Education Commons^™

Middle School Teacher Methods For Cultivating Student Autonomy: A Plc Case Study During Covid-19, Denis Ryan Lafferty

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this PLC-informed qualitative interview case study was to explore middle school teacher methods for cultivating student autonomy and the rationale behind their instructional choices. Here, student autonomy was defined as learners taking ownership of their academic performance and scholastic responsibilities (Holec, 1981). The unforeseen emergence of COVID-19 impacted the format of this study and provided a rare opportunity for a six-week, nine-member professional learning community (PLC) focusing on the topic of student autonomy. A survey questionnaire, PLC transcripts, and 30-minute semi-structured qualitative exit interviews underwent thematic coding analysis to place teacher responses in the context of predominant …

Assessing The Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices Of Elementary Teacher Educators On The Inclusion Of Computational Thinking Through Coding, Megan Christine Swanson

Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to understand the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of teacher educators regarding Computational Thinking (CT) and coding. All elementary teacher educators in the state of Utah were sent a survey and asked to participate in a follow up interview. Twentynine faculty replied. Five of the 29 survey respondents were interviewed. Teacher educators shared their definitions of CT and coding, which primarily dealt with problem solving and computer programming, respectively. Overall attitudes were positive about incorporating CT and coding, but many participants questioned how it would fit into the already overwhelming nature of the elementary education major. However, those …

A Comparison Of Methods Of Rating Creative Writing: A Many-Facets Rasch And User Experience Analysis, Alicia Mcintire

Theses and Dissertations

The use of analytic rubrics remains popular in the field of writing assessment. Previous work in second-language writing assessment and other fields like economics suggest that ratings produced using this method may have lower reliability on average than other methods. Currently, there is little research on the reliability of ratings of creative writing, specifically creative writing authored by adults. This study evaluated the reliability of ratings from an analytic rubric against those produced by a comparative method called Randomly Distributed Comparative Judgment and the rater experience of the methods. The author administered a science fiction and fantasy contest in which …

Decision-Based Learning As A Tool For Teaching Statistics In A Peruvian University, Gloria Mora Barba

Theses and Dissertations

Many students find that learning statistics is difficult, especially novice learners first taking statistical classes. Instructors also struggle to teach statistics due to many challenges, such as students' misconceptions, lack of math skills, negative attitudes, and deficient instructional methods. A new pedagogical approach called Decision-Based Learning (DBL) has been developed to help instructors and students overcome these challenges. A group of Peruvian university professors in 2018 and 2019 were trained to use DBL. However, limited studies have explored DBL instructors' and students' experiences using DBL in Peru. The aim of this qualitative research study is to deeply understand the experiences …

Teacher Perceptions Of Grades And Grading In A Pandemic, Michael V. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

A grade serves as the primary means of reporting feedback to teachers, students, and parents about the student's level of learning (Heflebower et al., 2014). Many schools have attempted to have teachers adopt standards-based grading, yet school leaders do not know teachers' perceptions about grades and grading. This quantitative study examines the perceptions of 1271 secondary teachers in one school district regarding grades and grading and how they may have changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collected from a survey reveals how changes in teacher perceptions about grades and grading may yield an opportunity for further standards-based …

High School Dropouts, Higher Education Dreams, And Achievement: A Six-Year Study Of A High-Stakes Test In Brazil, Eveline Miranda

Theses and Dissertations

Rumberger (2020) observed that "dropping out of school has economic and social consequences both for dropouts themselves and for the country as a whole" (p. 151). Every year, many Brazilians drop out of school due to work, early pregnancies, marriage, drug consumption, crime, etc. Dropping out of school can occur due to learning challenges, poor attendance, discipline problems, or a lack of access to high school institutions. Dropouts can experience depression and anxiety and are more likely to attempt suicide. The present dissertation includes two different papers about dropouts. The first paper uses fixed effect regression to show the main …

Creating An Instrument To Explore The Self-Efficacy Of Writing Instructors To Teach Apprehensive Writers, Kathleen Marie Romrell

Theses and Dissertations

Writing apprehension is a writing difficulty that can impair the writing experiences of students. While researchers have proposed many interventions that teachers can implement to assist their students who struggle with writing apprehension, there has not been an instrument that is designed to measure teacher self-efficacy to help these same students. This study created such an instrument, entitled the Self-efficacy to Teach Apprehensive Writers Scale (STAWS), using Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy’s (2001) Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale and Daly and Miller’s (1975) Writing Apprehension Test as model instruments. The new instrument was designed to measure writing instructor self-efficacy to teach …

