Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Teacher Retention In The Wake Of The Inclusion Movement: A Mixed Methods Study On Teachers’ Perceptions Of Self-Efficacy, Tessa Vasquez

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation studied the problem of the national teacher shortage by considering the impact of the inclusion movement on general education teachers’ self efficacy. This mixed-methods study sought to contribute to the body of literature examining factors responsible for poor teacher retention and factors responsible for low teacher self-efficacy. Nine participants were interviewed and administered the Teacher Effective Inclusion Self-Efficacy, Knowledge, and Attitudes Measure. The researcher conducted coding and thematic analysis of the interview transcripts and six themes emerged. The researcher scored the questionnaires and compared the scores to the responses provided in the interviews.

Themes revealed that the …

From Heuristic Approach To Agile Mindset, Miloslava Cerna, Anna Borkovcová, Simon K.S. Cheung

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Agile learning applies agile principles to education and fits the creation of the learning content. This article discusses ways to incorporate agile learning in undergraduate programs. It investigates the adaptation of the didactic scenario that utilizes the principles of agile learning, based on a case study conducted in an undergraduate program on tourism management in a Czech university. Through the case study, a variety of ways in cognition is explored, from a heuristic approach to an agile mindset, and from a tried-and-true scheme to agile ways. Didactic scenarios of content creation scheme are designed, visualized, and compared. Promising results are …

Reducing Transactional Distance In A Hybrid-Flexible Learning Environment In Higher Education: Interaction And Engagement Despite Asynchronous Communication, Natalie C. Nussli, Kevin Oh

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

This study explores the implementation of an asynchronous video-based guest lecture in an undergraduate teacher education program in Switzerland. It describes how the guest lecture was delivered to foster an interactive and engaging environment for learners and to mimic two-way communication. The study applies the tenets of the Theory of Transactional Distance in examining the student-teacher interaction in a hybrid-flexible learning environment to promote quality dialogue, participation, critical reflection, and to foster a caring relationship. It describes the instructional process and the use of video splicing to mimic interaction between the students, who were physically present on campus, and the …

Addressing Economic Instability And Workforce Turnover In Early Childhood Education: The Role Of Stipends, Wage Supplements, And Professional Development, Lucinda J. Leffler

Endeavors: Mississippi State Undergraduate Research Journal

Child care workers are vital to early childhood education, yet they face persistent economic instability, low wages, and high turnover rates. To address these challenges, states and policymakers have implemented stipends, wage supplements, and professional development programs aimed at improving financial security, job satisfaction, and workforce retention. This literature review examines the effectiveness of these initiatives across the United States, drawing on theoretical frameworks such as Vroom’s Expectancy Theory and Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory to contextualize their impact. Research indicates that financial incentives significantly reduce turnover, while professional development fosters job satisfaction and career advancement. However, sustainability concerns remain, particularly with …

Online Inclusivity: Mission And Best Practice, Colin P. Marks, Zoe Niesel

Faculty Works

This essay examines the role of inclusivity as a foundational principle in online legal education, arguing that it is essential to fulfilling institutional missions, aligning with established pedagogical best practices, and enhancing the overall learning experience. Drawing on the development of a fully online J.D. program, the piece outlines how inclusivity can be embedded at both the institutional and classroom levels. It highlights strategies for fostering a sense of community among geographically dispersed students, including integrating online learners into broader academic and co-curricular activities, designing courses that balance synchronous and asynchronous instruction, and implementing consistent instructional standards. The essay further …

Self-Efficacy And Stem Education: A Study Of Family And Consumer Science Teachers In Pennsylvania, Charlene Smith, Philip A. Reed

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has become widely promoted. Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) uses science to improve home life while reinforcing technology, engineering, and mathematics principles. However, FCS is not usually recognized as a STEM subject. The purpose of this study was to determine what factors may affect FCS teachers’ level of self-efficacy in teaching STEM to provide supports that improve teaching practices. This quantitative study surveyed secondary FCS teachers in Pennsylvania using the T‐STEM Survey for Elementary Teachers. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and simple linear regression analysis was performed to determine the predictive …

Mind The Gap: Supporting Freshmen Voice Students Transitioning To Higher Education Through Coaching Conversations, Erica L. Gabriel

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The experiences one may encounter while matriculating through the K-12 system of education are vastly different from the world of higher education. While one feeds directly into the other, the transition can be a difficult one for young singers also navigating the developmental leap from adolescence to adulthood. This is due to several systematic and instructional differences, compounded with unique challenges encountered by freshman voice students in the first year. Gaps in support systems compiled with new and increasing financial, social, and academic demands can lead to a decline in overall student well-being and an increase in stress.

