Matching Items (7)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Educational leadership
- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
- Creators: Buss, Ray R.
Description
The purpose of the iE3 Project was to explore the effect of using a collaborative apprenticeship model on the integration of student-owned mobile devices into classroom instruction. The iE3 Project was designed to overcome perceived barriers that prevented teachers from using student-owned mobile devices in the classroom. Based on earlier work, teachers suggested those barriers were support, time, resources, and professional development. Thus, the iE3 Project was conducted to empower teachers initiating the use of student-owned mobile devices as instructional tools. The study is grounded in situated cognition theory, situated learning theory, social cultural theory, and extends Evan Glazer's study of collaborative apprenticeship in a "bring your own technology" (BYOT) school environment. The literature review includes relevant studies from such areas as providing teacher support, employing collaborative planning time, using mobile technology resources, and offering authentic professional development within situated contexts. Participants included K-8th grade teachers. The 11 "non-user" participants established roles as peer-teachers (PT) and worked collaboratively with 11 "mobile device user" teacher leaders (TL) for twelve weeks during the iEngage, iEducate, and iEmpower phases of the iE3 Project. Participants completed pre- and post-intervention Stages of Concern Questionnaires and Innovation Configuration Maps, engaged in collaborative planning time, posted collaborative weekly reflections and descriptions of digital images online, completed a Perceived User Level retrospective survey, and participated in semi-structured interviews. The results of the project indicated a collaborative apprenticeship model as implemented in the current project was successful in addressing perceived barriers and empowered teachers to use student-owned mobile devices as instructional tools. Generally, results showed PT made substantial gains in using student-owned devices during instruction; reduced instructional, management, and other concerns about using mobile devices; and transformed them in terms of their thinking about using mobile devices for classroom instruction. Moreover, the perceived barriers were mitigated by using the collaborative apprenticeship model. In the discussion, complementarity of the quantitative and qualitative data were discussed and connections were made to the extant literature. Additionally, lessons learned, limitations, implications for practice, and implications for additional action research were discussed.
ContributorsOtstot, Michelle Lynn (Author) / Buss, Ray R. (Thesis advisor) / Zucker, Stanley (Committee member) / Thomas, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Many medical students are reluctant to seek help during the course of their four years of medical school. When they do finally ask for help, some are already burned out or in a crisis. One of the main reasons students are apprehensive about seeking help is stigma. This mixed methods action research study was conducted to explore whether a help-seeking, anti-stigma campaign improved help-seeking behaviors. The innovation was an anti-stigma campaign consisting of three components: (a) video vignettes of upper class students normalizing help-seeking, (b) a Friends and Family of Medical Students session to educate those closest to the student about medical school, and (c) an anonymous, online mental health screening tool. Data from the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire, individual interviews, and institutional data from the medical school provided information about the effects of the campaign and determined factors influencing help-seeking. Using these strategies, I hoped to normalize help-seeking and break down the barriers of stigma. Major findings included: Students were more likely to seek help from personal resources (close family and friends); Students may be more proactive with personal resources, but need prompting for college or formal resources; Students’ beliefs and attitudes were influenced by those closest to them and; First year students were more likely to seek help than their second year classmates. In addition, data inspired future research ideas and programming regarding the topic of help-seeking in medical school.
