Education Commons^™

Systems Thinking Applied To Higher Education Curricula Development, Reza Rahdar, Mark London, Yuetong Lin, Hong Jiang

Publications

Systems Thinking (ST) is a general and yet nebulous term that describes an approach to understanding and working with complexity in the real world. ST seeks to evaluate different behaviors of individual system elements when they operate in isolation as opposed to when they are integrated as part of a larger system and placed within a particular operating environment. The education environment consists of multiple systems with different digital content, learning goals/outcomes that serve different stakeholders including teachers, learners, and administrators. The inherent complexity and interaction among these various educational system elements and functions make this environment a worthy candidate …

Translanguaging In World Language Higher Education, Alessia Barbici Wagner

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Increased global migration and a myriad of other social and political factors has made today’s universities more diverse than ever. As a result, teachers in higher education regularly find multilingual learners from a variety of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds in their classrooms and must consider this diversity in their teaching. One of the ways that teaching can better serve today’s multilingual and multicultural student population is through translanguaging. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the intentional and unintentional use of translanguaging by multilingual language learners and world language instructors in higher education. Additionally, this qualitative case study …

Look Alive! Tips For Engaging Students In The Physical And/Or Virtual Classroom, Samantha E. Robinson

TFSC Publications and Presentations

During this presentation, Dr. Samantha Robinson (Teaching Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences) discusses the realities of remote instruction and provides practical tips to increase student engagement in the physical and/or virtual classroom. Primarily focused on larger classrooms, where typical engagement strategies feel more onerous, this presentation offers advice on how instructors (even in the remote classroom environment) can increase emotional and cognitive student engagement without feeling overburdened.

Ceit Happens, Issue 1, Center For Excellence And Innovation In Teaching

CTL Publications

Welcome to the inaugural newsletter from the Center for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching. Its purpose is to let you know all that we’re doing, provide resources on teaching strategies, and highlight examples of effective teaching around campus --Calendar of events --Peer Coaching --Warner Reading Group --Single-point Rubrics --Wendy Bjerke and Sway --Metacognition and CTL 125 -- Fellows Update --Quality Matters --Student Course Surveys.

Language Attitudes In Algeria, Kamal Belmihoub

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

A Path Analysis Exploration Of Teacher’S Effect, Self-Efficacy, Demographic Factors, And Attitudes Toward Mathematics Among College Students Attending S Minority Serving Institution In Face-To-Face And Hybrid Mathematics Courses, Nelson De La Rosa

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Graduation rates in colleges and universities have not kept up with the increase in enrollment. Lack of mathematics competence is a factor that impairs students from completing higher education studies. This problem is even more pervasive in minority groups. The existing body of research on mathematics education have not favored emerging minority populations in terms of addressing their needs for academic program completion across mode of instruction.

The study analyzed the relationship between type of instruction and the factors underlying students’ attitudes toward mathematics. Further, this study examined the effect of factors underlying the constructs of teacher’s effect and self-efficacy …

Educating The Under Empowered For Tolerance Of Satire And Participation In Young Democracies, Judith Puncochar, Don Faust

Conference Presentations

Drawing from experiences in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the United States, a relationship appears to exist between tolerance for satire, freedom of expression, and academic freedom in higher education. Empowering the under empowered for participation in vibrant democracies and rational public discourse seems to coincide with an increasing tolerance for satire. We posit vibrant democracies must contain educational elements essential to empower the under empowered for democratic participation, in particular, to provide new democratic citizens with an understanding of the role of satire to cultivate rational public discourse in new democracies. New Southeast Asian democracies need growing evidence of dynamic strivings …

Flipped Teaching And Learning In English Language Programmes In Higher Education, Rania M Rafik Khalil

English Language and Literature

Flipped teaching over the past fifteen years has invaded the classrooms of schools and has helped evolve the teaching strategy of different disciplines. Although the concept emerged as inverted teaching to allow space for active learning in the classroom, flipped teaching today, has found its way to higher education settings. Higher education institutions such as Harvard University, have used this approach in physics and other disciplines. Literature reviews however, show that there is little research in the field of English as a Foreign Language which can be found related to using the flipped approach. This paper aims to share the …

