dissertations

In 2018 the new Junior Cycle specification for home economics was introduced. This year also saw the recommendation by the Irish State to make home economics compulsory for all Junior Cycle students. Home economics is a multifaceted, inter disciplinary subject that seeks to empower students with the skills to cultivate reflective, critical decision-making abilities they require to deal with practical perennial problems. Food literacy exists as a key contextual strand to home economics, and to this new Junior Cycle curriculum in particular. This study seeks to identify influences, both positive and negative, that impact on the effective delivery of food …

(Re)Imagining Community-Engaged Curriculum And Pedagogy: Shifting Subjectivities And Power/Knowledge Among Faculty/Doctoral Students, Anne Catherine Kelly

Dissertations

This dissertation explores new possibilities for researching and representing community-engaged curriculum and pedagogical practices among faculty and their doctoral students. Community-engagement is (re)imagined within nonfiction-fiction writing to provide a line of inquiry that integrates data and theory (Jackson & Mazzei, 2017). I probe, question, and disrupt stable notions of engaged teaching-learning and research. Foucauldian concept of power/knowledge is used to interrogate faculty/doctoral students’ shifting subjectivities and discursive construction of community-engagement. Post qualitative inquiry provides a methodological lens to (re)consider new ways of framing community-engagement and acknowledges the crisis of representing research as it is always partial and incomplete. Through the …

A Strategic Plan To Thread Genomics Competencies Into Undergraduate Curriculum, Holly Mathis

Dissertations

Problem: Genomics in undergraduate nursing education has experienced slow adoption in the United States. Various approaches have been proposed but do not address barriers to successful implementation.

Methods: A strategic plan was developed to increase the amount of genetics and genomic content in the curriculum of an undergraduate nursing program. A gap analysis was performed on the curriculum revealing a paucity of content. A SWOT analysis informed the strategic plan, which included a faculty education program using the ANA/ISONG’s Essentials of Genetic and Genomic Nursing: Competencies, Curricula Guidelines and Outcome Indicators (2^nd ed.) (2009) as a foundation.

Results: Faculty …

Effects Of Participation In The Summit Learning Platform By Gender On Student Academic Achievement, Taryn Enjoli Echols

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine the effects by gender of the Summit Learning Platform on student achievement in mathematics, English, reading, and Science measured by the ACT Aspire Summative Assessment for ninth-grade students in four schools in Arkansas. This study provides an in-depth study of mastery learning versus personalized learning through the Summit Learning Platform. The theoretical framework is centered on the comparisons of the mastery mode of learning. Schools A and D participated in the Summit Learning Platform for 2 years. Schools B and C did not participate in the personalized learning platform. Scores from 120 …

Institutional Adoption And Implementation Of A Mandated Community College First Year Experience Course, Carmen Varney Purpus

Dissertations

This purpose of the research study is two-fold. The first aim is to establish strategies that can guide community colleges interested in the implementation of a mandated First Year Experience course as well as to identify barriers community colleges may encounter to help them move from desiring a mandated student success course to acting to create one. It is widely believed that student success course helps students learn to be successful, but it is not a widely accepted practice to mandate it for all students.

The second objective is to add to the limited body of research. A nonexperimental descriptive …

The Blueprint Of Reform, Social Justice Questions, And The Missing Perspective Of African Americans, Raymellia Jones

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

American schools were successful in assimilating European immigrants and their descendants, this has not been the case for nonwhites. Orfield points out the fact that Native Americans, African Americans, and people of Mexican origin in the United States received little education until well into the twentieth century is an indication of historical educational barriers facing nonwhite people (2013). The purpose of this study is to raise awareness to the evidence of the historical roots of racial inequality in failing schools and how it relates to Black and Latino students locked into inferior schools today. I provide a historical background …

Explicitly Teaching Scientific Argumentation: Using Action Research To Study High School Science Readiness And Detracking, Ami Lefevre

Dissertations

Access to advanced-level science courses can be difficult for those students who start in a tracked system. Tracking is an educational practice where students are assigned to different classes based on ability level. African American and Hispanic students are most at risk since most minority students are found in the lower level track (Burris, 2014; Mehan, 2015; Oakes, 2005). This investigation used an action research approach to determine how explicitly taught elements of scientific argumentation would impact student mastery of argument skills and influence instructional practices by a professional learning community. A mixed method study was used to collect qualitative …

