Digital Commons Network^™

A Thirty State Analysis Of Teacher Supervision And Evaluation Systems In The Essa Era, Ian M. Mette, Israel Aguilar, Douglas Wieczorek

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications

We analyzed teacher supervision and evaluation policy systems in 30 states since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 in the United States (US). This qualitative study of state ESSA policy documents and legislation examined how teacher supervision and evaluation systems (TSES) models have been developed under ESSA, specifically regarding how the construction of TSES models conflated formative feedback with summative evaluation. Despite evolving federal-level and state-level education accountability policies spurred by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2001, we argue that TSES systems are influenced by state-level historical political culture (Elazar, 1994; Fowler, 2013), workplace …

Development Of A Multidimensional, Multi-Informent Measure Of Teacher Mindfulness As Experienced And Expressed In The Middle School Classroom, Nicolette P. Rickert, Ellen A. Skinner, Robert W. Roeser

Psychology: Faculty Publications

In response to growing interest in mindfulness as a support for educators, the current study sought to create and test a new multidimensional and multi-informant measure of teacher mindfulness in the classroom. To counter some of the limitations of context-general self-reports, we designed two theoretically based classroom-specific measures that capture the experience and expression of mindful teacher behavior from the perspective of teachers and students. Drawing on emerging consensus from experts on mindfulness in education, the measures incorporated three dimensions of mindfulness, namely, Calm, Clear, and Kind teacher behavior in the classroom, as well as their antitheses, namely, Reactive, …

An In-Depth Look At A Comprehensive Diversity Training Program For Faculty, Nancie J. Hudson

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This ethnographic research project examines a five-month diversity training program that 16 faculty participated in voluntarily at a university in the western United States. In addition to reviewing diversity issues and challenges in higher education, this article provides information about the program, describes my participant-observer experience, and provides evidence that assesses the program’s effects on teaching practices. This annual program includes learning, reflection and application and helps the participants develop new inclusive teaching strategies for the courses they teach. A post-program survey of the participants indicates that the majority felt that the program had a lasting beneficial effect on their …

The Genesis, Evolution, And Influence Of Undergraduate Research Mentoring Relationships, Shannon N. Davis, Rebecca M. Jones

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Undergraduate research has been documented as yielding valuable student learning outcomes. While the outcomes have been extensively investigated, the development and characteristics of the relationship with the research mentor has received less attention. To better understand how participating in undergraduate research yields substantial benefits to students, we need to elucidate the relationship between students and their research mentors. Using survey and focus group data from a select group of undergraduate researchers at one research university, we investigated the origins of undergraduate research mentoring relationships, the development of those relationships over time, and how the characteristics of the mentoring relationship yielded …

Students’ Conceptions Of Bell Curve Grading Fairness In Relation To Goal Orientation And Motivation, Lynette Tan Yuen Ling, Brenda Yuen, Wee Ling Loo, Christiaan Prinsloo, Mark Gan

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

The controversial bell curve has received considerable attention in recent years as a grade distribution tool where “norm-referenced grading involves comparing students’ performances with each other” rather than where they fall on a “predefined continuum of quality” (Brookhart, 2013, p. 258). Despite educators’ deep concern on the fairness of bell curve grading, there is little research done on students’ conceptions of that grading system in higher education. This correlational study uses open-ended questions and three instruments to measure students’ conceptions of the fairness of bell curve grading, their goal orientations, and motivation. Undergraduates from three universities participated in the survey …

Experiencing Live Composite Video Lectures: Comparisons With Traditional Lectures And Common Video Lecture Methods, Sonny Rosenthal, Zachary Walker

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Video compositing can be used to combine images of the instructor and content, which the instructor can monitor in real time. We evaluated the student experience of this “live composite” format in two carefully designed experiments. Results showed the perceived quality of and student preference for live composite lectures is not different from that of traditional lectures. Results also showed the live composite format is superior to voiceover and picture-in-picture formats in terms of attention, positive emotion, experiential attitude, preference, perceived quality, and instructor social presence. The two experiments had similar patterns of results, suggesting the observed effects are robust. …

Exploring Student And Faculty Reactions To Smartphone Policies In The Classroom, Alicia A. Stachowski University Of Wisconsin - Stout, Kathryn L. Hamilton, Andrea M. Bertram

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

The current studies examined attitudes about classroom cell phone usage and reactions to cell phone policies among students and faculty. Study 1 documented students’ and faculty’s perceptions of appropriateness of cell phones in the classroom and about what classroom policies should be. Students reported greater leniency regarding cell phone use in the classroom and suggested stricter penalties for inappropriate use. Study 2 surveyed faculty and students about four cell phone policies ranging in level of leniency. The results indicated as policy leniency increased, cell phone use increased and enforcement decreased. Study 3 evaluated students’ reactions to actual classroom cell phone …

