Education Commons^™

A Case Study On Professional Development: Improving Stem Teaching In K-12 Education, Roshani Rajbanshi, Susan Brown, Gaspard Mucundanyi, Mehmet Ali Ozer, Nicole Delgardo

The Qualitative Report

STEM Outreach Center is a non-profit educational center in southern New Mexico that supports K-12 STEM teachers and students by providing professional development, after school programs, summer camps, and field visits. This center has been organizing the Summer Institute Professional Development (SIPD) for more than ten years. The purpose of this research is to understand the effect of SIPD on teachers’ pedagogy to excite and engage students in STEM learning. This study contributes to the program evaluation by analyzing the experiences of teachers who participated in SIPD. This qualitative study uses the open-ended questionnaire as a method of data collection. …

Using Geogebra, Photography, And Vocabulary To Teach Mathematics While Aiding Our Esol Populations, Joseph M. Furner, Noorchaya Yahya

Transformations

This paper shares many important examples of using real world photography and GeoGebra software in teaching math to all students including the ESOL population. ESOL learners can benefit immensely from the use of real-world photography imported into GeoGebra software because new vocabulary and math concepts are concretized. Students are often excited and motivated by photography and technology. Thus, this paper will demonstrate how mathematics teachers can insert photos into GeoGebra Software and then explore math concepts relevant in the photographs, i.e. shapes, symmetry, measurement, fractions, parabolas, etc. By using software and a visual approach to teaching math with photographs, many …

Year 7 Students’ Interpretation Of Letters And Symbols In Solving Routine Algebraic Problems, Madihah Khalid Dr., Faeizah Yakop Dr., Hasniza Ibrahim

The Qualitative Report

In this study wefocused on one of the recurring issues in the learning of mathematics, which is students’ errors and misconceptions in learning algebra. We investigated Year 7 students on how they manipulate and interpret letters in solving routine algebraic problems to understand their thinking process. This is a case study of qualitative nature, focusing on one pencil and paper test, observation, and in-depth interviews of students in one particular school in Brunei Darussalam. The themes that emerged from interviews based on the test showed students’ interpretation of letters categorized as “combining” - which involved the combining of numbers during …

Insights From Academics Teaching International Students In Australia, Dawn Joseph Dr, Kay Hartwig Dr

The Qualitative Report

Australia continues to be an attractive destination in the world for international students. For higher education institutions to remain globally competitive there is a need to deliver high quality teaching and learning programs and adequate support structures. This paper forms part of a wider study on improving work placement for international students, their mentors and other stakeholders at Deakin University (Australia) and adds to the body of knowledge on international students as seen through the eyes of academic staff. It explores the lived experiences of seven academics as they navigate what is required of them when teaching international students in …

The Problem-Based Learning Approach Towards Developing Soft Skills: A Systematic Review, Sadia Deep, Ali Ahmed, Nazia Suleman, Muhammad Zahid Abbas, Uzma Naza, Hina Shaheen, Abdul Razzaq

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we review systematically the role of problem-based learning (PBL) in developing soft skills in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and other fields of studies. The Systematic Literature Review (SLR) includes the most recent empirical, review, and conceptual studies from TVET and other multiple fields of studies including medicine, humanities, and engineering between the years of 2001 and 2016 collected from four databases. A qualitative method was used to accomplish the systematic review. After the collection of articles, the selected studies were analyzed through thematic analysis. From this review, we concluded that PBL as an instructional …

Key Stakeholders’ Lived Experiences While Implementing An Aligned Curriculum: A Phenomenological Study, Pedro P. Aguas

The Qualitative Report

Furthering innovation in English as a foreign language curriculum has been a concern for the Colombian educational system for many years. Nevertheless, the major attempts at the national level continue to fail. Through this phenomenological study of 12 participants at a an urban public school in grades 6-12 I attempted to answer the phenomenological question, “What were the lived experiences of key stakeholders involved in implementing an aligned curriculum at an urban public school in a northern city in Colombia, South America? “The theoretical framework that guides this study included innovation, the theory of policy attribution, and the learner-centered philosophy. …

