Scholarly Works, School of Education
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Browsing Scholarly Works, School of Education by Content Type "Article - Refereed"
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- Academic and social integration in cyberspace: Students and e-mailGatz, L. B.; Hirt, Joan B. (Johns Hopkins Univ Press, 2000)Academic and social integration have traditionally been measured through interactions between students and the college environment (e.g., contact with faculty and other students outside of class). The proliferation of technology in the academy has influenced such interactions. This study examined how traditional-age, residential, first-year students use e-mail and Found that, although students use e-mail extensively, only a limited amount of that correspondence enhances their academic or social integration.
- Adapting Pink Time to promote self-regulated learning across course and student typesBaird, Timothy D.; Kniola, David J.; Hartter, Joel; Carlson, Kimberly; Rogers, Sarah; Russell, Don; Tise, Joseph (2020)To explore new opportunities to promote self-regulated learning (SRL) across a variety of contexts, this study applies a novel assignment called Pink Time in seven different courses at two universities. The assignment asks students to “skip class, do anything you want, and give yourself a grade.” In each case, instructors adapted Pink Time to fit the needs of their course. Altogether, 165 students completed 270 self-directed projects and self-assessments targeting five component behaviors of SRL. Findings show that: (1) students were more likely to perceive success in certain behaviors of SRL than in others; (2) students’ perceptions across courses were similar for some behaviors but not others; and (3) subsequent iterations of the assignment supported higher perceived measures of some SRL behaviors but not others. Together these findings illustrate the value and flexibility of this progressive assignment as well as persistent challenges in supporting students’ SRL.
- Advocating for Use of Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) As a Contribution to Curriculum Decolonization and Expansion of Access to Higher Education in AfricaMukuni, Joseph Siloka; Mukuni, Candido; Asante, Douglas; Mukuni, Kizito (STSL Press)The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach to the application of IDT theory and practice to history pedagogies suitable for face-to-face (F2F) and non-F2-F teaching/learning interactions, including teaching by inquiry, cooperative learning, lecture-discussion, and reflection. The paper also proposes systemic innovations that must be made to sustain IDT in Africa’s institutions of higher learning.
- Agriscience Teacher Professional Development Focused on Teaching STEM Principles in the Floriculture CurriculumFerand, Natalie K.; DiBenedetto, Catherine A.; Thoron, Andrew C.; Myers, Brian E. (2020)Agriscience teachers help support the mission of the American Floral Endowment to inspire people to pursue careers working with plants by providing curricula related to ornamental horticulture. Nevertheless, an overall understanding of how the horticulture industry is connected to the studies of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has left a shortage of skilled professionals. A professional development program was designed to provide agriscience teachers with experiences focused on STEM concepts taught in horticulture and floriculture curricula. The Science Teaching Efficacy Belief (STEB) instrument was used before and after the three days of content specific inquiry-based instruction to determine participants’ perceptions of their performance pre, post, and post-post. While teachers showed growth in their mean scores for the Science Teaching Outcome Expectancy (STOE) and Personal Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs (PSTEB) constructs of the STEB between all three testing periods, no significant difference was found across the period-of-time. It is recommended that teacher educators consider how to create professional development experiences for agriscience teachers that target content to positively impact teacher self-efficacy. Further, it is recommended that professional development opportunities contain follow-up communication to determine whether teachers utilize curricular resources and ascertain how the teacher’s new knowledge is transferred to inform instructional change. The final recommendation is to measure student learning outcomes as a result of content-specific teacher professional development.
- Amazon Alexa Skills as a Novel Modality for In-service Professional Micro-Development (WiP)Robins, Andey; Hunt, Tiffany; Robertson, Dana A.; Carter, Richard (ACM, 2022-06-01)Intelligent digital assistants, such as products like Amazon’s Alexa, are becoming more prolific and available as time progresses. This work reports on the process of developing applications, refered to by Alexa as ’skills,’ to support in-service professional development for teachers. The precedent of allowing Alexa to be utilized within the classroom, but not necessarily for teachers’ skill development, is explored to contextualize the application of the technology as a professional development modality. Across the entire content development spectrum – spanning script writing to deployment and release – lessons are presented from experience to assist future teams embarking on the process in the hopes they are able to avoid repeating the problems encountered by this research team. Finally, a general discussion relating to the future of intelligent digital assistants and their applications to professional development is presented with the intent of provoking discussion and setting the stage for more rigorous investigations into the usability, efficacy, and results of this technology.
