Digital Commons Network^™

A Focus On Student Needs In German Instruction, Elisa E. Remund

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This portfolio serves as documentation of the author’s professional progress throughout the Master of Science of Second Language Teaching (MSSLT) program at Utah State University, shown through teaching philosophy, hands-on teaching experience and practice, and demonstrates the author’s use of pedagogical strategies and theory, including but not exclusive to comprehensible input, the sociocultural method, dynamic assessment, and the output hypothesis. It details the usage of current research-based strategies to increase classroom engagement and student proficiency, such as the IMAGE Model for teaching culture and language, collaborative learning, and dynamic assessment strategies. Furthermore, the portfolio includes a reflection on the benefits …

The Impact Of Using History On Learning In Physics Laboratory Settings, Patrick W. Clouse

Dissertations

Integrating History of Science (HOS) into science courses has many benefits. Students demonstrate improved scientific content knowledge, develop their understanding of Nature of Science (NOS), and improve their attitudes towards science. However, barriers prevent instructors from effectively incorporating history into their teaching. The traditions and culture of science instruction, individual teacher attitudes and skills, existing institutional frameworks, and prevailing curricular materials all prevent HOS integration. Preservice teachers may never be exposed to HOS in their science or education courses, meaning they lack experience and knowledge surrounding the benefits of HOS. Therefore, alternative avenues for effective integration should be considered to …

Neurodivergent Peer Tutoring And Anti-Ableism: Two High Schoolers’ Lived Experiences While Working In A Neurodiversity-Based Writing Center, Daniel S. Harrison

The Writing Center Journal

Neurodivergence is naturally present in the writing center and most often recognized by labels like ADHD, autism, OCD, dyslexia, and so on. However, neurodivergent voices in writing center scholarship have been few and far between in postsecondary institutions (Babcock, 2017; Batt, 2018; Kleinfeld, 2023), and in the secondary writing center even less so. Therefore, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the personal, relational, and formative aspects of the lived experiences of two neurodivergent students through a critical disability theory lens as they provided writing consultations to their neurodivergent peers in a Mid-Atlantic, independent special education school. …

The Legacy, Importance, & Impact Of Lend: Evidence And Personal Stories, Emily Zalimeni, Emma Stone, Alexa Fortier, Leia Getchell, Nataliya Kloyzner, Asha Abdullahi, Elizabeth Barkoudah, Meghan Chapman, Meredith Close, Heather Engholm, Melissa Levin, Aanchal Sharma, Sarah Sparks, Patricia Rissmiller, Amy Szarkowski, Jason M. Fogler

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) programs offer an interdisciplinary/interprofessional training opportunity for medical and allied health professionals, and individuals impacted by disability, including family members and self-advocates. Toward the aim of advocating for the enduring need of LEND and similar training programs, this article centers the voices of a subset of our alumni who have advanced the rights and improved the lives of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These stories are intended to illustrate the key lessons and principles of LEND training, including attending to disability issues in education, growing skills within and between individuals working …

Differentiating And Accommodating Ocd And Anxiety In Mathematical Contexts, Madeline F. Gavares

Interdivisional Studies Summer Fellows

Students in mathematics classrooms may experience emotional and cognitive challenges that affect how they engage with coursework and assessments. While math anxiety has been widely documented, less attention has been given to how obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly checking behaviors, may influence students’ experiences in math settings. This study explores how students who report math anxiety and those who report OCD symptoms describe their engagement with math tasks and test-taking. Drawing on survey and interview data from students and teachers, this study examines how these experiences are articulated and perceived in academic math contexts, rather than evaluating ability or outcomes. By …

Exploring The Motivations And Educational Needs For Undergraduate Nursing Students To Enter Into Critical Care: A Qualitative Study., Christina S. Pradhan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Critical care nursing is a specialty that demands a high level of skill and dedication. In this high-stress, fast-paced environment, nurses must think fast and act decisively with sound clinical judgment and knowledge. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative study was to understand the motivating factors that cause nurses to enter the field of critical care, as well as to explore the ways in which undergraduate nursing studies may be improved to better prepare future critical care nurses. Knowles’ adult learning theory was well suited for nursing students bound for a critical care path. Students at two different baccalaureate …

Empowering Elementary Music Students To Compose And Perform With Ipad, Matthew Martin Massengale

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

iPad is a popular device commonly used an educational tool, yet little information is available about how iPad can be used to supplement gaps in music education in elementary classes. It is widely accepted that music education increases student achievement across multiple curriculums: therefore, any techniques and tools available to deliver music lessons that may close gaps in access to quality music education are important to study and understand. Through qualitative research techniques, this study will examine and analyze the efficacy of using iPad in music lessons. Students will access music history and theory through apps installed on iPad. Students …

The State Of The Child In Tennessee 2023, Tennessee. Commission On Children And Youth.

