Education Commons^™

Lessons Learned: What The Covid-19 Global Pandemic Has Taught Us About Teaching, Technology And Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jane Roitsch, Robert L. Moore, Annemarie Horn

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Purpose. This paper examines the impact of the abrupt transition from attending school face-to-face to participating in online learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as reported by a parent of a student with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Design/methodology/approach. A phone interview was conducted with the parent of a child with ASD. The semi-structured interview focused on how the child’s family was impacted when classes shifted to virtual from face-to-face learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings. Four themes emerged from the interview. Three of these included adjustments to changes in 1) routines and roles, 2) …

On Blending Active Student Responding With Synchronous Instruction To Evaluate Response Accuracy, Nicole A. Hollins

Dissertations

As of 2016, approximately 28% of college students in the United States were taking at least one online course (U.S. Department of Education, 2016), and it was projected that the percentage of students enrolled in online courses would continue to increase 33% each year (Pethokoukis, 2002). The COVID-19 pandemic hastened further shifts from in-person to virtual learning for many institutions of higher education. Given this rapid shift to online instruction, it is critical to evaluate the effectiveness of online instructional procedures. Providing multiple opportunities for students to respond to instruction has proven to be an effective procedure across most educational …

Black Men’S Perception Of Their Father-Son Relationship, Shaakira E. Jones

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions that Black men have of their relationships with their fathers, specifically, adult sons’ retrospective perceptions of their fathers’/father figures’ involvement and nurturance during childhood, and their current emotional availability. The aim is also to explore whether perceptions of their fathers predict Black men’s current psychological well-being. The following measures are used: (a) a demographic questionnaire, (b) the Nurturant Fathering Scale (NFS, Finley & Schwartz, 2004; Williams & Finley, 1997), (c) the Father Involvement Scale (FIS, Finley & Schwartz, 2004), (d) the Lum Emotional Availability of Parenting Scale (LEAP; Lum & …

The Social Support Networks Of Students Who Identify As Black And Latino/A/X In Stem And Sbe Graduate Programs At Predominantly White Institutions, Kristi A. Tullis

Dissertations

Graduate students from historically underrepresented minority (URM) groups (those who identify as Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latino/a/x, Native American, Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders and/or Alaska Natives) encounter systemic and institutional hindrances to degree completion when enrolled in STEM doctoral programs at predominantly white institutions (Guiffrida & Douthit, 2010). Support networks have been identified as an important component for retention and success for graduate students from URM groups (Carlone & Johnson, 2007; Clewell, 1987; Johnson-Bailey, Valentine, Cervero, & Bowles, 2008; Joseph, 2012; Sweitzer, 2009). This study investigates the composition and structure of URM graduate students’ support networks, where their support comes from, in what capacity, …

Adapting Independent Reading For The Virtual Classroom, Ellen J. Foley

Dissertations

There is no doubt that the 2020-2021 school year was an unprecedented one. Around the world, COVID-19 school closures forced teachers to change their instructional practices with very little time, preparation, or guidance. While frustrating and challenging, experiences from this particular school year provide unique insight into pedagogical adaptations from in-person contexts to virtual ones.

This qualitative, grounded theory study examines the experiences of six secondary English Language Arts (ELA) teachers and their adaptations of independent reading pedagogies for their virtual classrooms during the 2020-2021 COVID-19-impacted school year. Independent reading is a practice that depends on proximal classroom factors including …

Characterizing Undergraduate Students’ Proving Processes Around “Stuck Points”, Yaomingxin Lu

Dissertations

Learning to prove mathematical propositions is a cornerstone of mathematics as a discipline (de Villiers, 1990). However, since proving is a different mathematical activity as compared to students’ prior experience, research has also shown that many undergraduate students struggle to learn to prove, including those who major in mathematics (Moore, 1994; Selden, 2012). While the field has generated research that has analyzed the final products of proof (Selden & Selden, 2009) and there are frameworks for analyzing problem-solving processes (e.g., Carlson & Bloom, 2005; Schoenfeld, 1985, 2010), much remains to be known about analyzing undergraduate students’ proving processes. With a …

Examining The Influence Of Instructor Interventions On Group Collaboration, Luettamae Lawrence, Taylor Tucker, Emma Mercier

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Collaborative problem solving is often used in STEM higher education courses to support conceptual knowledge and teamwork. However, course teaching assistants (TAs) often lack the collaborative pedagogical knowledge necessary to orchestrate this form of learning. In this paper, we examine TAs’ orchestration strategies and technology used to understand how these factors influence groups’ collaboration. Contributions from this paper describe the interplay among technology, strategies, and groups’ collaboration toward understanding how to support collaboration in these courses.

