Digital Commons Network^™

Development And Initial Validation Of An Instrument To Measure Teachers’ Socioscientific Issues Instruction Perceptions, Michael Edward Mitchell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Little is known about how high school science teachers perceive Socioscientific Issues (SSI) on a broad scale, including what factors shape their views of a pedagogical shift to adopt SSI. To address this critical gap, I constructed the Teachers’ Socioscientific Issues (SSI) Perceptions Survey (TSPS), the first instrument specifically designed and initially validated to measure teacher perceptions of SSI integration. This study presents the development and validation of the TSPS, offering robust evidence for its reliability, fairness, and construct validity.

Survey development adhered to gold-standard psychometric protocols (Bandalos, 2018; Crocker & Algina, 1986; DeVellis, 2012; McCoach et al., 2013) and …

Increasing Knowledge And Awareness Of Cultural Competency Among Providers, Veronica Rodriguez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In today’s challenging healthcare environment, coupled with increasing global migration, healthcare delivery has become more diverse, and providers must deliver high-quality, patient-centered care across diverse populations. Cultural competency, the ability to understand and effectively interact with patients from diverse backgrounds, is essential for reducing health disparities, improving patient satisfaction, and enhancing health outcomes. However, many providers struggle to integrate these practices into daily care due to limited or inconsistent knowledge on applying these concepts in real-world settings. Thus, the purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to determine whether an educational intervention focused on cultural competency increased …

Exploring Teachers’ Perspectives On Digital Storytelling As A Tool In Saudi Kindergarten Classrooms: A Qualitative Multicase Study, Ouhuud Alahmdi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 emphasizes the importance of integrating digital technologies into early childhood education, with the goal of developing children’s skills for the 21st century from an early age and preparing them for the future. Digital storytelling is an effective and interactive multimodal strategy to enhance young children’s skills in the classroom. However, there is limited research examining how kindergarten teachers design and utilize digital storytelling in their classrooms. This qualitative multicase study aimed to explore how Saudi kindergarten teachers perceived and implemented digital storytelling as a tool to promote engagement and comprehension among young children. The study focused …

Developing A Classroom To Support Culturally Responsive Teaching: A Culturally Responsive Aspiring Teacher Assignment, Steven K. Sharp, David L. Conrad

Journal of Applied Disciplines

Following the development of the [State] Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards (CRTL), one University teacher preparation program created an assignment to challenge aspiring educators to think critically about culturally responsive teaching. With structural challenges such as tracking and culturally biased standardized testing, the program needed to evaluate how aspiring teachers would address those challenges while delivering a diverse curriculum, connecting with home and families, and valuing different linguistic backgrounds. Within a course on cross-cultural education, we developed a four-part assignment aligned with the course textbook by Nieto and Bode (2018). First, candidates created a reasonably diverse classroom to simulate …

Surveying Secondary Ela Teachers’ Engagement With Ai-Powered Tools For Classroom Assessment, Mona Alrashidi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents profound challenges andpossibilities for educational assessment, particularly in English Language Arts (ELA), where AI- powered tools can generate the very linguistic products traditionally used as evidence of student learning. While scholarship has primarily explored theoretical frameworks and broad perceptions, a critical gap remains in understanding how secondary ELA teachers navigate and report AI integration within formative assessment workflows. This understanding is essential: formative assessment has been recommended as a strategy to mitigate AI-related challenges by prioritizing learning processes over products. Yet empirical evidence of teachers’ practices remains limited.

This exploratory study surveyed 102 …

Volume 8 (2025) The Spanish Language, Language Variations, Cultures And Responsibility

International Journal on Responsibility

This issue reflects an intentional and profound commitment to linguistic inclusion, cultural diversity, and the shared responsibility of scholars to broaden the scope of academic dialogue beyond the boundaries of English. The essays collected here invite us to reimagine bilingualism not only as a communicative skill but also as a moral, social, and institutional responsibility.

