Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons^™

How Math Avoidance Influences Degree Completion For Bible College Students: A Case Study Of A Small, Private Institution In Upstate New York, Bonnie Novak

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to describe math perception and avoidance for ministerial undergraduate students at a small, private Bible college in upstate New York. In the research, math avoidance was generally defined as the participants’ perception of math, their delay in completing a credit-bearing math course until their senior year or not at all, and their own learning or degree completion as a result. The theories guiding this study were Tinto’s Retention Theory/Model of Institutional Departure, Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, and Estep’s Theory of Christian Formation. The central question was: How does math avoidance influence persistence …

A Case Study Of The Impact Of Peer-To-Peer Mentoring On Mentors In A Rural High School Setting, Darlene M. Geddes

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Existing research on peer-to-peer mentoring has focused mainly on cross-age peer mentoring with several years’ difference between mentor and mentees (Karcher, 2005, 2007; Lawon, 2014; Willis, Bland, Manka, & Craft, 2012) and the impact of peer mentoring on the mentee. The researcher aimed to examine the relationship of participating in a high school based peer-to-peer mentoring program and the impact on the high school upperclassmen mentors in this study. School is a social organization where peers can develop school connectedness and expand their prosocial skills and through their social networks increase social capital. The impact of peer mentoring programs on …

Diversity Training Workshop Series: How To Learn And Interact Within A Diverse Community, Katherine Mabel Bernal

Capstone Collection

This capstone focuses on a diversity initiative designed for higher education institutions in the United States and it targets students of all levels and degrees. The theme selected for this capstone is: “Diversity Training Workshop Series: How to Learn and Interact within a Diverse Community” and it will be a co-curricular program that follows the interests promoted by Affirmative Action. Due to the wide range of intersectionalities and the abstract definition of Diversity, in this paper, diversity is defined solely as the “composition of the student body”.

The trainings outline the needs for students to recognize and acknowledge non-visible identity …

A National Bilingual Education Policy For The Economic And Academic Empowerment Of Youth In St. Lucia, West Indies, Gabriella Bellegarde

Capstone Collection

This campaign portfolio argues the case for a national bilingual education policy on the island of St. Lucia, where youth speak both St Lucian Creole and St. Lucian standard English. The portfolio consists of a policy paper and brief, an advocacy plan, a communications plan, monitoring and evaluation plan. The Bilingual Education Taskforce (BET), made up of teachers, parents and principals, is an advocacy organization that discovered the need for a bilingual education intervention when they observed, assessed and analyzed the written work of struggling readers at their school, the Anse la Raye Infant School on the west coast of …

Diversifying The Curriculum: An Analysis Of Diversity Course Policies At The University Of California San Diego, Maria Lourdes Amparo

Capstone Collection

As U.S. higher education institutions and the larger society become increasingly global and racially and ethnically diverse, educational institutions are faced with the challenge of adapting their policies and academic curriculum to reflect and meet the demands of a changing environment. As part of a comprehensive plan to address campus climate issues at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), the UC San Diego Academic Senate revised the undergraduate graduation requirement in 2011 to include one course that focuses on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). In addition to having a diverse student population, UC San Diego is ranked …

The Arts Community Without Community: Imagining Aesthetic Curriculum For Active Citizenship, Seungho Moon

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article is about teaching art-based inquiry and equity pedagogy. The author introduces an aesthetic-inspired afterschool curriculum in the urban context in the United States and theorizes the meaning of active citizenship and community. Conceptually framed by “community without community,” this article explicates the ways in which the ARtS children (Aesthetic, Reflexive thoughts, & Sharing) investigated the meanings of community through dance, poetry, and clay art. The author imagines and theorizes community that goes beyond emphasizing solidarity and a collective “we”-ness in the pursuit of social transformation. Rather, the author argues that “community without community” could be an important framework …

Outcomes Of Speech And Language Pilot Program For International Students, Kelly Fussman

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Universities in the United States host a substantial number of international students every academic year. As of the 2015-2016 academic year, Western Kentucky University, located in south-central Kentucky, alone hosts over 1,400 international students. These students often face a number of challenges upon arrival in the United States, especially when it comes to language and cultural differences. A considerable body of research indicates that international students’ educational performance and outcomes are significantly impacted by their cultural identities, psychological and sociocultural experiences, and attitudes in relation to English-speaking societies. Many international students attribute academic and social difficulties to a lack of …