- Analysis of scores on content categories I-V from the School Leaders Licensure Assessment and sub-scores on the student internship self-assessmentKelly, Michael D. (2013-10-01)This study compares School Leaders Licensure Assessment (SLLA) sub-scores with principal interns’ self-assessment sub-scores (ISA) for a principal internship evaluation instrument in one educational leadership graduate program. The results of the study will be used to help establish the effectiveness of the current principal internship program, performance on the School Leaders Licensure Assessment, and provide suggestions for program improvement. The researcher compared the sub-scores for the multiple choice section of the SLLA with sub-scores from the university’s principal interns’ self-assessments to look for correlations between the two data sets. The results indicated a positive correlation in two areas of the study.
- Analysis of the Reliability and Validity of a Mentor’s Assessment for Principal InternsKelly, Michael D. (2014-10-01)In this study, researchers analyzed the reliability and validity of the mentor’s assessment for principal internships at a university in the Southeast region of the United States. The results of the study yielded how trustworthy and dependable the instrument is and the effectiveness of the instrument in the current principal preparation program. Study results were analyzed using reliability requirements for instruments utilized in obtaining national accreditation and to provide suggestions for program improvement. The instrument was reviewed by a panel of experts from areas outside of the research population to establish content and face validity. Internal consistency and reliability were measured using Cronbach’s alpha. A total of 229 candidate internship scores were used. The reliability test resulted in an overall alpha of .949. The results obtained in this study indicate the instrument has a very high level of validity as well as reliability.
- ARCritique: Supporting Remote Design Critique of Physical Artifacts through Collaborative Augmented RealityLi, Yuan; Lee, Sang Won; Bowman, Douglas A.; Hicks, David; Lages, Wallace S.; Sharma, Akshay (ACM, 2022-12-01)Critique sessions are an essential educational activity at the center of many design disciplines, especially those involving the creation of physical mockups. Conventional approaches often require the students and the instructor to be in the same space to jointly view and discuss physical artifacts. However, in remote learning contexts, available tools (such as videoconferencing) are insufficient due to ineffective, inefficient spatial referencing. This paper presents ARCritique, a mobile Augmented Reality application that allows users to 1) scan physical artifacts, generate corresponding 3D models, and share them with distant instructors; 2) view the model simultaneously in a synchronized virtual environment with remote collaborators; and 3) point to and draw on the model synchronously to aid communication. We evaluated ARCritique with seven Industrial Design students and three faculty to use the app in a remote critique setting. The results suggest that direct support for spatial communication improves collaborative experiences.
- Bearing the Burden: Rural implications of licensed professionals' exclusion from MedicareFullen, Matthew C.; Wiley, Jonathan D.; Morgan, Amy A. (2019)Medicare beneficiaries are unable to access mental health services provided by some licensed master’s-level clinicians, including licensed professional counselors (LPCs). Provider shortages in rural localities, combined with Medicare policy exclusion of these licensed mental health professionals, exacerbates rural mental health care access disparities. Very little is known about the impact of LPC exclusion from Medicare on rural beneficiaries. This study explored the lived experiences of mental health professionals who have turned away clients because of their Medicare-ineligible provider status. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed as a qualitative form of inquiry to guide the research design, participant recruitment, data collection, and analysis. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 9 Medicare-ineligible mental health professionals from a single, Mid-Atlantic state in the United States who have turned away clients because of their Medicare-ineligible provider status. Evidence from rural and nonrural practitioners highlighted the contextual implications of Medicare provider exclusion on rural beneficiaries. One superordinate theme, undue burden, is described through three emergent themes from the interview data: geographical disparities, intersectional hardships, and practice constraints. The results suggest that current Medicare provider regulations may create disparities of mental health care availability and accessibility for Medicare beneficiaries from rural communities. The qualitative evidence of this study describes systemic and proximal factors that result in unexpected termination, deterred help-seeking behavior, and untimely treatment for older adults and disabled clients within rural mental health care settings.
- Beyond Virtual Equality: Liberatory Consciousness as a Path to Achieve Trans* Inclusion in Higher EducationCatalano, D. Chase J. (Routledge, 2015-07-03)Trans∗ men have not, as yet, received specific research attention in higher education. Based on intensive interviews with 25 trans∗ men enrolled in colleges or universities in New England, I explore their experiences in higher education. I analyze participants’ descriptions of supports and challenges in their collegiate environments, as well as advice they offer to other trans∗ men in college. I offer liberatory consciousness as a model that higher education staff and faculty can use to attend to the needs for trans∗ men’s inclusion in higher education.
- Black doctoral women: Exploring barriers and facilitators of success in graduate educationPatterson-Stephens, Shawna; Lane, Tonisha B.; Vital, Louise Michelle (2017-05-01)The purpose of this phenomenological study was to expand upon extant research and uncover trends observed among Black women who are in pursuit of – or have recently attained – their doctoral degrees within the United States. Exploring the voices of seven women, findings revealed three primary themes: (1) socialization experiences, (2) student success, and (3) challenges. Implications for students, administrators, and faculty are provided.
