This study employs a transcendental phenomenology case study approach to explore graduate student perspectives on multimodal assessments (MMAs) within an online environment. The primary objective is to understand how these students experience and perceive MMAs. To achieve this, semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect in-depth data…

There is increased interest in the competency-based education (CBE) learning modality, and higher education institutions (HEIs) in the United States are experiencing increased enrollment in courses and programs offered in this format (Nodine T. R., 2016). This learning modality creates an opportunity for students to progress through a course or…

Across five studies, this dissertation explores the thesis that children are sensitive to information about others' mental states and that this sensitivity scaffolds their learning in both the physical (Chapter 1) and social (Chapters 2 and 3) domain. Chapter 1 explores the interplay between the physical and mental world during visuospatial…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the implementation and teacher leadership of collaborative work in the era of hybrid and online learning necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic in a medium-sized suburban/rural high school in central Maine. In situations of intense challenge like this, collaborating with colleagues to produce new…

As literacy and reading evolve, it is important to identify and describe the strategies and skills used in constructing meaning. This study examines online multimodal reading (OMR) strategies: those used in constructing meaning from multimodal information sources (e.g., images, audio, written words) on the Internet. Participants read online…

Postmodern picturebooks do not follow the established norms of traditional picturebooks and instead invite readers to navigate nonlinear structures and attend to metafictive devices, including counterpoint and multiple narratives, experimental typography, nonlinearity, intertextuality, and ambiguities in meaning. These qualities challenge readers…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruption in education across the United States. Prior to the pandemic, students in third grade struggled with low reading proficiency, a difficulty that predicts persistent academic struggles, school dropout, and even delinquency. Districts in South Carolina and around the United States adapted to the…

The purpose of this study was to determine how preservice teachers are being taught to use digital technologies to create multimodal ensembles in teacher preparation programs. A hermeneutic content analysis with a partially mixed sequential equal status designed study was used during this research. The three data sources explored and examined for…

The purpose of this Action Research study was to understand and enhance the perceived efficacy of micro-credentialing and digital badging for K-12 educators within a large urban school district. Cycle 1 of this research engaged over 150 educators and included 14 semi-structured interviews, seeking to identify the primary reasons for engaging…

There is a strident body of empirical research evidence that Higher Education in Prison (HEP) has a direct impact on reducing recidivism. Additionally for participants, it also increases the economic mobility and employability post-release. However, the ability to conduct randomly controlled trials with a distal measurement of recidivism is…

The purpose of this study was to dive into one school district's different learning modality options during the pandemic and analyze their reading growth using the Northwest Evaluation Assessment Measures of Academic Progress (NWEA MAP) as a metric for comparison. The researcher looked at one school district's response to their community's needs…

The purpose of this study was to describe d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing (d/DHH) students' and an instructor's perceptions of "teaching presence" and "social presence" in online learning environment. A focus on education of underrepresented populations coupled with d/DHH student preference to take online courses creates a need for…

Twenty-first-century students require support beyond the traditional confines of public K-12 education. Students are arriving at the doors of schools with challenges outside of the learning environment that impact their ability to achieve academic success. This dissertation conducts a program evaluation of a multimodal intervention program at a…

How might teacher educators build a reflective and supportive community of practice with pre-service teachers? How might a visual (intermedia) journaling practice support critical and reflective thinking? How might an arts-based intermedia approach to analysis inform teacher educator pedagogical methods? These questions evolved and emerged…

Educators often inquire about the readability of books and other documents used in the classroom, with the idea that readability supports students' reading comprehension and growth. Documents used in classrooms tend to be language-based, so readability metrics have long focused on the complexity of language. However, such metrics are unsuitable…