Digital Commons Network^™

Beyond The Possible: Climate Justice, Global Citizenship, And Classrooms – Speculative Essays, Amanda C. Fanelli

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the potential of speculative essays as pedagogical tools to inspire K-12 educators to integrate climate justice education within their classrooms, utilizing the framework of Global Citizenship Education (GCE). While climate change is often presented in schools as a scientific or technical issue, the literature on environmental justice demonstrates that climate change is inextricably linked to systemic inequities rooted in race, gender, colonialism, and economic oppression (Bullard, 2000; Shiva, 1988; Whyte, 2017). Yet educators frequently lack accessible, integrative frameworks for addressing these intersections in their teaching without overhauling existing curricula. This study addresses that gap by triangulating ecopedagogy, …

Relevance And Reciprocity: Fostering Meaningful Inquiry In The Social Studies Classroom, Christy Cartner

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

This dissertation investigates the factors contributing to students' perceptions of meaningful inquiry. After using the C3 Framework and designing instruction using the Inquiry Design Model for a decade, I wanted to better understand the students' experience to fine-tune how I implement inquiry in the classroom.

Article 1 was written for Social Education and describes the year of IDM blueprints that I designed to loop the concept of equality through units spanning the social studies disciplines of sociology, history, civics, geography, and economics. Through designing and facilitating these inquiries, I discovered my problem of practice, which was how to better engage …

Growing An Inquiry Practice: A Case Study Of Teacher Change In Social Studies Classrooms, Alicia Michelle Saccomanno

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This exploratory case study examines how a group of social studies teachers refined their inquiry-based instructional practices over a school year. Research questions included: 1. How do teachers grow their use of questions, tasks, and sources? 2. What obstacles do teachers face when implementing inquiry? How do they work to overcome those obstacles? 3. How do teachers learn to trust the inquiry process, trust themselves to implement it, and trust their students to collaborate, deliberate, and produce meaningful work? This study examined teachers' design and instructional choices as well as their responses to student outcomes …

Competent Readers’ Online Multimodal Reading Strategies Use, Hyoju Ahn

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

As reading spaces evolve, it is imperative to identify and describe the strategies and skills used in constructing meaning. I examined online multimodal reading strategies, those used in constructing meaning from multimodal information sources (e.g., images, audio, written words) on the Internet. Participants read online multimodal texts from a laptop screen and provided verbal reports as they read to learn a scientific topic. Through verbal protocol analysis, I cataloged and described their multimodal reading comprehension strategies. Complementing retrospective interviews, reader-computer interaction videos, and written pre- and post-knowledge reports accounted for how they read strategically. Strategies were coded to provide insights …

Taiwanese Elementary School Teachers’ Mindset Of Content And Language Integrated Learning (Clil) Instruction, Chin-Wen Chien

Journal of English Learner Education

Teachers need to undergo a mindset shift in language learning and teaching. This study used both qualitative and quantitative data to explore seven Taiwanese Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) teachers’ mindsets and led to the following major findings. First, the CLIL teachers had a stronger mindset regarding their instructional strategies, lesson preparations, and efficacy, compared to their more moderate mindset regarding their CLIL training and preparation. Secondly, the CLIL teachers had a different mindset regarding language use in their CLIL instruction due to their learners’ English proficiency levels. Finally, their lesson designs were lacking a 4Cs culture. Based on …

Now I See: Video Supports For English Language Learners, Joanna C. Zimmerle, Hanrui He, Tara Hill

Journal of English Learner Education

General education teachers are often unprepared by teacher preparation programs and limited professional development opportunities to support English Language Learners (ELLs), despite the increasing number of ELLs entering US schools and the trend towards placing them in mainstream classrooms. Video resources offer one viable approach to supporting the language learning of ELLs, drawing upon theoretical frameworks such as dual-coding, constructivist theory, and sociocultural perspectives. This paper describes the use of video resources to assist general education teachers in effectively leveraging videos to support the language learning of ELLs in mainstream classrooms.