This increase …

Literary Homeplace As A Site Of Knowing And Healing, Shamonique Hassell

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The concept of literary homeplace serves as a locus of rhetorical healing for Black women, emphasizing their lived experiences and creative expressions as forms of resistance and restoration (Collins, 1986; hooks, 1990; Nettles, 2001). The labor of Black women within families, churches, and artistic endeavors contributes to the cultivation of a collective consciousness surrounding oppression and healing (Edwards, 2010; Carey, 2016; Morrison, 1992). Building upon hooks’ (1990) notion of homeplace, this dissertation examines how Black women foster spaces characterized by care, dignity, and resilience (Hersey, 2022; Tate, 1984). Using personal narrative and articulating Black women’s voices, I position homeplace as …

A Qualitative Inquiry Of Adult English Language Instructor Experiences Fostering Inclusion, Community Building, And Student Motivation, Kathrene Marie Razo

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

By Kathrene Marie Razo

University of the Pacific

2025

The central focus of this inquiry is on understanding adult English instructor experiences fostering inclusion, community building, and student motivation in the language classroom. In addition, it highlights contextual background relative to common life barriers faced by the adult English language learner population as they relate to an immigrant’s journey of establishing themselves in a new land.

Furthermore, this inquiry was prompted by a need to gain a clearer understanding of the best practices that are revealed by educators’ shared lived experiences to assist in the support of learners in …

Research Methodology Education In Europe: A Multi-Country, Cross-Disciplinary Survey Of Current Practices And Perspectives, Silke Kniffert, Ivan Buljan, Flavio Azevedo, Peter Babinčák, Lucija Batinović, Thomas Rhys Evans, Sara Garofalo, Christopher Graham, Lucianne Groenink, Malika Ihle, Milosav Klugar, Lucia Kočišová, Michal Kohút, Nikolaos Kostomitsopoulos, Seán Lacey, Anita Lunić, Ana Marušić, Thomas Nordström, Charlotte R. Pennington, Daniel Pizzolato, Ulf Toelch, Marta Topor, Miro Vuković, Michiel R. De Boer

Publications

Background

Research methodology education aims to equip students with the foundational knowledge of robust scientific practices, emphasizing deep understanding of scientific inquiry, integrity, and critical thinking in research practice. A literature review reveals that the observed diversity in research methods course design and instruction stems from a lack of consensus about the essential foundations required to critically engage with, design, and execute research in education. This is further compounded by a limited pedagogical innovation. However, no study has yet investigated how research methodology is taught and perceived across European universities. The objective of this study is to examine practices and …

Sharing Your Science: Special 2025 Edition, Wilson Gonzalez-Espada

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

The Sharing your Science stories were completed as part of a 2025 Science Communication Summer Internship (COMM 647), a collaboration between the Kentucky Academy of Science and the Departments of Engineering Sciences and Communication, Media, Art & Design, Morehead State University, KY. This work was made available as an Open Educational Resource thanks to the Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning, the Camden-Carroll Library, and the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs, Morehead State University.

Oer Faculty Fellowship, Leila Walker

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Lived Experience Of Middle School Science Teachers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, David E. Abbott Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted education worldwide, compelling schools to adopt remote teaching and learning. This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of six middle school science teachers in an Alabama school district during this period. Data were collected through interviews and reflective journals maintained for 2 weeks following the interview. The research investigated how teachers navigated shifting instruction to remote settings, engaged students, assessed and monitored their progress, and managed challenges. Guided by the technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) framework, findings revealed that teachers leveraged a combination of technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge to adapt their instruction. Despite …

Teacher Views Of Augmentative And Alternative Communication With Nonverbal Students With Severe Intellectual Disabilities: A Generic Qualitative Study, Lelita K. Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Students with significant intellectual disabilities who are nonverbal often depend on augmentative and alternative communication devices to engage with lessons and participate in secondary educational environments. Despite advancements in this technology, issues pertaining to training, consistency, and institutional support persist, hindering effective application in urban schools. The objective of this generic qualitative study was to investigate the perspectives of teachers and related service providers regarding the utilization of these devices for nonverbal students with severe intellectual disabilities in urban secondary schools.

