Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Scaffolding Learning For Teachers Of Multilingual Learners Through Agency, Leadership, And Collaboration, Kara Viesca, Cindy H. Linzell, Peiwen Wang, Molly Heeren, Jessica Mitchell-Mccollough, Alexa Yunes-Koch

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

Grounded in findings from multiple disciplines (e.g., neuroscience, human, development, cognitive science, and social psychology), Lee, Meltzoff, and Kuhl (2020) propose a framework to understand human learning. Composed of multiple propositions, one aspect of this framework emphasizes the social nature of learning. Specifically, they argue, “A comprehensive theory of human development must take into account basic motivations for learning from, through, and in relationship with social others” [emphasis added] (p. 25). Education researchers and practitioners working with multilingual students and their teachers have extensively argued for attention to “learning from, through, and in relationships with social others” (Lee et al., …

Religious Influences On The Growth Of Literacy Practice, Loukia K. Sarroub, Cassandra Schroeder

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

Religious influences on the growth of literacy practices are well documented and span more than a century of research ranging from disciplines such as social and cultural anthropology to sociology to language and literacy studies in education. Intellectuals known across disciplines such as Benedict Anderson, Lila Abu-Lughod, Pierre Bourdieu, Jonathan Boyarin, Clifford Geertz, Michaela de Leonardo, Shirley Brice Heath, Alan Peshkin, Claude Lévi Strauss, and Brian Street broke new ground in the 20th century in connecting literacy to religious literacies. In recent years, the work of contemporary language education scholars such as Huamei Han (2018) as well as English education …

Effective Teachers Of Multilingual Learners: A Mixed-Method Study Of Uk And Us Critical Sociocultural Teaching Practices, Naomi Flynn, Annela Teemant, Kara Mitchell Viesca, Ratha Perumal

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

This convergent parallel mixed-method study (quan + QUAL) relies on systematic classroom observations of mainstream teachers considered highly effective with multilingual learners in the United Kingdom and the United States (N = 9). Using a critical sociocultural theoretical lens, we use an established quantitative observation rubric and lesson field notes to capture real-world teaching practices. Using deductive reasoning to merge closed- and open-ended observation data, we illuminate the features of highly effective teaching for multilingual students. Evidence demonstrates that elements of challenge in activity design and teacher presentation, prioritizing language and literacy development, and modeling, were practices with the highest …

“It Was Just My Name!”: A Crt/Crf Analysis Of International Female Graduate Students’ Perceptions And Experiences Regarding Their Ethnic Name, Peiwen Wang, Xiaoyan Gu, Amanda Morales

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

Although international female students accounted for 44% of the enrolled international students in the United States (U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, 2020), their experiences regarding their ethnic name are relatively understudied in the onomastic literature. This study considers the experiences of eight international female graduate students of Color who are studying at a Midwestern predominantly White university. Utilizing critical race theory (CRT) and critical race feminism (CRF) as the theoretical and analytical lenses, this qualitative phenomenological study collected data through semistructured, in-depth interviews. We explore the meaning of ethnic names and their connection to …

The High School In The Middle Of Everywhere: Nebraska’S Lincoln High, Edmund T. Hamann, Janet M. Eckerson, Mark Larson

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

In 2002, world-renowned author Mary Pipher published a book about her home city, Lincoln Nebraska, playfully titled “The Middle of Everywhere” a tongue-in-cheek rejoinder to the idea that Nebraska is ‘the middle of nowhere.’ But word play aside, her title was empirically apt, as her volume documented how immigration and refugee resettlement were demographically transforming Nebraska’s capital city. As in other cities, resettlement was concentrated in some areas of Lincoln, placing differential burdens on different parts of the community’s institutional infrastructure. Of interest to readers of this volume, Lincoln’s refugees and immigrants were concentrated in the city’s oldest high school. …

“It’S Like They Don’T Recognize What I Bring To The Classroom”: African Immigrant Youths’ Multilingual And Multicultural Navigation In United States Schools, Lydiah Kananu Kiramba, Alex Kumi-Yeboah, Anthony Mawuli Sallar

