Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Elementary Teachers’ Positive And Practical Risk-Taking When Teaching Science Through Engineering Design, Jeffrey Radloff, Brenda Capobianco, Annie Dooley

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

This study examines the perspectives of three generations of elementary teachers learning to teach science using engineering design and the risks associated with implementing this innovative type of reform-based science instruction. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and teacher reflections. Data analysis entailed open coding and document analysis. The findings indicated that there were four types of perceived risks: practical, pedagogical, conceptual, and personal. First-generation teachers exhibited conceptual risk-taking behavior, while second- and third-generation teachers reported practical, pedagogical, and personal risks. Benefits of risk-taking included increased student engagement in science, improved self-confidence in teaching science, and greater teacher …

The Evolution Of A Structured Writing Accountability Group (Swag), Alice M. Brawley Newlin, Chas. Phillips, Patturaja Selvaraj

Friday Forum

In this Friday Forum, Professors Chas. Phillips (Political Science), Alice Brawley Newlin (Management), and Patturaja Selvaraj (Management) will cover two key aspects of their ongoing Structured Writing Accountability Group (SWAG). First, we'll talk about we have varied the structure of the SWAG since Summer 2018, including our celebratory end-of-year conference in 2019 which was sponsored through the generosity of the Provost’s Office grants for Faculty Reading/Writing Groups. Second, we'll briefly highlight the projects and products we have accomplished through our SWAG. Though the principles of the SWAG are simple, participating in this group has greatly enhanced the rate and quality …

Co-Teaching: Collaborative And Caring Teacher Preparation, Colette Rabin

Faculty Publications

This study investigated what happened during the implementation of a co-teaching model for student-teaching from a relational perspective. When analyzed through the theoretical framework of care ethics, teacher-candidates and their mentor-teachers developed caring relationships, acknowledged and negotiated differential power dynamics, and described cultivating a caring climate through dialogue and modeling.

Problem-Based Learning In Human Growth & Development Counselor Education, Javier F. Casado Pérez Ph.D. Ncc, Elliot Witherspoon Lpc

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

As a core curricular standard that applies to all Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP, 2015) accredited programs, human growth and development can present unique challenges for the teaching professional. In this article, we present an in-class activity grounded in problem-based learning that uniquely lends itself to the task of supporting medium-to-large classrooms in learning about human growth and development.

Exploring The Experiences Of Male Early Childhood Aspiring Teachers, Tingting Xu

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This exploratory study investigated the reasons why males chose early childhood

education and their lived experiences in a teacher education program. Qualitative data

were collected through interviews with twelve male early childhood pre-service

teachers. Results demonstrated that: Participates were passionate about teaching

young children. They were mostly supported by their relatives and friends in their

decision to become an early childhood teacher. They were positive about future career

opportunities but still had an underlying fear of losing job or being seen as sexual

predators. Meanwhile, participates indicated some conflicts might exist between the

field experience and program learning experience. They …

Exposing Preservice Teachers To Emergent Bilinguals, Deborah J. Williams Ed.D., Jim Ewing

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This study followed a case study design and employed qualitative methods to explore monolingual preservice teachers’ (PSTs) attitudes toward learning to teach emergent bilinguals (EBs) in a dual language school. We sought to support and observe PSTs as they applied strategies learned in methodology courses to students in the field. Three overarching themes emerged from PSTs’ videotaped focus group interviews, weekly reflections, and field notes. Responses that supported Theme 1 suggested PSTs desired to teach EBs for a variety of reasons and Theme 2 supporting responses showed that PSTs confidence levels increased as they interacted with EBs. Responses that supported …

Understanding Equitable Assessment: How Preservice Teachers Make Meaning Of Disability, Melissa K. Driver

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Disproportionality of historically marginalized populations in special education continues to be a critical concern. The identification of students with disabilities is reliant on valid and reliable assessment that is free of bias. The extent to which this is possible given measurement constraints and an increasingly diverse student population is unclear. How teachers are trained to design, select, administer, score, and interpret assessment data related to the identification of students with disabilities is vastly under-researched considering the significant implications of assessment practices. In this study, six special education preservice teachers engaged in an assessment methods course during their second semester of …

White Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions And Their Development Of Culturally Relevant Literacy Practices, Lakia M. Scott, Elena Venegas

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Existent literature purports that providing White teacher candidates with increased exposure to urban schools in order to create culturally competent educators has failed. These findings reflect the notion that teacher ideologies and overall perspectives about working with diverse student groups must be harnessed in a genuine ethic of care and intentionality for students of color. However, few studies have taken the approach of examining the development of culturally relevant pedagogy through context-specific field experiences using content-specific courses. This study examines the perspectives of twenty-five White pre-service teachers from a predominately White, private university regarding their initial perceptions and gained conceptual …