ContributorsSmith, Stephanie (Author) / Marley, Scott C. (Thesis advisor) / Buss, Ray R. (Committee member) / McEchron, Matthew D. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
ABSTRACTIn this action research study, I explored and developed a means to address the challenge of developing, supporting, and retaining effective elementary school principals skilled in instructional leadership and serving in historically marginalized communities. Evidence from the research literature and earlier action research cycles indicated principals often worked in isolation and needed more support to retain these elementary school leaders. Notably, retention has been shown to be influenced by building collaborative teams to accomplish shared goals. In the current study, an intervention was developed to support school principals by improving their knowledge and skills with respect to using data-informed decision-making in a collaborative environment. The intervention titled, “Got Juice? Jam Sessions!” was composed of a three-pronged approach, including (a) professional development using the Collaborative Learning Cycle, (b) a hybrid Community of Practice consisting of online and in-person elements, and (c) one-on-one coaching with school leaders on the implementation of data-informed decision-making. The overarching goal was to examine how the three support processes influenced leadership practice, self-efficacy, and school principals' perceptions of remaining in the profession. In the study, leaders' perceptions of their knowledge, skills, attitudes, self-efficacy, level of support, intent to stay in the profession, and intent to apply a team-based approach to data-informed decision-making were assessed. A mixed-methods study included the collection of quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data. Results showed the intervention provided a system of support for school leaders that increased leaders' perceptions of their knowledge, skills, attitudes, self-efficacy, intent to stay in the profession, and intent to implement the team-based approach to implementing data-informed decision-making at their school sites. In the discussion, I described the complementarity of the quantitative and qualitative data, explained the results based on the theoretical frameworks and the extant literature, presented limitations and their mitigation, and offered implications for practice and research.
ContributorsPombo, Lorisa Marie (Author) / Buss, Ray R. (Thesis advisor) / Hermanns, Carl (Committee member) / Lewis, Donna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
College instructors are critical to increasing completion rates and creating more equitable educational opportunities that position all learners for upward mobility. Yet, few have received formal, comprehensive training in inclusive teaching practices that positively affect student learning, improve retention and completion rates, and close equity gaps. The Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) has helped to fill this gap through its Inclusive Teaching for Equitable Learning (ITEL) microcredential course, a cohort-based professional development opportunity with an international reach. However, no prior studies had investigated whether the ITEL program resulted in transformative learning (Mezirow, 1991) for participants. In this mixed-methods, action research study, I examined whether eight ITEL participants from four higher education institutions experienced perspective changes when enrolled in a cohort that offered synchronous discussions; if so, what experiences contributed to their perspective changes; and how the changes informed their teaching and nonteaching contexts, including professional and personal interactions. Data sources included participants’ module reflections, transcripts from synchronous discussions, and responses to an adapted version of King’s (2009) Learning Activities Survey (LAS). Descriptive analysis, content analysis, and grounded interpretation approaches were used to analyze the data. Research findings showed that most participants experienced changes in their perspectives about teaching and outside of teaching that they attributed to their participation in ITEL. Participants identified learning activities that were both unique to this offering and core to ACUE’s standard learning design as contributing to their transformations. The majority of participants also attributed their perspective changes, in part, to learning that occurred in multiple course modules. Participants’ qualitative responses were grouped into three major themes––reimagining students’ experiences, reimagining one’s professional identity as a learner, and reimagining one’s life experiences––which were reflected in an emerging framework. The study’s results have critical implications for researchers and practitioners, including how they design professional development experiences and the extent to which they incorporate community-building activities, reflection and application opportunities, and facilitation. Additionally, research findings demonstrate the power of inclusive teaching programs to develop educators’ personal and professional identities and make them more equity-minded instructors, family members, friends, and community members.
ContributorsCandio Sekel, Julianne (Author) / Buss, Ray R. (Thesis advisor) / Ross, Lydia (Committee member) / Lawner, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Change in the workplace is a constant. This is even more true due to changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes have altered work locations, the modes of communication used, and how meetings are held, conversations, and trainings. It has become evident that, with these pandemic-caused changes, communication skills, the ability to empathize, and the opportunity to connect with one another are more desirable than ever before. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine how, and to what extent, participation in professional development workshops developed and refined the participants’ communication skills, collaboration skills, communication self-efficacy, and collaboration self-efficacy, and generated an environment that fostered positive connections. The study was guided by five theoretical frameworks, including the work of Wenger (1998), Tuckman (1965), Bandura (1977), Goleman (1995), and Luthans et al. (2007). This action research study utilized a mixed-method research approach in which both qualitative and quantitative instruments were used to gather data. Study participants were staff members in New College. The innovation was conducted over the length of the semester and involved participation in a series of professional development workshops. Quantitative data indicated a positive change in the dependent variables between a retrospective pre-innovation assessment and a post-innovation assessment. The qualitative data allowed for a descriptive story to be told and also provided a way to understand the numerical data. Discussion focused on describing the complementarity of the data, explaining outcomes relative to the theoretical frameworks, and noting limitations, implications for practice and future research, and lessons learned.
