Effective collaboration and the development of collective efficacy are understood to have considerable influence on students' learning, with research showing that the presence of collective efficacy among educators is the strategy with the most potential to positively affect student achievement. Yet this strategy is rarely found implemented in…

Experiential learning is not a new concept to education. Experiential learning continues to empower learners to construct knowledge through the exploration of activities based on their physical and social environment, as well as individual's inner world and intuition. In this age of extreme climate change and environmental concerns, one important…

Project based learning (PBL), a well-known pedagogical approach, is becoming more widely recognized for creating and sustaining student engagement and motivation in 21st-century learning while improving academic achievement. Teachers support this hands-on, collaborative approach and see it as beneficial for students of all learning modalities, but…

The COVID-19 global pandemic created unprecedented change on how teachers were expected to adapt/pivot/change their instructional practices. The purpose of this study is to examine teacher experiences and their perceptions of change to their classroom instruction due to the pandemic. For many teachers, this was their first experience with online…

Low performing schools remain an issue within Louisiana. The problem addressed by this study was low student performance in underperforming schools due to lack of understanding in pedagogy by teachers. The use of master teachers as instructional coaches is one way this school district sought to improve student achievement. The purpose of this…

This case study involves one public school in a suburb of a major metropolitan area, focusing on one classroom of first grade students selected from a pool of volunteer classrooms. The first grade class of students, during their regular mathematics instruction, were given three tasks by their teachers designed to elicit a productive struggle…

The purpose of this comparative case study analysis was to examine the experiences and perceptions of collegiate professors /faculty on instructional integration of social media. Taking into consideration of affordances of social media, benefits and challenges of using social media in instruction and the activities embedded social media are the…

In this dissertation, I argue that the entrepreneurship education literature might be undersocialized in its understanding of how entrepreneurship education programs (EEPs) impact entrepreneurial outcomes. I contend that this organizational context and the pedagogical approaches undertaken can arguably facilitate not only the development of…

Over the past thirty years, research on teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) has developed and grown in popularity as an area of focus for improving mathematics teaching and students' learning. Many scholars have investigated types of knowledge teachers use when teaching and the relationship between teacher knowledge and student…

This multiple case study sought to examine the individual experiences of three different teachers' experiences with learning about and using project-based learning in their elementary classrooms. The following factors influencing teachers' instructional decision making were used: teacher knowledge, teacher pedagogical beliefs, teacher…

An ever-changing healthcare landscape requires today's nurses to have a solid foundation in knowledge and clinical judgment to provide safe care to patients. Nurse educators must implement teaching strategies that help develop the knowledge and clinical judgment that nursing students will need upon graduation and entry into healthcare.…

Facilitating productive mathematical discussions is considered a core practice of mathematics education. The complexity of this teaching practice presents the need for pedagogical tools to provide structure for preservice teachers (PST) developing their practice, yet little is known about "how" PSTs use these tools. This multiple case…

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education systems across the world. High school Career and Technical Education (CTE) health science programs that rely on experiential learning activities for successful outcomes took a severe hit. Experiential learning opportunities such as internships, field experiences, and clinical rotations did not occur, and…

While zinc (Zn[superscript 2+]) is a vital ion for cell function and human health, we are still learning about how Zn[superscript 2+] concentration and localization is regulated and the role that Zn[superscript 2+] fluctuations may play in regulating cell signaling and cell fate. Here, we use fluorescent tools to study the interaction between…

Project-based (PBL) learning has been found to improve student achievement, engagement, and interpersonal and intrapersonal skills; however, it is not widely implemented in K-12 schools in the United States. Prior research has established several barriers and challenges to implementing PBL in K-12 schools including challenges related to teacher…