This study explores the relationship between race and teacher identity, specifically understanding how the two concepts intersect and (re)present themselves within the classroom environment. This study analyzes six teachers' narratives of identity, race, and teaching to explore themes of race and identity as they traverse from their earliest…

The purpose of this dissertation was to expand knowledge and theory around instructor social presence in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study provided a depiction of real-world experiences from the perspective of high school teachers during their shift to online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The study surveyed 50…

Trans people make up about 0.53% of the population or more. Many of these individuals, particularly in the higher education classroom setting, do not feel supported and are subject to discrimination and oppression. Many faculty are not up to date on terminology or ways to be trans-inclusive in the classroom. Studies show that professional…

The classroom is an important resource for effective teaching and learning. The classroom does not only address the physical structure but also the emotional parameters of the room. However, focus must be placed on the physical aspects of classroom design. This qualitative phenomenological study was designed to explore the perceptions of higher…

Child maltreatment is a widespread issue across the United States, directly impacting young children's learning and behavior. Yet, variability found in early education pre-service training does not include focus on this topic. Early education teachers often experience low wages, long work hours, and a lack of support to meet the needs of young…

In this study, I use theories of poststructuralism, feminist new materialism, posthumanism, and affect to investigate and theorize my experiences as a classroom teacher entangled with dominant discourses related to gender, social class, neoliberalism, and postfeminism. This dissertation is non-traditional in structure, as it addresses teacher…

The transition from high school to college is a crucial period for students, marked by personal and academic growth as they adapt to a more independent higher education environment. First-year seminars are offered by colleges and universities to support this transition, emphasizing the importance of instructors recognizing and treating students as…

The current study, a phenomenological case study, examined the personality traits of teachers in a small, private school located in a large metropolitan area utilizing the Enneagram personality typing system. The purpose of the current study was to ascertain the effects that teachers' personalities play in their roles as educators. Each research…

The problem under investigation in this qualitative study was teachers' inconsistent implementation of differentiated instructional strategies when teaching students of low socioeconomic status. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how elementary teachers implement differentiated instructional strategies to support students of…

Past and current research has explored the link between the "blackness" of a person's name and socioeconomic outcomes in American society. Black-sounding names were shown to influence employment prospects, access to credit markets, and choice of housing among other opportunities. While education research had identified a relationship…

Research on video activity detection has primarily focused on identifying well-defined human activities in short video segments. The majority of the research on video activity recognition is focused on the development of large parameter systems that require training on large video datasets. This dissertation develops a low-parameter, modular…

This cross-sectional study examined if there was a positive correlation between students' critical consciousness (CC) levels and their entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The study was conducted via a survey that had four parts, including the Critical Consciousness Inventory (CCI), the Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy Survey, open classroom (OC)…

Collaboration is an underused teaching strategy despite its benefits and the call for curriculums worldwide to increase its use. To aid in discovering why the strategy is underused, more information was needed about the implementation of collaboration in the mathematics classroom. The purpose of this study was to investigate mathematics teachers'…

The 21st-century global economy has significantly changed the landscape of the American workplace. Apprenticeship training programs are gaining momentum as a postsecondary training approach to fill growing worker shortages for industry-specific needs and prepare workers for new or expanding industries (Fitzpayne & Pollack, 2018; Freyer et al.,…

Students' social and emotional learning (SEL) skills have been linked to positive behavioral and academic outcomes for students. Responsive Classroom is an evidence-based SEL program that promotes academic, social, and emotional growth of students through the implementation of student-centered practices designed to create engaging and nurturing…