University of Central Florida
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A Case Study of Grades 3-4 English Language Arts Teachers\u27 Interpretations of Educational Policy and Their Pedagogical Choices in Literacy Instruction
No full textThe purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how elementary school teachers in a Florida public school district made sense of Florida’s House Bill 1467: K-12 Education (HB 1467) and how their interpretations shaped their reading and writing pedagogy. Guided by Karl Weick’s (1995) Sensemaking Theory as a theoretical lens for understanding these interpretations, the study examined how teachers navigated the complexities of policy implementation within the context of their daily classroom experiences. Participants included six third- and fourth-grade English Language Arts (ELA) teachers from four elementary schools within a Florida public school district. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis. The findings revealed that teachers’ sensemaking was not only shaped by the policy’s language but also by their professional identities, past experiences, school-level leadership, and emotional responses, such as fear, frustration, and desire to protect their students. These factors contributed to varied instructional choices, including the closure of classroom libraries, limiting text selection, and changes in their reading and writing pedagogy. This study highlights how policy meaning is constructed at the classroom level and contributes to the field of education by offering insight into how teachers make sense of and respond to mandates within politically influenced educational environments. It underscores the importance of involving educators in policy discussions and considering their voices in both the development and implementation of educational policy, especially when such mandates directly impact curriculum content, teaching, and students’ access to instructional materials
The Benefit of Qualified English Language Teachers in Non-English-Speaking Countries
No full textAbstract
This study explores the impact of qualified English language teachers on English Language Learners (ELLs) in their home countries, assessing how English language instruction can enhance their preparedness for higher education in Western universities. The need for effective English language education is underscored by the scarcity of qualified ESL instructors, which leaves L2 learning ill-equipped for academic success. Utilizing Vygotsky’s social development theory, particularly the Zone of Proximal Development, this research examines the role of social interactions with qualified native speakers in fostering language proficiency and academic achievement. The literature review highlights significant barriers ELLs face, including inadequate teaching methods and limited exposure to the language, which undermine their confidence and educational aspirations in Western academic settings. Recommendations include hiring qualified native English-speaking teachers to improve instructional quality and providing additional resources to support ELLs’ learning journey. This study emphasizes the critical need for effective language education in home countries to facilitate ELLs successful transition to higher education in English-speaking environments
Seagrass Persistence in the Indian River Lagoon and Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida
No full textThe spatial dataset: UCF_seagrasspersistence_IRL_LWL.shp was created with support from the Indian River Lagoon National Estuaries Program and Florida Sea Grant. These projects cumulatively led to creation of a living shoreline restoration prioritization model and hydrodynamic habitat suitability models for 1,550 km (963 miles) of estuarine shorelines in Indian River Lagoon (IRL) and Lake Worth Lagoon (LWL). The dataset presented herein represents persistence of seagrass throughout waters of the IRL and LWL
Funding the Future of Education - The Development of Innovative Options for Title 1 Schooling
No full textThis semester, our group focused on exploring the current funding of Title 1 Schooling through the creation of a Deliberative Dialogue. Using the previous model developed by the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI),a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting public deliberation about difficult issues, we worked together as the Options Development Team to create three potential solutions addressing inequities in the current educational funding seen across the country. Our options included increasing funding, reallocating existing funds, and launching an awareness campaign to help families and communities better understand how funding works.
Through this project, we as a group learned the power of civic engagement and collaboration in creating meaningful change. We discovered that open dialogue and respectful listening are key to understanding complex issues like that of education. Most importantly, we realized that meaningful change starts with people coming together—using conversation as the foundation for action and progress in our communities.https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hip-2025fall/1009/thumbnail.jp
The Psychological Impact of the Cold War
No full textThe purpose of my project, The Psychological Impact of the Cold War, was to explore how the events of the Cold War psychologically affected nations, leaders, and civilians. The key activities that I pursued entailed gathering research from several primary and secondary sources, taking extensive notes, assembling a storyboard for my presentation, composing a script, rearranging the timeline of my information, adjusting the timeline to fit the required elapsed time, and creating a digital poster along with supplemental materials. Throughout my studies, it was reflected in my discoveries that a good portion of Western culture today has been influenced by the consequences of the Cold War, in turn, psychologically manipulating us. Eastern and Western Germany are a good example of this phenomenon, as divided as they were, their division eventually led to the creation of warped identities that excluded Easterners from Westerners after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Additionally, this can be attributed to the drastic lifestyle differences between Germans under Communist rule and Germans protected by NATO. Additionally, it is worth mentioning how impactful the devastation of war is within small countries such as Vietnam—countries that must rely on support from wealthier Western nations due to military violence and fallout that has ruined the environment and any chances of recovery. Overall, this experience has taught me a new form of ambition and organization.https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hip-2025fall/1032/thumbnail.jp
Association Between Excess Body Weight and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Incidence
No full texthttps://stars.library.ucf.edu/hip-2025fall/1037/thumbnail.jp
From Classroom to Career: Fostering Student Success through Service
No full textServing as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant for UCF’s Career Readiness 1 course allowed me to make a direct impact on students’ professional growth and reflective learning. By providing individualized, thoughtful feedback on assignments and résumés, I helped students connect course concepts to their personal goals and build stronger confidence in their career readiness. My guidance encouraged deeper self-reflection, improved writing and professionalism, and increased engagement among students who initially struggled to see the course’s value.
This experience also shaped my own development as an ethical and reflective educator. I learned to recognize and reduce potential grading biases, communicate with empathy, and foster an inclusive learning environment. Supporting over thirty students strengthened my teaching, leadership, and feedback skills—key foundations for my goal of becoming a psychology professor who empowers future learners to grow both academically and personally.https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hip-2025fall/1059/thumbnail.jp
Fostering Civil Discourse on Title I Schools
No full texthttps://stars.library.ucf.edu/hip-2025fall/1055/thumbnail.jp
Impact of ULA’s in an Undergraduate Chemistry Course
No full textBloom’s taxonomy (Benjamin Samuel Bloom, 1956) is a hierarchical framework that is useful for categorizing learning objectives into discrete levels of understanding. This framework has six different discrete levels, becoming increasingly more complex: the original cognitive domain, beginning with Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and the highest level being Evaluation. The goal of this research is to understand how the experience of Undergraduate Learning Assistants (ULAs) in the same general chemistry one course emulates Bloom’s taxonomy, looking at both experiences during the designated class time and outside of it, in the form of office hours or exam reviews. Experiences with students occurred both in person and virtually, and as such, these experiences may be more conducive to certain levels of the taxonomy and deserve to be analyzed separately. The experiences being discussed are the researcher’s own.https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hip-2025fall/1028/thumbnail.jp