Other Education Commons^™

Digital Game-Based Learning And The Mathematics Achievement Of Gifted Students, Lynette Cooper

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group study was to determine the presence of a statistically significant difference in the mathematics achievement of gifted learners when utilizing digital game-based learning (DGBL) for supplemental mathematics instruction when compared to gifted learners not utilizing DGBL. This study compared the Student Growth Percentile (SGP) of 105 sixth-grade gifted participants from two public middle schools as measured by the Renaissance Learning STAR Math Test. The participants took a pretest, completed 540 minutes of supplemental mathematics instruction over a nine-week period, and took a posttest. Participants were randomly selected for the treatment group who …

An Examination Of Concussion Understanding Among Parents Of High School Female Student Athletes, Kelly Hartley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Few online concussion education programs have been developed specifically for parents, and those that have been tend to neglect the fact that concussion rates are higher in female rather than male student athletes (Donaldson et al., 2016; Macdonald & Hauber, 2016; Williamson et al., 2014). This quantitative study is important because it addressed gaps in the concussion education literature. The purpose of this study was to examine whether concussion symptoms knowledge and general youth sports-related concussion knowledge was significantly higher among parents of female student athletes who watched the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Heads Up concussion videos (intervention …

Middle School Apathy: A Phenomenological Study From Students' Perspective, Debra Graves

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose for this phenomenological study was to investigate students’ perceptions as to why some middle school students lose their intrinsic motivation to learn and develop apathy toward learning while other middle school students thrive. The following question guided the research: Based on students’ lived experiences, what are the sources for motivation and/or apathy during the middle school years? Four sub-questions were also used: (1) What are students’ perspectives about the intersection of standardized testing and report cards to their motivation/apathy to learn? (2) What are students’ perceptions of the intersection of technology and motivation/apathy? (3) What do students perceive …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Effective Student Support Systems By Availability Of Student Support Facilitators, Marsha Joyce-Tatum

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Student support systems are designed to improve struggling students’ performance and should be used by general and special education teachers. The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ perceptions of student support system frameworks in a rural school district in a Mid-Atlantic state with a full-time or part-time student support facilitator. This study will provide educational leaders with information on teachers’ perceptions concerning student support systems, in order to support creation of improved staff development efforts that will influence effective teacher use of student support systems. Teachers’ perceptions of their training, special education eligibility, and framework weaknesses in student …

The Prediction Of Technology Integration In The Christian K-12 Classroom Based On Openness To Change, Technology Training, And Work Beyond The Contractual Work Week, Troy Spetter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This predictive correlational study explored the lack of generalizable data regarding the use of technology in the Christian K-12 environment. The study searched for a predictive correlation between teachers’ overall use of technology, openness to change, amount of technology training, and hours of work beyond the contractual work week, based on previous study in public education (Vannatta & Fordham, 2004). The target population was all teachers who work in schools that are members in good standing with the Association of Christian Schools International in the United States. Using a random sample, teachers were asked to participate in the study and …

A Case Study Of The Stakeholders' Perception Of The Effectiveness Of A South Carolina District Mentorship Program, Donna Floyd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study is to understand the perceptions of participants in St. John’s County School District concerning the effectiveness of the mentorship program in the county. The Theory of Teacher Development (Fuller, 1969; Katz, 1972) guided the research. This theory states the induction programs should follow pre-service preparation, which will reduce the teacher attrition rate. A single case study was chosen so that the mentorship program could be studied using the perceptions of the participants in the program. The two research questions that guided the study is as follows: “What are the beginning teachers’ perceptions of the …

An Examination Of The Impact Of Early Intervention On High School Dropout Rates, Kenton Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative, correlational study focuses on the examination of at-risk student indicators and the practice of early identification and intervention as it pertains to high school graduation. It utilized logistic regression to determine whether a set of predictor variables (Criterion Referenced Competency Test math, final math and English grades, and number of absences) can accurately predict the criterion variable of graduation from high school. The analysis also determined which variables best predict the criterion variable. The analysis utilized archived data on African American males who entered ninth grade in a large U.S. school district during the 2013-2014 school year. The …

Failure-To-Rescue Simulations As A Risk Management Strategy For Registered Nurses, Trena K. Seago

