Digital Commons Network^™

Theory And Practice: Phonological Awareness Instructional Methods Used In Deaf Education, Mary Cantino

Theses and Dissertations

An inequality in literacy rates exists between deaf children and their hearing peers. Research indicates that visual phonic interventions such as Visual Phonics used alongside a phonics program enhances grapheme-phoneme correspondence. That practice in turn improves overall literacy achievement. However, as rates deaf literacy continue to lag ongoing research indicates that teachers may be ill prepared to use research-based interventions. This study seeks to identify the frequency of teacher implementation of Visual Phonics interventions as well as their exposure to these interventions via teacher education and professional development. This study will investigate if the presence of these elements by using …

Exploring Social Studies Teaching: Student Perspectives Of Teacher Practice In L2 Classrooms, Catrina Rocco,

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the relationship between secondary English learner students’ perspectives of effective teacher practices and how these practices contribute to their self-efficacy in the content area of social studies. As reported by the National Association of Education Progress secondary English learners completed high school at a rate sixty-three percent when compared to the national rate of eighty-two percent in 2017. Comparatively, in New York the statewide graduation rate for these two groups was thirty-seven and seventy-eight percent. In New York State social studies is the only content area where high school students are …

Diy Feminisms In The Third Space: Female Rhetorical Techniques Performed In Multi-Generational Alternative Media, Cristen M. Fitzpatrick

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation looks at the creation of both a literal and figurative clubhouse created by women, for women, through alternative publishing endeavors, including pamphlets, zines, and blogs, as women patchworked a “do-it-yourself” (DIY) feminism from the mid-20th century through today. I discuss alternative media utilized by marginalized, radical feminist groups and the application of newly-discovered feminist rhetoric throughout. I begin with an overview of feminist literacy and rhetoric, leading to a discussion of the pamphlets of the Women’s Movement in the 1960s. This sets the stage for the zines of the next generation, the 1980s and 1990s, in which women …

A Mixed Methods Approach To Initiating A Critical Global Literacy Curriculum In The Rural High School English/Language Arts Classroom, Amy Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary society consists of emerging globalization where students will face global issues and will be expected to think critically in the professional realm. However, critical literacy and global literacy are often largely ignored in the rural high school ELA classroom where fewer cultural opportunities exist and less diversity is evident (Riley, 2015). The purpose of this study was to address a significant need for understanding the strengths and weaknesses of implementing a critical global curricular framework in a rural high school ELA classroom. Additionally, this study aimed to uncover both student and teacher perspectives regarding this implementation as well as …

Teacher Guilt: How Can It Inform Instruction In Foundational Skills In Reading, Terrie Leann Noland

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand if K-2 novice educators with three or fewer years of experience have the requisite knowledge and self-efficacy to teach foundational skills in reading and how experienced educators have guilt related to what they wish they would have known about teaching the foundational skills of reading in their beginning years as an educator. The comparison of novice educators with experienced educators could impact future pre-service preparation for novice educators. This study was framed within social cognitive theory related to teacher self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977) and feelings associated with guilt (Hargreaves, 1991). This study used …

The Impact Of Individual And Contextual Factors On L2 Writing Development: The Shifts In Written Corrective Feedback During Covid-19, Jordan Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations

The novel COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rupture in the trajectory of education worldwide. Students, families and schools are experiencing unprecedented times and are navigating uncharted territory together in how we educate our students. In the U.S., it has been noted that the schism within education as a result of the pandemic is the biggest threat to national security (Choi, 2020), noting the importance of education within our democracy. This includes the trauma experienced by families due to deaths caused by the pandemic, the disproportionality of communities of color losing a parent (Brundage & Ramos-Callan, 2020), and the impact on …

Exploring How Faculty Motivations And Professional Development Strategies Influence Digital Literacy Practices In A Study Abroad Program In Italy: A Case Study, Paolo Bartolini

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study research was to explore the multifaceted motivations, perceptions and attitudes that influence digital literacy practices in a small group of study abroad faculty and how professional development can help inspire them to act to innovate their digital literacy practices within a study abroad context. The role of study abroad programs in the U.S. has grown significantly in recent decades. As the number of students participating in these programs continues to increase, so have questions about the role of digital literacy practices in foreign education. Digital literacy embodies a way of learning that focuses …

Neuro-Compostion: Developing The Creative Brain In The Classroom, Tara D. Scarola

