Politics, Policies, And Procedures: The Iron Triangle Of Implementing Education Reform, Clint Reardon Jr

Honors College Theses

Education is often seen as a living thing, something that should grow and change with time. However, for far too many people who experience education from both within the school structure and for those who experience education from outside the school structure it can often seem like the educational system is stagnate, dying, and in some cases dead. One shared reason for this perception is perceived barriers in education that stifle creativity and allow educational systems to grow, adapt, and change to meet the needs of the students they serve. This study set out to identify what those barriers are …

Finding Focus: Authentic Inquiry And Composition In The Third Space, Noah Brewer

Dissertations

This research seeks to better understand the attitudes and dispositions of advanced-level English Language Arts students toward the activities of academic research and writing, and to explore the ways that critical pedagogies focused on authentic inquiry and composition interact with these attitudes. The project draws upon research in student motivation, sociocultural definitions of literacy, and theories of hybrid identity in order to discover the potential impact of engaging students in critical reflection on their own meaning-making practices, and of curricular and pedagogical choices aimed at making the lessons of the classroom more relevant to the demands of real-world literacy practices …

An Examination Of The Impediments To Implementing Student-Centered Teaching Methods In Public Schools, Nicole R H Adewale, Robert L. Bloch, Garry D. Gibbs

Dissertations

In education, traditional methods have long relied upon static textbooks and blackboards to impart knowledge to students. Unfortunately, the lack of dynamism with this approach has failed to foster creativity, motivation, inquiry, individualization, and other practices crucial to serving diverse learners, especially Black children. We sought to uncover barriers and potential solutions to this problem by elevating the voices of educators, from classroom teachers to building and district administrators, at a predominantly African-American suburban secondary school in the Midwest.

We designed a qualitative research study to answer a single yet layered research question: What impedes Black students from experiencing and …

Horizon Content Knowledge And Its Integration Into Physics Education Research: Case Study Analysis On Physical Science And Physics Teachers, Trevor A. Robertson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teachers focused on just one year of instruction may neglect what students need most– a coherent structure of learning across disciplines that advances students’ understanding. The topic of coherence has been a major motivator for education research, including investigations in student- teacher interactions, epistemological beliefs, and large-scale curricular reform. One framework of knowledge, horizon content knowledge (HCK), can aid in describing the knowledge a teacher needs to see beyond their own instruction and provide a coherent structure for students.

While horizon content knowledge exists in one of the most widely adopted teacher frameworks of knowledge in mathematics, mathematical knowledge for …

High School Interrupted: A Case Study Of Postsecondary Pathways And College Choices Following The Covid-19 Pandemic, Robert Cook

Dissertations of Practice

This instrumental case study explored how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced post-secondary pathways and college choices of participants in an Upward Bound Program. In the aftermath of the pandemic, community college enrollment was projected to increase, instead two-year institutions experienced significant declines. Prevailing assumptions about college enrollment may not be accurate, and existing college decision models do not account for the effects of a worldwide pandemic. The study was guided by the Iloh model of college going decisions and trajectories, and the college-conocimiento framework. The findings suggested students’ academic engagement and mental health declined during the pandemic. This in turn impacted …

The Transformative Power Of Student Affairs Case Management: A Qualitative Case Study, Thomas L. Cravens Ii

Dissertations of Practice

Colleges and universities are incorporating case management services to support the increasing needs and psychosocial stressors of their students. While there is quantitative research on the efficacy of case management services in higher education, there is dearth literature examining the experiences of minoritized college students engaging in these services. The purpose of this study is to better understand how case management services foster minoritized students’ ability to manage psychosocial stressors. This study was informed by the Student Affairs Case Management Model and utilized an intrinsic, qualitative, case study methodology. Data was collected via interviews with six minoritized students participating in …

High School Student Perceptions Of Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports, Candice Conley

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This case study examines student voice and their interpretations of the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework used in one Kentucky high school. Qualitative interview data from high school student focus groups was analyzed using grounded theory to develop themes related to PBIS implementation.

Using open and axial coding, themes were developed from common student interpretations of PBIS within focus groups. Participants discussed a variety of positive techniques teachers use inside the classroom and responses to student behavior. Reward systems were discussed, but more importantly students offered suggestions of interventions and supports to offer at school. When asked to …

Boys, Reading, And Video Games: A Mixed-Methods Case Study Examining The Effects Of Using A Recreational Video Game To Improve Reading Comprehension Performance At An Elementary School In Texas, Donald Wayne Meyer Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The fifth-grade boys at an elementary school in Texas consistently perform lower than girls on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) reading portion. The gender gap in reading is not exclusive to this school. Boys score lower than girls on state-administered reading assessments each year in the United States (U.S.) and have done so for decades (Bozack & Salvaggio, 2013; Clinton et al., 2014; Schwabe et al., 2015; Schwanenflugel & Knapp, 2018). This study explored the effects of using a recreational video game on fifth-grade boys struggling with reading comprehension in a six-week-long reading intervention program.

