Globalization, technology, labor market demands and economic growth have created the need for a skilled workforce. Community colleges serve as a pivotal player in the fight to meet workforce development needs through their offerings of Career Technical Education (CTE) courses. So doing, community colleges play a key role as a developer of human…

Currently, educational games are designed with the educational content as the primary factor driving the design of the game. While this may seem to be the optimal approach, this design paradigm causes multiple issues. For one, the games themselves are often not engaging as game design principles were put aside in favor of increasing the…

Informed by Gagne's belief in the necessity of prerequisite knowledge for new learning, and Bruner's Spiral Curriculum Theory, the objective of this case study was to explore the postsecondary pathway from remedial mathematics, through one gateway mathematics course, and into the quantitative literacy requirements of various non-STEM programs of…

Simulation has been used in nursing education for many years in order to show students complex patients, allow practice of new skills without allowing actual harm to come to the patient, as well as being able to build up student confidence in abilities. The primary focus for this qualitative study was associate degree nursing faculty perceptions…

This dissertation uses the theoretical framework of Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) across three discrete articles to examine teaching and teacher education. CWS offers a mechanism to highlight and critique the ways Whiteness operates within teaching and teacher education. Across the pieces, I argue that Whiteness is both pervasive and shifting…

Public schools teachers in the U.S. strive to reach the needs of all students in the elementary classroom. However, teachers are increasingly expected to follow standardized curriculum. Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris, 2012) pushes toward individualized educational practices and against the assimilationism embedded in standardization. This…

This dissertation examines the use of dialogic discussion to improve young adolescents' ability to critically evaluate web sites. An intervention unit comprised three iterations of an instructional cycle in which students independently annotated web sites about controversial issues and discussed the reliability of those sites in dialogic…

This study determined if factors such as teaching in a charter or traditional public school, gender, years of experience, or teaching a subject assessed by TNReady--Tennessee's high-stakes test--affected burnout among teachers in Memphis, Tennessee. A quantitative cross-sectional design was employed, and data were collected through the…

Socioscientific issues (SSIs) are used to guide science instruction by presenting scientific real-world problems as multifaceted, consisting of social as well as scientific components that must be considered when constructing solutions to the issues. Using SSIs in classrooms can support students in developing scientific literacy by enhancing their…

Mathematics educators have long been interested in teachers' beliefs about mathematics. Researchers have connected teachers' beliefs with their practices, providing a sound reason for the examination of beliefs of preservice teachers. Unfortunately, researchers have also documented that many elementary preservice teachers have negative attitudes…

Recently, there have been many calls for an increase in instruction on the nature of science (NOS) in schools (i.e. NRC, 1996; NGSS Lead States, 2013). These calls recognize the importance of this topic at all levels of science education, but there is little guidance in terms of how to address it effectively in curricula. Similarly, there have…

Career academies are small learning communities that allow high school students to learn their core content in the context of the career field they may be interested in pursuing. This type of learning environment incorporates business and industry and postsecondary institutions so academy students receive academic curricula that prepares them for…

Educators are faced with the challenge of teaching an ever-changing student population. The classrooms are filled with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and cultures. English Language Learners account for 12% of our student population (Garcia, Jensen, & Scribner, 2009). Providing English Language Learners with…

This evaluative study examined the theory-practice gap between MBA graduate school curricula and business practice in marketing. The findings show that both the practice of marketing and the MBA marketing curricula have been disrupted by pervasiveness of data and information technology requiring changes in how the work is accomplished and how…

The field of distance learning has changed dramatically from the early correspondence courses to the more modern online learning environment. It is necessary to investigate the critical population of students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) who are participating in blended learning course due to the rapid increase in use of online…