Secondary Education and Teaching Commons^™

Increasing Awareness Of Inclusive Stem Education Through A College-Level Student Research Group, Sami Kahn, Tiffany Agyarko, Grace Lanouette, Sean Lee, Courteney Wiredu

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

The underrepresentation of persons with disabilities in STEM reflects not only a moral failing in society’s commitment to equity but also a practical dilemma as science benefits from the contributions of people with diverse perspectives. While teacher education programs attempt to address equity at the K-12 level, societal biases and misconceptions about who is “able” in science present persistent barriers for people with disabilities throughout the STEM pipeline, in higher education, employment, and beyond. How can we ensure that students with disabilities will encounter professors, employers, coworkers, and peers who are supportive of their efforts in STEM? To address this …

A Special Educator’S How-To Guide To Visual Activity Schedules, Mary Elliott, Rasheeda Swain

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Students with disabilities often struggle with the transitions throughout the school day, which can lead to prompt dependency and the emergence of challenging behaviors. One evidence-based practice is the use of visual activity schedules (VAS). VAS provide a visual list of what will occur throughout the day, in the student’s mode of receptive communication (objects, picture symbols, words). VAS provide predictability to decrease the anxiety that can arise with transitions. The following practitioner’s piece provides guidance geared toward new special education teachers in how to choose the correct VAS symbols and create a VAS that is appropriate for your student’s …

Cultivating An Online Network For Mentoring Preservice And In-Service Teachers, Lisa Amick, Joni Meade, Margaret J. Mohr-Schroeder

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

This report details the work of two initial teacher certification programs at a major university in Kentucky that are implementing two innovative strategies for preservice teachers to network, build community, and grow in their practice. The utilization of Slack, a free online communication platform, has proven successful in getting preservice teachers to share ideas, pose and respond to professional questions, and program information dissemination. The use of a NIC (Networked Improvement Community) is a grant funded endeavor that brought together preservice teachers, their cooperating teachers, and university faculty members to create a professional learning community where a problem of practice …

Co-Teaching Strategies: Improving Student Engagement By Increasing Opportunities To Respond, Janet E. Nutt

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Research indicates that effective co-teaching using high leverage practices can maximize outcomes across content areas and positively affect student engagement. This paper discusses practical ways to increase student engagement by increasing opportunities to respond in a co-teaching setting. Specific examples are included for a secondary mathematics co-taught classroom, but the principles can be applied in any subject or setting. A proposed model of professional development and coaching to support effective questioning techniques and increase opportunities to respond is also discussed for the purposes of teacher training and professional development.

Teachers Leading Teachers: An Approach To Content-Area Literacy Instruction To Address Inequitable Education, Leah Metivier-Kearney

Masters Projects

The current state of education establishes the norm of consistent literacy intervention in elementary education and through specialized accommodations thereafter; unfortunately, many students reach secondary levels without the literacy skills necessary to be successful in their classes and beyond into adulthood. The task of managing this gap is overwhelming, and it stems from various economic, racial, and situational variables that schools cannot address entirely. Instead, teachers may make the choice to improve the equity within their immediate environments by prioritizing equity through direct literacy instruction, consequently providing opportunities for these students to attain those necessary skills for lifelong success.

The …

The Great Water Design Challenge: A Collaboration With Noaa Planet Stewards, Elizabeth Martinez

Publications & Research

Session Goals

• Define design challenge
• Generate ideas for classroom design challenge
• Outline design challenge for your classroom

NOAA Planet Stewards NESTA Article

Implementing Food Science-Based Instruction In Career Technical Education Courses, Jasmine D. Hendrix

Theses and Dissertations

Students are exposed to food concepts in agriculture-based career technical education (CTE) courses which provide a gateway for students to become more aware of food science career pathways. Professional development for Mississippi (MS) CTE teachers is needed to effectively implement food science-based instruction since there is not a food science curriculum framework adopted in MS. The objective of this study was to assess a food science professional development training for MS CTE teachers that would increase their self-perceived knowledge of food science, self-perceived ability to conduct food science skills, and their self-efficacy to implement food science-based instruction. Thirty-one teachers participated …

Teacher Instructional Practices And Student Mathematics Achievement, Michael C. Osborne

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Using the nationally representative sample from the United States in the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (N = 7,429 students from 240 schools), I examined the relationship between teacher instructional practices and student mathematics achievement. To account for the multilevel structure of the data with students nested within schools, I used a two-level hierarchical linear model in the data analysis. Teacher instructional practices showed statistically significant effects on student mathematics achievement, even after controlling for socioeconomic status (SES) and sex at the student level and school mean SES and whether the school is public or private at the …

Missing Pieces And Voices: Steps For Teachers To Engage In Science Of Reading Policy And Practice, Kathleen S. Howe, Teddy D. Roop

Michigan Reading Journal

The current wave of dyslexia legislation backed by the science of reading is the latest literacy policy added to a decades-long list. Teachers, whose voices were largely excluded, are key stakeholders in any literacy policy initiative and are well-suited to inform policymakers about the complexities of teaching readers who struggle, including those diagnosed with dyslexia. This article previews the implications of legislation that narrowly focuses on “science” and disregards unique individual reader profiles. This article encourages teachers to get involved with policy that impacts their practices and provides suggestions to ensure their voices are included in this and future initiatives.

