Education Commons^™

Inclusive Practices In Teacher Education Programs, Melike Yozgatli

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

Inclusive education is a global trend and an educational right that refers to the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education settings (GECs). Applying to the most effective practices is particularly essential for students with disabilities in GECs. Most of the responsibility to implement inclusive practices and create a positive inclusive classroom environment falls on special and general education teachers in GECs. Thus, pre-service teacher education is crucial for teachers’ future achievements in inclusionary settings to address the diverse needs of students with disabilities. The purpose of this survey study was to investigate teacher education programs in the United …

The Effects Of Peer Training And Coaching On The Implementation Of Aided Language Modeling With An Aac User With Extensive Support And Complex Communication Needs, Sara Elizabeth Henderson

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

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of training peers at a middle school in aided language modeling. The peers were trained and then coached as they implemented the strategy during a social break time in the resource classroom when communicating with an AAC user with extensive support and complex communication needs (ESCCN). A multiple probe across participants design was used to evaluate the effects of the peer training and coaching program. The results showed that the implementation of a peer training and coaching program were effective in increasing the frequency of aided language modeling and the …

The Effects Of Interactive Shared Book Reading Recall Procedures On Preschoolers' Friendship Development, Samantha M. Mcgehee

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

Developing friendships is an important aspect in the lives of children. Children begin developing friendship related skills in toddlerhood and can begin maintaining these friendships by preschool-age. Few Tier 1 interventions exist to support children in preschool classrooms to develop these critical friendships. Interactive shared book reading is a common practice in early childhood classrooms that involves an adult reading a book to one or more students with embedded questions about the book to increase engagement and understanding with book themes. Reading to Engage Children with Autism in Language and Learning (RECALL) is an adaptation of interactive shared book reading …

Retention Of First-Generation College Students At A Four-Year Regional Public Institution, Matthew Andrew Schumacher

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Every year a significant number of college students stop out of college and fail to persist and complete their degree. First-generation college students are more likely to exit college without a degree than continuing-generation students. The purpose of this quantitative, archival, nonexperimental study was to explore how first-generation college student demographic, academic background, college academic, and student engagement factors were related to and predict first-year to second-year retention at a mid-sized, public regional university. The factors explored were gender, age, race/ethnicity, income status, high school GPA, ACT, cumulative GPA, first term attempted hours, housing, participation in a Living Learning Community, …

Pray And Play: The Impact Of Fellowship Of Christian Athletes Among Di African American Collegiate Football Players In Kentucky, Rasheed Flowers

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Participation in athletics provides student-athletes with opportunities to further themselves outside of athletics through academic assistance, educational opportunities and experiences, physical wellness, and personal/professional development. One often overlooked portion of this holistic development is spiritual development. As demonstrated in the name student-athlete, it implies a dual identity. Few student-athletes navigate multiple identities and a myriad of additional challenges in their collegiate journey than African American football student-athletes (AAFSAs). Spiritual development is vital for student-athletes; the literature validates that student-athletes growing in their faith may be better equipped to navigate the tension of multiple identity roles and cope with various circumstances. …

Understanding The Impact Of A First-Year Engineering Program On Undergraduate Student Persistence In Engineering, Brad Hubbard

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

The goal of this research study was to understand the impact first-year engineering programs have on undergraduate student persistence in engineering. First-year engineering programs feature a uniform first year curriculum for undergraduate engineering students and are designed to strengthen retention and increase graduation rates. This study sought to understand which factors present in first-year engineering programs influence student persistence in engineering. This study took place in the local context and examined the experience of engineering undergraduate students enrolled in a first-year engineering (FYEng) program at a state-level flagship land grant research institution in the southern region of the United States, …

Authorship & Agency: Exploring Coaching As A Tool For Student Success, Allison Rebecca Lake

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Coaching has emerged as a new, innovative practice within higher education. However, we have only begun to understand the true impact of coaching for college students. Research from individual coaching programs has shown that students who participate in coaching sessions are more likely to be retained, have higher GPAs, and engage in self-regulated learning. However, little research has been done to explore coaching from the student perspective. We do not yet understand how students utilize coaching as a tool to optimize their student experience. The goal of this project was to explore how coaching impacts the student experience and to …

The Hybrid Teacher: Expanding The Vocal Pedagogy Regime, Mary Joy Nelson

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The world of professional vocal training is becoming more and more eclectic and demanding in the United States. Academic music programs, and subsequently, vocal and vocal pedagogy programs are still predominantly classical in 2022, due to the American university system’s historical roots. In the 21st century, the commercial music industry is at an all-time high. However, in contemporary academia, vocal and vocal pedagogy degree programs remain primarily classical. In recent years, voice professionals have been discussing the implications of academic programs updating their programs and pedagogy in order to include professional CCM and hybrid training. Classical, CCM and hybrid singers …

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.

