Education Commons^™

Place-Based Environmental Education: Forming Connections To Your Local Environment And Community, Deanna Grelecki

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Growing research shows that engaging children in environmental education produces a myriad of benefits, such as improved social, physical, mental, and cognitive aspects of children' s wellbeing. Even with these beneficial outcomes, researchers find that a disconnect between youth and the natural world exists and is growing. This capstone answers the question, How can educators create place-based environmental education opportunities for middle school students?, and ultimately help students build positive relationships with the environment. Grounded in place-based environmental education and created for a rural community in Northern Illinois, this capstone project centers on a field study situated in a local …

Beyond Sequencing: Curriculum As Organizational Practice In Housing & Residence Life, Matthew M. Inman

Master of Education, Student Affairs Independent Study Projects

This study considers the factors influencing curriculum development in student affairs,  with a particular focus on housing and residence life contexts. Grounded in a constructivist and  interpretive framework, this qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with student  affairs professionals engaged in curricular work. Data was analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s  (2006) six-phase thematic analysis process to identify patterns in participant meaning-making.  Analysis shows that curriculum development is shaped by a set of interrelated organizational  dynamics, including tensions between flexibility and structure, the role of language in facilitating  understanding across staff roles, the influence of leadership and human resource capacity, and  the …

Secondary Dual Language And Immersion Content Teachers And Their Instructional Materials, Curtis Larsen

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Secondary dual language and immersion (DLI) teachers who teach content courses, such as social studies or science, balance two central responsibilities: meeting content-area standards and supporting students’ language development (Cammarata & Tedick, 2012). Managing these responsibilities presents challenges when preparing and using instructional materials in languages other than English (Moate, 2014; Morton, 2013; Skinnari, 2020; Sun, 2017). While existing research shows that DLI teachers expend enormous energy seeking and preparing instructional materials for their content-area classes (Mathieu, 2022), little is known about the factors that guide this work or how well existing materials meet teachers’ needs. This dissertation sought to …

Geographies Of Change: Exploring Demographic Shifts & Civic Engagement Through Gis-Based Inquiry, Emily Murphy

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed by my Capstone project was: How can an ArcGIS-based inquiry project about local demographic change be designed to engage students in civics and community identity? It is based within secondary social studies education, particularly human geography. Through a constructivist approach, this project applies key findings from research on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geographic inquiry-based learning, spatial citizenship, and suburban demographic shifts. These highlight the instructional potential of ArcGIS for student-centered interactivity and spatial analysis, as well as challenges in implementation. Using a backwards-planning curriculum design methodology informed by Understanding by Design (UbD), this project develops a …

Evolving Approaches To Teaching Secondary English Language Arts In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence, Timothy Crepeau

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Centered on the question of how to foster academic integrity while maintaining accountability for AI-assisted plagiarism in secondary English language arts (ELA) education, this project responds to the growing reality that students can outsource core cognitive tasks—reading, analysis, and writing—to AI tools. Informed by key influences from neuroscience and educational research, particularly studies on neural plasticity, the reading brain, and cognitive offloading, the project draws on scholarship by Collins, Wolf, and contemporary AI-in-education theorists. These influences underscore the central premise that meaningful learning is not merely demonstrated through output, but developed through the neurological processes activated by sustained cognitive effort. …

Building Argumentative Writing Skills In An Adult Esl Classroom, Cristina Lighthiser

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This capstone project addressed the challenge that adult English Language Learners (ELLs) faced in meeting the complex demands of argumentative writing in academic and professional settings, and was guided by the question, How can the design of an adult ESL curriculum support students in developing argumentative writing through scaffolded lessons on hortatory exposition? This research sought to address a gap in instructional supports for adult ESL students as they developed persuasive writing skills. The curriculum design explicitly focused on language features essential to hortatory exposition. The resulting unit was a six-lesson, twelve-hour curriculum for intermediate adult ESL students at a …

