Education Commons^™

Stretching The Circle: First-Generation College Students Navigate Their Educational Journey, Nicole Zervas Adsitt

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation is a qualitative study that explores how first-generation college students experienced their educational journey in a private four-year institution of higher education. Using data from in depth interviews with 19 first generation college students from three private four year institutions, this study looked at how participants made sense of race, class, gender, and Socioeconomic Status (SES) as it intersects with their first-generation status as part of their lived experience within a private educational setting. It also examined how first-generation students traversed the borders and margins of different communities as they pursue higher education and the kinds of cultural …

The Transnational Narratives And Struggles Of Afro-Caribbean Immigrant Women Teachers In New York City School Districts, Kimberly Natalia Williams Brown

Dissertations - ALL

Between 2001 and 2003, 1500 Caribbean teachers were recruited to teach in New York City’s low income and primarily immigrant/student of color school districts. Using ethnographic research methods through interviews, observations, focus groups, and document analysis, this dissertation documents the narratives of 10 Afro-Caribbean Immigrant women teachers. Using feminist and critical race theory (CRT) lens’, the researcher explores the experiences of Afro- Caribbean immigrant women teachers recruited to teach in New York City as an entry point to situate Black, immigrant, and professional experiences in an urban city in the United States of America. Through this research, race, gender, immigrant …

Mestizaje Ideology As Color-Blind Racism: Students' Discourses Of Colorism And Racism In Mexico, Yvonne Perez Lopez

Dissertations - ALL

This study will open the discourse on inequity and its maintenance through colorism in

Mexico. The largest percent of the population is a mixture of indigenous and Spanish

descent. This is where racism via colorism occurs. Considered only as one group,

mestizos of a lighter skin color have more resemblance to being of white Spanish descent

and therefore are accepted over mestizos of darker skin color, who have a resemblance to

indigenous people. Racism is scarcely documented in Mexico. It is systematically

embedded in political, cultural and economic practices; and therefore limits democratic

and inclusive practices for all. Working with …

Science Teachers’ Understanding And Practice Of Inquiry-Based Instruction In Uganda, Fredrick Ssempala

Dissertations - ALL

High school students in Uganda perform poorly in science subjects despite the Ugandan government’s efforts to train science teachers and build modern science laboratories in many public high schools. The poor performance of students in science subjects has been largely blamed on the inability by many science teachers to teach science through Inquiry-Based Instruction (IBI) to motivate the students to learn science. However, there have been no empirical studies done to establish the factors that influence science teachers’ understanding and practice of IBI in Uganda. Most of the published research on IBI has been conducted in developed countries, where the …

A Structural And Intersectional Analysis Of High School Students’ Stem Career Development Using A Social Cognitive Career Theory Framework, Tashera Bolds

Dissertations - ALL

This research examined high school students’ STEM career development using a Social Cognitive Career Theory framework. Data used in this study were from High School Longitudinal Study of 2009. Intersectional approaches were employed to gain an in-depth understanding of student characteristics, as well as identify potential differences in students’ STEM behaviors. Further, examinations of the STEM career development process were conducted using structural equation modeling statistical techniques. Findings suggest that prior learning experiences (i.e., math aptitude, informal STEM learning experiences, and math and science identity) and environmental supports and barriers (e.g., informal STEM exposure) are significant influences on students’ STEM …

Understanding Integrated Stem Science Instruction Through The Experiences Of Teachers And Students, Margery Gardner

Dissertations - ALL

Integrated STEM education comprises an exploration of the interconnections between science, technology, engineering and mathematics in order to reflect on how each discipline operates within real world contexts. Students benefit from the integrated STEM approach because it values students’ real-life experiences and hands-on applications that mirror professional STEM work. However, Integrated STEM instruction remains ill defined, with many gaps in the existing research. The school setting central to this study was a suburban public middle school with a nationally recognized integrated STEM program. Through the use of hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry, I focused on both teachers’ and students’ experiences of participation …

