Education Commons^™

Using The Touchstones Discussion Method For Common Reader Discussions​, Nathan M. Slife, Chelsie Hawkinson

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

The Touchstones Method empowers students to find their voice within an inclusive and collaborative discussion.

Instructors can use this method to facilitate discussions of the UNLV Common Reader Program. This program provides incoming undergraduate students with a common intellectual experience discussing a select text.

Principles from the Touchstones Methods can used to facilitate conversation of any text that is used in this Common Reader program.

Counseling Skills For Educators, Craig Hall

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas is touted as a diverse campus. Indeed, students represent a wide range of demographics concerning race, gender, identity, socioeconomics, physical and mental ability issues, as well as non traditional students and those the intersectional representation of multiple demographic groups. It is incumbent upon educators to provide safe spaces for all students. This is an equitable practice. How can educators be more equitable? By using counseling skills in their education such as: empathy, active listening, belief in the capabilities of students, and avoiding labeling students. It must be noted that the use of counseling skills …

Why Ask That? Low Stakes Questions Build Engagement, Van Whaley

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

A few low-stakes questions during the term build engagement, encourage persistence, and can improve learning outcomes.

During labs, students work together to learn Anatomy & Physiology… plus answer these Engagement Booster Questions.

The Need
/="/">Students need to meet classmates. After two years of online-only education, returning to in-person labs is a new experience many students find uncomfortable and challenging.

The Existing Resources
/="/">Students in the same lab have several similarities that include enrolling in the same lecture section, similar schedules, the same completed prerequisites, similar majors, and career aspirations.

The Goal
/="/">Building engagement between students should help …

Working Smarter, Not Harder: Using Canvas Outcomes To Promote Student Success, Jacob D. Thompson, Beth Barrie

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Promotes the adoption of Canvas Outcomes. Canvas Learning Outcomes can bolster student success, improve program assessment and course design, and ease assessment burdens on administrators, colleges, departments, and faculty.

Ai And The Future Of Academic Integrity, Jesse Fitts, Rachel Bovard

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

In this poster, we provide recommendations for assignment types in light of the AI chatbot ChatGPT.

Video Homework: Visualizing Homework Assignments To Help Comprehension, Jorge Ramon Fonseca Cacho

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Multimodal delivery of information has been shown to be preferred to one mode of delivery. Instead of only providing homework assignments to students as a PDF, printed paper, or a Canvas LMS text prompt, we propose augmenting the assignments with a video explaining it verbally, or conversationally, and visualizing the assignment. Not all students process information the same way and some may be more responsive and engaged to audio visual content than just text such as visual learners or individuals who struggle reading long text prompts.

Career Handbook, Unlv Career Services

Career Handbook

The job search can be daunting and intimidating, but you are not alone in this journey. As you move into the next stage of your professional career, we want you to know that you have the support of UNLV Career Services, the UNLV Alumni Association, and employers who are part of our Rebel Family. We are here to mentor, guide, and walk you through the job search process, and we are invested in your future.

The road to career success is not always as easy as we might hope. You may encounter setbacks and struggles throughout the next few years, …

Is It For Me? Alienation, Assimilation, And Ambition In Academia, Niki Fullmer, Brittany Paloma Fiedler

Library Faculty Research

Even though colleges and universities across the United States are implementing strategies to market their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, students of color, specifically Latinx students, are graduating at a lesser rate than the national average (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). In the academic librarian profession, only 6% of librarians are Latinx while 71% are white (Sweeney & Schonfeld, 2017). Academia and libraries are historically white, and this fact was recognized by many of the Latinx students who participated in a study conducted at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), in the spring …

One Last Month, Or Clancy's Time-Box, Safiyya Bintali

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

One Last Month is a young adult (YA) novella of roughly forty-three thousand words aimed at readers in middle school and in early high school grades. Structurally, it is an “ensemble Bildungsroman”, wherein all the main characters—rather than just one—embark on journeys of emotional growth and are given significant plot focus. Through the characters, One Last Month focuses on the importance and influence of non-romantic love, specifically through homosocial relationships between the novella’s male characters. It also touches on the process of grief beyond the Kübler-Ross structure and, though more subtly, emotional expression in young men. Through one of the …

A Tool For Digital Bibliotherapy: Fostering Emotional Resiliency Through A Visual Novel, Joy Cooper

