Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Rethinking Thinking About Thinking: Against A Pedagogical Imperative To Cultivate Metacognitive Skills, Lauren R. Alpert

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In summaries of “best practices” for pedagogy, one typically encounters enthusiastic advocacy for metacognition. Some researchers assert that the body of evidence supplied by decades of education studies indicates a clear pedagogical imperative: that if one wants their students to learn well, one must implement teaching practices that cultivate students’ metacognitive skills.

In this dissertation, I counter that education research does not impose such a mandate upon instructors. We lack sufficient and reliable evidence from studies that use the appropriate research design to validate the efficacy of metacognitive skill-building interventions (not just evaluate their relationship to learning outcomes). I argue …

Approaches To Narrative Instruction For Second Language Learners, Mathew Peters

MA TESOL Collection

Narratives have reemerged as a dominant form of rhetoric over the last fifty years. This dominant use of narrative discourse has only increased with the rise of social media. Walther Fisher (1987) proposed the narrative paradigm as a unifying theory of human communication. His major claim is that people are inherently storytellers and that people use a narrative rationality and a logic of good reasons to inform their beliefs, values, and actions. This paper utilizes his theories, along with recent findings in neuroscience, to establish an argument for greater inclusion of narratives into second language teaching. Narratives can have a …

Theatre During Covid-19: Perceptions Of High School Students And Teachers, Marissa Lizette Trujillo

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

COVID-19 changed the way theatre was done in a high school setting. Students were required to wear masks and physically distance, and some even did theatre remotely. Doing theatre with limitations was especially difficult because the face and body play a vital role in helping actors tell a story. In this study, the researcher sought to understand what the perceptions of high school theatre students and teachers were while doing theatre during COVID-19. A survey, two focus group interviews, a group interview, and an individual interview were used to collect data, as well as observations in three theatre classes and …

Transfer And Transitions: Exploring First Year Writing At Holy Cross, Elizabeth Casavant

English Honors Theses

This study explores how first year students transition to college writing, especially in a pandemic with an online format, and how students use transfer, if at all. It focuses on the following research questions: How do students transition to college writing, college norms, and online classes in a pandemic, and how can Holy Cross first-year writing courses support students in this transition? The methods used to investigate these questions included the administration of two surveys sent to first-year students in a first-year writing course, as well as 10 interviews with students. After transcribing, collating, and coding the data, the following …

Animated By The Spirit: An Ecclesiology For Assessing Charism-Centered Mission In Higher Education, Michelle Nicole Blohm

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A “charism-centered” institutional mission is a mission that is believed to be instantiated and guided by the working of the Holy Spirit. Countless Catholic higher education institutions claim to have missions rooted in one or more charisms. However, institutional assessment processes tailored to charism-centered missions have remained in their infancy due to the lack of a theological grounding for institutional charism and its assessment. This work uses Yves Congar’s pneumatological ecclesiology to establish a theological framework for interpreting charism as respecting and enhancing stakeholder diversity and uses Louis-Marie Chauvet’s ecclesiology of symbol to pioneer a model for institutionally assessing charism-centered …

Faith-Based Education And Civic Value Formation, Matthew H. Lee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since the founding of the United States, scholars and policymakers have argued that education should not merely train the minds of students, but also prepare them for active participation in a democratic republic. This dissertation, divided into three chapters, studies the leaders, schools, and content that shape students’ character.

While educational leadership in U.S. public schools is widely studied, there is much less scholarly attention to educational leadership in Protestant and other private schools. The first chapter investigates principal leadership and tests for systematic differences in educational priorities and preparation for their responsibilities by educational sector. Using a nationally-representative sample …

Tuition Prices Are Through The Roof, Zara Zerman

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Tuition prices have increased at a rate that is making it difficult and impossible for students to not accumulate debt. Education is a necessity for society because it gives students opportunities to pursue any career they have interest or desire in. There are many discussions and conversations about the higher education system being too expensive but there have not been any changes or solutions to make college more affordable for students. Loans, federal aid, and other scholarships that help students with the cost of college will never be enough to help with the overwhelmingness of tuition prices and student debt. …

Relationship Between Working With Professional Evaluators And An Organization’S Evaluation Culture, James M. Wharton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mission-based organizations like zoos and aquariums are investing in evaluation capacity to help them improve their mission performance, but are these resources improving their professional culture, or merely creating evaluations? This study surveyed the leadership from 100 programming departments at accredited U.S. zoos and aquariums to learn how work with professional evaluators might be related to the nature of an organization’s evaluation culture. Survey results showed no statistically significant relationships between a self-reported measure of evaluation culture and either institutional demographics or work with professional evaluators. Follow-up interviews with nine case study organizations, however, were more supportive of the role …

