This dissertation examines the transformative potential of reflective practice in student assessment and feedback, while also developing tools to gain a nuanced understanding of teacher feedback dispositions and practices. It outlines the development and refinement of three novel tools: the Reflective Classroom Assessment Protocol (ReCAP), the…

This basic qualitative study aimed to understand how the results of the kindergarten readiness assessments are used within the classroom for planning curriculum, connecting to learning standards, and implementing individualized instruction, along with kindergarten teachers' perspectives on the usefulness of kindergarten readiness testing. The…

Despite the growing demand for online educational resources, there is a notable scarcity of educational materials available in the Korean language. To meet this need, this research developed and evaluated a set of educational materials, including videos and web blogs, focused on fundamental audiology concepts. Evaluation of the material involved a…

Currently, there exist little materials to introduce elementary students to auxiliary percussion instruments. There is a need for the creation of more instructional material for this age group that provides pedagogy descriptions for the instruments as well as playing examples. The purpose of this project is to create a method book that provides…

This dissertation follows a manuscript-style format, beginning with an introduction and literature review, followed by three distinct studies and a concluding section. All three studies use "Lucky Codes," an educational board game designed to foster computational thinking skills in elementary students, as the intervention. The first…

The cybersecurity landscape in the United States has rapidly evolved, marked by risk and novel threats (Georgescu, 2021; Siraj et al., 2021). Today, security mindsets are "widely accepted in the computer security community as … essential … for successful cybersecurity practice" (Peterson, 2021, para. 1), valuable to aspiring…

This qualitative research investigated two preservice teachers' multimodal aesthetic reader responses to a wordless picture book in a literacy methods course. This study took up a sociocultural perspective that was informed by transactional reader response theory (Rosenblatt, 1978, 1986, 2013) and further supported by a pedagogy of…

This study asked what elements should be included in a cognitive accessibility heuristic framework for parent-educators to compare STEM educational video games for K-5 level autistic children who require substantial supports? To provide an answer to this question, two component questions were asked: 1) "which computer learning game…

Despite the importance of teacher educators in influencing the quality of teacher education and by extension, the teacher quality, teacher educator preparation and professional development has received little attention from researchers and its pedagogical knowledge domain is often generalized from that of teachers. This study therefore explored…

Computer science instructors typically have many responsibilities, such as creating material, delivering lectures, clarifying student questions, and grading student deliverables, while the demand for computer science education has been increasing. Handling all of these responsibilities is challenging in itself. However, it is made worse when…

Previous studies in second language teaching have called attention to the importance and benefits of including reading, especially graded readers (i.e., books adapted to the proficiency level of the students), in the L2 curriculum (Martinez, 2017; Rodrigo, 2018). On one hand, previous scholars have found the following benefits from graded readers:…

The dissertation consists of three studies that are the process of designing, developing, and evaluating generative-AI-powered story-authoring platforms for children. The first study focuses on the formative study on how stakeholders in education (i.e., teachers, parents, and students) perceive and leverage generative AI platforms (i.e., ChatGPT…

Over the last several decades, language teacher identity has become a growing field of research due to its link with teacher performance and student achievement (Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009; Beijaard et al., 2000). However, graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are often excluded from the LTI research despite language departments' increasing…

In university-level composition courses, assignment prompts are fundamental in shaping students' understanding of major writing projects. Aiming to be instructive and descriptive while also clear and concise, instructors use a series of moves (Swales, 1990) and modals in writing assignment prompts to express requirements, suggestions, and…

This ex post facto, quasi-experimental quantitative study investigated the impact of the implementation of student voice conferences on reading assessment scores and equitable differentiated instructional tasks designed for a productive struggle during teacher lesson planning. Six teachers and 132 students from one suburban elementary school…