Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Teachers' Descriptions Of Their Professional Learning Networks And Spaces, Nathan Justis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The purpose of this study is to understand teacher professional learning through the eyes of teachers to assist them in improving their teaching and better support student learning. Teachers learn to improve their practice in many different ways and from many different sources. Researchers have studied teachers' descriptions of learning resources they value and have labeled this personal collection of resources a teacher's professional learning network (PLN). This study explored teachers' descriptions of their PLNs and closely examined what teachers do in professional learning spaces of their choosing. This study also provided teachers with an opportunity to voice what they …

Voices From The Countryside: Unveiling The Stories Of Rural Teachers In Stem Education, Devan A. Jones

All Dissertations

This narrative study delves into the overlooked perspective of rural communities within the broader educational landscape, highlighting their unique and vital role in education. It primarily aims to gain insights from K-8 teachers working in multigrade, multi-curricular Sustained Deep Rurality (SDR) schools situated in the challenging terrain of the Northern Rocky Mountain area. Employing a methodology centered around episodic narrative interviews and small story analysis, the study uncovers the intricacies and challenges inherent in teaching under the extreme conditions of rural environments.

These SDR schools, situated in remote and isolated regions, serve as vital pillars in rural education, embodying qualities …

Don't Waste Our Time: Key Transformative Structures For Fast Track Learning, Carlita S. King

All Dissertations

Following a massive wave of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, educators found the need to be hyper-critical of how they spend their instructional time with students. Almost all students are expected to return nearly a full grade-level behind and would likely have to learn to navigate a completely new school environment. As a result, many educators were overwhelmed to cover unprecedented amounts of instructional content in less time. High-intensity tutoring programs have been known to have the potential to help struggling students advance their skills and gain up to three additional months of learning within a few sessions. The …

Lab To Leadership: How Do Women College Stem Students’ Classroom Experiences Inform Their Leader Identity Development?, Meredith Mcdevitt

All Dissertations

This dissertation is an exploration of leader identity development and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college academic classrooms. While there continues to be research promoting diversity in STEM professions, women remain underrepresented in STEM disciplines, leadership positions, and for this specific study, the college academic classroom. This dissertation represents an opportunity for women in STEM college students to reflect on their experiences in STEM academic spaces and communities, while self-exploring factors that shape their leader identity development. The research utilized a basic qualitative research design to understand the participant’s authentic experiences within the academic environment. Conducting semi-structured …

No Longer Unseen Or Unheard: Exploring The Connectedness Of Campus Climate With Multiracial Students’ Experiences At Historically White Institutions In The United States, Christian Barrientos

All Dissertations

This qualitative research study will illustrate the link(s) between Multiracial students and their perceptions of campus climate at historically White institutions and how that impacts their sense of belonging. Existing bodies of literature and research have focused more extensively on monoracial students of color than Multiracial students. As a result, there is a formidable gap in the literature about how Multiracial students navigate their racial identity at historically White institutions and how multiracial students perceive campus climate based on their experienced sense of belonging. The use of Kellogg and Liddell (2012) will serve as a guide for this research study. …

Opportunities To Learn In Rural South Carolina Schools: Rurality, Place, And Passion, Grig Sawyer

All Dissertations

High school principals can change the status quo of the current iniquitous disparities in the education system between South Carolina’s rural high schools and their more populated and affluent suburban schools. Using a non-standard structure and the resources in their control, these school leaders can find solutions so schools can offer rural students advanced math and science programs. Yet, there is a paucity of studies examining how small rural school principals make advanced math and science courses available to their students, particularly in rural South Carolina. Thus, studies must examine how South Carolina school leaders successfully offer advanced math and …

Student Perceptions And Academic Performance When Taught With Multiple Active Learning Methods In A High Enrollment Undergraduate Human Physiology Course, Kate Ireton Walker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When instructing very large groups of students in science, it can be difficult to engage all students in the content and measure their understanding. A major unaddressed challenge in science instruction is how specifically to design and implement strategies that engender active learning particularly in high-enrollment undergraduate courses. Active learning, which represents a diverse set of strategies, may include student engagement as part of instruction through discussions, active movement, and application (Bernstein, 2018; Cavanagh, et al. 2016; Michael, 2006 & Wilke, 2003). This study was designed to provide data addressing the gap in the literature regarding how the continual implementation …

An Online Scientific Twitter World: Social Network Analysis Of #Sciencetwitter, #Scicomm, And #Academictwitter, Man Zhang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Understanding who makes up online social worlds as well as how information flows within those communities is important as more people access news, research topics, collaborate with others, and entertain themselves. This study identified and classified the people discussing scientific topics on Twitter, determined the type of social network, and described the member composition of this online world. Scientists, the public, and educators formed this online world. They built connections by initiating activities and interacting with others, which created the Community Clusters social network structure. All three categories of people are in positions of influence in this network leading and …

