(2020). Reconceptualizing Soul Work for Implementation in Multicultural Community-Based Educational Spaces. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Wisconsin – Madison. This phenomenological study sought to interrogate and interrupt the ways in which educational research and everyday schooling practices negatively influence the souls of African Americans. Researchers have argued over the years that it important that this intellectual and pedological fight persist; in hopes of transgressing the boundaries of such adverse reasoning. The researcher conducted a 12 week case study in an after school program where a group of pre-service teachers and 4th and 5th graders participated in a social studies literacy club. The group of participants examined several historical themes through a human-centered paradigm and apprentice teaching model to help identify the historical patterns and current events that adversely impact humanity. The participants work toward developing a meta-language and educative group projects that contribute to meaningful change by means of a socially oriented ontologic-epistemic praxis that embraces humanity as a sacred entity. The… [Direct]
(2016). Anatomy Education for the YouTube Generation. Anatomical Sciences Education, v9 n1 p90-96 Jan-Feb. Anatomy remains a cornerstone of medical education despite challenges that have seen a significant reduction in contact hours over recent decades; however, the rise of the "YouTube Generation" or "Generation Connected" (Gen C), offers new possibilities for anatomy education. Gen C, which consists of 80% Millennials, actively interact with social media and integrate it into their education experience. Most are willing to merge their online presence with their degree programs by engaging with course materials and sharing their knowledge freely using these platforms. This integration of social media into undergraduate learning, and the attitudes and mindset of Gen C, who routinely creates and publishes blogs, podcasts, and videos online, has changed traditional learning approaches and the student/teacher relationship. To gauge this, second year undergraduate medical and radiation therapy students (n?=?73) were surveyed regarding their use of online social media in… [Direct]
(2016). The International Test Commission Guidelines on the Security of Tests, Examinations, and Other Assessments. International Journal of Testing, v16 n3 p181-204. The amount and severity of security threats have increased considerably over the past two decades, calling into question the validity of assessments administered around the world. These threats have increased for a number of reasons, including the popular use of computerized and online technologies for test administration and the use of almost undetectable technologies for capturing test content and illegally sharing it instantly across borders and cultures. No assessment program, large or small, is immune to this potential damage. The International Test Commission has recognized the critical need for every organization with an important assessment program to be aware of these and be prepared to counter them. It was for this purpose that these guidelines were developed. Knowing the threats and the guidelines will lead to effective measures to protect the program and its assets, maintaining the value of the tests and assessments to the international community. The guidelines listed in… [Direct]
(2016). Citizens' Political Information Behaviors during Elections on Twitter in South Korea: Information Worlds of Opinion Leaders. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The Florida State University. This research investigated South Korean citizens' political information behaviors on Twitter during the 2014 Seoul Mayoral election. By using the mixed methods design of network analysis, tweet content analysis, and interviews, this research examined how citizens collaboratively engaged in the political communication and deliberation via Twitter during an election campaign. Intensive interviews with 13 citizen opinion leaders on Twitter provided the insights into understanding how their perceived societal types, norms, and perception of information value led to certain information sharing behaviors. Also explored was the dynamics of interactions within the virtual public sphere of Twitter as reflected in the conflicts and synergies of multiple information worlds. The Theory of Information Worlds (Jaeger & Burnett, 2010) was used to better understand the current phenomenon of citizens' virtual political communication and deliberation via social media. This research was the first… [Direct]
(2014). More than a Master: Developing, Sharing, and Using Knowledge in School-University Research Networks. Cambridge Journal of Education, v44 n1 p35-57. Postgraduate master's programs for in-service teachers may be a promising new avenue in developing research partnership networks that link schools and university and enable collaborative development, sharing and use of knowledge of teacher research. This study explores the way these knowledge processes originating from master's students' research occurs in the school-university network of a master's program embedded in the K-12 school environment of a Central Management Organization in the US. Questionnaires, interviews, and logs were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data at four time-points over a 10-month period. Data were analyzed at three network levels: school, dyad, and individual. Findings indicate that the school network context provided both master's students and research advisors with a supportive context for collaboratively engaging in knowledge processes during research as well as after they graduated. However, the network context was not enough to build… [Direct]
