Digital Commons Network^™

National Assessment Program Civics And Citizenship 2024 : Technical Report., Kate O'Malley, Renee Kwong, Dulce Lay, Jorge Fallas

Civics and Citizenship Assessment

This report describes the procedures and processes involved in the conduct of the National Assessment Program – Civics and Citizenship (NAP – CC) 2024. The report is divided into chapters covering: the assessment framework and instrument design, item development, test design, scoring student responses, the student questionnaire, student background information, sampling and weighting, data collection procedures and data management, and scaling procedures. The report include an extensive collection of tables and figures.

On The Pedagogy Of Modes, Joshua M. Sanfilippo

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Undergraduate music students in their junior and senior years have a solid foundation in music fundamentals based on the four-semester music theory sequence taken during their sophomore and junior years, but most have a weakness in the area of diatonic modes. This is not to say that they are unaware of the modes or that they do not understand how to identify or construct them, but rather that students are unable to conceptualize modality in a pre-tonal context. To the modern undergraduate music student, the modes blossomed out of the major scale—a notion counter to historical truth. This backwards way …

Accessible Extracurriculars Without Teacher Exploitation, Makenzie Wrightstone

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The research explores how extracurricular activities support holistic development and address barriers, especially for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds or with disabilities, using social reproduction theory and educational philosophies. It highlights how extracurriculars foster cognitive, social, and emotional growth but are often inaccessible due to financial, logistical, and instructional challenges. The study also examines teacher burnout and dehumanization, providing a historical view of extracurriculars in American schools, analyzing current policies, and considering how technology impacts student engagement. It proposes a transformative framework combining adventure, place-based, and transformative learning, advocating for integrating activities into school hours to enhance access, equity, and …

How Inclusive Are Degree Programs In Operations Research And Analytics In The U.S.?, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Tayo Fabusuyi, Elham Hesari, Salina Chu

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

Academic programs in colleges and universities in the United States have increasingly embraced principles of equity and inclusion to support student success and diversity within professions. Innovations in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in university programs require baseline data on students, faculty and administrators, curricula, and programmatic support. A review of data shows that underrepresented groups in the US workforce have limited visibility in operations research and analytics. A review of DEI-related research reveals some relevant insights including a gap in studies specific to operations research and analytics.

To provide evidence in support of DEI initiatives in OR/analytics, we describe …

An Interdisciplinary Unit For Today's Learners: Integrating Science, English, And Art To Teach Climate Change, Sydney M. Ruby-Pasternak

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As today’s global challenges grow increasingly complex, interdisciplinary thinking is essential for students to make meaningful connections in their learning. Despite this need, high school students continue to have educational experiences in one-subject classrooms, often preventing them from engaging in integrated learning models. This professional project addresses the gap by developing a five-week interdisciplinary unit titled Brushstrokes of Change, which combines climate science with English language arts and visual arts to amplify student understanding of climate change concepts. This unit was designed for grades 9-12 and prioritizes 21^st-Century skills in critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration through …

Purpose-Driven Curriculum For 9th-12th Grades For Adulthood Careers & Life Gratification, Destiny Krystle Chioma Nnadozie

Theses and Dissertations

A purpose-driven or purpose-based curriculum is not the standard required for high schools in the United States. Students in grades 9th-12th are educated based on a curriculum that covers mathematics, English, science, and social studies (De Roux & Riehl, 2022; Xiao et al., 2018). The unique individual purpose of each student, realized while in high school, is not considered a priority, leaving students to enter their adult careers lacking true career fulfillment due to this misalignment (Baroudi et al., 2017; S. Lyons et al., 2015; H. Wu, 2024).  Using a qualitative systematic review research design, this study aimed to explore …

Perceptions Of Stem Education And Artificial Intelligence: A Twitter (X) Sentiment Analysis, Demetrice Smith-Mutegi, Yoseph Mamo, Jinhee Kim, Helen Crompton, Matthew Mcconnell