Can Philanthropy Be Taught?, Lindsey Mcdougle, Danielle Mcdonald, Huafeng Li, Whitney Mcintyre Miller, Chengxin Xu

Education Faculty Articles and Research

In recent years, colleges and universities have begun investing significant resources into an innovative pedagogy known as experiential philanthropy. The pedagogy is considered to be a form of service-learning. It is defined as a learning approach that provides students with opportunities to study social problems and nonprofit organizations and then make decisions about investing funds in them. Experiential philanthropy is intended to integrate academic learning with community engagement by teaching students not only about the practice of philanthropy but also how to evaluate philanthropic responses to social issues. Despite this intent, there has been scant evidence demonstrating that this type …

Academic Performance, Retention Rates, And Persistence Rates Of First-Year, First-Generation, Latino College Students, Jaime Duran

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this causal-comparative quantitative study was to examine the relationships between the efficacy of a Summer Bridge Academy (SBA) and the impact on students by measuring the Grade Point Averages (GPAs), retention rates, and persistence rates of first-generation, first-year, Latino college students who participated in a SBA at Central Valley Community College against like students who did not participate in same program. The independent variable was participation in a 6 week long SBA, which took place during the summer of 2011. The dependent variables were GPAs, retention rates, and persistence rates, and the control and intervening variables, students …

A Correlational Study Of Teacher Demographics And Racial Color-Blindness, Dudley Freeman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Two primary camps of thought guide K-12 education: Color-blind ideology and Multiculturalism (Rattan & Ambady, 2013). Color-blindness implies color does not matter (Neville, Lilly, Duran, Lee, & Browne, 2000). Shifting student demographics in K-12 education and unchanging demographics of a predominately White, female teaching force create a need for better understanding the dynamics affecting teachers and their interaction with the students they teach. This correlational study utilized multiple regression analyses to answer the following research question: How accurately can racial color-blindness be predicted from the linear combination of age, years-of-experience, and political philosophy for K-12 teachers located in an urbanized …

The Relationship Between Online Classroom Incivility And Sense Of Community Of Online Undergraduate Students, John Spohn

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Incivility is not just bullying and physically threatening students. Uncivil behaviors include more mild forms of classroom disruption, including plagiarizing, posting terse responses, and continually asking for extensions for assignments. A student’s motivation for learning can be hampered, when subjected to incivility causing classroom disruptions. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between student incivility in the online learning environment, as scored by the Incivility in Online Learning Environments instrument, and the student’s sense of community, as measured by the Community Classroom scale. This quantitative study seeks to extend Tuckman’s model (1965) of the Theory of Group …

Post-Secondary Academic Self-Limitation Of Rural High School Students In Northeast Georgia, Jeffrey Lambert

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the phenomenon of academic post-secondary self-limitation of rural high school students in northeast Georgia. The theory guiding this study was based upon self-determination theory, as described by Deci and Ryan (2008). Most high school students must make a decision as to whether or not they continue their education into the post-secondary years. This transcendental phenomenological study examined post-secondary academic self-limitation of high school students in rural, northeast Georgia. This type of phenomenology suggests that the whole of human experience is descriptive and leads to absolute knowledge (Moustakas, 1994). This approach was …

Academic Vocabulary Instruction And Adult English Language Learners In The Arabian Gulf: A Phenomenological Study Of Instructor Perspectives, Indrani Ibrahim

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe 11 ESL instructors’ experiences and perceptions of why some adult learners in their college level ESL programs in the Gulf States of the Middle East have challenges to academic reading comprehension success. The theories that guided this study were epistemological and axiological ones whereby participants’ descriptions of perceptions regarding academic vocabulary instruction, instructional self-efficacy, and experiences were explored. Adult learning theory of Malcolm Knowles’ coupled with the social cognitive theory espoused by Albert Bandura are the frameworks that underscore the adult learner context and their social learning and instructional environments within …

Humanizing Mathematics Through Ethnomodelling, Milton Rosa, Daniel Clark Orey

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Ethnomathematical techniques and modelling tools allow us to examine systems taken from the real world and offer us insight into forms of mathematics performed in holistic contexts [3]. A pedagogical approach that connects a diversity of cultural forms of mathematics can be implemented by the use of ethnomodelling, a process of translation and elaboration of problems and questions taken from non-academic systems. Here, we offer examples of studies conducted in Brazil and in the United States that explore this pedagogical approach. Our goal is to broaden the discussion of possibilities for ethnomathematics and associated ethnomodelling perspectives that respect the …

The New Orleans Reformed Public School System: National Model?, Raynard Sanders

Occasional Paper Series

The author describes what happened to the New Orleans Public Schools after Hurricane Katrina.

