In 2013, the Next Generation Science Standards tasked science teachers to include more engineering processes in their instruction. Design thinking is one way this has been accomplished over the last decade, but other engineering characteristics might have an influence on how learners thinking through the design process. Using a pretest-posttest,…

In this dissertation, I utilize the post-structural philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Fe´lix Guattari as a lens for investigating the proof process. Deleuze and Guattari were both post- structural philosophers who, like many in this tradition, troubled traditional notions related to stable identities, meaning, language, and mathematics. For…

Background: As mentorship programs variably impact STEM identity formation, significant attention is paid to whether mentors and mentees are well-matched. Mentorship-matching studies focus on the salient ethnic and gender influences on the identity formation of underrepresented minorities. We study socioeconomic-matching influences to ascertain…

This study examined the influence of word problems and individual differences on student teachers' situational interest. There is extensive research on word problems, but few studies have assessed the impact on situational interest, particularly for self-generated word problems. Using a within-subject design (N = 256), we investigated whether…

Academic failure is commonplace in higher education. Some students persist and go on to complete their courses. However, some do not, and this can create problems for themselves and the institutions in which they are enrolled. If we could understand students' lived experiences of academic failure and persistence, it may be possible to design…

Research demonstrates that when math-based gender stereotypes are activated (e.g., men are better at math than women), women display comparatively poorer math performance than men, a phenomenon referred to as stereotype threat. We evaluated the effectiveness of two forms of self-affirmation in reducing the effects of stereotype threat on women's…

Introduction: Fitting together virtual teaching environments has made possible the continuance of higher education at the global level, and particularly in Peru, after the proliferation of the COVID-19 virus during 2020 and 2021. Nevertheless, teachers and students from Amazonian communities continue to face challenges to public education, such as…

Drawing on a concept-map methodology, we investigated how 18 prospective elementary teachers (PSTs) conceptualize STEM thinking as habits of mind shared across STEM domains in the context of problem-solving prior to explicit classroom discussions about STEM thinking. A 28-question, 5-point Likert-scale survey was used to explore PSTs' orientations…

Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) often face societal barriers to accessing employment due to stigma and discrimination. For people with IDD who have an employment history, little is known about their experiences in accessing employment opportunities. Self-determination behaviors are considered an integral component to…

This study explores narratives about critical moments in mathematics learning written by K-8 pre-service teachers' (PSTs) in the United States over a 20-year period. These critical moments, such as a single memorable task, course, test, or comment from a teacher, had a powerful and sustained impact on PSTs' mathematics identities, which they…

Connections between creativity and leadership often focus on how fostering creativity can help an organization. Despite the value that creativity can bring to organizations, Mueller et al. (2011) found that creative people themselves are not seen as leadership material. Yet many people with creative backgrounds do take on leadership roles,…

In this paper, we briefly introduce three theoretical frameworks for mathematical identity and why they matter to practitioners teaching undergraduate mathematics courses. These frameworks are narrative identities, communities of practice, and figured worlds. After briefly describing each theory, we provide examples of how each framework can be…

In England, there has been a shift away from 'aspiration raising' in widening participation (WP) activities aimed at improving access to higher education (HE) for students from low socio-economic status groups. This shift is partly based on the notion that students from these groups do not inherently "aim lower" However, understanding…

Despite the demands for innovation, adaptability, and creative problem-solving as seen in the fourth Industrial Revolution, many institutions of higher education struggle to center creativity in the learning experience. This qualitative, grounded theory study examines how first-year courses using design thinking approaches can introduce creativity…

Examining the still underexplored elements in educational theorist Paulo Freire's work, this essay begins from his claim that problem-posing pedagogy works as a "kind of psychoanalysis." Situating Freire between the critical philosophical and psychoanalytic traditions, Alex Armonda offers a new reading of the problem-posing dialectic,…