Digital Commons Network^™

Let’S /R//Ē//D/: Using Decodable Texts With Beginning Readers, Rosa Pangari-Schneller

Essays in Education

The use of decodable texts can support beginning readers in building a strong foundation for reading, especially when reinforcing skills taught in phonemic awareness and phonics programs. Decodable texts have a home within the science of reading, which can be used to motivate and inspire children. The purpose of this essay is to share my experiences implementing decodable texts in small groups to support beginning readers. I will discuss teacher use and implementation of decodable texts to support student application of grapheme-phoneme relationships and the strategies used to improve not only student learning, but their love for reading.

Project-Based Learning: The Ticket To Deepening Classroom Thinking And Discussion, Matthew J. Weyers

Essays in Education

The author argues that utilizing elements of Project-Based Learning is essential to deepen student thinking and discussion in the classroom. The author provides three strategies for classroom teachers of all ages to utilize in accomplishing this goal. Additionally, the author provides several examples of what these strategies might look like in different subjects. Finally, there are multiple resources embedded within for further reading and research.

Enhancing Student Engagement Part Ii: Actionable Strategies For The Participating, Investing, And Driving Pathways Of A Continuum Framework, Bryan Matera

Essays in Education

This article describes actionable strategies for the practicing educator relative to student engagement levels (participating, investing, and driving) on a continuum model. The writing is the second in a series of three articles that examine specific and effective actionable instructional strategies that result in increased student engagement, interest in learning, and student self-efficacy standards.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness: A Historical Overview And Practical Implications For Higher Education Practitioners, Allison Maldonado, Z.W. Taylor, Patrick Ziegler, Elizabeth A. Rainey, Debra Carter, Dana George, Karla A. Weber-Wandel

Essays in Education

Although student loan forgiveness continues to remain in the headlines within United States higher education contexts, relatively little is known about the origins of the public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) program, federal policy that has shaped the borrowing patterns of public servants for decades. Moreover, as one of the largest student loan forgiveness programs available through the U.S. federal government, higher education practitioners would benefit from a historical overview of the PSLF program to provide context, as well as offer practical implications for practitioners working with student loan borrowers seeking entry to a public field of work. As a result, …

Why Researchers Need To Hear Practitioners’ Voices: A Call To Action, David Wolff, Donna Zerr, Carissa Gober

Essays in Education

Educators play a crucial role in shaping student learning experiences. Practitioners engage in scholarly inquiry daily in classrooms and educational settings. Scholarly inquiry varies based on context and student needs. By viewing classrooms as research labs, educators can foster curiosity and develop research. It is the goal of this article to encourage educators to engage in The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning by formalizing their insights into publishable writings.

Better Together: Attitudinal And Institutional Change For Stereotype And Prejudice Reduction, Diana Quito

Essays in Education

This article begins by examining the adverse effects of ostracization on students' mental health and academic performance. It identifies deficit thinking within educational institutions as contributing to the social exclusion experienced by students, leading to their psychological need for belonging going unmet. Deficit thinking, fuelled by racist and classist ideologies, theorizes that the blame for a student’s failure in school results from their inherent deficiencies. Deficit thinking oppresses and marginalizes students by justifying harmful practices such as school segregation and scientific racism. Schools serving communities of color are disproportionately impacted, compromising students’ educational achievement and prospects. To disrupt deficit thinking, …

Facing Publishing Paralysis In Teacher Education: Book Critique Of Writing Your Journal Article In Twelve Weeks (2nd Ed.), Donna Zerr, Carissa Gober, David Wolff

Essays in Education

Our lived experiences as Teacher Education faculty in the realm of scholarly writing was filled with anxiety and trepidation. In the attempt to develop as writers, we participated in a professional learning community book discussion on Wendy Laura Belcher’s workbook, Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success (2nd ed.). The text’s exercises helped motivate our steps through the writing process and developed productive writing habits for publication. This article is a critique of the book which helped us face and overcome our fears of writing with the intention to publish academic scholarship. The workbook …

Do School Finance Courses Teach What Aspiring Principals Need To Know, Steve Baule

Essays in Education

This study conducted a review of school finance syllabi in order to determine how the topics presented in midwestern school finance courses for aspiring school administrators align with the topics identified as important by a previous study of practicing school administrators. The study highlights discrepancies between what practicing educational administrators articulate as the most important topics early career principals need to master in comparison to the topics university syllabi include.

