Education Commons^™

Influencing Factors On A Nurse's Decision To Remain A Bedside Nurse, Diane Marie Hulsey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract The loss of the experienced bedside nurse is a current health care problem. New nurses are moving into other areas of nursing or leaving the profession within 6 months of graduation. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, nurses are vital at the bedside. Patients’ and families rely on the nurse to be their support and educational source. In this study, the possible implications of why a registered nurse remains at the bedside throughout their professional career although offered different positions and work environments was examined. The theoretical framework of Patton and McMahon identifies the holistic nature of career development through …

Barbadian Pk-3 Grade Teachers’ Perspectives Of Positive Behavior Support, Nicole Natasha Lynch

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Barbados, positive behavior support (PBS) has been introduced as an alternative to the use of harsh disciplinary practices, but Barbadian PK-3 grade teachers’ perspectives of PBS are not well understood. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore Barbadian PK-3 grade teachers’ perspectives of PBS as an approach to managing classroom behavior. The conceptual framework for this study was derived from Bandura’s social cognitive theory and the PBS framework. The research question focused on Barbadian PK-3 grade teachers’ perspectives of PBS as an approach to managing classroom behavior. Semi-structured telephone and Zoom interviews were used to collect …

How Prekindergarten And Kindergarten Teachers Supported Students' School Readiness Skill Development During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Eileen Manoukian

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Scholarly literature lacks studies on how prekindergarten and kindergarten (PK-K) teachers supported students’ school readiness skill development and successful transitions to formal schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Framed by school readiness theory and social development theory, this qualitative study explored perspectives of 16 PK-K teachers to answer two research questions about how teachers support students’ school readiness skill development foster students’ successful transitions to formal schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic in a metropolitan area in the southwest region of the United States. Data were collected through one on one, semistructured interviews, and analyzed by following an inductive process using Saldaña’s …

Pre-K Teachers’ Perspectives Regarding Support Needed To Meet State Reading Standards, Kwe'shonte Mathews

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractEarly literacy has been a topic of interest in early childhood education for centuries, but the effects of early literacy teaching practices are an ongoing and unresolved topic amongst early educational programs. The problem was that in urban areas many students read below their expected grade level, preventing them from achieving literacy success. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore pre-k teachers’ perspectives in a large urban school district regarding the support needed to meet challenges implementing Georgia Early Learning and Development (GELD) Standards, while teaching pre-k students literacy, specifically phonemic awareness. The conceptual framework that guided …

Comparison Of Course Grades Among Learning Modalities In Historically Black College And Universities, Murdell Walker Mcfarlin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe growth of online courses in higher education, combined with the distinct situational identity of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and their continued emphasis on face-to-face (F2F) instruction, provided an opportunity to learn more about learning modalities and student grades at HBCUs. The problem was previous research findings are contradictory regarding grades among modalities at HBCUs. The purpose of this study was to compare differences in grades among three learning modalities (F2F, hybrid, and online) for three student groups (African American, non-African American, and all students) at three public, 4-year HBCUs in one U.S. state. This cross-sectional, ex post …

Are Black Girls Okay: Microaggressions And Academic Strategy Development For Black Women In Doctoral Programs, Marcella Rolle

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the past years, researchers have explored the lived experiences of people of color, namely Black women, in academia. Examiners have learned that Black women often learn how to succeed in academia but at the expense of their mental well-being and even in the midst of oppressive situations. Most of the work previously presented was largely qualitative and has not considered predictive factors or unpacked the strategies Black women used to reach academic success. Therefore, this study used the doubled-edged sword conceptual framework and the Black feminist thought theoretical lens to investigate the relationship between microaggressions, academic strategy development, and …

Exploring Novice Elementary Teachers' Use Of Academic Language In Planning, Teaching, And Assessment, Lori Teegarden

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Academic language is the key that promotes disciplinary reading, writing, speaking, and thinking. The novice teacher may not be prepared with the knowledge, skills, and strategies to effectively plan, teach, and assess for academic language achievement. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to understand the novice teacher’s experiences and perspectives of academic language development. The research questions focused on the novice elementary teacher’s practice of addressing academic language demands in teaching. The conceptual framework that guided the study comprised Bruner’s education theory that places teaching and learning within the culture and society and Rumelhart’s theory focused on vocabulary …

Exploring The Perceptions Of Teachers Regarding Learner-Centered Instruction And Its Potential Impact On International Students, Evan David Barnhart

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The subject of how best to educate students in the classroom has been one of debate, discussion, and research, with various forms of instruction touted as the most effective. Recently, learner-centered instruction (LCI) has been put forth as a method to educate students, and research supports its implementation. The problem addressed in this study was the inconsistent implementation of LCI at a private school in the West Coast of the United States, specifically regarding its failure to meet the needs of international students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how teachers implement LCI in their classrooms to …