ContributorsSchulte, Jennifer (Author) / Giorgis, Cyndi (Thesis advisor) / Buss, Ray R. (Committee member) / Preach, Deborah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Providing adequate resources for undergraduate students’ career development has been of utmost importance to meet demands from national agencies and industry leaders. At Arizona State University, the size of the undergraduate populations in the School of Life Sciences (SOLS) grew from 1,591 to 3,661, an increase of over 130% from 2003-2017. As of December 19, 2019, SOLS hosted a record 5,318 undergraduate majors on campus and 1,646 students in its online biological sciences program. This steady increase in life science undergraduate student enrollment at ASU attested to the need for appropriate career development education to be woven into the curriculum. Under the framework of higher education’s purpose to provide adequate resources for career success, a career development intervention was designed and implemented as a career planning course for life science students. The purpose of this project was to provide a continuum of job and career information to SOLS’ students to ensure they had appropriate, comprehensive information as they learned about and considered various career opportunities in the life sciences. Three theoretical perspectives guided the research project: Holland’s (1985, 1997) theory of vocational personalities and their connections to work environments, Sampson, Peterson, Reardon and Lenz’s (2003) cognitive information processing career decision theory (CIP), and Bandura’s (1986) self-efficacy theory. Survey results showed increases in all seven constructs—knowledge of career exploration and development tasks, perception of possible professional and career goals and opportunities, goal selection, occupational information, problem solving, planning, self-appraisal—over time among the students. Interview data indicated students noted (a) enrollment in the course for reasons such as determining a career choice that met their needs and preferences while managing expectations and pressures from external sources; (b) broadening perceptions of career options, and (c) developing career exploration and planning skills. The success from this discipline-specific career development course was timely because university leaders were seeking solutions to increase students’ career readiness. The discussion focused on complementarity of the data, connections to the extant research, implications for practice and research, personal lessons learned, and a conclusion.
ContributorsChristianson, Serena L. (Author) / Buss, Ray R. (Thesis advisor) / Fong, Raquel (Committee member) / Reardon, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Faculty members in Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University have been reimagining the undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation programs to serve better PreK-12 students and improve the teaching profession. An important feature of the reimagined teacher preparation model included placing teacher candidates (TCs) on teams of educators with distributed expertise, which was intended to provide PreK-12 students more opportunities for deeper and personalized learning. Lead teachers who also served as mentors for TCs facilitated these teams. Within this reimagined approach to organizing the educator workforce and preparing future teachers, there was still a need to supervise appropriately TCs during their student teaching experience. Faculty supervisors conducted a minimum of six observations of each TC during each student teaching semester. These observations required a substantial amount of time being spent meeting with TCs at school sites, as well as a substantial amount of travel between placement locations. To address this problem of practice, an online, virtual supervision (VS) approach to providing coaching and feedback was implemented during the fall 2020 semester. The VS approach included an initial training for faculty supervisors, adoption of a video coaching platform, and a flexible protocol for completing four virtual walkthroughs and two virtual performance assessments for each TC during the student teaching semester. The purpose of this mixed methods action research study was to examine the effects of using VS to provide coaching and feedback to teacher candidates (TCs). Participants included three faculty supervisors who organized and facilitated coaching conversations with their assigned TCs who also participated in the study. Data for this mixed methods study included pre- and post-intervention faculty supervisor interviews, post-intervention TC interviews, and retrospective, pre-intervention and post-intervention surveys of TCs. Findings suggested faculty supervisors and TCs preferred the flexibility in scheduling coaching conversations and the ‘any-time-any-where’ availability of the faculty supervisor for support offered through the VS model. TCs also indicated they received quality feedback and coaching. The discussion focused on complementarity of the quantitative and qualitative data, connecting the findings to the research literature, limitations, implications for practice and research, personal lessons learned, and conclusions.
ContributorsMorse, Robert (Author) / Buss, Ray R. (Thesis advisor) / Toth, Meredith (Committee member) / Hargrove, Betsy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021