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

Discourses of African immigrant children are rare in educational research. As such, African immigrant educational experiences are often obscured (in part, owing to the model minority myth about Africans based on higher education degrees received by African immigrants), as well as the actual experiences and realities for African immigrant K-12 students. This qualitative study examines cross-cultural educational experiences of 30 Black African immigrant youth in U.S. schools. The findings reveal multiple participants’ struggles with cultural and linguistic differences, stereotypes and marginalization in the school environment, low expectations from teachers, and adjusting to new schooling practices. The African youths’ voices exhibited …

Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts: Centering Science Within Elementary Stem Education, Deepika Menon, Amy S. Bauer, Katie L. Johnson, Elizabeth Hasseler, Amanda Thomas, Ricardo Martinez, Guy Trainin

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

Conceptualizing STEM Integration

For our reform efforts, the fundamental question to consider was, “What is STEM learning, or what should count as STEM learning?” The different models and definitions for Integrated STEM education range from STEM disciplines traditionally taught as separate and distinct content areas to integration among the four STEM disciplines (NAE and NRC, 2014; Stohlmann et al., 2012). Teacher educators are often challenged to design STEM learning experiences within teacher preparation courses that prepare for the reality of classrooms while presenting pedagogical alternatives (Corp et al., 2020). Many researchers, for instance, Roehrig et al. (2012) distinguish between content …

A Guided Chatbot Learning Experience In The Science Classroom, Jennifer Davis

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

This dissertation describes a practitioner’s design-based development of a prototype chatbot to guide students in learning biological concepts of genetic mutations and protein synthesis. This chatbot’s architecture provides learning activities, feedback, and support throughout a series of short, connected lessons. The chatbot is designed to scaffold learners through a predict, observe, explain model of inquiry learning. It utilizes real-world phenomena to lead students through biology core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. Results of prototype testing include survey results in support of the proof of concept among both students and teachers, as well as accuracy measurements of chatbot …

Nefdc Conference Program, Fall 2022, New England Faculty Development Consortium

New England Faculty Development Consortium Conference Programs

New England Faculty Development Consortium Conference Program, Fall 2022

Theme: Authentic Learning: Developing Students as Independent Thinkers

Friday, October 21, 2022 Hogan Center, College of the Holy Cross Worcester, Massachusetts

Conference Chairs: Eric Matte, Landmark College and Jackie Boivin, Bridgewater State University

Conference Proposal Chairs: Kellie Deys, Nichols College and Kim Burns, Dr. Kim Burns Coaching and Consulting

Keynote Speaker: Dr. José Antonio Bowen, Teaching Change with the New 3Rs

Upcoming NEFDC Opportunities: Spring 2023 Virtual Brown Bag Workshop Series and the Exchange Call for Submissions

Conference At-a-Glance

Open Mic

Poster Descriptions

Concurrent Session 1 – 55 Min. Interactive Session …

Reflections On Pedagogical Practice And Development Through Multidisciplinary Triadic Peer Mentorship, Nicole Charles, Nathalie Moon, Andrew P. Dicks

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article presents a critical reflection on the experiences of three university instructors (two teaching stream and one tenure stream) within a 6-month peer-to-peer mentoring for teaching community of practice (P2P CoP). As part of the P2P CoP, the authors (who were previously unknown to one another) formed a “teaching triad” at a tri-campus, research-intensive Canadian university. They regularly met in person for 1 hour on a weekly basis throughout the Winter 2019 semester to discuss teaching-related matters, undertook classroom visits to observe one another teach, and participated in pedagogical workshops with other P2P CoP members. In this article, the …

Centering Black Women Faculty: Magnifying Powerful Voices, Christen Priddie, Dajanae Palmer, Samantha Silberstein, Allison Brckalorenz

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

While much of the quantitative research on Black women faculty has taken a comparative approach to understanding their experiences, this study provides a counternarrative, centering their experiences as faculty. This large-scale, multi-institution glance at Black women faculty helps to give us an overview of these women across the country, looking at who they are, where they are, how they spend their time, and what they value in undergraduate education. This study allows us to strengthen various arguments made in qualitative studies of Black women faculty and amplify their perspectives and experiences. Furthermore, it reaffirms and reinvigorates the need for educational …

Data-Driven Iterative Refinements To Educational Development Services: Directly Measuring The Impacts Of Consultations On Course And Syllabus Design, Chad Hershock, Laura Ochs Pottmeyer, Jessica Harrell, Sophie Le Blanc, Marisella Rodriguez, Jacqueline Stimson, Katherine Phelps Walsh, Emily Daniels Weiss