This …

An Examination Of High School Students' Experiences As Anti-Defamation League Peer Trainers: A Case Study, David G. Knecht

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine students experiences as Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Peer Trainers at a predominately White, suburban high school in New Jersey, including in what ways students' experiences reflected transformative learning and empowered them as social justice allies. In addition, the study explored in what ways students' experiences could inform social justice education at their high school. The findings indicate that within this context, many participants experienced at least the beginning of perspective transformation, resulting in a shift from an exclusive to an inclusive perspective and an orientation toward social justice. Further, the findings …

Developing And Piloting A Design Guide For Outdoor Classrooms In Utah, Derek Jenson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Studies nationwide suggest that the use of outdoor classrooms in education benefits both students and teachers. In response, the Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation (OOR) established a grant to help fund the implementation of outdoor classrooms across the state of Utah. Interested schools and non-profit organizations may apply for this grant to fund outdoor classroom projects that will help transform their properties into outdoor learning environments.

One requirement for the application is to submit a site plan for the proposed outdoor classroom space. However, many interested applicants have little to no experience with landscape design and may struggle knowing how …

Music Making And Learning At A School For The Visually Impaired: A Case Study, Jacob A. Peterson

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this case study was to investigate the learning environment and the teaching methodologies of teachers at a state school for the visually impaired. Data collection included interviews and observations with field notes with two teachers at LSVI (one music and one non-music teacher) and an interview with a member of the administration. The semi-structured interviews and observations took place in three phases: 1) preliminary interviews in which the participants answered questions about goals for their classrooms, background information, common strategies/methods/tools that they have at their disposal, 2) observations of a class/classes with each of the teachers, 3) …

Good Intentions Are Not Enough: An Examination Of Service-Learning On A Public Charter High School Campus, Jane Louise Wyche-Jonas

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study examines the service-learning program at a charter high school (Austin Charter Academy [ACA]). The two-fold purpose of the study was to: (a) describe and explore the service-learning experience at ACA with attention to the structures of power shaping the program and (b) to examine the role of a White, female administrator in the service-learning program. The research questions for the study were:

• How does one high school charter community describe their experiences in service-learning programs?
• Who is being centered and what logics are being reinforced in service-learning projects?

The study employed a decolonizing, critical community-based service-learning …

Languaging School Into Being : A Discourse Analysis Of Online Ela Classes Within The Context Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jason Christopher Toncic

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, school buildings across the United States shut their doors and transitioned students and teachers to remote learning, most often utilizing internet-based technology to provide either asynchronous or synchronous lessons. I was a high school English Language Arts teacher in Stone Valley School District in Northeastern New Jersey when the unprecedented school closures moved my classes online for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.

As a teacher researcher who specialized in New Literacy Studies, I was particularly sensitive to how students and I used technology to continue lessons after the school building shut …

A Study Of Underrepresented Minorities In An Informal Stem Experience, Rachel Rogers

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

According to labor market data, there is core cognitive knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with STEM education that are in demand in not just STEM fields, but all areas of the workforce (Carnevale, Smith, & Melton, 2011; Rothwell, 2013). During the period from 2005 until 2015, STEM professions grew by 24.4% (Noonan, 2017). During this time, populations such as minorities continued to show a gap in their representation in STEM (Noonan, 2017). To effectively examine how to increase the rate of URM student success in STEM, more research is needed on the factors that might contribute to minority STEM interest, …

An Instrumental Study Of Fire Service Leaders’ Influence On Followers’ Workplace Aerobic Exercise Activity, Paul A. Ebanks

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Sudden cardiac events resulting from the physical demands associated with fire suppression among individuals lacking adequate aerobic fitness are known concerns within the firefighting domain. The purpose of this research study was to explore fire service leaders' perceived leadership behaviors that aided in followers' performing workplace aerobic exercise activities (Creswell & Poth, 2018). Following within-case and cross-case analyses of interviewees' data, five leadership themes emerged comprising four behaviors and one influence related to followers' workplace aerobic exercise activities: role model, supportive, cooperative, visionary, and planned exercise regimen. In the present study, thematic findings indicated that fire service leaders' role-modeling exercise …