The Writing For Healing And Transformation Project, Heather Elizabeth Osborn

Education Doctorate Dissertations

As a qualitative action research study, the purpose of The Writing for Healing and Transformation Project was to facilitate more inclusive writing strategies and to promote individual and collective healing on issues of social suffering and oppression (Kleinman, Das, & Lock, 1997; Pennebaker & Smyth, 2016) for diverse students at a community college located in the northeastern United States. The 18 participants in the study included students in my English II literature and composition course. The theoretical framework encompassed Pennebaker’s (2016) “writing for healing” paradigm, advocating the use of expressivist writing and “social suffering theory,” examining how power structures affect …

Down The Rabbit Hole: A Fantastical First Year Of Teaching, Tabitha Dell'angelo, Maria Degenova

#CritEdPol: Journal of Critical Education Policy Studies at Swarthmore College

Interviews and observations of first year teachers in the northeastern United States were used to construct a comic. The comic communicates the excitement, fears, and competing demands of a beginning teacher. The dialogue and setting are presented as surrealist to help the reader gain an understanding of the affective realities that the teachers expressed when describing their early teaching experiences. This approach allows for the multiple dimensions of the teachers’ lived experiences to be experienced in ways that a traditional text does not allow. The work takes a critical look at the transition of beginning teachers into their careers and …

The Importance Of Inclusive Spaces In Social Skills Development: Drawing On The Lgbtq Educational And Disability Studies In Education Frameworks, Aja Mckee, Audri Sandoval Gomez, Kevin Stockbridge

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This manuscript highlights a major finding from a larger study conducted in the United States that used phenomenological interviews with adults with autism who typed to communicate. Participants shared their United States educational experiences before and after learning to type. This finding focused on how disability studies in education and the development of inclusive spaces, such as those designed for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) students, may change the way in which educators support students with autism in developing and sustaining natural and meaningful friendships. Thus, this paper examined the social experiences of one participant who …

Observación Participante De Clases Virtuales Bilingües En K-2 Durante Covid-19, Jennifer Quint

World Languages and Cultures

The Covid-19 pandemic is shifting education from the classroom to a virtual setting, forcing educational institutions to collaboratively innovate a new structure for virtual learning. The world’s current state of reliance on technology came so suddenly that teachers, students, and families have no choice but to learn as they go. This research analyzes how an elementary dual- immersion bilingual program adapts to new-found challenges such as technical difficulties, variances in at home support, and student independence. Furthermore, students enrolled in a dual-immersion bilingual program face additional challenges to provide students a language immersive environment. From August 2020 to March 2021, …

Hubungan Antara Budaya: Kajian Etnografi Ke Atas Kumpulan Wayang Kulit Sri Campuran Di Kelantan, Eyo Leng Yan

Student Works (2020-2029)

Malaysia is of diverse backgrounds that require each ethnic group to respect, tolerate and understand other cultures in order to ensure prosperity and harmony. However, issues related to ethnic conflict have never been resolved. Studies conducted by previous researchers formulating the barriers to intercultural relations are language, culture, religion, and perception that lead to prejudice, ethnocentrism and racial polarization that hinder inter-ethnic communication. This study uses intercultural communication disciplines to see the phenomenon of an intercultural relations in the performance of the Kelantan’s Wayang Kulit performed by the Sri Campuran Wayang Kulit Group. This group was chosen as the subject …

How Will I Thrive? Developing Designer Professional Identity Among Undergraduate Communication Design Students, Denise Bosler

Education Doctorate Dissertations

A designer’s professional identity is constructed throughout a designer’s life and is developed through life experiences and education. While understanding the general importance of a professional identity is often clear to recent design graduates, developing it requires becoming self-aware of what traits constitutes designer professional identity (DPI). Kunrath, Cash and Yi-ling (2016) define DPI as the synthesis of personal attributes and design skills. However, the development of this full complement of DPI traits is often ignored and ill-supported in design education curriculum. A student’s DPI, if under-developed, can be a barrier to successfully transitioning from student to professional. Design educators …

Is The Academic Freedom Of Foreign-Born Professors In U.S. Universities Under Attack?, Khulod S. Wahboubadr

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

In this study, academic freedom was defined by 17 foreign-born professors:12 Arab-born and five non-Arab professors from nine different higher education institutions, as the ability to express different ideas, research any topic, and publish the results without fear of intimidation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine how foreign-born professors experienced academic freedom when teaching and writing about Middle East issues and how their views about the U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East influenced their experiences on the grounds of their foreignness (place of origin, race/ethnicity, and religion). Overall, participants reported positive experiences with academic freedom when teaching and writing …

Lagu Sewang Masyarakat Orang Asli Sebagai Sumber Kurikulum Pengajaran Dan Pembelajaran Prabacaan Kanak-Kanak Prasekolah, Siti Nor Khalis Harun Narasid