Understanding Middle School Students’ Enrollment Choice For A Fully Online Educational Environment During The Fall Of 2020 Covid-19 National Health Emergency: A Mixed Methods Study, Wendy Maltais Duvall

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

Students’ choice in enrolling in a distance learning environment was examined in a mixed methods study in the fall of 2020 during the COVID-19 national health emergency of that same year. After state mandated school closures in the spring 2020, students statewide were forced into a fully online learning situation until the end of that semester. In the fall, the district that was the study site offered families the choice of either hybrid or fully distance learning environments where students could attend school during the national health crisis that had persisted. That choice would be in force for the full …

Framing Early Adolescents’ Self-Efficacy Development: Precursors To The Sources Of Math Self-Efficacy, Calah J. Ford

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

Self-efficacy, the beliefs learners hold about what they can do, develops largely from how learners perceive and interpret four main sources of information: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasions, and physiological states. Although researchers have shown a relationship between these sources and math self-efficacy, less is known about the factors that may influence how early adolescent learners perceive and interpret information from these sources. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate two possible factors (i.e., perfectionism, performance-related factors) that might predict how learners perceive efficacy-relevant information in the domain of math. Study 1 used a correlational design to investigate …

“I Felt Seen”: A Mixed-Methods Investigation Of Culturally Responsive Teaching In Postsecondary Education, Caiti Siobhan Griffiths

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

Instructors’ beliefs and behaviors shape students’ learning environments (Bandura, 2007). Culturally responsive teaching can make instruction more relevant and supportive to historically marginalized students (Gay, 2000, 2018). Instructor support and care for students are important to undergraduate persistence (Tinto, 1986, 1993). However, White postsecondary instructors may not feel prepared to use culturally responsive teaching (Heitner & Jennings, 2016; Sue et al., 2009). This study used a sequential mixed-methods design to examine postsecondary instructors’ self-perceptions, and students’ lived experiences, related to culturally responsive teaching. In Fall 2020, instructors (N = 99) rated their self-efficacy for culturally responsive teaching on a …

The Potential Role Of Trauma-Informed Positive Education In The Secondary Mathematics Classroom In Disrupting The Preschool-To-Prison Pipeline, Jessica Michele Doering

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This mixed-methods study considered the potential for trauma-informed mathematics education to disrupt the preschool-to-prison (or school-to-prison) pipeline. Phenomenological qualitative interviews were conducted in conjunction with the use of the Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care (ARTIC; Baker et al., 2016) scale to determine teacher perceptions of trauma-informed care practices, their thoughts regarding challenging classroom behaviors and the connection of these behaviors with trauma and the pipeline, and their ideas about how much of an impact teachers can have on students who present with challenging behaviors that might be symptoms of trauma or that might be an indicator of future incarceration. This …

Technology Leadership Practices Of Appalachian School Leaders During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Todd Norton

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The COVD-19 pandemic caused a global disruption to education. In some parts of the United States, schools were cancelled for the year, while others shifted their educational offerings to a distance learning model. Kentucky announced short term closures beginning March 13, 2020, but on April 20th the Kentucky Governor announced that schools would not reopen for in-person instruction for the remainder of the academic year. Many school districts quickly developed a plan to continue a modified version of school. In Appalachia, some school leaders were uniquely prepared because their district had implemented a 1:1 device program. In a 1:1 program, …

Co-Teaching Practices Of General And Special Educators In Secondary Science Classrooms, Samantha Jolene Ringl

