Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction / F. Todd Goodson / Kay Ann Taylor / This qualitative case study examined how successful professors who were awarded the Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars at Kansas State University describe their teaching experiences, philosophies, and best practices in undergraduate teaching and learning. Educators today are concerned about what are the best practices to educate new generation students to survive in a rapidly changing world. Additionally, because most research focus on best practices on the implementation or evaluation of a specific methodology, method, or strategy in one particular course or program, this research addressed the need to investigate the teaching experiences, philosophies, and best practices of outstanding award winner professors in different areas; to understand the challenges they face and the ways they handle undergraduate teaching and learning. This qualitative case study was informed by Critical Theory as the theoretical framework, grounded in Constructivism, because critical theory cares about social justice while abandoning obsolete, elitist and antidemocratic features of traditional concepts of education. Seven distinguished teaching scholars, who belong to Psychological Sciences, School of Integrated Studies, Political Sciences, Horticulture and Natural Resources, Modern Languages, English, and Physics departments, voluntarily participated in this study. Multiple methods were used to collect data including demographic questionnaires, semi-structured interviews (time line elicitation interviews, formal interviews, and photo elicitation interview), analysis of documents, and journaling. Seven themes emerged from my findings. The first theme identified the influential people and struggles encountered by professors when they were students. The second identified events that led professors in choosing their major, why they became teachers, and their teaching strengths and passions. The third identified the challenges they face when teaching undergraduate students and mentoring support received as professors. The fourth identified how participants described themselves as successful professors and the way they organize and balance their academic and personal life. The fifth identified specific educational theories the professors apply in their teaching, the insights of their teaching philosophies, and their thoughts about the importance of education. The sixth identified the way professors decide the curriculum to teach and the way they evaluate their students. Finally, the seventh theme identified the significant work they did as recipients of the Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholar, and their teaching best practices. Recommendations for practice and future research were also addressed. Thus, this study contributes to the understanding of teaching experiences, philosophies, and best practices of successful professors in undergraduate teaching and learning, based on evidence which is the personal experiences of the participants for the benefit of every person involved in education.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / F. Todd Goodson / This qualitative case study examined how successful professors who were awarded the Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars at Kansas State University describe their teaching experiences, philosophies, and best practices in undergraduate teaching and learning. Educators today is concerned about what are the best practices to educate new generation students to survive in a rapidly changing world. Additionally, because most research focus on best practices on the implementation or evaluation of a specific methodology, method, or strategy in one particular course or program, this research addressed the need to investigate the teaching experiences, philosophies, and best practices of outstanding award winner professors in different areas to understand the challenges they face and the ways they handle undergraduate teaching and learning. This qualitative case study was informed by Critical Theory as the theoretical framework, grounded in Constructivism, because critical theory cares about social justice while abandoning obsolete, elitist and antidemocratic features of traditional concepts of education. Eight distinguished teaching scholars, who belong to Psychological Sciences, School of Integrated Studies, Political Sciences, Horticulture and Natural Resources, Modern Languages, English, Physics, and Anthropology and Social Work Departments voluntarily participated in this study. Multiple methods were used to collect data including demographic questionnaires, semi-structured interviews (time line elicitation interviews, formal interviews, and photo elicitation interview), analysis of documents, and journaling. Seven themes emerged from my findings. The first theme identified the influential people and struggles encountered by professors when they were students. The second identified events that led professors in choosing their major, why they became teachers, and their teaching strengths and passions. The third identified the challenges they face when teaching undergraduate students and mentoring support received as professors. The forth identified how participants described themselves as successful professors and the way they organize and balance their academic and personal life. The fifth identified specific educational theories the professors apply in their teaching, the insights of their teaching philosophies, and their thoughts about the importance of education. The sixth identified the way professors decide the curriculum to teach and the way they evaluate their students. Finally, the seventh theme identified the significant work they did as recipients of the Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholar, and their teaching best practices. Recommendations for practice and future research were also addressed. Thus, this study contributes to the understanding of teaching experiences, philosophies, and best practices of successful professors in undergraduate teaching and learning, based on evidence which is the personal experiences of the participants for the benefit of every person involved in education

One way to understand teaching is to view it as a people process rather than a presentation of knowledge. It follows that the role of an educator often extends beyond the primary subject matter and into the realm of classroom management. With this in mind, our research aimed to capture the various teaching practices, participation patterns, and communication climates that occur in virtual computer science classrooms. We sought to answer the following research questions related to virtual computer science classrooms at our institution: Who participates in virtual computer science classrooms, and is participation proportional to student demographics? Is there any correlation between the use of teaching best practices and student participation? Is there any correlation between communication climate and student participation? To answer these questions, we designed and conducted a mixed-method content analysis study on 14 instructor-provided synchronous video lectures. We created a rubric composed of teaching best practices and supportive and defensive communication behaviors. The resulting design employed ethnographic content analysis (ECA) and quantitative content analysis (QCA) methodologies to produce contextually relevant knowledge. Correlational analysis was conducted using Kendall's tau-b correlational algorithm. Our findings suggest female participation was not proportional to student demographics, and no significant correlations between teaching practices and participation patterns were found. However, several significant correlations between communication climate and participation patterns were identified. Specifically, increased communication behaviors displaying equality were positively correlated with classroom dialogue count, unique female participants, female participation, and female first responses.