This past summer, the Reich College of Education (RCOE) funded ten projects to support faculty and staff on research and creative projects through the Summer Scholarship Support Program. The purpose of the program is to provide support for the development of projects that implement elements of the RCOE Strategic Plan. Projects focused on the refinement of existing research or the creation of new research projects, development and refinement of instructional practices and strategies, engagement in policy development, and/or development of innovative professional development opportunities for faculty, staff or students. The awards were limited to $1000.00 per project.
For the next three RCOE Faculty and Staff meetings, recipients of the funds will present their projects. On October 23, 2020, the following projects will be featured:
Problem-Base Learning and UDL: A Study in Creating Inclusive Learning Communities
Joan Brook, an adjunct instructor in the Department of Reading Education and Special Education (RESE), will present her project, titled “Problem-Base Learning and UDL: A Study in Creating Inclusive Learning Communities.”
According to Brook the connection between Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and the RCOE Strategic Plan is multi-dimensional.
“Ideally, by creating a platform for questioning real world problems and by being student-centered rather than teacher driven, PBL allows for student voice, which further develops leadership, managerial skills in collaborative learning and ultimately, independent learners,” she said.
“PBL applies course content to real world examples,” added Brook. “This, in turn, improves research and information literacy of our students while addressing the strategic standard of advancing knowledge.”
“PBL and its instructional strategies help our students meet the challenges of our region, state and the world with innovative, creative local to global connections, and most importantly, equity,” she noted.
The next steps for Brook’s project are to conduct additional research using these pedagogies as she develops her course syllabus and perhaps another syllabus for a similar class in Teaching Biological Sciences in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
Her research interests are in PhotoVoice in education, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics), layered curriculum, special education inclusion classrooms, and using the inquiry method with special education students.
She has received multiple mini-grants for schoolyard gardens and service learning initiatives, including a speaker position at the National Middle School Association Annual Conference.
Review and Revision of the Ed Media Program
Both in the Department of Leadership and Educational Studies, Dr. Amy Cheney, Director of Digital Teaching and Learning and a professor, and Dr. Patrick O’Shea, an associate professor and program director for the educational media program, will present their project, titled “Review and Revision of the Ed Media Program”
The project reviewed and revised the education media programs, both master’s degree and graduate certificates.
“We wanted to reflect upon the nature of the student learning experience and redesign course sequencing and content based upon our experiences leading and teaching in the programs,” said O’Shea.
There are several ways that this project aligns with the RCOE Strategic Plan. “The recruitment and retention plan to be developed as part of this project were directly aligned with Goal #1 of the First Strategic Direction, which focused on Student Recruitment and Sustainability,” stated O’Shea.
“The work on developing international and intercultural experiences aligns with the third goal of the third strategic direction: Engage the World Through Outreach, Connection, And Collaboration,” he added.
The next steps of their project is to work with others in the program to finalize the Ed Media redesign and eventually produce a GAP&P proposal.
Cheney’s research interests are presence and community in online learning environments, and the application of design thinking to the creation of immersive learning experiences.
O’Shea has research interests in two areas: the impact of using augmented reality technologies in educational settings and the design and implementation of distributed learning environments where students are creating rather than consuming content.
When the clinic is not a place and the text is not a book: Reading, writing, and creating in a virtual context
All in the RESE department, Dr. Jason DeHart, an assistant professor; Dr. Devery Ward, Director of the Anderson Reading Clinic and associate professor; and Dr. Beth Frye, professor and program director of the reading education program, will present their project, titled “When the clinic is not a place and the text is not a book: Reading, writing, and creating in a virtual context.”
The project examined the development of the Spring 2020 literacy-casts and used the data to both plan and implement a series of Literacy-Casts during summer 2020. Through collaboration with colleague, Dr. Beth Buchholz, the researchers have worked to:
“Identify and expand the ways in which professors, graduate students, teachers, and children learned from one another”;
“Identify and expand the ways in which professors worked with teachers and graduate students to create and identify effective practices in virtual literacy instruction”; and
“Identify and expand the ways in which professors, graduate students, teachers, and children engaged in authentic literacy practices to build community and create connections.”
The project aligns with the RCOE Strategic plan by engaging “the local area and the state through outreach, connection, and collaboration to expand laboratory school programs,” stated Frye.
The next steps for their project, according to Frye, are to submit multiple manuscripts for publication, and to “collaborate with colleagues from Purdue University, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and the University of Northern Iowa on a research project that focuses on teacher education faculty development with an eye toward learning how to engage school-aged children in/with literacy instruction in virtual environments.”
DeHart’s research focuses on adolescent literacy, multimodal literacy, digital reading and writing practices, and engaging in readers who are reluctant.
Ward’s research focuses on re-imagining clinical practica to meet the needs of striving readers and writers.
Frye’s research interests include pedagogical practices that facilitate educators' knowledge and instruction of critical issues and diversity represented in children's literature, children's generative writing, and explorations of poetry.