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The purpose of this study was to establish current levels of co-teaching implementation and to explore teachers’ perceptions of co-teaching and co-teacher relationships. This study also examined whether there is a relationship between teachers’ perception of their co-teaching relationship and their perception of co-teaching implementation in their classrooms. Analysis revealed that teachers generally have positive perceptions of their co-teaching partners and relationships, and these perceptions did not significantly differ between science teachers and special educators. However, this study found that teachers are not regularly planning lessons together, sharing the workload in the classroom, or choosing co-teaching models together. This study …

Proctoring And Apps In College Algebra, Cynthia M. Shelton

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The pandemic forced more instructors and students to move to online learning. For the first time, many experienced a loosening of the reigns and were forced to allow students to submit non-proctored work. Many may have questioned what students really learned in the year 2020. Many college math course competencies emphasize procedures. Now that apps can do that for students, where does that leave math instructors? Additionally, online instruction has exploded over the last decade and has challenged the teaching of college mathematics. While online instruction opens the door to access, it does beg the question of whether students complete …

Orienting New International College Students During A Global Pandemic: Spatiality’S Contributions To Staff Work Practices, Thomas W. Teague Jr.

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

U.S. colleges must increasingly respond to a wide range of complex forces and simultaneously fulfill their missions and support students. To address many of these forces, some have turned to internationalization efforts like recruiting and enrolling international students. In light of these efforts, critics have called for institutions to better, more appropriately support these students, given their challenges and needs. This call has amplified during the recent COVID-19 global health pandemic.

Traditional student support services tend to center around Tinto’s Theory of Student Departure. Examples of support programming are frequently shared, yet rarely detail how institutional staff actually perform them …

The Trust-Based Classroom: An Analysis Of Current Trends In Social And Emotional Learning And The Development Of A New Trust-Based Approach To Art Education, Ellen Prasse

Theses and Dissertations--Art and Visual Studies

Many current social and emotional learning (SEL) programs cite building trust as a key factor to an effective SEL program. Despite these references, however, they often lack an emphasis on teaching methods of building trust between students and their peers, the teacher, and the environment. Instead they focus on a specific aspect of teaching like the procedural practices of Responsive Classroom or communication and open-mindedness as in Open Circle. Explicitly building trust, however, could create an art classroom atmosphere conducive to high quality learning. This paper analyzes current trends in social and emotional learning and outlines the characteristics of the …

A Constructive Approach To Managing Faculty Conflict: An Action Research Study, Natasha L. Davis

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Research indicates colleges and universities are faced with an excess of challenges and issues, and one of these issues is dealing with conflict. The purpose of this mixed methods action research study was to implement a conflict management strategies workshop on the campus of Morehead State University as an intervention to address the problem of conflict between faculty and administrators. Data collected and analyzed from an exploratory pilot study included interviews of current faculty and administrators regarding situations of conflict. As a result, the following information was discovered: conflict does exist on the campus of Morehead State University between faculty …

Appalachia On The Airwaves: A History Of Public And Educational Television In The Southern Mountains, Carson Benn

Theses and Dissertations--History

Through a series of historical case studies of individual states within the multi-state region of the Appalachian mountain range, as well as the region as a whole, this dissertation examines educational television (ETV) operations, both at the network level and that of individual stations. Though mostly thought of as “public television”—an educational and noncommercial alternative to mainstream broadcast media—these ETV networks offered, I argue, something more analogous to present-day understandings of distance education and the use of instructional media and technology. Station directors, philanthropic benefactors, and school administrators took different approaches to providing the service of ETV, but all were …

Leading In The Digital Age: A Multi-Case Study Of Leading Digital Citizenship, Ryan C. Schubart

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This study explored how school leaders make sense of and address digital citizenship as defined by Ribble (2011), and investigated what successes and challenges school leaders experienced while implementing digital citizenship programs in large Southeastern technology-rich schools. This bounded cross-case study, undergirded by Weick’s (1995) Theory of Sensemaking, is also designed to explore how school leaders implement digital citizenship programs at technology-rich schools in a large. 1:1, Southeastern public-school district, and how they view their role as producers of digital citizens.

