Education Commons^™

Investigating The Impact Of Leaderboards, Badges, And Ebucks On High School English Language Learners’ Cognitive Engagement, Self-Efficacy And Intrinsic Motivation Toward Reading In English, Omar J. Almamoori

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

This study examines the impact of gamification elements, in particular leaderboards, badges, and eBucks, on the cognitive engagement (CE), intrinsic motivation (IM), and self-efficacy (SE) of English Language Learners (ELLs) at a high school in the Southeastern United States. The investigation, conducted during optional weekly readings, utilizes a mixed methods design to investigate the effects of gamification on ELLs' learning experiences. Through pre-post surveys and semi-structured interviews, data was collected to assess the gamified intervention's impact. Utilizing a one-way covariate analysis (ANCOVA) in IBM SPSS Statistics (version 29), the study evaluates the effect of gamification while controlling for grade, gender, …

Asynchronous E-Training And Coaching To Indonesian Parents: Naturalistic Strategies To Support Language Development Of Children With Social-Communication Delays, Ndaru Prapti

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The study is about virtual training and coaching to Indonesian parents of preschool-age children with social-communication delays to implement naturalistic intervention. These intercontinental coaching sessions were delivered asynchronously because of the time difference between the coach and the participants and internet bandwidth barrier in some rural areas in Indonesia. Multiple-baseline design across behaviors was utilized to determine the effect of asynchronous training and coaching program to teach three Indonesian parents three naturalistic strategies (i.e., modeling, mand-model, and time delay) during natural routines. Parent-child dyads video-recorded their interaction before and after intervention.

The intervention was started by learning the strategies, video-recorded …

Choral Music Educator Pedagogies For Multilingual Learner Inclusion: A Critical Multiple Case Study, Austin Cole Norrid

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Multilingual learners are the fastest growing student population in US public schools. The purpose of this critical multiple case study was to discover three music teachers’ and one Multilingual Learner resource teacher’s perspectives on the strengths and areas of growth in pedagogies for teaching Multilingual Learners in choral music ensembles. Common areas of strength included: student-centered learning, culturally responsive teaching, and positive classroom environment. Common areas of growth were: multilingual teaching strategies, knowledge of diverse repertoire, community and culture, and multilingual learner empowerment.

How Does Exposure To An Authentic English-Speaking Environment Contribute To Chinese International Students’ Academic Reading Comprehension?, Na Liu

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Chinese international students comprise the largest group of international students in U.S. universities. To better support international students to be successful in international higher education, Chinese students’ reading comprehension in English deserves attention. Using a qualitative research design, this study analyzed Chinese international students’ perceptions about their English reading comprehension in academic literacy, and how exposure to an English-speaking environment contributed to their reading comprehension development. There were 8 participants involved who have different genders (males and females), education levels (undergraduates and graduates), exposure time (less than one year and more than one year), and majors (chemistry, engineering, arts, etc.). …

The Impact Of Bias And Historical Racial Trauma On Black Girls’ Education: Using Theory To Better Understand Benefits, Angela Fisher-Williams

DSW Capstone Projects

ABSTRACT OF CAPSTONE

Implicit biases are among the most unfair discriminating microaggressive habits; Black students face within the compulsory educational system. However, college institutions are not sufficiently preparing social work students to work with this marginalized group to help manage these needs through diversity training courses. The researcher wrote a synthesis paper that synthesized two theories, the Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS). This research will determine if social work students who take part in diversity training embedded in their coursework could better prepare social workers for the field. This research employed a descriptive design while …

The Language Of Power: An Investigation Of How The Macropolitics Of Education Policy Affects The Micropolitics Of Schooling English Learners, Catherine E. Vannatter

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The population of English Learners (ELs) continues to increase across the United States, and these students persistently perform below their native English-speaking peers in measures of academic achievement. Federal government leaders passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, which modified how state and local educational agencies identify, instruct, assess, and reclassify ELs and revised what funding EL programming could receive. In this multiphase study, I investigated how the macropolitics of federal and state policy became enacted in the micropolitics of a mid-sized school district in Kentucky. Through an initial phase of document review followed by a mixed methods …

Transformative Learning Through Oral Narrative In A Participatory Communication Context: An Inquiry Into Radio Drama-Based Training Among Zambian Caregivers Of Abused And Exploited Children, Charles Brent Madinger

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

This research investigates instructional narrative interventions for transformative learning among high orality reliant peoples. Two research questions asked: “Does an oral strategy of radio drama in a participatory environment lead to significant changes in knowledge and beliefs,” with a hypothesis stating there would be significant positive changes; and “When listeners experience narrative transport can it affect receptivity leading to knowledge and belief change,” and the hypothesis stated that narrative transport would correlate to higher positive responses. The mixed methods design analyzed personal experiences and survey responses of treatment group and control groups. Quantitatively I assessed a treatment group using a …