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Suicide rates among children have risen over the last three years. In Clark County specifically, the numbers doubled between 2019 and 2021. The research for this project sought to find the benefits of bibliotherapy and create a tool to be used for early intervention in children displaying signs of developmental emotional and behavioral concerns. Additionally, the research focused on determining the benefits of bibliotherapy across various mediums with a particular aim on the accessibility of digital formats. The research concluded that bibliotherapy in a digital format is not only beneficial but has a tendency to produce higher engagement among children. …

Project F.O.C.U.S., Pi Peng Chen

Second-Year Seminar Posters (COE 202)

Education is a fundamental right for everyone, including individuals with disabilities. The primary challenge students with disabilities encounter is the lack of accommodation and accessibility in schools. The second challenge is students with disabilities are often subjected to bullying, harassment, and discrimination in schools. Significantly impact students' mental health, self-esteem, and learning ability. There is a pressing need for a more inclusive and supportive learning environment.

Association Among Select Conditions For Learning At The School Level, Academic Attainment, And Academic Growth In Reading, Cederrall Petties

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

INTRODUCTION: School climate data are provided to Illinois schools to help educators foster a school culture that ensures healthy social-emotional development for all students, including those with low social-economic status, disabilities, and a dominant language that is not English. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the relationship between reading attainment and growth and school climate. METHODS: This exploratory correlational study investigated the association between school reading attainment and growth data and school climate data. RESULTS: Highlight findings of the study revealed that schools with a high percent of low SES students and students with IEPs showed that 66% of the …

¡Puedes Hacerlo! A Qualitative Case Study Exploring The Experience Of Latina Community College Students With Aspirations To Transfer, Sandra Pizano

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examined the motivation and source of support for first-generation Latina community college students who aspire to transfer to a four-year institution. The study is informed by Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth model, to explore how participants navigate their school environment and the vertical transfer process through an asset-based lens. The study aims to dismantle the deficit narrative that is many times told about communities of color. Eight students who self-identify as first-generation community college Latinas, plan on completing an associate degree within 1-2 semesters of the interviews, and have identified a transfer four-year institution were interviewed for this study. …

Does The Degree Matter? Understanding Employer Hiring Perspectives On Community College Health Information Technology Program Graduates, Tricia L. Broughton

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Health Information Technology (HIT) is an in-demand occupation across Illinois and as such community colleges offer related preparation programs in the form of one-two semester Career and Technical Education (CTE) Certificates and Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degrees. Community college applied programs aim to meet the needs of local employers and the interest of students to obtain employment within their communities. Research suggests that employability as perceived by employers goes beyond the technical skill requirements of the job. This dissertation project aimed to better understand employer’s hiring perspectives on community college health information technology (HIT) program graduates and ultimately whether …

The Characteristics Of Senior Leadership Teams In High Performing Western Australian Catholic Composite And Secondary Schools, Daniel Michael Groenewald

Theses

The purpose of this research was to explore the perceptions of principals, senior leadership team members, and middle leaders regarding the characteristics of senior leadership teams (SLTs) in high-performing Catholic Education Western Australian composite and secondary schools (CCSS). The study investigated the characteristics that enhanced and inhibited SLTs. It explored the resources and professional learning that could improve SLTs and the role of the principal in the SLT. This research is the first study of SLTs in CCSS.

The study's literature review identified six areas of literature that formed the conceptual framework of this thesis. These six areas were: the …

Chapter 3- Improving The General Education Experience Through Equitable And Inclusive Pedagogical Practices, Cree Phillips Taylor

Habits of Mind

General education courses sometimes have the reputation among students of being obstacles to overcome, wastes of time, and a squander of tuition. In my opinion, student dislike of general education courses is fueled by two factors: 1) students’ misunderstanding of the purpose of general education and 2) general education instructors designing courses with a gatekeeping mentality. Traditionally, general education courses have served as the gatekeepers of the university experience by—intentionally or unintentionally—funneling out students who “don’t belong” through poor course design. Racially minoritized students, women, and first-generation college students are disproportionately affected by the gatekeeping mentality of general education instructors.