Literacy Instruction For English Language Learners In Indiana Elementary Schools Before And During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Haiyan Li, Wayne E. Wright, Trish Morita-Mullaney

Journal of English Learner Education

This mixed-methods study investigates the impact of COVID-19 on elementary school literacy instruction for multilingual learners officially classified as English Language Learners (ELLs) across 35 teachers in four Indiana school districts. Classroom lesson videos and observation rubrics for 19 teachers were collected from the beginning of 2020-2021 school year (during the pandemic) and compared with those collected pre-pandemic from 16 teachers at the beginning of school years of 2018-2019 (n=7) and 2019-2020 (n=9). Findings demonstrate schools made efforts during the pandemic to offer quality literacy instruction within socially distanced classrooms, online synchronous instruction, and hybrid learning environments. However, teachers spent …

Designing A Curriculum And Learning Program For The Creative Industry’S Challenge And Workforce Development, Mochamad Nasrul Chotib, Herditya Wahyu Widodo, Kukuh Prayitno Subagyo, Ahmad Heki Sujiatmoko, Nurenzia Yannuar, Adham Adyatma, Gizka Namira Q. Z., Indira Rizqita Waradani, Juanita Maharani P.

ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement

This article discusses the importance of developing a learning track to respond to the demands of the creative market industry in the community, particularly with regard to journalism and related content creation. The study is based on a collaborative workshop conducted with practitioners from the Indonesian platform Kapanlagi Youniverse. The results of this preliminary study indicate that designing a curriculum and learning program that aligns with current industry practices is essential for preparing the journalism and creative content workforce. Collaborating with industry practitioners is crucial to competing in the rapidly evolving creative industry. The findings also suggest that incorporating subjects …

Translanguaging In Middle Level Education, Helen Brandon, Ellis Hurd

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

This case study explores the experiences of two teacher candidates (TCs) in professional development school (PDS) settings with multilingual learners. While valuing multilingual learner’s diverse linguistic backgrounds and language repertoires by drawing from a toolkit of responsive practices, the TCs embraced but struggled with layering translanguaging into their classroom practices. It also examines the middle grades program that these TCs attended while centering asset-based thinking and culturally responsive practices. Overall, this study shows that teacher education programs must include another critical layer to TCs’ experiences: building the toolkit of middle school cooperating teachers (CTs). This study also serves as a …

Ucf Pegasus Plan - 3rd Grade - Maps And Regions Of The United States Of America, Madison D. Santos, Maggie Beck, Kylie Vandergriff, Courtney Pennock, Jennifer Campos

Pegasus Plans: Social Studies Unit Plans for Florida Teachers

During this unit, students will explore maps and their key elements through songs and fun activities. Students will also be exploring the United States of America and its 5 regions by exploring each region and its unique features with songs, books, and interactive activities.

Gestating And Co-Becoming With Ettingerian Maxtrixial Pedagogy, Barbara Bickel

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

This article seeks to infuse and enrich the spheres of Arts and Education through a nascent introduction of Ettingerian Matrixial Pedagogy. To articulate this, I weave together the practices of Gestare Art Collective, which we describe as “matrixial infused education,” the “placental thinking” of Nané Jordan with my own thinking, art making and teaching. This article unfolds through interlacing theory and reflections on teachings found within art practices of Ma Poses, Womb Walking, Nap-Ins, and Spontaneous Creation-Making, along with examples of pedagogical artworkings: Metramorphosis and Muted Colours of Grief. The article closes with a poetic métissage inquiry that became—a Matrixial …

Ucf Pegasus Plan - 2nd Grade - Immigration, Emily T. Yackel, Elizabeth Logan, Hannah Schwarz, Mckinzi Johnson, Katie Molloy, Victoria Kingstone

Pegasus Plans: Social Studies Unit Plans for Florida Teachers

During this unit, students will learn about the history and symbols associated with immigration throughout the 1800s to modern times. Students will interact and explore with different pieces of literature and technologies dealing with Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and other countries’ cultural influences. Materials such as virtual tours, AR apps and arts integration will be used throughout this unit plan.