Embedding Diversity Into The Curriculum: Facilitating Challenging Conversations, Chimille E. Dillard

Dissertations

Wagner, Kegan, Lahey, Lemons, Garnier, Helsing, and Rasmussen’s (2006) four C’s, consisting of competency, conditions, culture, and context, were used to think systemically when looking at the current (As-Is) and projected (To-Be) in the Galaxy School district. This paper focused on the need to embed past and current racial and gender diversity issues into the everyday curriculum in an effort to have a positive impact on students’ social-emotional learning skills. The current curriculum has limited racial and no gender diversity. Students can go from Kindergarten to eighth grade being taught very little history and current events that are racially and …

Teachers' Confidence And Preparedness For Teaching Mobile Learners, Kelley Kirk Gonzales

Dissertations

Mobile devices, such as tablets, laptops, and Smart phones have changed the landscape of education requiring teachers to integrate technology in the classroom. The integration of mobile devices in the classroom is referred to as mobile learning, and requires teachers to be confident and prepared in their ability to teach mobile learners. This study was an attempt to explore and examine teachers’ confidence and preparedness in teaching mobile learners and close some of the gaps in the research. A quantitative method of investigation and analysis was used for this study to draw conclusions relative not only to teachers’ confidence and …

Up In Smoke: Using In-School Tobacco Education And Media Literacy To Reduce Smoking Initation Among 7th Grade Students In A Suburban Setting, Cynthia Ford Pulley

Dissertations

ABSTRACT Purpose The uptake of smoking by youth under the age of 18 increases the likelihood that they will become lifetime smokers. The CDC recommends best practices regarding tobacco prevention. Among them are Community Policies for tobacco-free zones, community initiatives, anti-tobacco media campaigns, and access to quit-smoking resources. The last of these best practices is a recommendation to provide education in the schools. The subject of this research was the implementation of an in-school tobacco curriculum based on Media Literacy, which provides youth the ability to critically evaluate media messages that equate the “cool” smoking habit with beauty, confidence and …

Refreshment For The Soul: A Phenomenological Study Of The Student Experience Of Beauty In School, Paul Reiff

Dissertations

Prompted by the ratio-scientific emphasis in the curriculum, I conducted this study to explore the lifeworlds of students to understand their lived experience of beauty in school. This investigation entailed a phenomenological study, the method of which included in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with four high school students. This study aimed to examine the essence of beauty in the lived experience of students in school, to explore the perceptions of students regarding school as a place to appreciate beauty, and to understand the needs of students as a place that develops their aesthetic sensibilities. The findings include the description …

Curricular Instruction Of Global Leadership At Colleges And Universities In The United States, Tara L. Edberg

Dissertations

Colleges and universities in the United States have made leadership education a priority as they prepare students to confront adaptive challenges in the 21st century; “wicked problems” such as poverty, uneven opportunities for education, homelessness, and illnesses worldwide. In addition, with the increased globalization of our world, the need to teach students how to lead in a complicated, multicultural context intensifies. Global leadership is an emergent concept in the leadership field combining leadership practices with those of global cultural competency while highlighting the significance of a dynamic and complex context in the leadership process.

While there has been a significant …

What Concerns Are Secondary Mathematics Teachers Experiencing With The Implementation Of The Common Core State Standards For Mathematics And Is There A Relationship Between The Concerns And Professional Development Received?, Suzanne Therez Jennings

Dissertations

Using the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) as the theoretical framework, this mixed-methods study utilized three research methods, quantitative, profile interpretation, and qualitative to answer the research questions to investigate the concerns teachers were experiencing during the first year of implementing the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) and to determine if professional development affected those concerns. The Stage of Concern questionnaire which included two open-ended questions was employed to survey 88 secondary Mississippi mathematics teachers. MANOVA was used to investigate any differences in the means of the relative levels of intensity present within the subgroups which are inconclusive. …

Assessing Awareness, Interest, And Knowledge Of Fractal Geometry Among Secondary Mathematics Teachers In The United States And China, Suanrong Chen

Dissertations

Fractal geometry has gained great attention from mathematicians and scientists in the past three decades (Fraboni, & Moller, 2008). As a new geometry language and subject, fractal geometry has significant value in teaching and learning secondary mathematics. The present study focused on investigating the current state of mathematics teachers’ awareness, interest, and knowledge of fractal geometry in the U.S. and China, as well as the factors that influence them.

