A common assumption in the educational literature is that novice teachers can learn and develop over the course of their career. Yet there remain questions about this process: Do teachers continually refine their ideas in a linear fashion or are they selective -- filtering assorted influences from across their experience to address specific…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how online faculty describe their teaching resources and demands, their perceived readiness to teach in a CBE instructional setting, and their recommendations for training resources to meet their actual teaching demands in online CBE university programs in the United States. Little…

Logarithms, pivotal in advanced mathematics and real-world applications, often present challenges to students who resort to rote memorization without grasping their essence. While the emotional dimensions of learning mathematics are increasingly recognized, research in this area remains limited. This dissertation addresses this gap by examining a…

The purpose of the study was to explore global competence-based pedagogy in higher education. Under the umbrella of cultural capital theory and internationalization framework, a systematic literature review analyzed and synthesized 26 empirical studies pertaining to global competence education in postsecondary education from 2013 to 2022. The…

Literature demonstrates that threats and attacks on computer systems and networks have been around since the beginning of computing, and the number, severity, sophistication, and costs of attacks and data breaches are continuing to grow. Several studies suggest that one of the most common causes of data breaches is insecure web applications that…

In 2011, the state of Maine introduced a statute that required all diplomas to be awarded on the basis of proficiency by 2017. During this period of time, school districts moved to incorporate Proficiency-based Education (PBE) systems of instruction and learning. This prompted educators to bring clarity to standards, assessment, and grading…

The cost of a college degree has caused students, higher education institutions, and government representatives to investigate alternative education designs that are advertised as cheaper, more flexible, and based on skills rather than classroom seat time. Students question the rising cost of tuition, increased time to degree completion, and the…

Competency-based education (CBE) saw a significant rise in adoption in the last decade, mainly in response to the many deficiencies of the traditional credit hour system in measuring higher education students' learning. Nevertheless, despite the many advantages CBE can offer, educators noted several design-related gaps in how the model addresses…

Dissatisfaction with the current state of the nation's public schools continues to reveal itself through repeated efforts to transform the traditional, long-standing core elements known as the "grammar of schooling" (Tyack & Tobin, 1994). Generational rhetoric on the failed state of traditional public education and a drive for…

There is a growing demand for online education; however, online programs yield consistently lower student retention rates and student success. Students in online programs are typically nontraditional students from underrepresented populations in higher education. The purpose of this nonexperimental quantitative study was to determine whether…

This dissertation consists of three papers on education policy. In each paper, I use applied econometric methods and descriptive quantitative analysis to examine topics related to teacher labor markets and postsecondary attainment. The first paper leverages a rich student-teacher-day data set to study the relationship between daily teacher…

Global competency-based modules are relatively new in higher education. As a way to measure global competency the USF Global Competency Test (GCT) modules objectively measure global competencies for individuals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of three global competency-based program modules and undergraduate student…

This qualitative case study aims to better understand the institutional impacts of implementing Competency-Based Education (CBE) at a large, multi-campus community college through the perspectives of college staff and administration and non-academic units. Recent United States Presidential Administrations have put community colleges at the…

Most grading done at high schools in the United States results in a single grade for a single class on a report card or transcript. A single number or letter lacks context and cannot effectively communicate a student's proficiency in content or skills. Altering or expanding a school's grading scheme may originate at the district or school level,…

Ethical decision-making and ethical behavior are an essential focus of training for students who wish to pursue careers in behavior analysis. In addition to education and training mandates by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, universities that offer a Verified Course Sequence are required to teach and maintain ethical behavior in students.…