Teaching Social-Emotional Learning To Children With Autism Using Animated Avatar Video Modeling, Emelie Davis

Theses and Dissertations

People with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulties understanding or applying skills related to Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). An individual having a better understanding of SEL concepts is generally associated with more fulfilling connections with others and increased satisfaction in life. Since people with ASD tend to have greater success with learning in structured environments, we created a module to teach these skills using Nearpod. These modules were created with videos of a person embodying a cartoon dog face using Animoji for two reasons; because the animation was meant to appeal to children, and the creation was …

Autonomic Responses During Animated Avatar Video Modeling Instruction Of Social Emotional Learning To Students With Adhd: A Mixed Methods Study, Jesse D. Rhodes

Theses and Dissertations

For those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), social interactions involving high levels of face-to-face interaction can raise stress levels and emotional dysregulation. Using animated avatar video models may mitigate potential emotional dysregulation while learning social skills in these populations. This study examined autonomic data of adolescents aged 7-13 diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), n=5 during avatar animated video modeling (AAVM) of social and emotional skills. This was a replication study with the addition of biofeedback data collection and a change of population. Participants were given three Nearpod training modules with AAVM and multiple-choice quizzes on self-awareness, social …

Delivering Explicit Math Instruction Through Point-Of-View Video Modeling To Elementary Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Patsy Mccray Gibbs

Theses and Dissertations

There is significant literature demonstrating the effectiveness of video modeling for teaching skills to students with disabilities. Still, much less is known about how video modeling, particularly point-of-view video modeling (POV-VM), might be applied to teach academic skills to children with an autism spectrum disorder. This multiple probe single-case design study used explicit instruction techniques to teach multiplication, division, and fraction skills to two elementary-aged students with an autism spectrum disorder. A visual analysis of the data showed that POV-VM using explicit techniques to deliver the videos is an effective intervention for autistic students This research study adds to the …

Critical (Re)Approach To Higher Education Admission Policy: The Impact Of Open Enrollment Policy Implementation, Shirdonna Yvonne Lawrence

Theses and Dissertations

Federal and state policies affecting higher education, like the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1832, Brown vs. Board of Education, and Higher Education Act of 1965 have posited change regarding the proliferation of diversity and expansion of access (Thelin, 2011).

I analyzed BOT policies for enrollment and conducted a socio-diagnostic CDA on the implementation of admission policy to understand the impact of the policies’ implementation. I focused on 1) exploring how open enrollment (OE) policies were constructed, 2) how institutions adopt and interpret these policies, and 3) how individuals at the institution enact these policies, by conducting a discourse-historical analysis …

Mobile Learning: Examining The Relationships Between The Use Of Mobile Devices And Student Performance In Ela And Math Within Technology And Non-Technology Districts, Gabrielle S. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Mobile and other internet-connected devices infiltrate society, including K-12 classrooms. A large body of research indicated that these devices might distract students; however, other studies have revealed many benefits when the devices are used for educational purposes. This study aimed to examine the relationships between the use of mobile devices and student performance in mathematics (MA) and English Language Arts (ELA). The study compared two districts, one that had implemented a 1:1 technology infrastructure for learning and one that had not. Archival data on the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) standardized test were accessed from the two districts, containing fourth-grade …

United We Stand? Investigating The Impact Of Unified Dues Agreements Between State And National Career & Technical Education (Cte) Professional Organizations On Cte Funding In The Southern States, Justin Ryan Hall

Theses and Dissertations

Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers have long been active in lobbying the federal and state governments in support of CTE through their professional organizations, but these are not traditionally considered interest groups. This study sought to determine if the formal relationships—dues agreements—between the two largest national professional organizations, and their state affiliates had an impact on state funding for CTE. The impacts of professional organization unity, membership rates, and lobbying expenses on state-level CTE funding were analyzed through the lens of interest group theory, a subfield of political science. Within this population (N = 13), 1) a link …

The Effect Administrators Have On Employee Morale Within The University Of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, Sherry L. Beaty-Sullivan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between Arkansas County Extension County staff morale and their perceived relationship county staff had with their County Staff Chair. The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service (UAEX) can utilize the results from this research to identify individuals who have the capacity to build high-quality relationships with staff members, thereby promoting higher levels of morale within the organization. Administrators can use this study to identify current or future leaders within the organization by identifying those who can promote high-quality relationships with county-level staff. Results from this study may also be used …

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 Use Of Single-Subject Research Design For Assessment, Evaluation, And Research In Higher Education, Jordan C. Spencer

