Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

From Classroom Community To Civic Community: Three Activities For Social Studies Teachers And Teacher Educators, Sonia Janis, Samantha Hand, Hyelin Kim

Teaching Social Studies in the Peach State

In politically uncertain times, social studies educators must cultivate classrooms where students feel valued, develop trust, take intellectual risks, and engage substantively with controversial issues and difficult histories. Drawing on our implementation of three community-building activities in a spring 2026 social studies education course, we describe how pre-service teachers (PSTs) experienced these activities as opportunities for relationship-building, identity exploration, and collaborative learning while preparing to teach difficult histories to local eighth-grade students. Each activity is paired with adaptations for middle and high school settings, including suggestions that attend to technology, student privacy, and diverse forms of expression. Community-building is an …

Fmea Reveals Ppe Noncompliance As The Priority Grinding Machine Accident Risk In An Indonesian Vocational School Workshop, Salman Fawwas Albaihaqi, Marsono Marsono, Imam Muhtarom, Mingchang Wu

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in vocational school workshops represents an urgent priority given that students interact directly with high-risk equipment such as grinding machines, yet often demonstrate low compliance with safety protocols. This research aims to identify failure modes on grinding machines in SMKN 1 Jenangan workshop and formulate evidence-based risk control recommendations. A quantitative descriptive approach using Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) was employed, involving 10 purposively selected respondents (practical instructors and technicians). The research instrument was validated using Content Validity Index (CVI) by three experts in occupational safety and mechanical engineering. Results identified 15 failure modes …

The Effects Of Restorative Practices On Student Behavior And School Climate: A Case Study, Victoria Smith, M.A.T., Donna Governor, Ph.D, Carlise Womack-Wynne, Ed.D

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

Schools have been seeking alternatives to punitive discipline measures. As an alternative, restorative practices offer healing, community, and relationships. This case study examined a middle school that had been implementing restorative practices since the 2019–2020 school year, three full years at the time of study. A mixed-methods design was used in order to investigate whether the implementation of restorative practices had resulted in a decrease of student misbehaviors and an increase in staff perceptions of school climate. Staff were interviewed (n = 19) and surveyed (n = 44). A thematic analysis was conducted on the interview data, and …

Using Scenario-Based Generative Ai In A Social Studies Methods Course, Timothy Lintner, Ellis Reeves

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly transforming the landscape of educator preparation. This shift is especially evident in social studies. As emerging technologies like AI reshape how social studies is taught and learned, it is essential to incorporate them into course design and student outcomes. Simply put, we must ensure that the next generation of social studies educators can effectively use AI to create real-world, scenario-based learning experiences that foster inquiry and encourage student action-taking. This article examines how AI-supported, scenario-based learning was strategically integrated into a secondary social studies methods course at the University of South Carolina Aiken. From concept …

‘There Is No Continuity’: Assessment Of Pre-Service Teachers' Ability To Analyse Historical Sources In Two Ghanaian Public Universities, Anitha Oforiwah Adu-Boahen

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The paper examined student-teachers’ understanding of change and continuity in History. Using a convergent parallel mixed method approach, one hundred and thirty-five (135) student-teachers from two public universities examined images depicting classroom settings in Ghana’s educational system from different periods. Respondents were expected to show and explain the continuities and changes in the different periods in Ghanaian history. They were to focus on the disparities in ‘change’ and ‘continuities’ in classroom settings in the Ghanaian educational system over time. Again, student-teachers were expected to transform their knowledge of these changes into historical understanding by writing an interpretation from the sources. …

Using The Past To Better Understand The Present: Contextualizing Today’S History Wars, For Ourselves And For Our Students, Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This essay considers our contemporary moment in the context of the long history of the so-called "history wars" in the United States. It identifies four historical moments with ties to the present, and makes use of primary documents to discuss each time period. It also considers the ways in which historical activists such as Frederick Douglass and W. E. B. Du Bois advocated for honest history in the past, and the ways in which we might argue for nuanced historical thinking in the present. Teachers may find the documents of use for their own classrooms, and a brief appendix at …