Scitechatorium, Esther Hurst, Emma Salam, Nejad Harara, Felipe Dejesus

Mechanical Engineering

The Bellevue-Santa Fe Charter School SciTechatorium needs a new educational exhibit for its K-6th grade students. The exhibit must be safe, engaging, and exciting for the students to use, and will ideally introduce students to the topics of Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Art, and Technology (STEAM) concepts. The team has investigated some of the most popular science museums from around the nation, as well as several popular children’s educational toys. This research revealed a need for hands on, focused exhibits to provide an effective educational experience. Many of our favorite existing exhibits give students an opportunity to fail in a safe …

Activities For Mech E'S, James M. Popolow, Brennen Irey, Jose Chavez, Jack Cerron

Mechanical Engineering

This document will describe the development of a solution for enforcing the topics covered in the ME 329 - Mechanical System Design curriculum by bringing quality equipment to a classroom setting. The project Sponsor, Professor Lauren Cooper, has also noticed a lack of hands-on experience for many students entering this class. Our team is attempting to develop a solution for this problem.

To better understand what students would want to learn, or would have liked to learn more about, we conducted surveys of past, present, and future students as well as conducted interviews with professors that have taught the course. …

Partnerships To Promote Inclusive Education For Students With Disabilities In Thailand, Somkate Uttayotha, Andrew R. Scheef

Journal of Global Education and Research

Inclusive education provides opportunities for students with disabilities to learn alongside peers without disabilities. In some countries, such as Thailand, a dearth of opportunities for inclusive education means that students with disabilities are only offered enrollment in residential schools designed for students with disabilities. As a result, students are forced to leave their home communities to receive a public education. Inclusive education allows students to follow the same path as peers in their community, which benefits all parties. This qualitative pilot study featured interviews with stakeholders to better understand how schools can partner with regional entities to increase opportunities for …

Retention Strategies For Online Students: A Systematic Literature Review, Katy Seery, Albert A. Barreda, Stephanie G. Hein, Jokima L. Hiller

Journal of Global Education and Research

The purpose of this paper is to examine online retention research in higher education over a 5-year span (January 2015–March 2019) to further advance research in higher education retention. Through an academic database search, 18 articles were collected from EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, and Research Gate using combinations of the keywords online, retention strategies, and higher education. All articles were analyzed for proposed retention strategies. Retention is a global topic. As such, this study demonstrates the importance of retention and clarifies issues or challenges students encounter, which may cause lower retention rates. The data reviewed suggest the most common retention …

Teachers As Global Transformers•Engaging Students Through Culturally Responsive Actions, Ana I. Berdecia, Med;, Caitlin Kosec, Mpp;, Kamili O. Leath, Ms;, Ashley Reid, Ma, Mdiv

Center for the Positive Development of Urban Children

Each cohort began with professional development to provide instruction around cultural competency and how to incorporate cultural pedagogy into the classroom. During the professional development institute, participants had to fill out pre- and post-assessments that measured knowledge of the core program concepts. To measure comprehension of these concepts we utilized a rubric allowing responses to fit into four categories: basic, competent, proficient, and advanced.

Analyzation of the pre-and-post assessments concluded that participants improved their comprehension of the Institute’s core concepts over the course of the Learning Institute (21 hours of professional development). According to the pretests, participants from all three …

Theoretical Study Of Mach Number And Compressibility Effect On The Slender Airfoils, Abrar Hoque, Masudar Rahman, Ashabul Hoque

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

Theoretical development of the velocity potential equation for compressible flow and its various consequences has been presented. The geometrical interpretation of potential equation and conformal mapping technique are discussed where the mappings link the flow around a circular cylinder of a slender airfoil. The lift and drag coefficients are determined for the slender airfoils based on the Mach number and compressibility effects. The calculated lift coefficients show that with the increasing of attack angle it increases linearly and a higher lift coefficient is found for a smaller Mach number for any certain attack angle. Similarly, the drag profiles are determined …

Investigating The Connection Between Teacher Professional Development And The Lesson Planning Process, Kyle B. Corlett

Dissertations

School districts across the country are facing increasing pressure to raise student achievement, specifically on state standardized tests (Buzick & Jones, 2015; Marsh & Farrell, 2015). Many states, including Michigan, connect teacher and administrator evaluations to student achievement (Revised School Code Act 451, 2003). The primary strategy school districts use to improve student achievement is professional development for its staff (Guskey, 2009). Professional development can consist of a variety of strategies to support educators in increasing their knowledge and skills, resulting in improved instruction and ultimately improved student achievement. This instrumental case study sought to explore how teachers experience the …

Foreword, Patricia E. Roberts

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Foreword written by Patricia E. Roberts upon her first year as the 10th dean of St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas.