Collaborative Creative Inquiry: An Arts-Informed Approach To Transdisciplinary Research, Natalia Balyasnikova, Meghan Bruce Kumar, Yecid Ortega, Melanie Wong

The Qualitative Report

This paper presents Collaborative Creative Inquiry (CCI) as innovative arts-informed approach to transdisciplinary research. Moving away from conventional qualitative research paradigms, we adopt a reflexive stance to introduce CCI as a process that challenges static narratives and fosters inclusivity within the research process. Through critical introspection, we describe an iterative five-step CCI approach, elucidating its unique process and methodological underpinnings. Drawing upon vivid personal illustrations, we offer vignettes to illustrate the application of CCI in practice and showcase opportunities for collaborative knowledge generation with co-creation. We conclude by reflecting on insights we gained through our CCI process and inviting others …

Teachers’ Perception Of School Counselors’ Effectiveness When Supporting Middle-Level African American Males, Vanessa Dease

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Six teachers representing three sites in a single school district shared their perceptions through interviews regarding school counselors' effectiveness when supporting African American middle-level males academically, socially, and emotionally. A reflexive thematic analysis guided this study with the help of the sociocultural and expectancy theories. As participants shared their perceptions through interviews, they answered the three research questions that guided the research. The research questions are: (a) What are teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of school counselors in addressing the unique social and emotional needs of African American male students? (b) What do educators expect of school counselors regarding supporting …

Is That Controversial Or Is It Just Me?, Joseph D. Cochran

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The purposes of this study were to explore the decision-making process behind delineating issues as controversial or not, identify the risks considered by administrators when faced with potentially controversial issues, and provide recommendations for educators to consider in their own deliberations. I interviewed seven charter school principals and used thematic analysis to explore the influence of contained risk-taking on administrator decision-making concerning controversial issues. The findings of this study suggest that administrators generally consider the same risks their teacher counterparts do but often prioritize larger-scale solutions that ensure equity for the entire school. The products of this process emphasize a …

Chronic Illness Education 2024: Diet And Excersize Education To Improve Adult Obesity, David Elyas, Dhwani Krishnan, Joseph Overway, Melissa Connop, Swathi Srikantan, Zahira Malik

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

A Qualitative Study Of Iranian Efl Teachers’ Perceptions Of A Digital Diversified Education, Seyed Mohammad Reza Marvasti Zadeh, Azizollah Dabaghi Varnosfadrani Advarnosfadrani, Mohammad Amiryousefi

The Qualitative Report

Because Iran is a country of learners of diverse languages, socio-economic classes, genders, and ages, digital diversified education seems appropriate to address needs in English language education. However, there is a notable gap in research on teachers’ perceptions about this type of education. To fill this gap, this study aimed to investigate the perspectives of Iranian teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) regarding a diverse digital education. Data were collected via an open-ended survey with 30 EFL teachers, both male and female, who were selected through convenience sampling. Analysis revealed several key themes, including the utilization of diverse …

Evidence-Based Pathways For Leveling Digital Access In Higher Education During And Beyond The Covid-19 Pandemic, Christopher Ali, Vikki Katz

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers’ attention focused heavily on K–12 student connectivity. By contrast, college students were largely “presumed connected,” even as they lost access to campus Wi-Fi, computer labs, and other digital resources. This study asks what lessons were learned and not learned by university administrators when it came to digital inequality on their campuses during the pandemic. To address this question, the article’s authors relied on a series of student surveys and policy analyses. This article offers evidence-based policy recommendations to university leaders for effectively addressing digital inequality among their student populations as we look …

Landform Lessons: Applying Terrestrial Geography To Mars Landing Site, Lindsey Herlehy

