Matching Items (40)
Description
This action research study (a) explored how institutionally labeled “at-risk” Latina/o students described their experiences in an opportunity to learn environment within an academic intervention program, (b) examined how these students experienced caring relationships with their teachers in an opportunity to learn environment when compared to their other core academic classes, and (c) investigated how school leaders created conditions to further support these students’ academic success on a larger scale. This action research study utilized a sequential phenomenological qualitative approach. Critical Race Theory, Critical Pedagogy, and Care theory served as the theoretical frameworks for this study. The blending of these theories worked to push Latina/o students’ narrative reflections to emerge as constitutive and instructive voices speaking back against the inequalities in the educational setting, and offered counterstories about the caring dynamics of Latina/o students in the classroom. Participants included high school students identified as “at-risk” and in an academic intervention class
ContributorsVillena, Breanna (Author) / Liou, Daniel (Thesis advisor) / Tefera, Adai (Committee member) / Vasquez-Robles, Veronica (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
This study investigates the success of a method used to encourage active engagement strategies among community and research faculty in a College of Medicine, and examines the effects of these strategies on medical student engagement and exam scores. Ten faculty used suggestions from the Active Engagement Strategies Website (AESW), which explained four strategies that could easily be incorporated into medical education lectures; pause procedure, audience response system, think-pair-share, and muddiest point. Findings from observations conducted during sessions where an active engagement strategy was implemented and when strategies were not implemented, faculty and student surveys, and exam question analysis indicate faculty members found active engagement strategies easy to incorporate, student engagement and exam score means increased when an active engagement strategy was implemented, and students reported perceptions of attaining a higher level of learning, especially when the pause procedure was implemented. Discussion and implications address low cost and easy ways to provide faculty development in medical education that potentially improves the quality of instruction and enhances student outcomes.
ContributorsYanez, Lisa C (Author) / Puckett, Kathleen (Thesis advisor) / Crawford, Steven R (Committee member) / Standley, Paul R (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Facing a teacher shortage in math, science, and language arts secondary courses, a suburban, unified, K-12 district partnered with a university in the southwest to create a program for alternatively certified teachers. This specialized program permitted candidates to teach with an intern certificate while completing university coursework leading to certification. During this timeframe, the researcher-practitioner of this study created an alternative teacher induction program focused on cycles of action research. The model was created to capitalize on the content knowledge and work experience of alternatively certified teachers in order to inspire innovation by offering a district-based induction centering on cycles of action research. In the teachers' third year, each teacher conducted action research projects within the framework of Leader Scholar Communities which were facilitated by mentor teachers from the district with content expertise. This study examines the effects of such a model on teachers' identities and propensity toward transformative behaviors. A mixed methods approach was used to investigate the research questions and to help the researcher gain a broader perspective on the topic. Data were collected through a teacher efficacy survey, questionnaire, focus groups, semi-structured interviews, observations, and electronic data. The results from the study indicated that the participants in the study exhibited signs of professional teaching identity, especially in the constructs of on-going process, relationship between person and context, and teacher agency. Additionally, the participants referenced numerous perspective transformations as a result of participating in cycles of action research within the framework of a Community of Practice framework. Implications from this study include valuing alternatively certified teachers, creating outcome-based teacher induction programs, and replicating the T3IP model to include professional development opportunities beyond this unique context.
ContributorsTseunis, Paula (Author) / Puckett, Kathleen (Thesis advisor) / Foulger, Teresa (Committee member) / Harris, Connie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Professional development is best when embedded in one's practice and linked directly to the classroom. Opportunities for teachers to identify specific areas of concern in their classroom and problem solve solutions via action research promotes a culture of inquiry. This culture of inquiry is enhanced when teams of teachers collaborate and share their action research experiences. In this study, action research training was provided to teachers to create a trained cohort of action research teachers within the school. Members of this cohort voluntarily joined with other teachers interested in classroom action research and participated in a professional learning community (PLC). The members of this PLC initiated classroom action research projects and met collaboratively as a PLC. The study examined what collaborative practitioner inquiry contributed to teacher professional development and how my leadership contributed to teacher professional development. Data were collected through the administration of a survey, interviews, transcriptions of PLC meetings, and my research journal. Findings indicate that participants benefited from the provided professional development and my leadership as a result of the intervention. Teachers applied the professional literature and used data to inform their instruction. Teacher collaboration was enhanced and teachers examined instructional practices. Lastly, my leadership enhanced teacher application of action research.