Race, Identity, And The Classroom: How Young Adult Literature Can Help Students And Teachers Explore Belonging In The School Environment, Madyson A. Mcray

Virginia English Journal

Contemporary classrooms are not necessarily reflective of the curriculum written to support them. Classroom demographics have shifted and student populations are more diverse. Because of this, the implementation of dominant white-narrative curricula has become ineffective in keeping students engaged with the material. Teaching “the classics” becomes irrelevant when students cannot see themselves represented in the text. Young adult literature, however, allows students to relate their own experiences to the text to engage more deeply in content. This paper examines four novels: New Kid by Jerry Craft, This is My America by Kim Johnson, The Secret Battle of Evan Pao by …

Development Of An Ai-Based Assessment Analytics Model For Transformative Teacher Professional Education, Didah Nurhamidah, Muhammad Ridhwan, Nuryani Nuryani

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

Transformative Teacher Professional Education (PPG) requires an assessment system that not only produces scores, but is also able to map competency achievements, identify risks, and provide data-driven follow-up recommendations. This research aims to develop  an artificial intelligence-based assessment analytics model  to support the monitoring of academic development and intervention of PPG UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta students. The research uses a Research and Development approach with the ADDIE model which includes the Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate stages. Data was obtained through needs analysis, document review, interviews, observations, expert validation, system tests, user questionnaires, and assessment data in the form …

Beyond Intent: Teacher Capacity, Opportunity To Learn, And The Persistence Of Math Equity Gaps In Tennessee (2000-2025), Soso Dede

The Journal of the Research Association of Minority Professors

For a quarter-century (2000–2025), Tennessee pursued mathematics reforms aiming for equity, yet stark racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps endure. Framed by Opportunity to Learn (OTL) and Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT), this study investigates the intersection of equity, teacher capacity, and policy. By synthesizing assessment data, program evaluations, policy documents, and research literature, this study reveals that systemic OTL inequities—disparate access to quality instruction, adequate resources, and teachers possessing strong MKT—are primary drivers of these enduring gaps. Such inequities deny marginalized students a fair chance at mathematical proficiency. The interplay between OTL and MKT is critical: inadequate OTL constrains knowledgeable …

“None Of Them Use Facebook Anymore, It’S Just For Us, Internet Dinosaurs” Czech Media Education Teachers And Social Media, Karolína Šimková, Ana F. Oliveira, Annamária Neag

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

In today’s digital age, media education teachers are expected to be at the forefront of guiding young people through the complex digital world. This study aimed to explore how media education teachers’ personal and professional engagement with social media shapes their teaching practices in Czech primary schools (teaching pupils aged 11–15). Through 17 semi-structured interviews, we delved into teachers’ social media use, classroom discussions, and pedagogical approaches to media education to identify the distinct attitudes these teachers hold toward social media. The study shows that Czech media education teachers’ diverse strategies for integrating social media into their curriculum are primarily …

Aiswa Stem Makerspace Action Research Project: Developing A Maker Mindset, Fiona Boylan, Lennie Barblett, Leanne Lavina

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This project was developed between the early childhood research team at Edith Cowan University and the Association of Independent Schools Western Australia. Six school teachers (across Kindergarten, Pre-primary and Year One) and five children in each class (with parental consent and child assent) in two schools participated. This project incorporated current thinking of best practice for the development of young children’s digital literacy and agency, as maker spaces provide excellent opportunities for multimodal learning. The project aimed to reinforce children's maker fund of knowledge through strengthening children’s maker mindset and to foster educators' maker fund of knowledge to support children's …

Language For Learning: Examining Teacher Language In Reading Instruction, Madeleine Mejia, Amber Bechard

Journal of Research Initiatives

Teacher language plays a key role in literacy instruction because it shows what educators notice about students’ reading, how they interpret performance, and what they see as important for learning. However, common instructional phrases can sometimes reflect assumptions about what students know or can do or miss important parts of reading development. This article looks at teacher language as a way to reflect on these assumptions, especially when teaching students with dyslexia or those who are bilingual or multilingual. Using research on literacy development, teacher knowledge, classroom talk, and humanizing teaching, the article introduces the Language for Learning Tool. This …

