The education system in the United States has historically scored low among countries across the globe. The Nation's Report Card, created by the National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP], showed that the proficiency in math for students decreased as they matriculated through school: Grade 4 -- 41%, Grade 8 -- 34%, and Grade 12 -- 24%…

The current study delved into the problematic achievement gap between African-American graduates students and other groups, specifically in the online learning environment. African-American graduate students' lower achievement is problematic due to its lost opportunity costs and social subjugation of an entire group of Americans. The study's…

This study explores how upper-grade elementary makers' spaces reveal creative thinking and critical thinking in identified and unidentified gifted students. It provides evidence that the situated learning context of makers' spaces elicit high-level motivation through constructionist practices and 21st century learning processes that leads to…

Elementary grade students in a mid-Atlantic state school district have not been meeting academic standards on state assessments. Research indicates that academic achievement is connected to self-directed readiness to learn; however, often the instruction in strategies for student self-directed readiness to learn remains teacher-centered. The…

This dissertation study chronicles the creation of a computer-based, asynchronously delivered diversity training course for a state agency. The course format enabled efficient delivery of a mandatory curriculum to the Massachusetts Department of State Police workforce. However, the asynchronous format posed a challenge to achieving the learning…

Because the high school statistics curriculum is often teacher centered and lacking in innovativeness, students tend to struggle academically in statistics courses, particularly those students who are served by special education. This problem has been linked to a student's motivation to learn. The purpose of this study was to investigate the…

Learning English as a foreign language (EFL), a highly valued skill in the Chilean marketplace, is an arduous and complex personal endeavor requiring high student motivation. Reflecting this challenge is the heightened anxiety among EFL students, whose work has been associated with historically meager results. Blended learning, the fusion of…

A problem facing science educators is determining the most effective means of science instruction so that students will meet or exceed the new rigorous standards. The theoretical framework for this study was based on reform and research efforts that have informed science teachers that using constructivism is the best method of science instruction.…