Education Commons^™

A Critical Inquiry Exploring The Relationship Between Critical Consciousness And Community Engagement Educators, Carol Difalco

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

Community engagement programs are shaped by the educators who facilitate them. Due to a curtailed critical consciousness, such programs are not always sensitive to the negative implications for the communities they are attempting to support. Guided by critical ethnographic and interpretive phenomenological analysis, this study examines how educators perceive their relationship with critical consciousness, its impact on their community engagement initiatives, and what we can learn from educators using community engagement to work towards social justice issues. As expected, results from the participants revealed varying awareness and understanding of how structural power and institutional oppression impact community engagement initiatives. Some …

Environmental Education For Sustainability, Lucille Gertz

Educational Studies Dissertations

The climate is in crisis. Many conservation organizations identify in their mission statements the priority of motivating constituents to engage with conservation action. This priority is typically implemented by educators who design and deliver educational activities and materials. This study, designed to develop a professional pathway for environmental educators to develop programs designed to motivate adult audiences toward engagement with conservation action, addressed the question: How can environmental educators more effectively promote conservation behavior change in adult learning audiences? Three guiding research questions were: 1) To what extent are environmental educators familiar with and utilizing theoretical frameworks and research-based tools …

Strategies And Resources For Integrating Technology Into The Secondary Education World Language Classroom, Angelina M. Bauer

Culminating Experience Projects

This document is a research-based project that includes a reference manual of strategies for technology integration in the World Language curriculum, as well as an example lesson plan that implements many of the strategies. Many of the strategies and examples can be adapted to fit multiple subject areas. The theoretical framework upon which the project is constructed is a combination of TPACK and several of Stephen Krashen's Theories of Second Language Acquisition.

Coalescence: A Carnivore Coexistence Curriculum That Braids Indigenous & Western Ecological Knowledge Into A Relevant And Experiential Learning Opportunity For Youth, Stephanie Anne Barron

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horriblis) begin to reoccupy more of their historic range, and as humans and large carnivore populations continue to increase, incidences of human carnivore conflict are on the rise. A decolonial curriculum designed in collaboration with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe’s wildlife biologists stands to increase awareness of Indigenous ecological knowledge and teach youth about the importance of coexistence with carnivores. Additionally, this project could greatly influence youth perceptions of grizzly bears and other large carnivores. This research project examines the development and implementation of a carnivore coexistence curriculum for youth that is guided by …

Investigating Prodigy Math Program To Improve Students' Success In Mathematics, Justin A. Bledsaw

Masters Theses

This study investigates whether Prodigy improves student achievement in mathematics; whether Prodigy improves, specifically, math achievement of special education students, students of different ethnicities, and students of different genders. Further, the study wanted to explore student perceptions of Prodigy. The study was conducted in two fifth grade classrooms with a total of 31 participants. Two mathematics units were utilized to compare; one on multiplying whole numbers and the other on dividing whole numbers. In addition, participants completed a survey and a focus group interview to find out participant perceptions of Prodigy. Results reveal that the whole group scored higher in …

La Emergencia De La Inteligencia Artificial En El Aprendizaje Del Español: ¿Una Suplementación O Sustitución?, Sam Goldfein

CMC Senior Theses

Abstract:

The recent emergence of widespread generative artificial intelligence – alongside the sudden demand for an improved online learning experience – questions the validity of current language learning models: could we improve old language learning models with the new, powerful technological capabilities that we’ve suddenly been granted, or is it time to scrap the old practices entirely and embark on a new technological journey void of professors and traditional classroom environments? This thesis stresses the importance of learning languages and specifically emphasizes the advantages of knowing Spanish as a second language in the United States. To determine the best methods …

High School Students' Perceptions Of Banned Books, Carissa Hennen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research study consisted of interviews with twelve students ages 14-18 at a Northeastern Ohio high school to determine their opinions regarding banned books and content restrictions in schools. With book bans increasing and becoming a divisive topic, many adult figures such as parents, politicians, educators, and school administrators have made their opinions known, but student perspectives are often disregarded. This study seeks to further the research on opinions of book bans by extending these questions to students to fill this gap in research and gain deeper insight into the perception of high school students in regard to school curriculum. …

