Other Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

An Evaluation Of Aquatic Interventions To Support Increased Physical Fitness Levels For Children With Cerebral Palsy, Grace Kasberger

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study was designed to determine the most appropriate aquatic interventions to best improve physical fitness levels in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Children with CP often experience reduced aerobic capacity, muscular strength, and functional mobility, which can limit participation in traditional land-based physical activities such as walking and playing. Aquatic environments provide safe and resistance-based environments that can reduce joint loading, spasticity, and provide training. This systematic review examined a variety of different aquatic interventions (e.g. HIIT, aerobic based, strength training, flexibility, and the Halliwick Method) to improve physical fitness in children with CP. Data collection focused on outcomes …

The Impact Of Flight Instructor Feedback On Subsequent Instructor Evaluations Of Student Performance, Ayhan Rozyyev, Jennifer E. Thropp

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

This study examines the impact of feedback tone and feedback order on flight instructors’ evaluations of student performance in an aviation training context. Using a 2×2 mixed factorial design, 40 certified flight instructors reviewed fictitious training records and rated students based on feedback that varied in tone (positive vs. negative) and order (positive-first vs. negative-first). Results showed that positive feedback significantly influenced evaluations across all measured dimensions, while feedback order had no significant effect, challenging assumptions about primacy and recency effects. These findings highlight the role of positive reinforcement in shaping instructor evaluations and suggest that structured training environments can …

Practicing Professionalism Framework: A Coherent Course Structure Aligned With Effective Practices For Physics Programs (Ep3) Guidelines, Martha-Elizabeth Baylor, Suzanne White Brahmia

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Work

Many physics educators seek to improve their courses but feel constrained by traditional post-secondary structures and norms. Instructors often perceive a false tension between fostering inclusive learning environments and maintaining the rigor central to the discipline. The Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) Guide synthesizes decades of research-based recommendations for improving physics education. However, it offers limited guidance on how to integrate these diverse recommendations into a coherent, course-level approach—a responsibility that falls to individual instructors, whose graduate training prepared them primarily as researchers rather than as educators. This paper begins by motivating and introducing the Practicing Professionalism Framework (PPF), …

Teachers, Dispositions, And Classroom Management: Social Origins, Professional Development, And The Datafication Of School Discipline, Paul L. Poggemeyer

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

How do teachers’ social backgrounds and professional orientations shape the disciplinary and relational dimensions of their work? This dissertation takes up that question across three related but self-contained studies in the sociology of education, set in Central School District, a public school district in the southeastern United States. Each study examines a different facet of how teachers establish authority, manage behavior, and exercise care: the social origins of their orientations toward classroom management, the experience of becoming professionally competent in the early career, and the use of digital tools that increasingly govern how school discipline is recorded. Drawing broadly on …

I Am Because We Are: A Narrative Inquiry Of Waiver Teachers’ Sense Of Belonging In Title I High Schools, Bernard Young

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative narrative inquiry examined how former waiver teachers in low-performing Title I high schools in Georgia experienced a sense of belonging within their school communities and how that sense of belonging influenced their engagement in professional learning and their perceived effectiveness in supporting student achievement. Grounded in the Belongingness Hypothesis and guided by narrative inquiry methodology, the study framed participants’ experiences through the Bildungsroman structure to explore their journeys of professional becoming. Data were collected using a life-story interview protocol that combined open-ended narrative invitations with responsive follow-up questioning and were analyzed through a multi-phase narrative inquiry process informed …

Say Gay: Increasing Preservice Teacher Confidence Using Participatory Theatre, Sarah Maxime Hyson

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Research Design: Research shows a lack of LGBTQ+ instruction in teacher preparation programs. This social justice mixed methods study evaluates effectiveness of participatory theatre for increasing confidence in preservice teachers. Research Questions: RQ 1: How does student self-rating of confidence change after participatory theatre experiences that examine issues concerning LGBTQ+ individuals and materials? RQ 2: What do preservice teachers’ writing, sketching, and discussion about their participatory theatre experience reveal about their evolving confidence regarding LGBTQ+ individuals and issues? RQ 3: What do the instructor’s experiences and reflections reveal about the effectiveness ofparticipatory theatre pedagogy to increase confidence in preservice teachers …

School-Based Mental And Emotional Support For Urban Students Experiencing Traumatic Loss, Britney Daniel-Harris

