Education Commons^™

Intersectionalities Of Systematic Barriers Set Upon Underrepresented Students In Stem: Capturing The Potential Benefits Of Online Modality, Raiyasha Aiyanna Paris

University Honors Theses

The prevalence of racism and microaggressions in STEM disciplines within colleges presents significant hurdles to the academic success and well-being of underrepresented students. Microaggressions, encompassing subtle biases and stereotyping, have a cumulative impact, inducing heightened stress, diminished motivation, and reduced self-efficacy among minority students, thereby impeding cognitive functioning and hindering academic progress (Ogunyemi et al., 2020). The existence of these negative emotional responses creates a less conducive learning environment for academic achievement. Additionally, structural inequalities within STEM institutions contribute to disparities in resource access, limited mentorship opportunities, and support networks crucial for success in STEM fields (Atkins et al., 2020). …

Latine Dual Language Bilingual Education Teachers' Work Experiences, Nelly Noemi Patiño Cabrera

Dissertations and Theses

Given the increasing concern about the scarcity of Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) teachers, it is crucial to understand the trends in teacher retention and attrition from the perspective of DLBE teachers themselves. DLBE teachers departing from their jobs imposes a significant burden on schools and students and affects the implementation of DLBE programs. To delve into this issue, this critical qualitative study focused on the work experiences of Latine K-5 Spanish/English DLBE teachers. Specifically, this study involved six participants divided into two groups of DLBE teachers in the teaching trajectory: three Latine K-5 Spanish/English DLBE teachers currently teaching in …

American Institution Of Public, K-12 Education: An Institutional Field Under A Complexity Paradigm, Jennifer Jean Joyalle

Dissertations and Theses

Institutional fields serve as foundational bedrocks that shape and govern behaviors, norms, and practices within distinct domains of societal and organizational interactions. The emergence of machine learning and the ability to manipulate large datasets offer researchers and decision makers the potential ability to model and visualize the behavior associated with institutional fields.

This proof of concept provides an example of visualizing the changing conditions in the institutional field of public K-12 education in America as a topology. By interweaving three primary strands of theory -- institutional fields, complexity in the guise of complex adaptive systems as a paradigm, and paradigms …

Behavior Training For Educators: What Training Do Educators Need To Support Students With Challenging Behaviors?, Michelle R. Milburn

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the behavioral training programs/frameworks and Professional Development (PD) delivery methods that certified staff - including teachers, speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, occupational therapists, and teachers on special assignment - as well as administrators, believe to be necessary to address the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students exhibiting challenging behaviors. This national study used survey methods to explore the views of US K-12 public school educators on the PD needed to support student behavior effectively. Using social media recruitment, primarily through Reddit and Facebook, allowed the survey to reach a substantially larger …

Psu Student Housing Insecurity Interim Report, Jacen Greene, Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative, Portland State University

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Project Background

This study on student housing insecurity and homelessness was funded as part of a HUD FY2023 Community Project Funding Opportunity awarded to Portland State University. Phase 1 of the study, which led to this report by PSU’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative (HRAC), includes a literature review; a summary of PSU student survey results; a description of PSU programs based on interviews with staff and administrators; an analysis of programs at other institutions; and a set of recommendations for better addressing student housing needs. Phase 2 of the study will include the results of a comprehensive …

In Favor Of Bringing Game Theory Into Urban Studies And Planning Curriculum: Reintroducing An Underused Method For The Next Generation Of Urban Scholars, Brian Mcdonald Gardner

Dissertations and Theses

By looking at some historical examples of Urban Studies literature and theory (and a detailed dive into Neil Smith's "Toward a theory of gentrification…") this thesis makes the case that Game Theory has valid insights to add to the foundation of Urban Studies and Planning and should be included in Masters and Doctorate level curriculums. As a discipline Game Theory has revolutionized multiple other fields, and can be used both mathematically and/or non-mathematically. It is postulated below that the inclusion of Game Theory would help scholars and practitioners arrive at better outcomes. This case is made by reviewing various areas …

Portland State And The Downtown Portland Plan - 50 Years Later With Ethan Seltzer, Ethan Seltzer

PDXPLORES Podcast

Fifty years ago, the City of Portland developed a plan for the downtown corridor with a radical vision of what a central city could be. The downtown we know today is the result of that plan. In this episode of PDXPLORES, Professor Emeritus Ethan Seltzer discusses the 1972 downtown plan and how Portland State evolved into an urban-serving university alongside the downtown corridor.

Click on the "Download" button to access the accompanying article Portland, Portland State, and the Urban University Idea.

Transcript for audio below as additional file.