Student Works (2020-2029)

Lagu Sewang merupakan sebuah irama,nyanyian atau jenulang (bahasa suku kaum Semai) tradisional orang Asli yang dinyanyikan dalam berbagai-bagai fungsi acara seperti hiburan, buka cinta, perkahwinan, memuja semangat padi dan juga perubatan. Lagu Sewang ini menjadi hiburan utama dan identiti bagi masyarakat orang asli. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenalpasti elemen sumber kurikulum pengajaran dan pembelajaran Prabacaan berasaskan Lagu Sewang Masyarakat Orang Asli (LSMOA) bagi kanak-kanak Prasekolah berdasarkan pandangan pakar. Oleh itu, tiga objektif utama kajian telah ditetapkan: a) mengenalpasti kesesuaian LSMOA dalam aktiviti pembelajaran Prabacaan kanak-kanak Prasekolah, b) mengenalpasti isi kandungan sumber pembelajaran berasaskan LSMOA dalam aktiviti pembelajaran Prabacaan kanak-kanak Prasekolah, …

The 12th Annual Graduate Research Symposium 2021 Poster Tu Dublin: How To Recruit And Retain Women In Computer Science, Alina Berry, Susan Mckeever, Brenda Murphy, Sarah Jane Delany

Other resources

While in recent decades a number of efforts have been coordinated to address the issue of gender imbalance in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines, the problem still persists. Many authors speak of the ‘leaky’ pipeline metaphor that describes the loss of women in STEM areas before reaching senior roles. Research shows that women who leave are unlikely to return. The issue is particularly severe in the area of computer science, where women represent less than 20% of the labour force across the EU.

This poster introduces a summary of findings from the literature on how to effectively recruit …

Standardizing America: Why It Should Be A Method Of The Past, Samantha N. Jackson

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper examines, critiques, and suggests improvements on the method of standardized testing in American schools. This paper discusses the history and development of standardized testing and its initial purpose and intentions. Additionally, the effects of standardized testing on students, teachers, and parents are evaluated, with special consideration on how high stakes testing adversely affects disadvantaged student groups such as children in minorities and low-income districts, bilingual students, and children with disabilities. The research suggests that standardized testing is not only damaging to students in these groups, but most likely not the most efficient way of testing student performance in …

Nonacademic Factors Affecting Retention And Academic Success At Historically Black Colleges And Universities, Charlene Denise Mallory

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractRetention rates for African American students attending historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have been low compared to rates of predominantly White institutions. The problem investigated was the retention rates of African American students enrolled at degree-granting Title IV HBCUs. The absence of research focused on African American students and retention at HBCUs leaves more to be learned about how institutions can improve retention rates for this population. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the association between nonacademic factors (enrollment status, residency status, SES, and family income) and retention rate (full-time and part-time) for African American full-time, …

Pushed Out Of High School: Narratives Of Teaching Under The Testing Regime, Sheila Alexis-Fabius

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was enacted as an education intervention to close the achievement gap by increasing student attendance, graduation, and standard testing rates. NCLB held teachers and administrators accountable for successfully meeting adequate yearly progress gains. However, the emerging NCLB research uncovered a culture of conflict with academically at-risk students being pushed out of the public school system and rise in disciplinary actions towards minority students. This study employed John Gultang’s structural violence, John Burton’s basic human needs theory, and adultification theory to highlight the significance of understanding the conflict in high-stakes testing regimes. This research …

Teachers Of Color's Perception On Identity And Academic Success: A Reflective Narrative, Lynette Suliana Sikahema Finau

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Research and scholarship in multicultural education has consistently affirmed that as a result of the long standing racial academic achievement gap and the current teaching force not reflecting the changing demographics of students in the United States, students of color continue to be deprived from having teachers who look like them and who may bring similar life, social, and cultural experiences that can increase the value they place on academics. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of teachers of color and how they perceive their identity as significant and meaningful to their profession and its …

Human Capital Formation And Return Migration Within Mong Communities In Rural/Semi-Rural Northern California, Chong Yang

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This research uses computational grounded theory to explore the human capital formation and stay/return migration experiences of well-educated Mong adults living in various rural/semi-rural Northern California localities within Butte, Yuba, and Sutter Counties. Rural vitality is dependent on the return of these well-educated rural-raised adults. Out-migration of rurality’s best and brightest contributes towards a brain drain and the hallowing out of rurality’s human capital. Findings of this research is conveyed using two research articles examining two different points on the continuum of rural vitality. The first article examines 19 Mong adults’ educational experiences within their rural communities and college education. …

The Crossroads Of Wellness And Second Victim Syndrome: Identifying Factors That Alter The Pathway Of Caregiver Recovery Following An Unanticipated Adverse Patient Outcome, Kimia Zarabian, A. Katharine Hindle, Ivy Benjenk, Anita Vincent, Jamil M. Kazma, Benjamin Shambon, Raymond Pla, Eric Heinz

Journal of Wellness

Introduction: Second Victim Syndrome (SVS) describes the phenomenon in which a caregiver experiences a traumatic psychological and emotional response to an adverse patient event or medical error. Using quantitative survey analysis, we aim to better understand the personal factors that affect SVS development and recovery.

