Digital Commons Network^™

Mobilizing Alumni Constituents For Legislative Advocacy In Higher Education, Elizabeth Saxman Underwood

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adequate funding has become a critical issue for institutions of higher education, affecting outcomes such as accessibility, affordability, and quality of education. The recent economic recession has been detrimental for state funding, resulting in budget cuts for higher education in a majority of states. Overall, state funding has not kept pace with the rising costs of education. Additionally, the issues of state governance and institutional autonomy have also become heightened. Thus, many higher education institutions are initiating advocacy programs with their external constitutions. Because alumni are integral group of an institution's constituent base, and often exhibit the most passion for …

Multiliteracies In The Classroom: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Approach To Teachers' And Students' Perspectives Toward Integration Of Technology, Laura Janine Chitty

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An increased number of students graduating from high school lack college and career readiness skills to earn credit in entry-level college courses or begin a career in an entry-level position. Many schools across America have prepared to address students' college and career readiness with the adoption of Common Core State Standards. Twenty-five teachers and 92 students participated in this dissertation study conducted at a high school (grades 10-12) in the southern United States. The purpose of this study was to describe and explain teachers' and students' perspectives toward the integration of technology that enhances multiliteracies in the classroom. An explanatory …

Gaming Your Mathematics Course: The Theory And Practice Of Games For Learning, Kathleen H. Offenholley

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Learning through play is fundamental to humans and to many other animals. Game Based Learning is an interactive pedagogy that has as its foundation the tenet that games, by their very nature, increase learning through positive emotional experience. This article introduces readers to what games in mathematics classes have the potential to do, including to decrease anxiety, increase motivation, and deepen learning through immersive gaming. The article then connects this theory to practice, providing examples of both computer and non-computer games in introductory middle school, high school and college mathematics. The article analyses how these games work, and makes the …

Technology In The Classroom: A Deweyan Perspective, Heather E. Davis

Kentucky Journal of Higher Education Policy and Practice

Approximately one hundred years ago, John Dewey responded to societal changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution by writing a philosophy of education that encouraged experiential learning. Like the Industrial Revolution, the Information Revolution has created similar need for an adjusted philosophy of education. This article explores the educational and pedagogical issues created by the Information Revolution through a Deweyan lens.

A Qualitative Analysis Of High School Students' Experiences In The Latinos In Action Program, Johann Paul Simonds

Theses and Dissertations

This research was a qualitative program evaluation of students' perceptions of Latinos in Action (LIA), a peer-mentoring program that seeks to improve high school Latino graduation rates and college admittance. The study was conducted with college students who participated in the program in high school. LIA graduates were interviewed to determine what major factors influenced and supported them in their academic decisions. Additional data included an interview with the program director, results from the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE), and a video of one of the interviewees. The researcher explored students' experiences in the LIA program with the …

"We've Got Something More To Prove Here": Racial-Ethnic And Social Class Identities And The Challenges Facing Latina/O College Students, Gretchen Marin

Master's Theses

Latinas/os are one of the fastest growing minority groups in the United States. In fact, the United States Census Bureau projects that by the year 2050, the numbers of Hispanics will more than double, increasing from the current figure of 50.5 million to 102.6 million. Despite such rapid population growth, the numbers of Latinas/os with at least a Bachelor’s degree remain low. In this study, I explore the intersection of racial-ethnic and social class identities in relation to academic identities. Specifically, I examine the challenges facing Latina/o college students of various socioeconomic backgrounds as they negotiate a predominantly White, middle-class …

A Treatise On Diversity In A Dominant Culture University, Brenda Morton, L. Samek, A. Berardi, Debra S. Espinor, S. Song, W. White, S. Bearden

Faculty Publications - College of Education

The authors examine progress in strengthening the Diversity agenda in a school of education within a private Christian university. This agenda is informed by external academic accrediting organizations and principles of social justice congruent with the historical roots of the university. Special emphasis is placed on the unique challenges of confronting how privilege manifests itself in seemingly homogeneous environments. The ultimate goal of the authors is to promote moving beyond cosmetic compliance with accreditation obligations towards a metabolized second order change reflecting internal paradigm shifts in which social justice is a central motivating factor in one’s vocation.