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Background, context, and purpose of the study: Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly prevalent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, holding promising potential for supporting the design and implementation of quality STEM education. However, there is a lack of data-based research studying the diverse perceptions of AI in STEM education as conveyed on social media, the factors that influence those perceptions, or the change in those perceptions over time among public audiences. Results, the main findings: The purpose of this study was to examine public perceptions of AI in STEM education by analyzing X posts (Tweets) between 04/28/2020 …

Contemporary Pain Neuroscience Knowledge And Attitudes Among Students: A Cross-Sectional Study, Sue F. Curfman, William J. Best, Molly T. Williams, Kathryn Schmidt, Amy Rasmussen, Gary P. Austin

Funded Scholarship

Purpose: Healthcare education programs often provide limited training in contemporary pain neuroscience, leaving future professionals ill-prepared to address the pervasive and biopsychosocial problem of chronic pain. Exploration of the level of understanding of contemporary pain neuroscience and the attitudes toward people in pain among university students may help educators identify appropriate roles for students in pain-related interprofessional education. This study assessed and compared knowledge of contemporary pain neuroscience and attitudes and beliefs toward individuals experiencing pain among university students.  

Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Methods: 284 undergraduate and graduate, healthcare and non-healthcare students completed the revised Neurophysiology of Pain Questionnaire and …

Employers' Perceived Value Of High School Industry Recognized Credentials, Teri Harris, Mickey Kosloski, Philip A. Reed

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine whether industry-recognized credentials (IRCs) earned in secondary school led to quality employment and which IRCs should be integrated into career and technical education (CTE) high school courses. Using survey data from business leaders across the 14 nationally recognized Career Clusters (Advance CTE, 2024a), credentials were ranked by importance within five program areas (n = 257). Pareto analysis revealed 80% of respondents rated health sciences, family and consumer sciences, and agricultural sciences credentials highest, while business/marketing and skilled/technical sciences/STEM credentials did not rank in the top 20%. This research provides empirical evidence for …

Legislative Impacts On K-12 Social Studies Teacher Identity, Curricular Decision-Making, And Receptiveness To Professional Development, Staci Fisher

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation examines how K-12 public school social studies teachers are navigating their instructional decision-making regarding content about marginalized groups in response to state legislation. Quantitative data were collected through an online Likert-scale survey to measure teachers’ reported agreement on how state legislation has impacted their instructional decision-making, job satisfaction connected to their professional and personal identities, inclusion of instructional materials, and receptiveness to professional development.

Following data collection, the researchers analyzed whether factors of district political context and teachers’ personal and professional identity characteristics predicted their responses. Survey results showed most teachers reported feeling that state legislation has …

Designing Ai-Powered Learning: Adult Learners' Expectations For Curriculum And Human-Ai Interaction, Jinhee Kim, Seongryeong Yu, Rita Detrick, Xi Lin, Na Li

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Despite the potential benefits offered by GenAI technologies to provide innovative solutions to address distinct challenges faced by working adult learners (ALs) in higher education and beyond, there is limited understanding of how best to structure AI-powered learning for this population while ensuring their distinct needs and perspectives are considered. Hence, this study aimed to determine what curriculum and student-AI interaction would be required by situating ALs’ views. Through analyzing 48 e-portfolios and in-depth interviews with 20 ALs from diverse educational and professional backgrounds, the study found that ALs perceived content mastery and developing a lifelong habit of learning as …

The Challenges Of Teaching Fine Arts In Federal Government Colleges In Adamawa State, Nigeria, Muhammad Sani Yahaya, Mohammadu Yahaya Waziri, Nasruddeen Abubakar

Jurnal Sosial Humaniora Terapan

This paper was a survey carried out to identify the challenges of teaching Fine Arts in Federal Government Colleges in Adamawa State, Nigeria. The hypothesis is HO₁: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of teachers and students on the challenges of teaching Fine Arts in these colleges. The research instrument was made up of a questionnaire which was divided into two sections with parts I to III. The Colleges studied were Federal Government College-Ganye, Federal Government Technical College- Michika and Federal Government Girls’ College- Yola. Eighteen Fine Arts’ teachers and ninety students were purposively sampled. …