Bounding Our Liberation Together: Toward Pedagogies Of Coalitional Liberation, Rae L. Oviatt, Stephanie F. Reid

Michigan Reading Journal

This article draws on the long history of movement building, culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies, and abolitionist solidarity in presenting a way to bridge ELA standards and humanizing curriculum. The authors’ present their vision of pedagogies for coalitional liberation through five actionable and manageable tenets of practice. These tenets have been formulated to guide teachers in designing their own units or lessons. Each tenet is described in detail and accompanied by classroom examples from a critical qualitative research inquiry that foregrounds one pre-service teacher’s intentional curriculum co-design. The examples show how teachers can move with their students moving from theory …

Students' Definitions Of Academic Success, Brent Kelderman

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

Academic success has not been well defined consistently, and when definitions have been proposed (e.g. Kuh, Kinzie, Buckley, Bridges, & Hayek, 2006 ; York, Gibson, & Rankin, 2015), they are not always measured consistently. Is it good grades (Parker, Summerfeldt, Hogan, & Majeski, 2004), and if so, what constitutes a good grade and what should be graded? Is it understanding the material, and if so, is understanding shown by simply completing the academic tasks (Choi, 2005)? Is it perseverance and grit (Tang, Wang, Guo, & Salmela-Aro, 2019), and if so, why do many other definitions and views focus so much …

Cultivating Catholic Classroom Communities During Remote Teaching, John L. Beltramo, Krizia Layam, Julia Lucas, John Schmitt

Journal of Catholic Education

In this COVID-era study, Catholic school teachers report the challenges that they experienced in supporting classroom communities during remote instruction, as well as the strategies that they enacted to address such challenges and make robust relationships with and among remote students. While teachers engaged in remote teaching, they were also studying in a Catholic Master of Arts in Teaching program, where they participated in weekly Freirian culture circles – structured dialogues designed to help teachers identify problems of equity and collectively devise appropriate responses. The teachers found that classroom community was hindered by a lack of in-person affordances, socioemotional stressors …

Secondary Teachers' Perceptions Of Teacher Authenticity, Robert Hovel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Teachers are confronted with many obstacles when learning to be the best teacher they can for their students. Teachers face challenges such as working with introverted students, developing activities that are fruitful and sustainable for varying students, and keeping students all focused on the goal of learning (Tasgin & Tunc, 2018). However, the authenticity of an instructor, while being researched in college and counseling settings, has not been sufficiently examined in high school settings. The authenticity of the instructor is a motivating factor for students at the college level (Kreber & Klampfleitner, 2013; Kreber & Klampfleitner, 2012; Kreber et al., …

A Mixed-Methods, Grounded Theory Study Of Online Meaning-Making During The Pandemic, Kaitlyn Montcrieff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

To be human is to seek to understand the known and unknown world. The Covid-19 pandemic offers researchers the opportunity to examine online meaning-making on a more ubiquitous magnitude than ever experienced in history, without positioning the digital world as less authentic, or distinct, from the physical. Using mixed-methods grounded theory, this study posed the research question: (RQ) How do high school parents use an online community to (re)conceptualize aspects of contemporary society? The NRC Emotion Intensity lexicon (Mohammed, 2018) was used to score online forum posts from 2018-2021 using eight emotions to quantitatively represent changes over time. The qualitative …

The Impact Of Corporal Punishment For Timorese High School Graduates, Veronica Godinho Pereira

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the impacts of corporal punishment for Timorese high school graduates. Physical punishment is a pervasive method of disciplining students and children used in Timor-Leste because it has been such a tradition (UNICEF 2017). Few researchers have attempted to analyze the negative impacts of corporal punishment and possible gender differences; there is no known research on the impacts of corporal punishment in Timor-Leste. This study uses an in-depth interview method, where data were collected from 26 Timorese high school graduates composed of both men and women from both private and public schools in Timor-Leste. The ages of the …

Focus, Drive, And Motivation In Secondary School Populations, Lakeshia Cook

Dissertations

This study, Focus, Drive, and Motivation in Secondary Populations, addresses the topic of middle and high school student motivation to succeed in school. The aim was to discover what motivates and inspires student success. In this study, I delved into issues of low levels of student motivation, drive, and focus and the relative effect of these issues on school performance. The central purpose of this research was to find ways to foster greater levels of student focus, drive, and motivation during their middle and high school experience. The context of the study was a medium-sized charter middle school and a …