(2014). High-Achieving Schools Put Equity Front and Center. Journal of Staff Development, v35 n1 p24-26, 28, 30 Feb. How does professional learning look and feel in high-poverty schools where every student makes at least one year's worth of progress every year? How do schools and leaders put all the varied components of professional learning together so that they support all students learning every day? What professional learning grounds and sustains educators in high-achieving, high-poverty schools that personalize learning? The authors studied two rural and two urban schools with significant free-lunch eligible populations whose achievement data outperformed most schools and narrowed the achievement gap for multiple student groups over time. The four public schools differed from one another while sharing unique ways of linking equity and professional learning. This article conveys their common characteristics as well as specific examples from one of the study sites — Stults Road Elementary School in Richardson, Texas. [This article is adapted with permission from "Growing Into Equity:… [Direct]
(2014). Edcamp: Teachers Take Back Professional Development. Educational Leadership, v71 n8 36-40 May. On an unseasonably cool morning in May 2010, scores of educators arrived in a room in Philadelphia. As the group mingled and chatted over coffee, individuals jotted down ideas for learning sessions and pinned them up on a big sheet of paper. The first EdCamp had begun. EdCamps are free, participatory events organized by educators for educators. Some of the most exciting learning occurs following the event itself, as participants try out their new learning in their classrooms and continue to share on their blogs or on Twitter. In this article, Kristen Swanson, one of the organizers of the EdCamp Model, describes how the word spread about that first EdCamp event through the Twittersphere and blogosphere as participants shared the passion, sharing, and excitement they had experienced. In 2013, 190 Edcamp events were held throughout the United States as well as in places like Sweden, Ontario, and Hong Kong…. [Direct]
(2012). Fiscal Federalism and Local Government Finance in Nigeria. World Journal of Education, v2 n5 p19-27. Fiscal federalism deals with the sharing of resources in a federated nation. Over the years problems about local government finance have become an important aspect of intergovernmental relations. Constitutionally, local government is the third tier of government which exists as an independent entity, possessing some degree of autonomy and sovereignty. However, its capability to perform its constitutionally mandated functions is beleaguered by the problem of inadequate revenue. In Nigeria, a number of factors have contributed to the financial setback experienced by most local governments and these include: overdependence on allocations from state and federal governments which in most cases are withheld by the same federal and state governments; lack of fiscal autonomy; creation of non-viable local governments, among others. The aim of this paper is to examine the problems of the local government in Nigeria, especially concerning its financial limitations, necessitated by the unequal… [PDF]
(2017). Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities 2017 Annual Report: The Champions of Hispanic Success in Higher Education. Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities For over thirty years, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) has advocated on behalf of Hispanic higher education in the U.S. and around the world. The mission of the association is to Champion Hispanic Success in Higher Education. HACU fulfills its mission by: promoting the development of member colleges and universities; improving access to and the quality of postsecondary educational opportunities for Hispanic students; and meeting the needs of business, industry and government through the development and sharing of resources, information and expertise. HACU is the only organization that represents existing and emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). HSIs today represent 13 percent of all institutions of higher education that enroll 62 percent of Hispanic undergraduates. HACU serves its membership through advocacy, conferences, partnerships and educational programs, and offers scholarships and internship opportunities for students. HACU is a nonprofit… [PDF]
(2017). Building Cities by Degrees: Lessons on Increasing College Completion from Six Talent Dividend Cities. MDRC While completion of a college credential is a critical step toward increasing one's viability in today's labor market, only about 40 percent of Americans earn an associate's or bachelor's degree by age 27. Many policymakers, education leaders, and philanthropic organizations have focused on improving graduation rates. In 2011, the Kresge Foundation sought to build on this work by launching the National Talent Dividend $1 Million Prize Competition. Leaders of the initiative posited that a city's per capita income would rise as the number of degree holders rose, and the contest promised to award $1 million to the city with the greatest proportional increase in its college degree completion over a four-year period. Given the strong performance of many cities in the competition, the Kresge Foundation was interested in learning which particular strategies may have been influential in their postsecondary gains and in sharing potential lessons from the Talent Dividend work with the larger… [PDF]