Pink And Blue Lenses: Duoethnographic Reflections On Biological Sex In Conservative Christian Education, Phillip A. Olt, Linly Stowe

The Qualitative Report

In this duoethnography, we explored how experiences in conservative Christian high schools were viewed through the different lenses of our binary-constructed, biological sexes. Our perceptions varied along the axes of gendered roles, gendered responsibilities, and romance and sexuality. Through reflecting on our own experiences, we critiqued what we were taught and the lasting repercussions those teachings left on our lives. The approach of indoctrination proved counterproductive in our schools, as graduates left unprepared to enter meaningful romantic relationships or to encounter a world outside their previously sheltered environs.

Confessions Of A Novice Researcher: An Autoethnography Of Inherent Vulnerabilities, Laura M. Kennedy

The Qualitative Report

In the field of doctoral student education, novice researcher identity literature is largely authored by research supervisors or other senior scholars. Novice researchers’ firsthand accounts of their triumphs and tribulations are relatively un(der)represented. This autoethnography draws on data generated through reflexive analytic memos and conversations with my academic advisor to offer just that: a firsthand account of my researcher debut, including the inherent vulnerabilities I experienced throughout the practicum process. The paper then asks the reader to consider what it might look like for doctoral education programs to make visible the ongoing internal negotiations of one’s researcher identity.

Factors Affecting Ict Integration During Teaching Practices: A Multiple Case Study Of Three Indonesian Universities, Akhmad Habibi, Rafiza Abdul Razak, Farrah Dina Yusop, Amirul Mukminin, Lalu N. Yaqin

The Qualitative Report

Information and communication technology (ICT) is a strong force for economic, social, political, and educational reforms happening throughout the world including in developing countries. In this qualitative inquiry, we aimed at elaborating factors affecting ICT integration during teaching practices in pre-service teacher training programs (PTTPs) of three Indonesian universities from the perspectives of fifty-five pre-service teachers. The thematic analysis of this study revealed two major themes, barriers and enablers, which affected the integration of ICT during teaching practices. Based on the themes, this study led to the development of a conceptual model of factors affecting the ICT integration. Recommendations are …

Creative Pedagogy And Praxis With Social Media: Applications In And Out Of The Qualitative Research Classroom, Anna Cohenmiller, Nurlygul Smat, Aisulu Yenikeyeva, Kuralay Yassinova

The Qualitative Report

Research methods courses can provide essential opportunities for graduate students to develop themselves as researchers. This article offers insights into the application of creative pedagogy and praxis for a graduate-level qualitative research methods class. Students learned and applied the innovative research method—gender audit as process and method—to understand the gendered nature of University social media accounts. Applying principles of collaborative learning and hands-on practice, students gained confidence in themselves as researchers while examining a contemporary issue affecting higher education institutions.

Loose Coupling In Curriculum Reforms: Rural Teachers´ Perceptions Of Peace Education In Post-Conflict Colombia, Pedro Pineda, Markus D. Meier

Peace and Conflict Studies

Previous research has shown how peace education (PE) mutates according to socio-political and curricular/didactic traditions, but we still need to know how PE disseminates at the school level. We surveyed teachers from 12 rural schools of the violent Amazon region of Colombia where a national Law made PE mandatory in schools and universities. Teachers working on schools affected by the armed conflict have high expectations about PE. Respondents identified PE with 21 didactic elements: (a) Approaches: values education, citizenship education, critical pedagogy; (b) Pedagogical principles: diversity and pluralism. (c) Learning processes: peaceful conflict resolution, promotion of a “life project”, political …

Confronting Shifting Identities: Reflections On Subjectivity In Transnational Research, Jiyoung Kang