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

In the hospital setting, prevention of failure-to-rescue (FTR) events is an important aspect of patient safety. The use of patient simulation as a strategy to educate nurses on the prevention of these events offers two modes of learning: 1) experiential learning through simulation and 2) reflection through debriefing. The act of practicing to recognize a deteriorating patient through experiential learning and reflection may help increase nurses’ self-efficacy in recognizing a similar situation in their future practice. This quasi-experimental, one-group, pretest-posttest pilot study investigated the use of patient simulation among registered nurses (RNs) in the hospital setting as an anticipatory educational …

The ‘Just City’ Or Just A City? : Evaluating Social Justice And Equity In Planning Education., Wes Grooms

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary evaluations of accredited planning education performance have eschewed the principles and methodologies of formal program evaluation and performance management. This dissertation tests hypotheses that this contributes to the lack of social equity and justice commitment, content, and inquiry on the part of accredited graduate planning degree programs, their clients, and administrators. The organizations, resources, and processes involved in the purveyance of accredited graduate planning education were conceptualized as a singular, evaluable program and illustrated in a series of program logic models. These models revealed sources of the inattentiveness to normative issues that past evaluations have evidenced, and informed assertions …

Quantitative Content Analysis Of Virginia Doctoral Dissertations 2007-2017: Trends In Degree Types And Methodologies, Craig Krueger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study was a trend analysis of the choices made by doctoral candidates in the state of Virginia who sought degrees in the field of education. It analyzed frequencies of degree types (EdD degree compared to the PhD) and research methodologies (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods). This research is important because no such study has been done since 1994. The information will be useful to both those who lead doctoral programs and to people who seek to understand philosophical implications and practical applications of these degree and methodology types. The purpose of the study is to bring up to date …

School Climate: A Comparison Of Teachers, Students, And Parents, James A. Jacobs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to examine the benefits of positive school climate and to measure the perceptions of school climate for intermediate grades in a Northeast Tennessee School district. An online school climate survey was used to collect responses from participants in intermediate grades and focused on the 3 major components of school climate: school engagement, school environment, and school safety. Data were collected for 2 consecutive years in 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. Response totals included 1,955 student responses, 116 teacher responses, and 210 parent responses that were analyzed and used for this study. Of the student totals, some students that …

Flipping The Flipped: The Co-Creational Classroom, Vuk Uskoković

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

The flip teaching model is being increasingly adopted by higher education institutions as an active learning alternative to traditional lecturing. However, the flip model shares a number of critical premises with the classical didactics. The further flips of the flip are thus advocated and the fear of returning the method to its initial state, prior to the flip, via such flips of the flipped dispelled. Proposed here is a seminal variation to the flip model based on the active involvement of students in searching, finding, selecting, and assembling knowledge from various literature sources into the learning material for the entire …

Breaking Burnout: How Daily Mindfulness Can Break The Cycle Of Clinician Burnout And Restore Passion Within The Pediatric Treatment Environment., Gretchen Blackmer

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Caregiver burnout is a common condition that impacts clinicians, patients, and institutions, across all healthcare service lines. Caregivers who serve patients and families directly, including Child Life Specialists, have been found to hold a greater risk of burnout, due to the increased stress and potential for vicarious trauma that exists in the daily responsibilities this position demands (Moody, 2014). Clinicians just entering the Child Life profession, as well as those with only a few short years in the field, have been identified as being especially susceptible to experiencing burnout (Kemper).

Despite the common nature of burnout, complex and long-held cultural …

Leader Self-Renewal: Mind, Body, Spirit Connection Inherent In Sustainable Leadership, Lasonja Roberts

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation builds upon stress and burnout research on school leaders by exploring the beliefs and practices regarding well-being and self-renewal of principals identified as successful. This study utilized a 3-fold framework that consisted of mind, body, and spirit, falling under the all-encompassing umbrella of thriving, asserting the three domains work together to support the optimal well-being of the leader. The research questions were as follows: (1) In what ways are principals' well-being and self-renewal supported by principals' personal beliefs and practices, district policies and practices, and educational programs and organizations? (2) To what extent does attentiveness to well-being and …

