Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

The Western Curriculum And Identity Conflict Among Pakistani Students, Tauqeer Abdullah, Johar Ali

Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia

Education systems play a critical role in shaping students’ cultural identities in an increasingly globalized world. In Pakistan, the growing presence of international schools following Western curricula exposes students to values that often diverge from local traditions. Drawing on Erikson’s identity theory, Berry’s acculturation model, and Tajfel and Turner’s social identity theory, this study examines how Western curricula influence students’ self-perception, identity conflict, and cultural alienation. Data were collected from 324 students (179 males, 145 females) enrolled in O-level and A-level programs across five international schools in Lahore, Punjab, using a cross-sectional survey design. The results indicate that Western curricula …

What Is Happening In The World Today And Why: Humanity’S Evolving Consciousness And The Role Of Archetypal Energies As Guides During An Unfolding Weeding Out And Alignment Process, Carroy U. Ferguson

Psychology Faculty Publication Series

What is happening in the world today and why? Humanity is evolving its consciousness at individual and collective levels. Given these seemingly tumultuous times, as of this writing (January 2026), to make such a statement may sound like a strange thing to say. However, I suggest that if you are alive today and if you are reading these words, these are the very times for which you were born--to assist Humanity as it evolves its consciousness with your unique gifts, whatever they may be. That is, this period of our individual and collective human being-ness may be characterized as an …

The Heart Of An Educator An Autoethnographic Study Of Homeschool Practices That Reflect Core Udl Principles, Kimberly Clinton

Dissertations

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework was at the heart of this study, which served as a critical lens for examining the instructional design practices embedded in the homeschool environment. Specifically, I examined how the three core tenets of UDL: representation, action and expression, and engagement were reflected within the Clinton Homeschool Instructional Learning Design (CHILD). The aim was to identify how homeschool instruction, as implemented by the researcher, parallels UDL principles in its responsiveness to learner variability, its emphasis on flexible instructional delivery, and its commitment to student-centered engagement. In contrast to the dominant educational paradigm, which often …

Critical Student Agency In An Integrated Social Studies Unit, Bolaji Bamidele, Kristin A. Searle

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Student Research

Background: Research has highlighted the value of centering student voices and agency in classroom contexts, yet few curricula explicitly foreground critical agency in their design. This qualitative case study examines how students enact agency within an integrated curriculum that combines computer science, social studies, and Indian Education for All (IEFA) standards. The unit focused on tribal sovereignty and why treaties still matter for indigenous people today, enabling students to connect their lived experiences to broader sociopolitical contexts. Data were collected through classroom observations, student and teacher interviews, and student artifacts. Results: Analysis revealed that students performed agency in three interrelated …

Using Art To Understand Children's Perceptions Of Covid-Era Schooling, Katrina Bartow Jacobs, Kali Stull

IALS Journal

This study explores how elementary-aged children (K–5) made sense of their Covid-era schooling experiences at Falk Laboratory School. Using an arts-based methodology combining drawing and narrative reflection, researchers collected 232 student artworks and 225 narratives. Findings revealed that older children referenced Covid-related experiences more frequently than younger children, that Covid held similar emotional significance to other school experiences, and that children's responses included both positive and negative emotions. A notable subset of students, particularly some neurodiverse learners, expressed positive feelings about remote learning, smaller groups, and masking. The study highlights the value of arts-based research in centering children's voices and …

From Classroom To Field: Rural Teachers’ Integration Of Science And The Outdoors, Steph N. Dean, Julianne A. Wenner

The Rural Educator

This study explored how rural educators in the US use outdoor environments to enhance science instruction, addressing the educational marginalization of rural students. Using rural cultural wealth as a theoretical framework, we investigated how rural teachers integrate local nature-based resources and students’ out-of-school experiences into science learning. We conducted interviews and observations with rural teachers, using reflexive thematic analysis as our qualitative approach. Three key themes emerged that highlight the ways our participants use the outdoor environment to teach science: (a) harness rural community partnerships, (b) engage students through relational teaching, and (c) design learning opportunities that honor students as …

Greater Newark Stem Ecosystem - 2026 Convening - Small Group Outcomes & Action Plan, Brad Schenker

STEM for Success Showcase

In January 2026, GNSE convened ecosystem partners for a co-design session focused on identifying shared challenges, opportunities, and near-term actions to strengthen STEM education and career-connected learning. Participants engaged in small-group discussions to surface barriers, enablers, and potential areas for coordinated action.