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

This study explores the perception of educational staff members on school-based mental and emotional resources for urban students experiencing traumatic loss. With increased levels of research centered on enhancing training protocols to educate teachers on identifying, supporting, and guiding traumatic care through evidence-based resources, there is an opportunity to understand their experiences by hearing their voices through a narrative inquiry qualitative research design. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has six principles of a trauma-informed environment, which were utilized to analyze participant stories. Five teachers, one social worker, and one special education leader participated in one-on-one interviews …

Supporting Risky Outdoor Play Through Professional Development: A Quasi-Experimental Study Of Tk–6 Educators’ Attitudes, Justin Ross Burrill

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Children’s opportunities for active outdoor risky play have declined in many educational settings, despite evidence that manageable risk supports physical activity, self-regulation, confidence, resilience, and social participation. Educator attitudes and school culture may play an important role in determining whether children are offered developmentally appropriate opportunities for challenge, exploration, and autonomy. This quasi-experimental, single-group pretest-posttest study examined whether participation in a single-session professional development workshop was associated with changes in educators’ tolerance of risk in children’s play. Thirty educators attended a workshop focused on risky play, hazard-risk differentiation, inclusion of children with disabilities, loose-parts play, environmental affordances, and practitioner-informed implementation …

The Impact Of High-Quality Phonological Awareness Professional Learning On In-Service Teachers' Content Knowledge And Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Roberta S. Thomas

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This convergent mixed-method study examined the impact of high-quality phonological awareness professional learning on Montessori primary lead, associate, and team associate teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of phonological awareness. Eleven teachers (4 lead, 4 associates, and 2 team associates) from a private school in northeast Florida participated in four professional sessions with a content focus on the levels of phonological awareness, including word, syllable, onset and rime, and phoneme awareness. In contrast to previous studies that reported low levels of teacher content knowledge prior to professional learning, participants in this study demonstrated relatively high levels of content knowledge. …

Digital Text And Communication Literacy Of English Language Teachers: Implications From A Reconstructive Study On Teachers’ Professional Development, Annika Janßen, Jan-Erik Leonhardt, Alexandra Kemmerer, Britta Viebrock

Journal of Media Literacy Education

In this contribution, we will introduce the concept of Digital Text and Communication Literacy (DITECOL), which was developed as part of the DigiNICs project. It contains subject-related, functional, critical, and methodological competences to deal with and teach digital texts and communication forms in foreign language education. We will present first results from a qualitative interview study with six English language teachers who participate in the DigiNICs project. The study examines how they perceive their usage of digital texts and communication forms a) in their lessons and b) in the context of in-service teacher training. The interview data was analysed using …

Beyond The Episode: A Case For Serial Literacy In Efl Education Classrooms, Julie Intveen, Tim Illigens

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Serial storytelling, characterized by its interplay of vertical (episodic) and horizontal (long-form) narrative structures, offers a unique opportunity for media literacy in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. This paper argues for the development of a serial literacy framework, a concept that expands traditional film literacy models to accommodate the distinct demands of serialized narratives. By using Inventing Anna (Rhimes, 2022) as a case study, the study explores how serial storytelling fosters engagement with themes of identity construction, ethical ambiguity, and transmedial storytelling. This paper elaborates on serial literacy, considering its implications within foreign language learning contexts. The study …

An Examination Of The Types Of Support Beginning Teachers In Public K-12 Schools Identify As Most Effective For Overcoming The Challenges They Encounter, Matthew S. Heckmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research study examines the types of support beginning teachers in public K-12 schools identify as most effective for overcoming the challenges they encounter. Self-Efficacy Theory (Bandura, 1977) serves as the theoretical framework guiding this research, aiming to understand how various types of support and challenges encountered impact the self-efficacy of beginning teachers. Through a qualitative phenomenological approach, individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with five beginning elementary teachers in Western Pennsylvania to explore the two research questions of this study through their lived experiences:

RQ1: What challenges do beginning K-12 public school teachers encounter early in their careers?

RQ2: Which …

Suprasegmentals And Small Talk Skills: An Adult Esl/Efl Teacher Training And Curriculum Design, Katya Davida Landau

Master's Projects and Capstones

There is inadequate education and training for Adult ESL teachers on how to teach pronunciation, especially the essential suprasegmental feature of intonation. This leads to the perpetuated issue of lowered intelligibility amongst ESOL learners, which limits their opportunities in English-speaking settings. Through the provision of innovative curriculum and teacher training videos that share pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) on the subject of suprasegmental phonemes, these issues can be addressed.

