Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

"We Need To Be In The Classroom More”: Veteran Teachers’ Views On Teacher Preparation And Retention, Jori S. Beck, Christina Lunsmann, Tiberio Garza

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Annual teacher attrition hovers around 8% and causes of teacher attrition have been studied widely. However, more needs to be known about specific aspects of teacher preparation that can foster retention. The goal of this study was to understand the perspectives of veteran teachers regarding retention. This investigation employed semi-structured interviews with teachers who graduated from a south western university and who have persisted in their teaching careers in a large, urban school district. Our analyses conveyed that rich field experiences and particular characteristics of mentor teachers can foster retention; however, these persisters also persevered through inauthentic teacher preparation experiences.

Partnering Undergraduate Engineering Students With Preservice Teachers To Design And Teach An Elementary Engineering Lesson Through Ed+Gineering, Kristie Gutierrez, Stacie I. Ringleb, Jennifer Jill Kidd, Orlando M. Ayala, Pilar Pazos, Krishnanand Kaipa

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Major challenges in engineering education include retention of undergraduate engineering students (UESs) and continued engagement after the first year when concepts increase in difficulty. Additionally, employers, as well as ABET, look for students to demonstrate non-technical skills, including the ability to work successfully in groups, the ability to communicate both within and outside their discipline, and the ability to find information that will help them solve problems and contribute to lifelong learning. Teacher education is also facing challenges given the recent incorporation of engineering practices and core ideas into the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and state level standards of …

Reflective School Library Practitioners: Use Of Journaling To Strengthen Practice, Elizabeth A. Burns

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Reflection is a skill educators of school librarians hope to foster in their students. Widely used in teacher preparation (Hodgins 2014), reflective journaling is a pedagogical strategy that aligns with the text-based nature of library and information studies coursework, especially as more library schools move online (Kymes and Ray 2012). This study explores use of structured dialogic journaling as a pedagogical approach to inform and shape the reflective practice of pre-service school librarians. Journals were introduced in an early school library methods course and structured using Schon’s Reflective Practitioner model (1987). Additional opportunities to engage with dialogic journals continued through …

Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Reflections In Using Excelets As A Tool For Modeling, Mary C. Enderson, Ginger S. Watson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

With widespread adoption of technology for all into schools across the U.S., teachers need to be prepared to integrate these tools into classroom instruction. For mathematics, modeling problems with technology provides a key opportunity for students to experience the active nature of such tools in making sense of mathematics concepts. In order to gain insight into incorporating these tools into modeling tasks, preservice teachers need exposure to them as along with reflection on their use. This case study of 12 preservice secondary mathematics teachers enrolled in a mathematics methods course focused on a modeling task that was presented in an …

The Effects Of A Site-Based Teacher Professional Development Program On Student Learning, Abha Gupta, Guang-Lea Lee

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

A mixed methods study is used to investigate the effectiveness of a professional development program intended to enhance teacher knowledge and student learning so as to systematically improve student achievement in elementary literacy. In this study, a large urban school district partnered with a local university to provide intervention in a Title 1, low-performing elementary school. Measures included teacher knowledge and practices based on surveys, classroom observation, and student achievement data. Teachers self-reported their perspectives on schoolbased teacher training in terms of its significance, requirements, challenges, and possible solutions to teacher training. Schools were selected based on their Adequate Yearly …

Peer Review In Online Professional Communities To Support Elementary Disciplinary Literacy Planning, Jaime Colwell, Valerie Taylor

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This chapter reports the results of a qualitative case study focused on elementary pre-service teachers' perspectives on planning for disciplinary literacy using peer review in an online professional community (OPC). Seven pre-service teachers enrolled in an eight-week asynchronous, online content literacy course served as participants. Results indicated pre-service teachers' valued extended opportunities for reflection in the OPC and appreciated diverse backgrounds and experiences offered by their OPC colleagues. However, perceived challenges remained that are important to consider when incorporating peer review cycles into online asynchronous coursework. This study considers these perspectives in light of designing and planning online coursework in …