What Types Of After-School Programs Benefit Lep Students?, Patricia Grace Gaither

Theses and Dissertations

With the increase in federal funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) after-school program, more intricate evaluations are needed to assess the needs and successes of the programs. And with many programs targeting students of minority and limited-English proficiency (LEP) status, additional analyses should focus on these targeted populations. This study examines a regional 21st CCLC program with math and English standardized test scores (CRT scores) for students prior to participation and after two years of participation. These test scores were used to create a score change variable, which provides a unique approach to assessing after-school programs. …

The Development Of Molecular Gastronomy As A Subject Discipline At The Dublin Institute Of Technology, Roisin Burke, Pauline Danaher, Mark Traynor

Other resources

Molecular gastronomy is the study of the physical and chemical culinary transformations that occur during preparation, cooking and consumption. Molecular gastronomy differs from food science as the social, artistic and technical components of culinary and gastronomic phenomena are explored. At the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) the aim of developing molecular gastronomy modules is to use them as a tool to teach scientific principles to those who work in the Culinary Arts. Students and graduates can then apply their knowledge to develop and create novel dishes and food products. Scientific principles are taught, explained and demonstrated in the kitchen environment, …

Guidelines For Media Resources In Academic Libraries (2012), Mary S. Laskowski, Cyrus Ford Zarganj, Nancy E. Friedland, Jacqueline Fritz, Jim Holmes, Lora Lennertz Jetton, M. Claire Stewart, Joe M. Williams

Library Faculty Research

Technology used in teaching, learning, and research has created new challenges and opportunities for managers of college and university library media resource collections and services.

Moving images, sounds, and still images have become increasingly important in teaching, learning and research, and academic librarians are working closely with other agencies on campus to support faculty and student information needs. In some institutions, librarians have become true partners in the delivery of instruction, working with faculty, technologists, and instructional developers to create “new learning communities.”

Most academic libraries collect media, and these materials are as vital and diverse as any print collection …

How Not To Criminalize Cyberbullying, Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky, Andrea Garcia

UF Law Faculty Publications

This essay provides a sustained constitutional critique of the growing body of laws criminalizing cyberbullying. These laws typically proceed by either modernizing existing harassment and stalking laws or crafting new criminal offenses. Both paths are beset with First Amendment perils, which this essay illustrates through 'case studies' of selected legislative efforts. Though sympathetic to the aims of these new laws, this essay contends that reflexive criminalization in response to tragic cyberbullying incidents has led law-makers to conflate cyberbullying as a social problem with cyberbullying as a criminal problem, creating pernicious consequences. The legislative zeal to eradicate cyberbullying potentially produces disproportionate …

Social And Technological Innovation In Teaching Public Affairs: Introduction To The Symposium, Thomas A. Bryer, Angela M. Eikenberry

Public Administration Faculty Publications

Technology can be defined as “the social, material, or cloud/cyberspace tools used to manipulate human behavior to achieve a specified objective.” In the classroom, teachers use a variety of technologies to elicit desired student response or output and ultimately to achieve a level of learning appropriate for particular students. For example, decisions to use a chalk/white board versus PowerPoint during a lecture are often made based on the nature of engagement desired with the students. Arranging seats or desks in a classroom in a lecture format, an open circle, or an open square generates different types of engagement among and …

A Study Of A High Performing, High Poverty Elementary School On The Texas-Mexico Border, Cynthia Iris Lopez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Transforming low performing schools to ensure the academic success of Hispanic children situated in poverty remains an educational challenge. External factors impacting student learning are often targeted as the main reasons for poor academic achievement, thereby advancing the culturally deficit model. This study is about an elementary school that defied the deficit model as evidenced by its distinguished academic accolades. This instrumental qualitative case study examined a high performing elementary school on the Texas-Mexico Border in which high poverty Hispanic students made dramatic increases in academic achievement. Data were collected from interviews, observations, documents, and other media. Findings for the …

Book Review Of Copyright For Teachers & Librarians In The 21st Century, Benjamin J. Keele