Effects Of Movement, Growth Mindset And Math Talks On Math Anxiety, Christina J. Peterman, Jim Ewing

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Mathematical anxiety is prevalent in our schools. This research provides insight into how mathematical anxiety develops and how it affects students throughout their lives. This study focuses on the mathematical anxiety and mathematical self-concept of five second grade classes at an economically disadvantaged school in rural North Texas. The study looked to see if adding the interventions of movement, mathematical growth mindset and math talks to a classroom would improve the mathematical self-concept of the children in the classrooms which participated. The study contained three classrooms of students who participated in the interventions and two classrooms which were used as …

Review Of Kevin Pugh’S Book Computers, Cockroaches And Ecosystems: Understanding Learning Through Metaphor, Molly A. Smith

The Liminal: Interdisciplinary Journal of Technology in Education

This review summarizes the major concepts presented in Kevin Pugh’s 2017 book, Computers, Cockroaches and Ecosystems: Understanding Learning through Metaphor. In addition to summarizing the major concepts Pugh presents, this review also provides a brief critique of the book and suggests various audiences that are likely to find the content relevant, informative, and interesting.

The Capstone Journey: Exploring Design, Delivery And Evaluation In An Undergraduate Management Discipline Context, Heather Stewart Dr, Luke Houghton, Clare Burns

The Qualitative Report

The focus of this paper is the development of a capstone management course and the application of educational action research through continual learning. In this article, we use the continual learning frame of plan, do, study, and act to underpin an educational action research design on the development of a capstone management course. As part of an Active Learning Trial, the development of the capstone experience has been captured in the embodiment of that experience. Our aim is to guide other academics in developing their own capstone course, particularly, within management with extension into other disciplines. Through continual improvement, we …

The Nuclear Environment Of The Nls1 Mrk 335: Obscuration Of The X-Ray Line Emission By A Variable Outflow, Dirk Grupe

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

We present XMM–Newton, NuSTAR, Swift, and Hubble Space Telescope observations of the Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 335 in a protracted low state in 2018 and 2019. The X-ray flux is at the lowest level so far observed, and the extremely low continuum flux reveals a host of soft X-ray emission lines from photoionized gas. The simultaneous UV flux drop suggests that the variability is intrinsic to the source, and we confirm this with broad-band X-ray spectroscopy. The dominance of the soft X-ray lines at low energies and distant reflection at high energies, is therefore due to the respective emission …

Three Propositions On The Education In Programming Languages, Euijin Kim

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

In the age of Big Data and artificial intelligence, programming languages are important for college students because the knowledge of programming can help them understand the modern technologies and make better decisions about the technologies. Nonetheless, programming language courses are not popular among college students. To attract more students, several suggestions have been made such as computational thinking (Wing, 2006) or application of the concept with easy programming approaches(Lye & Koh, 2014). These approaches, however, overlook the nature of programming (e.g., programming is about understanding computers). In this paper, a straight approach with three propositions on the education in programming …

De Las Escuelas De Estados Unidos A Las Escuelas De México: Desafíos De Política Educativa En El Marco De La Gran Expulsión [From Us Schools To Mexican Schools: Educational Policy Challenges In The Context Of The 'Great Expulsion'], Víctor Zúñiga, Edmund T. Hamann

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

This Spanish-language chapter, drawn from a larger book intended to advise Mexico's new national leadership on various issues related to migration, focuses on the steadily growing, overlapping populations of US-born and US-school-experienced children in youth now enrolled in Mexican schools. It notes that that population, numbering more than 600,000, is enrolled all across Mexico, albeit not equally distributed, with municipios (counties) with high international migration rates also hosting high return rates. Moreover it notes that this population's US school experiences were highly varied not only because of their different durations, but because schooling in urban Southern California varies from that …

An Exploration Of Supports For Increasing Classroom Physical Activity Within Elementary Schools, Hannah G. Calvert, Julianne A. Wenner, Lindsey Turner

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Classroom-based physical activity (CBPA) can significantly benefit students’ health and educational outcomes, but many teachers do not utilize CBPA. This study examined teachers’ perceptions about the value and impact of several approaches to support CBPA implementation, and teachers’ weekly self-reported CBPA use. Interviews were conducted with 35 classroom teachers (including those using and not using CBPA) at two public elementary schools, and CBPA tracking logs were collected on a weekly basis. Interview transcripts were interpreted through key domains within implementation science. On average, teachers reported using one activity every other day. Interview data revealed that utilizing professional collaboration time for …

