Theses and Dissertations

Permanent link for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/2022/20633

This collection contains theses and dissertations from students who have completed Master of Education (M.S.Ed.), Education Specialist (Ed.S.), and Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degrees in the School of Education.

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EXPLORING TRENDS IN THE USE OF VIRTUAL SIMULATIONS IN THE 9th- 12th GRADE SCIENCE CLASSROOM: PRESENTING TEACHERS PERSPECTIVES & PRACTICES ON USE, ACCESS AND DECISION-MAKING
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Balogun, Aishat Olere; Kwon, Kyungbin
This study explored and presented teachers’ perspectives on the use of virtual simulations and how their practices reflected this. The main purpose was to foreground teachers' perspectives in how and why they select simulations. This study aimed to understand when teachers use virtual simulations, why they use them, how they use them, challenges they encounter if any and if they have alternatives to the simulations. The qualitative research method using the multiple case study approach and a descriptive cross case analysis design was used in this study. Data was collected from two sources namely semi-structured individual interviews, and lesson plans. The interview responses were analyzed using thematic descriptive analysis while content analysis was done on the lesson plans. The factors considered in this research included where teachers get information about the simulations to use, how these simulations are accessed, consideration while selecting or adopting a simulation to use, how simulations informed the teacher’s pedagogical decisions, the thought process behind the use of a particular simulation, goals and approaches for using the virtual simulations. The findings showed that when selecting simulations, teachers consider (1) Focus on Student type, learning levels and rigor, (2) Accurate representation, especially the appearance and graphics relevant to the concepts and (3) Ease of access, use and versatility especially with LMS. The findings also revealed that teachers' source of information about simulations were mostly from self-search by browsing the internet, social media and dependence on trusted sources like recommendations from fellow teachers, higher institutions, professional bodies and federal agencies. Content analysis of the lesson plans showed that the teachers seem to emphasize engagement and exploration in the simulation they use which is reflected in the lessons they design. Deepen understanding by providing opportunities to connect prior knowledge, apply, practice and reinforce concepts were also reflected in the lessons. While factors like the type of student and the type of content taught inform the pedagogical decisions of the teachers. Finally, this study found that while most of the teachers seem to use and support the use of simulations, caution was advised especially the risk of misconception based on the illustration or graphics used in the simulations.
EXPERIENCES AND THEIR ATTRIBUTES THAT GAVE STEM PROFESSIONALS SELF-EFFICACY TO CONSIDER NAVAL STEM CAREERS
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Closser, Florentina; Leftwich, Anne Ottenbreit
Due to the reliance on STEM professionals to fulfill the Navy’s mission of protecting our country’s interest at sea, developing the pipeline of STEM talent is an area of critical importance to the United States Navy. However, there is concern that the current trend of students obtaining STEM degrees will not meet the demand for STEM professionals. To broach this gap the Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy have instituted several STEM experiences designed to grow the talent pipeline. Using parallel mixed methods, this study explores the experiences and their attributes that contributed to the self-efficacy of STEM professionals in considering U.S. Naval STEM careers. Utilizing Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) and Bandura’s sources of self-efficacy, this research investigated the influential experiences of current Naval STEM professionals. This study identifies STEM experiences such as in-school, out-of-school experiences, both formal and informal and support systems that foster self-efficacy. There were key themes for implementing effective STEM experiences: the importance of real-world problems; exploring a wide range of topics important to students; the importance of encouragement and inclusivity; the importance of academic support; career chosen on positive attributes; intrinsic interest; and financial opportunities. The study concludes with three recommendations to the Naval STEM Coordination Office: revisit naval STEM catalog and add more real-world problems; formalized mentor training; and connect with affinity groups. The findings aim to inform the development of effective STEM programs to motivate students towards STEM careers, addressing the Navy’s need for a skilled STEM workforce.