Esta edición representa un compromiso intencional y profundo con la inclusión lingüística, la diversidad cultural y la responsabilidad compartida de ampliar los horizontes del diálogo académico más allá de los límites del inglés. Los ensayos aquí reunidos nos invitan a reimaginar el bilingüismo no solo …

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Literacies Of Resistance: How Florida Teachers Story Policy Navigation And Response, Katharine E. Hull

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Teachers are inundated with education legislation and the policy texts and discourses that surround them. Over nine months beginning in March 2024, I collaborated with three Florida P-12 teachers to explore their literacy practices and stories as they engaged with policy in a state that has recently passed an astounding amount of education legislation. This study explored how (1) teachers story the current policy context and their roles within it; (2) teachers use literacy practices to understand and respond to P/policies that impact their labor/working lives; and (3) teachers’ literate identities, agency, and collectivity intersect and shape one another. Guided …

Lexical Density And Readability Of Reading Texts In English For Nusantara Eight Grade Textbook, Amin Basir, Hanifa Nurliasari, Sutiadi Rahmansyah, Hendi Hidayat

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

Reading is crucial for learning as it allows students to comprehend texts across various subjects. Effective texts play a significant role in enhancing students' reading skills. To determine suitable reading materials for students, evaluating lexical density and readability is essential. This study examines the lexical density and readability of reading passages in the “English for Nusantara” textbook used by eighth-grade students. A qualitative descriptive method and content analysis were used in this research, by analyzing 20 selected texts from each chapter of the textbook. The study aims to (1) assess the lexical density of the selected passages, (2) evaluate their …

Advancing Children's Mental Health In Nevada, Kelliann Beavers, Christopher Kearney

Lincy Institute Events

Nevada ranks 51st nationally in youth mental health access and services, underscoring persistent shortages and disparities across the state. Nearly one in four youths aged 12–17 (23.5%) experienced a major depressive episode in the past year, and 73% did not receive treatment. Approximately 34,000 Nevada youths have reported suicidal thoughts—an urgent call for prevention and coordinated support.

During the 2024–2025 school year, 31.3% of Clark County School District students were chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), a challenge closely linked to mental health struggles and socioeconomic barriers.

This community forum provided an opportunity to generate dialogue and …

The Connect With Kindness Curriculum: Integrating Heart, Brain, And Whole-Child Development Through Holistic Education, Tatyana V. Tsyrlina-Spady, Amy N. Spangler, Katerina Bodovski

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

This paper presents Connect with Kindness, a holistic, trauma-informed, and child-centered curriculum designed to foster emotional literacy, empathy, and moral imagination through lived experiences of kindness. Grounded in the pedagogical legacies of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Janusz Korczak, and Vasyl Sukhomlinsky—and enriched by contemporary insights from neuroscience and psychology—the curriculum reflects a contemplative and relational approach to education. Drawing on over 1,800 multimedia submissions from children in 45 countries, Connect with Kindness elevates children’s voices as co-creators of learning and encourages deep reflection through nature-based experiences, art, peer dialogue, and community engagement. By integrating Dr. Bruce Perry’s neurodevelopmental model and …

Effects Of Code Scaffolding In Increasing Student Confidence In Programming Cryptography, John Denny

LSU Master's Theses

Cryptography is essential for secure communications, and new threats require more students willing to program and interact with cryptographic systems. Previous research is focused on tools for teaching these systems at a high level, teaching through attacks against these systems, and proper use of these systems in software development. In this paper, we seek to design a workshop to use scaffolded Python code to teach how these cryp- tographic systems are designed. We explore the use of code scaffolding for students to program an example implementation of the McEliece crypto- graphic system to build confidence in working with these systems. …

Systematic Review Of Elementary Cybersecurity Education: Curriculum, Pedagogy, And Barriers, Na Liu, Siyu Long, Florence Martin

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Abstract -As children increasingly engage with digital platforms, the need for effective cybersecurity education has become urgent. This systematic review synthesizes 81 studies published between 2017 and 2024 to examine global curricula research focus and topics, pedagogical approaches and assessment methods, and key challenges in elementary cybersecurity education. The findings reveal six major thematic categories: student awareness, parental mediation, teacher engagement, curriculum design, community and policy support, and pedagogical innovation. Among instructional strategies, game-based learning and narrative storytelling emerge as the most frequently explored. Despite this growth, major gaps remain in curriculum consistency, teacher preparation, assessment rigor, and stakeholder coordination. …

Wake Up Running! : A Call To Ethical Leaders In Quest Of Democratic Space, Walter Earl Fluker

Intersections

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Intersections

No abstract provided.

Understanding Ai Literacy: Implications For Practice​, Devon Olson, Janet Anderson, Sara Westall

Librarian Publications

Presentation from the 2025 Mountain Plains Library Association Tri-Conference, held in Grand Forks, ND. This presentation provides an overview of basic AI concepts and frameworks for AI literacy, discussing the impact of different patron and learner demographics on learner needs, competencies, and instructional strategies.