Digital Learning And Digital Literacy: Conceptual Distinctions, Theoretical Frameworks, And Educational Implications Across The Educational Continuum, Simone Elias, Linda Wilson-Jones, Richard Brutti

Journal of Research Initiatives

The terms digital learning and digital literacy recur frequently in educational policy and institutional discourse. Yet peer-reviewed scholarship shows they are conceptually distinct constructs operating at fundamentally different levels of analysis. This article examines the theoretical foundations, definitional genealogies, empirical interdependencies, and grade-band and postsecondary manifestations of both constructs across the full educational continuum, from kindergarten through Grade 12 and into undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral education. Drawing on literature across leading educational technology journals, the article argues that digital learning constitutes a pedagogical modality, the structured, technology-mediated environment through which instruction is delivered.

In contrast, digital literacy is a multidimensional …

Reframing Dissertation Committee Practice: A Student-Centered Conceptual Framework For Doctoral Education, Roberto Victor Rodríguez Rivera

Journal of Research Initiatives

Dissertation committees play a key role in shaping the direction, pace, and outcomes of doctoral study, but their function as a unified structure for guidance and judgment is not well understood. Although research covers supervision, examiner feedback, ethics, power, and dissertation examination, these topics are often studied separately. This article brings together both foundational and recent research to rethink dissertation committees as academic structures that adapt their support, oversight, ethical practices, and evaluation throughout the dissertation process. The article makes three main contributions: it clarifies how committee practice is conceptually fragmented, reviews research on supervision, feedback, ethics, and examination, and …

Access In Teaching Stem Subjects To The Blind, Ashley E. Neybert

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

There are still many gaps in the literature regarding the difficulties faced by instructors of students who are blind and low vision and who teach Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) subjects. We surveyed 26 K-12 STEM teachers about accessible materials they are aware of versus which accessible materials they use in their classrooms, their thoughts on how common challenges identified in the extent literature affect them in their teaching, and their perspective on how much extra time may be required for blind and low vision students (if any) to effectively learn STEM subjects.

Designing A Technology-Enhanced Curriculum For Preservice Mathematics Teachers: A Practice-Based Reflection, Alaa Karem Abd-El-Hafez

International Journal of Transformative Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Preparing preservice secondary mathematics teachers in a post-pandemic, AI-driven digital landscape presents unique pedagogical challenges. As a teacher educator and former secondary mathematics teacher, I aim for preservice candidates to harness technology as a vehicle for high-leverage, evidence-based teaching strategies while prioritizing software accessibility and affordability. This practice-based article details the comprehensive redesign of a technology in mathematics education course structured around five modular units and three project-based assessments. Guided by the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework, I articulate the rationale for tool selection, instructional design decisions, and assessment strategies. Ultimately, this course model offers higher education programs an …

When Students Use Ai Before They Learn To Think Clinically: Cognitive Offloading In Communication Sciences And Disorders Education, Salim Alani

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Generative artificial intelligence is becoming part of how students study, write, summarize, and prepare for coursework in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). Much of the current discussion in higher education has focused on plagiarism, academic integrity, and responsible technology use. Those concerns matter, but they do not fully address what may be a larger educational issue in professional preparation programs. Students can now generate polished explanations, study materials, treatment rationales, and clinical summaries quickly, sometimes before independently developing the reasoning skills those tasks are intended to build. This paper examines cognitive offloading in CSD education, defined here as the shifting …

Analysis Of Needs For Web-Based Mobile Learning Development Based On Universal Design For Learning For Students With Special Needs, Murni Winarsih, Mayasari Manar, Rohmah Ageng Mursita, Mita Septiani

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

Higher education institutions still have substantial challenges when it comes to accommodating students with special needs, especially those who are visually or aurally impaired. Access to learning resources is still an issue, as are the limitations of adaptive learning media and the dominance of more conventional verbal and visual methods of information transmission. Hence, not all pupils are given the same chances throughout the learning process. With its emphasis on providing a variety of representational, interactive, and expressive tools, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) aims to meet the requirements of students with a wide range of learning styles. In order …

