Education Commons^™

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 …

Creating A Culture Of Learning: Intrinsic Motivation And Its Practical Value In The Wake Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Paige Hennen

Senior Honors Theses

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, students of all ages were required to rapidly transition to the demands of virtual learning, resulting in general amotivation. These changes have led to poor academic performance, due to the decreased efficiency of learning processes as these students learn to cope with the instability caused by the pandemic as well as school-related changes. Intrinsic motivation, especially when cultivated within the learning process, plays an important role in student academic success and acts as an influence on holistic success in adulthood. Thus, educators must cater to the needs of this generation's students by implementing …

A Multiple-Case Study: Motivating Students With Disabilities In Personalized Literacy Instruction, Courtney Kozelski

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents often experience a decline in motivation, yet support for basic psychological needs can prevent such a decline. Individuals with disabilities face particularly high motivational obstacles, placing them at the center of this action research study. This study took place within a special education classroom during one school year. The intervention unfolded over the course of the year, using personalized learning to support students’ basic psychological needs and provide sources of self-efficacy. The findings lend support to previous studies, indicating literacy motivation can be promoted through implementation of a needs-supportive personalized learning intervention that builds upon both self-efficacy and self-determination …

Does Instructional Autonomy Matter? Exploring Job Satisfaction For Math And Non-Math Teachers In Low, Middle, And High Ses Schools, Hannah Sean Ellefritz

Dissertations and Theses

Throughout the 2000s, standards-based education policies decreased the autonomy of public schools across the U.S., deprofessionalizing educators and limiting their participation in the development of curriculum and instructional policy. Many education scholars argue that, rather than professionals with specialized skills and knowledge, standards-based reforms position teachers as technicians, accountable for measurable output in accordance with externally imposed standards. This literature suggests that such education policies may have implications for teachers’ job satisfaction, especially those working in schools or subject fields that are particularly susceptible to standardized curriculum and accountability procedures. Using nationally representative data from the Teaching and Learning International …

Motivating Students To Participate In The German As A Foreign Language Classroom, Joanna Walton

Honors Theses

This details how to motivate students in the German as a foreign language class to participate and engage in the learning process. Increasing motivation in students is a struggle with which all teachers are familiar, but teachers of foreign languages have a particular challenge because of the intimidation students feel when faced with producing assignments and content in a new language. This topic is also of interest to foreign language educators because student retention is becoming a serious problem, leading many school districts to cut smaller language programs like French and German. Maintaining an engaging classroom environment, where students participate …

Age- And Sex-Based Differences In The Moral Intuitions Of American Early Adolescents, Brandon Bretl, Marlon Goering

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study sought to explore the validity of a latent-factor model of moral intuition development during early adolescence. The 3-Factor Character Foundations Survey (CFS-3) was used to assess the moral intuitions of early adolescents (n = 850, mean = 12.4 years old, SD = 0.96) under a moral foundations theory framework. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the psychometric validity of the three latent factor constructs (autonomy, loyalty and empathy), and partial metric invariance was established to allow for the comparison of latent factor means between four age- and sex-based groups coinciding with averages for pubertal onset. Results support prior findings of …

Transactional Distance Theory And Scaffolding Removal Design For Nurturing Students’ Autonomy, Katsuaki Suzuki, Naoshi Hiraoka

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

This paper prorposes eight design principles to nurture autonomy of college students, based on re-conceptualization of Michael Moore's Transactional Distance Theory (TDT). After proposed in 1970’s, TDT has been helping to concepturalize distance education in terms of psychological, not physical, distance among people involved. TDT, on the other hand, has been creating confusions and misinterpretations when utilized in the research and practices of distance education. COVID-19 has forced all educational practices to be offered as distance education, which made us realized the importance of student autonomy, when limited guidance could be offered. Utilizing the framework of TDT, this paper proposes …

Curiosity, Motivation, Autonomy, And Lifelong Learning In Education And The United States Marine Corps, Cynthia Malmquist

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Curiosity, intrinsic motivation, and autonomy-supportive teaching all promote lifelong learning in both the classroom and Marine Corps. Humans are all born with curiosity. Children inherently practice forms of intrinsic motivation. Most would agree that they do not like being micromanaged - they enjoy a sense of freedom when completing tasks. Despite this, many students learn in a controlling environment and many Marines work under controlling leaders. Though a large amount of time is spent on learning through the first 18 years of life, lifelong learning does not come naturally and is not commonly practiced. The research and ideas discussed below …

Parenting Education For Low-Income Job Seekers: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of The Parenting With Love And Logic Program, Bryan Spuhler, Jacob A. Esplin, Kay Bradford, Brian J. Higginbotham