The Virtual Education Setting In Grades 9-12: How The Practices For Online Teacher And Learning Impact Student Achievement, Kimberly Acosta

Dissertations

Countless virtual school options are in operation all around the world. A growing number of teachers and students throughout the nation, continent, and world are working and learning online. With virtual learning steadily increasing, it is critical for educators to establish and implement the best online teaching and learning practices. The purpose of my study was to identify and explore the practices of effective teachers in the virtual school setting and how those practices impacted student achievement outcomes. The context of this inquiry was full-time national virtual public high school charter schools operating under the umbrella of the same national …

Promoting Employer Desired Competencies Through A Multiphased "Workgroup" Project, Ashly Smith

International Journal for Business Education

Employers and business leaders have long been advocating for the importance of career readiness skills like critical thinking/problem solving, information literacy, teamwork/collaboration, professionalism/work ethic, and oral/written communication (NACE, 2019; Partnership, 2008). While faculty and students see value in projects that develop these skills, such projects can be some of the most challenging to incorporate effectively into business courses (Chapman et al., 2010; Detmering & Johnson, 2012; Lee et al., 2016; Marks & O’Connor, 2013). This article reports on a multi-phase group project that aims to strengthen a selection of these employer-desired skills while ameliorating student concerns about the research process …

Stimulating Intrapreneurial Intentions With Digital Business Training In The Vet Sector: The Potential Of Massive Open Online Courses, Christian Friedl

International Journal for Business Education

It has become imperative to stimulate and support employees to behave entrepreneurially within organizations (intrapreneurship). However, little is known about how digital, massive, and scalable business education and training formats such as massive open online course (MOOCs) can contribute to vocational and educational training (VET) in general, and to nurture intrapreneurial behavior and corresponding intentions in specific. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the potential effect of a MOOC on intrapreneurial intentions of learners.
Data were acquired from 412 employees taking a MOOC on intrapreneurship for constructs embedded in the theory of planned behavior, tailored to the …

Project-Based Pedagogy: The Client's Perspective, Wayne Aho, Wendy Cagle, Jon Marvel, Michael Smith, Edward Wright

International Journal for Business Education

Project-based experiential business education seeks to provide students with lessons that are meaningful, practical, and enduring. While previous research has sought to understand how students and faculty members react to such educational experiences, it is also important to understand the perceptions of the business clients who engage with programs employing project-based education. The aim of this study was to better understand the experiences of business clients with whom students engaged as part of an undergraduate business capstone course. Two hundred fifty-three previous clients were surveyed with a 22.4% response rate. Responses were subjected to content analysis to cluster replies into …

Practice Enterprises In Times Of Distance Learning: The Impact And Consequences Of The Covid-19 Pandemic To The Collaboration Of Practice Enterprises, Theresa Feuchter, Gernot Dreisiebner, Elisabeth Riebenbauer, Ph.D., Michaela Stock

International Journal for Business Education

The aim of this paper is to outline the consequences which arise from the digital transformation of the multidimensional teaching and learning setting of practice enterprises and to discuss how digital collaboration of students can be supported during the COVID-19 pandemic. As an evolutionary moment also in the field of education, one can consider the experiences of COVID-19 as a catalyst for digital transformation and distance learning in education. How digital collaboration can be fostered in times of distance learning is shown by using the example of business simulations such as practice enterprises (PE). While previously this multidimensional teaching and …

Cultivating Financial Literacy Through Secondary School Economics Education: Access To Powerful Knowledge, Emanuel Mizzi

International Journal for Business Education

‘Powerful knowledge’ is disciplinary knowledge that when learned, empowers students to make decisions in a way that will influence their lives in a positive way (Young, 2008). In this paper, the researcher employs this construct to explore the financial literacy education arising from studying secondary school economics. It emerges from the author’s research aimed at exploring teaching and learning in secondary school Maltese economics classrooms. The underlying conceptual framework for this study is critical realism. The study design consisted of interviewing and observing 14 economics teachers, together with four focus groups interviews with students. Data were analyzed by employing thematic …

Signature Pedagogy For Entrepreneurship Education: An Emerging Perspective, Ashley Gess, Eleonora Brivio, Gianluca De Leo

International Journal for Business Education

Entrepreneurial ways of thinking and doing intersect with the knowledge and skills that a global citizen needs to thrive. There is a robust body of scholarship that identifies core entrepreneurial skills however there is a dearth of evidence addressing how to successfully teach entrepreneurship. Using the lens of experiential learning, this qualitative study examines the surface, deep, and implicit structures of professional entrepreneurial culture toward revealing a meaningful, authentic pedagogical approach for entrepreneurship education. In order to achieve this outcome, researchers utilized a semi-structured comparable multiple-case study design to engage 19 incubated entrepreneurs in focus group interviews. A replication strategy …

