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Revealing the Impacts of Teachers’ Lived Experiences with Burnout: An Educational Criticism Study
No full textThe purpose of this educational criticism study is to describe the experiences of burnout for four teachers in a western state school district. To represent and illustrate these experiences, Eisner’s methodology, educational connoisseurship and criticism, was utilized. Three research questions guided this study; How do teachers describe experiences of burnout?; How do teachers describe the impact of curriculum on burnout?; How do teachers perceive burnout impacts their instruction and interactions with students? Data for this study was collected on the four participants through a one-on-one interview, two focus groups, two classroom observations, and artifacts and analyzed using emotions and values coding, as well as annotations. The findings of this study revealed teachers’ reasons for burnout and those impacts, including lack of work/life balance, challenging student behavior, and lack of administrator support. The importance of teacher autonomy and teacher voice in decision making was also revealed. The results further indicated a distinction between teachers’ perceptions of how their burnout impacts their teaching opposed to the reality of their impact. Finally, this study provides implications for making the teacher profession more sustainable
Beliefs of California and Colorado Parents, School Professionals, and School Administrators Around Providing Comprehensive Sexuality Education to School-Aged Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
No full textPeople with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are victims of sexual assault at a rate seven times higher than people without IDD (Shapiro, 2018a). “One of the best ways to stop sexual assault is to give people with intellectual disabilities the ability to identify abuse and to know how to develop the healthy relationships they want” (Shapiro, 2018b, p. 1). Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) could be a scientifically accurate, evidence-based, age-appropriate, culturally relevant, and inclusive educational experience for youth with IDD (Koch et al., 2024). However, only around 16% of students with IDD were likely to receive sex education in public schools across the United States (Barnard-Brak et al., 2014). This study explored how the experiences and perceptions of parents, school professionals, and school administrators impacted beliefs around providing CSE to school-aged youth with IDD and identified and described parent, school professional, and school administrators’ perceived barriers to CSE for students with IDD. These research questions guided this study:
Q1 How do the experiences and perceptions of intellectual and developmental disability impact California and Colorado parents, school professionals, and school administrators’ beliefs about providing comprehensive sexuality education to school-aged youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities?
Q2 What do California and Colorado parents, school professionals, and school administrators perceive as barriers to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities receiving comprehensive sexuality education?
The researcher designed a phenomenological focus group pilot study to explore barriers to CSE for school-aged youth with IDD. Three focus groups (comprising parents, school professionals, and school administrators) included a total of seven participants. Through the lens of the social relational model of disability (Reindal, 2008), three main themes emerged: rights affirmation, needs for successful inclusion, and positive outcomes of CSE. Participants perceived youth with IDD as equal members of a community with the ability to make valuable and unique contributions. They believed inclusive education could be achieved and described positive outcomes of CSE instruction. Limitations were in the small number of participants and the lack of data from classroom teachers. Future research should explore barriers to CSE access for youth with IDD throughout the United States
A Transcriptomic Approach to Identify Pea Aphid Effector Proteins During Interactions with Medicago and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
No full textAphids, including the pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum), are major agricultural pests due to their ability to damage crops and transmit plant viruses. Understanding the molecular interactions between aphids and their host plants is crucial for developing sustainable pest management strategies. This dissertation examines the complex relationships among pea aphids, host plants, and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, focusing on transcriptomic changes in both aphids and plants during feeding.
Chapter II investigates how factors such as feeding duration, aphid tissue type, aphid age, and host plant species affect the expression of aphid salivary effector genes, which are key to suppressing plant defenses and facilitating nutrient uptake. The study found that these factors significantly influence effector gene expression. Younger aphids and those in early feeding stages showed higher expression levels, with notable differences depending on the host plant. Additionally, small changes in gene expression are not captured when using whole aphid bodies compared to heads, highlighting the importance of tissue selection in transcriptomic studies.
Chapter III explores how AM fungal colonization of Medicago truncatula indirectly affects the aphid salivary transcriptome during feeding. The research revealed that AM symbiosis significantly alters aphid gene expression, particularly pathways related to proteolysis, nutrient uptake, and stress adaptation, especially during the early stages of feeding (six hours). At this timepoint, 151 genes were differentially expressed, with a majority upregulated. After 24 hours, transcriptomic changes were less pronounced, suggesting aphid adaptation to mycorrhizal plant physiology. Notably, aphids feeding on mycorrhizal plants for 24 hours exhibited enhanced performance, indicating potential benefits from this interaction.
Chapter IV compares the foliar transcriptome of mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal M. truncatula during aphid herbivory. The findings show that mycorrhizal plants prioritize structural and metabolic defenses over induced pathogen defenses, with significant suppression of secondary metabolism and upregulation of lipid-based and structural defenses. These trends persist over 24 hours, suggesting a resource allocation trade-off favoring stress tolerance and structural defense mechanisms.
Overall, this research provides critical insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying aphid-host plant-AM fungi interactions. The findings highlight potential avenues for developing sustainable pest management strategies by leveraging AM-induced plant defenses while advancing our understanding of inter-kingdom interactions that influence agricultural ecosystems
Undergraduate Faculty Experiences with Test Remediation
No full textNursing students’ success in didactic courses generally depends on test scores. Students who fail to achieve a designated score might fail the test and/or the course. Test remediation is an intervention that could be implemented in response to a student’s failure. The intent of test remediation is to improve the student’s success on future exams and maximize the likelihood of progression. While remediation for success on the National Council Licensure Examination, standardized exams, and for the achievement of clinical skills were well documented, little research was found on test remediation for individual course exams. The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of test remediation by undergraduate nursing faculty. This qualitative descriptive study was guided by King’s theory of goal attainment. The follow research questions guided this study:
Q1 How do nursing faculty remediate students who fail a course exam?