Society Of American Foresters (Saf) Academic Publications As They Relate To The Curriculum Standards For Saf Forestry Program Accreditation: A Content Analysis, Lisa M. Bentley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Goals that impact decision-making components within academic programs in the university system have the potential to define and change the direction of a field of study, and, with that, should be thoughtfully approached with a certainty of evidence that supports responsible paradigms in forestry education. Periodic revision of the standards for accreditation by SAF influences institutional expectations that result in shifts in forestry education and should be consistent with professional forestry standards. The methodology utilized in this research contextualizes data from a sociological perspective intentionally as a method to holistically integrate data as evidence to support the interpretation of Society …

Private School Principals’ Leadership Roles In Times Of Change Within The Dominican Republic, Benedicta Calderon

Dissertations

As in many other countries around the globe, the Dominican Republic (DR) has recently implemented important educational changes. The curriculum changed from a content-based to a competence-based approach, and grade configurations changed from four-year to three-year cycles, moving seventh and eighth grades out of elementary and into high school. These changes impacted public and private school structures, with implications on principals’ leadership role. While there is much previous research on principals as instructional leaders implementing significant change; prior to this study, no research was found that looked at private school principals in such roles within a developing country like the …

The Importance Of Financial Literacy, The Inclusion Of Financial Education In The School Curriculum (Case Study: Kosovo), Ardian Uka, Valon Ismajli, Erzana Uka

UBT International Conference

The paper discusses the value of financial literacy and emphasises the importance of financial education inclusion into Kosovo's publicschool curriculum. The paper initially elaborates on the importance of financial literacy and then expands on its impact on people’s knowledge to become or maintain their financial stability and well-being. It is pointed out that understanding personal finance management can help people have a better connection with money and their finances. Research suggests that young people getting ready for adulthood should be encouraged to become financially literate to meet society's health and economic concerns. In this context, after observing the school curriculum …

Revealing The Stories Of A Place: Designing Curricula On An Island, Ariel Cornett, Delandrea Hall, Kathryn L. Haughney, Cynthia C. Massey, Amanda Wall, Kania Greer

Teaching Social Studies in the Peach State

Ossabaw Island is a Georgia barrier island, accessible solely by boat and protected from development through a public-private partnership between a foundation and the state. This site has the potential to serve as a primary resource for inspiration, education, and lifelong learning. Our study illuminates how one pre-service teacher (PST) and six teacher educators (TEs) experienced an immersive site visit to this local learning environment. We highlight the importance of experiencing places first-hand and using sources (e.g., oral histories) to make content connections. Additionally, the immersive site visit experience allowed us to collaboratively brainstorm place-based curricular units.

Gender And Sexuality Awareness In Medical Education And Practice: Mixed Methods Study, Rola Khamisy-Farah, Eden Biras, Rabie Shehadeh, Ruba Tuma, Hisham Atwan, Anna Siri, Manlio Converti, Francesco Chirico, Łukasz Szarpak, Carlo Biz, Raymond Farah, Nicola Bragazzi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The integration of gender and sexuality awareness in health care is increasingly recognized as vital for patient outcomes. Despite this, there is a notable lack of comprehensive data on the current state of physicians' training and perceptions in these areas, leading to a gap in targeted educational interventions and optimal health care delivery.

OBJECTIVE: The study's aim was to explore the experiences and perceptions of attending and resident physicians regarding the inclusion of gender and sexuality content in medical school curricula and professional practice in Israel.