House Bill 3: An Iou Texas Public Schools And Communities Of Color Cannot Afford, Candace L. Castillo

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

A history of school finance litigation and legislation shows there are inherent and structural problems in Texas’s education finance system. Like many government and social structures, the Texas school finance system is built to benefit school districts that have greater access to wealth to begin with and creates inequalities between rich and poor populations as well as between people of color and Caucasians. House Bill 3 went into effect in 2019 and promises improvements to “recapture” calculations, increases in certain allotments, as well as salary increases for some Texas teachers. Some changes to education finance were sorely needed such as …

A Comparison Of Assessment Book Authors’ And Educators’ Perspectives On Ethics Issues In Assessment: A Review Study, Jin Liu, Robert L. Johnson, Xumei Fan, Ruiqin Gao

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Assessment book authors’ perspectives on ethical assessment practices are not necessarily consistent with those of educators. This study’s purpose was to explore similarities and differences between the two perspectives. Researchers presented scenarios of classroom assessment practices to gain insights into educators’ perspectives on ethical issues. Fourteen scenarios that were common across three empirical research articles were selected. Educators had similar opinions on a scenario if 70% or more respondents selected “ethical” or “unethical” on one item. Twenty-five assessment-related books were reviewed to present the authors’ views on the ethicality of classroom assessment practices. The results showed that assessment book authors …

Student Evaluations Of Instructor Email Response Speed As Chronemic Expectancy Violations, Nicholas T. Tatum

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Instructional communication researchers have begun exploring the effects of instructor email response speed on student evaluations of their instructor. To date, researchers have concluded that faster response times result in more favorable evaluations. To extend this line of research, this experiment explores student evaluations of instructor response speed through the lens of expectancy violations theory, arguing that eliciting positive evaluations is not just about responding quickly, but rather, responding more quickly than students expect. Results indicated that positive violations of instructor email response speed are evaluated more favorably than negative chronemic violations in terms of instructor credibility and relational closeness. …

Progress And Problems Of Primary Education In Bangladesh: A Snapshot Of 50 Years, Muhammad Salahuddin

Education, Health & Behavior Studies Student Publications

Bangladesh is celebrating its golden jubilee of independence in 2021. This South Asian country has been struggling for ensuring equitable, compulsory, and free primary education since the British period. The main objective of this paper is to explore the progress and constraints of primary education in Bangladesh for the period of 1971 to 2020. This study was conducted following the documentary research method. The secondary data was collected from different personal and official documents. Following the data-driven thematic analysis, it is found that the number of schools, students, and teachers was expressively increased in the last 50 years in Bangladesh. …

2021-June-01-From The Classroom To The Community, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

Windshield Survey

KINGSPORT (June 1, 2021) – An assignment in a class at East Tennessee State University turned into an opportunity for Kingsport native and nursing student Aaron “Max” Chesser to advocate for additional seating options and sheltered coverings at Kingsport area bus stops.

During the spring semester, Chesser was enrolled in ETSU’s “Community and Public Nursing” course, taught by Dr. Cindy Phillips. In this class, Phillips requires students to complete a “windshield survey,” in which …

2021-June-01-Enjoy Retirement, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

Congratulations to the following members of the East Tennessee State University family who retired in May.  Thank you for your service!

Anita DeAngelis – Director, Mary B. Martin School of the Arts; Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences; and Professor, Department of Art and Design, 26 years of service

Sarah Dickeson – Custodian, Custodial Services, five years of service

Joseph Florence – Professor, Department of Family Medicine, 18 years of service

Joshua Ragan – Patient Care Specialist, Department of Family Medicine, four years of service

Published June 2021 as part of the Accent email newsletter for faculty and staff.

2021-June-01-Going Places, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

ETSU welcomes the following individuals who recently joined the university community:

Latoya Anderson is a family-focused solutions counselor in the Center for Community Outreach. Before coming to ETSU, she was an outreach admission counselor with Job Corps. She holds a master’s degree in counseling from Capella University.

Mark Bialkoski is an assistant men’s basketball coach in Intercollegiate Athletics after serving as director of operations at the University of Maryland. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Southern University.