Chapter 2- Preparing Students With Habits Of Mind For The First Day Of Class, Jennifer Grewe

Habits of Mind

Students often come to university with preconceived but in many cases inaccurate notions of what the university experience is like. They have been told that they need to go to college to get a good job; that their professors do not care about how they do; and that they are now on their own. This can be an overwhelming perspective to have when starting a new chapter in life. College students, including those who may not have experienced even minor academic failures to this point in their lives, are particularly impacted by this mentality. It should come as no surprise, …

Chapter 15- Leap And The Net Will Appear: Risk-Taking And Creative Flexibility In The Face Of The Unknown, Raymond Veon

Habits of Mind

Risk-taking is a leap into a space that has not been mapped. Who knows where or how you will land? Consider the following:

• A student completes a portrait drawing, then cuts it into strips and weaves it into another drawing. The result is an intricate yet beautiful image that addresses the complexity of identity that viewers can reassemble in multiple ways, beyond the control of the artist. The art student had never attempted such a work before.
• A wall of torn-out book pages that are pinned and collaged together. Most of the words on the pages are redacted by marker, …

Chapter 21- Developing Classroom Management Skills: Leveraging Habits Of Mind In Pre-Service Teacher Education, Rachel K. Turner

Habits of Mind

Classroom management plays a major role in teacher retention and attrition within elementary schools. Researchers suggest classroom-management issues are one of the leading causes for teachers leaving the education field (Ingersoll & Smith, 2003) and are one of the leading struggles reported by teachers past and present (Langdon & Vesper, 2000; Goodwin, 2012; Phi Delta Kappan, 2019). Not unexpectedly, classroom management tends to be a leading cause for concern for pre-service and new teachers as well (Bromfield, 2006; Evertson & Weinstein, 2006; Sowell, 2017; Uribe-Zarain et al., 2019). Classroom-management skills must be developed to keep teachers within the profession.

Chapter 22- Searching As Learning: A Scaffolded Approach To The Research Paper Assignment, Karin Dejonge-Kannan

Habits of Mind

Somewhere on a university campus, there is a hunched figure working at a computer. The person is surrounded by books, papers, beverage cans, and writing utensils. Their fingers tap on the keyboard, intermittently coming to a stop when the person’s gaze shifts from the screen into the distance. Their torso leans forward, their brow is tense. Frequent sighing can be heard.

Did you picture a student? An instructor? When it comes to the research paper assignment, this scene could feature either of them, frustrated and dispirited. While it may be worthwhile pondering how we got here (see, for example, Freedman …

Factors Influencing Hard Running Distances In Ncaa Division I Female Soccer Players, Isaac A. Sam

Dissertations and Theses

As the total distances covered in soccer games have remained relatively constant, the hard running distances covered by players have shown varying changes due to the higher physical demands and dynamics of team running performances. Although factors affecting the total distances covered in a match are multifactorial, no study has specifically examined match performance indicators (MPI) that impact hard running distances (HRD). Consequently, the purpose of this study was to better understand how MPI (hard running efforts, turnovers, minutes played, duels won, duels lost, and pass completions) are associated with HRDs and to investigate how each variable contributes to HRDs …

Using Plant Defenses To Protect Rice Against Fall Armyworm - A Devastating Pest (2023), Devi Balakrishnan

Three-Minute Thesis Research Posters

Using plant defenses to protect rice against fall armyworm- a devastating pest

The 3MT (Three Minute Thesis) is a research communication competition that challenges students to communicate the significance of their projects without the use of props or industry jargon in just three minutes. The winner of the 3MT competition moves on to the Council of Southern Graduate School’s Regional Conference in March 2024.

Not Just A Hashtag: Using Black Twitter To Engage In Critical Visual Pedagogy, Mia L. Knowles-Davis, Robert L. Moore, Susan Köseoğlu (Ed.), George Veletsianos (Ed.), Chris Rowell (Ed.)

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

[First Paragraph] We live in a global society in which we are constantly exposed to new technologies, people, and situations that transform our perceptions and worldviews. As we are exposed to these new experiences, it is increasingly necessary to maintain a critical eye and question what we are seeing. It is not enough for higher education merely to teach material; instructors should also teach the responsibilities and ethics that coincide with it. Encouraging criticality in higher education helps learners to develop a deeper understanding of social justice, inequality, and oppressive systems, and it teaches learners how to combat those issues …

Speculative Futures On Chatgpt And Generative Artificial Intelligence (Ai): A Collective Reflection From The Educational Landscape, Aras Bozkurt, Junhong Xiao, Sarah Lambert, Angelica Pazurek, Helen Crompton, Suzan Koseoglu, Robert Farrow, Melissa Bond, Chrissi Nerantzi, Sarah Honeychurch, Maha Bali, Jon Dron, Kamran Mir, Bonnie Stewart, Eamon Costello, Jon Mason, Christian M. Stracke, Enilda Romero-Hall, Apostolos Koutropoulos, Cathy Mae Toquero, Lenandlar Singh, Ahmed Tlili, Kyungmee Lee, Mark Nichols, Ebba Ossiannilsson, Mark Brown, Valerie Irvine, Juliana Elisa Raffaghelli, Gema Santos-Hermosa, Orna Farrell, Taskeen Adam, Ying Li Thong, Sunagul Sani-Bozkurt, Ramesh C. Sharma, Stefan Hrastinski, Petar Jandrić