Living As An Impostor: An Exploration Of The Lived Experiences Among Multiracial Youth In Secondary Agricultural Education, Juliana Danielle Markham

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

The racial demographic of the United States is ever changing, and the increase of multiracial children is substantial. This multiple-case study examined the lived experiences of multiracial youth in secondary agricultural education. This study finds evidence of Impostor Phenomenon among these multiracial students in regard to their races. This study provides insight to advise other educational institutions and organizations on how these multiracial students perceive and are perceived, within agricultural education, how it affects them, and gives recommendations to improve the future experiences of multiracial students within agricultural education.

"Playing The Game": A Case Study Of Latinx Leaders In An Agricultural Youth Organization, Graciela Barajas

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Latinx members of the FFA Organization are disproportionately underrepresented in leadership positions. When they do get elected to leadership offices, they oftentimes have to accept behaviors that erase their cultural identity. This study aims to find what aspects of their identity they feel they have to give up in order to be seen as a potential state or national FFA candidate. Findings include the participation of the state-officer game, joining cliques that fit the white mold, and overall, assimilation on an individual and group scale. Recommendations include systemic change for state and national FFA staff, agricultural education, and the agricultural …

Online Language Acquisition And Leadership In Higher Education-Governed Intensive English Programs: A Rasch-Based Diffusion Of Innovation Study, James Brandon Decker

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Research has indicated accredited, U.S. higher education-governed intensive English programs (IEPs) often struggle financially due to a scarcity of resources (namely students) because of political and global economic factors and increased competition (ICEF Monitor, 2017; IIE, 2017; Ladika, 2018; Soppelsa, 2015). However, few IEPs advertise online language acquisition (OLA) courses despite the increase in online study methods at the higher education institutes governing the programs and its use by competitors. The purpose of this study was to determine the status and extent of OLA diffusion in U.S. IEPs, how IEP directors and faculty perceived OLA, and whether they perceived themselves …

Learning To Write In An Academic Genre: Adult English Learners’ Use Of Sociocultural Resources, Lyudmyla Ivanyuk

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

In this multiple case study, I examined what types of sociocultural resources adult English learners brought with them from their previous contexts and what new resources they drew upon in the U.S. while learning to write in the essay genre. The study also identified how the participants chose to use previous and new sociocultural resources as mediated by the essay genre in the U.S. The following research foci shaped this study: (1) What types of sociocultural resources do adult English learners use while learning to write in the essay genre prior to and after their arrival in the U.S.? (2) …

Global Competence Survey Development, Kathryn Brantley Todd

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The research objective for this dissertation study was to build a preliminary survey that would, in its final form, allow educators and administrators to establish baseline information on individuals’ global competence characteristics prior to instruction, cross-cultural experience, international study or collaboration. A secondary aim concerned length: The intent was to keep the eventual final survey at 15 minutes or less to make it adaptable to a variety of settings. The researcher extracted terms and phrases from existing global competence definitions (e.g., Boix-Mansilla, Jackson, Asia Society & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2011; Hunter, 2005), related literature (e.g., Lambert, 1994), …

Factors That Affect African-American Students' Persistence In A Spanish Immersion Program, Dawn Cheneen Offutt

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

The number of African-American students studying a foreign language has continually persisted to be low (National Center for Education Statistics, 2009), thus eliminating them from the benefits gained from the study of foreign language. This study explores the experiences of African-American students in a partial Spanish Immersion Program (SIP) in Central Kentucky from their parents’ perspectives. Data were collected via a survey and a focus group. Findings revealed that data gleaned from the focus group corroborated responses from the survey. Moreover, themes from content analysis of the qualitative data arose as to why parents chose to continue or discontinue their …

The Reflection And Reification Of Racialized Language In Popular Media, Kelly E. Wright

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

This work highlights specific lexical items that have become racialized in specific contextual applications and tests how these words are cognitively processed. This work presents the results of a visual world (Huettig et al 2011) eye-tracking study designed to determine the perception and application of racialized (Coates 2011) adjectives. To objectively select the racialized adjectives used, I developed a corpus comprised of popular media sources, designed specifically to suit my research question. I collected publications from digital media sources such as Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and Fortune by scraping articles featuring specific search terms from their websites. This experiment seeks …

Teachers' Preparation To Teach English Language Learners (Ells): An Investigation Of Perceptions, Preparation, And Current Practices, Pamela K. Correll

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

This qualitative case study examined the perceptions of 79 elementary teachers regarding their preparation to teach students learning English as a second language (ELLs). The focus of this inquiry centered on factors related to the preparation of teachers for serving non-native English speaking students. The research questions that guided this study are: (a) What are teachers’ perceptions of their preparation for teaching English learners?; (b) What types of preparatory experiences do teachers perceive as supportive of their preparation for teaching ELLs?; and (c) How do teachers’ perceptions of their preparation shape their practices with ELL students?

