The purpose of this action research study was to improve the implementation of a large-scale redesign of teacher preparation programs at Arizona State University. This was a highly complex redesign that impacted over 150 courses across 27 programs, involving more than 200 faculty and 2,500 students annually. As a result, implementing the redesign…

Modern-day educators often share a sense they lack voice and agency with school administration. A classic example is curriculum development, where third-party designers develop uncontextualized curricula, and teachers then must implement the design even if inefficient and ineffective. What happens if this identical situation occurs at the program…

Widespread consensus among the tourism and development studies literature suggests that higher education plays a key role in the achievement of sustainable tourism development. However, discussions on approaches to teaching sustainability in tourism at the higher education level are underdeveloped, especially in conflict-affected contexts. To…

In higher education, lab based science instruction is delivered across different teaching formats with the intent of delivering quality instruction for student comprehension. This qualitative exploratory case study examined the reports of community college science faculty in a community college system in a New England state regarding effective…

The purpose of this study was to examine the course design and pedagogical decision-making processes of English teachers at liberal arts colleges. Principles of course design iterated by Fink (2013) through the Integrated Course Design (ICD) model provided a framework for the study. The participants in this study were full-time English department…

This qualitative single case study on backward design lesson planning experiences of teachers in a professional learning community focused on gaining a better understanding of collaborative planning of standards-based learning intentions, success criteria, assessments, and activities as performed by four participants meeting daily in one high…

Informal learning is an important venue for educating the general public about complex socio- scientific issues: intersections of scientific understanding and society. My dissertation is a multi-tiered analysis of how informal education, and particularly informal educators, can leverage learning to respond to one particular socio-scientific issue:…

According to the 23rd Annual Report to Congress, U.S. Department of Education, one out of every five people in the United States has a learning disability (LD). The dropout rate among these students is high, and students with learning disabilities are also less likely to attend 4-year colleges and universities. Although a majority of students with…

Environmental Education (EE) refers to a broad array of approaches in which an instructor uses the environment as a means to integrate various subjects and real world learning. Research supported the idea that EE instruction had a positive correlation to academic achievement. Under the Kentucky Education Cabinet of the Department of Education, the…

The church music degree program at Charleston Southern University, based on a European traditional/classical sacred music degree model, has been attracting fewer and fewer students. The last two students pursuing this degree were graduated in May, 2011. Prior to their graduation, the administration encouraged the music department to investigate…

This study investigates the perceptions of a small group of Language Arts intervention teachers who have been prescribed a commercially-prepared intervention curriculum for use with their students. Written surveys and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data in pursuit of answers to the following research questions: (1) How do teachers…

The growth of online programs has been substantial over the past decade; such growth has required that an equally substantial number of faculty become proficient in the pedagogy of online learning and the best practices in online course design. At the same time, universities are being called on to provide evidence of student learning and…

The introduction of No Child Left Behind increased performance expectations for students across the United States and compelled teachers to focus on standardized assessments instead of frequent formative assessments to monitor instruction and promote student learning. Common formative assessments (CFAs) help teachers align curriculum, assessment,…