Collaboration Opportunities With The Society To Enhance Indonesian Citizenry By Furthering Higher Education With The Liberal Arts (Seiche), Judith Puncochar, Don Faust

Conference Presentations

The Society for the Enhancement of Indonesian Citizenry through Higher Education (SEICHE) is an Indonesian organization analogous to The Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) in the United States. SEICHE and ASHE use similar organizational structures and promote scholarly research and debate about issues and possibilities in the advancement of higher education. SEICHE was launched on November 22, 2014, in Bandung, Indonesia, with representatives from seven universities and one non-profit organization. The SEICHE vision is to help achieve international recognition of Indonesia’s higher education system, accomplished principally through collaboration and engagement with research in curriculum, instruction, service, and …

Developing An Understanding Of How College Students Experience Interactive Instructional Technology: A Ux Perspective, Adam Wagler

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Technology is increasingly mobile and social, resulting in dynamic digital and interactive environments. The ubiquitous nature of interactive instructional technology presents new paradigms for higher education, creating challenges for instructors to compete for time and attention as students are bombarded by information in a digital, media rich world. The problem being studied, with all of these technological advancements, is how instructors can approach these challenges from a user experience (UX) perspective. A macro level view sees college students taking multiple courses at a time, over many semesters, and using different interactive instructional technology that mix with other forms of online …

Promoting Citizenship Education With Structured Controversy In Indonesian Higher Education, Judith Puncochar

Other Presentations

Indonesian democracy is rich in traditions, religions, cultures, and ethnic languages. To keep the nation unified with diversity, Indonesia must prepare its citizens with skills of perspective taking, constructive debate, and evidence-based reasoning to engage in a robust democracy. Historically, a rigorous study of the Liberal Arts held promise for creating a strong democracy and a well-educated citizenry. Currently, politicization of the term “Liberal Arts” attracts unjustifiable criticism and diverts attention away from a serious comprehensive study of literature, science, the arts, history, and mathematics. Narrowness in education of students toward technical and professional degrees appears not to align with …

Maximizing The Learning Outcomes Of Cocurricular Civic Engagement In Higher Education, Jeremy Poehnert

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

My experience as an undergraduate college student was marked by many challenges. A constant source of support throughout that time was my participation in cocurricular community service activities – without those experiences I would never have completed my degree. After graduating I pursued a career in which I could continue my involvement with such programs, which, for the purposes of this paper, I will refer to as higher education civic engagement (HECE). There has been one issue that I have been particularly drawn to in HECE work — how to maximize what students learn when they participate in cocurricular civic …

Managing From The Middle, Lisa Williams

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

How can middle managers successfully improve work conditions and performance of their staff as part of becoming a better manager? This synthesis reviews relevant literature to develop five key principles in my argument: Motivation is the key, the change process begins with me, change is an ongoing and fluid process, middle managers have a need for team and middle managers play different roles during team building. I have also developed a handy booklet for the middle manager to use in changing their management style, which is included as Appendix. The booklet first briefly explains the principles. It then discusses four …

Student Perception Of Relevance Of Biology Content To Everyday Life: A Study In Higher Education Biology Courses, Agnes Rose Himschoot

Faculty Scholarship – Biology

The purpose of this mixed method case study was to examine the effects of methods of instruction on students’ perception of relevance in higher education non-biology majors’ courses. Nearly ninety percent of all students in a liberal arts college are required to take a general biology course. It is proposed that for many of those students, this is the last science course they will take for life. General biology courses are suspected of discouraging student interest in biology with large enrollment, didactic instruction, covering a huge amount of content in one semester, and are charged with promoting student disengagement with …

First-Generation Students’ Pathways To A Baccalaureate, Yolanda Avidano

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

The pathway to college for most low-income first-generation students can seem impracticable and impossible to achieve. This diverse population has caused much apprehension among educational administrators and practitioners about how to serve these students effectively. As an educational practitioner working with this population I am especially interested in uncovering the “state of affairs” regarding first-generation college students in general, and low income first generation students in particular, and how I might be a catalyst of positive and effective change as I serve them. My synthesis reviews published literature that reveals the “state of affairs” regarding first generation students. I address …

Private Higher Education In Pakistan, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The demand for higher education all over the world, especially in the developing world, has fueled a tremendous growth of private universities. Countries such as India and China, for example, possess increasing space for private universities to flourish either independently or through private-public or private-international partnerships. However, almost without exception the private universities being established in developing countries are of poor quality, and in this case Pakistan is no exception.