Findings of this study …

Hosting An International Exchange Youth: The Influence On The Family, Mark Mains

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

This study explores how hosting an international exchange youth influences families. Participants in the study took part in a four-week summer exchange by hosting a middle school aged Japanese youth through the Kentucky 4-H/Labo program. Labo is a Japanese club program that encourages youth to learn about American culture through international travel. As society becomes more globalized, the skills and abilities associated with international travel are increasingly important (Anderson, Lawton, Rexeisen & Hubbard, 2006). Hosting international youth through exchange programs is one method of developing these skills and abilities. This qualitative study uses thematic analysis to analyze three primary data …

The Phenomenon Of Teacher Leadership And Cross-Cultural Confusions: What Teachers' Narratives Reveal About School Leadership And Intergroup Communication, Jennifer M. Green

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

English Language Learners (ELLs) comprise the largest growing subgroup of students in the United States, yet for decades this special population has persistently underachieved as compared to White non-Hispanic students in the public school system. Throughout the nation, ELLs receive an array of services from English as a second language pull-out to sheltered content instruction to dual language education. Much debate has centered on instructional programs for ELLs and the language of instructional delivery. The purpose of this study was to explore the phenomenon of teacher leadership during the adoption and implementation of a one-way dual language education program at …

The Perceptions, Knowledge, Benefits And Barriers Of Hispanics Regarding The Dietary Guidelines For Americans, Luisyana De Amor Gamboa

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

Background: Hispanics are the largest minority group in the U.S. and by the year 2060 the number of Hispanics is projected to double. They are disproportionately affected by obesity and chronic diseases which translate into decreased quality of life, loss of work opportunities and perceptions of injustice for the Hispanic population. The Dietary Guidelines (DG) provide information to help Americans make healthy food and physical activity choices and if followed can be a means of reducing the health disparity gap. However, culturally relevant recommendations specific to Hispanics’ health and nutritional habits are often lacking. The purpose of this study was …

An Examination Of The Association Between Student-Teacher Interactions And Academic Self-Concept Among African American Male High School Students, Lauren D. Hargrave

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Students generally spend more than ten years interacting with teachers in a classroom and thus, such interactions can have a positive or negative impact on students’ academic self-concept and educational goals (Rosenthal, Folse, Allerman, Boudreaux, Soper, & Von Bergen, 2000). The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a significant relationship between student-teacher interactions and academic self-concept. Participants in the study include African American male high school students in an urban school district. The independent variable is the student-teacher interactions, as measured by the Student-Professor Interaction Scale (Cokley et al., 2004). The dependent variable is the students’ …

"I See Their Purpose": Looking At The Role Of Family Advocates In Partnering With Families And Advocating For Children In Guatemala City, Sierra K. Leonard

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The purpose of this study was to get an in-depth, complete picture of a social worker and child/family advocate in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The intent was to study the participant’s work and responsibilities in order to examine how she processed and completed her dual role as social worker/advocate and mother to a group of children in a children’s home. A focus on responsibility, the effect of her dual role, and the influence of her personal and religious convictions emerged throughout the study. The participant’s unique position in a dual role offered insight into the various aspects of advocacy and intervention …

The Effects Of A New Method Of Instruction On The Perceptions Of Appalachian English, Michelle L. Compton

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

This paper evaluates whether students’ perceptions of Appalachian English improve through a method of instruction that uses dialect literature in the classroom. Most existing methods of instruction tend to portray dialects as wrong, incorrect, or in some way less rule-governed than Standardized English, despite the numerous studies that have demonstrated otherwise (e.g., Labov 1969, Wolfram 1986). The data from this study derives from two groups of students enrolled in introductory composition and communication at the University of Kentucky. Each group is given a pre-test to determine attitudes toward Appalachian English and Standardized English. An experimental group is then exposed to …

The Learning Station: A Holistic Single-Case Study Of An After School Program To Address The Achievement Gap, Serenity Wright

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

The three parts of this dissertation provide multiple perspectives on a single-case study of the ways in which the achievement gap is defined in one Kentucky school district. The case study focuses on the Learning Station, an after-school tutoring program that intended to address the achievement gap for minority and low-income students. Given the intensity of high stakes testing and testing frequency becoming part of the national mainstream conversation, the first part provides a brief overview of the various state and district mandated tests that students are required to take throughout the course of the year. I use quantitative data …