The Effects Of Social Identities On Student Learning Outcome Attainment, Shalyse Iseminger, Kris Acheson-Clair, Colleen Kelly, Pamala Morris

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Communicating across Cultures (CaC) is an undergraduate course that exists to achieve the goal of equipping students to effectively work in multicultural environments. Students’ worldviews, beliefs, and values shape their experience with the course materials and potentially impact the degree to which they achieve the intended learning outcomes. The objective of this study was to determine which aspects of students’ identities are most salient to their experiences in CaC. The Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory (BEVI), a psychometric instrument that illuminates how the self is structured, was administered as a pre-/post-test at the beginning and end of the Fall 2017 …

Perspective As A Threshold Concept In Business Communication, Kristen M. Getchell, Paula J. Lentz

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

In this article, the authors present the notion of perspective as a threshold concept in business communication. Using an SoTL framework, the researchers explore the effect of teaching threshold concepts in a summary writing assignment in a foundational business communication class. Working with a close reading methodology, the authors examine the context of perspective as a threshold concept by analyzing students’ summary samples for gender bias and explore how close reading can support further research into threshold concepts in business communication.

Syllabus Language, Teaching Style, And Instructor Self-Perception: Toward Congruence, Christopher Richmann, Courtney Kurinec, Matthew Millsap

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

As with all language, the words of a syllabus carry emotional associations. Previous literature has not objective-ly measured the emotional associations of syllabus language or explored the relationship between instructors’ teaching style and the emotional associations of syllabus language. Using the Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance (PAD) framework, this article reports baseline measurements for syllabus language, investigates the relationship be-tween Grasha’s teaching styles and instructors’ self-perceived emotional associations with teaching, and compares instructors’ self-perceptions with the emotional associations of their syllabus language. Moderate correlations between teaching PAD scores and Grasha’s teaching style inventory suggest the emotion that may connect with concrete teaching attitudes and …

A Team Approach To Using Student Feedback To Enhance Teaching And Learning, Cynthia S. Deale

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This study investigated how one type of student evaluation of teaching (SET) tool and a team approach to evaluating a course helped to provide feedback in an online, synchronous and asynchronous course and an in-person, face-to-face course through a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) study. Student observational narratives and responses to a feedback tool were gathered for two undergraduate courses, one that was offered face-to-face (n=167) and one that was taught online (n=155), over several semesters. The most important factors, with regard to the teaching of the courses, were ensuring that the courses were well organized in terms of …

Making The Invisible Visible: Enhancing Information Literacy And Metacognition With A Constructivist Activity, Jessica Denke, Jennifer Jarson, Stefanie Sinno

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

A growing body of literature focused on the pedagogical relationship between information literacy (IL) and metacognition suggests that facilitating learners’ reflections promotes IL learning. However, activating and assessing this relationship is difficult. This article describes a constructivist activity that models for students how to practice IL while increasing awareness of metacognitive approaches. The modified jigsaw activity, including a worksheet, facilitates individual reflection and peer-to-peer learning through structured conversation regarding popular press articles. Using a grounded theory approach, coding of students’ worksheets showed IL development related to comprehension, procedure, evaluation, and reflection. Moreover, the worksheet offers instructors insight into student learning …

Using Prior Knowledge And Student Engagement To Understand Student Performance In An Undergraduate Learning-To-Learn Course, Sarah K. Davis, Rebecca L. Edwards, Allyson F. Hadwin, Todd M. Milford

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This study examined prior knowledge and student engagement in student performance. Log data were used to explore the distribution of final grades (i.e., weak, good, excellent final grades) occurring in an elective under-graduate course. Previous research has established behavioral and agentic engagement factors contribute to academic achievement (Reeve, 2013). Hierarchical logistic regression using both prior knowledge and log data from the course revealed: (a) the weak-grades group demonstrated less behavioral engagement than the good-grades group, (b) the good-grades group demonstrated less agentic engagement than the excellent-grades group, and (c) models composed of both prior knowledge and engagement measures were more …

Comparing Mastery-Based Testing With Traditional Testing In Calculus Ii, Amanda Harsy, Alyssa Hoofnagle

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

The authors present the results of quantitative data and student feedback from a two-year study of the effects of a new assessment model called “mastery-based testing.” In mastery-based testing, students are given problems in which they can only receive full credit for the problem after they demonstrate mastery of the objective being assessed. This method strives to increase complete understanding of concepts through a growth-mindset approach to learning in addition to helping alleviate math anxiety. In this study, we compare the impact of mastery-based testing with traditional testing in six Calculus II classes. The data sources for the project included …

