Education Commons^™

Perspectives On Movement In The Classroom And Strategies That Keep Students Engaged, Darley Desormo

Honors College Theses

Within this study, the question of “what are teachers’ rationale for incorporating kinesthetic learning in the elementary classroom '' will be addressed. The purpose of this study is to gain insight from elementary teachers’ perceptions and their rationale on the use of movement-based learning in the classroom. To examine further into this research, interviews were conducted. Participants of the study were elementary classroom teachers. During seven online meetings, the researcher interviewed using consistent guiding questions asking elementary teachers about their implementation and rationale of movement-based learning in their classroom experiences. The researcher also asked questions to gain an understanding of …

Teaching Creativity In Standards-Based Classrooms: The Impact Of Personal Creative Writing To Teachers’ Perceptions Of Creativity In The Classroom, Katie Jones

Honors College Theses

Creative writing is rarely highlighted in public classrooms, yet it may be the key to development for both students and teachers. Due to restrictions such as time limitations, personal experience, pressures of testing, and more, teachers find creativity intimidating to teach. The Deep Center in Savannah, GA, a site of the National Writing Project, offers an intensive 10-day program for teachers that encompasses writing, creativity, and community. This qualitative case study utilizes the context of the Deep Center’s Writing Project as a background to analyze participants' perceptions of creativity in their classrooms and their own personal engagement in creative writing. …

Survey On Current Interventions For Childhood Problem Behavior And Their Link To Future Criminal Behavior, Jada N. Stevens

Honors College Theses

Criminal behavior is a prevalent concern for many communities. As such, researchers and clinicians often look for core causes of criminal behavior to address them early. Some theorize that childhood problem behavior is a common predictor of adult criminal behavior. As a result, emphasis is often placed on addressing childhood problem behavior early in order to prevent future criminal behavior. The current study explores the link between childhood problem behavior and adult criminal behavior. Specifically, we will look at how middle school teachers are addressing childhood problem behavior and how that relates to future predictions of criminal behavior. Data will …

Executive Function & Self-Regulation In Preschool Age Children: Mindfulness Intervention, Larissa Lamarca

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Executive function is an umbrella term used in psychology to define a number of cognitive processes that are important for success in daily life. Both self-awareness, being able to focus one’s thoughts and behavior, and self-regulation, being able to manage emotional and behavioral responses, are important components of executive function. Between three- and five-years of age, children begin developing such skills rapidly which are necessary for school readiness. This study recruited children participants from four local preschools to test for improvement in attention and self-regulatory skills. Two schools completed a mindful yoga activity for five consecutive days, while a second …

Relationship Between School Climate And Student Achievement In Middle Schools, Brad Boykin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Administrators are charged with making decisions and implementing strategies to improve a school’s climate and student achievement. Because school climate and student achievement are interrelated, it would benefit administrators to understand which areas of school climate have the greatest impact on student achievement. The State of Georgia measures school climate and achievement with its school accountability measure, College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). This study employed a quantitative research design using archival data from CCRPI over two years to examine the relationship between school climate and student achievement. The researcher used Pearson’s r correlation and multiple regression analysis to …

A Paradox Of Fact And Fiction: Cultivating The 'Literary Imagination' Through Quiet Rebellion, Eden A. Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation explores the problems that patterned and processed teaching and learning poses for implementing principles of critical pedagogy in English Literature courses. I apply multiple theoretical frameworks including literary theory, critical theory and post-humanism to place my own experiences amidst the on-going conversations about standardization and democracy. I draw upon the work of educational theorists such as Maxine Greene, Martha Nussbaum, Louise Rosenblatt, and Mary Aswell Doll to explore the ways that literature can enrich students’ lives and society, and Geneva Gay and Lisa Delpit to explore how cultural bias regarding linguistics can function when teaching literature and language …

The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Resilience Through The Eyes Of Transition, Andrew J. Dies

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the role that Adverse Childhood Experiences play in the lives of today’s college students and how Protective Factors can be integrated and enhanced to increase a student’s level of Resilience. This descriptive, causal-comparative quantitative study looked at participants’ levels of Resilience, what Adverse Childhood Experiences they entered college with, and what role Protective Factors played in mitigating the impacts of those Adverse Childhood Experiences on the levels of Resilience. Results indicated older students scored a higher Resilience score than their younger counterparts. Goal efficacy had the strongest effect on Resilience levels, while planning and goal efficacy …