Introduction: Diving Into The Wreckage: Our Schools, Education Reform, And The Future Society, William Ayers

Occasional Paper Series

"In this special issue of the Bank Street Occasional Papers, we will dive into the wreckage, engage the fight, and hope to reclaim the ground of education in and for democracy." --Author.

Preface: Challenging The Politics Of The Teacher Accountability Movement, Gail M. Boldt

Occasional Paper Series

Explains that this issue is intended as a resource for anyone concerned with re-framing and taking back the educational conversation, moving toward meaningful school reform that is based in a commitment to creating conditions under which teachers can develop the kinds of complex and sophisticated professional knowledges and practices that support authentic student learning.

(Im)Possible Identity: Autoethnographic (Re)Presentations, Seungho Moon, Christopher Strople

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we examine experience, identity, and their intersections. Working from an autoethnographic positionality, we investigate the insufficiencies of language and the limitations of any given researcher with an intent to address multiple realities and their respective interpretations of meaning. Autoethnographic narratives with the use of visual, written, and multimedia representations further acknowledge the dilemmas of qualitative researchers when they cannot fully describe subjectivities in research. What is deemed to be valid research is often indicative of a theoretical framework that aggressively seeks to invalidate other perspectives and ways of knowing. Thus, we create research spaces by employing counter-narratives …

(Im)Possible Identity: Autoethnographic (Re)Presentations, Seungho Moon, Chris Strople

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this paper, we examine experience, identity, and their intersections. Working from an autoethnographic positionality, we investigate the insufficiencies of language and the limitations of any given researcher with an intent to address multiple realities and their respective interpretations of meaning. Autoethnographic narratives with the use of visual, written, and multimedia representations further acknowledge the dilemmas of qualitative researchers when they cannot fully describe subjectivities in research. What is deemed to be valid research is often indicative of a theoretical framework that aggressively seeks to invalidate other perspectives and ways of knowing. Thus, we create research spaces by employing counter-narratives …

Queer History Of The United States: A Syllabus, Jordan Ostrum

History Summer Fellows

This project is a proposed syllabus of a college level history course dealing with queer and trans experiences in the 20^th century. The course utilizes the Ursinus inquiry based approach to learning, focusing on the core questions “How can we understand the world?” and “How should we live together?” Supplementary materials, such as the course proposal, are meant to encourage the Ursinus College History Department to offer the course in the future.

Literacy And Citizenship: Helping Students Learn The Importance Of Being An Informed And Educated Citizen, Luke H. Schlegel

English and Creative Writing Summer Fellows

My project utilizes the concept of Understanding by Design, as outlined by education experts Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins, to craft a 12-week curriculum for high school junior and senior English students. McTighe and Wiggins use backwards planning to create long-term learning goals for students. Rather than superficially trying to cover a wide range of material in class, which results in short-term acquisition of knowledge mostly forgotten in the long run, McTighe and Wiggins focus on “big ideas,” that generate conceptual understanding. Ultimately, students will be able to transfer this knowledge to settings outside of the classroom. To help them …

Front Matter And Introduction, Valentine Burr

Occasional Paper Series

The writers in this issue of Occasional Papers advocate for models of inclusion that support children’s capabilities and challenge systemic inequities based on ableism and cultural biases. They examine the complex and changing nature of collaboration between general and special educators in inclusion settings. Underlying these essays, though not always explicitly stated, is recognition that the fields of special education and disability studies can deepen and inform each other.

An Examination Of The Relationships Between Safety Culture Perceptions And Safety Reporting Behavior Among Non-Flight Collegiate Aviation Majors, Daniel Kwasi Adjekum, Julius Keller, Micah Walala, Cody Christensen, Randal J. Demik, John P. Young, Gary J. Northam

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Some collegiate aviation programs in the United States have adopted the voluntary Safety Management System (SMS) strongly advocated by the Federal Aviation Administration to build a proactive safety culture. While relevant safety culture research has primarily focused on flight personnel, there has been limited investigation on non-flight collegiate aviation majors (collegiate air traffic control, aviation management, and unmanned aerial systems students) perceptions on collegiate aviation safety. This study examined the relationship between safety culture perceptions and safety reporting behavior of non-flight major students at five collegiate aviation programs. One hundred and sixteen completed responses to a validated safety culture perception …

Selected Works By Harriet Cuffaro, Miriam Raider-Roth, Jonathan Silin

Occasional Paper Series

Selected works by Harriet Cuffaro.