THE INVISIBLE IMPACT: COLLABORATION WITH TEACHING FACULTY AND INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNERS
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Cooper, Shannon L.; Brush, Thomas
This study sought to understand how instructional designers in medical and health professions education collaborate with teaching faculty with the design and development of learning events for health professions students. Successful collaboration depends on clear and effective communication between instructional designers and the faculty they support. This research also investigated instructional designers' perspectives on what barriers they may have encountered—especially with communication—and the teaching methods (e.g., tools, types of learning events, instructional design models) they use to help teaching faculty create curricula for students. The study also explored how these models and theories are used in practice. To answer these questions, a mix of surveys and semi-structured interviews was used to gather data. The study's findings echoed earlier research, showing that communication with teaching faculty and subject matter experts is one of the biggest challenges for instructional designers. Other challenges—already noted in the field—include teaching faculty and subject matter experts not fully understanding the instructional designers' role and the lack of time to complete projects. Survey participants also often shared that they rarely use instructional design models throughout, from start to finish. Ultimately, this study aimed to bring greater awareness to the ongoing challenges that instructional designers face in higher education.
TEACHER PERCEPTIONS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IMPACT ON GENERATIVE AI USE IN MIDDLE GRADES
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Dixon, Kathryn; Brush, Thomas
Educational technology is changing rapidly, partly due to the increased accessibility of generative AI available to teachers and to students. This case study aims to examine teacher perceptions and use of AI use in middle grades and how professional development opportunities impact these perceptions in three middle schools in Indiana. The research questions are (1) What innovative pedagogical uses for AI are reported by teachers?, (2) What professional development opportunities related to AI do middle grade teachers participate in? and (3) How do teacher perceive that professional development has supported their use of AI in the classroom? To obtain information about AI use in middle grade classrooms and teacher perceptions, a survey was disseminated via Google Forms to middle school teachers in three school districts in Indiana, and qualitative interviews were conducted with 12 teachers who elected to participate. Results of the study suggest connections between professional development opportunities in schools and positive perception and innovative use of AI tools in classrooms.
Preparing Future Educators to Offer Queer-Inclusive Curriculum through Teaching Scenarios: A Practitioner Inquiry Perspective
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Fulvi, Camilla; Damico, James
The dominance of heteronormative P-12 curricula has gained even greater force in recent years because of numerous laws put in place nationwide that severely limit teachers’ opportunities to provide a Queer-inclusive curriculum for their students. Even in states where these laws are not in place, fear over retribution causes widespread self-censorship when creating curricula. Despite research showing that all students benefit from inclusive curricula for many reasons including the access to “windows and mirrors” (Bishop, 1990), currently there is no cohesion in if or how educator preparation programs prepare future educators to navigate the nuances of providing a Queer-inclusive curriculum. This is a practitioner research study that uses Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis method to analyze reflection and discussion data from a graduate-level educator preparation program course that uses teaching scenarios that present scenarios teachers face when deciding how to include LGBTQ+ topics and people in a hostile environment. The findings of this study indicate that the use of such teaching scenarios is beneficial for several significant reasons. This approach allowed future teachers to think about solutions to problems before they face them in the field, encouraged productive and respectful discussion on controversial issues in education that center marginalized students and families, and prompted future teachers to think critically and realistically about how they can provide a Queer-inclusive curriculum once they are out in the field.
IMPROVING A SCHOOL PROBLEM-SOLVING TEAM USING IMPROVEMENT SCIENCE
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Henderson, Jamie; Lochmiller, Chad
This study examined how the problem-solving team (PST) process at one elementary school could be improved using an improvement science framework to identify and test change ideas. An improvement team analyzed the specific problem with the PST process through a root cause analysis, which consisted of empathy interviews, document reviews, observations, a group brainstorming session, and the collaborative development of a cause-and-effect diagram. A theory of improvement was then developed that framed the problem: the PST was not completing all eight steps of the problem-solving process. To address this, the team organized improvement ideas into a driver diagram, which provides a visual representation of the hypotheses for improvement of the PST process. Next, the team selected and implemented three specific change ideas: (1) a pre-meeting; (2) an initial meeting discussion protocol; and (3) a follow-up meeting discussion protocol. The change ideas were tested and refined through three plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles. Data collection and analysis was iterative and ongoing throughout these PDSA cycles and included both qualitative (i.e., observations and participant interviews) and quantitative sources of information (i.e., checklists and participant exit tickets). Results indicated that the introduction of these three change ideas led to a notable improvement in the problem-solving process. Across three PDSA cycles, the total number of problem-solving steps increased from 2.13 out of 8 for baseline cases to 7.75 out of 8 for cases receiving all three change ideas. Moreover, a preponderance of participant interview comments suggested that each of the three change ideas improved the PST’s ability to adhere to the problem-solving process by improving the efficiency and action orientation of team meetings. Data also indicated that there were several contextual factors which impacted the effectiveness of the change ideas, such as the specific context of the student case, the staff involved, and school environment factors. Overall implications for PSTs, as well as recommendations for the school’s next steps for further refinement are discussed.