Data were gathered via semi-structured interviews with 11 participants, comprising special education instructors, related service providers, and special education …

Impact Flc Report Fall 2025: A Report By The Impact Evaluation Team, Evaluation And Learning Research Center, Impact Evaluation Team

IMPACT Reports

This is the 2025 Fall report of Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation (IMPACT) Week. IMPACT was created in 2010, and is a large collaborative initiative on the Purdue West Lafayette campus involving multiple key partners across campus including the Office of the Provost, Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE), Purdue Online (PO), Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies (Libraries), the Evaluation and Learning Research Center (ELRC), and Institutional Data Analytics and Assessment (IDA+A). IMPACT works with instructors to redesign large enrollment, foundational courses with the aim of engaging students more fully in their learning and creating a more student-centered …

How Latine College Students Experience, Maneuver, And Navigate Within The Colonizing Notion Of Smartness, Jasmine Jetton-Gonzales

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how Latine college students, particularly those who are the first in their family to attend college, navigate and maneuver within the dominating colonizing notion of smartness in academia. Rooted in an Anglo-centric educational framework, the American education system often marginalizes Latine students by devaluing their cultural and linguistic knowledge while upholding Eurocentric standards of intelligence. Using a qualitative critical research approach, this study employs testimonios to examine the lived experiences of Latine college graduates in Illinois. Findings reveal that Latine students frequently encounter systemic barriers that challenge their academic identity, including racialized perceptions of intelligence, institutionalized deficit …

Teacher Resilience In South Africa: The Self-Efficacy And Teacher Efficacy Of Pre-Service Teachers Preparing To Teach In A Challenged Context, Carine Jonker, Marien Alet Graham, Liesel Ebersöhn

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This publication addresses a gap in high-quality, quantitative studies on teacher resilience within the less-researched context of the Global South. Specifically, it examines the self-efficacy and teacher efficacy of three cohorts of final-year pre-service teachers in South Africa (N = 1,193). This article aimed to contribute evidence on teacher resilience from an under-researched African context and population. Despite contextual challenges, the pre-service teachers indicated high intrapersonal resilience-enabling pathways, with a statistically significant relationship between their self-efficacy and teacher efficacy. The authors propose an evidence-based framework of how high levels of self-efficacy and teacher efficacy may enable prospective teachers to teach …

A Qualitative Study For Parental Involvement In Middle School: Perspectives Of Parents And Teachers, Twana Ivory

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to examine the barriers contributing to low parental involvement in a selected middle school. Parental engagement has been widely linked to student academic success and positive behavior outcomes; however, involvement tends to decline as students enter middle school. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of educators and parents regarding parental involvement, identify the challenges families face, and discover opportunities to strengthen school-family collaboration.

The researcher employed a qualitative research design using a phenomenological approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven participants, including six middle school teachers and five parents. …

Relaciones De Las Competencias Docentes Con El Bienestar En Docentes De Ciencias Empresariales Bajo La Modalidad A Distancia En Una Universidad Privada En Colombia, Camilo Ernesto Aguirre Martínez

Theses and Dissertations

El propósito de esta investigación consistió en determinar las relaciones de las competencias docentes con el bienestar en docentes de Ciencias Empresariales bajo la modalidad a distancia en una Universidad privada de Colombia. El estudio buscó identificar las relaciones entre las competencias docentes y el bienestar psicológico, el bienestar subjetivo y el bienestar social, cuáles de esas relaciones predominan, así como la identificación de cuáles elementos de estos tipos de bienestar contribuyen con el desarrollo de las competencias docentes.

El enfoque de la investigación fue el empírico analítico o cuantitativo, el diseño fue no experimental y su alcance fue de …

Wondrous Uncertainty: Transforming Student Educational Experiences Using Restorative Practices, Zachary C. Schafer

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

One of the primary purposes of education is to help students make sense of their lived experiences. In the process of becoming, students navigate multiple relationships (school, peers, adults, and with self). These relationships often cause conditions of uncertainty which can be managed and transformed using restorative practices in tandem with the academic disciplines taught in school. Over the last decade this has been my inquiry puzzle, “As educators, how can we embrace uncertainty with students as a way of helping to empower them through their dignity, with the academic disciplines as a lens through which relational learning occurs in …

The Shifting The Balance Duology: A Book Critique From A Teacher Education Perspective, David Wolff

Essays in Education

Reading instruction has become a critical focus in many states in the country. Both in-service and pre-service teachers are adopting innovative approaches in reading instruction embedded in the Science of Reading. However, the transition to these new methods require a shift in practice that should be differentiated for both groups. In-service teachers have a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw upon, while pre-service teachers because of the lack of prior knowledge of past practices in literacy that include the Balanced Literacy approach. This book critique examines the Shifted the Balance duology, offering insights to its implications to Teacher Education.