Elementary School Student Development Of Stem Attitudes And Perceived Learning In A Stem Integrated Robotics Curriculum, Yu-Hui Ching, Dazhi Yang, Sasha Wang, Youngkyun Baek, Steve Swanson, Bhaskar Chittoori

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Robotics has been advocated as an emerging approach to engaging K-12 students in learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This study examined the impacts of a project-based STEM integrated robotics curriculum on elementary school students’ attitudes toward STEM and perceived learning in an afterschool setting. Three elementary school teachers and 18 fourth to sixth graders participated in an eight-week-long program. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed, and showed students’ attitudes toward math improved significantly at the end of the robotics curriculum. Three specific areas of learning were identified, including STEM content learning and connection, engagement and perseverance, …

The Devil In Recent American Law, L. Joe Dunman

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

Despite its secular aspirations, the American legal system is permeated by Christian and other religious ideas. One of the religious ideas that frequently appears in recent American law is the devil—the unholy antithesis of all that is good in the world. Called by many names, such as Satan, Lucifer, or the Antichrist, the devil is no stranger to the United States court system. The devil arises from the hot depths primarily in five contexts: (1) as a source of injury to reputation in defamation cases; (2) as a prejudicial invocation made during criminal trials to secure conviction, harshen sentences, or …

Estimating The Size Of Earth’S Umbral Shadow Using Sky Brightness Light Curves During A Lunar Eclipse, J. Kevin Adkins, Jennifer J. Birriel

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

We present a simple method to estimate the size of Earth’s umbral shadow in a classroom setting. The method uses the published sky brightness curves obtained during a total lunar eclipse and requires only a conceptual understanding of lunar eclipses and simple geometric considerations. It is suitable for use in introductory and upper level astronomy courses.

Black Male College Persistence: A Phenomenological Collective Of Familial And Social Motivators, Tyson Beale, Lavar Charleston, Adriel A. Hilton

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study examined familial differences between Black males not pre-categorized as high achieving or unprepared for college. The article highlights student persistence and examines the critical components in social and environmental arrangements. While there is evidence that some Black men never graduate college, this is not reflective of all Black men. Many do earn a baccalaureate degree, pursue graduate study, and diversify the workforce. This phenomenological study captures the voices of those who have persisted in higher education and concludes with implications for institutional practice and future research. Social capital, hyper-masculinity, and exchange theories guided this study.

Factors Influencing Disciplinary Committee Effectiveness: The Case Of Public Secondary Schools In Ondo State, Nigeria, Akindele Matthew Ige

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study investigated the factors influencing the effectiveness of the Disciplinary Committee in schools, using Public Secondary Schools in Ondo State, Nigeria. Descriptive-survey design was adopted. The 304 Public Secondary Schools in the state were the main population while Principals and Vice-Principals of the schools were targets. Multistage, stratified, and simple-random sampling techniques were adopted to select 40 secondary schools for the study. Three questions and three hypotheses guided this study. A questionnaire, validated, and tested for reliability(r-0.85), and structured on 4-point Likert Scale, was used to collect data, which were analyzed using frequency distribution table, mean, and SPSS package. …

Examining The Institutional Factors Promoting The Educational Attainment Of African American Males Social Science Majors, Dorrance Kennedy, Linda Wilson-Jones

Journal of Research Initiatives

The purpose of this study was to determine the institutional factors that African American male students identified as influencing their educational attainment in higher education. The following research question guided this study: What institutional factors do African American male students identify as influencing their educational attainment at their respective universities? Throughout the years, there have been numerous theories developed to understand the challenge of college student retention. Alexander Astin (1991) proposed one of the first models, the input-environment-outcome (I-E-O) model. In this model, there are three sets of elements considered: inputs, environment, and outcomes. Inputs are the family backgrounds, demographic …

Social Isolation And Technology: Implications For Psychosocial Development: A Theoretical Paper, Franco Zengaro, Sally Zengaro, Mohamed A. Ali

Journal of Research Initiatives

Advances in technology offer new frontiers in terms of conquering temporal dimensions, but with more significant advancements in technology, there is the possibility of having a diminished return in terms of interpersonal relationships. Without necessarily decrying technology as the culprit of a decrease in human social interaction, this conceptual paper discusses the opportunities provided to individuals through media encounters to be selective in their manner of communicating and the implications of this selectivity. This paper considers the complexity of human learning as based in situational, constructive, biological, and cognitive components underscored through the experiential, multisource nature of understanding. However, many …

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Identity, Presence, And Intentionality: A Brief Review Of Literature, Anthony Walker