Against All Odds: Understanding African American Males’ Perspectives On The Path To Graduation At An Alternative School, Devin Randolph

Theses and Dissertations

The researcher completed a critical, descriptive, single case study about African American male students' experiences on the path to graduation at an alternative school in the southeast. Informed by scholarship on majoritarian narratives and counter narratives from Critical Race Theory (CRT), the researcher coded and analyzed data from individual interviews, a focus group, and an art-based project to answer three research questions: 1. How do African American males describe their perspectives on their placement at an alternative school? 2. How do African American male students describe their paths to graduation, including defining moments? 3. What and who do African American …

Internationalization Of Regional Higher Education In China: A Critical Policy Case Study Of A Transnational Double-Degree Program, Hailiang Zhao

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract

While internationalization is omnipresent in the Chinese universities’ policy rhetoric and internationalization initiatives have been widely carried out, current research of China’s higher education internationalization mainly concentrates on the top research universities. This dissertation shifts the focus to study the internationalization of higher education in regional universities in China. Situated in the critical policy analytical framework, this study used qualitative case study approach to investigate national and institutional level perceptions of higher education internationalization in the Chinese context with a focus on a specific internationalization initiative, a double-degree program (SNZDD), in one regional public university (RU). Bourdieu’s concepts of …

Exploring Student Engagement For Diverse Student Populations: A Case Study Examining Institutional Logics Of Student Affairs Middle Management Leaders, Frangelo Rominque Ayran

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores the institutional logics that student affairs middle managers employ to facilitate student engagement programs and resources intended for more diverse student populations. While the positive effects of student involvement and student engagement are both widely documented, disparities between White students and students of color in their rates of engagement continue to illustrate that the effects of student engagement opportunities as forms of high impact practices are dependent upon the racial and ethnic background of students. Higher education institutions faced with the widening divide between low-income students of color in their retention, degree attainment, and engagement rates not …

Teacher Cultural Competency And The Effect On Slavic Student Performance, Erin Marston

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Student demographic data in today’s elementary and secondary schools have shown an increase in the numbers of diverse students in classrooms across the United States. This change in classroom demographics has established the need for changes to both the classroom educational environment and the preparation of our teachers. Research supports a few documented ways teachers can support both their student experiences and academic performance. Culturally competent teachers, cultural humility, and culturally relevant pedagogy are a few of the ways educators can adapt to the change in student demographics. Linking the literature to these findings will help provide an overview of …

Evolution Of Computational Thinking Contextualized In A Teacher-Student Collaborative Learning Environment., John Arthur Underwood

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The discussion of Computational Thinking as a pedagogical concept is now essential as it has found itself integrated into the core science disciplines with its inclusion in all of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2018). The need for a practical and functional definition for teacher practitioners is a driving point for many recent research endeavors. Across the United States school systems are currently seeking new methods for expanding their students’ ability to analytically think and to employee real-world problem-solving strategies (Hopson, Simms, and Knezek, 2001). The need for STEM trained individuals crosses both the vocational certified and college degreed …

Text Messaging Between School Counselors And Students: An Exploratory Study, Nicholas R. Gilly

Graduate Theses & Dissertations

This exploratory case study examines the impact of text messaging on mentoring relationships when used as an outreach between school counselors and high school students, where established relationships are lacking. An SMS gateway was used to mediate communication between school counselors (N=2) and students (N=5) over a three-month timeframe. The SMS gateway converted email, sent from counselors, to text messages, which were received on mobile devices of students and allowed students to respond back to counselors. Findings indicate that the use of text messaging may ease scheduling of face-to-face meetings between counselors and students, but evidence does not support any …

Unprepared To Be Culturally Responsive: An Examination Of Secondary Esl Educators In Rural Louisiana, Danielle Marie Butcher

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the problem of instructing English learners in a rural Louisiana district. The following questions guided this study: (1) How do the teachers perceive their pre-service and in-service training for English learners?, (2) How do the teachers perceive their ability to implement culturally responsive pedagogical practices for English learners?, (3) How do the teachers perceive the district’s approach to tangible, informational, and emotional supports for English learners?, and (4) What are the teachers’ perceptions, if any, of sociocultural inequities faced by English learners? And how, if any, do these sociocultural inequities affect the …

Exploring Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives Regarding How They Teach Vocabulary, Serena Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous studies have been done on the lack of quality and consistency of vocabulary instruction in low socioeconomic schools. The problem addressed in this study was that some students were performing well on vocabulary assessments in low income early childhood classrooms while other students were performing poorly. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perspectives of early childhood teachers in low socioeconomic schools of students with high vocabulary scores regarding how they teach students based on their zones of proximal development. The conceptual framework used in this study was Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory of cognitive development, …

