Education Commons^™

An Online Scientific Twitter World: Social Network Analysis Of #Sciencetwitter, #Scicomm, And #Academictwitter, Man Zhang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Understanding who makes up online social worlds as well as how information flows within those communities is important as more people access news, research topics, collaborate with others, and entertain themselves. This study identified and classified the people discussing scientific topics on Twitter, determined the type of social network, and described the member composition of this online world. Scientists, the public, and educators formed this online world. They built connections by initiating activities and interacting with others, which created the Community Clusters social network structure. All three categories of people are in positions of influence in this network leading and …

Uncovering Insights On Remote Learning Through A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Tweets At The Start Of The Pandemic In The United States, Douglas Wayne Bridges

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the discourses surrounding remote learning during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic through Twitter conversations. Employing a Critical Discourse Analysis informed by Michel Foucault’s theories of discourse and power, this study explores how the pandemic has transformed educational interactions over social media platforms. It particularly focuses on the relationships between language, power, and social structures, highlighting the transformative potentials of remote learning amidst a global crisis.

The research reveals how discourse on Twitter reflects broader societal and cultural dynamics, serving as a microcosm of the shifts within the educational sector. Analysis of Twitter threads, retweets, and …

Examining Digital Hostility Against Black Women: A Thematic Analysis Of The Black Manosphere On Twitter, Nekea Sanders

Theses and Dissertations

The Manosphere is a collective of powerfully influential men who create and control harmful narratives about women online. Individuals within the Manosphere are disseminating their beliefs and garnering support through various online platforms, including social media. This research study sheds light on the Black Manosphere, a group within the Manosphere that has gone under the radar, despite the detrimental and toxic content they publish online about Black women. This qualitative research study examined the hostile rhetoric published by the Black Manosphere on Twitter (now X) about Black women. The research questions guiding this qualitative examination were: (1) What types and …

Examining Twitter As A Learning Tool On Saudi Female Undergraduate Student Achievement And Attitudes: A Mixed-Methods Study, Hend Bamalan

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Today’s learners commonly belong to a generation that grew up surrounded by using technological devices in classrooms, such as smartphones, laptops, iPads, or other tools – making them digital natives. To meet the nature of digital natives’ learning needs, the focus of educational institutions has been on adapting their instructional practices to align with the new realities. In Saudi Arabia, higher education institutions were encouraged to include more instructional technology to align with the nature of digital natives and improve students’ academic performance and engagement. The use of Twitter as a learning tool in higher education is a new educational …

Educator Professional Development As Rhetorical Situation, Bethany Leigh Creswell Wilson

English Theses & Dissertations

Teacher effectiveness is recognized as the most prominent in-school influencer of student learning, and professional development (PD) of in-service educators is seen as vital to improving teachers’ effectiveness throughout their careers. Professional development is often studied atheoretically and with a linear view in which PD providers deliver instruction and teachers receive and apply that instruction as it was delivered to them. By casting them as passive, blank-slate receivers and automatic appliers of the PD, this view obscures the complexities of teachers’ role in PD. Examining educator PD through the lens of rhetoric, and viewing the PD experience as a rhetorical …

How Universities Use Twitter To Communicate About Mental Health, Sarah Elizabeth Polhill

Theses and Dissertations

From a sample of over three million tweets from universities in the US, we described the characteristics of universities' communication about mental health on Twitter, including common keywords, bigrams, linked resources, and hashtags, as well as the frequency of dialogic communication and mental health tweets over time, especially in the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This study uses data mining to collect tweets from official university Twitter accounts and selected accounts of university wellness and counseling programs. Relevant tweets were collected from a large sample using keywords and bigrams relevant to mental health from the Twitter accounts of IACS accredited …

The Influence Of A Learning Management System (Lms) And Microblogging On Social Presence, Sense Of Community, And User Interface Satisfaction In A Distance Education Course, Andrew G. Leach

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

The impact of social media on everyday life is undeniable. Social media has transcended its initial purpose of connectivity and branched into other sociocultural aspects. Educators must create a rich and active learning environment where students can actively engage with their educational curriculum. This study used a mixed methods approach to investigate the influence that learning management systems (LMS) and microblogging (social media) have on key elements of distance education design. These elements include social presence, sense of community, and overall user interface design. Students’ perceptions of these elements were collected from students enrolled in a graduate course during summer …

