1,720,987 research outputs found
“Clusters of creativity”: A narrative inquiry of low-stakes writing for identity development in community college populations
No full textAdult learner writing practice is often centered on practical, product driven instruction. This study examines the ways in which low-stakes, high interest writing facilitates the development of writer identity in adult and young adult learners. Focusing on a rural community college population, narrative inquiry framed with a sociocultural lens was utilized to capture the lived experiences of five Freshman composition students. Participant generated artifacts and written reflections along with semi-structured interviews were analyzed based on how students explored their writing identities through a low-stakes, multimodal writing practice termed Rogue Writing. These explorations were then examined for insight into how low-stakes writing practice fosters literacy practice and academic risk-taking. Findings most relevant to writing instructors were the scaffolding of self-efficacy and creative thinking through low-risk, high reward writing, drawing on student experience to develop discoursal identity and academic confidence. The study also indicated that such writing practice proved beneficial for reluctant and underprepared writers, as well as those working through trauma. Participants were able to bridge the gap between their personal, cultural, and social experiences and those of the academic space.Embargo status: Restricted to TTU community only. To view, login with your eRaider (top right). Others may request the author grant access exception by clicking on the PDF link to the left
Best practices for reversing high attrition and reducing graduation time frame: Doctoral education in a Kenyan public university
Full text linkThe doctoral graduation rate in Kenya public universities is low and unexplained. Universities' failure to monitor and document graduation time has made it difficult to initiate policies and decisions to reverse doctoral attrition and improve graduation time.
These qualitative studies explored the best practices that Kenyan public universities can put in place to improve doctoral education to stem attrition and reduce wastage. I used snowball sampling to recruit seven (five women and two men) recent graduates and two female faculty at a large public university in Nairobi County, Kenya. Semi-structured interviews were applied to document the participant’s persistence experience(s) and perceptions in-depth. Analysis of the data revealed that participants strained financially, academically, and socially due to existing gaps in the university’s policies (corrective measures). They attributed their persistence to cultivating social and academic support from peers and faculty, and financial support from the university. Understanding how students perceive the cause of their learning outcome can help individuals intending to pursue terminal degrees overcome hurdles related to a doctoral degree. Further, knowledge of how students perceive the university’s effort to mitigate these causal factors can inform the university administration and the departments about designing strategies to improve student interactions and retention and completion rates.Embargo status: Restricted until 06/2023. To request the author grant access, click on the PDF link to the left
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Exploring the experiences of male novice science teachers and educational trainers in professional development practices through the lens of adult learning theory in Saudi Arabia
No full textIn 2009, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Education launched the Project of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (PMNS), which instituted significant reforms in its science and mathematics curricula and education. After the reform, the problem that emerged is that the professional development programs still did not meet the teachers' needs and teachers still faced challenges regarding the quality of professional development and the new science curricula. This qualitative study aimed to explore science teachers and educational trainers (facilitators) perceptions of professional development and its planning and implementation through the lens of adult learning theory. Specifically, the research study sought a better understanding of the preparation and design of professional development programs in the Majmaah School District. A qualitative case study approach fit the study well because it allowed me to understand better the trainers and beginning science teachers' perceptions and experiences regarding the planning and implementing professional development. This study relied on two sources of data: Skype interviews and documents and records. Five educational trainers and nine beginning science teachers from the Majmaah School District served as the study participants. During data analysis, comparing the data collected from interviews and documents was compared to each other and done continuously to develop the themes that emerged from this study. Five primary themes and seven subthemes emerged from the data. Findings showed that teachers need to participate in professional development programs to enhance their content knowledge, skills, and teaching practices. The findings affirmed that it was necessary to focus on teachers' needs and view teachers' learning as an adult learning process. The evidence from this study suggests that teachers should have the opportunity to choose the workshops that fit their needs. Other findings indicated that trainers should be trained to improve their knowledge and skills, specifically regarding adult learning's cognitive and psychological principles. One fundamental recommendation was that those entities in charge of professional development and School District must prepare the trainers with the necessary knowledge of adult learning principles (Andragogy) and understand how adults learn and develop extensive professional development programs and systematically evaluate programs from preparing, implementing, and evaluating.Embargo status: Restricted until 06/2026. To request the author grant access, click on the PDF link to the left
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Neglected voices: Exploratory research of North Carolina STEM educators’ integration of global education
Full text linkThe purpose of this study was to explore how North Carolina (NC) STEM educators prepared students to thrive in a globalized world today and as the future STEM workforce of NC tomorrow. The NC STEM educators described the lived experiences that motivated them to integrate global education into their classrooms. In addition, the research determined the common strategies that STEM educators used in their classrooms to support building student global competence and the barriers and supports they faced when integrating global education into their classrooms. The research study addressed gaps in global education research in the areas of inservice teachers’ and STEM educators’ lived experiences that contribute to their global competence and the instructional strategies they utilize when integrating global education in their classrooms. Research on building global competence skills focused on preservice teachers and a single cultural immersion experience or a single undergraduate course . In addition, understanding the motivations of in-service STEM teachers who integrate global competence skills is not widely known.