(2016). Strengthening Statistics Graduate Programs with Statistical Collaboration–The Case of Hawassa University, Ethiopia. International Journal of Higher Education, v5 n3 217-221. This paper describes the experiences gained from the established statistical collaboration canter at Hawassa University in May 2015 as part of LISA 2020 [Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis] network. The center has got similar setup as LISA of Virginia Tech. Statisticians are trained on how to become more effective scientific collaborators with researchers. The service has been delivered from May 2015 to June 2016. The University has a well established and strong academic graduate programs of statistics. The master programs are: Applied Statistics, and Mathematical and Statistical Modelling launched in 2008 and 2010, respectively. They are research based studies. The programs have produced about one hundred ninety graduates to-date, with current enrollment of over fifty students. The doctoral program started in 2013 with enrollment of ten students. The graduate students are the main role players as statistical collaborators at the center. The collaborators and… [PDF]
(2016). My Journey to Become a Teacher Educator. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, v21 n1 p105-120. Purpose: Social theory of learning speaks to the social nature of our lives and our attempts to understand both what and how we learn from it. My experiences are built upon and reside with the social context in which they evolved. In this lecture, I will focus on my own experiences and how I interpreted them through social theory of learning that resulted from my collaboration between colleagues, mentoring that I received and shared and the pedagogical communities within which I grew. Main outcomes and results: Within each of these contexts my experiences resulted from the dialogue in which I took part. Johnston-Parsons suggests that dialogue of pedagogies provides a means of coming to know yourself and your teaching. She describes "a mirror as one way of describing dialogue-as-learning" as "when dialogue occurred we were sharing ideas at the same time we were, as a group and as individuals, recognizing and changing our minds" (69). The types of dialogue… [Direct]
(2016). Socio-Historical Factors Mediating Collaborative Teaching and Learning: A Design-Based Investigation and Intervention. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Washington. Collaborative (Co-)teaching is a complex instructional delivery model used to improve teaching practice in inclusive settings. The model involves multiple certified teachers–representing both special and general education–sharing the same space and presenting material to classrooms with a wide variance in learning needs. Co-teaching has become an increasingly popular form of instructional delivery in school districts attempting to improve Inclusive Education outcomes. It also creates a unique educational space that is often challenging for teachers to navigate and for several reasons, its affordances unfulfilled. This multiyear investigation and intervention uses a Design-Based Research (DBR) approach to understand the environment of a local co-teaching team, co-design supportive tools, and implement those tools to improve practice. This investigation addresses a lack of research attending to the implementation of–and learning involved in–co-teaching practice. Multiple… [Direct]
(2014). Professional Learning Communities Enhancing Teacher Experiences in International Schools. International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, v9 n1 p76-86. In international school contexts, schools that establish support networks for newly arrived staff tend to stand a better chance of retaining staff and creating a positive and successful work environment. The case study at the center of the paper is an International School in Vietnam and this paper aims to highlight the importance of building professional learning communities (PLCs), both as arenas for academic expertise to be shared and as support networks for teachers. The PLCs being researched were established in August 2011, with the research taking place over 6 weeks during April and May of 2013. Eleven teachers took part in the phenomenological case study undertaken to gain a better understanding of their lived experiences. Findings suggest there was a refocusing on student achievement as being central to teachers' core business; an understanding of the importance of teacher leadership developed; teachers felt more valued because personal professionalism was acknowledged; and, a… [Direct]
(2019). Cross-Community Collaboration among Knowledge Building Communities. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New York at Albany. Cross-community collaboration which expands community members' interaction to a larger social scale plays a crucial role in increasing information exchange and extending inquiry learning. This dissertation uses a design-based research approach which aims at testing a multi-level emergence design in multiple learning communities. This design serves the urgent need to enable students' idea sharing and build-on with members from other communities who have similar interests for mutual learning and collective knowledge advances. A mixed-methods research approach was used to investigate the cross-classroom collaboration over three successive years: pilot 1, study 1, and study 2. Knowledge Building Theory and pedagogy guides in learning and teaching practices. The fifth grade Knowledge Building communities studied human body systems with the support of the Knowledge Forum and the Idea Thread Mapper online platforms. As students conducted focused inquiry and discourse within their own… [Direct]