SHIFTING NEXUS, TRANSCENDING SELF: EXPLORING THE COSMOPOLITAN LITERACIES OF KOREAN PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Herron, Lindsay N.; Hines, Mary Beth
In the face of an increasingly interconnected world seemingly rife with insidious intolerance, there has been in recent years a call for educational practices that cultivate more critical, compassionate perspectives—in particular, critical cosmopolitan education, which aims to encourage open-minded, responsive, reflective dispositions in students (e.g., Hansen, 2013; Hawkins, 2014; Hull & Stornaiuolo, 2014). Recent research in cosmopolitanism, however, has primarily been from Western perspectives (Delanty, 2009, 2014; Sobré-Denton & Bardhan, 2013), leaving a discernible dearth of work examining how critical cosmopolitanism might manifest in other contexts. Situated in a critical sociocultural framework (Lewis, Enciso, & Moje, 2007) and couched in new literacy studies (Gee, 2001; New London Group, 1996; Street, 1998), this practitioner-inquiry ethnographic case study takes an asset-oriented perspective to consider the ways in which critical cosmopolitan literacies were practiced by Korean university students, all pre-service elementary teachers, participating in an online intercultural exchange with peers in the United States. Among the data collected were the Korean students’ digital multimodal creations, digital interactions via email, and post-exchange reflections. These data were analyzed using a combination of nexus analysis (Medina & Wohlwend, 2014; Scollon & Scollon, 2004; Wohlwend, 2021) and thematic analysis (Cresswell & Poth, 2018; Saldaña, 2009) to better understand students’ situated cosmopolitan maneuvers in the authentic situation of engaging with their overseas counterparts. This project aims to flesh out cosmopolitan theory, particularly by adding nuances from an Asian educational context; support teachers in understanding and building on students’ situated critical cosmopolitan literacies; identify spaces of fracture that can open opportunities for critical reflection; and pinpoint options for educators seeking to facilitate open, responsive dispositions that can help contribute to a more welcoming, just world.
EXAMINATION OF SOCIAL BELONGING AND CONNECTEDNESS IN AN ONLINE SCIENCE COURSE: AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Londino-Smolar, Gina; Akerson, Valarie
There is a desire to improve science education in the online learning environment, in which the focus is on students’ connectedness and belonging and with the use of learning technologies, can enhance the current teaching climate of the large enrollment, online, forensic science course. In a popular introductory forensic science online course, students were given opportunities to engage and interact with learning materials, peers, and the instructor using various learning technologies. Specific pedagogies, such as inclusive teaching methods, communication, and building interpersonal relationships, used throughout the course were evaluated in the success to build an online learning community, focusing on the students’ perception on their sense of social connectedness and belonging. Various technology tools were used in the online course to deliver learning materials, engage students in course content, and as a platform for student interaction with peers and the instructor, which were focused on promoting students’ sense of social connectedness and belonging. With the increase in learning technologies used in the online learning environment, discovering the effectiveness of learning tools will help others choose appropriate tools depending on the desired outcome. Students were asked at the start of the course what social belonging and connectedness meant to them and were surveyed to evaluate their current sense of belonging and connectedness at multiple points throughout the course. Specific learning activities were designed to build on students' sense of belonging and connectedness based on student feedback, focusing on creating inclusive teaching practices, communication, and interpersonal relationships. At the end of the learning experience, students were asked again to share their perception of belonging and connectedness with the addition of individual student interviews. The students’ perception of social belonging and connectedness was increased from the beginning of the course. Specific learning technology tools, such as InScribe, Peer-review assignments, and recorded instructor videos vc, were effective in building community through a sense of social belonging and connectedness to both the others in the course, as well as the course content.