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Evidence-based practice in educational development includes leveraging data to iteratively refine center for teaching and learning (CTL) services. However, CTL data collection is often limited to counts and satisfaction surveys rather than direct measures of outcomes. To directly assess impacts of consultations on course and syllabus design, we analyzed 94 clients’ syllabi (32 faculty, 62 graduate students and postdocs) before and after consultations. Faculty and non-faculty clients demonstrated significant change following consultations (6% and 10% gains in syllabus rubric scores, representing 50% and 31% of possible gains and effect sizes of 0.73 and 1.04 standard deviations, respectively). We compared faculty …

Transforming Departmental Culture: Empowering A Department Through Appreciative Inquiry, Symphony D. Oxendine, Kerry K. Robinson, Michele A. Parker

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article outlines an appreciative inquiry (AI) into a departmental professional development process and describes the resulting implementation of an appreciative peer evaluation meeting as one part of the new professional development process. Using AI, a departmental faculty development committee sought to re-envision the professional development process. Also, the authors discuss how using AI can result in positive impacts for culture change and how the model for peer evaluation can promote both individual and collective development of faculty.

Fellow Travelers: Taking Stock Of Faculty Fellows Programs In The Age Of Organizational Development, Susan A. Colby, Laura Cruz, Danielle Cordaro, Clare Cruz

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Faculty fellows have long served as a staple of centers for teaching and learning (CTLs), but to date little to no evidence has been gathered regarding their broader impact. The current study provides a snapshot of U.S.-based faculty fellows programs today, based on a comprehensive review of CTL websites. We categorize faculty fellows programs across five modalities that reflect decades of evolution and adaptation in the field of educational development. Our findings are intended to provide the foundation for new pathways of research, practice, and inquiry regarding the implementation of CTL fellowship programs.

Evaluating A Suite Of Strategies For Reading Graphic Novels: A Confirmatory Case Study, Maribeth Nottingham, Barbara J. Mcclanahan, Howard Atkinson

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

This article describes a qualitative study conducted by two researchers who are teacher educators and a literacy coach in a private school. The purpose was to determine the effectiveness of a set of strategies for reading and teaching about graphic novels by examining the responses of three elementary-grade teachers in a reading workshop environment to a semester-long professional development. Challenges both expected and unexpected were encountered but results overall were positive for teachers. In addition, they provided guidance to researchers for using the strategies introduced in the professional development in further studies.

Understanding "Death": Creating Student Opportunities For Meaningful Emotional Expression In The Science Classroom, Zachary Schafer, Lawrence C. Scharmann

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

Understanding death as natural and integral to life cycles has been considered crucial and relevant in science teaching. The concept of death not only defines the physical end of life but also the end of a cycle and the beginnings of transformation. Adopting a broader definition of death thus empowers educators to directly address the affect and emotion that occurs for all students.

Social Justice In Teacher Education: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Tara Ratnam, Elaine Chan, Darlene Ciuffetelli Parker

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

Editorial: Social Justice in Teacher Education: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Tara Ratnam, Darlene Ciuffetelli Parker, and Elaine Chan

Teacher Candidates’ Responses to Examining Personal Privilege: Nuanced Understandings of the Discourse of Individualism in Critical Multicultural Education, Erin Feinauer Whiting and Ramona Maile Cutri

Narrative Reconsiderations of Teaching as Negotiated Curriculum for Social Justice and Equity, Candace Schlein, Dianne Smith, and Charles Oakley

Radical-Transformative Agency: Continuities and Contrasts With Relational Agency and Implications for Education, Anna Stetsenko

Computer Science for Equity: Teacher Education, Agency, and Statewide Reform, Joanna Goode, Max Skorodinsky, Jill Hubbard, and James Hook

Design …

Spmc 350: Sports Data Analysis And Visualization, Matt Waite

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Sports Data Analysis and Visualization isa required course for all Sports Media and Communications majors at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The course is an introduction to using data and code to reveal stories in sports data. Sports media students, as a general rule, have very little experience with code, so the course utilizes a considerable amount of customized content specifically tailored to the course and aimed at the level of the typical student. Previous iterations of the course used an online static textbook, where students were expected to follow along and execute code blocks, but the book had no facilities …