The Role Of Culture In Agricultural Education: A Synthesis Of Research, Jonathan A. Tubbs

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Culture is studied across many different disciplines and is viewed as a topic of great and valuable interest within research. Agricultural education has come to recognize the value of embracing a multicultural attitude and the need for recruitment of culturally diverse individuals. While definitions of culture can vary from individual to individual, understanding the degree which a topic has been researched within a discipline is necessary in order to know what direction future research should take. Therefore, this study presents the findings of research on culture within the Journal of Agricultural Education from 1960-2015. This study’s findings indicate that culture, …

Awareness Of Privilege And Oppression Scale-2: Construction And Initial Validation, Michael J. Mcclellan

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

The purpose of this study was to revise the Awareness of Privilege and Oppression Scale (Montross, 2003) and to improve upon the psychometric properties of the original instrument. The APOS-2 is a diversity training outcome measure that is designed to measure the social justice-related construct awareness of privilege and oppression. I retained 26 items from the original APOS (Montross, 2003) and utilized an expert focus group to generate new test items for the APOS-2. Feedback from an expert rater group was solicited and then incorporated into the APOS-2 to help reduce the number of items, improve item content, and evaluate …

Nuestros Sonidos: A Case Study Of Bilingual Music And Play Among Primary-School Age Heritage Language Learners, Sara P. Alvarez

Theses and Dissertations--English

The demographics in the United States continue to show a dramatic increase of immigrant students who speak a language other than English at home (Smitherman; U.S. Census); however, schooling ideologies and practices continue to treat developing bilingualism as a detriment to students entering school rather than a resource (Canagarajah; Heath; Matsuda; Valdés et al; Richardson; Santa Ana; Street). In this case study, conducted in the “Nuevo New South” (Mohl; Rich and Miranda), I observed how bilingual music and play in school-like settings can promote bilingual literacy practices and bridge gaps between traditional schooling practices and communities ways of languaging. Engaging …

Examining The Influence Of Parents, Teachers, And Neighborhood Safety On African American Adolescents’ Motivation And Achievement, Clarissa R. Roan-Belle

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Guided by the theoretical frameworks of Baumrind’s parenting style theory, interpersonal expectations, Self Determination Theory, and self-efficacy, this study examines factors that influence African American students’ GPA and motivation, specifically associations between parents’ and teachers’ control, warmth, and educational expectations and African American adolescents’ GPA, self-efficacy, and intrinsic motivation were examined. The moderating effects of neighborhood safety on the aforementioned associations were also assessed. Using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, this study found that parents’ warmth and expectations were positive predictors of all educational variables, while parents control was a negative predictor of GPA and intrinsic motivation. …

The Cultural Discontinuity Hypothesis: An Appalachian American Perspective In Eastern Kentucky, Timothy W. Conner Ii

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

K.M. Tyler et al. (2008) propose a quantitative method to measure differences between school and home experiences had by students of ethnic minority status and how such differences (cultural discontinuity) may affect psychological factors related to student achievement. Although study of cultural discontinuity has been applied to understanding African American, Asian American, Latino American, and Native American student populations, little attention has been given to the ways in which cultural discontinuity may manifest in the Appalachian American population. This study conceptualizes the socio-cultural conditions that would warrant such an investigation, establishing evidence from ten interview subjects of the presence of …

Descriptive Representation, Representative Bureaucracy And Bilingual Education Policy: Examining Implementation, Victoria Marie Ibáñez

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

In this study, I examine the factors that influence school districts’ commitment to implement ESL (English as a Second Language) education in compliance with the federal Bilingual Education Act of 1968. To explain variation in implementation effort, I focus on several features of the local implementation environment, including the role of Latino descriptive representation. Utilizing data on all public school districts in Texas, I employ a Heckman two-stage estimation procedure that accounts for factors that influence school districts’ decisions to implement bilingual education programs as well as factors that affect the amount of resources school districts are willing to allocate …

Analysis Of Esl Teacher Endorsement Effects On English Language Learners' Student Achievement And English Language Acquisition, Anna Marie Tracy

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past twenty years, classrooms throughout the United States have becomes more ethnically and linguistically diverse with the influx of immigrant residents. The impact of this demographic change has directly affected the makeup of the mainstream classroom. One response to this rapid growth in diversity demographics has been the requirement of additional teacher preparation for instruction of English language learners.

The study focuses on the impact of English as a Second Language endorsement (ESL) on the English language acquisition and academic achievement of elementary English language learners (ELL) over a two year period in a large mountain west urbansuburban …