<p> In an environment in which performance funding for higher education is increasingly common, mechanisms for improving student success will be important for ensuring a consistent revenue stream for higher education institutions. One important factor found to improve student success is when students perceive rapport with faculty. However, there is a significant gap in the qualitative literature demonstrating how faculty develop and improve rapport with students. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to interview award-winning faculty to investigate how they develop rapport with their students. </p><p> As a result, a qualitative study of 15 award-winning faculty from throughout the eastern and midwestern United States, representing community colleges, small and medium-sized colleges, and universities&mdash;was conducted. Semi-structured interviews were held in-person, during which participants were asked to explain how they built rapport with their students. Primary coding to the resulting transcripts occurred using in-vivo and descriptive coding techniques. Secondary coding to sort and organize the initial codes allowed for the emergence of five important themes of rapport-building. </p><p> The five important themes that emerged from this research are (a) develop trust and make the classroom a &ldquo;safe learning environment,&rdquo; (b) promote personal contact with students and show them the teacher cares, (c) share personal information without making the classroom a stage for satisfying a teacher&rsquo;s personal ego, (d) promote interstudent rapport, and (e) select authentic approaches for building rapport.</p><p>

<p> This thesis presents findings from a narrative and phenomenological case study that examined the inspirations and motivations that led to an adolescent student&rsquo;s engagement in a self-initiated experiential education project (SEEP) and the subsequent effects on the adolescent&rsquo;s sense of self. The student&rsquo;s SEEP was a month-long challenge to eat only wild foods. SEEPs and self-designed experiential learning projects are examples of self-directed learning, which is becoming more common in adult, elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Six theoretical areas are addressed in the literature review, including adolescent sense of self, benefits of exposure to nature, mentoring, experiential education, eclectic homeschooling, and rites of passage. The investigator interviewed the SEEP initiator, who was a student at a school employing the deep nature connection mentoring model of education, and seven of the student&rsquo;s mentors. Artifacts produced by the student and mentors related to the student&rsquo;s self-initiated experiential education project were examined. Data analysis included crafting researcher profiles, writing a chronological story of the case, and an open-coded thematic analysis of the interview transcripts. Findings indicate the influences and motivations inspiring the creation of the SEEP in this case included elements of the initiators&rsquo; identity, self-esteem, education, resilience and self-efficacy; an adolescent need to test oneself; and a desire for a deeper connection with nature. The outcomes in terms of sense of self include impacts on identity and self-esteem, increased resilience and self-efficacy and an increasing appreciation for nature, family, and the student&rsquo;s interdependence with other people. These impacts indicate that SEEPs could be a desired aspect of curriculum design. Educator, family, peer, and community support appear to be important influences encouraging students to create and engage in SEEPs. </p>

<p> The purpose of this dissertation is to describe and understand how teachers describe the changes in their practices as a result of ten years participation in a one-to-one environment. This research study focuses on one successful middle school&rsquo;s adoption of laptops to support teaching and learning. A qualitative study using interviews of key participants was undertaken with teachers and administrators. The Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework was used in conjunction with Rogers&rsquo; Diffusion of Innovation framework to understand from the participants&rsquo; perspective changes to their practice. The results indicate teachers underwent changes in their use of technology to support teaching and learning, showing increasing overlap between the domains of technological and pedagogical knowledge. The changes resulted in an increase in the transparency of the teaching and learning process for other teachers, students, administrators, and parent. These changes were supported by four school-wide factors; the adoption of a common software suite, robust social networks, modeling by leadership and the professional development model used. The findings were discussed in relation to participants&rsquo; position on the adoption spectrum of Rogers&rsquo; Diffusion of Innovation theory.</p>

<p>Given the frequently observed disconnect between people's learning experiences and their subsequent behavior or practice, this research inquired into the factors that contribute to coherence or congruence between learning and practice as perceived by graduates of ISTEL (Instituto Superior de Teologia Evang&eacute;lica no Lubango), an interdenominational theological college in Angola, Africa. </p><p> Characteristics of African indigenous knowledge systems and general cultural characteristics were taken into consideration when analyzing these findings. Twenty seven graduates of ISTEL who completed their bachelor's degree in theology between 1997 and 2012 were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol. Research questions for this study inquired into graduates' perceptions regarding their learning experiences prior to ISTEL. They were also asked to recount how their learning at ISTEL differed from previous schooling. Finally graduates were asked to recount how their learning experiences were influencing their present ministry practice. It was found that the most frequently mentioned factors that contributed to coherence were: 1. The modeling of qualities of Christian life by faculty; 2. Experience in small group fellowships for spiritual formation; 3. Apprenticeships and "hands on" practical ministry experience; 4. Critical thinking skills. </p>

<p> Research indicates that teachers benefit from education coursework in their preparation that provides opportunities to develop and practice pedagogical understandings (Darling-Hammond, 2000, 2006). Research also indicates that opportunities to enact learning from coursework are beneficial in teacher efficacy development within teacher preparation (Tschannen-Moran, 2007). Therefore, teacher education programs need to examine their structures and practices in an effort to provide the opportunities to enact their coursework to develop teachers&rsquo; pedagogical understandings and teacher efficacy. What needs to be better understood are the actual structures and strategies within the communities of practice that provide and encourage opportunities for growth of teacher efficacy for pre-service teachers. A case study methodology was used to explore the structures and strategies that pre-service teachers identified as contributing to the development of teacher efficacy within the collaborative cohort during the fall 2015 semester in a teacher education preparation program located in the Rocky Mountain West. </p><p> The findings suggest that (a) school communities matter as a context for pre-service teacher efficacy development, (b) purposeful, aligned, situated learning experiences which bridge course and field work contribute to efficacy development, and (c) a mindset of continual professional growth within practice develops confidence.</p>