Writing The Rainbow: Facilitating Undergraduate Teacher Candidates’ Lgbtqia+ Allyship Through Multimodal Writing, Judith Dunkerly-Bean, Julia Morris, Valerie Taylor

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This yearlong qualitative descriptive case study conducted by an interdisciplinary team of education faculty with pre-service elementary teacher candidates sought to disrupt heteronormativity and to increase candidates’ awareness and preparedness for inclusivity with future LGBTQIA+ elementary students. Central to our findings was that in researching and authoring multimodal texts addressing topics and concerns faced by the LGBTQIA+ community for their future classrooms, there was a shift in the perceptions and preparedness of the candidates toward working with children identifying as LGBTQIA+. However, we also encountered resistance and/or apathy that led us to develop an analytical framework for disrupting teacher candidate …

Characteristics Of Critical Friendship That Transform Professional Identity, Signe E. Kastberg, Melva R. Grant

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

We met at CASTLE 2018, two trained mathematics teacher educators (MTEs), interested in mathematics, and teaching elementary mathematics methods to preservice teachers (PTs). Melva’s self-study research, focused on improving her online methods course, was approaching its second year and her second critical friend had lost interest in continuing. Melva invited Signe to be her critical friend (Schuck & Russell, 2005) and Signe agreed. Explicit expectations of our critical friendship included weekly meetings. Our critical friendship seemed to follow an expected trajectory for, “supporting/coaching the transformation of another’s teaching” (Stolle, et al., 2019, p. 20). However, there were implicit ways our …

Chapter 8: Cultural Aspects And Implications Of Instructional Message Design, Frances R. Dukes

Instructional Message Design, Volume 1

“There is also widespread agreement that a major priority is the reform of schools and other academic venues so that students from diverse, racial, ethnic, and social class groups can achieve equality.” (Roblyer, Dozier-Henry, & Burnette, 1996).

Culture is a major determinant in modern instructional design and instructional message design for a global community of learners. Instructional designers of web-based information for world-wide and cross-culture learners are tasked with developing effective, culture-sensitive, innovative, and useful instructional tools. “Multicultural teaching must entail reaching students by connecting with their cultural, ethnic, linguistic, social, and other affiliations” (Capuk & Kara, 2015). The tenets …

Career Pathways Program Annual Report, 2018-2019, Wie Yusuf

Career Pathways

Career Pathways launched in August 2017 as the university-wide initiative to provide graduate student professional development. It encompasses both the Preparing Future Faculty program and the Preparing Future Professionals Certificates. The Preparing Future Faculty Certificate was an existing program, started in 2007, while the Preparing Future Professionals Certificate was launched concurrently with Career Pathways. The Career Pathways program prepares graduate students for successful transition into thriving careers. Career Pathways is a gateway to resources, programs, events, and planning tools for ODU graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Career Pathways events are also available to NSU graduate students.

Providing Feedback On The Lexical Use Of Esp Students’ Academic Presentations: Teacher Training Considerations, Alla Zareva

English Faculty Publications

This chapter offers a description of a methodology for providing training to pre-service English for Academic and Specific Purposes (EAP/ESP) teacher trainees in giving evidence-based feedback on the lexical composition of ESP students’ academic presentations. It also discusses a study based on the analysis of the mock feedback provided by the EAP/ESP teacher trainees (n=20) to ESP students’ presentations with a focus on the effects of training. The results revealed that the training was successful in areas such as raising the teacher trainees’ awareness of how to evaluate various lexical categories in an ESP presentation, how to incorporate their evaluation …

Teachers’ Job Satisfaction: Content Area In Relation To Middle School Teachers’ Job Satisfaction, Ashley Potter

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

Retaining high quality teachers to counteract the teacher shortage happening across the nation has been a focus of the education system. Middle school educators require a certain skill set and knowledge to be effective at this vital time in their student’s lives. These specific set of educators have not been exempt from the shortage statistic. A teachers’ overall job satisfaction plays a major role in their decision making on a daily basis and their longevity in the profession. Although there are studies on teachers’ job satisfaction, there is minimal research available on how the content area a middle school teacher …

