Education Commons^™

The Effects Of Remote Teaching Pedagogy On Online Writing Instruction, Natalie Henriquez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will investigate the development of online writing instruction and the new innovations or adaptations that were created to cope with the online learning environment during the pandemic. I conducted interviews with four Writing & Rhetoric professors from Florida International University. The interviews I conduct for this thesis focused on the experience that these professors had and how they faced certain challenges along the way such as building an online community and promoting communication and collaboration in the online classroom. I argue that the themes of mindfulness, flexibility, balance, community, and empathy that were found in the interviews are …

Something American, Carolina S. Souto

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

SOMETHING AMERICAN is a poetry collection written from the perspective of a first-generation American navigating a growing family, a political crisis, and a global pandemic. Influences on this collection include Robert Hass’s THE ESSENTIAL HAIKU and FIELD GUIDE, which attend to nature and the poet-speaker’s immediate surroundings with diligence and precision. Ariel Francisco’s place poems and creative titles in ALL MY HEROES ARE BROKE provide important touchstones for Souto’s commitment to here-and-now writing. And Sylvia Plath’s frank and complex writing about motherhood in ARIEL grants the poet permission to probe these subjects as well.

In SOMETHING AMERICAN, experimental poems sprawl …

When Two Worlds Meet: Academic Advisors’ Understanding Of The Exploratory Student Experience At A Hispanic-Serving Institution, Hazel E. Hooker

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Academic advisors are essential to the college experience (Filson & Whittington, 2013). They serve as students’ higher education guides and translators in addition to being their direct link to the institution. Given the pivotal role they serve in helping students navigate the myriad transitions encountered throughout their college career, tapping into their vast experience with students, parents, and administration provided a unique point of view that would not otherwise be possible. The purpose of this study was to explore academic advisors' understanding of the exploratory FTIC student experience at a Hispanic Serving Institution, which was chosen because of potential unique …

Exploring The Role Of Higher Education In Responsible Deployment Of Artificial Intelligence, Shahin Vassigh

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Higher education is the key driver for the teaching, research, and development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), as it bears responsibility for preparing engineers, scientists, technologists, and corporate leaders who shape and fuel its revolutionary advances. With AI and automation technologies relying on more advanced levels of training, and universities serving as the prime site for their development, faculty views on the implications of this technology are critically important.

The purpose of this case study was to gain insights into how academics and disciplinary experts perceive their roles and responsibilities in the teaching, development, and deployment of AI. Using FIU as …

Potential Associations Of Racial Similarity And Certification Pathways On Teacher Retention, Mary Michelle Atherley

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What has caused the struggle to retain teachers? Like other school districts, Miami-Dade County Public School district has a high percentage of minority teachers and continues to seek ways in which to address teacher retention. Such findings are of importance since retaining effective teachers has been linked to positively affecting student achievement.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible associations of teacher retention with certification pathways (Traditional Preparation Programs or Alternative Certification Programs) and the racial similarity of the teachers to the students at their schools. Additionally, teacher and school factors such as gender, age, college majors, …

The Impact Of Demographic, Academic, And Financial Variables On Predicting Four- And Six-Year Graduation At An Urban, Public, Hispanic-Serving Institution, Maria Rosado

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the rapid growth of the underrepresented population in the U.S., institutions of higher education have not experienced as rapid a growth in their underrepresented student population. Furthermore, it is estimated that in the next few years, more than 40% of jobs will require a postsecondary degree. As the underrepresented population continues to grow nationally and the job market is increasingly requiring job seekers to hold a postsecondary degree, it has become vital that the U.S. and states focus on educating and graduating its growing underrepresented population. The purpose of this study was to determine what demographic, academic, and financial …

Community Cultural Wealth In Latinx Applicants To Nationally Prestigious Awards, Susy Gomez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of Latinx applicants to nationally prestigious awards that have an international component. Students from minoritized backgrounds are underrepresented in these awards (Gerz-Escandon, 2017; Brownstein, 2001; Pinto-Alicea, 2001). While research suggests that Latinx students often lack the resources, backgrounds, or preparation to excel in higher education (Gandara, 2017; Salas, 2016; Trevino & DeFreitas, 2014; Bastedo & Jaquette, 2011), community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) highlights less traditional types of capital that minority students bring to higher education.

