To broaden participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education and continue building research capacity, this dissertation focuses on STEM professionals: those who take up education research later in their career and those who facilitate engagement in physics learning outside the formal classroom. Using agency,…

Extramural funding in the form of grants can be both blessings and burdens to faculty members and other principal investigators (PIs) in higher education and their institutions. This investigation explored workload issues related to grant funding, including principal investigator (PI) perceptions of the institutional support received for grants…

The following designed-based implementation research (DBIR) study explores the impacts of a research-practice partnership (RPP) on two fifth grade ELA teachers and the researcher as they engaged with the designing and implementation of two critical literacy pedagogy (CLP) units through the adaptation of mandated New York State Common Core (NYSCC)…

Investigating the nature of our conceptualizations of learning is a crucial step towards reducing the research-to-practice gap and developing strategies toward adoption of powerful practices in teaching and learning based on educational and Learning Sciences research. The purpose of this study was to develop robust characterizations of the…

This arts-based inquiry explores historical and contemporary configurations of state-sponsored transnational teachers, or those who teach overseas in programs that are financially and/or programmatically supported by their home government. In the U.S., some examples of state-sponsored transnational teaching programs include the Peace Corps, the…

St. Pierre (2015) suggested that researchers consider entering into research through an interest in, and a deep investigation of, a specific concept. Deleuze and Guattari (1994) maintained that a concept is a nebulous structure of a network of ideas that continuously remains unfolding. Therefore, researching a concept becomes an attempt at…

While higher education student populations have become more diverse, the faculty remains predominately white and male. The number of African American faculty receiving tenure is still drastically low. One source indicates that less than 6 percent of full-time faculty are African American at four-year institutions, and at higher ranking and small,…

This is one of the first major empirical studies on research faculty and administrative collaborations in the context of seed grant-based strategic international university partnerships (IUPs), designed as a multiple case study. The partnership at focus is between two large, comprehensive, public research universities in the US and the UK. This…

A teacher's work is to enhance their knowledge and skills of effective teaching while making sure that every students needs are met through their teaching practices. The Participatory Action Research (PAR) study examined the extent to which teachers changed their practices by engaging in culturally responsive practices with a Co-Practitioner…

Background: The Dogwood Mountain School System (DMSS) faces the challenge of trying to address the apparent drop-off of female student interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and increase female student interest and engagement in STEM. Purpose: The purpose of this action research study was to understand how individual…

A pervasive neoliberal doctrine is rapidly changing the landscape of higher education in the United States. Applying free-market ideology to the university sphere has created an environment in which faculty are expected to be expert researchers able to procure external funding as well as excellent teachers who produce students that strengthen the…

In this study, I examined the effect of stereotype threat on the math task performance among Black undergraduate women (N = 103). Similar to Davis et al. (2006), I explored if racial identity beliefs moderated test performance in the face of stereotype threat. Although there is growing research on stereotype threat, few stereotype threat studies…

This study examines the online information behaviors of experienced and novice family history researchers, though the lens of accuracy and an increasingly digital research and production environment. It presents a model of the information behaviors of family history researchers, as well as a literacies framework, which visualizes the skills and…

This developmental research aims to: (1) examine the developmental processes of the application called MagicSpells, a haptically-enhanced, digital, vocabulary acquisition application design for learners with dyslexia, (2) investigate the structure and design of the application, and (3) analyze the results of the reviews and usability tests…

This mixed-methods phenomenological action research study was conducted to mine meaning from the lived experiences of student-participants and a teacher-researcher engaged in Teaching as Producing™ (TAP). TAP is a novel pedagogical approach rooted in John Dewey's Theory of Experience. It aligns with experience-based learning models like…