Internships As Clinical Rotations In Business: Enhancing Access And Options, Faye W. Gilbert, Jason Harkins, Pankaj Agrrawal, Taylor Ashley

International Journal for Business Education

Internships are high impact practices that offer work experiences and provide advantages for participating undergraduate students and for the talent acquisition efforts of firms. While research consistently documents the benefits of internships as a transformative experience, access and outcomes may vary for students and for underserved populations. Limitations of internships can include lack of access to enough positions as well as inadequate interactions between undergraduate students, firms, and faculty members in business programs. The purpose of this article is to describe an approach to enhancing access to internships on a larger scale with greater variety. Protocols found in clinical rotations …

Interventions To Increase Prospective Teacher Candidates' Praxis Ii Content Exam Scores, Takara Hart

All Dissertations

Teacher shortages are a pervasive issue in South Carolina’s public schools. Some prospective teacher candidates have shown obstacles in meeting the minimum required Praxis II Content exam score. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore and develop specific Praxis II Content exam interventions to improve scores for six prospective teacher candidates in South Carolina. All participants were trying to meet the licensure exam requirement for various alternative certification programs. Malcolm Knowles’ Andragogy Adult Learning Theory guided the study as a theoretical framework, and Lev Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Constructivism provided the conceptual frame. Descriptive coding and analysis, using Dedoose …

Faculty Of Color And Collective Memory Work: An Examination Of Intersectionality, Privilege, And Marginalization, Rochonda L. Nenonene, Novea A. Mcintosh, Ramon Vasquez

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

As a means of highlighting new possibilities for interrupting White privilege, and supporting and honoring critical community building among faculty of Color in teacher education programs, this paper offers the theoretical and methodological resources of collective memory work as a tool for interrogating teacher education's entanglements in the complex, yet normalized, processes of White privilege. This paper, written by three faculty members of Color, aims to provide hope for an escape from the construction of hierarchies, taxonomies, and White/non-White binaries that establish and enforce arbitrary boundaries that prevent people from different racialized groups from working together to disrupt White privilege …

Listen To The Voices: A Reflection On How 2020 And Covid-19 Have Affected Lives, Sara Abi Villanueva, Alexandra C. Daub, Alejandra Y. Martinez

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Throughout the last few months of 2019, stories of a new and deadly virus were on every news channel around the world. Many Americans saw it as foreign news, others worried about the virus’ spread, and some felt that it would be contained quickly never making it past the Atlantic or Pacific. By March of 2020, COVID-19 made its way to the United States, forcing a new normal of quarantining, remote-learning/teaching, and teleworking. Graduate students and educators of Professional Opportunities Supporting Scholarly Engagement (POSSE), a College of Education program focused on research and contributing to the educational field of discourse, …

Educators In The Time Of Covid: Metamorphosis Of A Profession And Of A People, Sara Abi Villanueva, Brett S. Nickerson, Mayra A. Garcia, Claire Murillo, Regina J. Bustillos, Qiana S. O’Leary

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

The following is a collection of reflections written by six educators ranging from K–Higher Education. In this feature, these educators share their experiences of living and educating during the 2020–2021 COVID-19 pandemic. Once compartmentalized and only used when needed, their separate roles and identities had to merge to meet educator, spousal, and parental demands. The first text by Brett Nickerson shows how his life as husband and father collided with his profession as an assistant professor at a university when his wife, a dedicated nurse, was called to help others in need. The second testimonial is by Mayra Garcia, a …

Teacher Leadership In The Context Of Chinese Education, Chudi Zhou, Qian Yang, Ying Dong, Xiaoying Wang

Dissertations

In response to addressing the increasing requirements to enhance the competencies of students and teachers, as well as the quality of schools in the global environment, the need for fostering teacher leadership has been proposed by many scholars and practitioners. School context is regarded as an important influence on the successful development of teacher leadership. While many studies related to teacher leadership have been reported in Western countries, a limited number of studies have been reported within the Chinese educational context. We also observed that among the limited studies, there was a lack of empirical research on how schools provide …

Stem Major Perceptions And Persistence To Teacher Certification, Chrissy Cross Ph.D., Keith Hubbard, Dennis A. Gravatt, Lesa Beverly

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

In this qualitative research study, researchers from a rural regional university in Texas examined the perceptions of STEM teaching and persistence to STEM teacher certification in a group of STEM majors participating in a hybrid recruitment and early intense field experience. The findings from this study indicate that the hybrid recruitment and early field experience influences the desire of the STEM majors to persist to teacher certification and influences the accuracy of their perceptions regarding STEM teaching and general perceptions of teaching as a career.