Education Commons^™

What Drives A Teacher Educator To Self-Study? An Exploration Of Personal, Professional And Programmatic Influences, Melva R. Grant, Brandon Butler, Dawn Garbett (Editor), Alan Ovens (Editor)

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

What drives a teacher educator to self-study? This is a question with what might be perceived as an easy answer. Perhaps there was an influential professor or colleague who conducted self-study. Or, an ingrained desire to engage in critical reflection. Maybe there was an experience that needed exploration. These are all valid reasons for why someone might choose to engage in self-study. In this work, our purpose was to look strictly to the past and investigate the experiences that we felt led a teacher educator to engage in self-study. Melva is a woman of color and recently tenured faculty member, …

Exploring Newton's Laws Of Motion With A Balloon Car, Sarah Ferguson, Tia Chavis, Jenna Brown, Teandra James, David Youssef

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The article presents a lesson plan for middle education which teaches concepts to explore Newton's first, second and third laws of motion.

Multiple Pathways To Success: An Examination Of Integrative Motivational Profiles Among Upper Elementary And College Students, Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia, Stephanie V. Wormington, Kate E. Snyder, Jan Riggsbee, Tony Perez, Adar Ben-Eliyahu, Nancy E. Hill

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Two studies were conducted with distinct samples to investigate how motivational beliefs cohere and function together (i.e., motivational profiles) and predict academic adjustment. Integrating across motivational theories, participants (N_{Study 1} = 160 upper elementary students; N_{Study 2} = 325 college students) reported on multiple types of motivation (achievement goals, task value, perceived competence) for schooling more generally (Study 1) and in science (Study 2). Three profiles characterized by Moderate-High All, Intrinsic and Confident, and Average All motivation were identified in both studies. Profiles characterized by Very High All motivation (Study 1) and Moderate Intrinsic and …

Using Mobile Devices To Facilitate Student Questioning In A Large Undergraduate Science Class, Helen Crompton, Stephen R. Burgin, Declan G. De Paor, Kristen Gregory

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Asking scientific questions is the first practice of science and engineering listed in the Next Generation Science Standards. However, getting students to ask unsolicited questions in a large class can be difficult. In this qualitative study, undergraduate students sent SMS text messages to the instructor who received them on his mobile phone and via Google Glass. Using observations, coding of texts, and interviews, the researchers investigated the types and level of questions students asked and the perceptions of the instructor and TAs on how the messages were received. From the findings of this study, it is evident that students asked …

Humanoid Robots Supporting Children’S Learning In An Early Childhood Setting, Helen Crompton, Kristen Gregory, Diane Burke

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This qualitative study explored the affordances provided by the integration of the NAO humanoid robot in three preschool classrooms. Using the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework as a lens, the researchers qualitatively analyzed data from focus groups, observations, field notes and student artifacts, using grounded coding to uncover language and communication, physical, cognitive and social–emotional learning experiences for children. The researchers also examined interactions between the robot, children and teachers to identify successes and challenges experienced during the integration. Findings indicate the robot provided opportunities for student development in all learning domains. Students were intellectually curious about the robot; …

Frameworks For Integrating Technology Into Optometric Education, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

(Introduction) Technology has driven a major societal change permeating the very traditions, beliefs and rituals of our social and work milieu. Following the revolution caused by the introduction of the Gutenberg printing press, the current digital epoch has been recognised as the second major event in history that has extended and enhanced access to information and learning (Brynjolfsson 2014; Topol 2015). Research shows that digital technologies can be used to provide educational opportunities that were not possible before this digital era. These technologies allow learning in contextualised settings and provide a variety of learning opportunities for those studying optometry (Yi …

The Everydayness Of Tina: An Introduction, Kristine Sunday

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

When I first learned that my graduate student mentor, Dr. Christine Marmé Thompson decided that it was time to retire, I had mixed emotions. On the one hand, I was happy. I had spent many evenings with Tina (as she is known to colleagues, family, and friends), and her husband, Dr. Dan Thompson, on the patio of her State College, Pennsylvania home, sharing in the intersections between professional and personal lives. I knew that both she, and Dan were looking forward to more leisurely explorations and the slower pace that a life outside the demands of the academy provides. I …

District Strategic Teaming: Leadership For Systemic And Sustainable Reform, Thomas L. Alsbury, Margaret R. Blanchard, Kristie S. Gutierrez, Chris M. Allred, A. Dell Tolin