The State of the Child in Tennessee

No abstract provided.

Kids Count The State Of The Child In Tennessee 2019 Policy And Issue Guide, Tennessee. Commission On Children And Youth.

The State of the Child in Tennessee

No abstract provided.

Leadership In Higher Education Amid Demographic Shifts: Implications Of Campus Event Management, Marrissa J. Williams

M.S. in Leadership

This study focuses on how demographic shifts within higher education have influenced leadership practices, specifically within enrollment management and campus event programming. As student populations become increasingly diverse, institutions are challenged to change their recruitment, engagement, and support strategies to meet the needs of first-generation, low-income, and non-traditional learners. The research explores the role of leadership in shaping these responses, with a focus on how decisions related to admissions events, like campus visits, outreach initiatives, and multicultural programming, have contributed to student engagement and enrollment outcomes. Using a qualitative approach grounded in the analysis of peer-reviewed articles and case studies, …

Learning About Gujarati: Cultural Identity And Family Language, Vritti Sodha

Florida Atlantic Undergraduate Research Journal

Language loss is a prevalent problem that is occurring in immigrant families in the United States. Since regional languages such as Gujarati are not used outside of households and community gatherings, it is not given much importance to learn. In order to combat this problem, community centers hold Gujarati classes for students of all ages to help preserve the language, but the lack of motivation to learn the language still remains. This is because a student needs to have a connection to the language to be motivated to learn it, which can be made through active learning. This study examines …

Exploring Primary Care Providers’ Compassionate Care And Their Evidence-Based Practice With Death, Grief, And Loss: Patient Experience And Perspective, Kathryn Krzykala

Dissertations

Research on primary care providers’ (PCPs) education regarding Death, Grief, and Loss (DGL) remains limited. Specifically, data is lacking regarding patients' perceptions and opinions on what they need and expect from their PCPs regarding grief and loss. This exploratory mixed-method study comprised 146 participants who had experienced death and non-death loss. It examined participants' perceptions of 1) PCP compassion, 2) PCP utilization of evidence-based grief and loss practices, 3) their own level of comfort discussing DGL with their PCPs during medical visits, and 4) their personal grief and loss experiences. The findings revealed that PCPs' grief-informed evidence-based treatment, as reflected …

Automated Scoring Of Prosody In Oral Reading Fluency: Integrating Acoustic And Sentence/Chunk-Level Silence Features With Machine Learning, Kuo Wang

Education Policy and Leadership Theses and Dissertations

Prosody, the ability to read with appropriate variation in pitch, duration, pausing, and stress, is an important (and challenging to measure) dimension of oral reading fluency (ORF) and comprehension. ORF prosody is currently measured through human raters and rubric-based scoring systems (e.g., the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) or the Multidimensional Fluency Scale (MDFS scales). The rating process is labor and resource-intensive and introduces rater bias. Recent work has shown acoustic features to predict prosody ratings; however, their models had low generalization performance on cross-domain data (unseen passages and student samples).

The present study investigated the automated assessment of …

Polarized Truth Decay & The Role Of Education In A Democracy, Sonja Varbelow, William Yaworsky

Anthropology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to delineate the causes and dangers of truth decay for a democracy, the role education has played in the process, and how education can present a resistance to this dangerous trend. Truth decay has been characterized as an increase in quantity of opinion over fact, divergent views on what constitutes a fact, and decreased confidence of traditional sources of information. We agree that truth decay is a serious problem but would characterize it somewhat differently. Opinions, divergent views, and decreased confidence in traditional sources of information are not detrimental by themselves. Instead, we see …

The Phd In Graduate Medical Education: Leveraging Doctoral Training For Educational Innovation, Rémy Roe

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

The field of Graduate Medical Education (GME) increasingly employs PhD-trained professionals in roles including simulation directors, education researchers, program coordinators, and assessment specialists. These professionals bring valuable expertise in educational theory, research methodology, and interdisciplinary perspectives that complement physician leadership. However, role ambiguity, hierarchical positioning, and underutilization of scholarly expertise remain common challenges. This article examines the growing population of PhD-trained professionals in GME, identifies their unique contributions, and proposes strategies for better integration. Recommendations include clarifying faculty appointments, recognizing doctoral credentials appropriately, leveraging interdisciplinary expertise in strategic planning, providing protected time for scholarship, and building professional community. As GME …

Degrees And Certificates Awarded To Native American Students In Nevada, 2010-2022, Devin Streuter, Kevin Yang, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet presents data on certificates and degrees awarded to Native Americans from the Nevada System of Higher Education’s (NSHE) teaching institutions —College of Southern Nevada (CSN), Great Basin College (GBC), Nevada State University (NSU), Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC), University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), and Western Nevada College (WNC)— from 2010 to 2022. Additionally, the fact sheet reports data on degree type, gender, and the most common majors pursued by Native American certificate and degree earners in Nevada. The data are derived from the Nevada P-20 Workforce Research (NPWR) Data System.