Beyond Phonics: Neuroaesthetic And Symbolic Divergence In Culturally Responsive Dyslexia Screening, Piper Hutson, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

Recent advances in neuroscience and educational technology have challenged the traditional phonological-deficit model of dyslexia, revealing the profound influence of visual-symbolic processing, neuroaesthetic resonance, and cultural context in the reading brain. This article interrogates prevailing assessment paradigms by synthesizing research on the Visual Word Form Area (VWFA), cross-linguistic literacy systems, and emerging neurodiversity frameworks. The study addresses the urgent need to reconceptualize dyslexia as a heterogeneous divergence in symbolic processing—rooted as much in neuroaesthetic and visuospatial alignment as in phonemic awareness. Existing screeners, predominantly optimized for English and other Latin-based scripts, systematically neglect the cognitive realities of learners in multilingual …

Integrating Goal-Setting Into An Urban Community College Developmental Mathematics Course: A Multi-Perspective Learning Experience, Tamie S. Dickson

Education Doctorate Dissertations

Developmental mathematics (DM) students often encounter systemic and contextual obstacles in higher education. Low self-efficacy, math anxiety, multiple external demands, and pervasive gaps in prerequisite knowledge can all undermine the strategic behaviors needed to manage the academic environment independently. Although DM reforms are widely researched, the literature lacks a firsthand perspective on the daily processes students apply as they assume control over their learning. This qualitative action research study investigated the integration of intentional goal-setting into a recently redesigned one-level pilot DM course at an open-access, urban community college. The practitioner-researcher created the PATHway framework—rooted in Zimmerman’s (2000) three-phase Self-Regulated …

Afterword, Kristina A. Hesbol

The Rural Educator

No abstract provided.

Understanding Behavioral Engagement In Project-Based Learning: Key Influencing Factors, Maria Coney G. Pallones

English Faculty Publications

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is widely acknowledged for fostering student engagement; however, limited research explores how its specific design features influence behavioral engagement, defined as students’ active participation, persistence, and effort, particularly in early education settings. This study investigates what key factors, as perceived by teachers, influence students' behavioral engagement during PBL, and how these factors support motivation through the lens of Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Semi-structured interviews were purposively conducted with elementary teachers experienced in implementing PBL, and the data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three key design features emerged as critical to sustaining behavioral engagement: voice, choice, and ownership, which …

Love, Community, Errantry: Relational Approaches Toward Mathematical Mistakes, Melissa Adams Corral, Romina S. Peña-Pincheira, José Martínez Hinestroza

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

In this article we explore ways of approaching what educators and researchers perceive as mistakes that are consistent with views of mathematics that tolerate ambiguity, contradiction, and multiple possible truths. The approaches we describe draw on works within and beyond the field of mathematics education and detail theories from biologist Humberto Maturana, community organizers Bob Moses and Ella Baker, and poet-philosopher Edouard Glissant. These alternative theoretical perspectives are distinctly relational in their approach. They can build on the field’s current conceptualizations of pedagogical responses to errors in ways that attend to calls for broadening what it means to do mathematics …

Smart Learning In An Ai-Driven World, Joseph Rene Corbeil, Maria Elena Corbeil

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

SMART learning is an approach that combines sustainability, motivation, adaptability, results-oriented practices, and technology enablement. AI-driven SMART learning prioritizes flexibility, cost-efficiency, and knowledge retention, equipping teachers and students with the tools to adapt to an ever-evolving world. By envisioning AI's role in fostering SMART learning attributes, we pave the way for a future where technology and education intertwine to empower learners and redefine teaching practices.

Virtual Reality In Esl Teaching And Learning In A Hybrid Learning Environment In The United Arab Emirates, Basma Abdulla Abri

Dissertations

This study examines the impact of Virtual Reality (VR) on the oral proficiency of EFL learners in the UAE context, with exploring the instructors and students’ perspectives on using VR as a language learning tool. The study involved 44 Emirati higher education students enrolled in an English Communications Program divided into a control group using traditional methods, and an experimental group using VR tools for communicative activities. Data collection employed mixed-methods research through questionnaire surveys involving college students and interviews with EFL instructors over a ten-week period. According to the findings, the experimental group demonstrated higher oral proficiency than the …

Reading The Word And The World: Overstanding Literacy In Aboriginal And Chinese Classrooms, Gui Ying Annie Yang-Heim

Faculty Publications - College of Education

This qualitative comparative case study examines how culturally grounded philosophies of education shape the teaching and learning of reading in two cross-cultural contexts—an Aboriginal Australian classroom and urban Chinese elementary schools. Drawing on interpretive and reflexive methodologies, it investigates how Aboriginal and Confucian epistemologies influence literacy practices and how these practices align with or resist dominant, decontextualized models of reading instruction. Data sources include classroom observations, reading assessments, teacher interviews, and researcher reflections. Conceptually framed by Gadamer’s hermeneutics, Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital, Habermas’s typology of knowledge, and the Caribbean concept of overstanding, this research finds that Aboriginal literacy is …

