Education Commons^™

Rural Appalachian Teachers' Use Of Social Media To Find And Engage In Professional Development, Kristy Johnson

Ed.D. Dissertations

Rural elementary teachers faced challenges to professional development which differed from their urban or suburban peers. With the increasing popularity of social media at the time of this study, rural elementary teachers had the opportunity to use social media to find and engage in professional development which might otherwise be unavailable to them. By engaging in professional development teachers found via social media, rural elementary teachers could overcome some of the challenges faced as a rural educator. The purpose of this study was to determine how rural elementary teachers perceived and used social media to find and engage in professional …

Balancing Act: How Does An Interdisciplinary Art Unit Affect Student Self-Efficacy In A Stem School?, Cindy Hankins-Koppel

Ed.D. Dissertations

Abstract

Educators who use interdisciplinary methods in the classroom need consistent strategies to teach STEM content, and methods to help students increase self-efficacy. The focus on cognitive gains in STEM studies limits the number of students who pursue a foundation of STEM and 21st century skills to adapt to technological advancements for their futures. Student self-efficacy, perception of personal abilities, has become more critical as individuals need a range of academic and personal skills to adapt and persist in future endeavors. Social stereotypes and familial interests influence an individual's perception of their abilities to pursue a career in STEM from …

The Impact Of Online Instruction On Fourth Grade Students’ Reading Self-Efficacy And Achievement, Chad E. Wickard

Ed.D. Dissertations

This quantitative, quasi-experimental study examined the relationships between self-efficacy and reading achievement as mediated by an online instructional delivery system called MobyMax® over a period of time between a pretest and a posttest. The sources of self-efficacy were also investigated for the individual contribution of each of the four sources; process accomplishments or mastery experiences, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states. Finally, the current study explored the relationships across gender and ethnicity (White, Black, Hispanic, and other). Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to organize the data using a mixed factorial ANOVA to analyze the interventions’ …

Faith-Based Programming And Community Transformation, Larry Bollinger

Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the correlation between holistic programs administered by local Nazarene congregations and any impact on self-efficacy in order to assess the programs’ impact on community transformation. The goal was to determine if faith has a positive impact on poverty alleviation outcomes and if local congregations can be at least as effective as secular agencies in helping communities make progress out of poverty. The researcher used the New General Self-Efficacy (NGSE) scale to evaluate self-efficacy (Chen, Gully, & Eden, 2001) and found the beneficiaries of the holistic programs of Bangladesh Nazarene Mission had statistically …