Project-Based Conversion Versus Prototype-Based Instruction In Automotive Teacher Education, Ramdhani Ramdhani, Sriyono Sriyono, Wahid Munawar, Raafi Rizki Maulana, Apriyansah Bahrudin

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

The transition to electric and hydrogen mobility is reshaping the competencies that automotive vocational teaching requires, yet institutions with limited equipment must choose between authentic learning designs without evidence of what each produces. Indonesian research to date has built substitute learning media and reported feasibility ratings rather than measured learning. This study asks what cognitive and psychomotor gains two contrasting designs produce and how those gains compare. Two pre-experimental studies were conducted in one automotive teacher education programme in Indonesia. Study A used a time-series design across three project cycles of 200 minutes in which 15 undergraduates converted a combustion …

People Orientation And Thing Orientation In Business Majors: Implications For Assessing The Impacts Of Cross-Functional Business Program Curricula, Todd J. Hostager, David A. Christopher, Kristy J. Lauver, Christopher Knowles

International Journal for Business Education

Background/Introduction/Purpose:  Prior research documented significant differences in people orientation and thing orientation (PTO) based on type of major and sex.  This study examines a set of measures for helping business programs to assess whether they are producing graduates equipped to consider both people and things when making decisions, regardless of their major or sex.

Methods/Design:  Students in a strategic management capstone course spent a single 75-minute session responding to a brief new venture pitch by identifying what types of additional information they would need to decide whether to invest in the business.  Three Likert-scaled options gauged the extent to participant …

Harkness Seminars In The Humanities, Sarah S. Novlan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This participatory action research study explored the effects of Harkness seminars on students’ cognitive, affective, and metacognitive learning in secondary humanities classes. Educators need an effective, flexible, and adaptive method to promote student learning beyond superficial content acquisition. With the decoupling of virtue formation from knowledge acquisition, knowledge gaps from COVID-19 lockdowns, and the rise of artificial intelligence in student plagiarism, a proven method to address all aspects of student formation is needed. Using a participatory action research framework for this qualitative study, conducted at an independent K–12 school site in Texas, the researcher interviewed six secondary humanities teachers over …

Teaching Third Graders To Read Multisyllable Words: Segmentation Versus Whole Word Reading, Jolie D. Heath

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the early years of elementary school when children are still learning to read, they are presented with words of increased syllable length, and orthographic and morphological complexity in the texts they read.  Although multisyllabic words comprise 90% of words in the English lexicon and carry important linguistic information for expanding vocabularies and comprehension of content, few studies have focused on teaching middle elementary children to read multisyllabic words.  Many children lack strategies to identify these longer more complex words accurately and easily, leading to reading difficulties that place weaker readers at higher risk for school related problems and limit …

Solving For X: Centering Black Girls’ Experiences In Mathematics Education, Natasha A. Fortes

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Black girls can grow up, attend school, and move through their math classes without ever feeling seen as capable mathematical thinkers. Their teachers may not affirm their brilliance. Their voices may even go unheard. Math classes may not be a space where they can imagine themselves belonging. These experiences do not reflect ability. Instead, they reflect on the conditions in which they are expected to learn. This study centers the voices of Black girls and asks what they deserve from their mathematics education and instructors to develop a mathematics identity. The study is grounded in Black feminist traditions and draws …

Geopoetics: Expanding The Philosophy Of Teacher Education, Linda M. Craig Dr

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

Amidst our accelerating ecological crisis, this essay argues for a fundamental reimagining of teacher education through Kenneth White's theory of geopoetics. Drawing on complexity science and Whitehead's process philosophy, I trace a paradigm shift from mechanistic models of education - characterised by fixed knowledge transmission and neoliberal performativity - toward a relational, orientation grounded in emergence and becoming. Geopoetics offers a transdisciplinary framework that dissolves boundaries between science, poetry, philosophy, and spirituality, positioning education not as content delivery but as participation in the creative unfolding of life. Through an exploration of Nan Shepherd's The Living Mountain as geopoetic spiritual practice. …

