This engaged scholarship study includes three parts, a grant proposal to redesign the greenhouse at Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School into a learning garden and two mixed method studies. The Costco Charitable Giving grant proposal to redesign the greenhouse is provided as a supplemental document to this dissertation. The two mixed method studies…

National and local data show that many female students lose interest in STEM at an early age, female students that remain interested in STEM show partiality for life sciences. This results in gender stratification in STEM subject areas and is evident in high school enrollments in elective courses. This three-manuscript dissertation investigates…

The purpose of this study was to explore the writing experiences of at-risk college freshmen. The term at-risk applies to students who entered college deemed under prepared for success with college level writing demands. An examination of previous high school writing courses was explored in hopes of understanding the experiences that shaped their…

The purpose of this study is to determine the self-efficacy perceptions of undergraduate students studying at the Music Department on individual instruments, and to examine whether students' self-efficacy perception on instrument performance differed significantly according to various variables such as year, gender, the type of high school…

This study examines the pedagogical content knowledge of pre-service primary school teachers towards STEM. The research's study group consists of 202 pre-service primary school teachers studying at the faculty of education of two universities in the 2021-2022 academic year. The mixed method was used in the study. The survey model was used in the…

Early College High Schools are a model that combines high school and college to accelerate postsecondary degree and credential attainment. This program model was also created to address equity gaps for underrepresented student populations in higher education. The early college high school model is designed to combine dual credit courses with…

This study applied a descriptive phenomenological approach to the exploration of the school counselor's role in parent-adolescent communication. While there is an abundance of research regarding issues of adolescence and parenting, an inordinate amount of studies concentrates on atypical development. The purpose of this qualitative dissertation is…

The main aim of this study was to explore learning styles and teacher efficacy of prospective teachers, evaluate them based on department, gender, high school type and educational level of parents, and identify whether there is any relationship between teacher efficacy and learning styles. This is a descriptive study that was conducted using…

This study investigated the factors that led to students adopting cloud computing learning resources (CCLR) in underfunded, rural high schools with the aim of informing future work related to effective implementation of CCLR for underprivileged students. Guided by the CCLR adoption model, survey data of 310 students from two high schools in rural…

Internationally, there has been considerable literature on the predictors of academic performance in higher education. However, the empirical findings are still limited in Cambodia; therefore, this paper was conducted to examine the determinants of academic performance of 329 undergraduate students selected from a university in Cambodia. Based on…

This study explored personal agency and motivation of students enrolled in Linked Learning Pathways across low, mid-low, mid-high, and high poverty school settings. Specifically, the study examined student personal agency beliefs, goal setting practices, and student emotional connectedness. The researcher aimed to examine student perceptions of…

The impact of high school counselors' support on Mexican American adolescents' college-going beliefs was examined. We used a quantitative, predictive design to explore predictors of Mexican American adolescents' college-going beliefs. Perceptions of accessibility and expectations from school counselors positively impacted college-going beliefs…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of an 8þ million dollar U.S. Department of Education grant on the climate of a Professional Development School (PDS) network where pre-service candidates in the Urban Education (UE) option were placed for their clinical internship experiences. The setting for the study was a network of seven…

Abundant educational research has integrated Albert Bandura's concepts of self-efficacy and collective efficacy within educational settings. In this phenomenological case study, the investigation sought to capture the manifestation of self-efficacy and collective efficacy within inquiry-based science laboratory courses. Qualitative data was…

As previous research indicates self-efficacy and self-concept have similar effects on achievement outcomes, the current study investigated the differential effects of both constructs on academic performance and career path certainty in college freshmen. Results indicated high school GPA was best predicted by general self-efficacy, whereas current…