Teachers’ Perspectives Of Instructing Elementary Students In Reading, Catrina Cooper

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a Midwestern, urban, elementary school, a problem is teachers are struggling to support the instructional needs of the students with limited resources and training opportunities. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to examine the perspectives of reading teachers in Grades 3 to 5 about the challenges with meeting the instructional needs of the elementary students at the target site. Gagne’s theory of the conditions for learning and Tomlinson’s theory of differentiated instruction comprised the conceptual framework. Data for this study were collected from semistructured interviews with 10 teachers in Grades 3 to 5 who currently teach or …

Early Grade Teacher Perspectives Of Struggling Learners And Later Mathematics Achievement, Crystal Ann Cuyler

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students who were not identified with a learning disability or significant developmental delay (SDD) in prekindergarten, but may have undiscovered learning issues are often among the lowest performing students in mathematics when they reach upper grades. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand kindergarten, first, and second grade teacher perspectives of early indicators of later difficulties in mathematics among children not identified as having learning disabilities or SDD in prekindergarten. A retrospective study was conducted in which the remembrances of early grade teachers were used to explore the difficulties children who were struggling with mathematics as fourth and …

Play Lu Interactive Technology And Standardized Mathematics Scores, Oguz Yildiz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Technology-based learning tools provide new opportunities to engage students in learning academic content. This study focuses on one such tool, Play Lu Interactive Technology (PLIT), and analyzes how students’ math achievement on standardized test scores differs between students who have used PLIT and students who have not. PLIT is designed to improve students’ communication and teamwork skills in addition to math skills. The data were collected from seventh-grade students at a public school in the state of New York that used PLIT to support students’ academic achievement in math. Due to scheduling limitations, only half of the seventh-grade students used …

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #2: Education & Public Schools, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

Life in Hampton Roads 2021 - Education & Public Schools

About one in four (26.1%) of respondents reported having a school-aged child/children, and 17.7% of those parents indicated they had a school-aged child with a disability. Those with school-aged children were asked where/how their children attended school in the spring of 2021 given COVID-19 conditions. Similar percentages of parents reported that their child attended public school with only virtual classes (44.4%) or attended public school with at least some in-person classes (44%). Another 10.6% indicated that their child was home-schooled and 8.7% indicated that their child/children attended private school with …

Deschooling Schooled Minds: Speculative Essays, Kelly Graziano

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This dissertation is a collection of speculative essays (Schubert, 1991) that explore the "why" of schooling and possible alternative educational arrangements (Illich, 1970/2002; Reimer, 1971; Goodman, 1962; Holt, 1972; Gatto, 1992/2017; Giroux, 2000). As one who has been schooled (in "educational" institutions and those like it, e.g. abusive relationships), I have developed a passion to bring awareness to the destructiveness of schooling and to learning from the world rather than what others want us to know and believe about it. Incorporated with autobiographical narrative, I trace both the historical and current reasons behind the establishment and maintenance of mass …

School Leaders' And Teachers' Perceptions Of Preparedness For The Online K - 12 Setting, Deirdre Daniels

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Nearly half of new teachers leave the profession within five years of employment, and most would not recommend teaching as a profession. A shortage of highly effective teachers continues in public schools across the nation; hence, meaningful professional development needs to be implemented to adequately prepare teachers for the classroom, and this is further compounded in the online setting. The goal of this study was to ascertain school leaders’ and teachers’ perceptions of preparedness for an online K – 12 school by examining perceptions of preparedness in three categories: student learning and engagement, curriculum and instruction, and data driven decision-making. …

Counternarratives Of Students With Dis/Abilities In One Rural School District, Christy M. Descartes

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This is an inquiry into the educational experience of students with dis/abilities who are excluded from the general education classroom in one rural Georgia school district. Theoretically my dissertation research builds on critical disability studies (Erevelles 2000, 2002, 2005, 2015; also Annamma 2018; Tremain 2005), critical geography (Harvey 2000; Helfenbein, Jr. 2004; Soja 1989, 2010), and curriculum studies (Maudlin 2008; Snowber 2016; Springgay & Freedman 2008; Swanson 2008). Methodologically building on counternarrative inquiry (Bell 1999; Delgado 1989; He & Ayers 2009; He & Ross 2015; He, Ross, & Seay 2015; Solórzano & Yosso 2002), art-based research (Barone & Eisner 2006; …

The Devaluation Of Career Technical Education (Cte) By The Graduates Of Wonderwood High School, Jason J. Weiss