Between Care And Competence: Rethinking Alternative Provision., Helen V. Mulligan

Plymouth Interdisciplinary Education Open Journal

This opinion piece argues that Alternative Provision (AP) in England is failing to meet the needs of vulnerable young people due to inconsistent staffing, inadequate specialist training, and the normalisation of low educational expectations. Although some AP settings demonstrate high aspirations and committed practice, the sector as a whole remains marked by variability and a lack of coherent pedagogical structure. Drawing on research into educational inequality, emotional labour, ethics of care, and professional identity, the paper contends that systemic reform is urgently required. Recommended actions include mandatory specialist training for AP staff, national standards for curriculum and pedagogy, stronger accountability …

Remixing Dialogue: A Case Study On Perceptions Of Hip Hop Pedagogy In A Professional Learning Course, Kelly J. Thelen

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This qualitative case study examines how teachers’ decision-making and professional autonomy shift while participating in a Hip Hop Pedagogy Professional Learning course supported by structured FIXIT (Lo & Wachter, 2023a, 2023b, 2023c, 2023d; Wachter & Lo, 2024) game-facilitated dialogue in a rural, culturally and linguistically diverse Midwest community. Grounded in Freire’s (1970) Critical Pedagogy, Ladson-Billings’ (1995) Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris and Alim, 2017), and Adult Learning Theory (Knowles et al., 2005), the study explores the reclamation of agency by teachers in a time of constrained creativity and educator autonomy shaped by strict policy environments, an emphasis on …

Everything I Learned About Teacher Noticing I Learned From Yoga Teacher Training, Grace Giorgio

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

The following activity promotes teacher noticing as a pedagogical tool for teachers in training, with a focus on the public speaking classroom. Many students enter the public speaking classroom filled with performance anxiety and fears of how their peers will perceive them. When a teacher can tap into these concerns via by noticing how students are reacting in the moment, they can assuage those anxieties and fears. Hence, teaching instructors effective teacher noticing in teacher training improves the classroom experience for teachers and students alike.

Contradiction And Critical Consciousness: Engaging Canadian University Students In Racial Dialogue On Anti-Chinese Racism, Dan Cui

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This study examines how Canadian university students perceived and engaged with anti-Chinese racism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on grounded theory and interviews and written reflections from 28 undergraduates at a predominantly White university, the study analyzes students’ contradictory understandings of racism shaped by media, national narratives, and prior educational experiences. Informed by Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, it conceptualizes these tensions as a contradictory racialized habitus, in which awareness and denial, empathy and distancing, coexist. Three themes emerged: contradictory orientations toward anti-Chinese racism, the transnational influence of U.S. political discourse, and the limited transformative impact of a social justice course. …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of A “How-To-Teach” Book Club For Preservice Teachers, Rina Bousalis, Eden Greene, Robyn Klein, Abigail Woods, Isabella Mandoeng

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

As teacher training programs continue seeking ways to prepare their preservice teachers to teach, many have turned to “how-to-teach” books written by veteran teachers, viewing them as a valuable source that could offer teacher candidates additional support. This study, which developed from the idea of creating a book club with instructors and members of a university’s future educators’ organization, used a qualitative textual analysis approach to explore concepts that emerged from how-to-teach books, how participants’ perceived those concepts, and how the books benefited participants. The study revealed that although authors’ perspectives often conflicted with participants’ beliefs, the authors’ engaging activities …

Improving Bench Work Competence Through Qr Code Based E-Lkpd Featuring Sop Video And K3 Safety Checklist, Firman Muhadi Saputra, Marsono Marsono, Imam Muhtarom, Mingchang Wu

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

This study examines the use of a QR Code-based E-LKPD integrated with SOP videos and a K3 safety checklist in improving vocational students’ bench work competence. A pretest–posttest control group design was applied to 63 tenth-grade machining students at SMKN 1 Jenangan Ponorogo in the 2025/2026 academic year selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using performance assessment observation sheets and written tests. The results show that both groups achieved the competent category, with the experimental class obtaining a slightly higher mean score (80.22) than the control class (77.07), However the independent t-test results indicate that the difference is not …