Understanding And Enacting Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy Through Multicultural Children's Literature: A Case Study Of Preservice Teachers In Georgia, Heather M. Huling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored how preservice teachers understand culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) and used multicultural children’s literature (MCL) as a way of enacting CSP in their field placement experiences. This qualitative study utilized the theoretical framework of culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris & Alim, 2017) and a single case study design (Stake, 1995; Yin, 2018) to explore five preservice teachers’ understanding and perceptions of CSP and its enactment in the classroom through MCL during their final student teaching semester in their hometowns. Data collected through lesson plans, literature lists, video recordings, and semi-structured interviews and then inductively coded through holistic coding and …

The Relationship Between Academic Advising And Students' Completion Of Corequisite Gateway Courses, Michael P. Moran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This bivariate correlational quantitative study sought to determine how variables predicted students’ course outcomes in first-year English and mathematics courses within a corequisite learning support model. Course outcomes were defined dichotomously on a successful completion or unsuccessful completion basis. The participants of this study included those who initially attempted first-year English (n = 2,055) and mathematics (n = 2,843) course(s) in a corequisite learning support model for the first time between Fall 2018 and Spring 2022 and were assigned as advisees to the professional academic advisors in the centralized advising model. The examined predictors were students’ frequency of sessions, length …

Promoting The Positive: A Case Study Of The Influence Of School Climate On One Turnaround School From 2016-2022, Cynthia Gunner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Schools across the country are finding various means to address the social realities that often exist in high poverty schools. School climate is one of those social realities. While there is research related to school climate in high poverty schools, there are limited case studies related to this subject. This qualitative case study examined how one elementary school was transformed by creating a positive school climate between 2016-2022. This study also explored the impact that the pandemic and subsequent school lockdown had on the newly established school climate. Findings from this study indicated that PF Elementary School established a positive …

Exploring A Culturally Relevant/Responsive/Sustaining Third Grade Social Studies Curriculum: An Ethnographic Inquiry, Lucia Benzor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an ethnographic inquiry in which I explore the third-grade social studies curriculum in my classroom, specifically using culturally relevant/responsive/sustaining pedagogy and students’ funds of knowledge (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) and their learning interests to teach the Native American unit to promote their academic achievement in, cultural competence and critical consciousness for, the histories of the United States. It was my own miseducation about the history of the United States and its Indigenous Peoples, as well as my own lack of knowledge of my Indigenous ancestors from Mexico, that I became passionate about exploring this topic. Theoretically, …

Assessing The Fidelity Of School-Level Professional Learning Community Implementation, William W. Thigpen Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

As schools face increasing accountability, many have turned to professional learning communities (PLCs) as a possible solution. The challenge is that many schools are not implementing PLCs with fidelity. It is imperative that school leaders assess PLC practices to ensure that critical components are being implemented effectively. This research provides a framework for school leaders to assess school leader, teacher, and support staff perceptions of various PLC dimensions. Descriptive statistics were used to determine levels of agreement with statements related to six PLC dimensions. A one-way univariate analysis of variance tests (ANOVA) was used to analyze differences in mean …

Supports And Services To Improve Academic Success Of High School Student Athletes, Samuel G. Nichols

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether supports and services offered in various study hall programs (Traditional, Objective Based, and/or Objective Based +) at the high school level to help student athletes be academically successful in terms of achieving a minimum GPA of 2.0 or above. Basketball programs were used for this study because it is a major sport in the school district in which the data were collected. Data were sought via questionnaires of chosen participants via convenience sampling from eight eligible high school athletic directors in one school district in Georgia. This study called for the …

Middle Savannah River: An A/R/Tographic Ecopedagogical Ethnography Experimenting With Rhizomatic Perspectives, Lisa Augustine-Chizmar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research is an experiment in perspective. Using the four commonplaces (Schwab, 1978), I practiced letting the Savannah River teach me what there is to know about the water, the land, the people, and the other entities that depend on ki through artistic, ethnographic, and ecopedagogical lenses. The ethnographic findings describe the social actors that depend on ki and give a voice to the River. The a/r/tographic findings display the River on a canvas map through two hundred years using paint, clay, photography, video, abstract acrylics, and fabric. Together, these methods contribute to a unique ecopedagogical journey. This word cloud …

Using The Cipp Model Of Evaluation On A Health Disparities Curriculum Delivered To Medical Residents In 12 Residency Programs, Gauri K. Shevatekar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Although the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has provided educational directives on health disparities education during residency program for the medical residents, there is paucity of curricula focused on disparities education within the graduate medical education.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a Health Disparities Curriculum (HDC) that was delivered to twelve residency programs at a College of Medicine.