Voices Of Agency: Unpacking Student Insights On Nysed Content Standards, Local Curricular Practices, Pedagogy In New York State Schools, And Their Educational Implications, Alprentice Ashanti Talibudeen Mccutchen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research sets out to explore the concept of agency in the context of education, including my distinction between passive agency and active agency, and how these distinctions have been taken up by scholars, educators, and policy makers. The core approach is based in an expansive inclusion of various perspectives on agency as a basis for developing a comprehensive framework of active agency as well as its opportunities for educational practices and outcomes. I am arguing that there is a gap—an agency gap—between the passive and active employment of agency. I am also arguing that there is an agency in …

From Classroom To Field: Rural Teachers’ Integration Of Science And The Outdoors, Steph N. Dean, Julieanne A. Wenner

Publications

This study explored how rural educators in the US use outdoor environments to enhance science instruction, addressing the educational marginalization of rural students. Using rural cultural wealth as a theoretical framework, we investigated how rural teachers integrate local nature-based resources and students’ out-of-school experiences into science learning. We conducted interviews and observations with rural teachers, using reflexive thematic analysis as our qualitative approach. Three key themes emerged that highlight the ways our participants use the outdoor environment to teach science: (a) harness rural community partnerships, (b) engage students through relational teaching, and (c) design learning opportunities that honor students as …

Developing Ecosocial Literacy / Transforming Ecosocial Leadership: A Curriculum Research & Development Project, Chris Zorn, Lois A. Yamauchi, Madiha Jamil

IALS Journal

This case study examines the Global Leadership Laboratory (GLL), a yearlong high school leadership course at University Laboratory School in Hawaiʻi. The curriculum integrates transformative learning and contemplative practices to promote student voice, self-awareness, leadership skills, and personal agency. Through interviews, observations, and student artifacts, the study found that reflective journaling, dialogue, contemplative practices, and transformative learning activities supported the development of authentic student voice and perspective transformation, although outcomes varied by classroom conditions and student readiness.

Cyber Science Education Meets Healthcare Technology, Angela Spencer

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

The research investigates how cyber science education combines with healthcare technology during the digital age to resolve a fundamental research gap in these two advancing areas. A combined approach utilizing extensive surveys and detailed interviews evaluates the functionality of learning platforms as well as cybersecurity measures and potential uses of emerging virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) tools to improve both educational and clinical environments. The research document describes its methodologies thoroughly while. The research documents multiple quantitative and qualitative results before performing its analysis, which leads to strategy development for digit. The researchers worked to find ways that …

Sounding The Alarm: The Role Of States In Monitoring The Federal Government, Christian G. Fritz

Faculty Scholarship

In December 2025, more than 40 bipartisan state legislative leaders from over 30 states, working through the National Conference of State Legislatures, issued a resolution titled “Federalism Restoration and State Empowerment.” The distinctive feature of American federalism has long been understood to be the distribution of powers between the national and state governments. This foundational element of our system of government—shared sovereignty—warrants revisiting by K-12 teachers and students. Although states may attempt to limit national power in ways such as withholding cooperation, exerting political pressure, and challenging federal authority through legal and institutional channels, this Digest focuses on the role …

Students’ Conceptions Of The Future: Participatory Co-Research And Teaching Experiment, Anna Veijola, Tuukka Tomperi

IALS Journal

This study examines upper secondary students’ conceptions of the future through a participatory teaching and research experiment conducted in a philosophy course at the University of Jyväskylä Teacher Training School. Students collaboratively created short films imagining the world in 2043 and wrote reflective essays about the ethical and philosophical issues represented in their films. Using the framework of Futures Consciousness, the researchers analyzed themes related to time perspective, agency, openness to alternatives, systems thinking, and concern for others. Findings revealed that students expressed both utopian and dystopian visions rooted in contemporary global concerns such as climate change, inequality, technological development, …

A Student-Centered Gis Classroom: Second Chances And Real-World Practice Teaching Portfolio For Nres218 Introduction To Geospatial Technologies, Ran Wang

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This course portfolio documents the design, implementation, and reflection of NRES218 Introduction to Geospatial Technologies, an introductory undergraduate geographic information system (GIS) course. This course aims to integrate basic and applied sciences to help students develop spatial thinking and spatial analysis skills for proposing spatial science–oriented solutions. Instructional strategies emphasize experiential learning through structured laboratory exercises and outdoor field activities that connects real-world observation with GIS analysis. To support student learning and persistence, the course also incorporated flexible assessment practices, including second-chance exams. Reflection on student engagement and performance revealed that while these strategies were highly beneficial for some students, …

Poems For A Calculus Class (After Reading Midlife Calculus And At The Dimensional Border), Kevin Farey

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This poetry folder is made up of two short trios. The first begins with “Methods,” a thirteen-line poem by Britt Kaufmann, and continues with two thirteen-line responses to it. The folder’s second half consists of three (non-thirteen-line) responses to a collection of thirteen-line-almost-sonnets by Philip Fried, who had in turn been inspired, during the pandemic, by Edwin Abbot’s Flatland.