Effect Of Mastery Learning Strategy On Students' Learning Outcomes In Senior Secondary School Biology In Lagos State, Kassim O. Ajayi Prof, Fausat A. Adenaike Prof, Modupe O. Salomi Dr, Kehinde S. Momodu Mrs

Essays in Education

The study is a pre-test, post-test control group randomized quasi–experimental research design. The population comprised all SSII Biology Students in Lagos Education District II, with two intact classes of 60 students from two selected public secondary schools. Four instruments were used namely; Mastery Learning Strategy Instructional Aid, Conventional Teaching Strategy Instructional Aid, Biology Achievement Test (r = 0.77) and Biology Attitude Scale (r = 0.82). Six null hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Findings showed significant main effect of treatment on achievement (F _{(1, 59) =} 2399.983, P (.000) < .05), no significant main effect of gender on achievement (F _{(1, 59) =} 1.677, P (.201) > .05) and no …

Looking For Another Assessment Tool That Activates The Principles Of Aal (Assessment As Learning)? Look No Further Than The Ratpd!, Mark Minott

Essays in Education

Frequently discussed in the literature on assessment are the ideas of assessment of learning (AoL), assessment for learning (AfL) and assessment as learning (AaL). This paper draws the readers’ attention to the idea of AaL, an assessment strategy entitled the Reflective Approach to Teaching Practicum Debriefing (RATPD) and answers the question, “To what extent is the Reflective Approach to Teaching Practicum Debriefing (RATPD) strategy an assessment as Learning (AaL) activity?” By discussing and connecting AaL and RATPD, the main conclusion was, enacting the RATPD is engaging in an actual AaL activity. Therefore, through this paper, readers are introduced to another …

Discussing Yasmina Khadra’S Novel The Sirens Of Baghdad In The Upper Secondary Classroom To Promote Intercultural Learning, Karl Ågerup

Essays in Education

Based on interviews with four teachers who engaged in discussions about Yasmina Khadra's novel The Sirens of Baghdad with a total of 92 students, this article explores the potential of using fictional narratives to achieve Global Citizenship-related goals in upper secondary education. The novel, which portrays the journey of a young aspiring Al Qaeda terrorist in Iraq, emerged as a response to the increasing need in the Western world to mitigate intercultural tensions following the September 11 attacks. The article addresses the novel's capacity to promote intercultural understanding while acknowledging practical challenges such as intense emotions in the classroom, potential …

Book Review: Documentary Research In The Social Sciences By Malcolm Tight, Patrick W. Leeport

Essays in Education

Documentary research methods are a critical, yet often overlooked approach to research in the social sciences. Malcolm Tight’s book, Documentary Research in the Social Sciences not only makes the case for the value of documentary research, but serves as a pragmatic introduction to a wide array of different genres within documentary research. The book is suited well to graduate students as well as researchers and practitioners looking to expand their understanding of, and ability to conduct, document-based research.

Delivery Matters—Or Does It? A Snapshot Of Online Versus In-Person Instruction, Carol A. Mullen

Essays in Education

Online instruction and computer-based innovations in brick-and-mortar institutions are here to stay, but the study of distance delivery is lacking. Areas needing more attention include instructional effectiveness and student satisfaction. Educational quality, especially in online classes, should be monitored and evaluated to ensure learning, collaboration, and success, as well as to gain knowledge and improve practice. The purpose of this paper is to encourage scholar–practitioner dialogue on and comparison of issues pertaining to online and in-person instruction for adult learners. The research question guiding this exploratory qualitative study was, Are there any differences in the learning performance of two graduate …

Uzbek Students’ Perception Of Classroom Experience In Emi Courses, Praveen Malla

Essays in Education

Knowledge acquisition of university students is influenced by many factors including program quality, teacher quality and support, classroom environment, medium of instruction, peer ecosystem, infrastructure availability and other non-academic enablers. This study aims to examine Uzbek classroom experience in internationalization (EMI) programs led by both foreign and local faculty within both the public and private university settings. 280 responses were received, 42 of them from students studying in public universities and 238 from those studying in private universities. The study triangulates the survey responses with a focus group study and fleshes out several interesting insights. We observe significant effect of …

Selling Graduation: Higher Education And The Loaning Of Liberation, Annie Pocklington, Elizabeth J. Flanagan, Christopher Bodenheimer Knaus

Essays in Education

While the costs to attend college continue to rise exponentially, a bachelor’s degree is held up as required for economic stability within the U.S. and across the globe. With drastic disparities in earning potentials after graduation reduced by racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, ableism, and related structural disparities, the value of a degree continues to be questioned, especially for historically marginalized communities. As the loan industrial complex continues to profit off of students, President Biden has offered $10,000 in student loan relief for some borrowers, though this action has been blocked by federal courts and is currently on hold. Whether Biden’s …

International Undergraduates Are Not A Resource For Neocolonial Exploitation, Mathew H. Gendle, Amanda Tapler

Essays in Education

Policies developed to internationalize academic institutions in the U.S. that include admission strategies to increase international student populations must consider potential negative and ethical outcomes. Such policies may inadvertently exploit international students to generate revenue, increase rankings, meet diversity targets, and conduct unrecognized and uncompensated campus labor. However, policies based on mutually beneficial outcomes will diversify U.S. institutions, while also incentivizing the return of benefits derived from this education back to the students’ home communities.