Any curriculum developed to teach suprasegmentals must consider the role of creative and engaging activities to inspire learners, comprehensibility and intelligibility, embodied pronunciation techniques, and the impact of explicit, communicative, and task-based …

Teaching With V.I.S.I.O.N.: A Qualitative Case Study, Abbrissola A. Shull

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

This qualitative case study explored how those matriculating through a teacher education program can develop a critical consciousness of K-12 students experiencing homelessness or high mobility using the Teaching with V.I.S.I.O.N workshop model. This acronym stands for V: Value the culture and lived experiences of students reflected in the classroom, I: Implicit Bias Awareness, S: Study scenarios using the equity literacy case analysis approach (Gorski, 2018), I: Increase the diversity of texts provided in the classroom to reflect these experiences, O: On-going reflection regarding current practices and ways to improve using equity literacy (Gorski, 2018), …

School And District Leaders’ Understanding Of Technology Organizations’ Cyber Business Practices, Jayejaye Johnson

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Educational technology (EdTech) interoperability throughout cyberspace provides the financial opportunity to collect and sell student privacy information in digital learning environments, challenging school leaders to govern schools and keep children safe. School leaders provide the resources, funding, planning, decision making, and administration for EdTech cybersecurity practices and policies, yet little is known about what public school leaders understand. A quantitative study was designed using primary data collected from an online survey. Four research questions guided this study: What are the differences in cybersecurity practices and policy response scores (1) between male and female school leaders; (2) among leaders with different …

Do They Matter? What Role Do 5th-12th Grade Teachers' Attitudes Have In The Academic Success Of Black Girls In Classrooms?, Kamita R. Thigpen

Dissertations

There is a recognized need to focus on the intersectionality of race and gender to determine the specific needs of Black girls in education and for them to gain more academic success. This study set out to determine teachers' attitudes towards Black girls in the post-racial era. A combined quantitative and qualitative methodological approach was used to determine if the attitudes of teachers towards Black girls maintain racial barriers that have been found in education.

Teaching Note - Embedding The Human Library Experience Within Social Work Curriculum, Emily M. Paine

Social Work Faculty Works

The Human Library is a global initiative designed to challenge stereotypes and foster dialogue through storytelling and presents a unique opportunity for experiential learning within social work education. This teaching note explores how the Human Library framework can be integrated into social work curriculum in alignment with the 2022 Council on Social Work Education’s Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, with particular emphasis on Competency 3: Engaging in Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practice. When embedded in coursework, the Human Library enables students to engage in brave and authentic conversations with storytellers who share aspects of their lived experiences, promoting mutuality, …

Linking Training To Confidence: A Literature Review On Advancing Nutrition Environments In Child Care Programs, Jeanne M. Vanorsdal

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

This comprehensive literature review examined child care nutrition training interventions using the Health Belief Model (HBM) to understand how to increase providers’ ability to serve nutritious food. By analyzing HBM constructs such as perceived severity, benefits, and barriers, the review assessed how training influences provider abilities and identified barriers and facilitators to consistently offering healthy meals and snacks. Studies were 1) published in English; 2) research conducted in the United States; 3) population involved home-based or center-based child care providers caring for children from birth to age 5; 4) articles published from January 1, 2015, to October 5, 2025; 5) …

An Impact Study Of Young Women's Leadership Development: A Case Study Of Kosovo, Linda Gjergji

Theses & Dissertations

This study explores the leadership development trajectories of young women in Kosovo engaged in a global leadership program, offering significant insights into their capabilities, aspirations, and the barriers they face in pursuit of leadership roles. Using a qualitative instrumental case study approach, this study examines how participation in global leadership initiatives fosters skill development, self-awareness, and civic engagement among young women in a traditionally male-dominated society. The conceptual framework of the study is comprised of Erikson's theory of Psychosocial Development (Erikson, 1968) and Positive Youth Development (Lerner, 2005). Data was collected through online semi-structured interviews and an arts-based method, revealing …

Examining The Relationship Between Cultural Competency And Teacher Preparation For Ethnic Studies: The Role Of Unconscious Bias, La Taschya Renee Harris

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between cultural competency and teacher preparedness for Ethnic Studies, and seeks to understand whether unconscious bias influences that relationship. California’s Assembly Bill 101 mandates that all high school seniors take Ethnic Studies as a graduation requirement. Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest school district in California, the second largest in the U.S., and the fifth most segregated school district in the nation. With 44% of White high school teachers in Los Angeles Unified School District situated in the north region and a significantly less presence throughout the other three regions, the question of …