Social Emotional Learning In A High School Setting, Aaron Stack

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This project examined the capstone question: How can one design and implement a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) program for high school students? This topic is important as more and more students are exhibiting less desirable behaviors inside the classroom. While exploring this question, several key findings emerged. First, SEL programming in a high school setting may have a positive impact on students’ academic performance and behaviors. Second, there is no clear distinction between the effectiveness of the program as long as the SEL ideas are consistently explored. Based on these two findings, an SEL program was developed for high school …

From Viewing To Thinking: Developing Learner's Critical Thinking Skills By Engaging In Philosophical Discussions Through Films, Andrew Barnhart

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This capstone presents the idea that having learners discuss philosophical ideas that have been introduced to them through films and readings, with films serving as the primary vehicle for introducing those ideas, has the potential to help them think critically. Philosophy helps learners to logically reason, which leads them to critically think. However, the research found that if educators over-rely on textbooks, it may cause learners to become passive learners who do not critically think about the ideas they are learning. To remedy this, the project created for this capstone is a guidebook that helps educators use film, primary literary …

An Informal Environmental Education Curriculum To Help Learners Reconceptualize The Idea Of The “Wild”, Kimber Hendrix

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Philosophers posit that the “wild” is something often portrayed as elusive, dangerous, or out of reach. Research indicates that exposure to outdoor environments can yield positive outcomes. This project is designed to take learners into a specific outdoor environment and utilize Restorative Justice and Coyote Mentoring Techniques in order to assist them in reconceptualize their idea of “wild”. This project evolved into a ten-lesson curriculum designed for fourth- to sixth-grade learners, but it could be adapted for learners of any age. The curriculum is designed to take place in a consistent outdoor setting so that learners can build a relationship …

Adn Transition Program; Curriculum Changes To Promote Non-Traditional Student Retention, Sayde K. Fitzgerald

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

ADN transition program; curriculum changes to promote non-traditional student retention

Sayde Fitzgerald, BSN RN

Department of Nursing, Fort Hays State University

NURS 868: Nursing Education: Curriculum Planning

Dr. Chrstine Hober

March 29, 2026

Abstract

Barton nursing instructors have recognized retention challenges among non-traditional students entering the ADN program, a situation further complicated by a nursing shortage and high attrition rates ranging from 10% to 30% (Sheikoleslami et al., 2025). These factors significantly impede workforce development. Non-traditional students encounter distinctive difficulties in adapting to the demanding curriculum, often facing a lack of support and the need to balance personal responsibilities (Mazzotta …

The Impact Of The Two-Way Immersion Model On Hispanic Pre-Service And In-Service Teachers’ Understanding Of Curriculum Implementation In Early Childhood Field Placements, Omar J. Vigo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Dual language education, also known as Two-Way Immersion (TWI), is a teaching method that puts native English speakers and native speakers of another language in the same classroom. This helps both groups become bilingual and biliterate (Christian, 1996; Lindholm-Leary, 2001). The TWI approach highlights several benefits, including bilingualism and biliteracy, academic achievement, cross-cultural competence, cognitive improvements, and equity and accessibility (Lindholm-Leary, 2001). Research on the TWI model in adults is limited, although it has demonstrated effectiveness in supporting Hispanic teacher candidates, unlike studies conducted in primary education. This demonstrates that the TWI methodology benefits students (Van Booven, 2012). This …

Rupturing The Sport Management Classroom: Zine-Making For World-Making, Roc Rochon, Chen Chen

Sport Management Collection

The on-going COVID-19 pandemic (and the pandemic of capitalism, white supremacy, imperialism, and colonialism, etc.) calls for imaginative, relevant, and critical approaches in sport management education to address diverse, socially, and culturally dynamic students. Yet the bulk of existing educational resources remain rooted in reinforcing systems of domination and the structure of on-going settler colonialism (Chen & Mason, 2019; hooks, 1994). A major challenge in traditional approaches to “updating” the curriculum fall short in challenging the banking mode of education (Freire, 1970). Following Amis and Silk’s (2005) call for a “rupture” of the reproduction of the status quo within sport …

Health Professional Students' Experiences With Gender-Identity Inclusive Content In The Classroom And Supervised Clinical Learning, Perry Xinyi Zhang, Aria Grabowski, Olivia S. Anderson