A Call For Digital Citizenship Curriculum In Early Childhood Education, Jenna K. Ladd, Joel J. Traver

Essays in Education

Accessibility of information (factual or fabricated), social interconnectedness, and more of our daily lives being lived in the digital world has created challenges and opportunities for children and families around the world. As a result, there exists an emerging need for families with children aged birth-to-five to receive education and support through standards-based digital citizenship curriculum to navigate living online. Several models of digital citizenship curriculum have been created for the K-12 education to provide education and guidance for teachers, administrators, and parents of older children. Thus, we call for the development and implementation of standards-based digital citizenship curriculum in …

Students’ Perceptions On Blended Synchronous Learning In The Postcrisis Era, An Minh Ngoc Pham, Huong Ngoc Nguyen, Truong Nhut Huynh, Cat Tuong Nguyen Ngo, Nghi Bao Nguyen Le

Essays in Education

With the severe impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the educational systems have to be reformed and evolved. Blended synchronous learning has become an attractive tendency in education worldwide as the technology has mushroomed recently and attracts a vast number of users and researchers. Therefore, the current study was conducted to investigate students’ overall perceptions of blended synchronous learning as well as its benefits and challenges. 163 participants in the study have experienced ENT courses in a blended synchronous learning environment for 105 hours within 7 weeks. The instrument employed in the quantitative phase was 27 items adapted from studies by …

Accessibility Of University Course Syllabi, Steven M. Baule, Sara A. Fister

Essays in Education

Over the last twenty years, governments and a range of disability rights organizations have advocated for increased accessibility to educational materials and school documents for people with disabilities. Recently, several studies have shown that accessibility is still lagging among educational institutions and other government agencies. The purpose of this study was to analyze extant higher education syllabi to determine the level of compliance with the current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0). The study reviewed the current accessibility requirements for schools under WCAG 2.0 and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act as amended in 2018. It then provides a review …

Leadership And Instructional Coaching: A Synthesis Of Approaches And Practices That Promote Change, Katie L. Perkins

Essays in Education

The aim of this educational essay is to provide a literature-based synthesis of the leadership approaches and practices of instructional coaches that best support teacher development. The essay is grounded in transformational leadership theory (Bass & Avolio, 1990) and synthesizes three main constructs for effective instructional coaching. These constructs include: andragogical practices (Knowles, 2015), the ethics of care (Beck, 1994), and organizational change (Burke, 2014). Incorporating these leadership practices may encourage effective teacher-coach relationships, promote teacher development and retention, and ultimately increase student success.

Interaction Effects Of Undergraduate Students' Factors And Two Instruction Modalities On Academic Performance In A Stem Course, Olubusayo Foluso Adebusuyi Dr., Ademola K. Badru Dr

Essays in Education

Presently, schools are changing from a face-to-face (F2F) teaching mode to an online or virtual mode of teaching. Research has shown the two instruction modes to affect students' success positively. However, studies investigating the interaction effects of students' factors that could enhance the effectiveness of the two modes of instruction are limited. This study examines how age, socioeconomic status (SES), and course of study affect how well students do in both face-to-face and online settings.

The study employed an ex post facto design. Students' assessment results and demographic data were utilized to collect data for the study. The sample comprised …

Skills To Pay The Bills: A Review Of College Student Employability Literature, Christopher Burnett, Zachary W. Taylor

Essays in Education

Research has shown that many U.S. college students do not graduate with employable skills beyond academic competency to facilitate their professional success post-graduation. Moreover, researchers have found that academic- and industry-specific knowledge alone is inadequate to help college graduates secure a job and meet the demands of the contemporary, nuanced, dynamic work environment. In addressing decreases in state and federal allocations for higher education and the added pressure to produce work-ready college graduates, institutions have grappled with how to enhance student workforce development and prepare students for the labor market. As a result, this literature review provides a comprehensive, global …

Utilizing Counter Narratives To Develop Culturally Sustaining, Critically Conscious Preservice Teacher Practitioners, David Wolff

Essays in Education

The content areas that get most attention in an elementary classroom include mathematics and English/Language Arts (ELA), and little time is devoted to other content areas like social studies. Preservice elementary teachers can learn to maximize instructional time by integrating social studies content in the ELA block. Using counternarratives, preservice teachers can learn to use children’s literature to teach multiple perspectives to the dominant narrative in the textbooks. This article shares strategies to present counternarratives and examples of children’s literature that can be used in an elementary classroom.