Covid-19'S Impact On Student Behavior In Rural-Urban Fringe Elementary Schools, Chanel V. Leslie

College of Education

This study examines the impact of COVID-19 on student behavior in rural-urban fringe schools in Northern Alabama. The qualitative narrative inquiry research centers the lived experiences of teachers from four different schools as they navigate and explain this shift during this time. Grounded in Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological systems theory, the study is guided by three research questions that address the changes in student behavior and classroom dynamics; teacher preparedness and the ability to manage post-pandemic behavioral challenges; and effective interventions and support strategies. This research offers further insight into the erosion of foundational social skills, widespread emotional dysregulation, and patterns …

The Relationship Between Musical Aptitude And Multiple Intelligences In High School Music Students, Rachel Connor

Masters Theses

This quantitative correlational study examines the relationship between musical aptitude, measured by Edwin Gordon’s GIA assessments, and students’ predominant multiple intelligences (MIs), as defined by Howard Gardner. Although MI has been widely researched, little is known about how intelligence strengths relate specifically to musically adept students. High school music students at Fayetteville Christian School in Fayetteville, NC, were first assessed using the GIA to identify those demonstrating musical aptitude. Eligible students then completed the AMI R/ARCH Profile to determine their strongest MI. A correlational analysis examined whether specific intelligence strengths are commonly associated with musical aptitude. Grounded in Gardner’s MI …

Illuminating The Role Of The Teacher In Democratic And Transformative Educational Approaches, Dane Stickney

Democracy & Education

In a world that is growing increasingly politically divisive, it is hard to imagine school structure and leadership leading us to a more democratic and transformative future. Instead, teachers should take action themselves. This begins with seeing themselves as policy actors and rejecting both the neoliberal and far-right ideologies and the related scholar academic and socially efficient educational orientations. Educators should instead adopt a stance of social reconstruction, in which they examine with students the problems of society and socially dream of something better. To more deeply foster this sense of partnership between teacher and learner, educators should seek to …

How To Educate When Deliberation Falls Short? A Response To “Affective Alignment And Hidden Conflicts: Political Emotions In Blended Spaces Of Democratic Education Classrooms”, Anniina Leiviskä, Veli-Mikko Kauppi

Democracy & Education

Here, we explore potential educational strategies in response to the problems of democratic education highlighted in the feature article’s case study. Drawing on deliberative democracy and Deweyan pragmatism, we contend that in settings marked by affective polarization, such as the school examined in the case study, direct conversation over contentious political topics may not be the most effective path toward meaningful educational outcomes. Instead, we propose two alternative approaches: first, fostering dialogue about the social norms that shape the conditions for political deliberation in the classroom; and second, encouraging collaborative inquiry among students who hold opposing perspectives. Both approaches aim …

Open Classroom Climate And Democratic Education: Implications For Research And Practice. A Response To "Reassessing The Open Classroom Climate In Civic Education: Insights From 60 Studies", Luke J. Rapa

Democracy & Education

An open classroom climate has numerous benefits for school-aged youth, and it plays an important role in school-based democratic and civic education efforts. After highlighting the strengths of Knowles and Chamberlain's review, I add to their contribution by enumerating several implications for contemporary open classroom climate research and practice. I suggest researchers and practitioners: (a) embrace pluralism in open classroom climate pedagogy and instructional contexts; (b) explore mechanisms driving associations between open classroom climate and outcomes of interest; (c) incorporate developmental theory; and (d) better account for contextual-ecological and measurement considerations. I also reflect briefly on open classroom climate research …

Teaching Politics As A Corrective To Pupils’ Immediate Conceptions.. A Response To "'The Blue Party? No, Wait, Is There Really A Blue Party?' A Study Of Young Norwegian Children's Perceptions Of Politics", Evy Jøsok

Democracy & Education

This response discusses the article “'The Blue Party? No, Wait, Is There Really a Blue Party?' A Study of Young Norwegian Children's Perceptions of Politics," which offers a meaningful contribution to research on children’s political understanding. The study stands out for its focus on the development of political categories and its strong link to subject content rather than generic skills. Its analytical typology—from nonpolitical and pre-political to narrow and broad political understanding—provides both theoretical insight and potential didactic value. The findings challenge assumptions that political education should be postponed until later school years, showing that young children can engage with …

“The Blue Party? No, Wait, Is There Really A Blue Party?” A Study Of Young Norwegian Children’S Perceptions Of Politics, Stine Johansen Utler