Link to city archive documents

https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/oscdl_cityarchives/

Trailblazing Transformation: Pioneering Transformative Peacebuilding In Academic Labor Conflicts, Sam Frazier Hediger

Dissertations and Theses

Unionized contingent faculty in the United States face an increasingly difficult economic landscape in their labor-management conflicts with university administrations. These unions, comprised of graduate student employees and adjunct instructors, won significant victories for their members but have failed to shift the broader patterns of casualization, unsustainable compensation, and job precarity, stemming from the systemic debasement of higher education institutions and the American labor movement, both of which pose significant challenges to conventional conflict resolution strategies. To find a path forward, this thesis explores the nature and possibility of transforming of the academic labor conflict, using a transformative peacebuilding approach …

Theater Over Textbooks: How A Neuroscience Outreach Group Utilizing Art In S.T.E.M. Provides Cost-Effective Strategies In Tackling The United States Education Gap, Camden Grant Howard, William Griesar

University Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to summarize the relevant research for the evaluation of a S.T.E.A.M.-based, grassroots, neuroscience outreach group called 'NW Noggin'. This paper discusses the benefits and skills of S.T.E.M. in learning, the benefits and skills of S.T.E.A.M. in learning, educational disparities within the United States, educational outreach groups how they are currently assessed as well as more innovative arts-based and inquiry-based alternative assessments of student knowledge. This paper then focuses on the nonprofit NW Noggin to discuss their goals and activities and possible options for program assessment. This thesis also discusses how they fulfill their civic …

Collaboration And Evaluation In Urban Sustainability And Resilience Transformations: The Keys To A Just Transition?, Liliana Elizabeth Caughman

Dissertations and Theses

Climate has changed and will continue changing; city populations are swelling as urbanization continues to accelerate; extreme environmental events like heat waves and floods are becoming more severe and more common; and the climate justice movement is rapidly gaining momentum. It in this context that municipal governments find themselves urgently seeking solutions to transition cities from extractive, vulnerable, and unjust to sustainable, resilient, and equitable. The task is complex and will require systemic transformations across interconnected social, environmental, and economic infrastructures. Emerging theories regarding how to govern such massive changes suggest Transition Management strategies and the values of a just …

Re-Engaging Individual Capacities In Service Of Civic Capacity: A Model Of Holistic Civic Engagement Education For The University, Jane Gerald Carr

Dissertations and Theses

A healthy democracy requires active civic engagement. Effective civic involvement can be encouraged by education that helps students learn to respect diverging viewpoints and build skills such as critical thinking about policy frameworks. In higher education, we have seen progress in teaching for civic engagement despite pressures to focus narrowly on career preparation. However, it is important to build on this work in two ways. First, the noncognitive and holistic dimensions of civic engagement have not been thoroughly considered in designing civic education. Second, the field could reach its goals more effectively by adopting teaching strategies that directly help students …

Interview With Marvin Kaiser, Marvin Kaiser, Oona Fisher Campbell

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Marvin Kaiser was interviewed by Oona Fisher Campbell on May 15, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. Also participating in the interview are Patricia Schechter and Cleophas Chambliss.

In this interview, Kaiser, who has a background in social work, discusses the structural obstacles in our society that create conflict and emphasizes the role that the university and higher education in general can play as a community public service.

Interview With Rob Gould, Robert Gould, Alexandra Ibarra

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Rob Gould was interviewed by Alexandra Ibarra on May 18, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. Also participating in this interview are Patricia Schechter and Liza Schade.

In this interview, Gould recalls the origins of Conflict Resolution and peace studies at Portland State, relating the development of the program to changing cultural and political currents beginning in the 1960s, and rising interest in solutions and alternatives to conflict at all levels of interaction. He discusses the challenges the program faced as a fledgling department and as it grew, involving funding, collaboration with the University of Oregon and community organizations for peace, and …

Interview With Judith Ramaley, Judith A. Ramaley, Liza Julene Schade

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Judith Ramaley was interviewed by Liza Schade on May 22, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. Also participating in the interview are Patricia Schechter and Cleophas Chambliss.

In this interview, Dr. Ramaley discusses the issues at the forefront of her presidency in the 1990s, lessons learned from strategizing severe budget cuts that followed the passage of Measure 5 in 1990, ideas behind the new University Studies curriculum, and diversifying student and faculty demographics and creating safer and more inclusive university spaces.

Interview With Mary Zinkin, Mary Zinkin, Stephanie Vallance

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Mary Zinkin was interviewed by Stephanie Vallance on May 6, 2020. Also participating in the interview were Liza Schade and Lady J.