The instrument of the study included a survey and a test designed by the researcher and validated by five experts. The results of the study indicated that secondary math teachers in …

Curriculum-Related Trends In K-12 Adventist Education In The North American Division: An Inductive Analysis Of The Profile Surveys--1987-2007, Monica Desir

Dissertations

Problem

For several years, curriculum developers in the North American Division (NAD) have used the biennial results from the Profile Surveys to help guide their decisions in terms of educational policy. While some comparisons have been made between individual studies and ensuing results have been used to influence curriculum development, overall trends in the 10 studies up to 2007 have not been identified. As the studies increased in number, an integrative effort was needed in order help reveal the trends in the combined results and to make them available in more compact form for use by curriculum developers.

Method

The …

Science Youth Action Research: Promoting Critical Science Literacy Through Relevance And Agency, Elizabeth Coleman

Dissertations

This three-article dissertation presents complementary perspectives on Science Youth Action Research (Sci-YAR), a K-12 curriculum designed to emphasize relevance and agency to promote youth's science learning. In Sci-YAR, youth conduct action research projects to better understand science-related issues in their lives, schools, or communities, while they simultaneously document, analyze, and reflect upon their own practices as researchers. The first article defines Sci-YAR and argues for its potential to enhance youth's participation as citizens in a democratic society. The second article details findings from a case study of youth engaged in Sci-YAR, describing how the curriculum enabled and constrained youth's identity …

Prekindergarten And Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions Of Demographic Determinants And Academic Success, Melanie Ellen Boyle

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine kindergarten and prekindergarten teachers' perceptions of academic success for children based on the type of care children received prior to beginning kindergarten, as well as other demographics, which could cause variations in academic success. The researcher used a seven section multi-method survey instrument, which included teacher demographic questions, Likert-scale perception questions, and one open-ended question. Sections of inquiry included: Common Core, general academic risk factors for students, barriers to overall academic success, student demographics, and promotion of academic success for students. The survey instrument was distributed to prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers in …

Student Thoughts And Perceptions On Curriculum Reform, Douglas D. Vanderjagt

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine how students experience and respond to Michigan’s increased graduation requirements. The study was conducted in a large, suburban high school that instituted a change to a trimester system in response to the state mandate. A criterion-based sample of 16 students, both college bound and non-college bound, participated in one-on-one interviews regarding their knowledge about, their understanding of, and their experience with the new Michigan Merit Curriculum, and how this increase impacted the student participants’ high school academic choices and/or postsecondary plans. Additionally, this study engaged focus groups of one or …

High School Curriculum Tracks As Determinants Of Post-Secondary Outcomes: A Study Of Track Mobility And Its Effects, William Morrison

Dissertations

Despite scores of studies that have shown that tracking and ability grouping perpetuate the academic achievement gap that exists in the United States, the practice continues. The reason for this persistence is a confluence of educational, social, and political factors. As tracking will continue as practice for the foreseeable future, research must help to identify the best and worst of tracking practices so that its negative effects are minimized and positive effects maximized. Oakes (2005) has identified five common elements of tracking policies and practices: extent, pervasiveness, flexibility, mobility, and locus of control. Of these elements, it is my contention …

Leadership Team Actions That Manifest Collective Autonomy And Their Impact On Student Growth And Curriculum, Brian Keith Wegley

Dissertations

To be successful in the age of accountability, principals and all school leaders need to continue to build their capacity to lead meaningful, systemic and sustainable student improvement efforts that incorporate the required areas of reading and mathematics. A review of the educational literature revealed several studies that identified the limitations of America's current school accountability movement and described the narrowing of curriculum as a negative side effect of No Child Left Behind.

Educational research on leadership included a multitude of studies and leadership models for implementing change; this study focused on ideas contained within Zmuda, Kuklis and Kline's (2004) …

An Exploratory Study Of The Curricular Integration Of Ethics In Executive Mba Programs, Jaime M. Franco

Dissertations

An Exploratory Study of the Curricular Integration of Ethics in Executive MBA Programs

News headlines of corporate scandals have unleashed a contentious debate of whether or not graduate management education has contributed to corporate collapses and the resultant financial crisis. In particular, questions abound as to the willingness of Executive MBA program (EMBA) administrators and faculty to integrate ethics into the curriculum.

