Digital Commons Network^™

Translating Embodied Cognition For Embodied Learning In The Classroom, Sheila L. Macrine, Jennifer M.B. Fugate

Faculty and Staff Publications

In this perspective piece, we briefly review embodied cognition and embodied learning. We then present a translational research model based on this research to inform teachers, educational psychologists, and practitioners on the benefits of embodied cognition and embodied learning for classroom applications. While many teachers already employ the body in teaching, especially in early schooling, many teachers’ understandings of the science and benefits of sensorimotor engagement or embodied cognition across grades levels and the content areas is little understood. Here, we outline seven goals in our model and four major “action” steps. To address steps 1 and 2, we recap …

Creating Something Out Of Nothing: Enacting Critical Civic Engagement In Urban Classrooms, Jon Schmidt

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

Critical civic engagement (CCE) is a pedagogical framework for civic education in urban settings. CCE as a pedagogical approach engages student lived experience, develops critical thinking, and facilitates informed civic action projects. In this phenomenological study of teachers in four urban high schools in a large urban school district, the author seeks to understand how teachers experience the enactment of CCE elements in schools with majority African American or Latinx student populations. The author argues that CCE practices can and should lead to the development of civic identity as a critical outcome for students in contrast to more formal measures …

On The Road To Translanguaging In A Dual Language Classroom: Teaching Math And Science In Mandarin And English, Xiaodi Zhou

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This article examines the evolving instructional practice of one Chinese dual language instructor in the US as she employs a translanguaging-inspired approach in her math and science Mandarin medium classes. Contrary to the school language allocation policy requiring 90% Mandarin in her Chinese classes, she encourages the utilization of English as well as Mandarin in her instruction. This offers comprehensible input to learners, also making possible greater student participation. Findings from observations and interviews reveal how a focus on meaning-making in instruction resulted in the gradual evolution of bilingual language use and effective communication of content by students and the …

The Show Must Go On: Challenges, Questions, And Pedagogical Pivots In Response To Covid-19, Patrick S. De Walt

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

On March 18, 2020, many universities and university systems had or were in their initial stages of transitioning to virtual teaching as a result of COVID-19. This transition had varied effects on all aspects of the university community. This paper explores this transition through the teaching experiences of a tenure-track professor during the pandemic. The examination of six sections of a capstone undergraduate course over the course of three semesters was conducted. Through self-reflection, many of the challenges faced shifting from face-to-face to a virtual environment were discussed. Among some of the challenges and limitations experienced when teaching nontraditional and/or …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 5, Issue 2, Fall 2021

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full Fall 2021 issue (Volume 5, Issue 2) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Crisis, Rupture And Structural Change: Re-Imagining Global Learning And Engagement While Staying In Place During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Shruti Rana, Hamid Ekbia

Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented closures of national borders and the withdrawal of much of the social and cultural activities of society into the walls of the home. For us, educators focused on global engagement and analyzing international law and society, the abrupt retreat into the shelter of domestic walls disrupted the very subjects we were studying-inside and outside the classroom. In the pandemic 's first wave, most study abroad and international experiential programs were cancelled indefinitely, and the programs that continued had to operate in an environment of social distancing and uncertainty. We were forced to scramble to …

Critical Interviewing, Laila L. Hlass, Lindsay M. Harris

Utah Law Review

Critical lawyering—also at times called rebellious, community, and movement lawyering—attempts to further social justice alongside impacted communities. While much has been written about the contours of this form of lawyering and case examples illustrating core principles, little has been written about the mechanics of teaching critical lawyering skills. This Article seeks to expand critical lawyering theory, and in doing so, provide an example of a pedagogical approach to teaching what we term “critical interviewing.” Critical interviewing means using an intersectional lens to collaborate with clients, communities, interviewing partners, and interpreters in a legal interview. Critical interviewers identify and take into …

The Power Of Voice: Using Audio Podcasts To Teach Vocal Performance And Digital Communication, Amanda Hill

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Today’s students often speak through mediated technologies. Thus, understanding how nonverbal cues impact meaning-making is key to understanding effective communication across mediums. This case study explores a group project where students created audio podcasts to teach others about a specific aspect of communication studies while considering the way sound and vocal performance affect the transference of the message. This article examines the use of audio podcasts as a vehicle for teaching university students about the power of paralinguistic and chronemic nonverbal behaviors.

