Digital Commons Network^™

Integrating Remote Sensing And Machine Learning To Determine Past, Current And Future Crop Water Use From The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System, Moaz Ishag

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The agriculture sector is a significant consumer of water, and sustainable water use begins with monitoring irrigated land. Delineating irrigated land supports decision-makers and promotes the sustainable use of this crucial resource. This study focuses on the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS), the largest aquifers in the world, which spans Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and Chad. The study aims to: 1) quantify the increase in irrigated hectares (both pivot and non-pivot) from 2000-2001 to 2023-2024; 2) identify major irrigated crop types and their water requirements; and 3) quantify groundwater crop water use from the NSAS using remote sensing via the Google …

Enhancing Social And Emotional Competencies In Rural Middle School Students: A Cluster-Randomized Study On Character Playbook, Gina Ricker Phd, Joanne Angosta

The Rural Educator

This cluster-randomized pre-post study examined the effectiveness of Character Playbook, a digitally delivered, universal social-emotional learning (SEL) program, in enhancing social and emotional knowledge and confidence among rural middle school students. Pre- and post-assessments and surveys measured students’ knowledge and self-reported confidence related to social and emotional skills. The sample consisted of 128 students from two rural middle schools. Analyses of covariance with multiple imputations to account for missing data revealed that students who participated in Character Playbook demonstrated significantly higher knowledge and more positive confidence toward their social and emotional learning competency than the control group. These findings, with …

How Poverty Measures Account For Differences Between “In-Town” And “Out-Of-Town” Students, Robin Clausen

The Rural Educator

Rurality in education research is a function of the size of the school, the distance of a school in relation to urban areas, and factors within each school that may differentiate the school community based on geography. Distance matters. This study finds variation between rural communities at different distances from an urban center and differences based on analysis of student groups and student outcomes within a locale. By taking a granulated geographic approach to rurality we can better compare differences within locales. This analysis of the distance a student lives from school highlights socioeconomic differences between student groups. One related …

Rural Students Find Their Voice On A College Campus, Ann K. Schulte, Karen Schreder

The Rural Educator

For rural students, finding one’s voice and identity on a college campus and developing a sense of belonging are important for engagement and degree persistence. Rural affinity groups can create a feeling of comfort or connection that affirms students’ place identity and can lead to a more successful college experience. Additionally, an organized group of students can be a resource for the university to learn more about rural places, cultivate collaborations with rural communities, and develop a positive rural narrative. At California State University, Chico, the North State Student Ambassadors are paid student representatives of their rural communities. They do …

Hustlenomics: Defining The Hustle Economy, Sade M. Onadeko

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Hustlenomics is the study of the hustle economy. It is the study of how hustlers produce, distribute, and consume goods and services in order to earn a living. This paper is an attempt to understand and define the hustle economy through the review of literature. Due to limited research on the hustle economy, analogous economies such as the gig/sharing economy and the informal economy (which includes the hidden and shadow economies) were examined in order to obtain the goal of this paper.

Seeking A Feminist Approach To Scholarly Innovations In Music Teacher Education, Andrea Maas

Visions of Research in Music Education

The marketization (Marchand & Orsorno Velázquez, 2016) of higher education impacts faculty through hiring practices, workload structures, and reappointment and promotion policies. Women faculty in fields such as music education need to negotiate masculine discourses and gendered constructions of innovation (Alsos et al., 2013) in a STEM focused economy. Values held by feminist pedagogues could serve as a framework through which to consider a more feminist approach to research and scholarship. Qualities such as equalization of power, collaboration, affective learning, inclusiveness of diversity, and social responsibility may surface through a researcher’s approach to inquiry or in the content itself. This …

Les Grilles D’Évaluation Des Manuels Fls : Regard Critique, Rana Bakhit, Tarek Almajanini

Al Jinan الجنان

Le manuel reste un document de référence obligatoire en classe de langue aussi bien pour les enseignants que pour les élèves. Suite à la diffusion de nouvelles approches éducatives, cet ouvrage ne cesse de connaitre de profondes mutations, tant au niveau de la forme qu’au niveau du contenu. Dans l’optique de ces mutations, nous trouvons nécessaire de traiter de la conception d’une grille d’évaluation qui permet d’analyser les manuels de français adoptés au cycle secondaire au Liban. La grille en tant qu’outil de mesure aidera enseignants et concepteurs (ou le corps pédagogique) à savoir si le manuel de langue remplit …

Exploring Online Language Learning Activities And Intercultural Communicative Competence: Perspectives Of International Students, Moneera Abdulaziz Alsubaihi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Societies are increasingly aware of the need to connect and communicate globally. Thus, navigating diverse cultural contexts becomes critical, which necessitates intercultural competence—the skill of effective communication and understanding across cultures. As the digital age reshapes our interactions, online learning platforms have emerged as dynamic spaces that foster intercultural engagement and competency development. The purpose of this study was to explore this engagement and development through online English language activities that enhance international students' intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and language learning experience. This qualitative study aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of international students' experiences in online English language courses, …