Theses and Dissertations

While enrolling in a college for a degree is still considered to be more of the expectation than the rule in households across the United States it is facing public criticism regarding its overall cost versus long-term benefits. This has prompted researchers to reevaluate practices in higher education to determine ways in which post-secondary institutions can improve their overall outcomes. In part, research indicates that this should include revisions to assessment, evaluation, and research (AER) practices. Currently, higher education faces many challenges associated with rigorous AER practices, which include an institutional focus on accountability measures, organizational challenges, and difficulties in …

School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers: Self-Efficacy With Face-To-Face, Remote, And Hybrid Instruction And Perceptions Of Professional Development Regarding Technology Integration, Gayle Clark

Theses and Dissertations

This three-article dissertation examined the perceptions of school-based agricultural education teachers in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama on self-efficacy and professional development activities since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first article was an examination of teacher self-efficacy in delivering instruction in three classroom settings: face-to-face, remote, and hybrid, which is a combination of face-to-face and remote simultaneous instruction. The second was a descriptive study of teacher experiences and perceptions of professional development activities related to instructional technology over the past two years. The third article examines the correlation between each of the teacher self-efficacy instructional setting constructs and perceptions …

The Effects Of Professional Experience On Ethical Profiles Of Housing And Residence Life Staff, Sirena L. Cantrell, Sirena L. Cantrell

Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this study was to explore and understand the effects of professional experience on the ethical profiles of housing and residence life staff. Through a survey design, this study used the Managerial Ethical Profile (MEP) to analyze the professional experience of members of the Association of College and University Housing Officers – International (ACUHO-I). The MEP scale measures the range of influences on respondents and describes the major tendencies by placing respondents in ethical profiles. Results from this study indicated that professional experience does influence respondent ethical profiles. This study contributes to the field of higher education by …

Voices From The Field: A Critical Incident Study Of Teachers' Perspectives On What Helps And Hinders The Implementation Of Behavior Intervention Plans In The Classroom, Emily Anne Cragun

Theses and Dissertations

Student problem behavior continues to be a major issue in schools for both teachers and students. Teachers often feel they are not provided with enough resources to help them manage this problem behavior. Students who engage in problem behavior tend to struggle socially and academically. When classified with an emotional disturbance, students are especially at risk due to the severity of the problem behavior they exhibit (Brauner & Stephens, 2006). This study examined how function-based interventions can help both teachers and students better manage the effects of problem behavior. There are several factors believed to hinder the effectiveness of function-based …

Is Teaching Experience A Predictor For School Psychologists' Confidence And Competence In Behavior Intervention Plans?, Misty Dawn Lainé Coplan

Theses and Dissertations

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) introduced Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) into United States law in 1990, and the reauthorization of IDEIA occurred in 2004. Even though BIPs have been codified into law, school personnel struggle to meet BIP mandates due to poor implementation fidelity. Barriers for BIP implementation are varied, but there is little research regarding whether practitioner competence and confidence through teaching experience is a factor. School psychologists (N = 122) from eight states completed a self-evaluation survey using the tailored design method. Results from the survey compared responses from school psychologists with and without teaching …

Localization Of Open Educational Resources By Facilitators Of A Human Rights Course In Ghana, Emily Durham Bradshaw

Theses and Dissertations

Research on the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) often notes the potential benefits for users to revise, reuse, and remix OER to localize it for specific learners. However, a gap in the literature exists in terms of research that explores how this localization occurs in practice. This is a significant gap given the current flow of OER from higher-income countries in the Global North to lower-income countries in the Global South (King et al., 2018). This study explores how OER from one area of the world is localized when it is used in a different cultural context. As part …

Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions Of Self-Determination Supports In Inclusion Classrooms, Suzanne Tiffany-Salogub

Theses and Dissertations

The outcomes presented in this dissertation were motivated by a scarcity of research that explores self-determination practices explicitly within inclusive classrooms. Three overarching goals motivated my research. The first was to understand what inclusion teachers know and do in relation to self-determination (Chapter 2). The second was to understand how their practices align with existing knowledge about self-determination in the field (Chapter 3). Finally, I sought to create an accessible, research-based tool tailored to inclusion teachers who seek to support their students in developing self-determination skills (Chapter 4). To achieve these goals, I designed an investigation using a case-study design …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of The Grizzly Success Program At Georgia Gwinnett College: A Quantitative Study, Michael Phillip Poll

Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that summer bridge programs are a successful strategy for helping at-risk students succeed in college by offering additional tutoring, mentoring, and advising (Slade et al., 2015). Bridge programs are effective for increasing student success (Bir & Myrick, 2015). However, summer bridge programs may challenge at-risk first-generation students due to limited access and additional fees (Mullen, 2010). The additional costs associated with summer programs combined with the summertime commitment needed for summer bridge programs may present a barrier to enrollment and prove difficult for at-risk students to overcome. Grizzly Success is a program that provides additional academic support, social …

Exploring Experiential Education In The Online Learning Environment, Rhonda Sandberg

Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that experiential learning enhances learning and increases student engagement. As online education in higher education increases, incorporating experiential learning into the online experience has been occurring. For this case study, interviews with five online instructional designers and three online instructors examined answers to the questions of how online instructional designers and online instructors define, value, and design experiential learning in their online courses. Insights regarding the benefits and challenges of designing online experiential learning are discussed. Online instructional designers discussed coaching online instructors through the process of designing experiential learning for their online courses. Online instructors expressed that …

Exploring Heuristics And Best Practices For Redesigning Instructional Video, Kelly L. Murdock

Theses and Dissertations

Instructional video is a common staple for delivering content in online courses. However, if the included videos are not properly created, many students will skip the video and its content. Improving instructional video has been the topic of many research projects, and we can learn from these studies how to create effective and engaging instructional videos--this is the topic of my dissertation. The first paper is an extended literature review that examines which key instructional design principles are supported in the literature. This helps developers to know which principles to focus on when designing video. The second paper is a …

Understanding The Role Of Institutional Support For Student Academic Engagement In Higher Education Online And Blended Learning Settings Through The Lens Of The Academic Communities Of Engagement Framework, Sara Hirschi Tuiloma

Theses and Dissertations

This multiple-article dissertation explores institutional support for student academic engagement through the lens of the Academic Communities of Engagement (ACE) framework. A literature synthesis explores the current research on teaching assistant (TA) support in online and blended environments in higher education, with a special emphasis on their role in providing support for affective engagement, in addition to supporting cognitive and behavioral engagement. The review suggests that additional research needs to be done in this area to better understand the role of TAs in online environments and how institutions can prepare them for this role through meaningful training. The second article …

Student Perception Of Teacher Response To Student Emotion: Associations With Academic Functioning, Cassandra Marie Matejka

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACTSTUDENT PERCEPTION OF TEACHER RESPONSE TO STUDENT EMOTION: ASSOCATIONS WITH ACADEMIC FUNCTIONING

by Cassandra M. Matejka The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2022 Under the Supervision of Professor Dr. Kyongboon Kwon

Due to the increased awareness that emotions have on student outcomes within the classroom setting, gaining insight on the emotional socialization process within the classroom setting may lead to continued improvements within the social-emotional learning curricula in the school environment. The goal of this study was to examine the relation between a teacher’s emotion socialization practices and their student’s academic functioning. Specifically, student perceptions of their teacher’s supportive and unsupportive responses …

Curriculum Adaptations To Teach For Creativity Using A Published Language Arts Curriculum, Barbara T. Prendergast

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to examine a published language arts curriculum, determine how Anna Craft’s possibility thinking framework could be integrated into the curriculum, and then observe how students responded to the implementation of lessons integrating the elements of possibility thinking. The findings revealed that a teacher can use the possibility thinking elements to encourage creativity while still teaching the objectives of a published curriculum. Creativity development can be encouraged by using a variety of supports that build possibility thinking. The data demonstrated a connection between life experiences and the curriculum through possibility thinking. The …

Latinx Parents’ Experiences Accessing Their Children’S Instruction And Resources Amidst The Covid-19 Pandemic, Elisa Coy Clark

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study is to build awareness of the Latinx school parents’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. This case study also explores how one’s cultural intuition can help advocate for the Latinx parents and their school children during a novel time. To find this information, I interviewed 7 parents and found the emerging themes that helped answer these two questions. In this case study I found that school families encountered a language barrier, struggled with computer literacy, were expected to help provide instruction, and that some parents were able to support their children after receiving teacher support. …

A Correlative Study Of K-12 Teacher Technology Acceptance In A Post Covid-19 World: Determinants Of Behavioral Intention, Maria Ing

Theses and Dissertations

The shift to emergency remote teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020 forced educators across the globe to heavily rely on technology for the continuity of teaching and learning. As educators return to face-to-face instruction with increased access and expectations to implement technology in their classrooms, it is important to evaluate factors that impact teachers’ acceptance of technology. The Unified Theory of Technology Acceptance (UTAUT) provides an instrument that can be utilized to measure factors that may determine teacher behavioral intention to integrate technology into their classrooms. In this quantitative survey research, K-12 teachers …