Sped 874: Language Arts And Literacy For Students Who Are Deaf/Hard Of Hearing, Anne E. Thomas

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio documents the process I used to critically analyze the structure, teaching methods, assessment, and students learning in SPED 874 Language Arts and Literacy for Children who are Dear/Hard of Hearing. This is a course that students in the Deaf Education Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) take while pursuing a master’s degree and/or graduate endorsement in Deaf Education. This portfolio documents how I aligned the course objectives, content, and activities to the Council for Exceptional Children - Initial Specialty Set for Teachers of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing (CEC-DHH). I share the results of one method I use …

Discourse In Inquiry Science Classrooms, Diisc, Version 2.0 (User’S Manual For An Observation Research Instrument), Elizabeth B. Lewis, Dale R. Baker, Lyrica L. Lucas, Amy Tankersley, Elizabeth Hasseler, Ana Rivero, Brandon Helding

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

This is a user's manual for the externally validated Version 2.0 of the Discourse in Science Inquiry Classrooms (DiISC) instrument. The instrument is best suited for use in conducting research in secondary (grades 6-12) science classrooms that focuses on teachers' instructional practices, but can also be used as a professional development tool for teacher self-reflection and identifying goals for instructional change. The DiISC Version 2.0 is aligned with a model of a scientific classroom discourse community and articulated characteristics of social constructivist lessons in the categories of inquiry, oral and written discourse, and academic language development and essential learning principles.

Bridging Metacognition And Executive Function: Enhancing Metacognition Via Development Of The Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex, Matthew Brooks

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

Currently, there is a gap between the psychological concept of metacognition and the neuroscientific construct of executive function (EF). The following research proposal attempts to bridge this gap with an argument that component parts of “cold EF” like working memory and cognitive flexibility closely overlap with the component parts of metacognition that include planning and regulation. Additionally, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) are strongly associated with working memory and cognitive flexibility. The proposed research strategy in this article then offers a way to potentially evaluate metacognition through means beyond psychological measures. If the parallels …

Masked Or Unmasked? The Impact Of Hidden Facial Expressions On Interpretations Of Emotion, Justin Andersson, Lauren Thayer

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

Researchers are still exploring the impact of the novel COVID-19 disease. This global pandemic has altered daily life, including how we interact with others. One radical change is the wide use of cloth or disposable face masks that cover people’s faces from the nose down. The current paper explores issues related to the diminished ability to identify others’ facial expressions and what impact that may have on people’s ability to perceive emotions and the social cues attached to those emotions. To further explore this issue, an exploratory, experimental study was conducted, participants (n = 7) were asked to complete a …

Maximizing Student Citizenship Education, Consuelo Gallardo

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

Increasingly, global statistics have pointed out that young citizens are disengaged from democratic participation. This has captured public attention and led some countries to start creating educational policies as an attempt to implement educational citizenship programs to prepare young citizens to be active participants in a democratic society. Nevertheless, little is known regardless of the impact of those programs on democratic countries like Ecuador and the role of active citizenship at the educational level. It has led Ecuadorian younger population to avoid engaging in active social and political participation. Therefore, some national policies, international reports, specific topics related to citizenship …

From Active Learning Trigonometry To Lecture-Oriented Calculus: Student Interactions, Kelsey Quaisley, Nathan Wakefield

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

Active learning is an important component in many college mathematics classes. However, not all college mathematics classes are being taught using active learning-oriented methods. This phenomenological study examined how four undergraduate students’ reflections on their recent experiences in a lecture-based Calculus I course compared to their reflections on their previous experiences in an active learning-oriented Trigonometry course. According to participants’ reflections, certain prescribed classroom structures, such as large classroom sizes, seemed to negatively affect student interactions with both instructors and peers in Calculus I lecture, especially their ability to ask questions. Whereas feeling comfortable to ask questions in either Trigonometry …

A Thematic Analysis Of Faculty Advice For Doctoral Students, Alexa Yunes-Koch, Katie Johnson