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation raises the question of how educators can incorporate research about the human mind to foster and support student growth throughout writing processes. In understanding how our minds process, interpret, and generate writing, valuable insights can be learned about the process of composing. Valuing the varying perspectives students possess and the types of texts with which students engage aid in developing not only what Paul Joy Guilford calls “divergent thinking,” but also a sense of empowerment and ownership over the writing process. In disrupting what Robert Thatcher calls “the phase-lock mode” and guiding students through reworking the writing process …

International Baccalaureate Primary Years Teachers´ Perceptions On Educating Students With Dyslexia, Jennifer Preschern

Theses and Dissertations

Global organizations, such as the United Nations, have increasingly focused on ensuring that students with special needs are receiving high quality education. With schools in over 158 countries worldwide, the International Baccalaureate (IB) system provides an ideal forum to investigate if students with dyslexia globally are receiving adequate instruction. Yet, there is a general lack of research investigating IB schools, specifically for students with learning differences such as dyslexia. Providing a curriculum framework for students ages three to 12, the Primary Years Program (PYP) forms the foundation of the IB system. This quantitative research study used online survey methods to …

The Perceptions Of English Language Learners On Their Level Of Preparedness To Complete College Courses Taught In English: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Drawing Upon Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, John Blicharz

Theses and Dissertations

As the English language learner (ELL) population in the United States continues to grow and the number of non-native speakers entering institutes of higher education increases, there is a growing need to shift the paradigm on how universities serve ELLs. While there is a body of literature to support K-12 literacy, there is little to support college ELLs. As if the lack of research was not enough, ELLs are suffering on standardized tests, college placement tests are waning, and ELLs are not receiving proper advisement, thus suffering in standard English composition courses and failing out. Drawing upon the framework of …

Proactive Interventions For Collegiate Success: Using Response To Intervention With College Students Of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, And Psychology, Jenna Cook

Theses and Dissertations

College student attrition can cause a multitude of issues for students and universities. When a student leaves a program, the student may have to take additional credits and thus spend more on tuition, and the program may lose funding due to reduced enrollment. At a small private university in New Jersey, science, technology, engineering, mathematics and psychology (STEM) students were more likely than non-STEM students to change degree programs and be deemed at risk of failing. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a targeted response to intervention program that used academic coaching positively affected retention and persistence …

Adolescent Writing Instruction: A Return To The Sentence, Toni-Ann Meredith Vroom

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to write well is inextricably linked to reading comprehension, acquisition of content knowledge, and college and career readiness. Many adolescent students, especially those from economically challenged (EC) households, struggle in their ability to communicate in writing, especially in writing to explain or inform across subject areas. While high school students are expected to produce compositions and research papers, they often need the most support at the single sentence level. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the characteristics of students’ writing in a high school serving students from predominantly ED households in a large urban setting, …

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In Public Libraries: An Exploratory Case Study Of A Library System In A Majority-Black, Suburban District, Sarah M. Garifo

Theses and Dissertations

The theory of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) (Ladson-Billings, 1995) has been applied primarily in K-12 settings to help educators engage with learners from diverse cultural backgrounds. I argue that public librarians are also educators whose practice is grounded in the need for cultural relevance. However, a review of the literature indicates that CRP has not been applied to the work of public librarianship. I conducted an exploratory case study in order to address this gap in the literature. The population for this study was the staff of “Green County Public Library” (GCPL), a public library system in a majority-Black, suburban …

The Emerging Science Of Wellness In The College Writing Curriculum, Peggy Suzuki

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that the college writing curriculum – and indeed any educational program---would benefit from an emphasis on human wellness and the arts. Wellness consists of one’s emotional, social, spiritual, physical, intellectual, and vocational well-being. Additionally, students’ environmental circumstances, like home life, finances, diet, exercise, and work obligations play a huge role in balancing personal health, especially in marginalized communities. Since one’s physiological and psychological connection impacts one’s identity and health, improving writing in the classroom requires holistic and creative approaches for rewiring individual thinking. I draw from positive psychology, where concepts like complex optimism and positive emotions nurture …

Examining The Relationship Between Automaticity And Oral Reading Comprehension In English Learners, Annamaria M. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

This doctoral dissertation examined the relationship between automaticity and oral reading comprehension in English Learners (ELs) by comparing outcomes with non-English Learners. High fluency rate, or automaticity, is often used as a predictor of reading comprehension in students. Much of the prior research conducted on the relationship between reading rates and oral reading comprehension involved monolingual populations. Few studies have investigated this correlation among EL populations. In this present study, secondary assessment data were retrieved for third-grade students (N = 1,583) across 13 public schools within a single diverse school district in southern Colorado during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school …

An Exploration Of American University-Based Tutoring Programs For English Language Learners, Jennifer Melissa Aguilera

