This qualitative study explores the experiences of low income women undergraduates in a community college classroom anchored in decolonial feminist pedagogy. Analyses of in-depth interviews, student writings, and questionnaires are offered to further understanding of the impact of decolonial feminist pedagogy on the experiences and learning…

In writing classrooms, peer review has been shown to have numerous practical and cognitive benefits. However, little research has been done that examines how different types of peer feedback motivate adolescent students and the effects that different types of feedback have on writing quality. While the literature has indicated that peers give each…

This dissertation study examines new strategies for building a critical, liberatory curriculum in Developmental Writing (DW) courses. It addresses the research question: "What benefits will students demonstrate and describe when experiencing a critical asset-based curriculum, and what would a specific course lesson look like that reflects…

This action research used a qualitative comparative analysis approach to explore the use of asynchronous video communication during online peer review activities in the discussion board of an undergraduate blended U.S. English composition course for non-native speakers. The purpose was to compare second language students' online communication…

Schools in the United States are witnessing a rich ethnic and linguistic diversity in their student corpus. Languages spoken by these children vary from state to state; however, Spanish is the second language most spoken after English (Office of English Language Acquisition, 2015). As a nation, there is a tremendous potential for these students to…

This dissertation is an inquiry into the social experiences of first year international graduate students, and how those social experiences inform their academic writing development. Drawing from the sociocognitive perspective (Atkinson, 2002; Lantolf, 2000), this study recognizes that the university is social in nature, and language learning…

This research study focuses on how an aesthetic reading stance with dystopian literature can aid teens in the development of historical thinking skills. My research is based on ideas from Louise Rosenblatt's transactional theory and Sam Wineburg's concept and definition for historical thinking along with the UCLA Standards for Historical Thinking.…

Through a case study approach of a cohort of community college students at a single community college, the impact on success rates in composition courses was analyzed based on the sequence of completing an information literacy course. Two student cohorts were sampled based on completing an information literacy course prior to, or concurrently with…

This study examines the socio-emotional and cognitive impact of a three-month literacy centered humane education program on one second-grade classroom of socio-culturally and linguistically diverse children using a qualitative research design. Twenty-five children, ages 7-8 years, participated in a humane education program that focused on…

The dissertation paints a cultural-historical portrait of the New Criticism, a formalist school of twentieth-century literary criticism. My case study revisits the trajectory of this vital school of thought through a fine-grained textual comparison of critical essays produced by principal affiliates. Using "genre" as a guiding concept, I…

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the development and importance of fingerspelling among young Deaf children of Deaf parents for communication, learning about language, and pre-literacy in their natural home environment. The rationale was to examine how Deaf parents use fingerspelling with their young Deaf children during…

Research has consistently shown that community college students lack the necessary skills to achieve successful academic performance and are highly likely to drop out of their studies prior to degree attainment. Community colleges have introduced developmental courses to prepare students for their transition into college-level courses.…

Training writing center tutors to work collaboratively with students on their writing is a complex and challenging process. This practitioner action research uses critical discourse analysis (Gee, 2014a) to interrogate tutors' understandings of their work, as expressed in their written reflections on video-recorded tutoring sessions, to facilitate…

This study examined the functional relation between the use of a computer-based graphic organizer (CBGO) with embedded technology features and the improvements in the personal narrative writing by upper elementary students with high-incidence disabilities. In addition, this study explored the improvements in the students' digital literacy skills…

This qualitative study examined how National Board certified teachers (NBCTs) perceive the meaning of reflective teaching and how their perceptions compare to the literature on reflective thinking and teaching. The study included five participants who had completed the National Board certification process. Data collection included three…