Increasing Secondary Students’ Spanish Oral Language Proficiency, Courtney Kozak

Masters Projects

Research has demonstrated the importance of students becoming orally proficient after taking foreign language classes. This project explores what can be done to combat the issue of students failing to gain an oral proficiency. It addresses instructional design and teacher impact, as well as student contribution to the issue. Multiple studies were reviewed on the best research backed practices for proficiency growth. After reading through all the research, it was determined that a proficiency-based instructional style that followed ACTFL World Readiness standards is the ideal approach. Going hand in hand with a proficiency-based instructional style is a classroom design of …

The Value Of Adding Nothing: A Call For Reform-Oriented Polynomial Division, Jonathan Clark, Jeneva Clark

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The call to implement reform practices in schools reflects the historical turn away from the behaviorist theory of learning in education. Yet the praxis of this turn remains a significant challenge, particularly within mathematics classrooms where procedural memorization is emphasized. In this article, we show one means of how to advance our pursuit of meaningful mathematics into polynomial division. Building on the literature for reform-based division methods, an alternative to the long division algorithm will be explored that relies solely on adding zero and fundamental algebraic principles.

Improving Reading Comprehension Of English Language Learners, Maximilian J. Young

Masters Projects

Reading comprehension ability of English Language Learners (ELLs) has been a growing concern for teachers and administration. The number of ELLs entering the classroom is growing. While current curriculum has tried to address this issue, teachers must combat this problem with a newer perspective on assessing and instruction. This project explains the importance of assessing for instruction rather than simple diagnosis along with why instruction should include explicit reading strategies. To adequately support ELL reading comprehension abilities, schools must provide support services to better prepare teachers in their classroom. In response to this problem, I provide a professional development course …

Check The Rhyme Y’All; Life As A Shorty Shouldn’T Be So Rough: How Hip-Hop Songs Can Be Used As Pedagogical Tools To Teach Grammar/Culture And Ease Comprehension In A French As A Second Language Classroom, Scooter Pégram

Perspectives In Learning

Language learning can be stressful endeavour for students. To address this, educators of foreign languages often search for new and exciting pedagogical tools that will enable them to reach their learners in meaningful ways. Since both hip-hop music and culture are omnipresent throughout contemporary society in many facets, some teachers are incorporating elements of this ever-expanding and integral part of global pop culture into their lesson plans. This study explores the unique educational approach that is known as a Hip-Hop Based Education (HHBE); one where rap music and lyrics can be integrated into classroom instruction and learning. After first introducing …

Quantitative Reasoning: What’S Math Got To Do With It?, Pamela Burdman

Numeracy

This keynote address explores the history and role of college math requirements with a focus on ensuring math courses serve to expand students’ horizons, rather than serve as gatekeepers. It discusses the advent of general education math courses, which brought more students into math departments, which ultimately contributed to broadening the scope of the courses to align with more students’ interests and majors, since their purpose was to advance quantitative reasoning, not mathematics skill per se. It also examines several practices to address calculus’ gatekeeping role: revising placement practices and prerequisites, redesigning courses, and updating instruction and assessment practices. Lastly, …

The Integration Of Mathematical Concepts In Physics Curriculum, Paige Poindexter

Masters Projects

Research has shown that students are struggling to grasp mathematical concepts and skills, which carries over to other subjects, such as science. As the need for an improved STEM education approach continues to grow, the use of integration to guide curriculum development has proven to be effective. This project dives into the available research surrounding the overlap of subjects taught in a secondary setting, focusing on the techniques proven to improve student academic success. This project addresses the need to draw clear connections between mathematics and physics courses, with the goal of improving student scores in both areas. The result …

Effective Vocabulary Instructions In Kindergarten Through Third Grade, Allison Ericksen

Masters Projects

This project proposal explains the lack of research and emphasis put on vocabulary instruction in kindergarten through third grade. There is a vocabulary gap between students who come from low SES and high SES that puts students at a disadvantage when it comes to reading, since 60% of comprehension is tied to vocabulary (Stahl and Nagy, 2005). However, the gap is often not addressed until later grades when it starts to be more necessary to comprehend what they read in order to learn. Teaching vocabulary in the younger grades will help prevent the gap from growing too large for those …

Spatial Mapping With Polaroid Post-Its, Angela C. Dittmar, Katie Claiborne

Arts-Based Collaborative instructional materials

No abstract provided.