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Gender-identity diverse populations have unique healthcare needs, but they experience stigmatization leading to negative health outcomes. Healthcare professionals have reported obstacles to delivering affirming care to gender-identity diverse patients due to limited training. We assessed how health profession students encounter gender-identity content and how students’ perceived preparedness to provide care for gender-identity diverse populations. Methods: A survey distributed to students enrolled in health professional programs at a large mid-western university included close-ended questions about exposure to gender-identity diverse curricular content in didactic and supervised clinical settings and perceived preparedness to work with gender-identity diverse populations. Open-ended questions asked what …

Educating Medical Trainees On Mental Healthcare And Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Andrea Palmieri, Joan B. Beasley, Micah Peace Urquilla, Jennifer Mclaren

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Many children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience mental health conditions and commonly receive treatment with psychotropic medications. Prescribers often overuse these medications in children with IDD, who are frequently treated with polypharmacy and antipsychotics, a trend that continues into adulthood. Medical trainees receive little training regarding the IDD patient population. This paper describes the development and evaluation of an evidence-informed, easy-to-use training curriculum. The 6-hour training establishes a foundation for medical trainees regarding the treatment of mental health conditions in people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD-MH) as part of an integrated health, interdisciplinary treatment approach. …

Sparc Grade 2 Integrated Coding-Math Lessons, Spatial Activities And Robot Coding (Sparc)

Spatial Activities and Robot Coding (SPARC)

SPARC-Math Grade 2 Integrated Coding-Math Lessons with related Utah Core Standards and lessons for Spatial and Programming Language and Geometry.

Implementing An Interprofessional Virtual Journal Club For Health-Focused Students, Hillary L. Roberts, Cynthia Aurentz, Mccall E. Christian, Jessica K. Willis, Caitlin J. Masterson

Journal of Dietetic Education

Students (N = 135) pursuing degrees in health-focused programs participated in an interprofessional virtual journal club during the spring semesters of 2022 and 2023. The journal club was integrated into multiple courses and facilitated through the university’s learning management system and a web conferencing platform. Students applied the 2016 Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Core Competencies throughout the activity. The journal club included four pre-selected articles on ethics in healthcare, and students developed one discussion question per article to guide synchronous virtual discussions. The IPEC Competency Self-Assessment Tool was administered before and after participation. Paired samples t-tests showed statistically significant change …

Nsu Business Graduate Student Catalog 2025-2026 Winter 2026 Edition, Nova Southeastern University

Huizenga Postgraduate Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

What Are Information Literacy Skills? Western Australian Primary Teachers’ Interpretations Of The Ict Curriculum, Louise Moroney, Vaille Dawson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Teachers must equip students to navigate an increasingly complex world of unique challenges and opportunities, necessitating the development of a diverse range of transferable skills. These skills are embedded in the General Capabilities (GC) of the Australian school curriculum. Upper primary school teachers’ interpretations of one of the GC, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) learning progressions, was examined, as these skills have become increasingly important with the rise in generative and assistive artificial intelligence. Using an interpretivist paradigm, an exploratory study was used to determine the areas where 36 teachers differed in their interpretations of the learning progression. Data collected …

Revised Microbiology Core Knowledge Objectives For Modern Undergraduate Medical Education, Timothy J. Bauler, Cindy G. Arvidson, Samina Akbar, Dennis N. Arvidson, Margaret E. Bauer, Dwayne M. Baxa, Rebecca J. Greenblatt, Kerstin Honer Zu Bentrup, Yingguang Liu, Inaia Phoenix, Julie A. Kerry

Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences Faculty Publications

Defining the core content for each scientific discipline in a modern preclinical medical education curriculum is critical to ensure optimal student learning and application of foundational knowledge for clinical practice. Attendees of the Association of Medical School Microbiology and Immunology Chairs (AMSMIC) Educational Strategies Workshop recently highlighted the need for updated medical microbiology learning objectives, given the shift in medical education toward less time for preclinical coursework and more integrated learning. Herein, we describe the process of developing a comprehensive, educator-driven set of knowledge objectives for medical microbiology. These objectives emphasize common pathogens, as well as pathogens associated with severe …

