Higher Education Commons^™

Reevaluating Student Engagement: Exploring And Applying Alternative Assignments In Higher Education Undergraduate Applied Saxophone, Anthony S. Cincotta Ii

Dissertations, 2020-current

Undergraduate applied saxophone study revolves around the conservatory model. This inflexible model, often referred to as a master-apprentice relationship, can create an instructor-centric power dynamic which does not address the needs of the modern student. A classroom where the power lies so heavily with the instructor can stifle student engagement and can create a sense of disenfranchisement. In this setting, students have limited input on their assignment selections. While curricula have evolved with regards to being more culturally diverse, relevant, and inclusive, the approach that educators use to deliver the material has remained largely unchanged. There is limited research on …

Inclusive Pedagogy: Connecting Disability And Race In Higher Education, Meredith Persin

All Theses

Higher education was never made for marginalized people. The academy was created based on the privileged white, able-bodied, males who preoccupied higher education for the longest time. While that has certainly changed over the years, the institution itself is still in the past resulting in BIPOC students and disabled students continuing to struggle within higher education. While instructors have begun to take interest in the need for inclusive pedagogy within the last decade, it still has a far way to come in order to help the marginalized students with intersecting identities and students who may not benefit from a one …

Agroecology Curriculum Proposal, Emily Kuhn

Pitzer Senior Theses

The purpose of this research is to establish the viability of an Agroecology major at Pitzer College. I begin by problematizing Industrial Agriculture and making a case for Pitzer College to become a higher education leader in the global paradigm shift towards socially and ecologically just food systems. The proposed curriculum compiles pre-existing classes, objectives expanded from the EA field group, and an internship component embedded at five local land-based learning partner sites. I conducted a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the Environmental Analysis field group as a potential host for the agroecology track, including study abroad …

Legal Research & Writing: An Undergraduate Pre-Law Course Design, Rachel Kathleen Strieber

Senior Theses

The purpose of this project-based thesis is to develop an undergraduate pre-law course that teaches legal research and writing (LRW) and to design its respective description, topics, reading materials, sample syllabus document, and a sample lesson plan. The research portion of this thesis will study the pedagogy of LRW and the connection between LRW skills and the students’ success in law school and careers in law. Preparing students to excel in LRW skills prior to law school through the proposed undergraduate pre-law LRW course will yield a stronger performance in a first-year law LRW course to follow and amplify students’ …

Imaginative Empathies: Exploring The Role Of Creative Writing In Developing Social Skills Of College Students With Autism, Rebekkah N. Richner

MSU Graduate Theses

Only one-third of students with autism who are enrolled in American universities go on to graduate (Cox & Williams, 2018; Newman et al., 2011; Wei et al., 2014). These students may be currently underserved by the writing curriculum of postsecondary institutions when it comes to facilitating social and personal development in college and beyond. This thesis begins with the hypothesis that creative writing classes already utilize pedagogical tools that could aid students with autism in strengthening their social skills, particularly through the more structured social environment of the creative writing workshop. This study examined a 200-level short story creative writing …

The Roundtable Of Scientific Communication: From Classroom To Course Creation, Back To Classroom And Beyond, Sean P. Hickey

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This research encompasses many aspects of chemical education research including curriculum and pedagogical changes to the freshman and sophomore courses. Curriculum changes included the addition of recitations to the general chemistry and organic chemistry lectures and the creation of four new classes, CHEM 1001, 1002, 3091, and 3092. The addition of recitations was not limited to but was focused on improving DFW rates for these courses.

CHEM 3091 and 3092 are chemistry internship and undergraduate teaching assistant classes. These courses were necessary to offer outside internship opportunities and training for undergraduate teaching assistants, respectively. CHEM 1001 and 1002 are chemistry …

Improving The Rigor Of Online Education: Exploring Characteristics Of Faculty And Syllabi Within An Online Program Assessment Process, Brad J. Hamel

All NMU Master's Theses

As online course enrollments grow, overall perception of rigor still lags compared to that of traditional face-to-face education. The purpose of this research was to tie faculty and syllabi characteristics to the rigor of online courses. This study explored the relationship between faculty and syllabi characteristics and performance on an online entry-level course design quality assurance assessment (pass, pass with concern, or fail). A decision tree analysis was used to predict the relationship of the independent (faculty and syllabi characteristics) and the dependent (entry-level course design assessment) variables. Findings suggest that faculty rank and writing intensive are key characteristics predictive …

Enhancing And Evaluating Scientific Argumentation In The Inquiry-Oriented College Chemistry Classroom, Annabel D'Souza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The research presented in chapters 2, 3, and 4 in this dissertation uses a sociocultural and sociohistorical lens, particularly around power, authority of knowledge and identity formation, to investigate the complexity of engaging in, supporting, and evaluating high-quality argumentation within a college biochemistry inquiry-oriented classroom.

Argumentation skills are essential to college and career (National Research Council, 2010) and for a democratic citizenry. It is central to science teaching and learning (Osborne et al., 2004a) and can deepen content knowledge (Jiménez-Aleixandre et al., 2000; Jiménez-Aleixandre & Pereiro-Munhoz, 2002). When students have opportunities to make claims and support it with evidence and …

Effective Teaching Practices In Online Higher Education, Kim Mcmurtry

CCE Theses and Dissertations

In the context of continuing growth in online higher education in the United States, students are struggling to succeed, as evidenced by lower course outcomes and lower retention rates in online courses in comparison with face-to-face courses. The problem identified for investigation is how university instructors can ensure that effective teaching and learning is happening in their online courses. The research questions were:

1. What are the best practices of effective online teaching in higher education according to current research?
2. How do exemplary online instructors enact teaching presence in higher education?
3. What are the best practices of effective online teaching in …

Faculty Integration Of Technology In Undergraduate Courses At Private Colleges And Universities, Evelyn G. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to investigate the integration of technology in undergraduate courses by faculty at private colleges and universities. Integration of technology is using technology as an instructional tool to improve teaching and learning (Clayton-Pedersen & O’Neill, 2005; Wilson & Hayes, 2000; Woodbridge, 2004). Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) 7 principles for good practice in undergraduate education provided the theoretical framework for this research. The researcher conducted a survey of full-time faculty at 21 private colleges and universities in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The results of the study indicated that faculty use …

Transitioning To Writing About Writing: A Consideration Of The Metawriting Teaching Approach At The University Of Arkansas, Katie Michelle Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses case studies of six Teaching Assistants and Instructors to analyze the curricular and pedagogical shift from a writing-through-literature model to the Composition II course to a metawriting approach during the 2014 spring semester at the University of Arkansas. The administrative decision from the Program in Rhetoric and Composition to make this transition came in response to the 2007 article by Elizabeth Wardle and Douglas Downs in College Composition and Communication outlining a "Writing about Writing" approach to teaching composition.