Methodology: The study employed a cross-sectional study design. Stufflebeam’s Context-Input-Process-Product (CIPP) model was utilized as theoretical framework to assess whether the curriculum achieved its stated goals and objectives, the teaching and learning processes, and the …

The Relationship Of Academic Integration To College Persistence For Female Military-Affiliated Students, Terezia A. Dean

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While the field of female military-affiliated student-specific research is growing, understanding the compounding challenges of these dynamic students through their different identities is necessary to support them in their academic endeavors. This quantitative study examined the relationship between academic integration and college persistence for female military-affiliated students at a four-year research institution. This study intended to understand the relationship between pre-entry attributes of female military-affiliated students and the likelihood of stop out and dropout. Having data from a diverse population of ages, branches, and ethnicities paints a picture detailing the many pre-entry attributes than can decrease the likelihood of persistence. …

Sense Of Belonging On A Consolidated Campus: A Mixed Methods Exploration Of Student Perceptions, Amy D. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the extent to which a subset of students who matriculated post-consolidation at the Armstrong Campus of Georgia Southern University felt they belong at their institution. Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, this study used a survey to examine general feelings of belonging and the influencing factors for belonging while presenting individual narratives collected from semi-structured interviews for eight students’ experiences. The data collected in this study revealed that significant differences exist in critical factors of sense of belonging based on race, gender, and LGBTQ+ identity. Additionally, data showed the importance of academic, social, and campus-community belonging …

Predicting Online Course Success From Usage Of An Online Tutoring System, Brett Miles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As online learning continues to grow in higher education, quality online support services must also be offered in order to meet the needs of online students. This study sought to investigate the relationship between the use of an outsourced online tutoring system and course success in select University System of Georgia eCore introductory online gateway courses to determine the extent of the relationship between tutoring usage and course success. The researcher employed logistic regression analysis to determine if using online tutoring increased the students’ probability for course success. Further, the researcher also studied the amount of usage to understand if …

Strengthening The Academic Progress Of Students Within Multi-Tiered Systems Of Support, Leslie Dial

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Leadership in education is thinking, communicating, and modeling to maximize student growth and achievement. This quantitative research study explored how leadership can strengthen the academic progress of students within Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). When implementation of MTSS is guided by adaptive school leadership, educators will be prepared, communication will occur, interventions will be established, and data will be evaluated. Adaptive leaders who build efficacy will ensure fidelity and continuous improvement of student achievement.

Survey research was conducted to analyze the operational level of MTSS regarding the domains of Leadership, Building Capacity for Instruction, Communication and Collaboration, Data-Based Problem-Solving, Tiered …

Educator Perceptions Of Self-Efficacy And Preparedness To Work In High Poverty Schools, Kristen Carroll

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The school leader and teacher have the greatest impact on student success. The level of self-efficacy and level of preparedness is of the utmost importance for educators and students alike. This study investigated the perceptions of educators in the belief of whether they were adequately prepared to teach in a high poverty school. The participants, educators from four school districts, completed a survey based on their perceptions of their own level of self-efficacy and preparedness to work in high poverty schools. The results of this study are aimed at impacting educator preparedness to better understand how to best support …

Examining Second-Year Retention: Student Perceptions Of Campus Resources For Sophomores, Theresa Rose Duggar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the perceptions sophomore students at one public, southeastern doctoral research university had regarding campus resources and the potential impact on their decision to remain enrolled. Using a transcendental phenomenological approach, the researcher conducted individual semi-structured interviews to identify resources four students perceived to have played a role in their retention choices. In addition to the data collected from the student experiences, a review of social media and the student newspaper was conducted. An analysis revealed two themes that impacted students’ decisions: faculty and staff relationships and academic and co-curricular involvement. Findings align with the current literature, …

For Black Girls, By Black Girls: Examining The Experiences Of Black Women In Historically White Learning Spaces And Reimagining Spaces With Our Needs In Mind, Florence Takeshia Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the experiences of Black women in historically white learning spaces and our needs in reimaged learning spaces developed for us. The conceptual framework for this study was Black Feminist Thought, critical geography, and Afrofuturism. Using sister circle methodology, participants discussed the simultaneous racialized and gendered experiences that Black women navigate in learning spaces and how technology and Afrofuturism could be beneficial in creating spaces for Black women. Despite our achievements in academic spaces, Black women experience microaggressive environments that have traumatic impacts on our psychological health and our overall experiences in learning environments. Our successes are acts …