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

While ChatGPT has recently become very popular, AI has a long history and philosophy. This paper intends to explore the promises and pitfalls of the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) AI and potentially future technologies by adopting a speculative methodology. Speculative future narratives with a specific focus on educational contexts are provided in an attempt to identify emerging themes and discuss their implications for education in the 21st century. Affordances of (using) AI in Education (AIEd) and possible adverse effects are identified and discussed which emerge from the narratives. It is argued that now is the best of times to define …

Preparing Undergraduates For The Post-Pandemic Workplace: Teams Of Education And Engineering Students Teach Engineering Virtually, Kristie S. Gutierrez, Jennifer Kidd, Min J. Lee, Krishnanand Kaipa, Orlando Ayala

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

When schools and universities across the world transitioned online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ed+gineering, a National Science Foundation (NSF) project that partners engineering and education undergraduates to design and deliver engineering lessons to elementary students, also had to shift its hands-on lessons to a virtual format. Through the lens of social cognitive theory (SCT), this study investigates engineering and education students’ experiences during the shift to online instruction to understand how they perceived its influence on their learning. As a result of modifying their lessons for online delivery, students reported learning professional skills, including skills for teaching online and …

Translanguaging, Multiliteracy, And Sociocultural Dynamics: Exploring Diasporic Identity And Belonging, Seongryeong Yu

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This ethnographic study delves into the language and literacy practices of immigrant children in a public elementary school setting. The purpose of the study is to understand the role of multiliteracy in their learning, their ability to connect with the curriculum and instruction, and their sense of belonging within their peer groups, classrooms, and home countries. To explore how these children utilized their linguistic and cultural repertoires to engage in language and literacy activities in different contexts (Kwon, 2019), the study focused on 10-year-old students from various linguistic backgrounds, including Korean and Chinese students in a United States classroom. Through …

Critical Friend Intimacy And Individual Transformations, Melva R. Grant, Signe E. Kastberg

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

We have been investigating how critical friendships develop and we found that our critical friendship evolved in ways that went beyond what is in the self-study teacher and teacher education practices (S-STEP) foundational research literature. We continue to wonder about the power of critical friendship for supporting individual transformation. This paper is an elaboration about the essence of critical friend intimacy and its complicity in influencing individual transformations by those in the relationship. We examined S-STEP literature to determine how critical friend intimacy is discussed and if others connected it to individual transformations. We found 13 refereed empirical S-STEP reports …

Policy Matters: Edi Evaluation Of An Academic Library's Policies, Kimberly Shotick, Michele N. Hunt, Sata Prescott, Alissa A. Droog, Sarah Mchone-Chase

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Why does policy matter, and how can libraries reform their policies to create a more equitable library for library workers and library users? The authors discuss their experience in reviewing the policies of their library with an EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) lens. The authors describe how they initiated and developed this project, the factors that they considered in forming their evaluation rubric, and what they learned from the process.

Developing Hearts And Minds: How Field Experiences Informed And Inspired Students In A Ba Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Program, Jolene Pearson

Education Faculty Publications

This study is a qualitative analysis of the reflective journals and prayers of thirteen pre-service students enrolled in a BA early childhood teacher preparation program at a faith-based university in the mid-west. While the journal entry and prayer were required, students were told they were to write freely in their journal entry and include a freely written prayer about anything that was important to them or caught their attention. This opportunity to write freely resulted in students writing and praying about their experiences in organic, authentic, descriptive, and reflective ways. Their journal and prayer entries provided insights into the multi-faceted …

The Rayleigh Problem (Random Flights) Is Everywhere Redux, John E. Gray, Stephen R. Addison

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The phase noise problem (or Rayleigh problem) occurs in all aspects of radar. It is an effect that a radar engineer or physicist always has to take into account as part of a design or in an attempt to characterize the physics of a problem such as reverberation. Normally, the mathematical difficulties of phase noise characterization are avoided by assuming the phase noise probability distribution function (PDF) is uniformly distributed, and the Central Limit Theorem (CLT) is invoked to argue that the superposition of relatively few random components obey the CLT and hence the superposition can be treated as a …