Using narrative analysis, I examined the application stories of nine Latinx students who had applied …

Investigating Individual Difference Among Workplace Incivility And Its Organizational Outcomes In The Chinese Context, Yuejia Chen

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The prevalence of workplace incivility is on the rise. As a workplace stressor, workplace incivility is linked with detrimental outcomes for both individuals and organizations, such as increased intention to turnover, reduced job performance, and job dissatisfaction. The current study gains fresh insights about how targets of incivility interpret and respond to this uncivil behavior as an occupational stressor.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between targets’ perceptions of workplace incivility and its organizational outcomes (i.e., job performance and turnover intention), as moderated by personality traits (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness) in the context of China. …

Culture And Context's Influence On Hispanic Undergraduates' Perceptions Of Their Persistence Toward Stem Degree Attainment, Elsa I. Bravo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the influences of context and culture on Hispanic undergraduate’s in the STEM pipeline. Study one utilized systematic review methods to assess the effectiveness of STEM intervention programs on Hispanic undergraduates. A total of 45 STEM related databases were searched from March-September 2020 with no limitations. Although a total of 259 studies were identified, only one study was actually found to specifically focus on Hispanic populations and include empirically based evaluations. The one remaining study did not find a statistically significant intervention effect for four- year graduation rates. The lack of evidence highlights a gap in research or …

The Relationship Between Teachers’ Measures Of Resilience And Self-Efficacy With Their Intent To Remain In The Teaching Profession., Krisdhal E. Ugarte-Torre

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study examined MDCPS teachers’ measure of resiliency and self-efficacy and their intention to remain in the teaching profession. A survey was sent to 2,000 MDCPS teachers who work within schools located in the Central Region. The survey consisted of the Teachers’ Sense of Self-Efficacy Scale, the Teacher Resiliency Survey, and the Intent to Stay Scale. Demographics information, teaching assignment, preservice preparation program, and Title I school status questions were part of the survey to account for them as control variables. The survey concluded with questions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. An ordinary least-squares regression analysis was used to predict the …

The Novice Assistant Principal: Support Needs In The Transition To The Administrative Role, Alyssa Nicole Maestas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Novice assistant principals are expected to be ready to serve as key leaders in a school from the first day of their appointment as a school administrator. Research has shown that the role of assistant principal is multi-faceted, the pace of the job is unrelenting, the level of responsibility is overwhelming, and the number of new tasks encountered is daunting (Barnett, et al., 2012; Craft et al., 2016). This study examined how novice assistant principals experienced support as they transitioned into the administrative role. The researcher used a phenomenological research design for the collection of data. The results indicated that …

Perceptions Of Support And Teacher Retention In Secondary Schools, Amaris Leal

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher attrition is a problem plaguing districts across the nation. Miami-Dade County Public Schools is the 4^th largest school district in the nation and continues to encounter difficulty keeping teachers. This study investigates how nine secondary level teachers conceptualize support. Teachers’ years of experience range from five to thirty-five years teaching in Miami-Dade County Public schools. Early, Mid and Late Career teachers were interviewed to understand their lived experiences in the professions as it pertains to support and how they conceptualize support. This case study utilizes phenomenological methods informed by the work of Vagle (2018) and van Manen (2014, …

Neoliberalism And Kazakhstan's Emerging Higher Education Sysytem, Nazgul Bayetova

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Republic of Kazakhstan is one of the Central Asian countries of the former Soviet Union (USSR). The Kazakh Social Soviet Republic's Supreme Court declared the transition from a planned economy to a market economy in the early 1990s. The new market model in Kazakhstan has had a significant impact on its evolving higher education system. Less government spending and the creation of private universities in Kazakhstan were the core strategies that have been implemented under the neoliberal policies (Sabzalieva, 2017; Sagintayeva & Kurakbayev, 2015; Smirnova, 2014; Smolentseva, 2012; Smolentseva, Huisman, & Froumin, 2018). This study’s central question is how …

Is Price Why Students Don't Get Their Books? Undergraduate Acquisition Of Class Materials, Joseph Todd Patton

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A study of the acquisition of assigned textbooks and materials was conducted among 1,333 active undergraduates, exploring the widely reported phenomenon of two-thirds of students not getting all the books and materials assigned to them in their college classes. Current research focuses on high textbook & materials prices as the reason why students do not get assigned materials, and government policies are focused on bringing down these prices. This study’s major focus was investigating whether it is true that high prices explain why undergraduates do not get their assigned class materials. The findings suggest that price is not the reason …