Q2 When students fail a test, how do faculty determine what is needed to help the student be successful?
Q3 How do faculty learn to remediate?
Twelve undergraduate nursing faculty were recruited through a Facebook educators group and after providing informed consent, they were interviewed for this study. In-depth interviews using open-ended questions were conducted, recorded, and transcribed by the researcher. A thematic analysis was conducted to identify themes. The following themes provided a glimpse into the experiences and perspectives of undergraduate nurse educators with iv test remediation: (a) faculty qualities, (b) varied process of remediation, (c) student barriers to success, (d) challenges to remediation, and (e) just winging it. The participants described the qualities needed by nurse educators and the varied process of test remediation. They also shared their unique processes of test remediation but there were common components. The findings (a) revealed challenges and barriers to remediation for faculty and students and the need to address these to be successful; (b) revealed the lack of graduate education training available for faculty on test remediation; and (c) provided insight into the faculty experience with remediation. There is a need for further research into test remediation, the development of evidence-based remediation strategies, and faculty education on test remediation
The Program Assessment Cycle: A Roadmap to Continuous Improvement
No full textDiscover how the program assessment cycle serves as a structured yet flexible roadmap for continuous improvement in higher education. This session will explore key stages of assessment, from setting goals to using data for meaningful change, ensuring sustained program effectiveness and student success
From Reflection to Action: Navigating the 5-Year Program Review
No full textLearn how to transform insights from program review into actionable improvements that drive long-term success. This session will guide you through the 5-year program review process, offering strategies for meaningful reflection, data-informed decision-making, and sustainable program enhancements
Lessons from the Learners: What Undergraduate Students Say About Effective Teaching
No full textGain valuable insights from undergraduate students on what makes teaching truly effective. This session will highlight student perspectives on engagement, feedback, and instructional strategies, offering practical takeaways for enhancing teaching and learning experiences
Grades That Matter: Implementing Alternative Grading Approaches
No full textExplore alternative grading approaches that prioritize meaningful feedback, student growth, and deeper learning. This session will introduce strategies such as specifications grading, contract grading, and ungrading, offering insights into how they can enhance motivation and equity in the classroom
Small and Ugly OER: Simple Strategies to Ease Faculty into Open Education
No full textOpen education advocates know the benefits of OER, but faculty newcomers may feel that adopting OER requires a complete overhaul of a course or that materials must be professionally designed to be effective. Inspired by James M. Lang’s Small Teaching, the concept of Small OER reframes OER adoption as a series of small, intentional steps—such as replacing a single textbook chapter or reading with an open alternative—rather than an all-or-nothing shift. Pairing this with the concept of ugly OER—simple, effective, and easily created resources like Google Docs or instructor-made PDFs—reduces barriers and helps faculty understand that OER don’t need to be flawless or all-encompassing to make an impact. By embracing incremental and imperfect approaches, OER advocates can take resilient, forward-looking steps to make open education feel less intimidating, ultimately helping them keep their “eyes on the horizon” and increasing adoption on their campuses in a sustainable way
Phylogenetic Comparative Vocal Evolution
No full textVocal learning is a trait unique to humans, bats, cetaceans, primates, and birds (Jarvis & Nottebohm, 1997; McComb & Semple, 2005; Wilbrecht & Nottebohm, 2003). Although there has been extensive research on vocal learning in songbirds, parrots are an even closer proxy to human learning, as they are social, intelligent, and lifelong learners, with some having repertoires of over 300 sounds (Benedict et al., 2022; Péron et al., 2011; Thomsen et al., 2019; Toft & Wright, 2015). Elevated vocal learning can be attributed to the need for parrots to have strong communication skills through the sharing of information over foraging, roosting, rearing young, and territory defense (Cockburn, 2006; Toft & Wright, 2015). There are some predominant overarching hypotheses as to how vocal learning evolved. Did it evolve as an adaptation to environmental attributes like communal signaling, diet, flock size, and habitat density (Carouso-Peck et al., 2021; Nowicki & Searcy, 2014)? Is it a parallel of sexually selected traits like color elaboration (Chen et al., 2012)? Or is vocal learning evolutionary promoted by physical traits like brain size, mass, and longevity (Ah-King, 2022; Jarvis, 2006; Riebel, 2003)? My thesis aimed to answer two questions: “Is vocal learning phylogenetically conserved?” and “Do the reported vocal mimicry repertoires of companion parrots (Psittaciformes) coevolve with species-level environmental, sexual, and physical characteristics?”. The purpose of this study is to use phylogenetic comparative methods in R to test eight environmental, color, and physical traits against vocal repertoire data from companion parrots and determine which coevolve with vocal learning abilities. My results showed a strong linkage between physical traits and the evolution of vocal learning, specifically that species with larger brains, larger bodies, and longer lifespans have larger learned repertoires. This supports the idea that vocal learning is not environmentally driven or a product of sexual selection but is a trait of larger species with longer lifespans and bigger brains. Using this information, we can continue to test known traits with vocal learning data to determine how this unique ability evolved not only for parrots, but other vocal learners as well