Digital Commons Network^™

Should College Students Be Inventors? A Case Study Of A Mathematics Professor In India, Praveen Chhikara, Rochelle Gutiérrez

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This qualitative case study attempts to understand instructional roles and goals that a mathematics professor in India sets and envisions for engaging students around abstract mathematical concepts. We generated the data with the professor while he participated in professional development program sessions we provided on the active role of students in learning mathematics. Guided by two theoretical lenses of Realistic Mathematics Education and Rehumanizing Mathematics, our data analysis identified three main themes through the teaching practices that he employs or conceives: (1) Supporting students to avoid faulty foundations by developing proofs, (2) Offering opportunities for exploration by giving appropriate guidance, …

Review Of Teaching Primary Source Research Skills To 21st-Century Learners, Alexandra Y. Bush

Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies

In Teaching Primary Source Research Skills to 21st-Century Learners, Julie Thomas offers guidance and encouragement to instructors of primary source research skills. Largely without sacrificing detail or quality of analysis, Thomas provides information on existing resources, required literacies and competencies, pedagogical theory, and advice on programmatic sustainability that are accessible to readers at a wide range of professional levels. Drawing on benchmarks and taxonomies across disciplines, this book outlines the components and considerations needed to sustain a primary source research skills teaching program. The text offers an accessible and extensible method of deepening one’s understanding of the field while …

The Evolution Of Schooling: From Industrial Obedience To Techno-Autonomy, Seb Taylor, Ron Roberts Ii

Digital Laboratory: Publisher of Internet Journal

This paper examines the enduring architecture of the American education system as a mechanism designed for compliance, not creativity. Rooted in 19th-century industrial logic, the structure of schooling, its physical design, time constraints, and assessment methods, has remained largely static despite seismic cultural and technological shifts. Through historical analysis and contemporary critique, this work interrogates the persistence of standardized methods, institutional prestige, and top-down instruction as barriers to meaningful learning and value creation. Drawing from interdisciplinary research and live case studies, including Alpha School’s AI-powered, mastery-based model, the paper advances the concept of techno-education: a student-centered paradigm informed by feedback …

Teachers’ Talk About Children’S Texts, Sarah J. Mccarthey, Ngan Vu, Jiadi Zhang

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Using a framework for discourses about writing, the qualitative study investigates teachers’ discussions about student texts during focus group sessions. The setting was a small, private school with a diverse student population and teachers who shared an approach to teaching. Their discussions focused on aspects of student writing including word choice and voice; learning to write within genres such as narrative, opinion, and poetry; and writing for an audience. Teachers valued multimodality by emphasizing how pictures and text can support one another throughout the writing process. The data reflect teachers’ knowledge of the students as writers and their cultural and …

Does Educator Preparation Align With State Standards? A Factor Analysis Of Missouri’S First-Year Teacher Survey, Ximena Uribe-Zarain, Beth Kania-Gosche, Mark Hogrebe

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

First-Year Teacher Surveys (FYTS) are essential for evaluating teacher preparation programs (TPPs), providing crucial feedback from recent graduates about their training and readiness for real-world teaching. This study focuses on Missouri’s FYTS, utilizing Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to investigate the survey's factor structure and its alignment with the state's nine teaching standards. The study sample consisted of 1,424 first-year teachers who completed the FYTS during the 2023 academic year. EFA revealed eight distinct factors, largely corresponding to the original standards, while CFA results supported the multidimensional factor structure with significant item loadings. Although model fit …

Constructivist Media Decoding In Elementary School: Media Literacy Instruction Across A School Year, Faith Rogow, Bridget Crossman, Michele Coolbeth, Janet Balk

Journal of Media Literacy Education

In 2021, Ithaca College’s Project Look Sharp conducted a pilot project to demonstrate that school librarians were in a unique position to provide media literacy instruction and function as building and district leaders to mentor teachers in media literacy integration. The initiative taught librarians to use constructivist media decoding (CMD) – an inquiry-based, curriculum driven approach to media analysis and production. This article, informed by the evaluation of that effort, offers a qualitative view from three elementary school librarians who were part of the pilot cohort. They describe how they implemented CMD in ways that can be duplicated by other …

Expanding The Role Of Embodiment And Teacher Noticing In Units Coordination And Construction, Claudia Bertolone-Smith, Jonathan Troup, Liza Bondurant, Diana Moss, Hortensia Soto

Journal of Practitioner Research

We aim to expand units coordination and construction assessment by examining the significance of embodiment and teacher noticing, especially in relation to recent developments in equitable mathematics teacher noticing research. We outline our approach as mathematics teacher educators with a wide range of expertise, wherein we investigated how prospective elementary mathematics teachers (PTs) notice students' units construction and coordination through embodied actions and the impact of incorporating a focus on embodiment in assessment. We also address how expanding the understanding of units coordination and construction assessment through embodied noticings can create more equitable classroom spaces. The study emphasizes the need …