Both Kaufmann and Fried are authors of previous JHM poetry folders. Poems from Kaufmann’s book Midlife Calculus appeared in the January 2025 issue and poems from Fried’s series At the Dimensional Border appeared in the July 2024 issue. In addition, …

Humanity Is Evolving Its Consciousness: The Role Of Archetypal Energies As Guides During An Unfolding Weeding Out And Alignment Process, Carroy U. Ferguson

Psychology Faculty Publication Series

Humanity is evolving its consciousness at individual and collective levels.  Given these seemingly tumultuous times, as of this writing (January 2026), to make such a statement may sound like a strange thing to say.  However, I suggest that if you are alive today and if you are reading these words, these are the very times for which you were born—to assist Humanity as it evolves its consciousness with your unique gifts, whatever they may be.  That is, this period of our individual and collective human being-ness may be characterized as an unfolding period of weeding out and alignment with the …

The Voices Of Educators And Elders: Examining A Supplemental Educational Program Through A Culturally Responsive Lens In Gullah Geechee And African American Communities, Kelly D. Shelton

Dissertations

African American students in South Carolina experience historical educational suppression (Anderson, 1988; Bowers et al., 2018; Fabel, 2019). This qualitative case study investigated how the use of African Diaspora and Gullah Geechee culture in supplemental education programs supported the academic success of youth. Using a culturally and historically responsive literacy and critical race theoretical framing (Gay, 2013; Hammond, 2015; Ladson-Billings, 2014; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1997; Mills, 1997; Muhammad, 2020), this study captured the voices and insights of community elders and program directors of The Village Group, that makes use of Gullah Geechee cultural, academic, and vocational practices to engage and …

Review And Revision Of A Preclerkship Ophthalmology Curriculum By Senior Medical Students, Serina S Applebaum, Leena Surapaneni, Sofia Miguez, Christina Jayaraj, Phillip Braun, John Encandela, Ninani Kombo

Journal of Academic Ophthalmology

Background: Curricular time dedicated to ophthalmology is limited in undergraduate medical education. High-quality, early exposure to ophthalmology is necessary both as foundational training for all future physicians and to foster interest in the field.

Purpose: Through a student-led review, the present study aimed to evaluate and revise the preclinical ophthalmology curriculum at a medical school in the Northeastern United States.

Methods: Four senior medical students systematically evaluated the completeness and instructional effectiveness of preclinical ophthalmology curriculum materials for the 2024-2025 academic year. We evaluated alignment of content with the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO) standardized …

Global Pathways: Suwon, South Korea - Semester Abroad Program Proposal, Amanda D. Ledger

Capstone Collection

This capstone proposes the Global Pathways: Suwon program, a semester-long study abroad initiative developed in partnership between Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and Kyonggi University (KGU) in Suwon, South Korea. The program responds to current limitations in study abroad, particularly the prevalence of short-term tourism-oriented experiences and curricula that prioritizes Western perspectives. A needs assessment consisting of student interviews, surveys, and professional consultation demonstrated strong interest in programs that combine language learning, cultural immersion, and career development. Findings also highlighted the importance of financial accessibility, reciprocal host partnerships, and ongoing advising support. Drawing on Freire’s critical pedagogy and Vygotsky’s sociocultural …

Attitudes Of English Language Trainers At Technical Colleges In Saudi Arabia Towards Using Artificial Intelligence Applications In Teaching, Khalid Mohammad Alhomidhi

International Journal for Research in Education

The research aimed to identify the attitudes of English language trainers in Saudi technical colleges towards the use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in teaching, considering certain variables. The sample included 140 male and female trainers. A descriptive approach was used, and an attitude scale of 43 items across five dimensions was developed and validated. Results showed that the dimensions of acceptance, interest, and curriculum compatibility with AI applications were rated as “strongly agree” with a very high degree. Meanwhile, the dimensions of evaluation of AI use in teaching and availability of AI tools, training, and support were …