In this interview, Zinkin describes her own self-designed interdisciplinary graduate degrees in Conflict Resolution at Portland State and her influence in the creation of those degree programs at PSU. She discusses her academic work in the field of conflict mediation, and her view of the need for a professional, skills-based degree that blended theory and practice. She describes the logistics of getting the program off the ground, noting the development of curriculum, number of students, and the conversation …

Interview With Barbara Tint, Barbara Tint, Patricia A. Schechter

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Barbara Tint was interviewed by Patricia Schechter on May 29, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. Also participating in the interview are Alex Berg, Cleophas Chambliss, Oona Fisher Campbell, Jake Hutchins, Alex Ibarra, Lady J, Liza Schade, and Stephanie Vallance.

In this interview, Tint describes her path to academia through working as a counselor and with conflict resolution in a number of international settings. The discussion takes a theoretical turn when students inquired about the philosophical underpinnings of Tint's work.

The Role Of The Academic Analyst In Shared Governance, Rebecca Ann Mathern

Dissertations and Theses

This research explores the roles of academic professionals in higher education, specific to how they engage in decision-making processes. Academic professionals provide important functions in higher education work but there is little in the literature about these actors and their contributions to leadership and governance. A literature review triangulated role theory, organization theory, and the shared-governance field of study to bring together actors within higher education and compare their involvement based on the shared-governance model in operation at different institutions. The researcher introduced the hypothesis that when registrars are not involved in curriculum management, there may be negative effects on …

Metamorphosis Inside And Out: Transformative Learning At Portland State University, Vicki Reitenauer, Katherine Elaine Draper-Beard, Noah Schultz

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this article, the authors (a faculty member and two former students) describe the trajectory that Portland State University has taken over its history to institutionalize transformative learning opportunities within its comprehensive general education program, University Studies. Following a description of the institutional changes that resulted in the community-based, experientially focused courses at the heart of University Studies, the authors explore one particular community partnership involving both a state agency and the national Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, dedicated to offering transformative experiences in which incarcerated and non-incarcerated students learn together inside correctional facilities. Finally, each author shares a reflective essay …

Intersection: Orientation And Mobility As Interdisciplinary Conversation, Amy T. Parker, Prateek Dujari

PSU Transportation Seminars

Knowing where one wants to go and how to get there are essential life skills for all people. Community access and travel skills are not only important rites of passage for youth in becoming adults, they are linked to higher rates of employment and overall health. People who are blind and visually impaired (BVI) face challenges in accessing public transportation, yet studies have shown that with relevant orientation and mobility instruction, technology, and accessible design, vision loss need not preclude community travel.

Join PSU's Amy Parker and Intel's Prateek Dujari on the ways that knowledge from consumers and the field …

Equity And Inclusion: Expanding The Urban Ecosystem, Tia Brown Mcnair, Judith A. Ramaley

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

As our nation grows ever more diverse, the need to ensure that our educational institutions are truly equitable and inclusive becomes more and more urgent. This sense of urgency plays out across a social and political terrain that threatens the very core of our identity as a nation. Our growing diversity is seen by some as a threat to our national security and as the primary cause behind the displacements and angers being created by the ever growing differences that are dividing our country. Our authors see our growing diversity as a much needed and valued source of energy, creativity …

The Balancing Act: A Look At Dynamic School District Boundaries, Sheila Martin, Madison Levy

Metroscape

How do school districts throughout the Portland region respond to changes in student populations that cause overcrowding or under enrollment? In this article, we explore some of the key trends in school enrollment, describe the challenges faced by some of the districts in the region, and describe how different districts address those challenges.

Rubrics As A Foundation For Assessing Student Competencies: One Public Administration Program’S Creative Exercise, Billie Sandberg, Kevin Kecskes

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Since implementation of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) standards for accreditation in 2009, public administration programs have been developing programmatic competencies that reflect NASPAA’s universal standards. Likewise, myriad efforts have analyzed data related to student and program progress toward achievement of these competencies. This article adds to that conversation by recounting the approach to assessing competencies used in the Department of Public Administration at Portland State University. There, newly developed rubrics reflect each of the department’s 10 competencies to examine whether students are acquiring the desired knowledge and skills. This article discusses the development …

Graduate-Level Civil Engineering Transportation Course Development – Oregon Tech, Roger Lindgren, David Thaemert, Charles Riley

TREC Final Reports

Three civil engineering professors at the Oregon Institute of Technology (Oregon Tech) undertook a project during the 2014-15 academic year to develop a series of transportation-related graduate courses and to modernize Oregon Tech’s Traffic Engineering Laboratory. Courses were developed in the areas of transportation water resources, transportation structures and traffic engineering. At the completion of this project, Oregon Tech is now capable of increasing the number of students educated in three key civil engineering sub-disciplines that are directly related to transportation. This project, therefore, contributes to all three U.S. Department of Transportation University Transportation Center (UTC) purpose statements: Advance transportation …

Webinar: Investigations In Transportation: Partnering Industry Professionals And Elementary Teachers In A Stem Unit Of Study, Carol Biskupic Knight

TREC Webinar Series

Investigations in Transportation was an elementary school partnership and curriculum development project, engaging STEM professionals in school-based design projects.