Who Am I Now? Teachers’ Development Of Leadership Identity A Phenomenologically-Informed Qualitative Research Study, Kimberly Alicia Richardson

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Due to the complexity of schools and more challenges to teaching and learning, teacher leadership is an answer to reform that addresses both improving teaching and restructuring of schools (Smylie & Denny, 1990). While empirical research exists that speaks to teacher leadership work, what teacher leaders do and why particular teachers emerge as leaders. An expanding body of research (e.g., Day and Harrison, 2007; Day, Kington, Stobart, & Sammons, 2006; Lord and Hall, 2005) advocates the acceptance of coupling identity and leadership, and the acknowledgment of the influence on leader’s development and behaviors. This phenomenological study examined the leadership identity …

Principles And Practices Of Teaching English Language Learners, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This conceptual paper presents diverse approaches and strategies for preparing competent teachers who work with either English Language Learners (ELLs) or students who speak English as a Second Language (ESL). The pedagogical approaches discussed herein include practical and hands-on activities for teachers at any level. Bilingual learning improves ELL's cognitive development as well as their self-esteem. The paper outlines underlying principles for the best practices with an emphasis on ESL students and also to other learning situations and students. Teachers can modify their instructional methods to adjust ELL's learning needs. Specifically, even though the discussion is framed in the context …

Teacher Hiring And Placement At The Elementary School Level: The Challenges Of Implementing Strategic Human Resource Management Practices, Brittany Nicole Walker

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Decades of research emphasizes the importance of staffing schools with quality teachers, as this will have the largest impact on student achievement (Mason, Schroeder, 2010). With high teacher turnover rates in addition to shrinking qualified candidate pools, the hiring process holds great significance (Tooms, 2004). This case study explored how one school district hires and places elementary school teachers. This study follows a qualitative case study approach using documents and interviews as data collection methods. Recently, Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) has made the transition from business to educational literature. This study explored two concepts, including fit and flexibility from …

Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions Of Modeling As A Tool For Instruction, Ginger S. Watson, Mary Enderson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

As the standards movement continues to gain momentum in U.S. schools, preservice and in-service teachers need greater knowledge in mathematical modeling to engage PK-12 students in such practices. This case-based research study investigated the perceptions and understandings of modeling for 76 entry-level, preservice elementary teachers enrolled in a mathematics methods course at a mid-Atlantic university. Participants were prompted to define modeling and its application to classroom instruction through open-response questions administered in an online survey. A case-based, phenomenological method was used to code and analyze responses. Most preservice teachers expressed a very limited definition or understanding of modeling or how …

A Case Study Of A Stem Teacher’S Development Of Tpack In A Teacher Preparation Program, Mary C. Enderson, Ginger S. Watson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This case study involved researching pre-service secondary STEM teachers’ development of TPACK by use of modeling & simulation applications. The main research question focused on how do self-reported TPACK measures align with demonstrated TPACK knowledge and skills. The study design was qualitative and included five secondary STEM pre-service teachers who were completing their program of study and teaching lessons in the field with secondary students. This particular brief paper reports on one of the pre-service STEM teachers in this study. Coding and analysis were carried out to search for characteristics of tasks that support development of TPACK in future teachers. …

5th/6th Graders And Preservice Teachers Explore Engineering And Coding In A Combined After-School Technology Club/Educational Technology Course, Jennifer Kidd, Sam Sacks, Krishnanand Kaipa, Kelly Rippard

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Elementary schools are increasingly encouraged to adopt STEM education efforts that include engineering and programming, yet pre-service teachers (PSTs) are not traditionally prepared to teach these subjects. This pilot study describes an innovative preparation experience designed to help PSTs gain experience and confidence in these areas. As part of an undergraduate educational technology course, PSTs led an after-school technology club at a local public school. PSTs enrolled in the course worked alongside fifth and sixth grade students on a series of collaborative design challenges that culminated in the creation of animal-inspired robots. The “WoW Club”, as it came to be …

Prevalence Of Low Back Pain Among Adolescents In Relation To The Weight Of School Bags, Fatemah Akbar, Muneera Albesharah, Jumana Al-Baghli, Farah Bulbul, Dana Mohammad, Bann Qadoura, Abdullah Al-Taiar

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background

The association between the weight of school bag and Low Back Pain (LBP) amongst students remains under intense debate worldwide. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of LBP amongst public high school students (14 to 19 years) in Kuwait and to investigate the association between LBP and the weight of school bags.