Teachers’ Conceptions Of Students’ Data Literacy In Life Science And Physical Science Classes, Bridget Nicole Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Data literacy in science is an evolving field of study as students need to be able to collect, analyze, interpret, and make inferences from different sources of data. Much research centers on teachers' use of data to improve instructional practices, but less focus on teachers' conceptions of student data literacy and strategies used to foster data literacy in life and physical science high school classes. Thus, there is a need to address this area as recent Georgia assessments reveal that over 50% of students are performing below proficiency level in science. Consequently, this research sought to understand teachers’ conceptions of …

Teaching Professionalism Skills To Secondary Students: An Improvement Science Dissertation On The Efficacy Of A Professionalism Skills System: An Improvement Science Study, James Weber

Doctor of Education (EdD)

This research provided Salem Keizer Public Schools (SKPS) with much-needed information on how to teach and grade secondary students on professional skills. The research was conducted at The Career Technical Education Center (CTEC) in Salem, Oregon. CTEC employs 35 staff members who serve 780 high school students. This research followed an improvement science dissertation in practice model (ISDiP) by implementing a 64-day Plan-Do- Study-Act (PDSA) cycle. A networked improvement community (NIC) met throughout the PDSA cycle to analyze and implement the research.

The NIC and CTEC staff developed a new system to teach, grade, and provide feedback on students' professional …

Social Justice Mathematics: Classroom Practices That Give Students Rigor While Building Agency, Emily Marquise

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a social justice approach to mathematics instruction. While many students have math aversion, students in low socioeconomic communities exhibit this to a higher degree putting them at a disadvantage as they progress through their educational career. More than 3.4 million K-12 students in the United States come from families that earn less than the median income yet achieve scores in the top percentile (Wyner et al., 2007). This raises the question of why so many students in low-socioeconomic settings are not given rigorous content that will keep them competitive …

How Do Staff And Families Perceive The Effects Of After School Programs On The Overall School Experience?, Selena Alonzo

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Connecting With Their Students: Understanding The Impact Of Teachers Using Culturally Relevant Literacy Practices In Elementary Classrooms, Beatrice Acosta

Masters Theses

Despite extensive research indicating the importance of educators connecting with their students, a significant number of teachers fail to associate classroom curriculum with their students’ cultural backgrounds and lived experiences. Even with the best intentions, teachers frequently encounter difficulties in establishing connections with students and seamlessly integrating their diverse cultures and experiences outside of the classroom into lessons. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy is one method teachers use to incorporate their students’ culture into the classroom so that students see themselves in the lessons and become more engaged in their learning. This study was designed to explore teachers’ feelings of cultural competency …

Decolonization Of The Writing Classroom: Creating Space For Decolonial Theory, Tools, Anti-Racist Pedagogy, And Methods To Improve The Emerging Bilingual Student Experience, Desiree L. Brown

Masters Theses

In this thesis, the author addresses the colonial roots of the secondary writing classroom and the origin of standard academic English which enables strict standardized testing and writing assessment requirements that in-turn incite linguistic violence towards emerging bilingual students. The author frames her study within the framework of April Baker-Bell and Asao B. Inoue through a reflective/reflexive study of her teaching in a ninth grade writing classroom in a primarily Hispanic school district in South Texas, which is assessed by the state of Texas through STAAR. This study seeks to identify instances of linguistic violence being perpetuated in the writing …

Are Elementary Teachers Prepared To Teach A Stem Focused Curriculum: A Needs Assessment Of An Inner-City Elementary School, Erica Willie

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Educator Preparedness To Leverage Assistive Technologies In The Classroom, Sean Masterman

Doctorate in Education

The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is driving a compelling need for pedagogical change, yet there is disjuncture between the capacity of emerging technologies to address this need and their actual use in the American classroom. These technologies can enable personalization to meet each student’s individualized learning needs. Educator preparedness is the first step toward embracing and integrating the broad capabilities of emerging technologies to help build the future workforce. This qualitative, phenomenological case study assessed the preparedness of middle school general educators in two Minnesota school districts to leverage assistive technologies (ATs) to improve student learning from the perspective of …

Implementation Of Implicit Bias Training In A Doctor Of Nurse Practitioner Program, Macdana Selecon

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: Implicit bias in healthcare delivery refers to the unconscious mental associations healthcare providers make about patients from various social groups. Numerous studies suggest implicit bias contributes to health disparities primarily amongst marginalized groups. Furthermore, patients report a lower quality of communication from healthcare providers with higher implicit racial bias. In 2021, Assembly Bill 1407 (Nurses: Implicit Bias Courses Act) was passed to address the negative impact of bias on patient outcomes and requires California nursing schools to provide implicit bias training for nursing students.