- Building a Community of Practice in the Workplace: A Case Study at a University Information Technology Call CenterZhang, Qing; Lockee, Barbara B. (IGI Global, 2022)This study adopts Wenger's (1998) community of practice (CoP) framework to understand the relationships and professional learning community formed at an information technology call center at a large research university in the United States. Forming CoP in the workplace can facilitate organizational knowledge sharing and improve employee performance. In this study, 14 indicators are used to investigate the phenomena of a community of practice at an IT call center. Data on key features of a community of practice was collected from multiple sources, including on-site observations, surveys, interviews, and documents and artifacts. A social network analysis was performed to reveal the connections among employees at the IT call center. The findings indicate that a community of practice was formed at the IT call center based on the Wenger's CoP indicators. These determining features can be used to evaluate the successful adoption of a community of practice within an organization as a means to enhance informal workplace learning and facilitate professional development.
- Calculus eligibility as an at-risk predictor for degree completion in undergraduate engineeringBowen, Bradley D.; Hall, R. A.; Ernst, Jeremy V. (2017-12-03)Academic readiness and its association with retention and success in engineering has been an ongoing topic of discussion in higher education. These discussions largely stem from the problematic persistence rates that many colleges and schools of engineering encounter. The ability to retain students in engineering until degree completion has a large research base, although, studies over time report a variety of factors that contribute to a student’s success in engineering. Many address the entry point or readiness for university mathematics courses as the critical variable, however, few rely on empirical evidences. This study specifically examines engineering degree completion of calculus eligible students compared to non-eligible calculus students upon acceptance into a College of Engineering as a first-semester freshman. A 10-year span of University student engineering admission and completion data was accessed and analyzed in efforts to provide distinguishing qualities in student preparedness as they pertain to calculus eligibility as a differentiator. The results of this study show a statistically significant difference in the rate of degree completion for these two groups of students. This paper discusses the methodology and results for how being calculus eligible as the first math course taken in an engineering program impacts a student’s ability to complete the engineering degree.
- Career and Technical Education: Academic Achievement and Graduation Rates of Students in the Commonwealth of VirginiaBlowe, Eleanor Hearst; Price, Ted S. (SAGE Publications, 2012-07-23)The No Child Left Behind legislation was signed into law to ensure children in the United States receive quality education and learn the skills needed to be successful. Career and technical education (CTE) is not mentioned in the legislation, which suggests that more CTE courses may be dropped from high school master schedules, which makes the topic a concern for educational leaders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the academic performance of CTE completers and non-CTE completers in the Commonwealth of Virginia on the standards of learning English reading and mathematics assessments as well as cohort graduation rates. Findings indicate that statistically ( p < .05), CTE completers had higher mathematics and Grade 11 English reading pass rates as well as higher cohort graduation rates than those of non-CTE completers.
- Chinese Students’ Perceptions of the Motivational Climate in College English Courses: Relationships Between Course Perceptions, Engagement, and AchievementLi, Ming; Jones, Brett D.; Williams, Thomas O.; Guo, Yingjian (Frontiers Media, 2022-05-23)Effective teachers create a motivational climate that engages students in course activities in ways that lead to increased learning and achievement. Although researchers have identified motivational climate variables that are associated with students’ engagement and achievement, less is known about how these variables are related in different courses and cultures. The purpose of the two studies presented in this paper was to contribute to this research literature by examining these associations within the context of college English courses in two Chinese universities. Specifically, we investigated the relationships between students’ perceptions of the motivational climate (i.e., perceptions of empowerment/autonomy, usefulness, success, interest, and caring), cognitive and behavioral engagement, and achievement. This is the first study to examine the connections between all of these variables in one path model in college English courses in China. We administered surveys at two different Chinese universities (n = 332 and 259) and used regression and path analysis to examine the relationships among the variables. We demonstrated that (a) students’ perceptions of the motivational climate were related to their cognitive engagement, (b) cognitive engagement was related to their behavioral engagement, and (c) behavioral engagement predicted their achievement. These findings are consistent with and extend the growing body of literature on motivational climate and engagement, and they highlight the importance of some motivational climate perceptions over others as significant predictors of cognitive engagement. We conclude that effective English language teachers in China do the following: help students to believe that they can be successful, trigger and maintain students’ interest, and empower students by providing them with choices in activities and assignments.