SELF-REGULATED LEARNING IN AN ONLINE MICRO-CREDENTIAL: AN EXPLANATORY SEQUENTIAL MIXED METHODS CASE STUDY
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Marcelle, Paula; Bonk, Curtis J.
Self-regulated learning is how individuals actively and autonomously manage and monitor their learning. Online learners require self-regulated learning skills to be successful. This study examines the context of an online nonformal learning micro-credential program embedded within a formal learning environment of a research-intensive midwestern US university. Using theoretical frameworks for Self-Regulated Learning and Transactional Distance Theory, this study examines how learners apply self-regulation learning skills and what course design features facilitate self-regulation. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods case-study design was used. Learners in the micro-credential program included faculty, staff and students. Data was collected from 78 participants using a survey questionnaire comprising the closed-ended online self-regulated learning questionnaire, a self-directed learning checklist, and open-ended items on course design. Additional data was collected from 12 semi-structured interviews and 6 document artifacts that formed select cases from a sub-sample of learners who were beginners, continuing, completed, or inactive in the micro-credential program and had average and high SRL scores based on maximum variation sampling. The analytic strategies used included descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, reflexive thematic analysis, qualitative and quantitative content analysis, and mixed methods integration analysis. The results revealed that learners exhibit high environment structuring (M = 4.41, SD = 0.67) and goal setting strategies (M = 4.19, SD = 0.77) but scored lowest in task strategies skills (M = 2.89, SD = 0.92). Four distinct clusters of self-regulators existed: (1) high self-regulators, (2) moderate self-regulators, (3) disillusioned self-regulators, and (4) struggling self-regulators, but across all clusters, learners exhibited poor task strategies. Learners had high goal setting skills because they valued digital literacy skills for employability, career growth, and academic success. Although learners organized their learning with digital tools, which supports their self-regulation and efficient management of their cognitive resources, they had low overall task strategies scores. Through the Transactional Distance Theory lens, the course structure was the most prevalent (48.2%) coded domain that learners reported facilitated their self-regulated learning. An implication of these findings is that learners need to be taught how to learn in an online learning environment, focusing on applying task strategies to effectively implement the plans made in the forethought stage of SRL.
CREATING A TRANSLANGUAGING SPACE IN A UNIVERSITY-ESL CLASSROOM
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Morsi, Rehab
Despite the substantial body of research advocating for the implementation of translanguaging, the power of “only English” is still well and alive across educational settings in the United States. This practitioner inquiry research study examines the implementation of a translanguaging pedagogy in a university-level English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. The study aims to enhance the metacognitive skills and academic success of multilingual students while challenging monolingual ideologies and educational inequities. This study presents how I implemented translanguaging moves within a curriculum that was not intentionally created for such an approach. The study also examines how ESL students at an intensive English program (IEPs) in a university-level utilized translanguaging moves introduced in a six-week Reading and Writing unit. The use of purposeful pedagogical moves such as a bilingual vocabulary chart, translation, and the creation of a social justice blog, among other translanguaging strategies, created an inclusive space for students to leverage their full linguistic repertoire. This study is significant as it promotes educational equity in (IEPs) by shifting the narrative from viewing students’ home languages as deficits to recognizing them as assets. Data was analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis. The findings of this study indicate that translanguaging afforded students to comprehend complex texts and to have access to academic knowledge. In addition, translanguaging provided students with the power to promote their selfexpression and helped them disrupt English monolingualism. This study carries implications for preservice teachers in TESOL programs as well as for teachers and administrations at (IEPs) and offices of international students at American universities.