Library Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Design Literacy – From Primary Education To University Level, Ingvild Digranes, Liv Merete Nielsen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper is based on on-going research into design education at several educational levels. What is said, and what is done? In the DESIGN LITERACY project, we focus on the content of a continuous design education, the transition between different educational levels – from primary education, throughout the university level – in the Norwegian educational system. Designers, decision makers, investors, and consumers hold different positions in the design process, but they all make choices that will influence our future. Design education at primary and secondary level represents both a foundation for professional design education and a prequalification for the general …

Transforming Constructivist Learning Into Action: Design Thinking In Education, Andrea Scheer, Christine Noweski, Christoph Meinel

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The advantages of constructivist learning and criteria for its realization have been well-determined through theoretical findings in pedagogy (Reich, 2008; Dewey, 1916). Educational researchers and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) promote a process oriented, so-called CSSC learning (constructed, self-regulated, situated, collaborative) to be effective in supporting 21st century competences (de Corte, 2010). However, the practical implementation itself leaves a lot to be desired (Gardner, 2010; Wagner, 2011). Lessons are not efficiently designed to help teachers execute CSSC learning. Common CSSC learning methods are abstractly describing what to do, while leaving the teacher uncertain about how to do …

Economic Status, Education And Risky Sexual Behavior For Urban Botswana Women, Kakanyo Fani Dintwa

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study investigated the relationship between economic status, education and risky sexual behavior for urban Botswana women. The data used are a nationally representative sample from the Botswana AIDS Impact Survey conducted in 2004. An un-weighted sample of 2215 women aged 15-49, who have had sexual intercourse was considered for analysis. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses are used to gain insights into the potential linkages between economic status, education and risky sexual behavior. The bivariate analysis shows that there is a significant relationship between dependent variable (number of sexual partners) and economic status. However, with the introduction of controls the …

How Not To Criminalize Cyberbullying, Lyrissa Lidsky, Andrea Pinzon Garcia

Missouri Law Review

This essay provides a sustained constitutional critique of the growing body of laws criminalizing cyberbullying. These laws typically proceed by either modernizing existing harassment and stalking laws or crafting new criminal offenses. Both paths are beset with First Amendment perils, which this essay illustrates through 'case studies' of selected legislative efforts. Though sympathetic to the aims of these new laws, this essay contends that reflexive criminalization in response to tragic cyberbullying incidents has led law-makers to conflate cyberbullying as a social problem with cyberbullying as a criminal problem, creating pernicious consequences. The legislative zeal to eradicate cyberbullying potentially produces disproportionate …

Mac's Fiesta: A Foreign Language Game For The Sifteo Platform, Karina Cordon

Computer Engineering

Mac’s Fiesta is a Spanish learning game designed on the Sifteo gaming platform for children ages four and up. The Sifteo gaming platform provides a new way of interacting with computers by giving users a set of tangible and interactive cubes. Each Sifteo cube has a clickable colored screen and can sense motion and adjacent blocks. Games on this platform are designed to encourage the development of core thinking skills. This project aims to explore how Sifteo cubes can be used for language learning as well as observe how effective they are as educational tools.

The Courier, June 2012, Tennessee. Historical Commission.

Tennessee Historical Commission

No abstract provided.

Social Capital, Human Capital, And Economic Well-Being In The Knowledge Economy: Results From Canada's General Social Survey, Robert D. Weaver, Nazim Habibov

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Beginning in the mid-1990s, the Canadian welfare state's devolutionary transformation ushered in an era which potentially increased the importance of social capital and human capital as mechanisms for promoting socio-economic advancement. In this study, the authors analyze data from Canada's General Social Survey to assess how social capital and human capital influence the reported incomes of the Canadian population. The primaryfindings were that both social and human capital influenced income and that human capital had a larger effect on economic mobility than did social capital. The implications the study's findings have for policy and programmatic interventions within the 21st century …

Narrative Imagination: A Design Imperative, Robert Tully

Irish Journal of Academic Practice

Each generation entrusts the collective future to the next. Just like the oral traditions of our past continue to manifest in our consciousness, we need to tell stories today that will free the imagination. Designers in particular need to develop the ability to articulate the imagined possibilities that the narrative imagination can create. In order to appreciate the complexity of interactions that are occurring in a spatial or object orientated context we need to think about the imagination as a vehicle to discover and explore these new possibilities. To do this we need to enhance our capacity to access the …