Assessing Teachers’ Practices In Supporting Gifted/Talented And Twice-Exceptional Students In Schools And Centers In Abu Dhabi, Zayed Jaber

Theses

Gifted/talented and twice-exceptional (2e) students, especially those whose needs are often overlooked in mainstream classrooms, are more likely to benefit from consistently implemented Differentiated Instructional Practices (DIPs). This study aimed to examine implelemntation of DIPs for gifted/talented and 2e students and to compare the practices implemented between of Special Educational Needs (SEN) teachers and General Education teachers in schools and centers within Abu Dhabi. This research used a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design to collect data from eighty-six teachers from Abu Dhabi. A questionnaire was designed to rate teachers’ self-reported implementation of DIPs across the four domains of content, process, product, …

How Do Emirati University Students Develop Their Academic Biliteracy? A Mixed-Method Study, Eman Kamel Rababa

Dissertations

Framed by Hornberger’s continua of biliteracy model, this study investigated the developmental dynamics of academic biliteracy among Emirati university students. The research employed a sequential mixed-methods design, conducted across three public universities in the UAE. In the initial qualitative phase, interview data were collected from 30 students. Informed by these findings and the extant literature, a quantitative survey was then developed and administered to a sample of 299 students from various disciplines. The qualitative data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, while the quantitative data were examined using advanced statistical analyses, including structural equation modeling. Three primary themes emerged from …

Adaptive Vs. Traditional Learning: Long-Term Knowledge Retention -A Literature Review, Amal Altalhi, Chaitali Bonke, Khaled Alblowi

Information Systems Faculty Publications

Adaptive learning, a personalized educational approach, has appeared as a substitute paradigm to conventional teaching methodologies. Opposed to instruction-based learning, adaptive learning prepares learning content in a way that corresponds to individual learner needs, increasing engagement and knowledge retention. The present study has been conducted to review the literature to evaluate the influence of adaptive learning systems on long-term knowledge retention as compared to their traditional counterparts. Real-time feedback, spaced repetition, and scaffolded content can reduce cognitive load and enhance the learning experience, as they are considered highly effective tools. Several studies have shown that retention improves through the use …

Educate, Elevate, Empower: Shaping Future-Ready Teachers For Superdiverse Classrooms, Abdelhamid Helmy Safa

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper critically examines the transformative potential of integrating Community Engagement (CE) and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) within Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs globally. It highlights the significance of community-based learning and the Funds of Knowledge (FoK) framework in preparing educators to address the complexities of superdiverse classrooms. Through a systematic review, the study identifies effective practices and systemic barriers in ITE, advocating for a paradigm shift that aligns teacher preparation with the cultural realities of students. The proposed model synthesizes CRP, CE, and FoK to cultivate critical consciousness and adaptive expertise, essential for fostering inclusive learning environments. By providing …

Educators Perspectives Of Systematic English Language Development : A Qualitative Explanatory Study, Yvette Beavers, Nichole Bell

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

Multilingual English Learner (MLL) students are the fastest-growing student population in the U.S. and are often academically behind their native English-speaking peers. One factor in the achievement gap is MLL students' ability to gain English proficiency and inadequate teacher professional development. An explanatory study was conducted to explain the perspectives of teachers, and principals and assistant principals on Systematic English language development (SELD). The study collected data from five English Language Development (ELD) teachers and three principals and two assistant principals who supervised the ELD program at their school sites. The participants engaged in one-to-one interviews with ten semi-structured interview …

Breathing In Two Languages: Inclusive Sel For Multilingual Learners, Mylia Briggs, Monica Gonzalez Smith

Journal of English Learner Education

As multilingual learners (MLs) represent the fastest-growing student demographic in U.S. public schools, educators face increasing pressure to support these students’ academic and socio-emotional needs. Traditional social-emotional learning (SEL) frameworks often align with Eurocentric norms and overlook the cultural and linguistic assets of MLs. This action research self-study investigates a third-grade teacher’s implementation of culturally responsive, equity-oriented SEL (CRSEL) practices in an urban public school in Hawai‘i. Through adapted SEL lessons centered on gratitude, students engaged in activities that integrated home languages, cultural traditions, and identity-affirming practices. Findings reveal three key themes: self-awareness as validating and emancipatory, social awareness as …