Problem: All graduate nursing programs do not provide implicit bias (IB) training. As a result, …

The Effect Of Visual Arts On At-Risk Students, Nicole E. Seidler

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Creation through visual art is demonstrated by a variety of all ages. Visual art-based learning is known to build focus, reduce stress, provide a sense of accomplishment, and spark an increase in well-being. Many people have been known to benefit from the creation of art. With the COVID-19 pandemic back in 2020, educators across the country have noticed an increase of students who are considered at-risk. Many school districts have made it a priority to look at ways of improving these students’ behavior, participation, view on school, or overall well-being. This research study takes place at a rural Wisconsin high …

Ethnographic Research Of The Impact Of Catalyst Strategies On The Engagement And Relationships Within The Classroom For 6th Graders Versus 2nd Graders In General Education, Casey Poland, Rene Beaird, Amber Keller, Sara Kubicek

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This 2023 study focused on the effectiveness of the Catalyst Approach to classroom management in a second-grade versus sixth-grade classrooms in the same district. The Catalyst Approach is a comprehensive classroom implementation model that includes strategies for getting attention, engaging students, setting up for success, and supporting success. Whole group strategies are emphasized in this approach to aid in building a productive classroom environment (Burns & Brinkman, 2018). Our focus with this study was threefold: to see how the Catalyst Approach affected classroom management, how the Catalyst Approach affected relationships within the classroom environment, and how the Catalyst Approach compared …

An Analysis Of How Teaching Through Invention And Consolidation Phases Affects High School Students’ Understanding Of Algebraic Concepts And Beliefs About Mathematics, Cally Simanski

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This quantitative study used a pretest and posttest quasi-experimental design to investigate how students’ understanding of algebraic concepts compared when they were taught using invention and consolidation phases or traditional direct instruction. It also explored how students’ beliefs and attitudes toward mathematics were affected by learning through invention and consolidation phases through a survey with a Likert scale. The study took place during the 2022-2023 academic year in the Intermediate Algebra II course at a mid-size public high school in Minnesota. The researcher had two sections of the course and taught one through direct instruction and the other through invention …

Perceptions Of Curriculum Alignment And Student Achievement In Us History Courses In An Urban Characteristic Georgia School, Jameka Fields

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

This research study examined the perceptions of school leaders on the alignment of curriculum and student achievement. The purpose of this phenomenographic case study, rooted in Leitzel and Vogler’s (1994) definition of curriculum alignment, was to examine school leader and teacher perception of the relationship between curriculum alignment and student achievement as evidenced by document analysis and interviews with individuals who teach and support United States History courses in an urban characteristic Georgia high school. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the school principal, US History teachers, the assistant principal for instruction, and the assistant principal that supports and evaluates US …

Implementing Global Citizenship Education: A Case Study Of Exemplary Practices, Opportunities, And Challenges, Judson Kidd

Doctor of Education in Secondary and Middle Grades Education Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to begin to explore the challenges, opportunities, and benefits of a differentiated curriculum for gifted middle grades students that was based on both state standards and within a global citizenship education framework (GCE). The study used active middle grades social studies practitioners as research participants. The study was guided by two research questions; (1) What are teachers’ practices when building a thematic curriculum based on GCE? (2) What are the teachers’ perceived challenges, opportunities, and benefits of a social studies curriculum based on GCE? Data points for the study included lesson and …

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In High School Science: Assessing The Implementation In Title 1 Classrooms, Micah Ducre

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy is defined as, using the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching them more effectively (Horowitz et al., 2018). Building relationships with students to understand their backgrounds and experiences to implement the best teaching practices such as accessing prior knowledge and making connections is imperative in a culturally diverse school with students with various learning styles, abilities, and interests. Moreover, the state of Georgia requires teachers to implement instructional practices relevant to students’ culture and learning abilities to receive proficient scores on their yearly evaluations. However, the state must provide its …

Beyond The Bell: Rebuilding Care, Civic Learning And Creativity Within Youth Spaces, Michelle R. Haapala