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods explanatory sequential design study is to better understand university-level foreign students’ motivations for attending tutoring sessions. Forty-eight university students were selected based on their enrollment in a university's intensive English language learning program. This study involved two phases of data collection including surveying these students, and then following up with a focus group interview (Creswell, 2015). The 19-item questionnaire asked about perceptions of tutoring effectiveness, motivations for tutoring, and overall experiences with tutoring. Interview questions were informed by the results of the survey in order to further elicit student perspectives and enrich the overall description …

At The Crossroads Of Studenthood And Motherhood, Erin Hayden-Baldauf

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted through an analysis of interview data from interviews with 5 women who first became mothers during adolescence and now define themselves and their children as “successful.” Maximum Variation Purposive Sampling was used to recruit women from different geographic areas (The Northeast, Northwest, Central, Pacific, and Southern regions), varied upbringings, and who represented the broadest range of cultural identities possible within the small sample size. Each of the interviewees were over the age of 18 and had at least one child who was kindergarten-age or older. The purpose of this research was to determine if thematic factors …

Teachers' Views On The Intersectionality Between Culture And Student Behaviors, And Experience Using Culturally-Responsive Behavior Interventions, Toshna Pandey

Theses and Dissertations

Students belonging to racially minoritized groups experience more frequent and intense disciplinary consequences for similar rule violations as their White peers. Factors such as deficit-oriented perceptions and implicit biases among teachers have contributed to the disproportionate exclusion of racially minoritized students, thus negatively affecting their social, emotional, behavioral, and school success. Using semi-structured interviews, this study sought to explore elementary school teachers’ views on the intersectionality between race/culture and student behaviors. Additionally, it also examined their experiences using behavior interventions effective for racially minoritized students. Findings suggest that participants often attributed challenging behaviors to student-level factors such as family and …

Collaborative And Culturally Responsive Practices Of Transition Professionals To Support Black Students With High Incidence Disabilities, Amber Ruiz

Theses and Dissertations

Black students with high incidence disabilities have some of the most concerning postsecondary transition outcomes compared to their White and nondisabled peers (Awsumb et al., 2020; Hussar et al., 2020; Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission [JLARC], 2020). Different government reports cited the lack of collaborative practices and various transition researchers imply the need for culturally responsive practices when supporting Black students (Federal Partners in Transition [FPT], 2015; Government Accountability Office [GAO], 2012; Thoma et al., 2016). To address these gaps in the literature, this study explored the collaborative and culturally responsive practices of transition professionals to support Black students …

A Quantitative Analysis Of The Relationship Between Dispositions And Technology Integration Knowledge Of English Language Teachers, Moe D. Greene

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the pervasiveness of educational technological tools, their potential is generally overlooked. An examination of technology integration literature suggests a gap in understanding why teachers lack the necessary knowledge to successfully integrate technology in their teaching as well as an absence of a robust technology integration theoretical framework. Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) was developed to explain the specific knowledge needed for effective technology integration. Several limitations, however, have been noted in regards to the ability of this framework to capture the connections between the complexities of teachers’ contexts and their technology integration knowledge. This dissertation advances current literature by …

The Dutch Atlantic And American Life: Beginnings Of America In Colonial New Netherland, Roy J. Geraci

Theses and Dissertations

The Dutch colony of New Netherland was one of the earliest attempts at a non-indigenous life on the east coast of North America. That colony, along with the United Provinces of the Netherlands and Dutch Atlantic as a whole, played crucial roles in the development of what would become the United States. This thesis project examines the significance New Netherland held in American history as well as explores topics which allow for new and inclusive narratives of that history to reach further exploration. Similarly to how individuals from various cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds all come to exist amongst one another …

A Qualitative Study Of African American Middle School Students’ Perception Of Low Student-Teacher Racial Match On Their Educational Experience, Tai Lynn Swift

Theses and Dissertations

The problem that will be explored within this research is that many African American students lack the opportunity to be taught by African American teachers. Research shows that students taught by teachers with whom they identify as having similar or the same experiences may result in meaningful learning for the student. Given, African American teachers represent only 18% of all teachers, there is not an abundance of African American teachers within the school system to serve as role models for African American students.