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In Georgia, high school graduates are expected to be college and career ready, however due to recent educational legislative changes the focus has been placed on being college ready. These modifications have led to a low number of graduates completing a Career Technical Education (CTE) pathway as well as a low number of graduates passing their CTE End-of-Pathway assessments and earning industry credentials. To assist in determining the factors that have led to the devaluation of CTE by Georgia graduates, a critical qualitative inquiry study was conducted on a sample of 13 graduates from Wonderwood High School, in South Heights, …

Mothering Through Our Pain: Single Black Mothers’ Narratives, Yolanda E. Surrency

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Black women’s voices and historical contributions have been dismissed, and even excluded, making it difficult for their cultural knowledge to be transmitted to future generations. Black women battle with an unsettled consciousness from subscribing to the normalization of what dominant culture defines as good mothering. This study uses Black feminism to examine single Black mothers who navigate the negative images of the welfare queen and the matriarch. This narrative study uses Black feminism to examine the stories of single, Black mothers and their daughters. The purpose is to investigate Black mothers’ lived experiences to understand their struggles and resistance. Purposeful …

Teaching With Passion And Compassion In Challenging Times: A Narrative Inquiry Into Elementary Teachers' Experiences In Georgia, Erin Scroggs

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study explores how teachers maintain their passion and compassion for teaching in spite of the impact of work-related challenges and subsequent obstacles upon their personal and professional lives. While much research has been conducted into teacher stress, very little has been done to connect the effects of stress on teachers’ health and passions for teaching. Abby, Nick, Passion, and Anna, four elementary school teachers from different areas, counties, schools, and school districts in the State of Georgia, participated in the study. Theoretically, I draw upon an array of works such as teaching towards freedom (Ayers, 2004, 2010, 2016), teachers …

‘Believe In Me, And I Will Too’: A Study Of How Teachers’ Expectations Instilled Confidence In Grade 10 Students, Olivia Johnston, Helen Wildy, Jennifer Shand

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Teacher expectation research has continued to establish an association between what teachers expect of their students and what students accomplish academically. These expectations affect students when they are communicated by teachers through differential treatment in the class, but no qualitative research has sought adolescent students’ points of view about how they experience teacher expectation effects. This paper presents new research findings that explain how Grade 10 students experienced their teachers’ expectations in ways that they reflected impacted their academic outcomes. Classic grounded theory methods were used to develop this new knowledge, which has implications for how teachers are educated for, …

Exploring The Implementation Of An Intervention For A Pupil With Mathematical Learning Difficulties: A Case Study, Kin Eng Chin, Sai Hoe Fu

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study presents a single case study of how a remedial mathematics teacher incorporated an instructional intervention into her teaching practices in order to teach counting to a pupil with mathematical learning difficulties. This new theory-driven intervention was developed by the authors of this study. Dyscalculia is a term which refers to a wide range of mathematical learning difficulties or disabilities. Dyscalculic pupils have a specific mathematics learning disorder with a core deficit in representing and processing of numerosity. They might not be able to recognise numerical quantities, performing counting and so on. Early supports such as interventions have a …

Common Worlding Pedagogies: Opening Up To Learning With Worlds, Affrica Taylor, Tatiana Zakharova, Maureen Cullen

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Common worlding is a collective pedagogical approach. It is also a deliberate move to open up education to worlds beyond narrow human preoccupations and concerns and beyond its standard framing as an exclusively social practice. In this article, we identify some of the guiding principles that underpin this approach and explain how they work out in practice. We do so by offering a selection of illustrative vignettes drawn from the Walking with Wildlife in Wild Weather Times early childhood research project in Canberra, Australia, and from the Witnessing the Ruins of Progress early childhood research collaboratory in Ontario, Canada.

Follow The Leader: Child-Led Inquiries To Develop Science Learning Of Young Children, Pauline Roberts

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Science education in the early years has been found to be lacking when compared to other content areas, specifically numeracy and literacy. It has been suggested that this lack of opportunity for young children to learn science is due to educator’s lack of confidence to teach science, fuelled by concerns regarding a reduced understanding of science concepts. For young children, however, science is everywhere and is embedded in all aspects of their lives as they explore and interact to make sense of the world around them. Given this natural connection to science, it is important for educators to notice and …

The Potential Of Involving Communities To Enhance Stem Education, Paula Mildenhall, Bronwen Cowie

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

By engaging students in everyday issues and events, STEM education can contribute to the development of citizens who are equipped to make the world a better place. However, students’ STEM learning with this focus requires teachers to identify age and context appropriate issues. Student investigation of local issues and events can be motivating for students. Their learning can benefit from involvement with community members who input their knowledge and ideas. Students can contribute ideas and actions to the community, especially when there is a two-way exchange of information from the community to students and students to the community. In this …