Lyell, Elizabeth Interview 21 November 2025, Elizabeth Lyell, Maughn Rollins Gregory, Megan Jane Laverty

All IAPC Oral Histories

In this IAPC Oral History Interview, Dr. Elizabeth Lyell reflects on her participation in the first cohort of the Master of Arts in Teaching degree with a Concentration in Philosophy for Children at Montclair State College during the 1981–1982 academic year. Lyell recounts her introduction to philosophy for children, her intensive year of study with Matthew Lipman, Ann Margaret Sharp, and Phil Guin, and teaching philosophy in public school classrooms in Montclair, New Jersey and Harlem. Lyell offers vivid memories of Lipman as a teacher, mentor, and moral presence, highlighting his pedagogical generosity, seriousness, and commitment to grounding philosophy in …

Competitive Dance And The Adolescent’S Body: Considering Pedagogical Approaches To Teaching Competitive Dancers, Catri E. G. Barba

Dance (MFA) Theses

Diving into the past and researching for the future, this thesis explores the development and perpetuation of hyper-sexualized adolescent bodies through the competitive dance scene. Drawing on dance theorists, educational theorists, and embodied research (i.e., the author’s body archive), this thesis explores how the competition gaze is performed for and by a capitalist patriarchy. Specifically, this thesis critically reflects on the author’s career as a young competitive dancer in the greater Los Angeles, California, area during the 1990s and 2000s, as well as a competition dance instructor and K-12 educator for two decades, and how those personal experiences have shaped …

A Figurational Analysis Of Health And/Or Physical Education Teacher Educators’ Conceptualisations Of Policy, And Their Sociogenesis, Laura Alfrey, Dylan Scanlon, David Aldous, Jenna Lorusso, Kellie Baker, Christopher Clark, Mo Jafar

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Policy engagement is key to promoting quality physical education yet it has been identified as a ‘grand challenge’ for Health and/or Physical Education (H/PE) internationally. All H/PE professionals, including teacher educators, have a collective responsibility to engage with policy but existing research tells us little about how H/PE teacher educators (H/PETEs) understand and engage with policy. It is important to examine H/PETEs conceptualisations of policy for a few reasons, not least because teacher educators play a crucial role in supporting future generations of teachers who themselves will need to engage with policy as a core feature of their professional lives. …

Pre-Service Elementary Teachers' Science Content Knowledge And Confidence: Teaching Science Methods With Metacognitive Awareness Activities, Demetrice Smith-Mutegi, Erika Wise

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Few elementary teachers are confident in teaching science or in their science knowledge. This study sought to address this concern by investigating the impact of a science methods course on confidence and science knowledge for pre-service elementary teachers (PSETs). In this study, 23 participants enrolled in a teacher education program at a Midwest US university participated in a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design. The participants engaged in course content, including metacognitive awareness activities, for a full semester and qualitatively described their confidence within the pre-post assessment survey. Results were analyzed using an independent samples t-test, mean content assessment scores, and paired samples …

Co-Curricular Science Experiences Support Undergraduate Students' Science Gpa, Degree Completion, Workforce Entry, And Motivation, Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia, Tony Perez, Stacy J. Priniski, Sharlyn Ferguson-Johnson, John Keane, Alexandra Lee, Kristy A. Robinson, You-Kyung Lee, Goun Choi, Matthew J. Schell, Danielle N. Berry, Rochelle Schwatz-Bloom

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Science co-curricular experiences (SciXP)-such as research experiences and internships-are a common, yet understudied, strategy to enhance undergraduates' science career pursuit. Using a doubly robust method to account for initial differences in science motivation, academic readiness, and career intentions, we investigated whether SciXP participation across four years of college predicted undergraduates' (N = 1984) science achievement, career persistence, and motivation at the end of college and after graduation. Participation in science co-curricular experiences was positively associated with science GPA, earning a science degree, being in a more science-intensive career one to two years post-graduation, and viewing science as important and useful …