ContributorsVon Gnechten, Mitchell P (Author) / Moore, David (Thesis advisor) / Allen, Robert (Committee member) / Cheatham, Gregory (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The Sonoran Desert is a magical place full of beauty and wonder. With an increase each year in the number of new families calling Arizona their home, so also comes an increase in pre-conceived notions of the dangers of the Sonoran Desert. Dangers such as plants, animals, and weather conditions can cause fears in families. Though these fears are valid, understanding different ways to stay safe and engage with nature in the Sonoran Desert is critical to building future generations of adults that value the natural world. Current literature does not address the Sonoran Desert and Arizona as a space to engage in nature play. The current action research study builds on the literature to offer new perspectives on nature play in the Sonoran Desert. A mixed-methods approach was used to assess caregivers' perception of safety, risk, and benefits of nature play in the Sonoran Desert. The intervention utilized the social media platform, Instagram, to administer the intervention content. Results from this study suggest that even though participants were already engaged in nature play, their perceptions of risk, safety, and benefits of nature play in the Sonoran Desert changed positively or were reinforced. The analysis expands the current literature on risk, safety, and benefits of nature play.
ContributorsBello, John (Author) / Rotheram-Fuller, Erin (Thesis advisor) / Zuiker, Steven (Committee member) / Stone, Sarah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
During the last 25 years, the academic research environment has become increasingly competitive, with those seeking grants contending for over $83.7 billion, available from primarily six federal agencies. Notably, this increased competition occurred at the same time states have cut support for public universities. To deal with decreases in state support, university leaders and administrators have adopted “new managerialist” approaches that capitalized on three elements obliging early-career engineering faculty members to ‘win’ more federal funding. These three components include (a) leveraging the probationary period during promotion and tenure to stimulate grant production, (b) seeking revenue beyond tuition and operations to support the institution, and (c) augmenting faculty resources by including professional grant writers/support personnel who collaborate with early-career faculty members to mitigate challenges of increased competition for grants by providing domain and implicit knowledge to aid the engineers in grant development. The promotion and tenure process has become particularly challenging for early-career engineers because of the highly competitive federal research landscape.This mixed-methods action research (MMAR) study was conducted to examine the effects of an intervention designed to provide on-demand, online grant writing professional development using a set of five modules. The modules focused on providing information about five constructs related to grant development or grant writing, including requirements, processes, skills, attitudes, and self-efficacy. For three of the five modules, participants demonstrated modest or moderate increases in quantitative scores for the constructs based on survey data. During semi-structured interviews, early-career engineering faculty members revealed candid thoughts about the modules, grant writing, and the “need” to obtain grants as part of their professional lives. Four themes emerged from the qualitative data, including Knowledge, Online Learning, Grant Writing Process, and Winning the Next Grant. The discussion focused on connections between the quantitative and qualitative data, explaining the findings based on the theoretical frameworks, limitations, implications for practice and research, and included a summary.