- Cognitive profiles in bipolar I disorder and associated risk factors: Using Wechsler adult intelligence scale-IVKo, Hayoung; Park, DongYeon; Shin, Jaehyun; Yu, Rina; Ryu, Vin; Lee, Wonhye (Frontiers, 2022-10)Background: Despite the growing evidence of cognitive impairments in bipolar disorder (BD), little work has evaluated cognitive performances utilizing the latest version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV), which is one of the most widely used neurocognitive assessments in clinical settings. Furthermore, clinical characteristics or demographic features that negatively affect the cognitive functioning of BD were not systematically compared or evaluated. Accordingly, the present study aimed to examine the cognitive profile of bipolar I disorder (BD-I) patients and associated risk factors. Methods: Participants included 45 patients, diagnosed with BD-I, current or most recent episode manic, and matching 46 healthy controls (HC). Cognitive performance was evaluated via WAIS-IV, and clinical characteristics of the BD-I group were examined via multiple self- and clinician-report questionnaires. Results: Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) results indicated that the BD-I group demonstrated significantly poorer performance compared to the HC group in subtests and indexes that reflect working memory and processing speed abilities. Redundancy analysis revealed that overall symptom severity, manic symptom severity, and anxiety were significant predictors of cognitive performance in BD-I, while age of onset, past mood disorder history, depression severity, and impulsiveness showed comparatively smaller predictive values. Conclusion: The current study suggests cognitive deterioration in the cognitive proficiency area while generalized ability, including verbal comprehension and most of the perceptual reasoning skills, remain intact in BD-I. The identified risk factors of cognitive performance provide specific clinical recommendations for intervention and clinical decision-making.
- A Comparative Study of the Cognitive Function of the Hearing-Impaired and Non-Hearing Impaired in Two Primary Schools in Lagos State, NigeriaObilade, Titilola T. (2015)Background: The study was carried out in two primary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria using 302 respondents aged 6-20 years. The study compared the cognitive function of pupils from Wesley School for the hearing-impaired with pupils from Onitolo Primary School, a main stream public school to see if similarities or differences existed in their cognitive function and to highlight the factors determining their performance on a standard non-verbal test. Method: The instrument of data collection was the Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices, a standard, non-verbal intelligence test. Statistical association using Chi-Square was used to test for associations between categorical variables. Kruskal-Wallis was used to test for association in variables that were not normally distributed. Regression Coefficient was used to examine linear relationships between selected independent variables and the scores on the standardized test. As it was impossible to individually match human subjects in this study, the variables of class, sex, age and parents’ occupations were adjusted for matching by multiple regression analysis. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine which variables were significant predictors of performance taking possible confounders into consideration. Results: Respondents from Wesley School were much older than respondents from the public main-stream school, class for class. There was no statistically significant difference in their cognitive functions. The mean score difference between the two schools was 0.54 with respondents from Wesley School scoring higher (P > 0.05). Age, sex and class in primary school were determinants of score (P < 0.05). Males scored higher than females. Respondents of skilled parents had the highest scores. There was no relationship between the time the child became hearing-impaired and their scores (P > 0.05). The mean score difference between children that became hearing-impaired by their first year of life and children that became hearing-impaired after the first year of life was 1.83 (P > 0.05). The children that became hearing-impaired before their first year of life scored higher (P > 0.05) than those that became hearing-impaired after their first year of life. Conclusion: There was no statistically significant difference in the cognitive functions between the hearing-impaired and the non-hearing- impaired pupils. Age, sex and class were determinants of score (P < 0.05). In Nigeria, children that are hearing-impaired should be given equal opportunities especially in education.
- Comparing career awareness opportunities of academically at-risk and non at-risk freshman engineering studentsErnst, Jeremy V.; Bowen, Bradley D. (2014-05-01)This study explored how freshman engineering students utilized career awareness developmental opportunities prior to entry into post-secondary academics. Specifically, the study delved into separations and distinctions among students at-risk of non-continuation due to matriculation concerns and students non at-risk. Founded on the amended arrangement of Nasta’s (2007) Career Exploration Survey-Revised instrument, singular factors were studied through hypotheses targeting of career awareness behaviors among at-risk and non at-risk subgroups. The results show there are possible contradictions to commonly accepted beliefs about career awareness between at-risk and non at-risk students. Several deductions, considerations, and implications are highlighted based upon the findings of the study.
- Comparing successful aging, resilience, and holistic wellness as predictors of the good lifeFullen, Matthew C.; Richardson, Virginia E.; Granello, Darcy Haag (Taylor & Francis, 2018-01-01)
- Comparing traditional versus alternative sequencing of instruction when using simulation modelingBowen, Bradley D.; DeLuca, V. William (2015-01-01)