The Impact Of Technology Enhanced Learning On Pedagogy: A Case Study, Seth James Ismil

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the growing trend of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) tools being integrated into pedagogy, there have been challenges preventing the transformation of pedagogy. This has included limited research on understanding why the increase in TEL integration has not resulted in movement from replacing to transforming pedagogy. The purpose of this qualitative explanatory single case study was to determine why teachers integrating TEL tools and applications have not done so in a way that transforms how teaching and learning occur. The conceptual framework of replacement, amplification, and transformation was used to examine levels of integration in this study. Participants were seven teachers …

Creating Project-Based Math Curricula: A Narrative Inquiry, Marcie Hull

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This study is a narrative inquiry about the participant’s experiences, in three individual case studies, involving teachers of high school mathematics engaged in the creation of a project-based learning curriculum, in a one-to-one laptop school. The researcher analyzed data from field notes, digital artifacts, and teacher interviews to document how math teachers are creating curriculum in an inquiry-driven, project-based, technology-infused instructional model. Findings from restorying and the analysis of three-dimensional space —regarding teacher lore —reveal themes about math teacher curriculum conflicts in skill-building, application of iterative design thinking, and structures inherent to project-based learning. Rich, thick description of the cases, …

The Manifestation Of Stereotypic Repetitive Behaviors In Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder In School Environments, Heather Anne Kurto

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects one in 59 children in the United States (CDC, 2018). ASD is defined as impairments in communication, socialization, and engagement in stereotypic and/or repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Much attention is given to the deficits in communication and socialization while stereotypic repetitive behaviors (SRBs) are the focus of interventions to extinguish these behaviors with little understanding of what role these behaviors play for people with ASD. The engagement in and function of SRBs is less prominent in the literature. Stereotypic repetitive behaviors vary in engagement, function and topography. This study examines how SRBs manifest …

Perceptions Of Maxine Smith Fellows On Barriers That Contribute To The Underrepresentation Of African Americans In Faculty And Administrative Positions At The Tennessee Board Of Regents, Sidney R. Hill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

African Americans are underrepresented in full-time faculty and administrative positions at Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) institutions. This study examined the perceptions of 11 Maxine Smith Fellows on the underrepresentation at TBR institutions and provides recommendations that could assist in increasing representation of African Americans in full-time faculty and administrative positions.

A qualitative method was used for the study. Each participant was required to participate in a recorded SKYPE interview. The researcher transcribed the interviews and analyzed the data using coding to derive overarching themes that provided findings based upon the research questions.

Based upon the analysis of data, the …

A Student Research Manual: Helping Students Help Themselves Identifying And Addressing Challenges Facing Prospective Undergraduate Researchers, Landon Rohrer, Karen L. Sirum

Honors Projects

Undergraduate research does not only help equip STEM majors to be better researchers and employees but increases retention of students to graduate school in needed scientific fields. However, while resources are being produced for undergraduates like Undergraduate Research Experiences (UREs), Centers for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (CURS), and Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs), undergraduate involvement and awareness about these resources, and the value of undergraduate research in general, does not seem to be improving. Therefore, it would be valuable to figure out why undergraduates aren't autonomously seeking out undergraduate research during their studies. To investigate why, a two-part survey was …

Steam Education In Ontario, Canada: A Case Study On The Curriculum And Instructional Models Of Four K-8 Steam Programs, Marja G. Bertrand

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) learning and project-based learning are important educational initiatives in North America. However, it is important to consider whether current STEM educational practices are sufficient to prepare students for the world they are to live and work in. This prompts discussions about STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) which is shifting educational paradigms towards art integration in STEM subjects. This study investigates the STEAM education reform movement in Canada to better understand the STEAM curriculum and instructional programs offered by non-profit organizations and publicly funded schools. This research study addresses the following major questions: …

The Practice Of Assessment Data Use In Student Affairs: The Need For An Expanded Conceptualization, Mark D. Manderino

Dissertations

Over the past three decades, student affairs assessment, as an organized functional area, has matured and established itself as an essential and expected component within higher education in the United States (Elkins, 2015; Ewell, 2002; Henning & Roberts, 2016). While professionals know that data use is part of the process of assessment (Banta & Blaich, 2010), there has not been sufficient evidence of what use of assessment looks like both in higher education and specifically student affairs, or how best practice strategies encourage assessment data use (Kinzie, Hutchings, Jankowski, 2015). There is a dearth of empirical evidence related to use …