Education Commons^™

Teachers’ Burnout Experience In A Title I Suburban Elementary School, Shakoiya Aiken

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

This qualitative case study focused on the experiences of Title I suburban elementary school teachers in the Southeastern United States. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the reasons why teachers in Title I suburban schools experience burnout and how their burnout manifests. I also conducted this study to fill the gap in the literature and gain insight on the specific supports and strategies that Title I suburban school teachers need to help manage or eliminate their burnout. The theoretical framework that informed this study was the Burnout Theory. Several data gathering techniques (interview, reflective …

Service Learning- It’S Elementary! Teacher Initiated Service Learning At An Independent School, Kate Burton

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

Service learning involves specific and intentional academic and learning goals that are achieved through service to a community and reflection. Often the responsibility for ensuring that service learning in schools is meaningful and successful falls to teacher leaders with little specific training on organizing such efforts. This research inquiry examined the experiences of nontraditional teacher leaders and the choices they made while designing and implementing service learning projects for their elementary students. This research also examined the setting and structures that were in place to facilitate these service learning initiatives. Data analysis found the themes of ties to the curriculum, …

Student Perceptions In Conferring: A Phenomenographic Exploration Of Student Perceptions On Teacher-Student Writing Conferences, Jacqueline Johnson

Doctor of Education in Secondary and Middle Grades Education Dissertations

This phenomenographic research explores how students perceive one-on-one (teacher-student) writing conferences. At least twice a year, I sit with my 9th-grade English students to discuss their writing. Together, we go over their last writing assignment. I coach them to make their writing better while pointing out positive elements of their writing. I check for understanding by having the students verbally repeat a summary of their conference. While I feel connected to the students and their writing by conferring, I have rarely considered what they thought about the conference. After our conference, do they feel like they truly learned something? I …

Investigating The Pedagogical Content Knowledge Of Georgia 6-12 Science Teachers In Relation To Conservation Of Mass, Lyric Portwood

Doctor of Education in Secondary and Middle Grades Education Dissertations

The Law of Conservation of Matter is a crosscutting concept in science that has implications for all disciplines of science. Conservation of Matter concepts are interwoven into all middle school and high school science courses both within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE). For students to become scientifically literate, teachers of science must be able to articulate the content accurately to students and anticipate student difficulties and misconceptions in understanding the content. In order to ensure that students successfully learn said content, science teachers must possess both content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. …

Exploring The Effects Of Teachers' Motivation To Read On Students' Motivation To Read, Clarice K. Shuman

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

Middle school students often lack the motivation to read, and middle school reading teachers often complain of this lack of motivation. Students’ lack of motivation to read seriously affects students’ ability to achieve in their academic classes at the secondary level. This study was based on surveys and interviews from 310 middle school students and their six ELA teachers to explore the relationship between teacher and student motivation to read at the middle school level as well as surveying how do teachers and students at the middle school level describe their motivation to read. Based on the relationship between teacher …

Immersive Virtual Reality As An Effective Alternative To Traditional Clinical Nursing Education: An Integrative Review, Alisha Gelder, Myrtha Labastille-Normil

Master of Science in Nursing Final Projects

Immersive Virtual Reality as an Effective Alternative to Traditional Clinical Nursing Education: An Integrative Review 

Abstract 

Aim: To assess the usefulness of immersive virtual reality as an effective alternative to traditional face-to-face clinical education for undergraduate nursing students. 

Background:  The Covid-19 pandemic impacted nursing education to a point where change is needed in traditional curricula to meet program outcomes. Virtual Reality (VR) based simulations introduce students to clinical situations in a safe environment and therefore became an effective solution during the pandemic to enhance student learning. Due to the lack of research, regulatory bodies are hesitant to accept VR clinical …

Effects Of A Professional Learning Experience On Middle School Teachers’ Perceptions, Experiences, And Implementation Of Curricular-Embedded Self-Regulated Learning And Motivation, Samuel Baillie

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

During the middle school transitional years, students face potential obstacles that can affect their achievement and motivation. It is essential that they learn how to self-regulate their learning and motivation so that they can persevere in an increasingly challenging academic environment. Teachers may support students directly or indirectly by embedding various practices and strategies into extant curricula. This two-phase qualitative case study provided four purposively selected teachers with a professional learning (PL) experience on self-regulated learning (SRL) and self-regulated motivation (SRM). The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions and experiences of middle school teachers regarding the training …

The Relationship Between Instructional Staff Training Expenditures And Teacher Retention: Comparing Georgia Public Schools, Sunita Holloway

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

The teacher shortage is a threat facing our nation as many school districts have difficulty filling vacancies with qualified, effective teachers. Research has shown that the greatest contributing factor to the teacher shortage is the considerable number of teachers exiting the profession preretirement (Becker & Grob, 2021; Geringer, 2003; Ingersoll, 2001; Shakrani, 2008; Sutcher et al., 2016). As a result, a vast amount of literature has focused on teacher retention, teacher turnover, and factors influencing teachers’ decisions to stay or leave. This quantitative research study contributed to the body of literature regarding teacher retention by considering a financial lens. Specifically, …

The Perceptions Of High School Art Teachers On Their Experiences With Digital Art, Chris Akins

Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology Dissertations

This phenomenographic study was conducted to investigate the perceptions of high school visual arts teachers on their experiences with digital art. It was conducted in the context of a growing creative industry in Georgia including professions that rely on technology to utilize and create digital art. The perceptions of seven high school visual arts teachers with varying experiences from two districts in Georgia were gathered using in-depth semi-structured interviews. The data collected from these interviews were interpreted to generate an outcome space that represented the voices of this group of participants. The outcome space of this study was arranged in …