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Reform efforts in schools have become increasingly focused on the nature and direction of teamwork in efforts to achieve sustained and systemic districtwide capacity for innovation and needed change. The six-year study reported in this article involved development, implementation, and assessment of a unique collaborative process for districtwide reform in some of the most challenging and fluid educational settings in the United States of America. This reform process, called District Strategic Teaming, involved a representative vertical cross-section of members from the district office to school-based support staff. Participating schools are located in isolated, rural communities in the south-eastern region of …

Investigating The Third Space: A New Agenda For Teacher Education Research, Jori S. Beck

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to advocate for an expansion of third-space ideology to the research conducted in clinical teacher preparation programs including research designs and methods of data collection. Clinical teacher preparation has been advocated since the 1980s and is now being systematically realized in the early 21st century. Thus, it is time to revisit research designs and data collection related to this model. The author illustrates first-, second-, and third-space programs, including an overview of teacher residency programs, before advocating a mixed methods research paradigm that aims to create democratic spaces for teacher education research. Research and …

Towards An Innovative Approach For Teacher Education: Training Teacher To Train (Ttt) Model, Ferial Malaeb-Khaddage, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The world is now connected virtual and mobile, it is currently going through a fundamental transformation in the way we humans work, perform tasks and activities. Automation and ‘thinking machines’ are replacing basic human tasks and jobs, and changing the skills that organizations are looking for in their people. In this paper, the authors discuss current technological innovations and how our world is changing rapidly in all aspects. New set of skills is needed; hence the authors focus on crucial practices and skills that are needed to be taught to harness our children for the future. The authors emphasis on …

Question 1: Throwing Out Energy; Question 2: Blood Pressure, Larry Weinstein

Physics Faculty Publications

The article presents two questions on the amount of energy wasted by Americans whenever they throw out unused ice in their drinks, and why is blood pressure measured on the upper arm.

Solutions For Fermi Questions, May 2018: Question 1: Throwing Out Energy; Question 2: Blood Pressure, Larry Weinstein

Physics Faculty Publications

The article provides answers to questions including the amount of energy wasted when Americans throw out unused ice from their drinks, and why blood pressure is measured on the upper arm.

Development And Validation Of The College Mental Health Perceived Competency Scale, Michael T. Kalkbrenner, Christopher A. Sink

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

College counselors provide training to their campus constituents on various mental health issues, including the identification of warning signs and the referral of students to appropriate resources. Though extensive information on these topics is available in the counseling literature, college counselors lack a psychometrically sound screening instrument to support some of these educational efforts. To meet this need, the present researchers developed and validated the College Mental Health Perceived Competency Scale (CMHPCS). Based largely on self-determination theory, the measure appraises college student and faculty members’ perceived competence for supporting student mental health. Reliability and construct validity of the CMHPCS are …

Honor College Students' Adjustment Factors And Academic Success: Advising Implications, Christina Clark, Alan Schwitzer, Tisha Paredes, Tim Grothaus

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

We examined first-semester adjustment among students in and out of an honors college because honors college participants receive relatively little attention in the advising literature. As expected, honors college students earned relatively high grades and were associated with high retention rates. Two noncognitive factors predicted these differences: self-confidence and external influences on college choice. In an interesting finding, honors students expressed less self-confidence and placed greater importance on external college-choice factors than their high-achieving peers outside the honors college. Implications for the support of honors students and their peers are discussed.

Mobile Learning And Student Cognition: A Systematic Review Of Pk-12 Research Using Bloom’S Taxonomy, Helen Crompton, Diane Burke, Yi-Ching Lin

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The rise of mobile learning in schools during the past decade has led to promises about the power of mobile learning to extend and enhance student cognitive engagement. The purpose of this study was to examine trends to determine the cognitive level students are involved in within mobile learning activities. This systematic review involved an aggregated and configurative synthesis of PK-12 mobile learning studies from 2010 to 16 and used Bloom’s Taxonomy as a theoretical framework for categorizing the cognitive level of student activities. Major new findings include that students are involved in activities at all six levels of Bloom’s …

Water, Food, Shelter And A Mobile Phone Mobile Learning Despite Crises Syrian Refugees' Case Study, Ferial Malaeb-Khaddage, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This panel describes the refugees’ crisis and its impact on school age children. The focus is on the Syrian children refugees in Mount Lebanon, an area that is usually forgotten.