A Critical Discourse On Asian American Stereotypes And Pedagogical Strategies Against Anti-Asian Racism, Ryan Shin, Maria Lim, Oksun Lee, Ahran Koo, Kevin Hsieh, Min Gu, Jaehan Bae

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

In this article, we address the three derogatory stereotypes and tropes of anti-Asian racism: model minority, perpetual foreigner, and yellow peril. We problematize how each of the three stereotypes was formed and has been sustained, affecting our art classroom and professional practices. After that, we offer the novel and futuristic conception of Asian American inclusivity as a critical project in our society. Lastly, in challenging the three Asian stereotypes and embracing Asian American inclusivity, we offer S-R-C teaching strategies (Sense of Belonging, Resist, and Coalition Building) to confront anti-Asian racism and violence. The strategies are designed to help art educators …

Emphasizing Interprofessional Education Through A Virtual Case Study In A Medical Nutrition Therapy Course, Natalie B. Allen, Traci A. Garrison, Wendy R. Jackson, Bonnie K. Slavych

Journal of Dietetic Education

This observational research presents multi-year findings of a project using an online case study implemented in an undergraduate Medical Nutrition Therapy class that fostered interprofessional collaboration among students from various healthcare disciplines. The case study focused on a fictional patient with an ischemic stroke and all work was virtual. Students from various allied healthcare fields were represented: dietetics and nutrition, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, and social work. Both undergraduate and graduate students participated in developing a virtual care plan for the patient, with an emphasis on helping students explain their role to the team, while simultaneously learning how to collaborate …

It Takes A Community: One Nwp Site's Approach To Establishing And Sustaining A Writing Community, H. Michelle Kreamer

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In this article, one National Writing Project (NWP) site director details the process for establishing and nurturing a writing community that extends beyond school walls. This article details various events that have helped the site to grow and sustain a local writing community and includes recommendations for adapting these ideas for a variety of contexts and audiences.

Systematic Literature Review On Parental Involvement In Digital Education, Dóra Szabó, Krisztina Győri, Panna Lajos, Gabriella Pusztai

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Today it is generally known that digital tools suitable for enriching education can benefit and hinder teaching-learning. To understand the reasons behind students’ behavior, one must take an ecological approach to digital education. It would be misleading to think that only teachers experience difficulties; Digital education raises many questions and is the subject of constant debate, to which the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed significantly. In our systematic literature review, using the PRISMA model, we aimed to explore parental techniques and the degree of parental efficiency revealed by the literature on the digital education of children in families. After the multi-step …

Digital Citizenship Education: Perceptions On The Concept, Self-Reported Competences And Practices Of Georgian School Society, Vitor Tomé, Marika Sikharulidze, Sofiko Lobzhanidze, Giorgi Urchukhishvili

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The project ‘Digital Citizenship in General Education Schools in Georgia: Challenges and Ways of Implementation’ aimed to understand to what extent were teachers, students and parents aware of the Digital Citizenship Education (DCE) concept, whether teachers felt competent to implement it in the classroom and what DCE activities were carried out there. Data were collected from 1954 individuals, among teachers (205), students (972), parents and guardians (777), following an exploratory sequential design (qualitative followed by quantitative), and data analysis exposed that even half of the school society members claim to be aware of the DCE concept, they lack the right …

Assessing Information Literacy Levels Among Underprivileged Communities, Nurul Hazlina Noordin

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This study examines the levels of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) among underprivileged communities, shedding light on their digital literacy and online behaviour. Rooted in the UNESCO Media and Information Literacy framework, focusing on specific dimensions of MIL, with an emphasis on assessing the ability to retrieve, critically evaluate, and manage information. 366 participants among the targeted community were involved, where survey instruments aligned with MIL principles were adopted in identifying the strength and areas for improvement for the targeted underprivileged community. Participants’ awareness of data privacy was also assessed. The findings emphasize the critical role of targeted interventions and …

Effect Of Media Literacy On Entrepreneurial Development Of Learners In Adult And Vocational Education, Othuke Valentine Oroka, Columbus D. Bessong, Napoleon Osang Bessong, Agnes Awoli Ewuru, Gloria Iniobong Olori

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Much attention has been paid to the contributions of media literacy to children and adolescent development in most developed countries. This study adopted a non-equivalent control type of quasi-experimental research design involving the experimental and control groups. The sample size for the study was 90 learners drawn from all public adult and vocational education centres across Nigeria. The Entrepreneurial Development Test” (EDT) was the data collecting instrument. Data gathered were analysed using mean, standard deviation and analysis of covariance. Findings show that learners exposed to media literacy had a higher positive effect on entrepreneurial development than basic literacy. Furthermore, the …