First Portfolio – Mngt 475: Business Strategies, Lisa Tschauner

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

MNGT 475: Business Strategies serves as the undergraduate strategic management capstone course in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Business. The course integrates knowledge from accounting, finance, economics, marketing, management, supply chain management, analytics, and entrepreneurship while providing students with opportunities to apply strategic frameworks to authentic business challenges. This portfolio documents the design, implementation, assessment, and continuous improvement of the course, with particular attention given to experiential learning and the comparison of two instructional models: a traditional case-study project and a real-world industry-partner consulting project. Drawing upon Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory, self-reflection, self-efficacy, and teamwork constructs, the portfolio examines …

Inclusive Psychology Pedagogy Is Linked To Increased Belonging And Reduced Prejudice Toward Consensually Non-Monogamous Relationships, Rose Bern, Rachel Dinero, Kate Linenbach, Amy Moors

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Students enrolled in an elective psychology course entitled Relationship Science, which emphasized inclusive curricula focused on relationship diversity, completed pre- and postcourse assessments of attitudes toward consensually nonmonogamous (CNM) relationships, relationship skills (e.g., constructive communication), and classroom belonging. Given the established literature on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+-inclusive pedagogy, attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+ individuals were also measured. Comparisons of pre- and postcourse assessments revealed significant reductions in stigma toward individuals engaged in CNM, alongside increased acceptance of CNM relationships more broadly. Students also reported increases in relationship skills and classroom belonging over the course of the …

Ai In Pk-12 Education: Implications For Teaching And Learning, David Naff, Meleah Ellison, Casey Bailey, Tzu-Wei Wang, Kiana Bradford

MERC Publications

This research and policy review from the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) explores the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for teaching and learning in public PK-12 education. It is part of a two part series with a companion report focused on AI implications for PK-12 policy. The report explores two questions:

1. How is AI shaping teaching and instructional practice?
2. How is AI shaping student learning and development?

It concludes with a series of key takeaways and recommendations for PK-12 policy and practice.

Designing An Instructional Unit To Develop Skills In Sustainable Children's Clothing Production, Mona Omar Ali Al Omar

University of Tabuk Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences

The manufacture of sustainable children's garments-particularly reverse-style transformative clothing-has recently emerged as an innovative approach aimed at maximising utilisation efficiency by designing multifunctional products that prolong service life and reduce waste. The significance of this study lies in preparing female students to engage with the rapid advancements in sustainable apparel production, thereby strengthening their capacity to meet the demands of a modern labour market that increasingly values innovation and sustainability. The study sought to design an instructional unit that would enhance students' knowledge and skills in producing sustainable, reverse-transformative children's clothing, and to implement the unit in order to assess …

Validation Of The Evaluating Nursing And Curriculum For Transformation Tool For Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Curriculum Integration, Kendra M. Barrier, Mary Dioise Ramos

School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Background: The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) emphasizes Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) as a foundational element for professional nursing education, crucial for preparing students to care for diverse patient populations. The purpose was to develop and validate an instrument to measure the extent to which DEI elements are integrated throughout the nursing curriculum. Methods: The ENACT (Evaluating Nursing and Curriculum for Transformation) was developed through a comprehensive process involving several phases: tool development based on DEI elements, framing each element within the Nursing Process (ADPIE), preliminary evaluation, obtaining content validity index (CVI) from experts, renaming the tool …

Thesis A Reimagined World Language Curriculum For Secondary Education-Does Culture Matter?, Florence Duncan

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

The focus of this study is culture within the New Mexico high school world language

curriculum. Culture, as a topic, over time has evolved from near nonexistence to

becoming a fundamental element helping students derive multilingual and multicultural

understanding.

This study is an effort to reveal practices high school teachers use to teach, discuss and

evaluate cultural understanding. It uses qualitative interviews with high schools world

language teachers. Practices are evaluated against research findings and analyzed for

reliability and effectiveness. Findings will help with curriculum design for world language

application.

Overall, the study’s findings were positive. Interviewed teachers generally incorporate …