DETERMINING THE USEFULNESS OF FAIRY TALES, IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES, AND DIGITAL SCIENCE NOTEBOOKS TO INCREASE THE UNDERSTANDING OF NATURE OF SCIENCE IN KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Poindexter, Kristen Anne; Akerson, Valarie
The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of fairy tales, immersive experiences, and digital science notebooks in increasing the understanding of specific Nature of Science (NOS) aspects in kindergarten students and aimed to fill a gap in the literature where NOS and children’s literature overlap. Seventeen kindergarten students in a suburban classroom participated in this study. It is difficult for classroom teachers to find scientifically accurate children’s literature, potentially leading to misconceptions about science in young children. Previous research (Akerson et al., 2019a; Akerson et al., 2019b; Alan et al., 2018; Avsar Erumit & Akerson, 2022; Buck et al., 2019) has shown that young children are able to attain some understanding of specific NOS aspects including observation, inference, creativity, subjectivity, empirical evidence, and the tentativeness of science. Explicit-reflective instruction is a model that has been studied and has been determined to be a strategy classroom teachers can use to help increase student understanding of NOS aspects (Khishfe & Abd-El-Khalick, 2002, Akerson et. al., 2011). The explicit-reflective model that has been effective in teaching NOS aspects and parallels the work of Vygotsky, where students learn from older, more skilled peers and persist in inquiry (Zuckerman et al., 1998, Trudge, 1990). These models helped the researcher to develop a framework to allow students to be explicitly taught specific NOS aspects, use them as a whole group in practice, discuss with peers, and then reflect upon their learning through weekly reflection and inferring sheets. In this action research, qualitative study, fairy tales combined with immersive experiences (mock crime scenes), and digital science notebooks were used using the explicit-reflective teaching model to increase student understanding of specific NOS aspects. The validated VNOS-E was administered as a pre/posttest/delayed posttest to determine the increase in student understanding and use and the longevity of the understanding and use of specific NOS aspects. Using a five weeklong intervention consisting of five fairy tale centered crimes, students were able to increase their use and understanding of specific NOS aspects as indicated by growth on the VNOS-E and student recording and inferring sheets.
EVALUATING TEST-OPTIONAL ADMISSIONS AND A COMPLEMENTARY TEST-EXCLUDED SCHOLARSHIP STRATEGY AT A MIDWEST PUBLIC FLAGSHIP UNIVERSITY
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2024-12) Randall, Mercedes; Torres, Vasti
Institutions of higher education across the country are experiencing unprecedent internal and external challenges. In an increasingly competitive environment to recruit and enroll students, while maintaining goals of access and diversity, colleges and universities are resorting to policies that support these goals. In this vein, and with the purpose of increasing enrollment for underserved student populations, the test-optional admissions movement started gaining popularity particularly as the COVID-19 world heath pandemic ensued. In this context, the present study seeks to determine if the adoption of a test-optional admissions policy and a test-excluded scholarships strategy were supportive of broadening the access, recruitment, and retention of students from underrepresented minority (URM) backgrounds. The overall structure of the research study was a comparative analysis of pre- and post-policy implementation and used descriptive statistics to compare the two groups representing six years of entering student cohorts, 2018 to 2023, with 2021 representing the year when the policy and strategy went into effect. Independent two-sample t-tests were also used to determine statistically significant change for post-implementation. The selected institution of analysis was a Midwest public flagship university (MPFU). Some of the findings demonstrated a positive impact on URM student access, including the increase in applications and admitted students. While enrollment rates for the URM group resulted in significant change, it had the opposite effect of declining numbers. On the other hand, URM students received institutional scholarships at significantly higher rates after the adoption of the test-optional and test-excluded scholarship strategy. These last results supported the recruitment and retention of URM students.
LIVED CRITICAL LITERACIES, HOPE, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH CLASSROOM: A PRACTITIONER INQUIRY PERSPECTIVE
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2025-01) Hanna, Lisa S.; Damico, James S.