ContributorsKessel, Monica L. (Author) / Buss, Ray R (Thesis advisor) / Mertler, Craig A (Committee member) / Ban, Heng (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
The purpose of this action research study was to improve the implementation of a large-scale redesign of teacher preparation programs at Arizona State University. This was a highly complex redesign that impacted over 150 courses across 27 programs, involving more than 200 faculty and 2,500 students annually. As a result, implementing the redesign posed significant challenges for supporting fidelity and agency across all faculty involved, including many part-time faculty and new hires with no prior knowledge of the redesigned program curricula. While this challenge was not unique, I approached it in a novel way in this action research study by creating course “fact sheets” that provided simple, visual representations of each course’s intended purpose within the program’s context to solve what was fundamentally an information transfer challenge. To study the effects of this intervention, I used a convergent mixed methods approach to address three guiding research questions aimed at exploring (1) how faculty used the course fact sheets, (2) how that use related to differences in outcomes related to implementation fidelity and sense of teaching agency, and (3) how those differences compared to an online orientation module as a more traditional form of professional development. Results showed that a majority of the 122 faculty members surveyed used the course fact sheets and, on average, found them highly usable for the purpose of gaining knowledge about their courses as part of the redesign. Furthermore, those who used course fact sheets had significant increases in their knowledge and confidence of implementation fidelity practices and significant increases in their sense of teaching agency. The results also showed more positive outcomes for those using the fact sheets than those who participated in an orientation module. However, interview results suggested that the fact sheets may not have been enough to address all the factors that influence faculty agency. Nevertheless, this study has important implications for faculty development initiatives in higher education, demonstrating the potential of course fact sheets as a scalable solution to improve the implementation of large-scale redesigns.
ContributorsThurber, Derek (Author) / Markos, Amy (Thesis advisor) / Ross, Lydia (Committee member) / Conley, Quincy (Committee member) / Wendt, Jill (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Within English supplementary tutoring centers in China, the professional development teachers are afforded is limited due to time constraints and the qualifications of teacher trainers within those centers. To facilitate a novel means of engaging teachers in their professional development related to guided reading, an innovation configurations map was introduced to teachers at two centers in southern China. This map is composed of six configurations that would foster teachers’ understanding of what comprised effective guided reading classes. They include a focus on prior knowledge, vocabulary, reading skills and strategies, reading comprehension, class discussion, and written expression. Implementing the innovation configurations map for guided reading at the two centers occurred with head teachers and key informants from both centers. Other teachers participated to varying degrees based on their interests and availability. Using a qualitative case study methodology as part of an action research project, six strands of data were collected to assess how teachers used the map and what lessons were learned. These strands are institutional documents, interviews with participants, participant observation of academic meetings, direct observation of key informants’ classes, and education journey maps detailing participants’ experiences in using the innovation configurations map. For roughly seven months, the participants worked on developing their understanding of how to use the map and apply it within their contexts. They built this awareness within their activity systems with guidance and support from their colleagues and me. The contingent and responsive help teachers received was crucial in ensuring they understood how to use the innovation configurations map and their willingness to do so. Without that support and guidance, teachers were ambivalent about the use of the map and used it minimally or not at all. The findings, thus, indicate that for teachers to be willing to develop themselves professionally and use the innovation configurations map, they require ongoing support and guidance based on their needs to ensure they may do so effectively.
ContributorsRobinette, Robby Lee (Author) / Baker, Dale (Thesis advisor) / Chapman, Amy (Committee member) / Feng, Siyuan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), schools and families collaborate to determine educational decisions for children with special needs. However, successful collaboration occurs when special education practitioners and families build strong partnerships. This study employed a mixed-methods action research design to examine the effectiveness of professional development training for school-based special education personnel to increase collaboration during special education meetings. The training centered around building participants’ knowledge of special education regulations, policies, and procedures and providing strategies to facilitate a collaborative partnership between families and the school. Participants’ knowledge gained from the training intervention was assessed using a pre-post-intervention survey, followed by semi-structured interviews. Useful aspects of the training intervention included gaining a foundational understanding of legal rights and responsibilities in special education and specific preparation and communication strategies for future family and school collaboration during special education meetings.
ContributorsDaliri, Robyn (Author) / Rotheram-Fuller, Erin (Thesis advisor) / Hlava, Terri (Committee member) / Wendt, Jill (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