The research questions were intended to gain a better understanding of how NC STEM educators integrate global competence skills in their classrooms, their motivations for integrating, and the challenges they faced when integrating global education in their classrooms. The three research questions were 1) What experiences led STEM educators to integrate global competence into their STEM curriculum, 2) What instructional strategies do STEM educators use to integrate global education concepts into their curriculum, and 3) What challenges do STEM educators face when implementing global education concepts into their curriculum? The research was conducted through narrative inquiry. Narrative inquiry provided the educators the opportunity to share their experiences. Snowball sampling was used to recruit participants. Eight NC STEM educators participated in the research study. They described how their experiences shaped their personal perspective and thus their instructional practices. Interviews were conducted via ZOOM and transcribed through NVIVO software. Participants submitted documents that supported their interview responses.
The findings from this research 1) identified project-based learning as the primary instructional strategy used by STEM educators to integrate global education, 2) educators created curricula for their STEM classes based on the cultural immersion experiences they participated in during their inservice teaching, and 3) teachers assessed their students' global competence skills in various ways but focusing on formative assessments. The implications of the study are on Colleges of Education, school-based administrators, and North Carolina businesses to support educators, preservice and inservice as they develop their own global competence and nurture global competence skills in students. The recommendation is that Colleges of Education integrate global competence skills in a meaningful way throughout their courses. School-based administrators are encouraged to provide STEM educators with additional opportunities to collaborate with colleagues and receive project-based learning training. NC businesses are encouraged to partner with schools, teachers, and Colleges of Education to mentor educators and students to enrich their understanding of the need for global competence and to financially support educators to attend professional development that enhances their global education skills.Embargo status: Restricted until 09/2023. To request the author grant access, click on the PDF link to the left
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Parental involvement in preschool education
No full textABSTRACT
School education is a complex process with many different factors involved in providing a suitable environment for students to learn. Teachers, schools, administrators, and curriculum are critical in helping students improve academic performance. One of the factors that has a positive impact on improving students’ learning performance is parental involvement. The importance of this aspect has been discussed many times by researchers in the field of education. Although the importance of parental involvement is widely acknowledged in the educational community, most of the teachers that answered the study questionnaire pointed out that many parents do not get involved effectively in their children’s education.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the points of view of teachers and parents toward parental involvement in preschool education. Furthermore, this study explored teachers’ expectations from parents and the kind of relationships that both parents and teachers wish to have with each other. This study focused on the difficulties that prevent both American and international parents from getting involved in their children’s education. In addition, the aim of this study was to help teachers and administrators provide activities that encourage parents to participate in children’s school activities. This study was conducted in rural west Texas, and the data was collected via questionnaires, interviews, and archival data. The participants were 20 American parents from one school, five preschool teachers from three schools, and 10 international parents who have children in preschool.
The results showed that teachers and American parents want open communication with each other and they prefer using email and text messages to communicate with one another. Also, most American parents mentioned that they did not receive feedback from teachers after participating in their children’s school activities. The main reason that prevents American parents from participating in school activities is their work schedule. In addition, the results showed that international parents are less likely to participate in the school’s cultural events, such as Halloween and Christmas
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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