Methods

An analytical cross-sectional study using multistage cluster random sampling with probability proportional to size was conducted on a total of 950 public high school students from all governorates. Data on LBP were collected through face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. A 0–10 Numeric Pain Rating …

New Year's Resolutions, Career Outlook, And Personality: An Investigation Of Library Employees' Goal Setting Behaviors, Amelia Anderson, Leo Lo

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Many organizations use goal setting as a professional tool to get employees to achieve gains within the workplace. Many librarians in the United States participate in setting New Year's resolutions as part of their personal goal-setting behavior. As studies indicate correlations between personal goal-setting behaviors, performance and attitude in professional roles, the researchers posit that learning how library employees set and achieve New Year's resolutions could provide insight into how organizations can improve employee goal setting. An online survey was conducted in 2016 with 512 respondents. Results showed that respondents who self-reported as ambitious tend to be more successful in …

Reflective Journaling: Innovative Dialogue In Lis Education, Elizabeth Ann Burns

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Innovative pedagogy, embedded in LIS courses structures, is desired and strengthens LIS preparation. Including reflection as one such strategy can assist in building the reflective practice LIS educators hope students maintain in the field. While widely used in teacher preparation courses (Hodgins, 2014) reflective journaling equally aligns with the text-based nature of LIS coursework, especially as more LIS schools move to online formats (Kymes & Ray, 2012). This phenomenological case study explores structured, dialogic journaling as a pedagogical tool to inform the reflective practice of preservice librarians. Journals were introduced as a teaching tool in an early LIS course and …

Doctoral Engineering Grant Writing Experience To Prepare Future Professionals And Faculty, Katherine Smith, Nathapon Siangchokyoo, Erika Gamarra, Ashish Tamhane, Anthony W. Dean

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

While there have been many efforts to broaden opportunities for all STEM students by engaging in interdisciplinary endeavors and education focusing on professional development, there are particular problems facing students pursuing doctoral degrees in engineering disciplines. Doctoral programs of the future need to become better equipped to prepare students for future careers as engineering professionals or faculty. It has been noted recently that many doctoral degree recipients are turning to jobs outside of academia but increases in undergraduate enrollment and the average age of the professoriate indicate an increase in demand for new faculty. Both future faculty and professionals can …

Combining Different Motivation And Cognitive Supports In Undergraduate Biology In Different Contexts: Lessons Learned, Avi Kaplan, Jennifer G. Cromley, Tony Perez, Ting Dai, Kyle R. Mara, Michael Balsai

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Researchers acknowledge that students’ learning and achievement requires both effective cognition and the motivation to apply it. In addition, both cognition and motivation are multidimensional, each involving different processes that may be less or more salient in different contexts. However, most basic research and intervention studies focus on either cognition OR motivation, and commonly only target a single process. We designed an intervention to investigate the role of different combinations of cognitive and motivational supports in first-year undergraduate introductory biology courses. We sought an online delivery approach with minimal burden on the instructor that can accompany any such course. Building …

Transnationality And Teacher Educator Identity Development: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Study, Wei Liao, Jihea Maddamsetti

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Transnational teacher educators, who cross national, social, and cultural boundaries to prepare teachers, play a vital role in nurturing teachers’ awareness and appreciation of learner diversity. However, transnational teacher educators tend to encounter tremendous challenges in developing their professional identities. To date, though many studies have investigated how teachers and teacher educators in general develop their professional identities, scant attention has been paid to that complex process of “transnational” teacher educators. To begin to close this research gap, this collaborative autoethnographic study examines how we develop our teacher educator identities through teaching a diversity course in the United States as …