The Activations Of Activism: An Ethnography Of Emotional Management, Gerson Sanchez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this ethnography is to explore cultural context of college student activism, especially as it relates to identity. Much has been said about student activism in the higher education literature, but this literature has two major problems: first, it presupposes a pre-cursive existence of identity, and, second, it disconnects meaning-making from action. With regard to the first problem, activism scholars tend to take categories such as race, class, gender, and sexuality as given, thus reducing individuals to biological differences for the purposes of study. Instead of questioning how identities are created and constructed, such studies presuppose markers of …

Impact Of Multimodal First-Year Composition Courses On Student Success, Satisfaction, And Growth, Abdullah Mir

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Universities have shifted towards pedagogies involving different modes of composition. However, little focus has been shown on students’ ability to transfer learned skills to other fields. Florida International University (FIU) addressed this problem by retooling their First Year Composition (FYC) curriculum in 2013, including more multimodal opportunities for students. This thesis will look into how FIU addresses students’ ability to transfer their skills and their dispositions. The thesis analyzed anonymous surveys conducted on site in 2021 and assesses whether students believe they have been able to transfer their learned skills outside the classroom. By using grounded theory and coding to …

Former Foster Youth And Their Pursuit Of A College Degree, Lori Ann Gionti

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this collected papers dissertation was to examine former foster youth as they pursue college. Foster youth are known to attend and graduate college at a rate lower than their non-fostered peers. Understanding more about the journey of former foster youth as they pursue a college degree will help to understand what barriers are faced and what supports enhance their likelihood of enrollment and graduation.

Study #1, a structured literature review, examined the scholarly literature on former foster youth and college. Data were collected through a library database search and Google Scholar. Descriptive, demographic-type information was compiled and …

Student Reflections On Study Abroad: A Collective Case Study Exploring The Experiences Of Pre-Service Teachers During An International Student Teaching Program, Holly D. Hutton

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As classrooms in the United States grow more culturally and linguistically diverse, schools of education are challenged to prepare more culturally responsive, globally minded educators. International student teaching (IST) programs provide a unique opportunity for pre-service teachers to develop cultural competencies in a global context. However, in order for these programs to effectively meet ambitious global and intercultural learning objectives, multiple curricular and programmatic components must be considered, and on-going research exploring individual student experiences must be conducted.

The present collective case study explored the experiences of five, pre-service teachers during a semester-long, IST program at Florida International University. A …

French Muslim Youth’S Perception Of Their Cultural Identity In A Post-Charlie Hebdo Reality In The 19th Arrondissement., Gaelle Flora Bernard

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On January 7, 2015, the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper in France, was attacked by two armed men, Chérif and Saïd Kouachi, who shot and killed 12 staff members and injured another 11. The motive of the gunmen was the defense of their Muslim religion, in response to the newspaper’s history of publishing caricatures of the prophet Mohammed (AFP, 2015). This terrorist attack of January 7, 2015 continues to have a lasting impact on the lives of French people, most particularly French Muslims.

The purpose of this case study was to investigate the negotiation of Muslim youth identity …

Spatializing Student Engagement: A Phenomenological Study On Experiencing Space, Place, And A College Campus, Ivan Ceballos

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological qualitative study examined how five college students understood their collegiate engagement in relation to spaces and places. The study’s purpose was to develop a spatialized understanding by describing the nature of meaningful student engagement as occurring within places and spaces. The problem addressed through this study is the treatment of engagement as understood through institutional metrics which reduce such a phenomenon to campus-centric and measurable place-based characteristics. As argued through this study’s framework and findings, experiencing a phenomenon such as engagement is a matter of lived experience and exists in relation to space and place. The participants’ lived …

The Pedagogy Of The Youth Teachers Of The Cuban Literacy Campaign, Yuleisy Mena

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The Cuban Literacy Campaign of 1961 turned teenagers into teachers. This study interviewed three former youth teachers and recorded their experiences through the oral history lens and method. The study focused on the pedagogical components of their lived experience, often overlooked by scholars who have mainly focused on the campaign’s political and economic history from the top down. In turn, issues of identity surfaced that helped explain the personal motivations for participating in the campaign and produced counter-narratives in the process. The interviews compiled allowed a bottom-up history to be archived, highlighting the stories of people omitted from the …