How And Why School Counselors Use Twitter: A Phenomenological Study, Danielle R. Schultz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School counselors are often isolated in their role because of the unique nature of their job. Lack of connection, lack of relevant professional development, role ambiguity, high stress, high student-to-school counselor ratios, and lack of professional connections are all contributors to school counselor burnout. School counselors use Twitter, a social media tool, for a variety of purposes. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experience of school counselors who use Twitter to illuminate how and why school counselors use Twitter. This study found that school counselors see the purpose of their Twitter use as professional advocacy, professional connection, and validation. …

Examining Canada’S Scientific Literacy Through Covid-19 Tweets, Samantha Jewett

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Scientific misinformation spread on social media is a concern for science communicators, health communicators, and science educators alike. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a statement that modern technology has created an infodemic, undermining the COVID-19 response effort. Misinformation spread online threatens public health and can endanger lives. So how do we combat it? The leading solution is education, in particular, equipping individuals with scientific literacy. Scientific literacy, or the ability to critically evaluate, understand, and make decisions regarding scientific information, is the goal of science curriculums globally. There has been much research over the …

More Than Just A Seat At The Table: Shared Governance For Graduate Student Mentorship, Katherine Canazzi

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Since its inception, public education in the United States has billed itself to the masses as an “equalizer” that “prepares the citizenry.” Although there are varying institutional types in higher education, Americans believe the myth that higher education is an extension of the same K-12 educational values. Despite higher education teaching the components of civic engagement separately, the skills are seldom combined for students to practice. Students do not learn how to transfer or combine these skills into their “real lives” outside of higher education. Since graduate students are electing to further their education, higher education has an increased responsibility …

Exploring Critical Media Literacy Skills Of Adults On Twitter During The Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic In The United States In The Spring And Summer Of 2020, Renee Thomas Woods

Dissertations

This study explores the self-directed learning behaviors of adult users of the social media vehicle, Twitter, through the lens of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States during the spring and summer of 2020. The objective was to identify Twitter usage patterns to determine adults’ awareness and use of media literacy and critical media literacy skills with social media content they consume. This study, informed by two focus groups and six individual interviews, is based on a qualitative research design using a constructivist approach. The central question is how do adults use critical media literacy on social media when gathering information …

Rewriting Web 2.0 Discourses Of The Local For Socio-Spatial Literacy Theory, Erin Daugherty

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to provide a framework for engaging with two spatial concepts that have been foundational to theorizing literacy across time but have often been taken for granted as passive backdrops to the social action of literacy practice: the notions of “the local” and “the global.” By interrogating the histories, both past and ongoing, of these two spatial concepts as they are interwoven into the sociocultural paradigm of literacy theory, research, and pedagogy, this project identifies new ways that literacy researchers and educators can attend to spatial concepts so as to promote and encourage literacy research and learning that …

How Does How We Learn Influence What We Learn And From Whom We Learn: The Case Of Igen, Twitter, Bts Army, And Learning With Technology, Yuliya Dmitriyevna Goss

Dissertations and Theses

Digital information is omnipresent, and access is almost unavoidable. Technology advances and comes at us in waves that take over and then tend to linger. iGen is the first generation to be born into this advanced technology and the state of constant “plugged-inness” to the Internet. iGen has not experienced a different, predominantly analog, world, but baby boomers, generation X, and millennials – many of whom now use Internet-connected technology heavily – can attest to how they have changed as it integrated into their lives. Along with many other areas of life, learning has also changed with technological progress. From …

Interwoven Worlds? A Mixed Methods Study Of Student Engagement And Student Belonging Within The University Classroom When Courses Use Social Networking Sites, Christie Gardner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The recent decade of technological advancements has shaped an increasingly digital experience in the everyday lives of people around the globe. One popular digital landscape for people is social networking sites (SNSs). Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram in particular, have a large following of users from the adolescent and college-age demographic (Pew Research Center, 2019). In response, educators are integrating SNSs into classrooms to increase student engagement (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014). This raises concerns from all involved stakeholders as the social and psychological impacts of SNSs are still largely debated (Verduyn et al., 2017). This study confronts research lacunae across …

The Influence Of Twitter Educational Opinion Leaders On K-12 Classrooms, Toni Owens

Dissertations

Global similarity in education policies, with more adventurous and instructionally demanding proposals in education, is causing educational stakeholders to look outside of the school doors to adapt learning opportunities. To ease the strain of such demands, teachers increasingly turn to Twitter to connect to a global network of educators for meaningful and engaging conversations to share and solve a wide range of educational problems. Many authors have concluded that Twitter is an effective tool for professional learning, but scarce attention has been given to the use of Twitter for professional learning. Data from this study were analyzed to identify which …