The Qualitative Report

As researchers’ identities impact the research process, researchers need to take a reflexive stance toward their positionality in the research. The issue of positionality is especially important for research focusing on multicultural issues, which necessarily involves dynamic power relations among different racial/ethnic groups. Drawing from reflections on my research focusing on South Korean adolescents’ understandings of migrants, this paper illustrates when and how I confronted my positionality. My positionality as a racial/ethnic minority in the United States affected the process of selecting the research topic and the theoretical framework as well as analyzing interview data while my positionality as an …

Postgraduate Students' Expectations Of Their Lecturers, Şenol Orakcı

The Qualitative Report

The main purpose of this study, which was realized in the qualitative research design, is to determine postgraduate student expectations of their lecturers. The study group is composed of master and doctoral students from different universities enrolled in Educational Sciences Institute that “seeks to prepare candidates as highly qualified education professionals capable of functioning in the current and dynamic field of education.” A case study design was employed in this study. The data of the study were collected by a semi-structured interview form consisting of five open-ended questions. “Content analysis method” was used in the analysis phase of data. Five …

How To Be Unfaithful To Eurocentrism: A Spanglish Decolonial Critique To Knowledge Gentrification, Captivity And Storycide In Qualitative Research, Marcela Polanco, Nathan D. Hanson, Camila Hernandez, Tirzah Le Feber, Sonia Medina, Stephanie Old Bucher, Eva I. Rivera, Ione Rodriguez, Elizabeth Vela, Brandi Velasco, Jackolyn Le Feber

The Qualitative Report

From a position of academic activism, we critique the longstanding dominance del production of knowledge that solely implicates fidelity to Eurocentric methodological technologies en qualitative research. Influenced by an Andean decolonial perspective, en Spanglish we problematize métodos of analysis as the dominant research practice, whereby las stories o relatos result en su appropriation, captivity and gentrification, first by researchers’ authorship and later by the publishing industry copyrights. We highlight the racializing and capitalist colonial/modern Eurocentric agenda del current market of knowledge production that displaces to la periphery all knowledge o relatos that do not subscribe to Euro-US American methodological parameters …

Student Perceptions Of Barriers To Professional Exam Success, Kathryn E. Webster

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Many Allied Health education programs have shifted attention toward program outcome measures, including professional exam pass rates. The purpose of this study was to solicit the opinions of students, in order to better understand how they perceive their barriers to professional exams, what resources have proved helpful for them, and ultimately what advice programs can give to students to increase exam success. Method: A survey was sent to 104 alumni of the Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) program at a large Midwestern university to determine what they perceived as barriers in preparing for and taking their certification exam(s), and the …

Feasibility Of A Readiness Exam For Predicting Radiography Program Success: A Pilot Study, Tammy L. Webster, Sarah B. Mcbrien, Gregory M. Mehrer, Harlan R. Sayles

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

ABSTRACT

Background: Research investigating predictors of academic success in rigorous health science education is valuable for curricular intervention for identified at-risk students. Various predictors of success have been investigated, but the literature is insufficient when examining anatomy and physiology readiness scores as they correlate to radiography curricular success. This pilot study assessed the correlation between readiness exam scores and programmatic course GPA to determine if the scores could be used as a metric for identifying academic success resources for incoming students. Cohorts of the radiography program at a midwestern health sciences center demonstrated a longitudinal trend of difficulty with anatomy …

Lived Clinical Education Experiences Of Professional Master’S Athletic Training Program Graduates, Laura A. Wamsley, Kimbery Brown, Jill A. Nolan

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Clinical education has been identified as a key aspect in the professional preparation of athletic trainers. The literature, however, has focused on clinical education at the undergraduate level rather than the graduate level, which is the future population of all CAATE-accredited athletic training programs. This study sought to describe the experiences of those who have completed athletic training clinical education at the master’s level, specifically focusing on the type of learning experiences they were granted and what influence the preceptor and the setting played in the overall experience. Method: This was a phenomenology study. Twelve graduates of CAATE-accredited professional …