Short Of Transformation: American Adn Students' Thoughts, Feelings, And Experiences Of Studying Abroad In A Low-Income Country, Cynthia Foronda, Ruth Ann Belknap

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

ADN students are a large yet distinct subgroup of nursing students who require research and understanding. The purpose of this study was to describe the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of American associate degree nursing (ADN) students who participated in a short study abroad course in a low-income country. A qualitative, narrative method was used. Three categories emerged from the analysis. Participants revealed thoughts of “constant comparisons”, feelings of an “emotional journey”, and they experienced “learning”. Participants did not demonstrate perspective transformation as defined by Mezirow as participants signified no intent for social action. Several potential blocks to perspective transformation were …

Regulating Student Cyberspeech, Barry P. Mcdonald

Missouri Law Review

Part I of this Article will provide the First Amendment background for thinking about these disputes. It will explain how the Court has interpreted that amendment to provide primary and secondary students in American public schools with free speech rights, albeit not as broad as they enjoy in their capacities as ordinary citizens of our country. It has given public school administrators special power to regulate student speech as necessary to achieve the task the people have assigned them - the effective education of their children. When cyberbullying occurs then, as it often does, completely or partially off of school …

Civil Society Engagement And Education For Sustainable Development (Esd) In Egypt: A Case Study Of El-Warraq Area, Heba Shaheen

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the level of civil society engagement in an initiative implemented in an area in Egypt called El-Warraq. The main objective of the initiative was to promote ESD through a summer educational and recreational program using hands-on activities that bring key sustainable development concepts to school students. The main objective of this research was to examine a framework for implementing ESD in schools in Egypt. The target population in this study was EL-Warraq community. The sample used for investigation was one of the public schools chosen for the EduCamp II pilot implementation, El-Saddat School. This research was based …

Teaching To The Test: How Federal Mandates Affect Elementary Educators’ Teaching Styles, Ashley R. Vande Corput

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

Recent mandates created by the federal government have placed a large emphasis on standardized testing in elementary schools. Educators now face the challenge of how to best prepare their students for these tests. In this qualitative case study research project, I collected data from four third grade teachers to determine how recent governmental laws impact their teaching styles; in this article I tell the story of two of those teachers. Interviews and classroom observations were conducted in a medium-sized, public elementary school outside a large metropolitan city in the Southeast. Preferred and perceived teaching styles as reported by the teachers …

Genocide In The Classroom: How Transitional Societies Are Affected By The Quality Of Genocide Education, Leah Oppenheimer

Honors Scholar Theses

Recognized as a legal term since 1944, genocides have been an unfortunate occurrence since the beginning of world history. However, many countries have failed to properly educate students about genocides that have taken place in their own countries by either not providing accurate or consistent information about what took place or denying the genocide outright. Additionally, in many countries, relations between formerly warring ethnic groups have not improved, despite the often large amount of time that has passed since the end of the genocide. This study examines how history education, both accurate and inaccurate, has affected the current social situation …

Signs Of The Times, Felicia Hersh

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This research project endeavors to apply current museum education theory and practice to existing museum education programming, specifically at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada. As today’s museums are considered leisure-time activities and compete with a host of other leisure and tourist attractions for visitors’ discretionary time and income, the development of enjoyable, effective, and memorable museum experiences is crucial to the survival of these traditional institutions. Based on these ideas, this project seeks to incorporate new theories of learning and methods for educating the public into the Neon Museum’s development of successful educational programming, including active engagement with …

Marcia Fudge For House Of Representatives, Alison Doolittle, Sam Mcnelly

Media and Politics TV ads

Campaign ad for incumbent democrat Marcia Fudge of the House of Representatives focusing on the economy and the education.

Chinese American Women, Identity And Education: A Qualitative Study, Qing Li

Cultural Foundations of Education - Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative study explores how Chinese American women, as American-born children of new Chinese immigrants, have perceived and interpreted who they are, and how they become who they are while adapting to American society and negotiating with the interplay of race, ethnicity, class, and gender. Drawing on in-depth interviews with twenty-seven Chinese American women from two universities located on the East Coast, I argue that their segmented assimilation processes involving ongoing negotiations between maintaining ties with their ethnic and cultural backgrounds and selective integration into the mainstream of the society, which, to some extent, are subject to and predetermined by …