Methods: Caregivers at a small urban academic medical center who had experienced an adverse patient event in the past six months were invited to take part in this institution-wide, voluntary, quantitative, cross-sectional study. Three surveys were administered; the Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory (HRLSI) was used as a surrogate to measure stressful life events. The …

Rapid Shifts In Educators’ Perceptions Of Data Literacy Priorities, Kristin Fontichiaro, Melissa P. Johnston

Journal of Media Literacy Education

To meet the challenges of a data-driven society, high school students need new arrays of literacy skills. In the United States, school librarians, who work across disciplines, are well-positioned to help students improve their data practice, but they first need new domain knowledge. This article presents findings from an evaluating survey and session evaluation data from a virtual data literacy conference, which were part of a federally-funded project to develop data literacy skills among high school librarians and educators. Findings indicated a noticeable shift in participant perceptions of the need and urgency for data literacy instruction across content areas and …

Introduction: Perspectives On Ignatian Leadership, Thomas M. Kelly, Bridget Keegan Ph.D.

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

No abstract provided.

Legislating Social Inclusion: Social Interaction And Perceptions Of Middle Level Students Toward Those With Disabilities, Deidre Necol Whitehead

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recognition of the need for students with disabilities to receive free and appropriate education was brought to the forefront with the passage of Public Law 93 – 112, Rehabilitation Act in 1973. In 1975 Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act was enacted requiring all schools to develop and provide a free, appropriate public education for all children and youth with disabilities in the regular classroom to ensure an appropriate education. However, mandating inclusion in classrooms does not ensure social interaction, which is an integral part of learning, especially for early adolescents.

This dissertation uses the Chedoke-McMaster …

Autoethnography As A Decolonizing Methodology: Reflections On Masta’S What The Grandfathers Taught Me, Dung T. Pham, June E. Gothberg

The Qualitative Report

As an Asian graduate student and a Native professor at a U.S. Midwestern Predominantly White Institution, we reflected upon Masta’s (2018) article, What the Grandfathers Taught Me: Lessons for an Indian Country Researcher, to examine the decolonizing aspects of autoethnography. Masta’s use of autoethnography to explore her experiences provides a deeply personal view into the phenomenon of living and researching Indigenous in an America that is inherently White in character, tradition, structure, and culture. The use of participatory and constructivist Indigenous autoethnography places the lived experience of an Indigenous woman at the center of the study, using the Indigenous …

The Problem-Based Learning Approach Towards Developing Soft Skills: A Systematic Review, Sadia Deep, Ali Ahmed, Nazia Suleman, Muhammad Zahid Abbas, Uzma Naza, Hina Shaheen, Abdul Razzaq

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we review systematically the role of problem-based learning (PBL) in developing soft skills in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and other fields of studies. The Systematic Literature Review (SLR) includes the most recent empirical, review, and conceptual studies from TVET and other multiple fields of studies including medicine, humanities, and engineering between the years of 2001 and 2016 collected from four databases. A qualitative method was used to accomplish the systematic review. After the collection of articles, the selected studies were analyzed through thematic analysis. From this review, we concluded that PBL as an instructional …

The Role Of Test Making In Learning Process, Dilbar Xasanova, Hugh Cartwright Cheonan Assistant Professor

The Light of Islam

Almost always with the word "test" a question comes to mind with four or fve possible answers. Students usually think of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) when they are told to get tested. Testing means testing students' knowledge using different types of question forms. The proposed article examines the academic performance test, which was developed by the administration of the Uzbekistan English Teachers Association (UZTEA) for Year 2 students of lyceums and colleges. The purpose of this study is to discuss test constructs and propose a more reliable version of them if the reason for the unsatisfactory results depends on the evaluation …

Designing Analog Learning Games: Genre Affordances, Limitations And Multi-Game Approaches, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Articles

This chapter explores what the authors discovered about analog games and game design during the many iterative processes that have led to the Lost & Found series, and how they found certain constraints and affordances (that which an artifact assists, promotes or allows) provided by the boardgame genre. Some findings were counter-intuitive. What choices would allow for the modeling of complex systems, such as legal and economic systems? What choices would allow for gameplay within the time of a class-period? What mechanics could promote discussions of tradeoff decisions? If players are expending too much cognition on arithmetic strategizing, could that …