Professional Development Support For The Online Instructor: Perspectives Of U.S. And German Instructors, Florence Martin, Chuang Wang, Kiran Budhrani, Robert L. Moore, Annika Jokiaho

STEMPS Faculty Publications

With the increase in number of courses being offered online, there is an increase in the need for professional development support for instructors to teach online. The purpose of this study is to examine faculty perceptions on professional development needs for online teaching, specifically in the U.S. and in Germany. Based on a qualitative open-ended survey, four themes emerged on the professional development needs of instructors for administrative support, personnel support, pedagogical support and technology support. This study discusses specific areas of support in these themes and provides implications for administrators, faculty, and support staff.

A Comparison Among Trained Facilitators, Face-To-Face, And On-Line Students' On The Presence Of Particular Behavioral Attributes Associated With Successful Urban Teaching, Sueanne Mckinney, Cynthia Tomovic, Kevin Graziano (Ed.)

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This study examined the degree of agreement between three trained facilitators’ interviews and preservice teachers’ self-evaluation on the presence of behavioral attributes associated with successful urban teaching. Using a quasi-experimental design research methodology, data for this investigation was collected from 29 preservice teacher candidates in both traditional and on-line environments who are enrolled in an urban, metropolitan, co-educational research university. The Star Teacher Selection Interview and the Urban Teacher Behavioral Self-Evaluation Assessment served as the measures for this investigation. Scores were compared using descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that the trained interviewers rated participants much lower on the seven behavioral attributes …

Mathematics Teacher Educators' Exploring Self-Based Methodologies, Elizabeth Elizabeth, Signe E. Kastberg, Dana Cox, Jennifer Ward, Olive Chapman, Melva R. Grant

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Historically underused methodologies in mathematics teacher education such as narrative inquiry, self-study, and autoethnography (i.e., self-based methodologies) are becoming a more frequent choice of mathematics teacher educators (MTEs). This has opened new challenges for MTEs as they try to disseminate their findings in mathematics education journals. Building from our working group at PME-NA 2018, we respond to the need for creating spaces (communities) where MTEs can feel supported in their study design, implementation, representation of findings, and publication using self-based methodologies. This year, we shift our focus from discussion to mentoring and scholarship on self-based methodologies. We invite MTEs with …

Career Pathways Program Annual Report, 2017-2018, Wie Yusuf, Chris Osgood

Career Pathways

Career Pathways launched in August 2017 as the university-wide initiative to provide graduate student professional development. It encompasses both the Preparing Future Faculty program and the Preparing Future Professionals program. Preparing Future Faculty was an existing program, started in 2007, while Preparing Future Professionals was launched concurrently with Career Pathways. The Career Pathways program prepares graduate students for successful transition into thriving careers. Career Pathways is a gateway to resources, programs, events, and planning tools for ODU graduate students and postdocs.

Building Resilience In New And Beginning Teachers: Contributions Of School Librarians, Rita Reinsel Soulen, Lois Diane Wine

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Building beginning teachers' resilience may contribute to increasing teacher retention in the early years, in turn improving student academic achievement. School librarians contribute to developing teaching skills by mentoring new teachers. This qualitative study of first to third year teachers and school librarians investigated the contributions that school librarians made in building resilience of beginning teachers through a focus group of new teachers and interviews of school librarians. Findings show that school librarians may contribute to early career teacher resilience, especially during the first days of school, by encouraging perseverance, providing nourishment and empathy, and offering the library as a …

The Impact Of Professional Development Grounded In Social Learning On Community College Faculty Efficacy, Shanika Shantell Strickland-Davis

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Community college faculty have experienced a shift in focus from access to access and student success. Given this shift in responsibility for student learning, community college faculty should be sufficiently prepared to teach a diverse student body and subsequently uphold beliefs regarding their ability to bring about desired outcomes of student engagement and learning. Given preparedness is a measure of self-efficacy, professional development for community college faculty is a critical investment in the support and development of teacher efficacy and faculty skill.

Social learning theory specifically speaks to a means of increasing self-efficacy. As a professional development practice, social learning …