In the past 15-20 years, contemplative practices, designed to cultivate present-moment awareness, have become more common in K-12 educational settings with some growth in higher education contexts seeking to reorient around teaching the "whole student". In response to calls that have also emerged in higher education to advance social…

The purpose of this current explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to explore the perceived abilities of teaching critical thinking as reported by teachers and the actual lived experiences of classroom teachers within the elementary classroom. Kindergarten through fourth grade elementary teachers completed the Critical Thinking in the…

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore how HESA graduate students? conceptions of critical consciousness transform and evolve during a diversity course and the pedagogical practices that foster consciousness-raising. Each of the twelve participants completed two semi-structured interviews and three journal prompts. Using a case study…

This qualitative action research study examines how middle and high school STEM teachers create and implement lessons that connect concepts to the real-world and develop student metacognition. The researcher collected data through interviews, focus groups, document analysis, and survey questions. Participants from vocational, private, and…

This action research study emerged in response to students' struggle to understand what critical thinking is and teachers' corresponding struggle to develop students' critical thinking skills. In my role as an instructional designer, I studied student and teacher reactions to interdisciplinary course design that used disciplinary inquiry,…

This qualitative descriptive study explored how undergraduate dance students describe somatic experiences in dance technique classes and their influence on their critical thinking, feelings of empowerment, and dance technique at a private southwest university. The theoretical foundation for the study was critical pedagogy. Using critical pedagogy,…

The problem addressed by this proposed study is that nontraditional African-American female college students in the United States experience more underlying issues with balancing the demands of work, school, and life than their non-minority peers. The proposed quantitative, correlational study investigated if and to what extent a relationship…

In the complex world of the workplace, change becomes a constant. This requires that adults can regularly adapt to this change, particularly as technology encroaches on the definition of work and alters the description of their work and, ultimately, their jobs. This adaptation also alters how employed adults learn about their jobs and develop…

This study employed quantitative methods to analyze survey results related to the heutagogical learning preferences of undergraduate students in the United States. Heutagogy, an emerging theory focused on a self-determined and student-led approach, has shown positive benefits associated with 21st-century skills and high-level learning necessary to…

The study examined student utilization and application of learning strategies in college level online courses and the context was a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in the Southwest. Even though online courses continue to grow at a steady pace, few research studies have taken the task to analyze the utilization of learning strategies and their…

Since 2013, the Notice and Note signposts have become an increasingly popular method of teaching close reading strategies, yet little research has been conducted to evaluate whether the signposts are more or less effective in improving reading comprehension and critical thinking skills than other close reading methods. The study attempted to…

Universities claim that improved critical thinking ability is an educational outcome for their graduates, but they seldom create a path for students to achieve that outcome. In this practitioner action research study, the author created a job aid, entitled "Critical Thinking as a Differentiator for Distinguished Performance," to help…

Teachers have been tackling the best approaches to teaching reading comprehension for decades. The classroom teacher becomes a vital component in improving the critical thinking students must develop within academic settings. Fostering the development of the metacognitive processes needed to support students' ability to think critically and…

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory single case study was to examine how online undergraduate full-time faculty perceived the influence of their instructional feedback practices on their reflective thinking, and hence, their instructional strategy at a southwestern higher educational institution. The theory that provided the foundation for…

The purpose of this study was to explore how third grade students experience challenging tasks. The study utilized a phenomenological approach to allow the researcher to understand lived experiences of the participants. Grade three was chosen because it is a pivotal year in education in which students move from learning skills to using skills for…