Wmu Board Of Trustees Formal Session ,June 27, 2024, Wmu Board Of Trustees

WMU Board of Trustees Meetings

• Acceptance of the Agenda
• Approval of the Minutes (April 25, 2024 Meeting)
• Remarks by the Chair of the Board
• Remarks by the President
• Updates by the Faculty Senate President
• Updates by the Western Student Association President
• Western Michigan University Employee Graduates
• WMU’s Investment in the Future – Academic Tenure and Promotion
• Public Comments Regarding Action Items

Action Items

• Resolution: Trustee Dr. William F. Pickard’s Leadership Legacy
• Academic Tenure and Promotion
• Student Room, Board, and Apartment Rates 2024-2025
• Tuition and Required Fee Rates Fall 2024
• General Fund Budget, Fiscal Year 2024-2025
• Five Year Capital Outlay Master Plan
• Lease Agreement with Formosa …

Near And Far, Sarah Moss

The Voice

No abstract provided.

The Perceptions Of Experienced Teachers On Administrative Support In Rural Classrooms And The Implications On Teacher Retention, Mitchell Reed

Student Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to solve the problem of teachers leaving the profession early, which has led to the lack of educators in classrooms across the country, impacting various stakeholders, including students, school districts, and fellow educators. Depending on where the school district is located and the students the schools serve, Teacher retention is more of an issue. The purpose of this qualitative narrative study is to understand the storied perceptions of experienced teachers as it relates to administrative supports that target teacher retention in a small, rural school district in a state in the Midwest. The theoretical …

Black Women Social Studies Teacher Education Professors’ Curriculum Decolonization Experiences At Pwis: A Narrative Inquiry Study, Jametta Clarke

Theses and Dissertations

Social studies education at predominantly White institutions in the United States centered Whiteness and Eurocentric knowledge production. In response, Black women teacher education professors employed decolonization strategies to illuminate marginalized voices. This narrative inquiry study explored Black women social studies education professors’ curriculum decolonization experiences at PWIs to understand the unique and vital place Black women teacher education professors held in decolonizing the social studies teacher education curriculum, approaches employed during the process, and ways in which they coped with decolonial resistance. Participant interviews, artifacts, and field texts were collected and analyzed to understand Black women faculty’s decolonization experiences and …

Curiosity, Passion, & Proximity: Motivations For Attending Safe Zone Trainings, D Chase J. Catalano, Daniel Tillapaugh, Rachel Wagner, Kari Dockendorff, Nina Tissi-Gassoway

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

LGBTQ+ social justice educational interventions (SJEIs), usually named Safe Zone or Ally Training, offer opportunities for knowledge acquisition and reflection. Ideally, they provide components necessary to cultivate allyship through the development of a liberatory consciousness (Love, 2018) through increasing awareness, engaging in analysis, considering actions, and reflecting on accountability. In this instrumental case study (Stake, 2000) focused on 17 graduate students, faculty, and staff at a large, public university in the Mid-Atlantic, we used liberatory consciousness as a conceptual framework to examine motivation for attendance. Three findings emerged: (1) curiosity, (2) passion, and (3) proximity. Implications of these specific factors …

The Undocu-Competence Of College And University Websites: A Lonestar State Analysis, Karina Castro-Pavon

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze the websites of Texas public four-year, private four-year, and two-year institutions of higher education (IHEs) to determine the extent to which website content corresponds with the recommendations of undocumented scholars and supporters. The study aimed to investigate whether the website content differs based on various institutional-level characteristics and to identify any relationships between contextual-level factors that may affect the information presented on websites. The study answered the following research questions: (1) To what extent does the information presented on Texas IHEs' institutional websites align with the Institutional Undocu-Competence (IUC) framework? (2) Does …

Relationship Between School Type And Quality Of Neighborhood With Children’S Social Vulnerability, Maryam Majd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative research was to explore the relationship between two potential risk factors, children’s type of school (e.g., public, private, charter, or magnet) and quality of neighborhood, with social vulnerability. Data were collected through an online survey from January through March 2024. Hierarchical multiple linear regression conducted in SPSS demonstrated that four out of seven quality of neighborhood attributes were significant predictors of social vulnerability (p < .05); as the neighborhood conditions of vehicular traffic, teenagers present in the street, graffiti, and vandalism increased, levels of social vulnerability also increased. Factor analysis confirmed the strong reliability and internal structure of the instrument used to collect the data. No significance was found for children’s type of school, but more studies are needed to determine if research on this variable can help inform decisions about school-choice policies. This study addressed the need for knowledge about contextual environmental factors and children’s well-being. This is imperative, as social vulnerability is an emerging psychological construct in developmental research that is correlated with all aspects of social interactions, as it negatively interferes with the process of forming social bonds with others. Building alignment between the goals of schools, government agencies, and communities is essential, so that parents have access to the support and resources needed to promote healthy development in children. Thus, the empirical findings from this study will help promote awareness of social vulnerability and help children receive the empathy, dignity, and respect that they deserve.