The United Nations offers schooling to primary school children in this remote region, but lack of resources in Mount Lebanon schools is evident, access to technologies and applications integration is very limited, and teachers’ frustration is obvious.

There are a quarter of a million Syrian refugees in the country who still do not have access to formal education in the Lebanese school system. The country is looking to integrate and …

Perceptions Of Pre-Service Teachers On Mentor Teachers’ Roles In Promoting Inclusive Practicum: Case Studies In U.S. Elementary School Contexts, Jihea Maddamsetti

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This case study examines a Chinese and Korean-Chinese pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their mentor teachers’ role in supporting inclusive practicum experiences in U.S. elementary school contexts. The findings demonstrate that a mentor teacher’s open conversations and willingness to host those students bring positive influence on their learning and growth. The findings also indicate that the facilitative roles of mentor teachers in the promotion of inclusive environments are intersected with the socio-cultural and political contexts of practicum schools and universities. The study concludes with implications for enhancing the inclusion of diverse pre-service teachers through collaborative roles of multiple practicum stakeholders, including …

Listening To The Song Of Life: An Autoethnographic Account Of Teaching An Undergraduate Listening Course, E. James Baesler

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

A new approach to teaching the listening course at the undergraduate level provides opportunities for students to experience the SONG of life. SONG is an acronym for listening to the whole of life in the contexts of Self (e.g., discerning inner wisdom), Others (e.g., connecting with feelings and needs), Nature (beholding the beauty of nature), and God (e.g., discovering and connecting with the divine). A rationale and description of the new listening course is provided followed by a chronological autoethnographic account of teaching/learning the SONG of life using the four contexts as verses of the SONG with twenty undergraduate students …

Measuring Presence: A Review Of Research Using The Community Of Inquiry Instrument, Ana E. Redstone, Jill E. Stefaniak, Tian Luo

Distance Learning Faculty & Staff Publications

This systematic review provides a summary of studies on teaching, social, and cognitive presences in the community of inquiry (CoI) model using the CoI instrument in a higher education setting since its development in 2008 by Arbaugh et al. A total of 24 peer-reviewed studies on the CoI instrument from 2008–2017 were selected and analyzed explore the types of research on the instrument in higher education settings have been published, ways the instrument has been used for learning and teaching, and the implications the instrument poses for online instructors and instructional designers. It is organized into 4 themes: testing the …

First Generation International Students And The 4ds Shaping The Future Of Global Student Mobility: A Comparative Report Analysis, Peggy Gesing, Chris Glass

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

First generation international students are a harbinger for the coming wave of globally mobile students. This article describes trends in the 4 D’s shaping the future of global student mobility: demographics, drivers, directions, and delivery. Authors use analysis of the National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG, 2015) to illustrate these trends in first-generation international students.

Book Review: Excellence Vs. Equality: Can Society Achieve Both Goals?, Leslie S. Kaplan, William A. Owings

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

Exhausted from the 2015-2016 election season, one may want to escape its overheated rhetoric and nasty partisanship. But the societal conditions that led Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to assert loudly, “The system is rigged!” hangs in the air. Ordinary folks feel left behind and wronged. They believe that they are working harder than ever and getting nowhere, perhaps even falling backwards, experiencing few chances for mobility or success. From millennials to retired Boomers, countless American voters are frustrated and angry. Their concerns are real, and we ignore their issues at our peril.

In his new book, Excellence vs. Equality, Allan …

Human Services Identity Development: Exploration Of Student Perceptions, Narketta Sparkman-Key, Anthony J. Vajda, Ne'shaun J. Borden

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

Helping students to develop a strong professional identity is an essential function of human services education. The literature on professional identity development shows that new professionals have long term success when they feel connected to the profession and are competent in their ability to perform their assigned roles and duties. Although there is a large body of literature related to professional identity development, there are gaps in the literature related to professional identity development among human services professionals. This qualitative study used an exploratory grounded theory approach to learn about professional identity development of senior human services students from a …

Undergraduate Kinesiology Students' Experiences In Online Motor Development Courses, Takahiro Sato, Justin A. Haegele

Human Movement Sciences Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to investigate kinesiology students' experiences in an undergraduate online life span motor development course. This study was based on a theory of transactional distance (Moore, 1997). Seven undergraduate kinesiology majors (5 females, 2 males) enrolled in an online course at a Midwestern public university in the US participated in this study. Data collection included face-to-face, open-ended interviews, bulletin board discussion logs, and online assessment projects. A constant comparative method was used to interpret the data, which allowed themes to emerge from the data as well as from the theoretical framework. Three interrelated themes emerged …

