Social and emotional learning has gained much leverage in special education discussion, but limited research has been conducted on the effectiveness of social and emotional programs addressing low engagement in self-contained classroom settings. This qualitative action research study examines the implementation of an evidence-based social and…

Limited research is available on student-athlete development and its effectiveness on the lives of student-athletes. In 1991, the NCAA created an optional program to further support the student-athletes: Challenging Athletes' Minds for Personal Success (CHAMPS/Life Skills Program). By creating this program, the NCAA admitted that student-athletes…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools in the United States and across the world were forced into rethinking their teaching approaches for the 2020-2021 school year. In the US, the hyflex model was adopted by many schools to serve the needs of both students in person and online simultaneously. Within this new challenge is the ongoing issue of lack…

This participatory action research (PAR) study examines the challenges and barriers experienced by African American male students enrolled in select trade programs at Wilson Community College, how those challenges and barriers impact the success rates of these students in gateway English and math courses required for their program, and what type…

Predominantly Black schools may struggle with ways to keep their students engaged. When Black students are not engaged in class, it could lead to low academic performance, which may reflect the lack of culturally relevant content in the curriculum. Student engagement is increasingly viewed as one of the keys to addressing problems such as low…

Student engagement has been at the forefront of education in all levels. From Pre-Kindergarten to Higher learning, the ways in which students attend during instruction and with tasks can be seen as an indicator of varying levels of student achievement and growth. The Corona Virus of 2019 opened up new questions when examining student engagement.…

As the pace of digital transformation continues to accelerate in classrooms and myriad distractions vie for the attention of learners, the challenge of engaging students grows ever more daunting (Garet et al., 2020). To establish stimulating learning environments in which students associate positive emotions toward tasks, ascribe value to their…

The purpose of this study was to determine if implementing student response technology (SRT) and case studies into a largely populated university undergraduate course would influence student engagement. When student engagement is influenced the potential for positive learning outcomes occurs leading to a higher likelihood of student success (Swap…

Participation in Informal STEM education (ISE) programs is becoming increasingly common among pre-college students. These programs often state improving broadening participation in STEM as part of their mission. ISE programs are known to foster heightened student engagement due to flattened student-teacher hierarchy, free choice, self-directed…

This dissertation focuses on three manuscripts all related to bolstering science achievement through recommendations from the National Research Council (NRC) regarding the teaching and learning of science. The manuscripts address meeting the NRC's call to incorporate curriculum and assessment that lead to more in-depth knowledge that can be…

Online educational resources (e.g., curricula, tutorials, documentation, Q&A sites) increasingly serve as key sources for secondary school students learning Computer Science Principles (CSP). A big obstacle to using these resources is finding information appropriate for the learning task and learner's background. Research shows that secondary…

Evidence-based early interventions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been shown to improve child outcomes and quality of life (Lord et al., 2018; Reichow et al., 2018; Smith & Iadarola, 2015). However, response to intervention is variable across both children and implementation contexts. Understanding factors that influence this…

This study explored student and teacher perspectives of technology use at Franklin Elementary School in South San Jose, CA, using qualitative, quantitative, and observational methods, including interviews, observations, and surveys. Thirteen teachers responded to a survey on educational technology use. Among this group, eleven provided interviews,…

This study investigates the instructional practices of a chemistry professor during an immersion summer program, with a focus on employing multimodal discourse within a studio-based learning environment. For this study, multimodal discourse includes natural language, gestures, mathematical expressions, symbolic visual representations, and manual…

Research suggests teacher cultural competency (TCC) is one of the keys to combating current systemic inequities in our educational landscape especially when considering the influences of teacher experience, socioeconomic factors (measured through the percentage of students receiving free lunch), and the composition of student demographics,…