Maternal Mortality Among African American Women In The State Of Georgia, Causes, Policy, And Ethical Considerations, Zahra Shahin, Isabella M. Hardwick, Nancy Jeffery, Jalisa Jordan, William Mase

Health Policy & Community Health: Faculty Publications

Background

The U.S. is currently one of thirteen countries where maternal mortality rates (MMR) is worse now than it was fifteen years ago. Reducing maternal mortality is one of the significant challenges facing the health system in the United States, especially in the State of Georgia, which has one of the highest MMR in the nation. The purpose of this review is to explore the causes, policy, and ethical contextual factors contributing to increased maternal mortality rates among African American women in the State of Georgia. Also, identifying and addressing weaknesses and gaps that exist in the healthcare system and …

A Scoping Review Of Theoretical Models And Conceptual Frameworks Used In Public Health Services And Systems Research (Phssr) Literature, Zahra Shahin, Anna Messick, Jenna Harris, Kristie C. Waterfield, Gulzar H. Shah

Health Policy & Community Health: Faculty Publications

Objectives

Theoretical models and conceptual frameworks are often used to design research methods. This study aims to provide an overview of the application of theoretical models and conceptual frameworks in Public Health Services and Systems Research (PHSSR). We also examine how the integration of such terms in research can improve intervention designs and support the decision-making process within the field of public health practice.

Methods

A scoping review was conducted using publications from public health journals to identify relevant articles in the field of PHSSR. The eligibility of studies was determined after performing evaluations through a full-text review of each …

Atlas In Transit, Becky Thompson Mfa

All Student Scholarship

Atlas in Transit is a collection of poems circling around the precarity and resilience of people in transit from Syria, Afghanistan, Palestine, Somalia and other countries to Greece beginning in 2015 in what became the biggest forced migration in the world since WWII. The collection offers witness poems about people fleeing their homelands within a larger historical context, with nods to Sappho, Minoan pots, Byzantine and Ottoman history, the Genocide of 1922, and silhouettes crossing the burning sun. Many poems rely upon formal forms—villanelle, terza rima, ghazal, haiku— as well as broken-step couplets, found conversations, and redacted documents. The poems …

Coordinating Community Reintegration Services For Deporatable Alien Defendants: A Moral And Financial Imperative, Amy F. Kimpel

Articles

No abstract provided.

Selling Just Preservation, Scott W. Danielson, Andrew J. Vonasch

Animal Sentience

Treves et al. argue for better representation of voiceless groups in current policy decisions. We agree with the argument but believe it will be challenging to convince enough people of its importance to change policy — especially those political groups who are not predisposed to agreeing with these kinds of arguments. We draw on the social psychology literature to recommend three principles for increasing the persuasiveness of the argument to the public: pre-suasion, framing, and tailoring for the audience. We apply these principles to make concrete recommendations for framing the argument to persuade the American political right.

Comparative Cognition And Nonhuman Individuality, Catia Correia Caeiro

Animal Sentience

Commentators Washington (2019) and Tiffin (2019) point out that the individual vs. collective dichotomy is much more complex than what is considered in the target article. This commentary will focus on why individuals are more important than collectives. Species differences in cognition and emotional processes and individuals’ feelings and experiences need to be taken into account.

Group Stereotypes: Human And Nonhuman, Verónica Sevillano

Animal Sentience

Treves et al.’s target article emphasizes the importance of including nonhuman animals in the scope of conservation frameworks, countering an anthropocentric orientation in conservation biology. In support, I discuss how stereotypes of other animal species may bias our behavior toward them.

Just Preservation, Trusteeship And Multispecies Justice, Francisco J. Santiago-Ávila, Adrian Treves, William Lynn

Animal Sentience

We are grateful to all the commentators who engaged with our target article. Some commentators have offered important insights into our proposed design and methods for legally intervening on behalf of futurity. Others have focused on theoretical considerations central to our proposal for multispecies justice and trusteeship. All have inspired modifications and further elaboration of our initial proposal. In this Response, we engage with the commentaries, integrating their suggestions, striving for convergence and complementarity, but also discussing points of divergence with our proposed framework where necessary. There is substantial overlap in the points of view of the three co-authors, but …

Rewilding Or Reviewing: Conservation And The Elephant-Based Tourism Industry, Ingrid Suter