Journal of Research Initiatives

For too long, education has emphasized a systematized approach designed to maximize efficiency and a standardization of curriculum and pedagogical design. Too often, educational practice framed in Anglo-European norms remain unchallenged and place students whose cultural identity does not align with the dominant norms at disadvantage. In turn, curricula and pedagogies fail to acknowledge the role that culture and identity play in both teaching and learning. Critically oriented and culturally relevant pedagogies have the potential to foster critical thinking, identity development, and equity. This article examines how the tenets of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and identity development into educational practice can …

Factors Influencing Faculty Use Of Screencasting For Feedback, Berlin Fang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored faculty concerns in using screencasting to give feedback, why they choose to adopt it, and what training and support would benefit them in the adoption of such a method. This is a single embedded case study using a stages of concern questionnaire, semistructured and open-ended interviews, as well as media comment reviews as data collection methods. Some 21 professors from a southwestern private university participated in the research, representing 51 potential participants who have been exposed to screencasting for feedback through software ownership, training, or coaching. After the completion of this questionnaire, 16 participants were interviewed in …

Promoting Inclusion In A "Struggling School": Supporting Co-Teachers Through Critical Appreciative-Inquiry Based Professional Development, Louis Olander

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the extent to which the beliefs and practices of teachers who work in a “struggling” school can be shifted towards inclusiveness through an action research based professional development program. The school was struggling in that it was charged with the education of children who are marginalized by a range of social forces while simultaneously accountable to institutional priorities. Broadly speaking, these institutional priorities preferred behaviorist punishment and technocratic approaches to meeting student needs, devaluing and decontextualizing students’ proficiencies as test scores and special education labels, in turn impeding inclusive change. Over the course of four months, an …

Black, Male, And Poor: The Intersection Of Social Identities Effects On Special Education Referrals For Emotional Disturbance, Marilyn D. Bassett-Joseph

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Black male students, when compared to the total Special Education population, are disproportionately placed under the Emotional Disturbance category. Special Education evaluations, referred by general education teachers, lead to most Special Education placement (UFT, n.d.; Smeets & Roeleveld, 2016; & Woodson & Harris, 2018). This study was qualitative research via narrative inquiry. Two research questions investigated teacher participant responses to fictional vignettes and interviews: (1) Is the intersection of social identities of BMS, such as race, gender, and SES, responsible for how general education teachers respond to disruptive behaviors identical to externalizing ED traits in the classroom; and (2) Is …

A Deep-Er Practice For Educators: Reflecting, Unpacking And Confronting Racism Through Critical Performative Pedagogy, Natalia Ortiz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the current political climate, we have seen time and time again the killings of black and brown youth, witnessed the separation of immigrant families, and the mass murders caused by nativist xenophobic white rage. Teachers in schools across our country need to be better prepared to engage in critical race dialogues and need to understand their location in the larger educational system so to contest, rather than reproduce, racism. This study is based on the premise that teachers are not adequately learning about structural oppression that impact the experience of school children and are not trained in the art …

The Impact Of Pbl As A Stem School Reform Model, Michael R. L. Odell, Teresa J. Kennedy, Eric Stocks

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Project/problem-based learning (PBL) can provide an effective model for school reform when implemented with fidelity. In the report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, it was recommended that if the U.S. is to remain competitive in the 21st-century economy, there must be a serious effort to “enlarge the pipeline of students who are prepared to enter college and graduate with a degree in STEM” (National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, & Institute of Medicine, 2007, p. 6). The report included the recommendation that states develop statewide specialty STEM high schools (National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, …

Recursive Reflective Reports: Embedded Assessment In Pbl Courses For Second Language Teacher Education, Cynthia A. Caswell

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

This conceptual article begins with a general definition of reflection and the soft skills of PBL: collaboration, agency, and metacognition. Then it presents theoretical frameworks for reflection from second language teacher education (SLTE) (Farrell, 2015; Pennington & Richards, 2016) and illustrates six types of reflection with examples from the field of SLTE. The article features a reflective self- and peer-assessment instrument, utilized in a graduate SLTE program. The standard yet flexible template of the reflective teaching report (RTR) allows these teacher educators to interact with their students’ development in the soft skills and the content of the SLTE knowledge base. …

Performance Assessment Practice As Professional Learning, Vanessa Svihla, Tim Kubik, Tori Stevens-Shauger

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

While performance assessment (PA) is well aligned to project-based learning (PjBL), teachers find it challenging to design and implement PA that is faithful to the authentic context of their projects and viewed externally as rigorous. In contrast to standardizing PA tasks — thereby diminishing authenticity — we formed a research-practice partnership (Coburn, Penuel, & Geil, 2013) that developed and used a “shell” to guide teachers in planning, implementing, and engaging in rigorous dialogues that evaluate and elevate PA practice across four PjBL schools. Drawing from analysis of artifacts and audio-recorded professional development sessions, we highlight how the effort to standardize …