A sizable amount of research has been conducted and published on the curricular integration of ethics in graduate management education. Unfortunately, very little is known about the curricular integration of ethics in EMBA programs. Over time, the number …

Internationalization Of General Education Curriculum In Missouri Community Colleges: A Faculty Perspective, Gavin Caje O'Connor

Dissertations

Providing global educational experiences for students in higher education has been a topic of discussion for decades. Although there is a common appreciation that students should be exposed to and gain awareness of other cultures, most institutions of higher education in the U.S. fall short in providing such opportunities. To accommodate for this need, some institutions are striving to internationalize the curriculum as well as the culture of the institution. Community colleges play a key role in the higher education system in the U.S. and may be the first, if not only opportunity for students to gain global awareness. This …

Global Competency In Hospitality Management Programs: A Perfect Recipe For Community Colleges, David Jonathan Beer

Dissertations

Globalization is redefining and transforming interactions between people all over the world. Although nations differ in their level of globalization, it is critical in this day and age that nations foster global competency in their citizens and students. Education is one key area in developing and promoting global competency. For the United States, creation of a dynamic workforce, both domestic and abroad, is imperative if America is going to compete in a global society. Students who have a diverse and knowledgeable view of the world, can communicate in another language, and can exhibit cross-cultural adaptability, will be able to efficiently …

An Initial Exploration Of The Undergraduate English Major Curricula Issued By The 2000-2001 Member Schools Of The Council For Christian Colleges And Universities, Maralee Sue Crandon

Dissertations

Problem

This study made the initial exploration of English major curricula among 101 members of the 2000-2001 Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), describing their nature and state and discerning evidence of Christian thought.

Method

Stewart’s (1989) Modified Categories of English Majors and Eisner’s (1991) education criticism provided frameworks to categorize all curricula and to describe a purposeful sampling of 20 selected by region, religious, and enrollment.

Results

Types 1.0 Straight Literature and 1.5 Primarily Literature majors represented 78% of the population and 75% of the sampling; Type 2.0 More Flexible majors represented 18% of the population and 25% …

Technology Partnership Curriculum Initiative: A Descriptive Case Study Of Its History, Development, And Implementation, Ingrid Wright-Jones

Dissertations

Problem

Curricular reform has a pathetic history. Curriculum documents, some of the major tools of reformers, have had a minor effect on transforming education because the power of pedagogy has been ignored (Cuban, 1993). Teachers in the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) system voiced similar concerns about curriculum documents. Additionally, they felt that their 2-4-day in-service training did not adequately prepare them to implement curricular changes. This initiative, aimed at restructuring both the content and process of teaching, was to be implemented in a distance-learning pilot project in eight one-teacher schools.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to: (1) define the …

Employability Skills In The Undergraduate Business Curriculum And Job Market Preparedness : Perceptions Of Faculty And Final-Year Students In Five Tertiary Institutions, Patrick Antonio Williams

Dissertations

Problem

For several decades educators, researchers, and employers have expressed concern about the quality of business graduates that are entering the workplace as entry-level professionals. The major concern of these stakeholders is that many students who are leaving tertiary institutions lack the necessary employability skills needed for career success. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate if undergraduate schools of business are adequately preparing their students for the workplace through the incorporation of employability skills throughout the curriculum. To achieve this purpose, the study measured the perceptions of both final-year undergraduate business students and their professors to determine …

Inclusion Of Gregorc's Mind Styles Concepts In Physical Therapy Curriculum And Instruction In Selected Baccalaureate And Post-Baccalaureate Programs, Keith R. Gaden

Dissertations

Topic

The topic under study in this paper was the application of Gregorc's mind styles concepts in two baccalaureate and two post-baccalaureate physical therapy programs.

Purpose

The purpose was to determine how these concepts were used while addressing the teaching and learning theory competency of the accreditation standards.

Sources

I examined intra- and extra-classroom activities, noting how information on styles was given and/or modeled to the students. Gregorc's Energic Model of Styles formed the basis for style determination. The research design was multiple-case study (embedded). Accreditation documents, curriculum file materials, handout materials, and videotaped classroom sessions were interpreted to determine …