Creative insights and advances influence improved learning conditions and innovations for addressing global challenges. Moreover, technological advances make information universally available, which has rapidly accelerated progress across economic sectors. These advances have major implications for educators and, further, the knowledge and skills…

This report provides an analysis of future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Australia's higher education sector. The main driver of these impacts is the closure of Australia's international border, preventing the movement of international students into Australia. This has had a significant impact on total enrolments across the sector, and…

This research deals with a possible use of history of mathematics in mathematics education. In particular, history can be a fundamental element for the introduction of the concept of integral through a problem-centred and intuitive approach. Therefore, what follows is dedicated to the teaching of mathematics in the last years of secondary schools,…

The English learner (EL) student population has grown steadily for the past 20 years. During this time, the use of standardized assessments has increased as well. Teacher understanding of assessment accommodations that best support ELs is low, despite the research that shows the unreliability of standardized achievement tests that measure the…

Problem solving is one of the most essential aspects of human life. Every day, people engage in problem solving any time they attempt to resolve uncertain issues or questions. Of utmost importance, in order to resolve problems effectively, people must "build them" by interacting with situations. In other words, people must actively…

In this dissertation I will present my work in both the fields of spintronics and physics education research. In the first section, I present a method to account for spin pumping in spin torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) measurements. A spin current can be generated via the spin Hall effect (SHE), which is typically transverse to the charge…

A substantial body of research suggests that a combination of social, organizational, and inner factors impact how educators implement and make sense of new policies. The way educators understand policies can influence how they act on them. This study sought to expand this research body into how educators made sense and implemented Michigan's…

This study investigated relations between the distribution of practice problems in textbooks and students' learning of decimal arithmetic. In Study 1, we analyzed the distributions of decimal arithmetic practice problems that appeared in 3 leading math textbook series in the United States. Similar imbalances in the relative frequencies of decimal…

This quantitative study sought to determine relationships between third through fifth grade boys' and girls' perceptions of connectedness to their school community and between their behavioral outcomes. This study also sought to determine the effect of students' perceptions and gender on their numbers of discipline referrals incurred. Students'…

The results of this basic qualitative study explored the lived experiences of former students diagnosed with or at-risk for an Emotional Disturbance as they transitioned through the secondary setting. The purpose of this study was to uncover what contributed to within-school transition success in secondary settings for this population.…

School districts across the nation experience student behavior problems resulting in office discipline referrals, suspensions, and time spent away from instruction. This study examined the implementation (with fidelity based on the Tiered Fidelity Instrument) of positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) at the Tier 1 level and the…

Participatory Learning (PL) integrates several learning approaches, engaging students throughout the entire assignment process for both online and face-to-face courses. Beyond simply providing a solution, students also craft a problem (problem-based learning), grade each other (peer assessment and feedback), evaluate themselves (self-assessment),…

Qualitative interviews can be enhanced through using creative methods within them to prompt discussion and conversation. The research project upon which this case focuses sought to explore the space between policy and practice in pre-entry widening participation work in universities. This is an area where often people focus on telling you about…

Productive problem solving, concept construction, and sense making occur through the core process of abstraction. Although the capacity for domain-general abstraction is developed at a young age, the role of abstraction in increasingly complex and disciplinary environments, such as those encountered in undergraduate STEM education, is not well…

In education settings, treatments are often non-randomly assigned to clusters, such as schools or classrooms, while outcomes are measured for students. This research design is called the clustered observational study (COS). We examine the consequences of common support violations in the COS context. Common support violations occur when the…