Stories Of California Mini-Corps Tutors: Exploring The Experiences Of Bilingual Latinx Early Preservice Teachers, Norma Rueda Santillanez

Dissertations

Restrictive language policies and practices in schools have racialized the experiences of bilingual Latinx early preservice teachers (EPSTs), leading many to internalize the belief that their language and culture are not valued. These deficit-based messages often influence their personal development and emerging professional identities. Despite the volume of scholarship about this pattern, little research has explored how this internalization shapes EPSTs’ perspectives as they move from being multilingual students educated in English-only environments to future credential program students and bilingual teachers. This critical qualitative case study examined this process as students engaged in school-based fieldwork through the California Mini-Corps program …

From Perception To Retention: The Influence Of Campus Culture And Climate On Teacher Attrition, Stephany D. Brown

Education Theses and Dissertations

This improvement science dissertation in practice investigated the influence of leadership support, collaboration, and recognition on teacher attrition. The study occurred over the course of two years on two suburban secondary campuses, in neighboring independent school districts. Voluntary participants included certified teachers, administrators and counselors. The two-phase, Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles involved the collection of quantitative and qualitative data emphasizing teacher perceptions through surveys and focus groups to evaluate campus culture and climate before and after implementation of the intervention. Phase two incorporated the targeted intervention; focused on public recognition of teachers within the school setting; specifically examining whether public recognition …

Creative Processes In Visual Arts In Education: A Conceptual Framework, Enock Swanzy-Impraim

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The diversity and uniqueness of individuals and the multifaceted nature of creativity necessitate new models in various domains. This study reviewed previous studies and models of the creative process and presented a combined model (Swanzy-Impraim panoramic creative process model) of the creative process applicable to the visual arts in education and other artist-expressive domains. It positions the creative process in seven phases: (1) immersion, (2) problem/task identification, (3) ideation, (4) production, (5) outcome, (6) evaluation, and (7) responses. This conceptual paper explores creativity as a concept and its significance in the artists’ expressive domain, reviews and maps creative process models, …

Benefits And Impact Of Global And Bilingual Education: Dual Master’S Degree In Spanish Language And Culture For Educators, Diana Meza, Felix Wang, Yenisei Montes De Oca

International Journal on Responsibility

The dual master’s degree program in Spanish Language and Culture (SLC) for educators represents a pioneering initiative, emphasizing internationalization and global education through collaboration between James Madison University (JMU) and the University of Salamanca (USAL). This program addresses the escalating demand for bilingual education and the growing population of Spanish speakers in the educational landscape of the United States. The SLC program highlights educators’ responsibility to engage with and promote cultural and linguistic diversity by supporting bilingualism and cultural literacy in diverse communities where Spanish is widely used, particularly in regions where Spanish-speaking populations are marginalized. The program offers the …

A Comparative Case Study Of Mentoring Practices By National Board Certified And Non-Certified Teacher Mentors, Bethany Mcclure

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As preservice teacher candidates engage in field experiences that shape their development of teacher identity, it is important to examine their perceptions of the mentoring process. This study explored how preservice teacher candidates construct their own knowledge about mentoring as a process, as well as explored the perceptions of mentor teachers, both National Board Certified, and non-National Board Certified, as they facilitated the learning and growth of their mentees. Many prior studies on the mentoring process exist, however, a gap in the literature that was identified and explored through this study included the impact that National Board Certified Teachers have …

Wildlife Science Education For Grades 3–12, Natalie J. Carroll, Theodore Leuenberger, Katherine Leuenberger

Purdue University Press Books

Wildlife Science Education for Grades 3–12 guides and encourages youth to learn about the wildlife around them. The first section introduces the basic wildlife groups to youth in upper elementary school using hands-on and other activity-based learning techniques. Young learners will understand the similarities and differences between mammals, birds, fish, and herptiles. The activities for middle schoolers expand the study to interactions within and between them. The lessons for high school students are based on topics of importance to homeowners, residents of a watershed, food and fiber producers (farmers), mayors, teachers, and policy makers. This section delves deeper into the …

From Life-Vests To Catalysts: Collaboration As The Key To Becoming Researchers, Ingunn Skjesol Ph.D., Krisitn B. Ørjasæter Ph.D.