Incorporating Twitter In The Clinical Supervision Process: Perceptions Of Secondary School Level Supervisors, Paula Abiola Willis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Collaborative supervision and social media in education have been the focus of many studies, yet research on incorporating Twitter into clinical supervision is limited. Secondary school level supervisors need to learn and understand educational opportunities when using collaborative supervision incorporating online support. This study explored the perceptions of secondary school level supervisors on using Twitter to collaborate with teachers in the clinical supervision process. Siemen’s theory of connectivism and Cogan’s clinical supervision model framed the study. The research questions explored the perceptions of secondary school level supervisors regarding the use of Twitter for collaborating with teachers during the clinical supervision …

Hashtags And Pins In Education: Digital Native Educators In Digital Habitats., Kelly Pilgrim Cassidy

Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology Dissertations

As technology becomes more ubiquitous in society, education cannot ignore the impact it is having on education. This research seeks to understand how Digital Native educators are using Digital Habitats in their professional practice. By gaining a deeper understanding of how educators use Digital Habitats, including their tools, like hashtags and pins, we can begin to develop ways to incorporate these skills into our teacher preparation programs. The knowledge gained from this study can help administrators, technology leaders and coaches to better understand their Digital Native teachers and how they are using these technology tools in their professional practice. This …

How College Campuses Are Using Social Media During Severe Weather Events, Emmale Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how college campuses are using social media during severe weather events. This topic surfaced after a tornado devastated Moore, Oklahoma in May 2013 and those displaced flocked to the University of Oklahoma campus after a post made on Twitter went viral prior to an official message being sent out by the university. In order to further explore this topic, a qualitative phenomenological case study was conducted at the following sites: University of Alabama, Missouri Southern State University, University of Oklahoma, and Florida State University. This study included observations of social media posts on Facebook and Twitter on …

A Little Birdy Told Me: Educators’ Experiences With Twitter As A Professional Learning Network, Valerie King

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

This study reveals educators’ experiences with using Twitter as a professional learning network. The context of this study is framed by the notion of ubiquitous learning woven into the underpinnings of social learning theory, adult learning theory and connectivism. Current traditional professional learning does not adequately address the needs of today’s educators. There is growing evidence to suggest that teachers are more isolated and lacking the collaboration necessary to encourage and sustain best practices in the classroom. This research investigates the topics of traditional professional learning, online learning and social networks to lead to a keen understanding of the nuances …

The Superintendent’S Feed: An Analysis Of Superintendents’ Engagement In Political Discourse On Twitter, Todd M. Hurst

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The modern school superintendent fulfills a unique role in the American public education system. He or she is structurally empowered as the de facto head of the local educational system, thereby granted with a certain amount of trust and authority regarding educational issues. At the same time, the superintendent is, in most cases, an employee of a politically appointed school board. This construction creates a dynamic wherein the superintendent is both the leader of a highly structured, bureaucratic system, while at the same time an employee of a largely lay, often elected, group of citizens.

The position of the superintendent …

Integrating Twitter Into The Classroom, Toria Felton

Master of Education in Instructional Design and Technology Plan II Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to research, create, and implement lesson plans that utilized Twitter in the classroom. This project was also used to gauge how students felt about using social media in the classroom. It showed professors how to effectively and easily use the app in the classroom, which helped them to connect with more students and work on a platform that was of interest to many of the students.

Using Twitter To Promote Civic Education, Katelyn Ross

M.S.Ed. in Educational Leadership Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate how Twitter could be used to support civic education in a rural, low-income school district in Maine. Twitter was used in the classroom to supplement and enrich a unit on the Civil Rights Movement and also to inform students about the political process. Findings indicate that Twitter can effectively be used to engage students, inform about the political process, and enrich content when used with purposeful instruction. Recommendations for educators include long-term implementation of the tool, on-going feedback from students, and purposeful implementation into curriculum.