Youth Media And Social Change: Using Digital Storytelling As A Tool That Engages Youth To Become Change Agents, Soufiane Khebbaz

Capstone Collection

Today the importance of digital technology has significantly increased worldwide, as cameras, laptops, and easy-to-use applications and software have become available to educators and activists, enabling them to join the digital world. Through a digital storytelling workshop, I examined the use of digital storytelling as a potential means of empowerment for teenagers participating in the Access Micro-scholarship Program. Using qualitative methods, I looked at the students’ interactions with each other as well as with technology in the process of digital storytelling. The main purpose of this project was to investigate the opportunities that digital storytelling practices hold for youth in …

Mapping The Social Across Lived Experiences: Relational Geographies And After-School Time, Louai Rahal, Jennifer A. Vadeboncoeur

Occasional Paper Series

This article is divided into two sections. The first offers a theoretical frame that enables key concepts to be defined and discussed. The second reviews current approaches to methodology that enable researchers to study the movement of youth over time and across space in an effort to examine the learning that is occasioned by different relationships. Here, we offer ways to begin thinking about mapping social relationships across lived experiences. The article ends with a brief conclusion, in which we note the significance of documenting the developing experiences of children and youth, mediated by social relationships, and the necessity of …

A Study Of Home Emergent Literacy Experiences Of Young Latino English Learners, Guy Trainin, Stephanie Wessels, J. Ron Nelson, Patricia Vadasy

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This empirical study explored the home environment literacy practices of young Latino English learners and their families. The participants were 217 incoming Kindergarten Latino EL students and parents. The data collection included a completed HLEQ by the parents. In addition, children were administered the PPVT, the pre- LAS, the PALS-K screening, the Woodcock Reading Mastery assessment, and the Wide Range Achievement test. All of the literacy assessments given to the children provided the researchers with comprehensive look at their literacy knowledge base. The results of this study indicate that there were two significant paths for students’ achievement: availability of books …

Cultivating A Learner’S Stance For Engagement In Teacher-Inquiry: An Aim For Writing Pedagogy Education, Jessica Rivera-Mueller

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation argues that writing teacher educators (WTEs) can more purposefully advance their commitment to sponsoring inquiry-oriented teacher development by helping pre-service and practicing writing teachers examine how they are developing as inquirers. Building from scholarship in Composition and English Education and the findings from a narrative-based qualitative study that included four secondary and post-secondary teachers of writing, I have named this attention to how teachers learn and grow their inquiry processes a learner’s stance for engagement in teacher-inquiry. This stance is a readiness to see and engage professional work with an eye toward growing one’s ability to engage …

An Examination Of The Relationships Between Safety Culture Perceptions And Safety Reporting Behavior Among Non-Flight Collegiate Aviation Majors, Daniel Kwasi Adjekum, Julius Keller, Micah Walala, Cody Christensen, Randal J. Demik, John P. Young, Gary J. Northam

Aviation Faculty Publications

Some collegiate aviation programs in the United States have adopted the voluntary Safety Management System (SMS) strongly advocated by the Federal Aviation Administration to build a proactive safety culture. While relevant safety culture research has primarily focused on flight personnel, there has been limited investigation on non-flight collegiate aviation majors (collegiate air traffic control, aviation management, and unmanned aerial systems students) perceptions on collegiate aviation safety. This study examined the relationship between safety culture perceptions and safety reporting behavior of non-flight major students at five collegiate aviation programs. One hundred and sixteen completed responses to a validated safety culture perception …

The Effect Of Gamification On Elementary Students’ Spanish Language Achievement And Academic Self-Efficacy, Jason Rachels

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest, non-equivalent control group design was used to examine the effect of gamification on third and fourth grade students’ Spanish language achievement and student academic self-efficacy. In this study, the primary means of incorporating gamification into the experimental group’s Spanish language instruction was through the use of Duolingo®, a computer and mobile app that uses gamification and adaptive learning technology to teach foreign languages. Students in the control group received their regularly scheduled English L1/Spanish L2 class learning activities. The study was 12 weeks in duration. Students were assessed with a 50 question, multiple-choice English to Spanish and …