The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the relationship between secondary English learner students' perspectives of effective teacher practices and how these practices contribute to their self-efficacy in the content area of social studies. As reported by the National Association of Education Progress secondary English learners…

The purpose of this dissertation was to study perceptions of faculty and administrators at institutions of higher education on copyright ownership of faculty-created digital course content. The central question for this study was: Who had copyright ownership rights of faculty-created digital content and in what manner was copyright ownership…

A growing phenomenon in higher education is the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). MOOCs have garnered increasing attention over the past several years, spurring curiosity, controversy, and debate. While some aspects of MOOCs, such as participant experience and improvement of the online learning environment, have been covered extensively, other…

We used an "approach to learning" theoretical framework to explicate the ways students engage in scientific modeling. Approach to learning theory suggests that when students approach learning deeply, they link science concepts with prior knowledge and experiences. Conversely, when students engage in a surface approach to learning, they…

High-stakes testing policies have reduced elementary-level instructional time for untested subjects, raising questions about the extent to which students' content knowledge in social studies has been compromised. This research project compared social studies assessment performance of two student cohorts from the same school district, one required…

Education needs have shifted from a focus on static skills to the ability to continuously learn in a dynamic environment as information technology rapidly transforms the workplace and classrooms. High schools are searching for instructional practices that will close the achievement gap as well as meet the challenge of ensuring that students are…

Despite its rich history in the English classroom, popular culture still does not have a strong foothold in first-year composition (FYC). Some stakeholders view popular culture as a "low-brow" topic of study (Bradbury, 2011), while others believe popular culture distracts students from learning about composition (Adler-Kassner, 2012).…

Political division in the United States is the subject of much analysis in the fields of political science and psychology. While political partisanship looms large over discussions of the national political climate's influence on schools and classrooms, very little work exists that directly examines the effects of high school students' political…

This qualitative study, situated within a critical theory frame (Friere, 1970; Grant, Brown, & Brown, 2016; hooks, 1994; Kincheloe, 2008), explored the ways elementary students engaged in and constructed meaning from critical classroom discussions exploring inequities and injustices as related to gender and race. The questions guiding the…

Finding ways to help nursing students understand the application of didactic content can be challenging for faculty. One challenge faculty face is motivating students with thought provoking and memorable content using traditional methods. Educational games and gaming attributes have been shown to affect student motivation and support learning. The…

Diversity studies are common in higher education today. However, these often only include ethnicity and gender issues. This research focused on intellectual diversity and uses the controversial writer and philosopher, Ayn Rand, as an illustration of the issues facing intellectual diversity in higher education today. The purpose of this study is to…

This three-article dissertation specifically examines one challenging element of teaching history to young children: the representation of historical violence and adversity, using fourth grade curriculum and instruction surrounding the topic of Spanish colonization of California as a case study. This era, known as the Spanish mission period in…

Many international higher education students do not study in their native languages. Unlike their peers who would only worry about the content of the course, they also struggle with the difficulties of the language of instruction. Flipped classrooms, providing students with the learning materials prior to the class, may assist in alleviating the…

The use of literary criticism has served to provide different lenses to analyze, evaluate, and interpret the content and context of the written text in all its forms and varieties, especially in children's and young adult (YA) literature. This study was aimed at analyzing the way in which "Feminist Criticism" may be applied to young…

This exploratory mixed method convergent parallel study examined Connecticut Educational leadership preparation programs for the existence of mental health content to learn the extent to which pre-service school leaders are prepared for addressing student mental health. Interviews were conducted with school mental health experts and Connecticut…