Lucas Campbell is director of basketball operations for men’s basketball in Intercollegiate Athletics. He was previously a graduate assistant at the University …

2021-June-01-Honoring Dr Wilsie S Bishop, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

JOHNSON CITY – East Tennessee State University’s Interprofessional Education and Research Center, also known as Building 60, on the Veterans Affairs Medical Center Campus will now be called “Bishop Hall” in honor of longtime administrator Dr. Wilsie S. Bishop, senior vice president for academic and interim provost. Bishop is retiring on June 30, 2021, after 43 years of service at ETSU.

The ETSU Board of Trustees approved the naming of Bishop Hall at its special called meeting on June 15, 2021. On June 18, the ETSU community gathered to celebrate Bishop’s contributions to the university with a reception that was …

Real-Life Conundrums In The Struggle For Institutional Transformation, Julia Mcquillan, Nestor Hernandez

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Intersecting systems of inequality (i.e., gender and race/ethnicity) are remarkably resistant to change. Many universities, however, seek National Science Foundation Institutional Transformation awards to change processes, procedures, and cultures to make science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments more inclusive. In this article we describe a case study with observations for eight years of before (2000–2007), five during (2008–2013), and seven after (2014–2020) intensive efforts to increase women through reducing barriers and increasing access to women. Finally, we reflect on flawed assumptions built into the proposal, the slow and uneven change in the proportion of women over time, the strengths …

Aged 539 Graduate Internship Report - Delano High School, Ernesto H. Marcial

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This internship and project report includes validation documents required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The supporting material includes information to receive state and local funding, outline the goals and objectives of the program, along with an overview of Delano High School, the agriculture program, and the community.

Aged 539 Graduate Internship Report - Tulare High School, Debrah Silva

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This internship and project report includes validation documents required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The supporting material includes information to receive state and local funding, outline the goals and objectives of the program, along with an overview of Tulare High School, the agriculture program and the community.

Citizen-Led Assessments: A Model For Evidence-Based Advocacy And Action To Improve Learning, Suman Bhattacharjea, Sehar Saeed, Rajib Timalsina, Syeed Ahamed

Assessment and Reporting

Designed as household-based assessments, citizen-led assessments (CLAs) are implemented by local organizations who assess children in their homes, thus reaching the most marginalized children, families, and communities, often in remote areas. CLAs add an essential piece of information for truly monitoring progress and help realistically represent the learning levels of all children – at national, regional, and global levels. By using simple tools and easy-to-understand reports, CLAs engage parents and community members in discussions about learning and help foster understanding of the importance of ensuring quality education through civil action. In this publication, members from organizations conducting CLAs in India, …

Examining Trajectories Of Elementary Students’ Computational Thinking Development Through Collaborative Problem-Solving Process In A Stem-Integrated Robotics Program, Yi-Chun Hong, Yingxiao Qian, Yu-Fen Yang

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Developing K-12 students’ computational thinking (CT) skills is essential. Building on the existing literature that has emphasized programming skill development, this study expands the focus to examine students’ use of underlying CT cognitive skills during collaborative problem-solving processes. A case study approach was employed to examine video data of 5^th graders engaging in an integrated-STEM robotics curriculum. The findings reveal that students applied algorithmic thinking most frequently and prediction the least. They recorded most debugging behaviors initially in the problem-solving process, but after accumulating more experiences their uses of other CT skills, including algorithmic thinking, pattern recognition, and prediction, …

Do I Belong? What Students Teach Us About Belonging To A New University, Jennifer Ann Scaia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Foundational to this evaluation study, the participating institution aspired to improve its retention rate. Students’ perceived sense of belonging has been identified as an important variable related to student retention and persistence (Bean & Eaton, 2000; Strayhorn 2012; Strayhorn 2019; Tinto, 2017). For students to succeed beyond their first year in college, it is fundamentally important that they view themselves as valued members of the university community (Bean & Eaton, 2000; Bollen & Hoyle, 1990; Murphy, 2016).

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how undergraduate students, predicted as less likely to retain into their second year, described their …

Mealtimes In Early Childhood Education Centers During Covid-19: A Mixed-Methods Assessment Of Responsibilities, Interactions, And Best Practices, Joanna Mackie

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Childhood obesity is a public health problem associated with many co-morbidities. The majority of young children in the United States (U.S.) attend formal early childhood education (ECE) programs, often consuming the majority of daily calories and engaging with teachers during mealtimes. Mealtime best practices support children’s development of healthy eating habits. This dissertation aimed to understand how COVID-19 has influenced mealtimes in ECE centers, including (1) the division of responsibility between adults and children during mealtimes, (2) the child feeding dynamic, and (3) how mealtime best practices have been included during COVID-19.

Methods: This dissertation used a concurrent mixed-methods …