Education All A'Twitter: Twitter's Role In Educational Technology, Rikki Elaine Mccormick Lowe

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine whether current uses of Twitter by educators correlate with the literature on the uses and advantages of using Twitter in education through an examination of United States educators and West Virginia educators. Data was obtained from responses to the online survey, Education All A’Twitter: Twitter’s Role in Educational Technology, content analysis of public Twitter feeds, and semi-structured interviews that were sorted, coded, organized, and analyzed to identify emergent themes. The study had a population that included 97 survey responses, 78 Twitter feeds, and 8 semi-structured interviews. There were survey respondents …

How Social Presence On Twitter Impacts Student Engagement And Learning In A Grade 8 Mathematics Classroom, Shelly Vohra

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social media for personal use has evolved rapidly among adolescents, changing the way they communicate with each other. However, little research has been conducted about how teachers use social media in the classroom to improve student learning. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe how social presence on Twitter impacts student engagement and learning when a mathematics teacher integrates this social media tool into an instructional unit. The conceptual framework was based on social presence theory developed by Short, Williams, and Christie. This qualitative study used a single case study design. Participants included 6 students and 1 classroom …

“Beyond The Four Walls Of My Building”: A Case Study Of #Edchat And The Power Of Connectedness, Virginia G. Britt

Doctoral Dissertations

Professional development is an important aspect of all teachers' careers as a way to continually grow and enrich his/her craft. It is particularly important for K-12 American teachers because of the continual push to increase student achievement. With the introduction of social media networks, teachers are able to connect and learn from others outside their school building to those across the world. While we know Twitter and other social media sites have grown in popularity with educators, we still do not know what is happening within this online space and how it supports teachers. The purpose of this case study …

Social Studies Teachers' Use Of Twitter And #Edchats For Collaboration, Eric Langhorst

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Past studies have indicated that teachers in the United States have limited opportunities to collaborate with peers; this limitation has been found to be particularly problematic for social studies teachers. An increasing number of educators are using the social media application Twitter to collaborate. Little research exists concerning social studies teachers' use of #edchats, a weekly recurring Twitter session. The focus of this qualitative case study was the collaboration that exists among social studies teachers participating in Twitter edchats. The theoretical framework was communities of practice. Transcripts of 10 edchat sessions in 2013 were coded with an a priori strategy, …

A Science Instrument For The Digital Age: #Scistuchat Participants' Perceptions Of Twitter As A Tool For Learning And Communicating Science, Ryan Liss Becker

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The integration of digital technologies in K-12 education is ubiquitous. Web 2.0 technologies enable students who were once passive consumers to become active participants in, and even creators of, dynamic digital experiences. Social media, in particular, can connect disparate populations, minimizing traditional barriers such as time, space and geography. Similarly, science communication has also been influenced by an expanding array of media through which scientists can now connect directly with the public. #Scistuchat, the focus of this study, uses the social media platform Twitter to bring together scientists, secondary science students and teachers outside of school in monthly, science-focused Twitter …

Tweeting In The Agora: An Historical Documentary Of Educational Structures And Discourse In Ancient Greece And In Modern Social Media, Jill Maraldo

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the systems and structures of formal and informal education in Ancient Greece under the leadership of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle and the systems and structures of education and discourse on social media, specifically on blogs and Twitter. Using historical documentary research methodology of primary and secondary sources, the researcher analyzed, compared and contrasted these systems and structures and examined the implications for today's educational leaders.

The four research questions of this study were:

1. According to select primary sources from 400 B.C.- 322 B.C. (heretofore referred to as ancient times) and historical secondary sources about that …

Public Relations Models And Dialogic Communication In The Twitterverse: An Analysis Of How Colleges And Universities Are Engaging Their Publics Through Twitter, Jason Antwuan Beverly

Dissertations

Colleges and universities throughout this world are realizing the importance of engaging in and building mutually-beneficial relationships with their key publics through social media. The introduction of the microblogging tool known as Twitter extends the use of social media in higher education, beyond the classroom, and into the realm of public relations where it can be just as effective. Now, colleges and universities are capitalizing off of its potential as a public relations tool. Twitter allows colleges and universities to better connect with their technology-consumed publics trough dialogic and interactive two-way communication. This study examines how 155 colleges and universities …

Utilizing Social Media To Build Community In The Residence Halls, Michael Jeremy Courson

LSU Master's Theses

The purposes of this study are to understand how community is built and residents are educated in the residence halls on college campuses as well as to design a method for social media to aid that process. To achieve this, documents were collected from 10 different institutions from across the country. The documents were analyzed to determine how community is built, residents are educated, and the use of social media in residence life. The results showed that none of the institutions were using social media in any form. It also showed that all of the institutions build community and educate …