Culminating Experience Projects

The purpose of this research is to investigate high school age students’ opportunities within formal classroom settings to engage in care, civic learning, and creativity within a suburban, publicly-funded charter school. This study used thematic analysis and coding methods to organize and find patterns in the qualitative data from surveys distributed to education professionals at Canton Preparatory High School in Canton, Michigan. The goal is to establish a foundation of the perception of care, civic learning, and creativity within school environments and classroom settings. Overall, education professionals rated these categories positively, but with a closer investigation, a disconnect is found. …

The Effect Of Reading Habits On Academic Success, Taylor Hicks

Culminating Experience Projects

The goal of most students is to achieve academic success. In order to be successful, students must form healthy reading habits because there is a positive correlation between academic success and reading habits. The more students read, the greater their chances of performing well academically. By participating in frequent reading, students will, not only perform well in school, they will also expand their vocabulary, improve their writing skills, and sharpen their critical thinking skills. We are in the midst of a literacy crisis, though. Students are choosing other avenues for entertainment instead of reading. This could potentially have detrimental consequences. …

Spatial Visualization Of High School Geometry Students, Jennifer Crissey

Dissertations

Spatial ability has been defined as “the innate ability to visualize that a person has before any formal training has occurred, i.e., a person is born with ability” (Sorby, 1999, p. 21) and is comprised of spatial orientation and spatial skills.Each of these facets are used in everyday life. High school students can enhance their spatial visualization skills through experiences and instruction. The purpose of this study was to test an intervention with the aim of increasing high school geometry students’ spatial visualization skills. The participants in this study were high school geometry students who were randomly placed in either …

Empowering All Learners: The Role Of Cultural Responsiveness In Elementary Literacy Education, Meghan Claire Arbury

Culminating Experience Projects

Instructional strategies used by teachers impact student literacy performance. Students’ literacy skills can improve when teachers incorporate culturally responsive teaching practices that are also high-quality in nature. There is a particular need for these methods to be adopted in elementary classrooms in order to make learning accessible and equitable for diverse learners. Literacy skills are highly social and students’ backgrounds experiences are pivotal connections around which knowledge and understanding are constructed. In the Northwest Michigan region, as well as nationwide, performance disparities among cultural groups are reflected in literacy achievement data (“Grades 3-8,” n.d.), solidifying the need for change to …

Comparative Curricular Study Of Undergraduate Music Education Programs At Ohio Public Institutions, Benjamin Jenkins

Honors Projects

Music Education programs must fulfill numerous requirements to receive approval from multiple accrediting bodies. At the national level institutions must meet the standards set forth by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). In Ohio, programs must also follow requirements from the Ohio Department of Higher Education. This study examines undergraduate music education degree requirements from twelve public institutions in Ohio. It discusses how each university fulfills NASM requirements and to gain insight into how they balance the requirements of multiple accrediting bodies.

Teaching Phonics Mastery Through The Use Of Differentiated And Instructional Strategies, Ashley Honeyman

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This capstone reports the effectiveness of using differentiated instructional and assessment strategies to improve student understanding in phonics mastery. Based on pretest data that analyzed understanding of short u consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, phonics instruction was implemented to meet the needs of students in whole-group and small-group settings. This unit consisted of five whole-group lessons over short u blending and segmentation. In addition to the whole group learning, specific students were pulled for small-group intervention. The unit concluded with a post-assessment that tested student understanding on real and nonsense CVC words; these assessments were implemented to assess if the integration of …

Implementing Minnesota American Indian Tribe State Standard In Suburban Minnesota Ecology Curriculum, Sadie R. Spaeth

Leadership Education Capstones

The purpose of the study was to create curriculum supporting the new Minnesota Native American State Standard 4.2.2.

The Importance Of Teaching Social-Emotional Skills To Young Children, Stephanie Valdez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

My capstone project enhances the social-emotional skills of preschool children, which are fundamental for relationships, emotional management, and empathy. Children lacking these skills may struggle in learning, behavior, and socializing when they progress to elementary school. Studies have shown that social-emotional competence and cognitive competence are critical predictors of academic accomplishment (Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and Student Benefits: Implications for the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Core Elements, n.d.). Children in preschool who lack these skills may experience difficulties in learning, behavior, and socializing as they progress to elementary school (Amy Morin, 2019). A significant issue arises when children encounter obstacles …