The Role Of New Media Literacy In Shaping Online Learning Satisfaction: Evidence From Egyptian Universities, Abdelmohsen Hamed Okela

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The pervasive adoption of online learning in educational systems worldwide has resulted in delivering this learning to digital natives, today’s university students. In this context, it is crucial to acknowledge the significance of students’ satisfaction in determining the success or failure of online learning. This study examines the impact of the four New Media Literacy (NML) dimensions on students’ satisfaction with online learning (SOL). A total of 640 university students from four universities in Egypt were included in the data collection process. The findings derived from structural equation modelling revealed that the four dimensions of (NML), namely functional consumption, critical …

What Kinds Of Personal Data Do Primary School Pupils Share With Whom? Children’S View Of Personal Data And Its Implications For Teaching About Privacy, Martin Hermida, Raffael Meier, Iwan Schrackmann, Nina Imlig-Iten, Eva Marinus

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Safeguarding personal digital data is crucial and requires appropriate training. However, privacy remains a novel topic, leaving teachers with limited guidance. This study investigates how elementary school students perceive personal data and assesses pre-service teachers’ accuracy in predicting children’s responses. Employing Nissenbaum’s contextual integrity framework, the outcomes of this research offer a nuanced perspective on privacy, considering different recipients and data types. The study surveyed 94 Grade 3 and Grade 5 students, asking them to indicate with which recipients (no one, parents, best friends, class, all other people) they would share specific information. In addition, 75 pre-service teachers were asked …

Social Media Microinterventions: Testing Information Activism As A Media And Information Literacy Tool, Maia Klaassen, Maria Murumaa-Mengel, Marju Himma

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Several studies have shown the effect of information activism and microinterventions, such as I Am Here International, the Elves and #NAFO to combat information disorder and hate online. Nevertheless, microinterventions have yet to be conceptualised in promoting media and information literacy (MIL) and informational resilience. This study positions microinterventions as information activism tools and empirically tests microinterventions in the context of higher education. Using an action research approach at a university MIL training course, we aim to understand what types of information activism are used and how the collective interventions affected the participants' MIL-s. We construct a typology of information …

Teacher Knowledge And Confidence Integrating Social Change Concepts In K–12 Classrooms, Amy White, Fran Reed, Tina Marshall-Bradley, Kathy Strang

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

The purpose of this survey research was to examine the perspectives of K–12 classroom teachers about their knowledge of social change concepts and their confidence in implementing these into their existing curriculum. A questionnaire was used to (a) examine the perspectives of K–12 classroom teachers about the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to implement social change concepts into their teaching and (b) define areas of social change that teachers struggle to implement in K–12 classrooms. We employed Wilcoxen signed rank tests to determine if differences existed between what teachers reported they knew and their confidence in integrating 11 social …

The Influence Of Misconceptions On Pedagogical Choices Of Secondary Science Teachers: An Embedded Case Study, Tracey Beyer

Dissertations

This case study, using phenomenography within science disciplines, examines how educators' experiences with misconceptions affect teaching methods in high school physics, chemistry, and biology. Based on constructivist and interpretive theories it highlights that personal experiences shape learning and involve continuously reconstructing knowledge. The shared misconceptions of 13 educators across science disciplines reveal how those experiences influenced both their content knowledge and instructional practices. The findings indicate that educators who openly acknowledge and learn from their past experiences with misconceptions are better equipped to recognize and address gaps in understanding, an asset to furthering student learning. This research highlights the importance …

Storywood: Collaborating With Opaque Unknowable Others Through Oil Painting, Tanya J. Behrisch

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

This paper demonstrates the use of contemplation and arts-based research (ABR) to explore intersubjectivity between myself and other opaque beings. Through a walking meditation, I experience an affective encounter with a plywood board found lying on a beach. The board radiates agency and mysterious stories about its passage through the world. Drawing on philosopher Tim Lilburn’s concept of permeable attention and Bennett’s theory of vibrant matter, I discover the storied nature of the damaged board and resonances between its stories and my own. By practicing perceptual openness, I discern vitality shimmering beyond the visible surface of the board. During my …

The Impacts Of Authentic Learning On Student Outcomes, Evan Sheppard, Cameron Conner

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the evolving American education system, emphasizing the role of authentic learning in bridging the gap between schooling and employment, especially in the context of the modern post-pandemic student. Authentic learning, characterized by hands-on activities and real-world applications, is posited as a solution to the skilled labor shortage impacting the economy. This study delves into the history and current practices of authentic learning, examining various programs and strategies implemented in educational settings. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, qualitative data was collected through interviews with recent high school graduates to assess the impact of authentic learning on their post-secondary trajectories. …