Exploring Land-Grant Institution Partnerships To Better Serve Audiences, Carol A. Roberts, Kenya N. Washington, Alicia Betancourt, Holly Abeels, Dreamal Worthen, Martha Monroe

Journal of Extension

Programs within the Cooperative Extension Service often develop partnerships with other agencies and organizations to better meet their common goals. While there are many benefits of partnerships, they can be challenging when the partners are unequal or have dissimilar needs. Using a survey and interviews with faculty and administrators at two land-grant institutions we explore the similarities and differences that pull and push at their partnership. Recommendations to strengthen partnering opportunities at the institutional and program levels are provided.

Predicting Performance On A Social Studies Assessment: A Correlational Study, David G. Hamilton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study seeks to determine the predictive relationship between the performance on a middle school Civics practice assessment and performance on the State of Florida Civics assessment. In the current public-school environment across the United States, using high-stakes assessments to measure student performance is the norm. This quantitative correlation study strives to determine if locally developed benchmark assessments accurately predict student achievement on school high-stakes social studies state-mandated assessments. Using post hoc data from 355 middle school students ranging from 12 to 14 years old from a suburban Central Florida charter school who were administered a computer-based Civics practice end-of-course …

Charter School Music Programs In The Southwest: Innovation Or Isomorphism, Joseph Justo Ulibarri

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The school choice movement is gaining popularity in the American education system, with supporters touting innovation and improvement in educational outcomes. Research on school choice efficacy—particularly comparisons between charter and traditional public schools (TPS)—is in its infancy. The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to compare the incidence of nontraditional music courses in secondary charters and TPS in the Southwest. Secondly, the study utilized the Climate for Innovation Measure (CIM) to quantify teachers’ perceptions of organizational innovation. This research collected a randomized sample (N = 30) of secondary charter school music teachers (n = 15) and TPS music teachers (n …

Development And Validation Of A High School Agricultural Literacy Assessment, Rose Judd-Murray, Brian K. Warnick, Daniel C. Coster, Max L. Longhurst

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

The National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes (NALOs) are knowledge benchmarks for school-aged youth and are used to improve agricultural literacy (National Agriculture in the Classroom, 2014; National Center for Agricultural Literacy, 2017). Despite educational efforts, prior research indicated that high school populations remained at low or deficient literacy levels. Additionally, no agricultural literacy assessment instruments using the NALOs as a standardization benchmark have been developed for the 9-12th grades. The purpose of the study was to validate a summative NALO-centered assessment that could provide baseline data on agricultural literacy following the completion of secondary education (12th grade). The study followed the …

Culturally And Linguistically Responsive Teaching In K-12 Education, Samantha Valenta

Graduate Teacher Education

Students of color have been historically underserved and underrepresented in the education system due to bias. To combat said racist system, teachers need guidance on how to teach their students of color in an equitable way. Every student deserves the chance to succeed. This paper synthesized multiple researchers’ findings over the effects of culturally and linguistically responsive teaching (CLRT) on students of color via qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies. The findings concluded that CLRT was beneficial to students and would increase their academic achievement via improving their mental health, engagement, behavior, and literacy. A cyclical correlation was found between all …

Comparing The Preparation Of Youth Services Librarians To Their On-The-Ground Experiences: A Grounded Theory Study Incorporating Criticism And Connoisseurship, Anne Holland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to better understand the on-the-ground preparation of youth services librarians, in contrast to their professional training in Master’s of Library Science (MLIS) programs. Classic Grounded Theory was the predominant methodology for this qualitative study, and elements of Criticism and Connoisseurship were also utilized. Document review, interviews, and journaling activities with ten participants were the primary methods of data collection. Key findings from this dissertation include a grounded theory explaining the current state of preparation for youth services librarianship, and multiple avenues for further study.

Spatial Analysis Of Transgender And Gender Diverse Students’ Mental Health And School Board Policies In Colorado And Montana, Elizabeth Heiny

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

As the number of policies impacting transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people increase among school boards, understanding the impacts these policies have on mental health is important. These policies can be positive or negative. Using geographic information systems (GIS) to analyze where better mental health and TGD impacting policies are correlated can offer clear results on where students mental health is affected by these policies in Colorado and Montana. This study found that TGD impacting policies did not explain the majority of variation in mental health index score. Positive or negative correlations between the mental health index and policy positivity …

A Critical Policy Analysis Of Universal Preschool In Colorado: Its Roots, Intentions, And Development, Jamita Horton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High-quality preschool experiences are essential for preparing four-year-old children for a successful transition to kindergarten, benefiting them academically, emotionally, socially, and physically. However, access to such preschools remains limited, particularly for children from marginalized communities. This qualitative critical policy analysis examines transitioning from the targeted Colorado Preschool Program (CPP) to a universal preschool approach through the 2022 Colorado House Bill 1295: Department of Early Childhood and Universal Preschool Program. Drawing on Young and Diem's (2017) framework for critical policy analysis, this study explores the roots, development, and potential implications of the universal preschool policy.