The literature review explored included critical race theory and highlighted how race in education does not yield …

Improving Space Efficiency Of Deep Neural Networks, Aliakbar Panahi

Theses and Dissertations

Language models employ a very large number of trainable parameters. Despite being highly overparameterized, these networks often achieve good out-of-sample test performance on the original task and easily fine-tune to related tasks. Recent observations involving, for example, intrinsic dimension of the objective landscape and the lottery ticket hypothesis, indicate that often training actively involves only a small fraction of the parameter space. Thus, a question remains how large a parameter space needs to be in the first place — the evidence from recent work on model compression, parameter sharing, factorized representations, and knowledge distillation increasingly shows that models can be …

Emergence Of The Connectivist Leadership Paradigm: A Grounded Theory Study In The Asia Region, Frederique Covington Corbett

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative, grounded theory study focused on the exploration of leadership arising within the Asia region. While enduring leadership qualities like strength, humility, resolve, and trust have been foundational in leadership practice globally, scholars have demonstrated that leadership does not exist in absolute terms; it is shaped by the values of local culture, which set expectations for leadership behaviors. This study explored the conceptualization of a more collective and connected form of leadership in the context of a region leading the world with highly networked digital social practices. The question the study explored was, if, and to what extent, leaders …

Support For Students With Disabilities: How Awareness And Accommodations Differ Across Faculty Members Within The Postsecondary Context, Toby Tomlinson Baker

Theses and Dissertations

This case study sought to determine the most salient needs of higher education faculty who instruct and accommodate students with disabilities (SWDs). Therefore, the faculty were analyzed as a community in a university setting. Currently, the accommodations that faculty provide for SWDs vary from institution to institution. Additionally, certain variables, such as faculty’s years with the university, budget, size, and location of the institution impact the level of support provided and what specific accommodations SWDs receive.The purpose of this qualitative case study was to develop an in-depth understanding of the current level of knowledge that faculty obtain for accommodating SWDs. …

Hamburger Helper Recipes, John Alex Goss

Theses and Dissertations

Hamburger Helper Recipes is a collection of essays and public addresses that aim to recuperate castoff and misfit material surrounding industries and tools which produce science-fiction fantasies, specifically videogames and television shows. The following essays confront the normative violence of capitalism, whiteness, and hetero-patriarchy that socially and technologically haunt these imaginary worlds and build hegemonic idealogy into their audiences. This collection takes industrial materials and software from their intended commercial purposes of production and “success” into places of abjection and quiet breakdown. The author’s own proximity to masculine and often toxic "work cultures'' within industrial spaces of coding and manufacturing …

An Exploration Of Teacher Residents’ Perception Of Culture And Their Use Of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Jodi Larson

Theses and Dissertations

Urban teacher residency (UTR) programs place residents in urban schools labeled “hard-to-staff” or “under-resourced.” Enrollment in residency schools tends to be majority Brown or Black students from various cultures. Teacher residents are from diverse backgrounds and races who have a commitment to teach in Title 1 schools with the support of a residency program that coaches them how to teach using culturally relevant pedagogy. Their journeys are unique from typical student teaching experiences because they co-teach with an experienced teacher for a full school year while attending university classes on pedagogy and theory. This qualitative case study followed seven elementary …

Leading In Crooked Rooms: Race, Gender, Culture And Black Women's Leadership Skills And Practices, Portia Newman

Theses and Dissertations

The literature on Black women leaders, where it exists, focuses on the barriers to Black women becoming leaders or being fully empowered when in leadership positions. However, to understand the leadership identity of Black women, and perhaps help to explain the absence of Black women in formal leadership spaces, means to examine the influence of race, gender, and culture on leadership behavior, as well as the setting in which leadership exists. This qualitative grounded theory study explored the leadership skills and practices of 15 senior-level cross sector Black women leaders. The data was collected in two phases: 1) a leadership …

Inclusive Academic Education & Vocationally-Oriented Transition Predictors’ Association With Post-Secondary Outcomes Of Youth With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Joshua P. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

Despite efforts through legislation to increase the engagement of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in competitive integrated employment (CIE) and post-secondary education, outcomes remain poor. However, recent policy has emphasized CIE as a preferred outcome and created new opportunities to engage individuals with IDD in post-secondary education. Likewise, research into the transition of youth with disabilities has revealed several predictors of post-school success including inclusive education and a variety of vocationally-oriented experiences. Previous research had not determined whether students with IDD received both inclusive academic education and vocational transition experiences or how these predictors might interact. The purpose …

Cloaca Palace, Connor Marie Stankard

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I trace the compulsive fear of holes, known as trypophobia, from an uncontrollable obsession to a pleasurable preoccupation. The body’s physical porousness makes us receptive to our surroundings, allowing external matter in and destabilizing the boundaries of self and other. Matter invades us, encoding itself into our DNA and transforming humans into chimeric creatures.

Through paintings and multi-media installations, I encourage viewers to reflect on their own bodies as a series of holes, vulnerable receptors to the world. I use the figure of a woman to personify a human hole which has been infected by the outside, …