Building A Learning Community For Dental Hygiene Faculty, Nancy Baccari

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

Have you ever felt isolated in your work environment that left you feeling perplexed and stuck only to find out that colleagues felt the same way you did but had no idea to work around it? Through this practioner’s narrative, I journey through my struggle of teacher isolation to my action plan to make it better. Finding a way to identify my feelings, strengths and weaknesses and move towards change to improve my own work environment describes my experience in the Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT) graduate program. This new awareness changed the way I see myself as a leader …

Moving From A Predominantly Teaching Oriented Culture To A Research Productivity Mission: The Case Of Mexico And The United States, Gus Gregorutti

Faculty Publications

This study qualitatively analyzes the culture conflicts professors in the United States and Mexico are experiencing with the increasing pressures to produce more research about higher education. The first dataset was collected from 36 faculty members from 12 small and medium sized private, doctorate-granting universities. These universities are located in 11 states across the United States. The remaining data came from 44 faculty members employed at four small and medium sized private, doctoral granting universities in four states across Mexico. Results showed that universities in the US are transitioning from a predominantly teaching college culture to a more research orientation. …

Applying Critical And Creative Thinking In Teaching Buddhism, Doan Van Thua

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This synthesis describes my journey preparing myself for teaching Buddhism in a way that moves beyond traditional approaches of transmitting information to students. I describe learning, teaching activities, tools, and methodologies using critical and creative thinking that can be applicable to Buddhist education. I describe some changes towards more interactive modes of teaching and progress in teaching I have made so far in my teaching Sunday school for children, in public teaching, and in giving instruction to Buddhist groups. Some further expectations and some defects in my teaching that need improvement are noted. A Buddhist is not a blind follower, …

Educational Leadership Preparation: What Supervisors, Candidates, And Mentors Said, J. Eric Tubbs, H. Earl Holliday

Faculty and Research Publications

The findings of this study identified practicum areas that meet the educational demands of candidates while highlighting practicum areas that need improvement. The study contributes to the knowledge base of the field by drawing upon feedback from university supervisors, school mentors and program candidates to evaluate and improve the practicum experience in the educational leadership program. Program candidates are in the best position to discuss their recent experiences of exposure to the real world. Supervisors and mentors can witness from their first hand experience how effective practicum activities work. Responses from supervisors, mentors and candidates regarding leadership practicum experiences are …

Bringing Community College Students And Employers Together: A Guide For Employers And Career Centers In An Economic Decline, Jeffrey Craig

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This paper emerges from my work as Coordinator of Job Placement at Bristol Community College over the last 19 months, in which I have had the opportunity to try new approaches to problem-solving and pursue professional growth as I serve students in higher education. The recent economic crisis has left millions of Americans out of work across most sectors. Displaced workers are flocking to community colleges to upgrade and learn new skills with the goal of becoming more marketable to potential employers. Enrollments have soared, while costs have risen and budgets cut. These conditions place an undue burden on these …

Incorporating Service-Learning Into The Esl Curriculum: What Aspiring Practitioners Need To Know, Andres R. Reyes

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

As an ESL teacher at a community college, my constant goal is to synergize teaching approaches and strategies so that in addition to maximizing students' language learning, their critical thinking skills, cultural competence, and reflectivity - as members of an increasingly growing multicultural society - are heightened. Most recently, I have been pursuing service-learning as a philosophy, pedagogy, and practice that can help students connect their classroom learning to concrete, exciting, and challenging learning situations beyond the classroom. This paper is an attempt to highlight service-learning as a powerful tool that can make a difference in students' lives as they …