This study analyzes documents and audio …

2024-06-14 Agenda Book, Morehead State University. Board Of Regents.

Morehead State Board of Regents Agenda Books and Meeting Minutes

Agenda booklet for the Board of Regents meeting of June14, 2024, which includes the Board and Audit Committee meeting minutes for March 29, 2024.

Closing The Knowledge Gap With Literacy-Infused And Rich Social Studies Content, Jeffrey Leffler, Ksenia Zhbanova

Journal of Research Initiatives

Social studies have been marginalized in early childhood education amid the prevalence of standardized testing and political issues. However, a comprehensive approach to early education, including social studies, is gaining attention. This article emphasizes the significance of incorporating social studies into early childhood curriculum, illuminating its potential to enhance children's cognitive and social-emotional development. The second important aspect of this article focuses on the role of social studies in literacy skill development through building background knowledge, critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills of young children.

نسبة توافر مهارات التفكير البصري في أنشطة دروس المهارات اللغوية وأنماطها في كتب "أُحبُّ لغتي" لصفوف الحلقة الأولى (4-1) من التعليم الأساسي بسلطنة عُمان, Aziz Salim Albusaidy, Fatima Muhammad Al-Kaf

Journal of the Association of Arab Universities for Research in Higher Education مجلة اتحاد الجامعات العربية للبحوث في التعليم العالي

هدف المقال إلى تحديد نسبة توافر مهارات التفكير البصري في أنشطة دروس المهارات اللغوية وأنماطها في كتب "أُحِبُّ لُغَتِي" لصفوف الحلقة الأولى (4-1) من التعليم الأساسي بسلطنة عُمان. استخدم الباحثان بطاقة تحليل محتوى مكونة من (22) مهارة، وقد تكون مجتمع الدراسة من أنشطة دروس مهارات اللغة العربية في كتب" أُحِبُّ لُغَتِي" لصفوف الحلقة الأولى (4-1) من التعليم الأساسي بسلطنة عُمان والبالغ عددها (527) نشاطا. وتوصلت الدراسة إلى النتائج الآتية: مهارة التعرّف على الشكل ووصفه أكثر مهارات التفكير البصري توافرا في أنشطة دروس المهارات اللغوية وأنماطها في كتب "أُحِبُّ لُغَتِي" لصفوف الحلقة الأولى (4-1) من التعليم الأساسي بسلطنة عُمان؛ حيث بلغت …

A Comprehensive Analysis Of The Integration Of Esd Competencies In A Primary Four Curriculum In Egypt: A Case Study, Aya Elkholy

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examines the integration of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) competencies within the Primary Four Science Curriculum in Egypt under the Education Reform Project EDU 2.0. ESD competencies are viewed as essential for empowering citizens to address real-world challenges. Utilizing a qualitative research design, the study employs document and content analysis of the teacher guide of the Techbook to investigate the incorporation of these competencies. Additionally, interviews are conducted with science teachers to gain insights into the application of the curriculum design. Interviews with curriculum developers directly involved in the curriculum development process with the Egyptian Ministry of …

Prekindergarten Teachers’ Perspectives Regarding Kindergarten Readiness In Childcare Centers, Adrienne Dominic Stephens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Prekindergarten Teachers’ Perspectives Regarding Kindergarten Readiness in Childcare Centers by Adrienne Dominic Stephens MS, Walden University, 2016 BGS, University of Arkansas at Monticello, 2011 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Walden University May 2024

Prekindergarten Teachers’ Perspectives Regarding Kindergarten Readiness In Childcare Centers, Adrienne Dominic Stephens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Humanizing History: Empowering Educators To Navigate Difficult History Through Museum-Led Professional Development, Andrea Miskewicz

Dissertations

As museums increasingly serve as educational hubs, this research examines how teachers' participation in such programs contributes to their perceived efficacy for teaching topics of difficult history. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study utilizes a survey with quantitative and qualitative measures to evaluate changes in teacher self-efficacy before and after a museum-led intervention. With a pre and posttest design, this study provides deeper insights into participants' experiences and challenges. Preliminary findings suggest museum-led professional development has a significant positive impact on teachers’ perceived self-efficacy, highlighting the resources and opportunities museums have available and the importance of humanizing history in social …