The study investigated the relationship between self-rated servant leadership among post-secondary faculty and perceived student engagement in online educational environments. While existing literature has demonstrated a positive effect of servant leadership on student engagement, it has primarily centered on student perspectives and often…

Neuroimaging research has transformed understanding of how the brain responds to instructional methods, with active instruction demonstrating exceptional learner benefits. This is valuable information for educators across learning formats in higher education, including in-person, hybrid, and online classrooms. Calibrating pedagogical practices to…

This research study sought to examine the relationship between classroom culture, active learning strategies, and higher education success for adult learners. This mixed-method correlational and causal-comparative research design determined that adult learners have a readiness to learn and an increased need for the teaching to be centered around…

As educators, our goal is to help our students be successful, but in order to accomplish this, we need to understand what factors contribute to student success. One factor, small-group active learning, has been correlated to improved academic outcomes; however, the magnitude of this improvement can vary across different courses, different types of…

Separating students in a variety of ways from one another in school systems based on either their perceived abilities or the part they may play in the future world is a codified component of systemic public educational systems. Much pontificating and research has been devoted to reflecting on these stratifying and segregating practices, especially…

Active learning is widely recognized as superior to traditional passive, lecture-based techniques for fostering learning in STEM courses. Interactive, hands-on learning where students interact with their peers and physical systems is an effective type of active learning. As the need for scientists and engineers continues to grow, understanding and…

The predominant use of lecturing in introductory STEM classrooms--which perpetuates a stressful, competitive, and unsupportive learning environment--has been identified as one of the primary causes of diminished student motivation and interest, eventually leading to exit from these fields. These effects are exacerbated among women and students of…

The effect of class size on student learning has numerous policy implications and has been a major subject of conversation and research for decades. Despite this, few studies have been done on class size in the context of university settings or physics courses. This dissertation helps address that gap in the literature by quantitatively analyzing…

My dissertation is a pre-mid-post-test, quantitative research design, including surveys and written assessments, to answer these research questions: 1. How do students' science mindset vary over time when engaged in science inquiry activities? Is there a difference between male and female students? 2. Is there a relationship between 7th grade…

A mounting body of evidence has shown that student-centered instructional practices are more effective than traditional teacher-centered methodologies in Undergraduate STEM courses. Several studies have shown the effectiveness of student-centered pedagogies through increases in student performance, retention, and higher achievement by…

Learning progressions are the latest tool to understand the ways science learning occurs and they underlie the structure and framework of the "Next Generation Science Standards". Prior research indicated a variety of ways to develop and validate learning progressions and learning progression's general positive impact on students' science…

All branches of anatomy (gross anatomy, histology, neuroanatomy, and embryology) involve significant amounts of visual identification. Understanding the spatial relationship and visual representations of anatomical structures forms the basis for much of anatomy education, particularly in laboratory courses. Students in these courses frequently…

This was a quasi-experimental study that examined two Project-Based Learning (PjBL) environments to determine the impact PjBL has on the changing perceptions of 21st century soft skills, and students' intrinsic motivation. Further, researchers were interested in evaluating the difference in results between an interdisciplinary PjBL experience and…

Active learning methodologies (ALM) are associated with student success, but little research on this topic has been pursued at the community college level. At a local community college, students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses exhibited lower than average grades. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the use…

This study addressed how different instructional strategies affected preservice elementary teachers' levels of math anxiety and their achievement in a math content course while considering descriptions of their experiences in the course in relation to their math anxiety and achievement. The instructional strategies used were traditional teaching…