Critical literacy develops from engaging in multiliteracies, examining the relationship between language, power, and the world, interrogating multiple viewpoints, and upon reflection, manifesting change. Situated at the intersection of critical literacy, hope, and action this practitioner inquiry illuminates the potential for youth to take up social justice issues. This practitioner inquiry conceptualizes what happens in a 12th grade ELA classroom when a veteran teacher, who employs multimodal methods that honors both students’ lived experiences and their hope for the future, creates opportunities for students to engage with social justice issues that matter to them. Rooted in Paulo Freire’s critical literacy concept of reading the word and the world, this inquiry investigates the critical literacy and social justice work of 24 12th grade high school English Language Arts students engaged in a unit called “The Empowered You.” This study maps out a learning unit that begins with inviting students to explore their identity and moves through multimodal activities including: poetry, reading, writing, filming, and creating campaigns for action that gives space for students to read and research about issues they chose to unpack. Using a Freirian lens to analyze student created “elevator” pitches relating to their autonomously chosen social justice issues, the findings of this study confirmed that when adolescents accept a teacher’s invitation to read the word and the world, they engage their hopeful heart, amplify their voices, and take the reins to change the world.
HOW ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE BEGINNING SPANISH STUDENTS USE ORAL COMMUNICATION: A DESCRIPTIVE CASE STUDY
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2025-01) Harkins, Michelle Nicole
Communicative language teaching places an emphasis on oral language usage within the L2 classroom, yet although asynchronous online courses can incorporate multimedia, they often rely on written communication. Because there are online asynchronous language courses, and there is a juxtaposition between the communicative language practices and online course delivery, this qualitative descriptive case study explored the main question: How do beginning students use target language oral communication in an asynchronous online beginning Spanish course at a community college? The two subquestions guiding the study were: (a) What are the factors that mediate students’ oral engagement in an asynchronous online beginning Spanish course at a community college? and (b) What are the ways that students demonstrate interpersonal and presentational oral communication in an asynchronous online beginning Spanish course at a community college? This study adopted a qualitative descriptive case study approach and used activity theory and ACTFL guidelines frameworks to frame the study of a 1st semester asynchronous online beginning Spanish course. Content analysis was used to analyze the oral communication assignments of 11 student participants, interviews with 5 focal student participants, and course materials and documents. The findings illuminated the variety of artifacts (tools and signs), their roles, and the role of community in mediating oral communication. Additionally, the findings showed that technology as well as norms can hinder oral communication. The findings also demonstrated types of interpersonal and presentational language that learners produced. Based on the findings, this study highlighted how students learn target language oral communication in an asynchronous online environment. The findings suggest the usage of a variety of artifacts and social interaction with community are important considerations for course design and asynchronous teaching practices. Furthermore, the findings suggest that counter to the belief that teaching oral language mastery is not achievable in online courses, beginning language students in a completely asynchronous online course are capable of producing L2 interpersonal and presentational oral language in alignment with ACTFL novice level proficiency Can-Do statements.
BRIDGING THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF TEACHER CANDIDATES AND THEIR STUDENTS: POSSIBILITIES FOR CREATING AND CURATING MULTIMODAL, CRITICAL TEXT SETS
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2025-01) Lemus, Maria; Damico, James
Post-baccalaureate students studying to be educators begin a Teacher Credential Program with their own varied life experiences and backgrounds. Given their own learning journey as students across classroom contexts, teacher candidates enter the teaching profession with a range of beliefs about teaching, learning, and literacy. It is crucial for teachers to understand the diverse learners in their classrooms and to build from their students’ intersectional identities and sociocultural capital. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2018 it was estimated that of the 51 million students in the United States who would attend pre-K through 12 grade, about half (26 million) would be children of color (Price-Dennis, D., & Sealey-Ruiz, Y, 2020). This practitioner research study focuses on how three teacher candidates develop as culturally responsive educators and integrate critical literacy practices into their content area classrooms. This research examines one elementary Physical Education teacher, one middle school Math teacher, and one high school World Language teacher in their development of designing meaningful literacy experiences that leverage students’ lived experiences and intercultural backgrounds. The theories undergirding the research include: culturally sustaining pedagogies (Ladson-Billings 1995; Gay, 2000; Paris & Alim, 2017; Muhammad, 2020), critical literacies (Janks, 2000; Luke, 2004; Vasquez, 2017; Vasquez, Janks, & Comber, 2019; Vasquez, 2005; Zacher Pandya & Avila, 2014) and Harste et al. 1984; Jewitt, 2016; Morrell, 2011; Mosley, 2010; Muhammad, 2020; Moll, 2019;Nash et al., 2023, p. 2). This qualitative research study employed practitioner inquiry and utilized thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) to analyze critical text set reflections about the design and implementation of critical text sets. Findings suggest that teachers recognize the importance of expansive notions of literacy, reenvision text collection as a generative process, and link learning to lived experiences of students. The findings from this study have implications for teachers across educational contexts and global spaces. By investing time to integrate historical and culturally relevant people and places into content learning, teacher candidates recognize the value of drawing from their own lived experiences to build connections to students’ multilayered identities and to create elevated engagement and learning in the classroom. This study led to the development of a new model called TEXT that helps foster ongoing reflective points to consider in the selection, sequencing, and situating of multimodal texts within teaching.