The Qualitative Report

Ph.D. students report that doctoral work is challenging, with tight deadlines and extensive individual demands. In our duoethnography we reflect on and interrogate how collaborating in a structured way supported the development of our research competence during our doctoral work. Our analysis draws on a range of data: emails, Outlook calendars, work notes, manuscripts with reviewing comments, audio recordings of workshops, memories and research diaries. This article presents two concepts: (1) the phasing of doctoral work, showing our journey from life-vests to catalysts, and (2) a structured model for collaboration, built on shared engagement and mutual commitment. Further it argues …

He’S The Kid That No One Wanted: An Autoethnographic Examination Of Preschool Suspensions And Expulsions From A Mother’S Lens, Lisa M. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This autoethnographic research examines the personal and professional journey of advocating against preschool suspensions and expulsions through the lens of a Black mother. Titled He’s The Kid That No One Wanted: An Autoethnographic Examination of Preschool Suspensions and Expulsions from a Mother’s Lens, " it dives into the complicated challenges faced while confronting exclusionary disciplinary practices in early childhood education. This research aims to illuminate the societal and institutional roadblocks encountered when navigating systems of power and to explore the impact of these challenges on both personal identity and professional advocacy. Using a blend of social media artifacts and memory …

Integrating Digital Escape Room Design Into Teacher Education: Cultivating Instructional Creativity In Preservice Teachers, Gina L. Solano, Wen Wen

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This action research documents how a teacher education program incorporates game-based learning to engage pre-service teachers (PSTs) in developing their instructional creativity. In this project, game-based learning goes beyond playing games; Instead, it allows PSTs to design their own game-a digital escape room created using a website with embedded clues, digital locks, and online challenges. This paper showcases an impressive level of creativity through the variety and complexity of PSTs’ clues, the creative graphics and layout of their websites, and their cleverly written scenarios and context for the game. Moreover, PSTs reflect on their design processes, considering the affordances and …

Tips For Inclusive Postsecondary Education Programs On College Campuses: Peer Mentors’ Perspectives On Access And Inclusion, Laura N. Sarchet, Kristen Love, Martha Mock

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

As inclusive postsecondary education programs have grown and improved towards more campus access for college students labeled with an intellectual disability, peer mentoring is a common model for such programs. Peer mentors from one private institution were asked to describe their experiences and perspectives of campus inclusion after participating in a training program designed to increase their understanding of disability within a social justice lens. Mentors shared the personal and professional benefits of mentoring, for both themselves and for students labeled with an intellectual disability, and noted recommendations for how programs can increase access to college in order to improve …

Trust The Process: Why Messy Projects Make Great Music Education., Molly J. Devine

Staff Scholarship - New Zealand

PRESENTATION ON: Trust the Process: Why messy projects make great music education. In Aotearoa’s increasingly diverse music classrooms, project-based learning offers a way to honour each learner’s voice, background, and strengths. But collaboration isn’t always smooth. This workshop explores how to guide students through the messy, emotional, often deeply human process of working together. Rooted in kindness and manaakitanga, we’ll share tools and reflections for creating music projects that are inclusive, culturally responsive, and genuinely transformative.

Gaining Insights Into Community Engagement Efforts: Learning From Preservice Stem Educators, Amy G. Maples, Lynn L. Hodge, Nick Kim

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This study seeks to extend research in the field by exploring literature examining preservice teachers’ perceptions of community engagement efforts. We then report findings from a thematic analysis of a survey conducted with teacher candidates at a university in the southeastern U.S. who took part in school- and community-based STEM events, and provide implications and suggestions for utilizing community engagement opportunities as a means of enriching preservice teachers’ understandings of local school and community contexts.

Exploring The Impact Of A Middle Level School Therapy Dog On Students And Staff And Connections To Best Practices In Middle School Education, Brandye Nobiling, Sherry Maykrantz, Tara Downes, Joshua Nobiling

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

The presence of therapy dogs in schools has increased due to the growing body of research showing positive effects of assisted-animal interaction. But there is little published research on how an innovation such as a therapy dog connects to best practices in middle level education. The goal of the research was to use the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory to connect the implementation of a therapy dog to the Association for Middle Level Education’s (AMLE) essential attributes and characteristics as well as components of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model. Focus …

Building Community With Middle Level Preservice Teachers, Carolyn A. Weber

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

This paper addresses how community building can be implemented in a class for preservice middle level teachers. The preservice teachers connected community building to their success in the course and reported ways they could build community in their future classrooms.

From Observation To Ethical Inquiry: Course Redesign In Middle Level Educator Preparation, Sarah Straub, Elizabeth Gound

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

This manuscript explores the transformative impact of ethical engagement in the course MLGE 3301: Adolescent Learning, designed for pre-field students in an educator preparation program. Focused on middle-grade education and special education, this course incorporates a significant service learning component, with undergraduate students spending 10 service hours in middle school classrooms and conducting interviews with middle school students. The purpose of the interviews is to enable pre-field students to engage with middle school students and use the insights gained to reflect on the alignment between their coursework in adolescent learning theory and real-world experiences. Two professors leading the course recognized …

Exploring The Impact Of A Literacy-Based Service-Learning Project On Pre-Service Teachers, Shelly J. Landreth, Tara Wilson

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

In this study, we describe a teacher educator’s first experience implementing a service-learning project in a children’s literature course in which pre-service teachers helped provide read-alouds for the local public library’s summer reading program. We sought to examine the impact the project had on the seven participants. Data was collected through reflective journals and an end-of-course debrief. Four themes were identified in the data: Initial Feelings, Preparation and Planning, Lessons Learned, and Barriers and Challenges.