METHODS: This cross-sectional survey targeted a diverse group of physicians across various specializations …

Fostering Emotional Resilience, Kelly Verstegen

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Social-emotional learning (SEL) has become a cornerstone of modern education, emphasizing the importance of emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills alongside academic achievement. This capstone project explores the impact of social-emotional learning (SEL) programs on student behavior and academic performance in a fifth-grade classroom. Grounded in the implementation of the "Be Good People" SEL curriculum, the research focuses on developing core competencies such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Data was collected through classroom observations, behavioral trend analysis, and Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) academic standardized testing to analyze changes in student academic and behavioral outcomes. Results …

Fostering A Sense Of Place In Language Immersion Preschool Through Environmental Exploration, Elise Lindell

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This paper endeavors to address the need of outdoor environmental education in language immersion early childhood education settings. It investigates the impact of outdoor education on child development, looking at cognitive, social/emotional, and physical benefits. It examines the affective impact of attention fatigue, attention restoration, learned helplessness, and action competence. It also looks at the effect of place-based education in fostering a sense of place, and the role of sense of place in encouraging the development of an environmentally aware lifestyle. Finally, it proposes a place-based environmental education curriculum of six lessons, in French and English, around the subject of …

2024-2025 Ursinus College Course Catalogue, Office Of The Registrar

Ursinus College Catalogues, 1869-Present

A digital copy of the 2024-2025 Ursinus College Catalog. It contains details of the curriculum, departmental requirements and courses of instruction as well as the Open Questions core requirements, experiential learning and the Common Intellectual Experience (CIE). Academic policies, special opportunities and scholarships, off-campus programs and graduation requirements are also outlined.

Developing A Curriculum For An Online Group Piano In The Philippines: An Ideological, Historical, And Practical Approach, Lady Abigail Imperio

Theses and Dissertations

Online distance learning, a modern educational practice, has permeated music pedagogy in the past several decades. It involves synthesizing interdisciplinary studies in philosophy, music, technology, and sociology. In this study, the integrated approach aims to develop a unique curriculum for an online group piano in the Philippine setting. This goal involves coalescing ideological, historical, and practical perspectives to develop a coherent, learner-centered approach.

The ideological approach surveys educational philosophies, music learning theories, cooperative learning theories, online learning theories, and socio-cultural perspectives relevant to forming a unique framework. The nature of online distance music learning itself presents complex challenges of international …

Climate Change And Its Impact On Health: A Global Collaborative Learning Model, Harriet Okatch, Patricia Remshifski, Anita Fennessey, Haley Campbell, Sivia Barnoy, Jason Friedman, Stephen Kern, Rosemary Frasso, Cecilia Sorensen, Tami Bar-Shalita, Louis Hunter

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

To address the health effects of climate change, leaders in healthcare have called for action to integrate climate adaptation and mitigation into training programs for health professionals. However, current educators may not possess sufficient climate literacy and the expertise to effectively include such content in their respective healthcare curricula. We, an international and interprofessional partnership, collaborated with experts to develop and deploy curriculum to increase health educators' and graduate health profession students' knowledge and competencies on climate change. In a tri-step process, the first phase included recruiting interested faculty members from two institutions and varying health professions. In phase two, …

Teacher's Experiences Of The Response To Intervention Model Implementation In State-Ranked New Jersey Schools: A Qualitative Case Study, Kimberly Myers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to discover and describe teachers’ experiences of RTI implementation for kindergarten through grade five general education teachers at state-ranked suburban New Jersey schools. The theory guiding this study is Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy, as it applies to teachers’ experiences of the effectiveness of the RTI process. According to Bandura, self-efficacy is the perception of how well one can execute a task. Self-efficacy can connect to teacher efficacy through the feeling of understanding the job requirements and the intended goals. This case study assessed how teachers’ experiences of the RTI process impact the overall …

Exploring Equity, Diversity, And Inclusion In Computer Science Undergraduate Curricula, Ouldooz Baghban Karimi, Giulia Toti, Fiona Mcneill, Alice Gao, Rutwa Engineer, Shanon Reckinger, Peggy Lindner, Jinyoung Hur, Rebecca Robinson, Anna Sollazzo, Richard Wicentowski