ENSURING EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE HOW BLIND STUDENTS CONCEPTUALIZE THE NATURE OF SCIENCE
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2025-01) Stamper, Tina Noelle; Akerson, Valarie L.
This study explored the impact of online explicit-reflective instruction on visually impaired students’ conceptions of the Nature of Science (NOS). Blind and low vision students enrolled in grades K-12 were recruited to participate in a six-week, online, Saturday science program during which they engaged in tactile NOS activities and received explicit-reflective NOS instruction. In order to assess the students’ understandings of various NOS aspects, students completed the Views of Nature of Science (VNOS) questionnaire, pre- and post-NOS instruction. Additional qualitative data were obtained from weekly exit slips, the students’ verbal commentary, semi-structured interviews, and a teaching journal kept by the instructor of the science program. The study participants, as a whole, were shown to hold a majority of inadequate views on the various aspects of NOS prior to receiving any explicit-reflective NOS instruction. However, results showed that after receiving explicit-reflective NOS instruction, the students were able to improve their understandings of the creative, empirical, subjective, and tentative aspects of NOS, as well as being able to distinguish between the scientific processes of observation and inference. Results also indicated that the students found science to be fun and were willing and able to actively engage in adapted NOS activities. Based upon these findings, it is imperative that researchers identify ways to provide blind and low vision students with equitable and inclusive opportunities to comprehend NOS ideas as a means to increase their scientific literacy and to make informed decisions about the world around them.
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT: MIGRATION STUDY AND ARTFUL THINKING TO FOSTER CRITICAL GLOBAL AND INTERCULTURAL GROWTH IN A MIDDLE SCHOOL SPANISH CLASSROOM
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2025-01) Manuel, Melanie; Damico, James S.
In this practitioner inquiry study, the researcher, a middle school teacher at a K-12 American international school in the United Kingdom, designed an arts-based unit on migration for a Grade 6 beginner Spanish class. The study aimed to investigate how students’ lived experiences influence their engagement with, creations around, and understanding of migration throughout the unit. To achieve this, the practitioner employed the Artful Thinking approach from Harvard University’s Project Zero which uses visual arts and music to enhance thinking. This pedagogical choice facilitated aesthetic engagements that the practitioner used as data for her study. In order to analyze the data, the practitioner combined approaches including Braun and Clarke’s framework with Artful Thinking practices and arts-based methods to produce themes in the dataset. Her analysis resulted in a series of creative vignettes and visual compositions around the themes of nostalgia, volver (returning), and esperanza (hope). These findings suggest that aesthetic experiences in the teaching of complex global issues contribute to the development of critical global and intercultural growth. As such, she presents her work here as an invitation for productive discussions and exploration of arts-based methods and aesthetic education to enact critical pedagogies and deepen connections with students
YUP’IK IMMERSION IN AN URBAN PUBLIC SCHOOL: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC CASE STUDY EXPLORING INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2025-02) Locke, Brandon Todd; Coronel-Molina, Serafin
This qualitative research study examines the development and implementation, and ultimately the impact, of an Alaska Native Indigenous language (Yup’ik) immersion program in the city of Anchorage, Alaska. This research looks at how local entities perceive the development of the program and its language revitalization efforts: specifically, examining the overall community impact and sustainability. This program is the first and only Alaska Native language immersion program in Anchorage, which is open to any student regardless of race, ethnicity, or background. Given this rarity, the study examines the perceptions of value (culturally, linguistically, educationally, financially, etc.) of the program and the impact of the Yup’ik immersion program on the ASD community. Specifically, this study explores the impact of the Yup’ik Immersion Program on the ASD community and the Yup’ik community in Anchorage and beyond. Participants include educators, administrators, parents/family members/guardians, community (consortium) partners, elders, and government officials (local, state, federal). The study utilized multiple data sources, including semi-structured interviews, grant evaluation reports, and related documents. Thematic analysis was informed by critical theory, culturally sustaining pedagogies, and Indigenous ways of knowing, with a particular focus on the Yup’ik worldview. Key findings that emerged from the analysis include the following themes: challenges, the benefits and value of Native languages and cultures, program strengths, and funding.