When The Teacher Is The Token: Moving From Antiblackness To Antiracism, Manya C. Whitaker

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

In this reflective essay I uncover the difficulties Black teacher educators have instructing a predominately white preservice student body about antiblackness without becoming complicit in antiblackness. So often we focus on students as the token representative of their racial/gender/sexual/linguistic identity; however, we teacher educators are also routinely the “only” in a room of white faces, often as students’ first Black professor. We therefore bear the burden of introducing students to whiteness while wondering if our Blackness is being viewed in opposition to, despite, or because of whiteness. How do I convince them of their future students’ humanity without sacrificing my …

Mapping A Language(S) Journey In Science; From Learning Biology To Teaching Biology: An Autoethnography, Primani S. Fernando, Maria Gindidis Dr, Rebecca Cooper Dr.

The Qualitative Report

This paper focuses on my experience as an English as an Additional Language (EAL) student in the context of multiple emigrations and investigates the formation of my identity as an EAL science student, science Education researcher, and science teacher. The study was guided by both my innate curiosity and the research question that sought to explore which factors significantly affected my journey of developing my English language and science knowledge based on my experience as an EAL student. The second and third authors acted as critical friends to provide a layer of reliability to the study. Within the autoethnography methodology …

An Introduction To The Culturally Responsive Education Model (Crem): A Personal And Professional Journey To Reflective And Transformative Pedagogy, Monica R. Manns

Virginia English Journal

The Culturally Responsive Education Model (CREM) is a framework by which educators can recognize, digest, and implement cultural responsiveness in their classrooms and school communities. Based on the research of James Banks, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Zaretta Hammond, Marva Collins, Bell Hooks, Geneva Gay, James Comer, and Paulo Freire, the CREM serves as a tool, a practitioner’s guide to culturally responsive teaching and learning, with specific focus on content integration (the curricular and programmatic expansion to celebrate and acknowledge the contributions of diverse groups); knowledge construction (helping students understand how people create beliefs based on their diverse biographies while validating students’ funds …

Incorporating Black Voices And Perspectives Into U.S. History Curricula Within Small, Rural Midwestern Schools, Jay Ryan Lawler Jr

Theses and Dissertations

In the highly polarized American political climate, teachers are facing immense pressure from legislators, community members and administration that impacts their decisions regarding what and how to teach certain topics perceived as controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which public high school teachers in small, rural Illinois schools incorporated Black voices and perspectives into their curricula to meet the requirements set out by the Illinois General Assembly in HB 0246. This study also aimed to understand what pedagogical methods are used when incorporating those voices and perspectives, along with the challenges that accompany teaching …

Understanding International And Domestic Student Expectations Of Peers, Faculty, And University: Implications For Professional Communication Pedagogy, Linda R. Macdonald, Binod Sundararajan

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Increasing populations of international students are entering Canadian universities, and instructors of Professional Communication must rapidly adapt to a changing student population. At the studied Maritime Canadian university, numbers of international students increased by 300% between 2009 and 2013. These numbers necessitate a review of our pedagogical approach to ensure student learning, success, and satisfaction in Professional Communication classrooms. Student expectations are linked to their satisfaction and, therefore, retention. We know little about the expectations incoming international students have of the university, their Canadian peers, and their instructors. We also know little about the reciprocal expectations held by domestic students …

Multilingual Writers In The Mexican Sociocultural Context: Towards Improved Pedagogical Practices In The U.S., Virginia Locastro

Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization

Currently, the education of Latina/o students in the United States for higher education and future careers comprises multiple moving parts. As the U.S. educational system, in particular the Pre-K-12 years of schooling, struggles despite efforts to address the needs of all students, both native English speakers as well as English language learners (ELLs), to better prepare them to enter institutions of tertiary education and succeed in careers, various organizations and consortiums articulate more rigorous educational standards (WIDA and the Common Core Standards as two examples). These recent proposals focus on academic literacy skills, in particular on reading and writing skills …

Coalition And Creativity On The Bridges And Fringes With Immigrant Student-Contributors In Nonprofit Adult Education, Katherine E. Entigar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The nonprofit education of adult immigrants is an under-researched aspect of U.S. education. Adult immigrants, often perceived as passive and quiescent, bring voices and contributions to learning in powerful yet unheard ways. This research agenda invokes a new critical lens in education scholarship to uplift and center these contributions as a coalitional, dialogical project. Drawing upon critical sociocultural, women of color feminist, and poststructual theories, critical intersectional epistemology, and Bakhtinian dialogical thinking, this research project pursues inductive, recursive meaning making as an innovative exploration. A multiphase, sequential study including surveys and two focus groups foregrounds the complex, fluid ways adult …

Rethinking Thinking About Thinking: Against A Pedagogical Imperative To Cultivate Metacognitive Skills, Lauren R. Alpert

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In summaries of “best practices” for pedagogy, one typically encounters enthusiastic advocacy for metacognition. Some researchers assert that the body of evidence supplied by decades of education studies indicates a clear pedagogical imperative: that if one wants their students to learn well, one must implement teaching practices that cultivate students’ metacognitive skills.