Publications & Research

In this hands-on, STEM integrated workshop, educators will explore the fascinating parallels between Earth's landscapes and the Martian surface to enhance their understanding of planetary geography. Through a progressive series of activities, participants will compare environments and landforms on Earth and Mars, using actual data from spacecraft orbiting Mars to collect evidence and construct conclusions about these terrestrial planets. Then, applying this information, educators will construct multi-layer maps aimed at selecting the most advantageous landing site for a manned mission to the Red Planet. Finally, utilizing an online mapping application, participants will virtually explore their chosen landing site and examine …

Things Fall(Ing) Apart: Deconstructing Humanism For History Teaching In A Posthumanist Society, Lou Ellis Brassington

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Abstract

This study is a reflective analysis of the discursive construction of the social studies and the teaching of history from medieval scholasticism, through Enlightenment humanism, and into our posthumanist landscape. As an exploration of the foundations of Western thought, with an emphasis on humanism as it has historically affected construction of the social studies, this investigation focuses on theorists, praxis, curriculum development, and teacher identity. My research examined the pedagogical and curriculum choices for the teaching of history along with the intersection of the humanities and humanism from the Enlightenment through the criticalities of the 20th century, and into …

Teaching The Grateful Dead, Happenings, & Spontaneous Pedagogy, Ryan Slesinger

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

To teach a course on the Grateful Dead I developed a praxis I call “spontaneous pedagogy” that pairs academic rigor with flexible curriculum details to enable creativity and engagement among students in a truly studentcentered classroom. The pairing of spontaneous pedagogy with the Grateful Dead course worked well because the subject emphasizes improvisation, which initially inspired and—during the course—paralleled my praxis. I had developed this praxis previously, implementing it each semester from 2007 to2010 for one Composition II unit on definitional arguments entitled, “The Nature of Reality.” Students were asked to define what they consider as real and apply that …

Connecting Compassion: Empathy's Role In Stem And Literacy Integration, Leah R. Cheek, Vinson Carter, Michael K. Daugherty, Christian Goering

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

Empathy, an unsung, yet critical element of learning, can be strategically interlaced with literacy instruction and engineering design to create a rich and authentic learning experience for students. Integrated STEM education rests on the promise of engaging students and providing deep understandings through the intentional practice of delivering science and math content through the application of technology and engineering skills. Using children's literature to activate empathy and design thinking can help students become better problem-solvers, critical thinkers, and caring members of society. Empathy facilitates a deeper connection to the human experience, ensuring that solutions not only meet the design requirements, …

'Higher' Education: Incorporating Cannabis As Interdisciplinary Curricula, John W. Lipford, A. Scott Rood

Journal of Tourism Insights

This paper details successful efforts undertaken, at a Midwest (U.S.) university to address the significant lack of cannabis-centered academics within U.S. higher education. The foci of this paper for interdisciplinary cannabis curricula at the subject university is three-fold: student-centered, industry-centered, and community-centered. The curricular innovation was designed, presented, and now implemented, in a form of stackable credentialling; through which students develop fundamental knowledge about cannabis (badge in ‘cannabis operations’), apply that knowledge in a holistic way to local regions (certificate in ‘cannabis & community planning’), and culminate their learning experience with advanced topics and experiential learning components via an academic …

Enhancing Writing By Increasing Metacognitive Skills Through Socratic Seminars In A High Poverty Middle School Social Studies Classroom: An Intrinsic Case Study, Kirsten Hickingbottom

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to better understand the role metacognitive skills play within classroom settings to increase students’ writing through Socratic Seminars. A predominant question guided this study: Can improving student metacognition through the repetitive use of questioning techniques in Socratic Seminars lead to improved writing skills? This question, along with four additional research questions guided the research. There is a need for more activities that promote metacognition due to its correlation with academic achievement, critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and perceived self-efficacy (Keus, 2020). The significance of this study was to examine a method of …

How Can An Oyster Reveal The Stories Of A Place?, Ariel Cornett, Delandrea Hall, Kathryn L. Haughney, Cynthia C. Massey, Amanda Wall

Teaching Social Studies in the Peach State

This inquiry leads students through a place-based investigation of oysters. Students will learn how artifacts, such as oysters, have the potential to reveal the stories of a place. Oysters are connected to the 4,000 year human history of Ossabaw Island that spans many cultural groups including, but not limited to Indigenous People, Enslaved People, and Genesis Project Members. These human inhabitants used oysters in a number of ways to sustain their physical bodies, structures, and connection to the land and waterways. Visible influences of the oyster can be observed on Ossabaw Island today.

