Science reform efforts over the years have addressed the need to make science engaging and accessible for all learners. These efforts attend to multiple aspects of science teaching and learning, including, but not limited to, more intentional focus on teaching students about the nature of science, as well as increased use of Culturally Relevant…

Elementary teachers often integrate science-themed trade books into their science and reading lessons. This study examines the alignment of science-themed trade books written for readers in Kindergarten through fifth-grade to the Next Generation Science Standards Disciplinary Core Ideas (NGSS DCI). The goal of this research is to analyze the…

Professional learning communities (PLCs) involve a process of collaboration, focus on student data and best instructional practices, and serve as a way for all students can receive an equitable education. Many schools implementing PLCs considered the term a noun, not a verb, leading to an inequitable education for high school students across…

Army Futures Command (AFC) has the implicit mission of ensuring that the Army does not get locked into a technology that might be ineffective in a future of competition and conflict. In this dissertation I develop insights and tools that can help assess and inform AFC's efforts to understand and avoid undesirable technological lock-in. I started…

Women are not given equal opportunity for success in the hard sciences, despite their achievement in integrating into the field. Success in science is related to publications and grant awards, which are easier to attain in leadership positions or with the help of mentors. While women are represented in science, they are underrepresented in…

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge (Hetherington, 2012; Moreland & Craig, 2017; Pritchard, 2014). Epistemology is central to the practice of research and education (Spears, 2003). The epistemological position that holds science as the best or only way of acquiring knowledge is known as scientism…

Many international doctoral female students in the sciences in the United States do not obtain a degree despite their large investment in time, effort, and financial resources. The loss of highly prepared and credentialed international female doctoral students, who have a genuine interest in science but who choose not to pursue their studies to…

In this dissertation study, I aimed to 1) investigate gender patterns in students' career aspirations, in both STEM and non-STEM fields, and 2) identify factors contributing to persistent gender differences within specific STEM disciplines. Drawing on Gottfredson's (1983) model of circumscription and compromise, I examined gender patterns and…

The racial and ethnic demographics of higher education are becoming increasingly diverse; however, faculty demographics remain predominantly White. With agriculture being one of the largest economic sectors, often with many roles to fill, recruiting and retaining racially and ethnically diverse students into agricultural and related science…

The demand for talent in the technology sector and the notion of computational thinking as everyday skills propel computing to enter middle school classrooms. The growing popularity of physical computing in educational spaces also infuses computing with elements of creativity and joy. Despite these recent movements, computing remains primarily in…

Research suggests teacher professional learning and collaboration are essential to support student achievement. However, our Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) English Language Learners (ELL) have lower academic achievement and our teachers are limited with professional learning inquiry cycle opportunities. Research also suggests vocabulary…

The ability to efficiently optimize or re-optimize an algorithm for high performance on a particular processor architecture is crucial in a wide spectrum of engineering and scientific applications. To help bridge the gap between fully automated optimization, which does not reliably produce optimal code, and fully manual optimization, which is…

Black African women are grossly underrepresented as academic staff in engineering programs at South African universities. The problem is exacerbated at historically White institutions (HWI) where Black women are simply absent as engineering research and teaching staff. The absence of Black African women in the academy occurs despite Black African…

The purpose of this study was to understand the risks, responsibility, and rewards women of color in the sciences navigate and negotiate when choosing to speak truth to power. The theoretical lenses that guided this work included Critical Race Theory, Critical Feminist Theory, Harding's strong objectivity, and Foucault's analysis of…

The exponential growth of digital libraries and the proliferation of scholarly content in electronic formats have made data mining and information retrieval essential tools for effectively managing, organizing, and disseminating knowledge. This thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of the advancements and challenges in these fields, with a…