In this dissertation, I counter that education research does not impose such a mandate upon instructors. We lack sufficient and reliable evidence from studies that use the appropriate research design to validate the efficacy of metacognitive skill-building interventions (not just evaluate their relationship to learning outcomes). I argue …

Pedagogically Reclaiming Marx’S Politics In The Postdigital Age: Social Formations And Althusserian Pedagogical Gestures, Derek R. Ford

Education Studies Faculty publications

This paper builds on marxist postdigital literature by first by clarifying what a ‘mode of production’ is, what the capitalist mode of production is, and how, why, and on what technological foundations it emerged. This leads into a discussion of these technological foundations and their relationship to production, knowledge, research, and subjectivity; in other words, the ‘general intellect’. At this point I move from discussing modes of production to social formations or socio-economic formations, and I show why social formations are more helpful to conceptualize the political and pedagogical struggle in the era of postdigital capitalism (and any capitalism) as …

Re-Conceptualizing Inclusive Pedagogy In Practice In Higher Education, Marcia P. Livingston-Galloway, Andree Robinson-Neal

Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning for Christians in Higher Education

Twenty-first-century classrooms are becoming increasingly culturally, ethnically, and racially diverse and are looking more and more like microcosms. Consequently, students and some educational stakeholders are demanding the inclusion of race, culture, justice, and equality in the curricula and pushing the envelope for more inclusive pedagogy. Central to the concept of inclusive pedagogy are the values of fairness and equity. Proponents of inclusive pedagogy have indicated that numerous variables influence pedagogy, particularly inclusive pedagogy. These values have elicited concerns throughout the educational system regarding how instructors and facilitators serve all learners academic needs in their academies. However, there is no consensus …

Discourses Of Diversity: A Qualitative Case Study Of World Language Pedagogies Through An Intersectional Lens, Sheri Dion

Doctoral Dissertations

Schools are becoming more linguistically and racially diverse in K-12 settings, yet there is relatively little research that explores how language teachers incorporate student and community diversities in their pedagogies. Situated at one, northeastern public secondary school in the United States, this research offers a qualitative case study of language pedagogies through an intersectional lens to investigate the mechanisms and contexts through which inequities arise. Data is collected from the following sources: teacher interviews, classroom observations, teachers’ syllabi, and student de-identified work. This study employs intersectionality (Collins & Bilge, 2016; Crenshaw, 1989, 2010) as a primary theoretical lens and critical …

Pedagogy Or Andragogy?: Which Teaching Method Produces Successful Esl Tutoring That Involves Musical Activities?, Julia Cormack

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Considering the connections between music and language, as well as Chi et al.’s (2001) theory, this thesis introduces an original case study investigation: which teaching method, pedagogy or andragogy, will be most effective in one-on-one ESL tutoring sessions that use music as source material? The term pedagogy often describes the art and science of teaching. However, its Greek roots refer to the method of the teacher leading the classroom. Meanwhile, andragogy describes a teaching method where the teacher engages with the students in the learning and leading; Greek for “leader of man,” andragogy most often refers to teaching adults. To …

Ñe Juon Enaaj Jeḷā Kōkḷaḷ Eban Peḷọk: Teaching Marshallese Immigrants, Riley Post

Honors Projects

Under the Compact of the Free Association (1983) treaties, Marshallese immigrants are free to live and work indefinitely without visas; however, American schools and educators have not been equipped with data and resources that can be used to address the cultural and linguistic diversity of their new neighbors. Therefore, the research question considers which resources and practices can help Marshallese immigrants succeed academically within the American education system. The findings, supplemented by the perspectives of local Marshall Islanders, suggest that educators need increased awareness of important cultural differences and further develop their cultural competency. Language teachers in particular may also …

Engaging Elementary Students Of Color In Culturally Relevant Teaching, Hilary S. O'Neill

Masters Projects

The United States population has and is continuing to become more diverse. This is evident in our country’s schools as there is an increasing number of students of color in our classrooms. The problem is that national standardized assessment data shows students of color perform significantly lower than their white peers across all content areas. Numerous factors have been studied as possible reasons for the persisting gap. This project focuses on some of the in-school contributing factors, such as teacher diversity, inadequate curriculum, and the lack of diversity found in curriculum and children’s literature. As the gap in achievement has …

Southern United States English As A Rhetorical Device In The Field Of Marketing: A Study And Implications For Business Writing Pedagogy, Megan Jacklynn Busch