Findings indicated that an influx of computer technology caused school leaders to make sense of digital citizenship and address …

Rate To Measure Mathematics Teaching: Using The Many-Facet Rasch Modeling To Reevaluate The Mathematics Classroom Observation Protocol For Practices (Mcop2), Chunling Niu

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Rater-mediated classroom observation protocols are increasingly being used for teaching performance assessments, which makes identifying and controlling for various rater effects a central issue to ensure the rating quality. A series of validation studies under the classical test theory framework, including content validity, interrater reliability, and structure analysis, have been completed for the 16-item Mathematics Classroom Observation Protocol for Practices (MCOP²).

However, the MCOP² data have never been investigated under the Rasch framework. Due to the methodological limitations of the CTT approach for rater-mediated assessments, it is imperative to examine the MCOP² validity and reliability using …

“How Sweet That I Am The One To Whisper These Things”: A Comparative Case Study Of Active Latin Teaching And Learning, Laura Ann Manning

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The motivation for this study came from a need to construct student-centered pedagogical practices to enhance learning and teaching of the Latin language in K-12 schools in the USA. This study aimed to advance a conceptual understanding of how active Latin teaching and learning occurs and to investigate the potential benefits of applying historical pedagogical frameworks for active Latin teaching practiced during the Renaissance, when Latin was both a lingua franca and a dead language. This study employed a mixed-methods comparative case study including interviews and classroom observations and quantitative analyses of student test scores to determine current active teaching …

Administrators Building Social Capital To Foster Informal Teacher Leadership In Type C International Schools In Vietnam, Robert Preston Williams

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The goal of this study was to explore how administrators build social capital among expatriate teachers to foster informal teacher leadership in type C international schools. The researcher employed a single-site case study in an international school in Vietnam. A theoretical framework based on Bourdieu’s (1986) social capital theory was used to design the research instruments and analyze the data.

In phase one, the researcher collected survey data with the participants being the teaching staff at the international school. The data were used to conduct a social network analysis to identify informal teacher leaders (ITLs), identify subgroups, and compare network …

Assessing The Impact Of Teacher Self-Efficacy On Teacher Led Physical Activity, Donovan Willard-Lee Ross

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Many children are not meeting national physical activity recommendations and are sedentary during the school day. This has led teachers to implement classroom physical activity to increase movement of their students. This dissertation focused on student perceptions of classroom physical activity and teacher self-efficacy to implement it. This dissertation includes three studies focusing on classroom physical activity: (1) student perceptions of classroom physical activity, (2) an examination of the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and implementation of classroom physical activity, and (3) a description of factors related to teacher implementation of classroom physical activity, including methods of implementation and teacher confidence. …

The Influence Of Formal Mentoring On Teacher Beliefs Of K-12 Classroom Technology Use During A Global Pandemic, Anthony Arbisi

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This dissertation explores the influence and transfer of knowledge related to instructional technology that occurs in the formal teacher mentoring relationship of seven mentoring dyads in a suburban Missouri public school district. This multiple case study was performed during the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020-2021 school year. The unit of analysis in this study was a mentoring dyad that consisted of an experienced mentor teacher and a novice teacher.

A multiple case study method was utilized. Individual interviews and two focus groups were conducted via the Zoom video conference platform to gather data to inform the research study. Thematic analysis …

The “Case” For Assessments: An Evaluation Of Case End Of Course Assessments And Teacher Motivation, Andrew Lawrence Hauser

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) End of Course (EoC) assessments are summative assessments used to evaluate the CASE curriculum. This quantitative study explored the effects teacher motivation has on student performance on CASE EoC assessments. CASE teachers (n= 55) who participated in the study responded to the 28-item CASE End of Course Assessment Teacher Motivation Questionnaire on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The researcher conducted a Pearson r Correlation test to determine a relationship between questionnaire mean values and secondary student assessment data. Results from the study outline frequency of responses, perceived value and expectancy mean values, and correlations …

"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 …

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.

A Comparative Study Of Stress, Trauma, Well-Being, And Future Orientation Among Community College Students, Melinda A. Lemaster

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

This study measured perceived stress, past trauma, well-being, and future orientation in a sample of community college students located in the Southeast United States. The sample included 412 participants (78%) female; 59% of student participants reported living in a rural community and 41% in a non-rural community. The mean age was 22 for 70% of participants, while 30% were over age 30. Framed by Family Stress Theory and Human Ecological Systems Theory, the study tested whether rural college students would report higher levels of stress, more past trauma, lower well-being and future orientation when compared with non-rural students. In addition, …