Education Commons^™

Affinity Based Writing Groups: Building Communities Across 9–12 Grade Levels, Melissa Pilakowski

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Writing instruction in secondary classrooms has generally focused on cognitive approaches with feedback and assessment from a limited audience, often only the teacher. However, the burgeoning digital world has made writing an increasingly social activity where individuals can influence a wider audience and engage in dialogue with their readers faster and more efficiently than ever before. This action research aims to study the impacts of online affinity based writing groups that span the 9-12 grade levels, especially in the areas of effort, self-efficacy, and feedback. Data was collected through interviews with participating students and teachers, samples of writing and feedback, …

Value Added By Using Joint Displays In Mixed Methods Research, Elizabeth Svoboda

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Mixed methods research collects, analyzes, and integrates rigorous qualitative and quantitative methods to gain a deeper understanding of a phenomenon than would be gained by using either method alone. Integration is one of the key features of mixed methods research and consists of mixing qualitative and quantitative research in a systematic way to generate new inferences or follow-up studies. However, the process of integration can be challenging to draw on expertise in both qualitative and quantitative methods, decide when and how to integrate qualitative and quantitative research, and combine multiple data sources in a coherent way to generate new inferences. …

K-12 Teachers' Perspectives On Mobile Technology Integration: A Qualitative Study, Steven Justin Bingham

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to develop an understanding of mobile technology integration in K-12 classrooms from the perspective of classroom teachers during the 2022-2023 school year. The increase in mobile technologies being utilized in schools made it imperative to understand how mobile devices are being integrated into the classroom from the teacher’s perspective. The central research question was, how do teachers at K-12 schools in the Midwest describe their perception and usage of mobile technology integration in teaching and learning? The data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews with fourteen participants from one school district in the …

How Peer Mentors Support The Transition Of First-Year College Students, Blair Prevost

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This qualitative, multiple case study examined how peer mentors at a public, four-year university supported the transition of first-year college students. Using Schlossberg’s (Anderson et al., 2021) Transition Framework the study was guided by the following questions: 1) How did peer mentors, in light of the Approaching Transitions phase in Schlossberg’s (Anderson et al., 2021) theory, help first-time students understand their college transition? 2) In what ways did peer mentors directly provide support to first-time students to help first-time students as they transition to college? 3) With what other support resources, whether on or off campus, did peer mentors connect …

Queer Perspectives On Mentorship In Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study, Anthony T. Fucci

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This qualitative study explored the way in which LGBTQ+ college students experienced mentorship. Despite improvements in LGBTQ+ rights over the last 50+ years, recent scholarship has shown that queer students still face unique challenges, including discrimination and harassment based on their queer identity. Mentorship has been found to be an effective resource for assisting marginalized student populations transition successfully into college. The purpose of this study was to investigate how LGBTQ+ students experienced mentorship in order to better understand how these relationships may (or may not) contribute to their experience on college campuses. A phenomenological research design and queer theory …

Preparing Students For Careers In Agriculture: An Analysis Of Secondary And Postsecondary Approaches To Work-Based Learning In The United States And Rwanda, Matthew Sterling Kreifels

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation investigates work-based learning as a method to prepare students for agricultural careers through three interconnected studies. The first two studies investigate secondary education programs in the United States, while the third study explores postsecondary education in Rwanda. In Study 1, a philosophical research approach explores how the new Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) approach, SAE for All, aligns five Foundational SAE components with learning theories and supports Career and Technical Education priorities. Study 2 utilizes a transcendental phenomenological approach to examine teacher perceptions of SAE for All's effectiveness for student career development. Study 3, a case study, analyzes how …

Ecuadorian English Teachers’ Perspectives On Their Professional Development, Consuelo Marisol Gallardo

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Ecuadorian English Teachers’ Perspectives on Their Professional Development, Consuelo Gallardo, Ph.D., University of Nebraska, 2023

Professional development (PD) plays an important role in one’s ability to perform at a high level in a job (Mizell, 2010). As such, an increased emphasis on ongoing and varied PD opportunities to support educator’s professional growth has been described as an effective approach since it pays direct dividends for teachers’ self-efficacy and prepares them to help students surpass basic academic standards (Anderson, 2018; Borg, 2018; Tanveer et al., 2021).

However, PD opportunities for English teachers, who work at Ecuadorian public high schools (grades 8-13), …