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation project, I examine how professionals in the South use their Southern United States English (SUSE) to communicate in business situations. My goals are to (1) understand how regional language variety rhetorically shapes writtenprofessional communication and (2) establish a pedagogical framework for business writing that attunes to the nuances of language variation in the workplace. I hypothesize that speakers of SUSE implement regional dialects to form interpersonal business connections and build ethos and that SUSE has a significant rhetorical role to place in professional communications. To test this hypothesis, I develop a hybrid method of interviewing, discourse analysis, …

Catholics & Cultures As An Act Of Improvisation: A Response, Thomas M. Landy

Journal of Global Catholicism

This essay responds to seven articles published in the same issue of the Journal of Global Catholicism on the use of Catholics & Cultures, a multimedia website, as a pedagogical resource for college classrooms. The site is deliberately presented in a fashion that undermines notions of center and periphery and presents Catholicism from a lay, lived-religion perspective as the multicultural faith that it is, minimizing reference to religious typologies. Particular attention is given to how to navigate tensions around theorizing, categorizing and sorting information for cross-cultural comparison. Given scholars’ current state of knowledge, writing about and teaching about global Catholicism …

Catholics & Cultures: A Panoramic View In Search Of Greater Understanding, Stephanie M. Wong

Journal of Global Catholicism

While internet-based technologies can open up greater awareness of the world or create self-perpetuating echo-chambers, the Catholics & Cultures project aspires to do the former. Aiming to ‘widen the lens’ on the variety of Catholic communities and practices, the site delivers on this goal by introducing viewers to a vast array of articles, pictures and videos from around the world. The organization of the site by country and by certain key features of lived Catholicism offers some interpretive guidance. However, the project could be strengthened as a pedagogical resource if it were more extensively thematized and hosted reflections on potential …

The Value Of Online Resources: Reflections On Teaching An Introduction To Global Christianity, Hillary Kaell

Journal of Global Catholicism

Reflecting on my experience teaching Introduction to Global Christianity, this essay ponders questions at the heart of undergraduate teaching: How can we encourage students to utilize online sources? How can we empower them to seek out answers to their questions? It offers practical examples of how I have used the Catholics & Cultures website in my classroom at a large public university. In particular, I reflect on my experience working with students who are mostly of Catholic heritage, but from many cultural and social contexts.

Teaching Sexuality On The Catholics & Cultures Website: A Refreshing Turn Toward The Longue Durée, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

I present a close reading of the Catholics & Cultures (C&C) website’s treatment of sexuality-related issues and discuss this material in relation to debates about how to teach sexuality in religious studies and theology classrooms. The C&C website occasionally and intermittently uses a typical “contemporary issues” approach that considers sexuality in relation to legal and legislative decisions and government policies. In contrast, country profiles consistently situate sexuality in relation processes like nation building, urbanization, and lay Catholics’ growing authority. My interpretation highlights the site’s decision to emphasize the longue durée, long-term and deep structural processes driving cultural and religious changes. …

Focus On The Busy Intersections Of Culture And Cultural Change, Laura Elder

Journal of Global Catholicism

The dynamics of religious resurgence reveal the important ways that religious ritual and performance are meaning making spaces which are not self-contained or cut off from the rest of culture, but rather are a key locus of cultural change. A renewed emphasis on the busy intersections of meaning making – as rituals are connected, disconnected, and reconnected to other domains of social life – would improve the utility of the Catholics & Cultures website for understanding global cultural change. And a renewed emphasis on cultural change would also provide a better means for exploring reflexively by seeking to understand both …

A Widened Angle Of View: Teaching Theology And Racial Embodiment, Mara Brecht

Journal of Global Catholicism

Today’s undergraduate students are digital natives, shaped by constant access to information and countless experiences of encountering the world through the convenience of a screen. The ostensible comfort students have with difference gives way to a paradox, and one that’s made especially apparent in the theology classroom: Students are comfortable with seeing difference and particularity at a distance, but not adept at locating difference and particularity “at home.” I contend that Catholics & Cultures can help students from the dominant culture—namely, white students who comprise the vast majority of Catholic college students—destabilize their notion of the Catholic tradition as tightly …

Toward An Erotics Of Reading: Three Hypotheses On Pleasure From Barthes's "The Pleasure Of The Text", C. Connor Syrewicz

Journal of Creative Writing Studies

In this paper, I argue that it would be pedagogically useful to investigate the psychological processes which lead readers to like and dislike texts, and I offer an initial set of hypotheses on the pleasures of reading which can be gleaned from Roland Barthes’s short monograph, The Pleasure of the Text. I begin by briefly addressing the origins of this research before I discuss the concept of writing “expertise” as it has been conceptualized by other fields of writing research. I argue that understanding those factors which lead different audiences to like or dislike texts as they read could …