Revealing The Stories Of A Place: Designing Curricula On An Island, Ariel Cornett, Delandrea Hall, Kathryn L. Haughney, Cynthia C. Massey, Amanda Wall, Kania Greer

Teaching Social Studies in the Peach State

Ossabaw Island is a Georgia barrier island, accessible solely by boat and protected from development through a public-private partnership between a foundation and the state. This site has the potential to serve as a primary resource for inspiration, education, and lifelong learning. Our study illuminates how one pre-service teacher (PST) and six teacher educators (TEs) experienced an immersive site visit to this local learning environment. We highlight the importance of experiencing places first-hand and using sources (e.g., oral histories) to make content connections. Additionally, the immersive site visit experience allowed us to collaboratively brainstorm place-based curricular units.

The Legacy Of Oscarville: Using Critical Participatory Action Research And Learning Teaching As An Interpretive Process To Sustain A Placeless Place, Leah Panther, Kristie Smith, Mary Mitchelson, Robert Bonner Jr.

Teaching Social Studies in the Peach State

The history of Oscarville, Georgia, nestled within the Lake Lanier region of North Georgia, remains both known and unknown, existing as a significant yet elusive part of local lore and historical retellings. This article delves into the innovative approach of a place-based critical participatory action research program, "Historicizing Oscarville," which engaged teacher candidates and educators in exploring the obscured history of Oscarville. The narrative uncovers the complex layers of settler colonialism, slavery, racial cleansing, and subsequent erasure that characterize Oscarville's past. By employing the framework of Learning Teaching as an Interpretive Process (LTIP) within a place-based education model, the project …

Collaborative Professional Development Featuring Innovative Curriculum Materials, Cory Callahan

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Here I synthesize two research investigations (Callahan, 2018, 2019) that comprise a continuing line of inquiry into the potential of innovative curriculum materials and sustained collaboration as a professional development program to help in-service teachers understand and implement a complex model of social studies instruction. This article features an original innovative curriculum material and specifically explores the question: To what degree can a collaborative professional development program featuring innovative curriculum materials help social studies teachers understand and implement a powerful social studies approach? Findings suggest the professional development program and its innovative curriculum materials helped teachers promote substantive pedagogical thinking …

Communicating Uncertainty And Cataloging Bias In Spatial Data Science Education, Peter Kedron, Jiahua Chen

I-GUIDE Forum

Uncertainty is an unavoidable part of any spatial analysis, which makes quantifying and communicating uncertainty a requirement of any spatial data science study. However, current curricula leave students understanding the importance of uncertainty and concerned about potential bias, but without an actionable framework to improve their workflows or inferences. We propose a framework rooted in Bloom’s Taxonomy for introducing these concepts to spatial data science students.

Critical Conversations On Teaching And Learning Decolonial Narratives: A Duoethnography Of Firekeeper’S Daughter, Erica England, Shain Wright, Dion Crommarty

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Exploring the role of diverse young adult (YA) literature in fostering social justice awareness, this paper focuses on the YA novel Firekeeper’s Daughter as a tool for understanding decolonization and our own individual privileges and responsibilities as they relate to colonization. Three researchers, each with differing positionalities and worldviews, employ a polyvocal methodology of duoethnography to examine the text's challenges to settler colonialism and its illumination of historical and systemic injustices. Through our dialogic exchange, we aim to contribute to a wider conversation about the potential of literature storytelling, and authentic, vulnerable conversations to inspire transformative change.