Extinction, Education And The Curious Practice Of Visiting Thrombolites, Brad Gobby, Jane Merewether, Annette Nykiel

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The Earth is in the midst of a recent acceleration in the rate of species extinction and the unravelling of ecological communities. The authors think with the emerging field of Extinction Studies to explore educational approaches to ecological endangerment and extinction. Using a notion of visiting as ‘curious practice’, we story encounters between the authors, young children and the endangered Noorook Yalgorup-Lake Clifton thrombolites and their ecological community in south-western Australia. These visits were not intended to teach about extinction or the thrombolites. Rather, our …

What Is The Literacy Supportive Role Of The School Librarian In The United Kingdom?, Margaret K. Merga

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© The Author(s) 2020. Building students’ literacy skills is a key educative purpose of contemporary schooling. While libraries can play a key role in fostering literacy and related reading engagement in schools, more needs to be known about school librarians’ role in promoting these goals. To this end, this article seeks to identify the nature and scope of the literacy supportive role required of the school librarian in the United Kingdom. It also investigates how this aspect is situated within the broader competing role requirements of the profession. Using a hybrid approach to content analysis including both qualitative and quantitative …

Identifying Differences In Nutrition-Related Learning Interests Of Adolescent Students, Margaret Miller, Donna Barwood, Michael Furfaro, Julie Boston, Sandra Smith, Martin Masek

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2021 The Authors. Journal of School Health published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of American School Health Association. BACKGROUND: In this study, we examined nutrition-related topics among adolescent students attending schools with different Indices of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA). METHOD: Participating students (N = 206) from 5 schools in Western Australia completed a paper-based questionnaire on nutrition-related topics. Frequencies and independent chi-square tests were used to identify differences between sexes and school ICSEA. RESULTS: Of the participating students, 75% were interested in learning about 8 of 16 topics. We found statistically significant differences by sex (p < .01) for “Eating the right foods for preventing illness and disease,” “Eating the right food for being active” among girls, and “Reducing food waste” among boys. We also noted differences by school ICSEA. CONCLUSION: Acknowledging sex and socioeducational differences in teaching and learning may help teachers to engage adolescent students in nutrition education.

Mentor And Peer Support For Early Career Researchers Sharing Research With Academia And Beyond, Margaret K. Merga, Shannon Mason

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2021 There is a growing expectation that doctoral candidates and early career academics publish research outputs such as journal articles and conference papers, and that they share their findings with key stakeholders beyond academia. However, it is not known if these expectations are being coupled with support from mentors and peers within institutions. Through interviews with recent PhD graduates working as early career researchers in Australia and Japan, this paper investigates if mentor and peer support for producing both academic and translational outputs was forthcoming during their doctoral candidature and beyond. It also investigates kinds of supports provided in …

Revisiting Collaboration Within And Beyond The School Library: New Ways Of Measuring Effectiveness, Margaret K. Merga, Sayidi Mat Roni, Chin Ee Loh, Anabela Malpique

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2021 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Collaboration in school libraries can be viewed as a supportive and respectful working relationship between participants involved in developing, planning and creating learning opportunities and experiences, as well as to ensure optimal use of the school library resource. While strong collaboration between school library staff and teachers and leadership beyond the school library is a key goal of school libraries, actual levels of collaboration may be lower than desired. There is a paucity of recent research that captures factors relevant to effective collaboration from current and diverse …

A Survey Of Western Australian Teachers’ Use Of Texts In Supporting Beginning Readers, Simmone Pogorzelski, Susan Main, Susan Hill

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Connected text reading is crucial to beginning reading development as this is where children apply the reading skills they are learning. The most recent version of the Australian Curriculum includes the requirement that teachers use both predictable and decodable texts in early reading instruction. As each text type is underpinned by a different approach to reading instruction, this creates a potential dilemma for teachers when implementing the curriculum. A preliminary study of the instructional practices used to teach reading in the first two years of schooling was therefore conducted to investigate how early years teachers make use of two different …

Digital Labour And Temporal Priorities Within A Secondary School, Nicola F. Johnson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Digital devices and ubiquitous online access contribute to the nature and amount of digital labour conducted by school staff. Drawing on more than 40 interviews with staff at one Australian secondary school, the general nature of this digital labour is presented, then Clancy’s notion of temporal autonomous spaces is introduced and applied to theorise why some teachers used digital technologies constantly in their teaching. The article highlights how some teachers invested their time in learning about and using digital technologies because it enhanced their sense of autonomy and increased their sense of freed time. It theorises how teachers who invest …