<p> This qualitative study examined how teachers use instructional practices and family reinforcement interventions to support intrinsic motivation for special education students as a means to meet graduation requirements. Purposeful sampling of highly qualified special education teachers certified in language arts was used in this study. The data were collected through three teacher participant interviews, classroom observations, and a collection of documents and artifacts. </p><p> The findings are presented and discussed through the three main themes that emerged from data analysis and interpretation. Three main themes described instructional practices used to support intrinsic motivation for special education students as a means to meet requirements for graduation: collaboration, relevant/meaningful learning, and relationships. One main theme described how teachers use family support interventions to provide intrinsic motivation for special education students as a means to meet requirements for graduation: open/transparent communication. This study adds to the body of literature regarding instructional practices and family support interventions to support intrinsic motivation as a means of meeting graduation requirements.</p>

<p> This qualitative case study examined the connection between experienced teachers' pedagogical beliefs and their learning of mathematics content. The beliefs of eight experienced elementary (K-8) mathematics teachers were examined before, during, and after the teachers participated in a professional development training exclusively teaching elementary mathematics content. Teachers' beliefs about quality mathematics lessons were solicited through lesson plans, journals, and interviews. Research questions discussed are: (1) What do experienced K-8 teachers believe constitutes a "quality mathematics lesson?" (2) How does the experience of learning mathematics content through inquiry change teachers' beliefs about what constitutes a "quality mathematics lesson?" This study found that teachers changed their beliefs about quality lessons with regard to mathematics content, to pedagogical strategies, and to students as learners through their experience learning mathematics. Teacher beliefs became more focused on mathematical reasoning, more focused on inquiry, and more student-centered. These new beliefs better align with definitions of quality instruction from the literature. Teachers incorporated their beliefs about mathematics, pedagogical strategies, and students as learners into a vision of quality mathematics lessons and the teacher's role in creating those lessons. Teachers' vision of their role changed from that of provider of knowledge to a guide of student discovery of mathematical understandings. The data indicated that these changes in beliefs, including changes in beliefs about pedagogy, were driven by the act of learning mathematics content via methods of inquiry. The results of this study have implications for understanding current and future research on teacher beliefs, for in-service professional development training in mathematics teaching, and for improving teacher effectiveness and student achievement in mathematics.</p>

<p> The war on obesity is a compelling topic in the United States&mdash;especially when as of 2012 17 percent, approximately 12.7 million, of children between the ages of 2-19 years are obese. This topic matters to anthropologists for two reasons&mdash;first, childhood socialization has been a focal point in the study of anthropology, and secondly, food is culture. This project report reflects my collaboration with a school in Southern California to implement a different approach to teaching children healthy eating habits. It focuses on ways that introducing new foods in a positive and fun environment will create a better relationship with food while increasing the students&rsquo; cultural awareness. This approach combined the fields of geography, history, culture, and cuisine to teach students how each field influences one another and affects the nutrition of the people and in turn ourselves. Using standard ethnographic techniques of participant observation this research reports on the reaction the students have to learning about food in a cultural context. </p>

<p> Research suggests that instructional interventions can impact student learning most effectively when teachers receive support for implementation (Danielson, Doolittle, &amp; Bradley, 2007; Songer, et al., 2002). This is particularly true for interventions targeting struggling students within Response to Intervention structures (Akerson, Cullen, &amp; Hanson, 2009; Harris, Graham, &amp; Adkins, 2015; Martin-Kniep, 2008;). Professional learning communities (PLCs) provide one structure to provide teachers with the needed instructional support to implement instructional interventions (Akerson et al., 2009; Danielson et al., 2007; Martin-Kneip, 2008; Pease-Alvarez &amp; Samway, 2008). Implementation literature largely examines two aspects of these PLCs in relation to teacher&rsquo;s practice: 1) teachers&rsquo; fidelity in implementing the curricular intervention, and 2) how intervention training within the PLC impacts on students&rsquo; academic performance. Absent from the current research is an examination of the ways in which teachers develop their capacity within PLCs, particularly when that PLC directly supports teachers&rsquo; implementation of a curricular intervention. Drawing on data from a large-scale evaluation study of an early literacy intervention, this dissertation explores how teachers describe the ways in which their capacity is built within a PLC. Using a critical feminist framework, this study examines interview transcripts, program artifacts, and analytic memos to surface the themes and discourses used by teachers to forward a theory of how PLCs can influence teachers&rsquo; practice.</p><p> This study found five key features of this intervention&rsquo;s PLCs that teachers described as developing their capacity: 1) theoretical texts directly connected to teachers&rsquo; practice; 2) a resource-orientation to students; 2) a developed sense of personal responsibility for students&rsquo; progress; 4) informal collaboration with colleagues outside the PLC space; and 5) peer observation with direct, non-evaluative feedback conversations. These features, when situated within existing literature, provide the groundwork for greater research around PLCs and how they can serve as a support of teachers&rsquo; capacity-building and implementation of instructional interventions.</p>

<p> This exploratory study examines the ways that teachers think about expectations they set for their students. It explores what influences teachers to form judgments about their students and the subsequent ways they communicate expectations to students. This study also explores whether there is a relationship between &ldquo;high-expectations teachers&rdquo; and culturally responsive teaching methods. This qualitative study utilizes ethnographic research measures, including inquiry group interviews, field notes, and individual teacher interviews to investigate the problem of understanding the nature of teacher expectancies in the school where the author is the principal and how teachers enact culturally relevant pedagogy within their respective classrooms. The results of the investigation revealed that there is a correlation between having high expectations for children and the use of culturally relevant teaching strategies.</p>