The Art Of Sketchnoting In A High School Language Arts Classroom, Rachael Bourne

Doctor of Education in Secondary and Middle Grades Education Dissertations

This case study addressed how visual note-taking (sketchnotes) impacted students' learning in an English Language Arts (ELA) classroom. The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze if sketchnoting was a useful tool that students could use to deepen their understanding of concepts learned in ELA. Data from student examination of their own sketchnotes, teacher/researcher examination of the sketchnotes, and interviews were analyzed by identifying quality of work, themes, and assessment questions. The interview questions focused on student experiences with sketchnotes, test score outcomes, and student emotions towards sketchnotes. The examination was a document analysis of sketchnotes parallel to student …

Teacher Perceptions Of Collaborative Practices In A Rural High School Setting: Case Study, Leah Slimp

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

The purpose of the qualitative case study was to investigate how teachers in a rural high school setting perceived collaborative practices. The case study examined and analyzed the outcomes of teachers’ learning through a personal connection to professional growth through weekly collaborative planning meetings and professional learning communities. Four collaborative groups of SPED and general education teachers from Geometry, 9^th Grade Literature, and Biology, and U.S. History within Rural High School originally were asked to participate in the study. The study concluded with participants in the content areas from Geometry, 9^th Grade Literature, and Biology. A total of …

Understanding Students’ Perceptions Of Self-Regulatory Instructional And Learning Strategies In A Flipped Learning Environment, Nakia Salam

Doctor of Education in Secondary and Middle Grades Education Dissertations

The purpose of this proposal is to understand adolescent students’ perceptions of self-regulated learning in a flipped learning environment. This qualitative action research study addresses how the adoption of self-regulating learning (SRL) strategies is one research-based method for transitioning to a student-centered learning environment (flipped learning environment) (Matsuyama et al., 2019) where students can take more responsibility for their learning. In this environment, the teacher is responsible for maintaining the focus of the class, facilitating the learning process, and providing productive feedback (Gordan et al., 2001; Keiler, 2018) in order to positively affect academic and nonacademic outcomes (Dignath & Buttner, …

The Evolving Roles Of School Librarians In Diverse Instructional Settings, Kay Wright

Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology Dissertations

In 2020 and 2021, K-12 instructional settings diversified worldwide due to COVID-19 pandemic-response. During the 2021-2022 school year, a new instructional setting of K-12 remote-synchronous learning launched in a progressive, southeastern U.S. public school district. Substantial school district realignment occurred to serve this new setting; bypassed, however, was a dedicated school librarian position. Despite positive national impact data and the school library profession’s demonstrated ability since the mid-twentieth century to evolve, newly created positions have been funded nationally in schools to evolve with the times, often at the expense of school library positions. Role tensions may emerge between school librarians …

An Exploration Of Effective Communication Strategies For Secondary Educational Leaders To Increase African American Family Engagement Within An Urban School District, Stephen Mcclure

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

This research study examined effective communication strategies with African American families for secondary educational leaders. The purpose of this investigation was to explore African American family engagement within an urban school district. Interviews were conducted with 14 parent participants and the data was analyzed utilizing the ATLAS.ti survey software. The findings were that overall, parents were pleased with the amount and modes of technology that schools utilized for communication. Parents were also satisfied with the high school experiences of their children; however, many parents preferred more personal contact and in-person interactions with the teachers and administrative staff. Parents also felt …

The Flipped Model Classroom Experience For 8th Grade Students Enrolled In Algebra 1: A Case Study, Mary Colclasure

Doctor of Education in Secondary and Middle Grades Education Dissertations

Finding time to teach, assess, and reteach all required standards in an Algebra 1 course made it challenging for me to incorporate student-driven activities designed to engage students in learning mathematics. To address this problem, I changed to a flipped model classroom defined as the switching of the primary place where direct instruction took place from during class to homework. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to reach a deep understanding of my teaching using the flipped model classroom through the lens of student experiences and researcher reflection. This case study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with students, …

Finding Their Chrysanthemum: Linguistic Representation In Children's Literature, Marielena Zajac

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

Children in America today struggle with finding themselves in the books they read due to societal expectations. From an early age, children are dictated on the correct way to speak and write in “American,” which can leave children and their home languages feeling unseen and dismissed. To help further the conversation and promotion of linguistic diversity in American society, this capstone analyzes dialectal representation in children’s books, with a heavy focus on attitudinal linguistic principles rather than prescriptive mechanics. The secondary research explores current literature and resources that discuss literacy acquisition in adolescents, trends in dialects in America, and childhood …

Alignment Of Leadership To Constructs Of Governance In Independent Schools, Damian Kavanagh

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenographic study articulates the different perceptions of independent school heads of school and executive board leaders in their understanding of key constructs of independent school governance, especially as the understanding may change during a crisis. The five constructs of independent school governance are the separation of governance and management activities, maintaining the confidentiality and trust of the board room, the relationship between the board and the head of school, maintaining a strategic mindset, and general board operations. The review of the literature examines the dynamics of leadership through historical crises of an economic nature, endogenous crises, world health …

Perceptions Of School Through The Lens Of Black Male Elementary Students: A School Climate Study, Erica Peek

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

This qualitative case study focused on the perceptions of 5^th grade black males at a suburban neighborhood elementary school in the southeastern United States. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of how the participants felt about their teachers and school community. The theoretical frameworks that informed this study were Critical Race Theory and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Several data gathering techniques (qualitative questionnaire, focus group meeting, and student journals) were utilized and analyzed to describe the participants’ experiences regarding school climate at TES. From the data collected, several themes emerged such as Building Relationships & …