Animal Sentience

Baker & Winkler (2020) provide a detailed examination of elephants in captivity, from an historical perspective to modern-day concerns. Concerns include the poor level of mahout skills and subsequent captive elephant welfare issues in the Thai elephant tourism industry. Rewilding is proposed as a method of rehabilitation and a way to include mahouts in the conservation process. This commentary argues that the tourism industry is making positive changes and mahout skills can be utilised successfully without the arduous task of rewilding. Animal rights groups and the transfer of misinformation surrounding captive elephant welfare are also examined, as these typically fail …

Animal Welfare Science And “A Life Worth Living” For Wild And Captive Elephants, Lindsay R. Mehrkam, Otto Fad

Animal Sentience

Baker & Winkler (2020) propose restoring elephants to a state of “wildness” and a “life worth living” by reintroducing captive elephants to the hands of indigenous mahout cultures and practices. To evaluate this proposal, we must define operationally a number of critical concepts in a species-centric, individualistic way, avoiding human-centric opinions and romanticized notions of the wild. Animal welfare science can help create greater synergy between ex-situ zoological institutions and in-situ elephant conservation, and welfare efforts that respect and value the cultures of both species.

Philosophy, Ecology And Elephant Equality, Rebekah Humphreys

Animal Sentience

The considerable conservation research on environmental problems and climate change tends to focus on species “biodiversity” rather than individuals. Individuals of the same species get categorized as “wild” or “captive”, with the latter often omitted from conservationists’ concerns. But wild and captive animals, although they may require different treatment, have comparable interests as individuals. Equity requires taking this into account in conservation efforts.

A “Halfway House” For Improving Captive Welfare, Phyllis C. Lee, W. Keith Lindsay

Animal Sentience

It is certainly time to aim for higher quality management strategies for Thailand’s captive elephants, and to engage with sustainable livelihoods for traditional mahouts. Baker & Winkler’s proposal to rewild Thai elephants by placing them under the guardianship of Karen mahouts is recognized as not “wild” since it remains a form of management requiring elephants to live under the control of human caregivers. We applaud the positive welfare aims of this proposal; however, we caution that few of the long-term consequences for elephants or habitats can be known, and further considerations of elephant population dynamics and forest ecosystems are required …

Compassionate Conservation And Elephant Personhood, Arian D. Wallach, Sujeewa Jasinghe, Sudarshani Fernando, Jessica Bell Rizzolo

Animal Sentience

Baker and Winkler (2020) advocate a rehabilitation program that would end the oppression of elephants — not by severing human-elephant relations, but by enabling human-bonded elephants to live a full life. We consider this program within a compassionate conservation framework, which recognises all sentient beings as persons. From this vantage point, we gaze further into the future to ask what direction just human-elephant relations could take: What could emerge from a human-elephant relation once elephants are no longer enslaved and requiring rescue? We envisage a future — beyond captivity and rewilding — of elephant sovereignty.

Rewilding And Domestication: Clarifying Terminology, Catia Correia-Caeiro

Animal Sentience

Baker & Winkler (B&W) describe the state of Asian elephant conservation, raising unique issues, and proposing a direction based on rewilding. The long history and socio-biology of elephants and humans has some parallels with the domestication of dogs (and other species). However, markers of domestication seem absent from elephants. The proper use of terms such as “wild” and “domestic” is crucial in defining the best conservation strategies, and, more important, in attending to the welfare needs of individuals, which can differ between wild and domestic animals. B&W’s target article represents an important starting point for discussion around elephant conservation, but …

Future Of Thailand's Captive Elephants, Antoinette Van De Water, Michelle Henley, Lucy Bates, Rob Slotow

Animal Sentience

Removal from natural habitat and commodification as private property compromise elephants’ broader societal value. Although we support Baker & Winkler’s (2020) plea for a new community-based rewilding conservation model focused on mahout culture, we recommend an expanded co-management approach to complement and enhance the regional elephant conservation strategy with additional local community stakeholders and the potential to extend across international borders into suitable elephant habitat. Holistic co-management approaches improve human wellbeing and social cohesion, as well as elephant wellbeing, thereby better securing long-term survival of Asian elephants, environmental justice, and overall sustainability.

Rewilding And Mixed-Community Collaboration In Conservation, Liv Baker

Animal Sentience

Rewilding is a psychological and sociocultural event for nonhuman animals that goes beyond the traditional framework of ecology. Elephants need to be seen as political agents in a collaboration. Our commentators shed light on the hierarchical assumptions and politics involved. Mixed-community collaboration can create dynamic and sustainable conservation interventions that are crucial to reconceptualizing the human-elephant relationship beyond the concept of labor. The profound effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have laid bare the fundamental vulnerabilities of the elephant tourism industry. Moreover, how well an elephant has been buffered by the fallout of the pandemic is dependent on the specific relations …