The Relationship Between Teachers' Interaction Strategies And Student Oral Involvement, An Ngoc Minh Pham

Essays in Education

A lot of research has focused on exploring reasons for and solutions to Asian students’ reticence in speaking. It is found that their unwillingness to speak is affected not only by the students themselves but also by the situations they are placed in. However, there is still space to explore how teachers use interaction strategies to enhance students’ speaking involvement, especially in Vietnam. This paper examines the relationship between teacher interaction strategies and student oral involvement. The data were collected via audio-recording and class observation. Five experienced teachers and their respective classes at a center for foreign languages were invited …

Covid-19’S Influence On Mental Health Among Collegiate Student-Athletes, Jacob Balliu, Steven M. Baule

Essays in Education

The world was struck by turmoil as the COVID-19 virus surged to the surface. Affecting the lives of many. In a matter of days, the process of daily living got a new meaning. The new lifestyle of living consisted of wearing masks, self-quarantining for fourteen days, and socially distancing six feet apart. From the perspective of a college student, life was flipped upside down. Classes were moved online, and students were asked to not be on campuses across the country for months on end. Collegiate student-athletes had it much rougher. Due to the global pandemic multiple sport seasons were cancelled …

Factors Affect Students’ Satisfaction In Blended Learning Courses In A Private University In Vietnam, Tuong Cao Dinh Mr., Kien Trung Dao Mr., Duyen Kim Quach Mss., Nhu Phan To Ha Mss., Mai Cam Ho Mss.

Essays in Education

Blended learning, a combination of online and offline learning, is believed to enhance students’ self-learning, and help increase their learning performances. To successfully operate a blended learning system, increasing the learners’ satisfaction seems to be an important task. Moreover, there should be a duty to understand the self-efficacy of a student to encourage them to participate in this course (Chen & Yao, 2016). As a result, knowing the internal or external factors that influence student satisfaction in blended learning is critical for the effective design of blended learning courses in the future (Graham, Henrie, & Gibbons, 2013). In this study, …

Re-Conceptualizing Food Consumption And Its Educational Values, Chi Hong Nguyen, Toan Quoc Tran, Hay Ngoc Huynh, Linh Thuy Pham, Chi Thien Huu Le

Essays in Education

Food consumption has been largely researched in many areas. Most extant studies have highlighted the influences of socio-economic and cultural factors on people’s eating habits. These studies inform policy strategies by proposing campaigns and methods to improve nutritional intake among people of diverse socio-economic and geographical backgrounds. At the same time, they implicitly point out that food consumption may carry educational values that are co-constructed through food eaters’ engagement with the world. This requires researchers to go beyond the current methodological approaches that epistemologically focus on the factors that influence nutritional intake and eating habits. While little is known about …

Linguistic Hurdles Faced By English L2 Speakers Pursuing U.S. Higher Education: What The Research Tells Us And Pathways Forward, Z W. Taylor

Essays in Education

Decades of extant research has suggested English learners (ELs or English L2 students) and their support networks do not access United States (U.S.) higher education at the same level as their English-fluent (or English L1 peers). Similarly, decades of research have suggested U.S. higher education ought to adopt a polylingual approach to postsecondary access, yet little has changed since the work began in the early 1980s. This critical review synthesizes this work, includes recent work, and criticizes a stubborn U.S. higher education system for failing to embrace linguistic minorities and improve access to the U.S. higher education system for minoritized …

Deconstructing The Anomaly Of India’S Higher Education Ranking Framework: A Case Of Misdirected Selection Of Evaluation Parameters, Praveen B. Malla Dr.

Essays in Education

Indian higher educational institutions (HEIs) are not making it to the top of the global ranking tables, except for a few. The Indian government has taken cognizance of this failure and launched a domestic ranking framework to foster competition and consequently improve quality of education. Interestingly, the framework is riddled with issues of misdirected metric selection. Given the complexity and vastness of the Indian higher education ecosystem this one-size-fits-all framework is not appropriate.

Public universities are predominantly policy driven and have a charter that is not in line with the mandate of the private and deemed universities. Likewise, institutions of …

A Renewal Of Civic Education In The United States: Committing To Multiculturalism And Media Literacy, James E. Schul, Nicholas P. Wysocki

Essays in Education

Recent events have spurred for a renewal in civic education in the United States. Building upon an essay in an earlier volume of Essays in Education, the authors of this essay argue that a renewal of civic education in the United States must include a sturdy commitment to both multiculturalism and media literacy. In this essay, the authors provide background and context as to why these two areas need to be focused upon and provide pragmatic direction to policy makers, school officials, and teachers may swiftly and effectively commit schools to both multiculturalism and media literacy.