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

The present study examines advice given by the graduate faculty in a department (n=24) to new Ph.D. students in the department. The thematic analysis employed inductive coding to draw themes from the data, and seven salient themes emerged from the interviews: relationships, openness, individuality, purpose, academic work, self-care, and logistics. Grounded in a theoretical framework of social constructivism, the present study analyzes how knowledge is created as a social artifact that is passed down from faculty to graduate student and highlights the ways in which doctoral students then shape the meaning of said knowledge through their own interpretations and actions. …

Developing Metacognition: Leveraging A Spiral Curriculum To Enhance Strategy-Learning Programming, Matthew Brooks

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

There is significant converging literature that emphasizes the value of learning metacognitive strategies. Current approaches to teaching metacognition focus disproportionately on domain-specific strategies. These strategies emphasize domain-specific subject material rather than the metacognition itself. The following intervention proposal aims to develop a multi-level (5th-12th grade) metacognition program designed using a spiral curriculum. This novel approach flips the paradigm and chooses to center metacognition. Additionally, this program leverages encoding, retrieval, transfer-appropriate processing and, delivered specifically through the spiral curriculum, delivers content in a manner that encourages distributed practice, a concept that has been well-documented to be beneficial for learners. The proposed …

The Nebraska Educator, Volume 6, Issue 2 (2022), Heidi Jo Bartlett , Co-Editor-In-Chief, Danika Lang , Co-Editor-In-Chief

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

Contents

Developing Metacognition: Leveraging a Spiral Curriculum to Enhance Strategy-Learning Programming • Matthew Brooks, Educational Psychology

A Thematic Analysis of Faculty Advice for Doctoral Students • Alexa Yunes-Koch, Katie Johnson, Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education

Emotional and Attentional Regulation: Impact of Trauma and Journal Writing • Jody-Ann Coore, Educational Psychology

From Active Learning Trigonometry to Lecture-Oriented Calculus: Student Interactions • Kelsey Quaisley, Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education & Dr. Nathan Wakefield, Mathematics

Maximizing Student Citizenship Education • Consuelo Gallardo, Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education

Masked or Unmasked? The Impact of Hidden Facial Expressions on Interpretations of Emotion • Justin Andersson, …

Noyce Science, 2012-2021 Ten Cohorts Of Teachers, Master Of Arts For Science Teaching Brings Science To Life, Unl Noyce Track 1, Phase 2 Grant Activity Brochure, Elizabeth B. Lewis, Elizabeth Hasseler, Lindsay Augustyn, Tori Pederson, Grace Kovar

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

Summary of UNL NSF Robert Noyce Track 1, Phase 2 grant (2015-2020) to recruit and prepare new secondary science teachers and associated research activities.

The perennial drive to recruit and prepare science professionals to become science teachers requires an enormous, collaborative effort. At the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, we have pledged ourselves to that worthy cause of educating new science teachers. This report summarizes the accomplishments of and celebrates those science teachers who have dedicated themselves to educating diverse youth and fostering a love of science in a world of STEM possibilities. They are the new generation of educators who face, …

The Nebraska Covid-19 Early Care And Education Provider Survey Iii: “Holding It Together—And Hanging By A Thread” May 2022, Alexandra Daro, Kathleen C. Gallagher, Kristen M. Cunningham

Buffet Early Childhood Institute Reports and Publications

In February 2022, the Buffett Early Childhood Institute conducted the Nebraska COVID-19 Early Care and Education Survey III, in collaboration with state agencies, University of Nebraska faculty, and organization partners. This third survey examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nebraska’s child care professionals and its implications for practice and policy. Results from the previous surveys, released in April and August 2020, indicated that early care and education professionals in Nebraska, who were already vulnerable prior to the pandemic, have been negatively impacted from the start of the pandemic. The first survey elevated providers’ immediate needs, including funding relief, …

Emotional And Attentional Regulation: Impact Of Trauma And Journal Writing?, Jody Ann Coore

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

Traumatic experiences are very common and have a high lifetime prevalence rate, which a large body of research indicates negatively impact the ability to self-regulate, including emotional and attentional regulation. This study focused on traumatic experiences caused by peer victimization and aimed to examine the effects on self-regulation after exposure to artificial trauma and journaling in graduate students. A convenient sample of 9 graduate students were randomly assigned to the control or intervention group. All participants were asked to engage in a journaling activity after watching the assigned video. Three emotional Stroop tasks were administered to participants: before watching the …