Cultivating A Professional Culture Of Peace And Inclusion: Conceptualizing Practical Applications Of Peace Leadership In Schools, Whitney Mcintyre Miller, Annmary S. Abdou

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Beyond the role of educating students across all academic domains, school leaders are tasked with the monumental responsibility of creating positive, engaged systems and cultures that embrace the growing cultural, economic, linguistic, and cognitive diversity in the United States landscape. With collective goals to create peaceful learning environments with capacity to serve diverse learners, many school leaders have embraced school-wide prevention and intervention efforts, such as Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) for social-emotional and behavioral development of students. Unfortunately, due to the inherent complexities and fragmentation of such efforts, many school leaders have continued to experience significant barriers to sustainable …

Teacher Talk: How Many White, Middle-Class, Female Educators Perpetuate White Privilege In School, Theresa Nomensen

Dissertations

This paper examines the ways middle-class, white, women, who comprise more than eighty percent of the teaching force in public schools perpetuate white supremacy in public schools, explicitly at looking at how and what middle-class, white teachers say to and about their students of color. I interrogate and analyze my own beliefs and experiences, using autoethnography, revealing my journey from learning about my white privilege to understanding how I perpetuate white privilege in schools. Using the theoretical framework of Critical Whiteness Studies, I will interrogate my own whiteness as I confront and wrestle with whiteness in myself and in five …

Poetics Of Sixteenth-Century Widowhood: Vittoria Colonna’S Use Of Gender And Grief As A Means Of Social And Spiritual Transcendence, Sarah Conner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project surrounds the life of sixteenth-century poet Vittoria Colonna, and the poetry she wrote following the death of her husband Ferrante D’Avalos, Marquis of Pescara, in 1525. Often regarded in tandem with the works of Michelangelo, Vittoria Colonna’s literary accomplishments in the face of personal tragedy speak for themselves as she became one of the foremost female poets of her time. Beyond her relationship with Michelangelo, the surrounding literature on Colonna looks at her widowhood as a stage for her poetry, her use of Neoplatonist imagery, and the influence of the Petrarchan sonnet. Expanding on the arguments presented …

Breaking Down Traditional Classroom Walls And Studying Spacesuits Abroad, Ryan L. Kobrick, Jessica Mckee Ph.D., Sue A. Macchiarella, Angelica Gould

Publications

The spacesuit curriculum under development by the Spacesuit Utilization of Innovative Technology Laboratory (S.U.I.T. Lab) in the Spaceflight Operations program of the Applied Aviation Sciences Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has the unique challenge of educating non-engineering students about extremely technical space systems, highlighted by spacesuits. CSO 399: “Spacesuits and Human Spaceflight Operations” course, taught in Greece each summer, introduces students to human spaceflight topics. This unique offering takes advantage of the clear water visibility in the Aegean Sea with practical underwater demonstrations of space operations. Students live in confined quarters on a sailboat for two weeks to simulate operations …

A Participatory Action Research Using Photovoice To Explore Well-Being In Young Adults With Autism, Gary Yu Hin Lam

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Young adults with autism transitioning from school to adulthood are commonly described as exhibiting poor outcomes. Although there has been research efforts measuring quality of life and life satisfaction in individuals with autism, these conceptualizations of well-being are still predominantly deficit-focused and based on normalizing ideals of the dominant culture. Only by incorporating individuals with autism’s perspectives and involving their meaningful participation in research can we better understand and promote well-being among individuals with autism. The present study aims to explore young adults with autism’s ideas about well-being. I conducted a Photovoice project using a participatory action research approach with …

Talk Matters: Graduate Students’ Perceptions Of Online Learner-Learner Interaction Design And Experiences, Eraldine Williams-Shakespeare

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the design of learner-learner activities including types of pedagogy and media in online courses and graduate students’ perceptions of social interaction, cognitive learning and overall satisfaction. Data collection and analysis involved both quantitative and qualitative methods following a Sequential Explanatory Model. Data instruments include a modified version of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Survey version 14b (Swan, Shea, Richardson, Ice, Garrison, Cleveland-Innes, & Arbaugh, 2008), a Rubric for Assessing Interactive Qualities of Distance Learning Courses (Roblyer, 2004), and a semi-structured interview protocol.

A total of 106 graduate students participated in the survey. Twelve of the participants were …