Burnout Theory, Pandemic Teaching And Teacher Efficacy: What Is Lost When Schools Return To “Normal”?, Katy Farber, Penny A. Bishop

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Our qualitative study examined educators’ perceptions of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of burnout theory. Using the three components of burnout as theorized by Maslach and Leiter (2016), we analyzed teachers’ self-reports of emotional exhaustion, cynicism/depersonalization, and reduced sense of professional self-efficacy. We interviewed 16 teachers who taught through the emergency remote-learning phase of the pandemic in March 2020 and remained in the same district when prepandemic practices returned. We conducted semistructured interviews in person and on Zoom with special educators, integrated arts teachers, school counselors, and general classroom teachers. We describe the unanticipated finding that teachers …

Introducing The Loyola Way: An Ignatian Pedagogy Framework Reinvigorated By Anti-Oppressive And Student-Centered Approaches, Bridget M. Colacchio, Jessica Mansbach, Justin D. Wright, Harrison Seeling, Sydnee O'Donnell

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Our center for teaching and learning at a mid-sized, private, Catholic, Midwest university responded to recent challenges and opportunities presented by current sociopolitical factors (such as ongoing racial injustice, global conflict, the climate crisis, and the aftermath of a global health pandemic) by rethinking our approach to teaching and learning. To better meet the needs of faculty and students in today’s world, we arrived at an integrated pedagogical approach to amplify interpersonal and societal humanization and justice. In this paper, we introduce this new framework for teaching and learning called The Loyola Way, an innovative combination of three pedagogical …

A Student-Centered Coaching Program In Jesuit & Mercy Traditions, Sara Gifford, Karen Mihelich, Arthur Ko

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

A student-centered coaching program grounded in Jesuit and Mercy traditions, called “Coaching for Care,” was implemented at a midwestern Jesuit and Mercy institution. The purpose of the project was to evaluate the development of future nurse educators’ pedagogy, foster holistic licensure examination preparation among pre-licensure nursing students, and examine students’ perceptions towards the program’s guiding Jesuit and Mercy values. Pre-licensure students who received coaching felt that their uniqueness/holism, accountability, and reflection were important for their licensure exam preparation at significantly higher rates than pre-licensure students who did not receive coaching. Themes identified from the doctoral student coaches included instilling confidence …

Ua64/2 The Challenge: Magazine For The Center For Gifted Studies (No. 58 Summer 2025), Elizabeth Joyce Editor

Gifted Studies Publications

Magazine created by and about the WKU Center for Gifted Studies.

Addressing Instructional Capacity For English Learners Through Professional Development, Emily Howell, Lindsey W. Rowe, Mihaela Gazioglu, Nicole Ferguson-Sams, Victoria Pennington

Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this study was addressing the goal of the intervention to increase instructional capacity in a high-need district for English Learners (ELs).

Design/methodology/approach – This design-based research examined a cohort of K–12 general education classroom teachers and the impact of professional development (PD). The intervention had three essential elements: provide teachers with evidence-based practices of EL instruction in PD, assess self-efficacy for both EL students and teachers, and develop resources for EL caregivers based upon evidence-based practice and teacher feedback. This study reports the results focusing on the following research question: How does the intervention impact …

Exploring Teachers' Perceptions And Experiences In Adopting And Implementing High- Quality Instructional Materials At A Public Charter School In A Mid-Atlantic State, Marietta Maloy Williams

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

This action research dissertation examines the perceptions and experiences of public charter school teachers in a Mid-Atlantic state regarding the adoption and implementation of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM). Using a mixed-methods approach, the study investigated the impact of HQIM on teaching practices and student outcomes. A survey, followed by focus groups, gathered both quantitative and qualitative data from a targeted population of K–8 teachers. Data analysis included thematic coding of focus group discussions. Findings reveal significant challenges in HQIM implementation, highlighting the need for enhanced professional development and ongoing instructional support. The study concludes with implications for practice and recommendations …

Perceptions Of An English Language Learner Program In A Florida Middle School, Kristifer M. Harden

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

A growing number of English Language Learners (ELLs) exists within the United States. The purpose of this study was to explore administrators' and teachers' perceptions of a school district’s ELL program and determine how those perceptions align with the ELL supports used in the classrooms of a small school district in Florida. The study intended to answer the question: How do the perceptions of an ELL program held by the administrators and teachers responsible for the implementation of the ELL program differ from one another and from the ELL supports being provided in classrooms? This qualitative case study was developed …