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Although the principles and strategies outlined in Cline and Fay’s (1990) Parenting with Love and Logic have been the foundation for several parent and educator training curricula over the last 30 years, there has been a dearth of empirical research to evaluate these programs (Fay, 2012). Prior research has documented the impact of cumulative family risk factors on parenting skills and child outcomes (Repetti et al., 2002, 2012), but few studies have examined the impact of parenting education courses within unemployed, low-income families. This study investigates perceived parental efficacy across the four program domains of connection, autonomy, regulation, and parental …

A Missing Link: Exploring The Connection Between School Climate And Teacher Retention, Christine Lynn Whitt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative correlational study examined the strength of the correlations between school climate and teacher retention in rural, low-income elementary schools in North Carolina. In addition to identifying the overall relationship of school climate to teacher retention, this study examined the relationships between the overall climate factors (autonomy, community, induction, shared leadership, responsibility, and recognition) and teacher retention. Utilizing data from the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey (NC TWCS), 150 teachers were surveyed. Teachers included in the data collection were identified as working in low-income and rural schools, serving pre-kindergarten to fifth grade. Existing data was requested from school …

Negotiating Incomplete Autonomy: Portraits From Three School Principals, Taeyeon Kim, Jennie Weiner

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Purpose: This study builds on research scrutinizing school autonomy in policy and school governance by shifting the focus from a formal structural view of autonomy to examining how principals negotiate autonomy in their daily work. Drawing on multiple dimensions of autonomy and street-level bureaucracy, this study examined how principals, as both professionals and bureaucrats, work to expand and strategize their autonomy in practice.

Research Methods/Approach: We used portraiture to document and interpret the experience and perspectives of three principals at urban, suburban, and rural PK-12 traditional public schools in the Midwest of US during the 2018–2019 school year.

Findings: Principals …

The Impact Of Teaching Experience, Autonomy, And Competence On 7th-12th Grade English Language Arts Text Selection, Julianna V. Lux

Theses and Dissertations

This explanatory sequential mixed methods study sought to understand the influences of teaching experience on perceptions of autonomy and competence on 7th through 12th grade English language arts teachers’ text selection decisions through a survey and interviews. The findings of this explanatory sequential design survey study could affirm practices of those teachers utilizing diverse texts in the classroom, encourage those lacking confidence in aligning nontraditional texts with their state’s standards, and remind administrators of teachers’ need for autonomy in the classroom. While no statistically significant difference was found on the autonomy and competence subscale scores based on teaching experience, the …

School Innovation: A Phenomenological Study Of Leadership, Kevin H. Storch

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to gain an understanding of what school innovation looks like as well as how school and district leaders address the concept. Technology has forever changed society. We must be careful not to confuse school innovation as the implementation of technology in the classroom. Educational leaders face the challenge of engaging students in meaningful learning opportunities that go beyond rote memorization and performance on standardized assessments following NCLB and Common Core. This study identifies characteristics of school culture that are necessary for innovation to take place. Principal and district leaders have to be knowledgeable …

Formal Teacher Evaluation And Self-Determination Theory: The Role Of The Principal, Christine Trendel

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explores how early research in self-efficacy, teacher stress, and teacher job satisfaction directly relate to self-determination theory. Specifically, the role of the elementary school principal can directly impact teacher motivation when meeting teacher basic psychological needs outlined in self-determination theory; connectedness, competence and autonomy. Furthermore, principals can build teacher connectedness, competence and autonomy with interactions and feedback both inside and outside of the formal teacher evaluation process. When principals interact with teachers frequently, visit classrooms weekly, and provide specific and timely feedback, teachers experience higher levels of motivation through increased feelings of connectedness, competency, and autonomy.

International Teachers’ Perceptions Of Mandated Curriculum And Instructional Practices, Jasmine Audrey Matterson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractInternational teachers who arrive in the United States from developing countries often experience challenges adjusting to the U.S. classroom environment. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of international middle and high school teachers at a rural school district in the southern United States on the challenges that they face with adjusting to mandated curriculum and instructional practices that may influence classroom management and effective instruction for student achievement. The conceptual framework for the study was self-determination theory which indicates that when individuals have autonomy, relatedness, and competence, they will perform at their highest level …

Tech-Savvy Educators’ Perceptions Of Using Smartphones For Self-Directed Professional Development, Matinga E. Ragatz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The proliferation of the smartphone has encouraged educators, particularly the tech savvy, to seek personalized learning options in lieu of the absence of individualized professional development (PD) offerings provided by their academic institutions that are not based on short-term whole group instruction. Although smartphone use has attracted the attention of researchers, not much has been examined about how educators use the device to enhance their learning. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to investigate the perceptions of tech-savvy educators regarding smartphone use for informal self-directed PD. The conceptual framework of the study was the 3 x 3 model …