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

One of the less explored approaches to foster equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in Computer Science (CS) is through changes to the curriculum. Despite sporadic work on the adoption of Culturally Responsive Computing (CRC) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), the inclusion of equity-minded courses, or modifications on specific elements of the curriculum such as introductory programming courses, there has never been a wide exploration or adoption of a successful equity-minded undergraduate CS curriculum. In this work, we explore undergraduate CS curricula, with a special focus on upper division, lower division, and service courses (courses offered to non-CS students). For …

Ap Art History For Marshall Public Schools, Gage Bunting

Theses

Advanced Placement Art History (AP Art History) is a course that, while being one of the less popular AP offerings, exists in thousands of schools already. College Board is the institution that facilitates these courses and sets the requirements each school must follow in order to offer the course. With that said, there is not a rigid requirement that all courses be taught in the same manner, and because of that, the curriculum of this project was adapted to enhance learning for students of Marshall High School.

The art department of Marshall High School has evolved in recent years and …

Increasing Diversity In Advanced Placement Classrooms Through Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Megan Volgren

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This thesis has been designed around the question: How can AP literature teachers use culturally relevant pedagogy to make changes to their curriculum to increase diversity in their classes? Most schools offer advanced classes for students, many of which offer opportunities for them to gain college credit while in school. Yet, these opportunities are not equitably distributed. Students of color are often absent from Advanced Placement (AP) classes. This thesis explores the reasons behind this inequality and considers some changes that can be made to promote equality in schools. The focus of the accompanying project is to create a unit …

Teaching American History In Multicultural Classrooms, Vinita Kartha

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This capstone project explores the challenges and strategies involved in teaching American history within multicultural classrooms, focusing on creating a curriculum that addresses the diverse experiences of Black and Indigenous peoples before and after colonization. The project aims to develop a Grade 5 curriculum that highlights the complexity and richness of Black and Indigenous civilizations, offering a more nuanced understanding of history. The curriculum, based on the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework, spans seven days and covers three main strands: the pre-colonization civilizations of Black and Indigenous peoples, the impact of colonization, and the history of British settlers. The project …

Engaging Chemistry Educators Through Virtual Roundtables: How The Covid-19 Pandemic Led To A Community-Wide Initiative, M. Taylor Haynes, Justin M. Pratt, Matthew A. Cranswick, Kyle A. Grice, Chip Nataro, Sarah E. Shaner, Kari Stone, Meghan Porter, Jeffrey R. Raker

Chemistry Department Faculty Articles

Members of the Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists (IONiC) report the development and sustained efforts to provide virtual professional development sessions: Supporting Learning with Interactive Teaching: a Hosted, Engaging Roundtable (SLiThEr). SLiThEr’s emerged from a community need at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; since then, SLiThEr’s have become a standard event for the IONiC community. SLiThEr’s are real- time virtual community events, after which a recording of the SLiThEr is posted on the IONiC YouTube channel. In this paper, an overview of the structure, format, and emergence of SLiThEr’s is reported, followed by evaluation of SLiThEr offerings, a …

A Model For Play In The Preschool Curriculum: A Phenomenological Study, Saber Abdolmalaki, Mahboubeh Khosravi, Noushin Nouri, Mostafa Ghaderi

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This phenomenological study aimed to develop a framework integrating play into preschool curriculum based on educators’ lived experiences using play-based methods. Fifteen educators from 12 centers were interviewed using theoretical sampling. Data analysis revealed nine pathways linking play types, educator roles, and learning objectives. Results culminated in a comprehensive framework elucidating how educators actualize educational goals through play.

The Lived Experiences Of High School Humanities Teachers As They Utilize An Lms To Facilitate And Support Students' Learning: A Phenomenological Study, Jamie L. Onorato

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

High school humanity teachers at Big Wave High School utilize the Learning Management System (LMS), Canvas, in their 1:1 program, which this phenomenological study aimed to explore and better understand its role in the blended learning environment. The theories that guided this study are Slavich and Zimbardo’s transformational teaching theory and Bandura’s social cognitive theory of self-efficacy, which help the understanding of how evolving technology can be used in the field of education and therefore guided this study to explore the central research question: What are the lived experiences of high school teachers as they utilize LMS to facilitate and …