Noncognitive Variables To Predict Academic Success Among Junior Year Baccalaureate Nursing Students, Ellen Mary Tuve Smith

Dissertations - ALL

An equitable predictor of academic success is needed as nursing education strives toward comprehensive preparation of diverse nursing students. The purpose of this study was to discover how Sedlacek’s (2004a) Noncognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) and Duckworth & Quinn’s (2009) Grit-S predicted baccalaureate nursing student academic performance and persistence in the junior year, when considered in conjunction with academic variables such as previous college GPAs and the SAT. Three cohorts of junior year nursing students (N= 150) answered the survey, and their academic records were combed for previous college GPAs and SAT scores. After the junior academic year, these variables were regressed …

How Do Novice And Expert Learners Represent, Understand, And Discuss Geologic Time?, Erica Amanda Layow

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examined the representations novice and expert learners constructed for the geologic timescale. Learners engaged in a three-part activity. The purpose was to compare novice learners’ representations to those of expert learners. This provided insight into the similarities and differences between their strategies for event ordering, assigning values and scale to the geologic timescale model, as well as their language and practices to complete the model. With a qualitative approach to data analysis informed by an expert-novice theoretical framework grounded in phenomenography, learner responses comprised the data analyzed. These data highlighted learners’ metacognitive thoughts that might not otherwise be …

Opportunity, But At What Cost? African-American Parents' Experiences In A Predominantly White School, Peter Smith Smith

Dissertations - ALL

National measures of student achievement, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), provide evidence of the gap in success between African-American and white students. Despite national calls for increased school accountability and focus on achievement gaps, many African-American children continue to struggle in school academically, as compared to their white peers. Ladson-Billings (2006) argues that a deeper understanding of the legacy of disparity in funding for schools serving primarily African-American students, shutting out African-American parents from civic participation, and unfair treatment of African-Americans despite their contributions to the United States is necessary to complicate the discourse about African-American …

Examining The Dispositions Of Music Educators: A Perceptual Psychology Theory, Kathleen Joann Popow

Dissertations - ALL

ABSTRACT

This study examines the disposition characteristics of twelve music educators with varying demographic and discipline backgrounds. The primary purpose of the study is to extract the dispositions of music educators and to make connections among dispositions, identity, and behaviors, all from the music educators’ perspectives.

The theoretical framework of perceptual psychology (Combs and Snygg, 1959) informs the data collection and analysis portions of this study. Detailed interviews were conducted with the study’s twelve participants, using questions structured around four dimensions that previous perceptual psychology studies had found to be useful in distinguishing different educator dispositions (Perception of Self, Perception …

The Role Of Residential Communiies For The Academic And Social Success Of Undergraduate Women In Stem Majors: The Case Of A Public University In Ethiopia, Frehiwot Wuhib Wuhib

Dissertations - ALL

This study is an exploratory case study which explored the residential environment of an Ethiopian public university on its role for the social and academic integration of undergraduate women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. It also explained how the social and academic integration of the women contributed for their overall college success.

There were three groups of participants; undergraduate women in STEM, female resident proctors, and relevant officials from the university and the Ministry of Education of the Ethiopian government. Each of the participants were interviewed on a one-on-one basis and the interviews were transcribed and coded …

Teaching Is A Revolutionary Act: The Legitimate Knowledges Of Black Women Teachers Enacting Activist Literacies, Reba Y. Hodge

Dissertations - ALL

Abstract

This dissertation explores the experiences and knowledge of six classroom teachers who engaged in teaching practices that sought to transform the educational experiences of students in urban public schools. The study examined the educators’ life histories and experiences in traditional teacher preparation programs. The goal of this research was to investigate the way teachers’ life histories, including early educational experiences in K-12 schooling and teacher preparation within traditional and historically white institutions, inform their approaches to teaching and enacting activist literacies. For the purpose of this study, I define activist literacies as thinking, understanding, and acting with deliberate intention. …