Transformation Of Accreditation Of Higher Education In Health In Indonesia: Qualitative Assessment, Yefta Moenadjat, Insan Sosiawan A. Tunru, Sutrisno Soemardjo

The New Ropanasuri Journal of Surgery

Accreditation of higher education in health in Indonesia shifts to the qualitative assessment driven to ensure quality improvement. The method replaces the former quantitative assessment method that has been applied since 2012; it will be effective in January 2025. The driving factors and rationale of transformation are outlined in this article. The rationale of the qualitative assessment that applies principle–based accreditation and the quantitative assessment that applies rule–based accreditation is reviewed here. Information on the accreditation procedure and the goal is presented, aiming for institutions to prepare for this new version of accreditation.

Full Issue - Excelsior, V17-1

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Playful Learning In Higher Education To Inspire Playful Learning In P-12 Classrooms, Norline Wild

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Playful learning has immense potential and relevance across all educational levels, from early childhood to university settings. However, play is often dismissed as an activity reserved only for young children and is ignored in higher education The purpose of this practitioner article is to share instructional strategies and insights in order to demonstrate the immense potential of play at the university level. The goal is not only to inspire teacher educators to be critical thinkers and to creatively interweave playful learning into their pedagogy but to provide concrete examples through modeling of how this can be done. Initially, a dedicated …

Invent A Kid Project: Fostering Creative Reflective Practice In Teacher Candidates, Karen Poland, Mary Ellen Bardsley, Paul Vermette

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

A primary goal of teacher education programs is to equip teacher candidates with the necessary skills to navigate the social and cultural realities and complexities of the classroom while seamlessly integrating theory and practice. As our classrooms become more socially, economically, and culturally diverse it is important for teachers to evolve into developmentally and culturally responsive individuals who can incorporate a variety of teaching strategies to meet the unique needs of each student. However, novice teachers often face challenges in meeting the individual needs of students due to their lack of experience, classroom management challenges, time constraints, the complexity of …

Front Matter And Letters From President And Editors

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

There Is Real Life Here: Centering The Body In Teaching And Learning, Ryan Ambuter

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Bodies have everything to do with teaching and learning, yet are often overlooked or diminished as sites of meaning-making in educational contexts. The goal of this article is to foreground the body in teaching and learning, and identify the transformative potential that embodied pedagogy opens up. Rooted in intersectional critical theory and frameworks, this article explores the importance of centering bodies in education, contextualizes the invisibility and silencing of bodies in education historically and today, and identifies the possibilities that a focus on bodies in education can offer. Action steps that teachers and teacher educators can apply to their practice …

Engineering Faculty Perceptions Of Participating In A Sotl Professional Development Intervention, Rhea Dutta

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Implementing Evidence-Based Curricula And Professional Development To Improve Student Reading, Madeline Lukan

Graduate Teacher Education

This paper examined research on equitable reading curricula and reading professional development to improve students in grades kindergarten through twelfth grade reading scores and levels taken from NAEP. The research analyzed were qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods. These research studies shared school interventions, reading data points, curricula being analyzed, phonemic awareness importance, and The Science of Reading implementation. The curricula, professional development, and evidence-based instruction work together to increase student phonemic awareness and reading abilities for all students on an equitable level. The three themes within the paper are phonemic awareness, professional development, curriculum and standards. The research suggested the importance …

The Implementation Of Artificial Intelligence In University Classrooms: Perspective And Applications, Erika Grodzki, Gary Carlin, Stefanie Powers, Hung Chum Kao

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

This study examined the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in university classrooms, focusing on its benefits, challenges, and the diverse perspectives of academic faculty. While AI was widely embraced in disciplines like animation and design for enhancing creativity and efficiency, traditional fields remained cautious due to concerns about academic integrity and its impact on critical thinking. By analyzing literature and case studies, the presentation highlighted AI’s transformative potential in higher education, fostering dialogue on its strategic adoption to balance innovation with ethical and pedagogical considerations.