Democracy & Education

The study investigates Norwegian primary school children's immediate responses to “What do you think of when you hear the word ‘politics’?” It examines children’s perceptions of the concept of politics, their emphasis, and how they communicate their perceptions, providing information about children’s political socialization, knowledge, and understanding as well as early conceptual learning. The data come from group interviews with 36 children (20 second-graders and 16 fourth-graders). The study was not longitudinal but emphasized differences in the content of children’s perceptions. The analysis identifies four different categories of children`s perceptions. These vary according to their emphasis, their apparent associative political …

“Between Cultural Norms And Economic Survival: Navigating Egyptian Lower And Middle Income Women’S Challenges In The Informal Versus The Formal Work: “A Case Study From Cairo”, Rowan Mahmoud Abdelnazer

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the ongoing gender inequities experienced by low and middle-income women in Egypt’s formal and informal labor economy, specifically it is based in Cairo. Although there are many advances made globally on women's rights, yet women still face great challenges such as discrepancies in salary, fewer leadership roles and cultural expectations which put child-bearing duties before professional growth. On the one hand, flexible work for women in developing countries is through informal sector, which makes them vulnerable and serves as a source of their exploitation and insecurity (e.g., lack of social security; workplace hazards), on the other hand, …

Making A Phrenological America: How The Science Of The Skull Influenced Reform Movements In The United States, Nathan C. Tamkin

History Undergraduate Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

Educator Perceptions Of Human-Ai Co-Creativity: A Mixed Methods Study, Wendy L. Jensen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Educators play a critical role in navigating the intersection of creativity and artificial intelligence in the work of teaching and learning. As frontline implementers of daily instruction and decision-makers around the use of technology tools, teachers determine, in practice, how creativity and artificial intelligence converge in learning environments. Because teachers play this central role, examining their perceptions is critical for fostering the effective use of AI in educational contexts in ways that preserve and advance creative teaching and learning. In this convergent mixed methods study, I investigated educators’ perceptions of human-AI co-creativity, with particular attention to how these perceptions inform …

Support Designer’S Wellbeing: Understanding Resilience In Design Education As A Wicked Challenge, Yilin Quan, Matthew Isherwood, Ji Han

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design students are expected to engage with wicked problems as part of their learning. Since these problems have no definitive solutions, the learning process can be challenging and may negatively affect students’ wellbeing. Cultivating resilience becomes critical. Although the conceptualisation of designer resilience has gained attention, it remains underexplored. This paper proposes a new conceptual model of resilience in design education, suggesting two capacity clusters: one emphasising short-term recovery and balance restoration, and the other focusing on long-term sustained engagement. It further frames resilience cultivation in design education as a wicked problem in itself, characterised by the inherent complexity within …

Book Review: Transformational Teaching By Kenneth S. Coley, Deborah L. Maccullough, & Martha E. Maccullough: A Comprehensive Resource For Christian Educators, Michele S. Worley

Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This review of Transformational Teaching by Kenneth S. Coley, Deborah L. MacCullough, & Martha E. MacCullough examines the book as a Christian resource for educators. The book covers four main areas of education: foundational philosophy and learning theory, instructional design, learning community and semantics in discipline content structure in teaching. Each area is biblically founded and combines theory with real-world application and examples from Scripture. This invaluable resource equips current and prospective educators to blend faith with pedagogy and cultivate an individualized Christian worldview while pursuing instructional excellence.

The Feasibility Of A Single Educational Intervention To Improve Caregiver Confidence In Stroke Rehabilitation, Angelica Fedorchak, Jennifer E. Lape

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Caregivers play a critical role in providing support to stroke survivors during recovery, but they often face emotional, physical, and educational challenges that can lead to caregiver burden and burnout. Despite the significant impact education can have on caregivers, rehabilitation professionals in inpatient rehabilitation settings often struggle to provide comprehensive training due to time constraints and strict productivity standards. This feasibility study aimed to evaluate whether an individualized one-time caregiver education session, integrated into the discharge planning process, could enhance caregiver confidence and whether the necessary education could be practically integrated into the existing staffing, reimbursement, and organizational structure …

“Thrown To The Fire”: Exploring The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Education And Self-Efficacy In New Graduate Physical Therapists, Michael Furtado, Gregory Brusola, Dana Wild

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) education and practice, leading to emergency transitions to online learning and interruptions in clinical experiences across the United States. These disruptions raised concerns about their impact on new graduate DPTs' self-efficacy and professional readiness. The current issue addressed by this study is the effect of these disruptions on new graduate self-efficacy and confidence in their professional role. This mixed-method study aimed to assess the extent of clinical education disruption, evaluate its effects on self-efficacy, and explore the lived experiences of new graduate DPTs during the pandemic. Method: A survey …