Eleven Strategies For Getting Into Graduate School In Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Eric Walters

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Getting into graduate school can be tough if you have not done your homework. I outline eleven strategies for increasing your chances of successfully being accepted into an ecology or evolutionary biology lab. Try to get good grades as an undergraduate, do well on the Graduate Record Exam (if applicable), join a lab reading group or undertake an undergraduate thesis, take time to forge relationships so you can have strong reference writers, obtain relevant work experience, author a publication, read peer-reviewed literature, attend national meetings, come up with some good research ideas, develop a relationship with a potential advisor, and …

"Can A Poem Stop A Jail From Being Built?" On Fugitive Counter-Ethics As Prison Pedagogy, Meghan Mcdowell, Alison Reed

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) In 2016, we began facilitating a reading group at the Norfolk City Jail. Once a week during the semester, we met with six to eight men who qualified for "program privileges" and thus were given the option by jail staff to participate in the reading group. Each week we gathered to discuss the day's reading in what passed for a classroom inside the jail: a noisy corridor that connected two cellblocks. Against one wall there were four white picnic tables, bolted down to the floor, stacked one after the other. Though those accommodations were better suited for cafeteria-style …

Virginia Technology And Engineering Education Association 1978-2018: Celebrating Six Decades Of Progress, Ron Vickers, Philip A. Reed, George R. Willcox

STEMPS Faculty Publications

(First Paragraph) Technology and engineering education in Virginia and the nation is coming to a crossroads. Recent growth in state directives, new courses, and ever-changing funding for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education influences the supply of Technology Education teachers, leading to what some say is a dire future for our profession and association. This history is gathered to emphasize the importance and value of what we teach in Virginia public schools. It also captures who was involved with the association leadership over the years.

Effects Of Light Reflection On Spatial Visualization Ability And Implications For Engineering Technology Students, Petros Katsioloudis, Mildred Jones

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Results from a number of studies indicate that the type of light generated by the reflection on the surface of different types of surfaces can influence the spatial visualization ability; however, research provides inconsistent results. Considering this, a quasi-experimental study was conducted to identify the existence of statistically significant effects on spatial visualization ability as measured by the Mental Cutting Test and Sectional View drawing ability due to the impacts of light reflection. In particular, the study compared three types of light reflection; mirror, specular and diffuse and whether a significant difference exists among engineering technology students. According to the …

From Science Student To Scientist: Predictors And Outcomes Of Heterogeneous Science Identity Trajectories In College, Kristy A. Robinson, Tony Perez, Amy K. Nuttall, Cary J. Roseth, Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This 5-year longitudinal study investigates the development of science identity throughout college from an expectancy-value perspective. Specifically, heterogeneous developmental patterns of science identity across 4 years of college were examined using growth-mixture modeling. Gender, race/ethnicity, and competence beliefs (efficacy for science tasks, perceived competence in science) were modeled as antecedents, and participation in a science career after graduation was modeled as a distal outcome of these identity development trajectories. Three latent classes (High with Transitory Incline, Moderate-High and Stable, and Moderate-Low with Early Decline) were identified. Gender, race/ethnicity, and competence beliefs in the first year of college significantly predicted latent …

Delving Into The Specificity Of Instructional Guidance In Social Media-Supported Learning Environments, Tian Luo

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Aim/Purpose: This study investigates the variations in student participation patterns across different types of instructional activities, learning modes, and with different instructional guidance approaches. In the current study, different variables, modes of learning (guided versus unguided), and types of guidance (social versus cognitive) were manipulated in a series of microblogging-supported collaborative learning tasks to examine to what extent and in which aspects instructional guidance affects the effectiveness and student perception of microblogging-supported learning.

Background: Despite the overwhelming agreement on the importance of instructional guidance in microblogging-supported learning environments, very few studies have been done to examine the specificity of guidance, …

The Researchers' Perspective: For And By The Community: Processes And Practices From The Development Of National School Library Standards, Elizabeth A. Burns, Marcia A. Mardis

STEMPS Faculty Publications

In this study, we describe the innovative and rigorous phased process used to compose the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) National School Library Standards (AASL, 2018). We begin by recounting previous standards iterations and compared their development processes to the most recent process used during the development of the AASL Standards. After we detail the development timeline and process phases, we conclude with implications for best practices in standards development for school librarians, professional leaders, and practitioners.