Currently, STEM education and Education for Sustainability (EfS) are viewed as disconnected educational approaches in Pennsylvania classrooms. While both offer promising outcomes and have overlapping goals, research shows that separately they both face challenges to implementation. This study aims to strengthen both approaches by exploring the…

Decolonization of higher education is the process of reevaluating social, economic, political, and judicial structures. It focuses on the harm colonization had on marginalized groups, recognizing the harm that engaging in dualistic thinking and not disrupting the status quo has on individuals, yet decolonization of counselor education has neither…

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of effective teacher mentorship that positively impact teacher experience and practice, to better understand how to mentor novice teacher mentees, and to learn how to support veteran teachers through mentorship by exploring teacher mentorship programs and teacher experience. The…

This counterstorytelling study involved examining how Practitioners of Color (POC) enact "carino" and embed restorative literacies or cultural and community practices in community college integrated reading and writing (IRW) classrooms to create a safe counterspace for Students of Color (SOC). The significance of this research is to…

This qualitative, phenomenological study examined the impact of the Puko?a Kani ?Aina grant project that provided eight instructors at the University of Hawai?i West O?ahu a professional development opportunity. This study examined how the eight, representing the Mathematical, Natural and Health Science [BSNS, STEM Degrees] Division, were offered…

Monte Carlo methods are an accepted methodology in regards to generation critical values for a Maximum test. The same methods are also applicable to the evaluation of the robustness of the new created test. A table of critical values was created, and the robustness of the new maximum test was evaluated for five different distributions. Robustness…

My thesis work is focused on conceptual and epistemic learning and characterizing the environments in which this learning takes place. Earlier studies conducted by the Stowe group explored how instructional practices, instructional emphasis, and assessment emphasis relate to student outcomes in general and organic chemistry courses. Student…

Improving education, particularly for the sciences, is an important and necessary endeavor which can lead to positive social change. Education reform tends to involve updating and aligning curriculum standards without considering methodologies or teaching strategies involved. Identifying evidence-based practices to improve achievement in science,…

Secondary English Language Arts classrooms are spaces where teachers can pursue justice through curricular, pedagogical, assessment, and discretionary decisions they make, using popular asset (i.e., cultural modeling, culturally responsive pedagogy) and justice pedagogies (i.e., critical literacies, culturally sustaining pedagogy, restorative…

The work in this dissertation is presented in two parts. The first part (Chapters 3 and 4) details work relating to students' explanations of reaction mechanisms in organic chemistry. The second part (Chapters 5 and 6) details work relating to the evaluating the uptake of research-based instructional practices in introductory chemistry,…

Implementing the delayed measure feature in music education has transformed the learning experience for students that are learning to read music. By combining cognitive engagement, visual perception, and real-time performance, this approach enhances students' ability to recognize, process, and perform intricate rhythm and note patterns…

The purpose of this exploratory descriptive research was to examine what Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) certified Montessori teachers (MTs) for students ages 3-6 years in the United States reported regarding scientific observation (SO) as a disposition and as a disposition in action (DIA) to better understand MTs' application of…

The topic of this study was to provide a description of instruction identified and provided by teachers of students with visual impairments. It was not known how teachers describe vision interventions, environmental adaptations, and educational modifications for students with cortical visual impairment. The study was conducted in Southwest…

The initial question was innocent enough, at least on the surface: How do scholars and practitioners define child centered, developmentally appropriate, culturally responsive education in places distant from my home in the US? I was originally inspired to ask this question by my graduate students--aspiring and practicing Waldorf teachers--who were…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how executive coaches describe the strategies used with their public-school superintendent clients. The theoretical foundation of Positive Psychology, specifically PERMA+4, framed the questioning and brought context to the executive coach's decisions. The lack of research from the…