INVESTIGATING THE COURSE DESIGN COMPETENCIES OF PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT FACULTY MEMBERS: AN INSTRUMENTAL CASE STUDY
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2025-02) Stephens, Benjamin Christopher; Leftwich, Anne T.
This study was motivated by the central phenomenon of an education program being highly successful despite having few faculty members formally trained in education and limited instructional design support. This study narrowed in on how the faculty members design their courses. To frame this investigation, I relied on the broad terms used in the ADDIE instructional design model. I conducted interviews and think-aloud protocols with eight faculty participants. The data was coded using key phrases from the ADDIE design model along with other codes that emerged from the data. I conducted member-checking interviews to ensure I captured the participant’s responses correctly. I found the faculty at Sullivan University’s Physician Assistant program are busy professionals who expertly leverage resources to develop their courses. One of the reasons the program has been so successful is the level of support provided by national PA Education Organizations and the participant’s willingness to rely on each other for support. I conclude the study with several suggestions. I challenge other professions to use the support provided to PA programs as a benchmark for the support they provide to their training programs or schools. I also suggest that the ADDIE model is an effective way to investigate faculty members’ learning design prac- tice and a practical framework for supporting ongoing professional development.
WORLD LANGUAGE TEACHERS' ASSESSMENT BELIEFS AND GRADING PRACTICES
([Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2025-03) Cotton, Melinda; Wohlwend, Karen
Gradebooks take center stage in educational settings and are used to determine a student’s eligibility to pass a class, graduate, or attend college. Grading practices are often private and vary greatly, even in the same department. This study examined one world language department in a U.S. public high school to compare the assessments that were entered into the teachers’ gradebooks, why and how those assessments were administered, and subsequently how they were weighted in the gradebook. I conducted interviews with seven world language teachers to explore the range of teachers’ beliefs about student achievement in world language, since this achievement could be assessed in many different ways, such as speaking, writing, reading, and listening. The qualitative research was conducted through individual interviews, to inquire about the teachers’ gradebook setups, their beliefs about student achievement, and each of the assessments found in their gradebook reports. The interviews were recorded on Zoom, transcribed, analyzed, and coded for themes through the lens of Bakhtin’s authoritative discourse. Assessment and gradebook practices in the interviews revealed diverse, patchwork views about world language achievement. The beliefs, ranging from macro to micro levels, related student world language achievement to understanding concepts, accumulating knowledge, communicating, negotiating meaning, participating in communities of practice, reciting and reading aloud, and connecting to cultures. The teachers also believed to varying degrees that non-academic factors like effort should be reflected in students’ grades. These results indicated that teachers’ beliefs may contribute to teachers’ avoidance of certain kinds of important assessments. Self-reflection along with individual and collaborative gradebook evaluations could aid teachers in finding gaps in their assessment practices. In departments that require the implementation of common assessments, holding diverse achievement beliefs can cause conflict, but collaboration and mutual training might improve the departments’ overall assessment and grading practices.

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