Exploring The Teaching Mind: Extending Participation In Lifelong Learning Through Engagement With A Supportive Community, Jeremy Szteiter

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This paper extends the notion of lifelong learning beyond gaining knowledge over a lifetime to preparing oneself to teach what has been learned to others. The "Teaching Mind," as I define the idea, involves thinking about what has been learned and what one knows by reconsidering that knowledge through the eyes of self as a teacher. The Teaching Mind assumes a broad notion of teaching that relates to informal and community learning across all areas of life and culture, beyond professional teaching in formal schools. The pursuit of the Teaching Mind is highly accessible to all those who wish to …

A Reflection On Teachers' Experience As E-Learners, Claire M. Mc Donnell, Tony Cunningham, Barry Mcintyre, Theresa Mckenna

Books/Book chapters

This chapter explores the insights gained by a group of teachers from their lived experience as eLearners participating in a blended module on Designing eLearning. An understanding of the student perspective on online learning was obtained but we were also able to reflect on our participation in the module on the basis of our other roles; as teachers and potential eTutors and as course designers. As a result, important considerations were identified for the design and facilitation of online courses. These include; the support provided to online learners, particularly over the first few weeks, appropriate assessment methods, facilitation of online …

My Search For A Meaningful Information Literacy Course: A Drama In Three Acts, Jan Coe

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

My synthesis project began as a personal and professional mission to help students decipher their library assignments and learn how to do research in general. In pursuing this goal, I learned a lot about 'information literacy' but I also learned about the reasons being information literate is important to me: it is a gestalt of a critical thinker. I discovered that - beyond becoming adept in the mechanics of information retrieval - what I really wanted for my students are the very things I value and enjoy doing myself: learning about communities of discourse; mulling over and asking questions about …

Web-Based Transitioning For Students With Disabilities: Learning From Existing Limitations To Design A Process That Leaves No Child Behind, Kevin Johnson

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

Students with disabilities face numerous obstacles. This is especially true while in the process of postsecondary transitioning, moving from secondary (K-12) to Post-secondary schooling (College, University or Community College). The transitioning process poses obstacles to all students however students with disabilities confront additional obstacles unique to having a disability. Federal law mandates public secondary schools design transition plans, a written plan detailing students transition from secondary to postsecondary school. Secondary schools must also create opportunities for students to develop both academic and life skills critical to successfully take the postsecondary leap and remain successful at the postsecondary level. The need …

Pomp In Circumstance: Paradox, Oppositions, Metaphors And Philosophy In The Context Of Adult Basic Education, Matt Puma

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

The ability to think fluidly with a variety of oppositional forms is essential to both critical and creative thinking. Loaded oppositions such as science vs. humanities, reason vs. emotion, male vs. female and good vs. evil become hindrances to thought when they are held too rigidly as dichotomies. Learning to work with the rich flow of oppositions involves patient exploration and an openness to the emergence of paradoxical truths rooted in the opposition. However, paradoxical thinking is not the only method for flexing fixed oppositions; there are many other types of "moves" that one can make when thinking creatively with …

Course Revitalization As A Change Driver Throughout Undergraduate Business Curriculum, Elke M. Leeds, Radwan Ali

Faculty and Research Publications

This paper describes the revitalization of Business Information Systems and Communication, a high enrollment, prerequisite course for all undergraduate business students in the Coles College of Business. An overview of the course components is presented and original structure described. The rationale for change, technologies leveraged and measures of success are presented. The change drivers are identified and their impact on undergraduate curriculum delineated. Lessons learned and future implications are discussed.

'Accustomed To The Light': A Philosophy Of Teaching, David A. King

Faculty and Research Publications

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. Describes a philosophy of teaching inspired by a love of the discipline being taught and the desire of the professor to give students something of substance and be fulfilled by their responses.

The Mini-Casebook--Easy As Pie, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

English Faculty and Staff Research

Presents a casebook on the song "American Pie" that considers how to define the parameters of short narrative. Describes the creation of an end-of-term cumulative writing project that the authors have successfully employed for the last decade. Discusses how they put together a casebook that teaches the necessary research skills.