Fifth-grade students in two Oregon communities teamed up with transportation professionals from ODOT to redesign their school parking lots, resulting in better traffic flow and increased capacity. The immersive learning experience received overwhelmingly positive feedback from students, teachers and administrators.

This webinar will demonstrate how the Portland Metro STEM Partnership was facilitated to bring transportation education into elementary school classrooms, offering students unparalleled access to STEM professionals working in their communities and to real-world applications of engineering principles.

The Use Of Anti-Bullying Policies To Protect Lgbt Youth: Teacher And Administrator Perspectives On Policy Implementation, Michelle Lauren Holliday

Dissertations and Theses

Although in recent years there has been increased attention on bullying prevention and bullying legislation in the United States, there is limited research on the implementation of anti-bullying policies. Moreover, few studies have addressed the use of anti-bullying policies to protect LGBT youth from bullying. The present study seeks to examine the role of anti-bullying policies as a means to protect against bullying based on perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. Qualitative interviews with high school teachers, administrators, and staff members within an urban school district in the United States were conducted to gain insight into how those charged with …

Multimodal Transportation Planning Curriculum For Urban Planning Programs, Kristine M. Williams, Tia Claridge, Alexandria Carroll

TREC Final Reports

Integrated multimodal transportation and land use planning is critical to advancing mode choice, public health and safety, and livability objectives. Communities across the U.S. are seeking to redefine their planning process accordingly. In response, university graduate urban planning and engineering programs are beginning to address multimodal planning and sustainable transportation, but most do not yet offer a robust curriculum on these topics. To help address this need, the University of South Florida (USF), Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) developed a curriculum for a course on multimodal transportation planning and its role in advancing livability and related objectives. The course …

Advanced Gis: Smart Transportation, Christopher Bone, Ken Kato, Jacob Bartruff, Marc Schlossberg

TREC Final Reports

As sensors have become cheaper and more common, they have found an increasingly important role in transportation. However, curriculum to prepare students who will be working with these technologies as developers and planners has not developed at the same rate. The goal of this project was to develop a college course focused around sensors and smart transportation to be offered to undergrad and graduate students at the University of Oregon. The class focused on the practical application and the theoretical consequences of these developments. The class was offered in the spring term of 2015 to a group of undergraduate and …

Collaboration In An Era Of Change: New Forms Of Community Problem-Solving, Judith A. Ramaley

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Campuses are developing new ways to respond to complex social, cultural, economic and environmental problems by adapting their educational approaches and their scholarship to address a changing world order. At the same time, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and businesses are embracing collaborative approaches to community problem-solving. These collaborative approaches, on and off campus, are creating new forms of university-community engagement that will require us to rethink the nature of the societal roles we play and how we generate knowledge, create an inspiring educational environment, and assist our students in acquiring the knowledge and skills they will need to work effectively …

Star Academics: Do They Garner Increasing Returns?, James Jeffrey Kline

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the criteria which help academics receive National Institute of Health funds (NIH). The study covers 3,092 NIH recipients and non-recipients in the same department or institute at twenty-four universities. The universities are drawn from those below the top twenty in terms of receipt of NIH funds. With regards to performance, non- recipients have lower performance than recipients. A key determinant of the receipt of NIH funds is individual performance, as measured by the number of articles published and average citations per article in the two years immediately prior to the grant application. Professors receive more NIH money …

Webinar: Transportation Academy: Lessons From The Portland Traffic And Transportation Course, Nathan Mcneil

TREC Webinar Series

Community involvement and outreach is an important part of any planning effort, but as planners often find, many times the conversation is a difficult one to carry on. Residents may lack the technical knowledge to understand the intricacies of the system, or they may show skepticism toward the planning process in general. “Transportation Leadership Education,” a NITC education project, offers a guide for communities to stimulate the development of a more involved, educated citizenry.

The Portland Traffic and Transportation course is taught each year to 30-40 Portland residents who want to learn more about how the local transportation system developed …