COEHS Recent Research

Dr. Amanda Blakewood Pascale, associate professor, co-published “Am I STEM? Broadening participation by transforming students’ perceptions of self and others as STEM-capable” in the Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 21(7), 147-159.

In this study, the authors explore how participation in an integrative STEM internship experience (Data Science for Social Good) transforms students from different disciplinary backgrounds’ STEM identity. Findings reveal that STEM and non-STEM students undergo shifts in perspectives regarding themselves and others as STEM-capable. Seeing oneself and accepting others as part of the STEM community are essential components to increase student sense of belonging, a known predictor of intention to pursue STEM majors and careers. Increased numbers and support for programs such as DSSG, that provide the opportunity for interdisciplinary thought and collaboration to solve big, complex problems should be prioritized on college and university campuses. 

Furthermore, it is recommended that colleges and universities, or granting agencies consider funding a centralized center for interdisciplinary projects. A supportive infrastructure that encourages interdisciplinary, integrative student opportunities may also stimulate faculty interest and involvement in such programs. 

Lastly, hiring agencies may benefit from the findings of this study. Understanding how participation in an integrative, interdisciplinary program shifts perspectives of students may facilitate more informed hiring practices and better student job placement and fit. 

Read the full article in the Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice

Dr. Mark Halley, associate professor, studied how nurse and interpreter educators can leverage videoconferencing technologies to prepare students for future work in healthcare settings. 

UNF's ASL/English interpreting program and nursing programs have partnered for years to provide authentic simulation opportunities for their students. On weekends, students from both disciplines work with deaf community members, who assume the role of standardized patients, to learn about the intricacies of working with patients who are deaf. Traditionally, these simulations have been held in a face-to-face format, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shift to emergency remote education enabled the groups to leverage Zoom in an attempt to focus on telehealth simulations. Based on this shift, the case study explored how students responded to the adapted simulations. 

Dr. Halley and Dr. Linda Connelly, associate professor of nursing, are currently expanding the project by writing a second manuscript that focuses on developing best practices for preparing students to work in this domain. As telehealth and interpreting technologies like video remote interpreting (VRI) become more widely used in the field, it is incumbent upon educators to ensure students are prepared for the work they will face after graduation.  

Dr. Dilek Kayaalp's article, “Transnational identities in the Canadian context: Kurdish refugee youth as actors and citizens,” was published by the journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Education. Race, Ethnicity, and Education is the leading journal on racism in education (current h5-index: 35; 2019 Impact Factor: 1.298) and is supported by the American Educational Research Association’s Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender in Education Special Interest Group.

Her paper explores Middle Eastern refugee youths’ statelessness and their exclusion from the public space, including educational institutions. The study draws on Arendt, Hall, Isin, Eliassi, Benhabib, Cotter, Fraser in a complex theoretical framework that leads to a thought-provoking discussion of the youths’ status on citizenship, educational rights, belonging, and their experiences of racism. To explore the refugee youths’ experiences in Canada, she conducted a critical ethnographic inquiry. Her ethnographic inquiry was organized around the three structural contexts (the global, the local, and the socio-political) and conducted in one urban site, Vancouver, Canada, for one year. Twenty refugee youth (aged 15-30) participated.

The study makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the diasporic identities of refugee youth and how education and schooling systems can best support these young people’s advancement without patronizing or victimizing them. Findings can be used to open up international discussions on anti-racist education, refugee studies and youth studies.

Read the full article in the journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Education.

Dr. Mark Halley studied how interpreters render depiction between English and American Sign Language. The term depiction refers to linguistic phenomenon in spoken and signed languages of making a concept visible in some way other than through lexical items alone. Consider, for example, an individual describing a tea party while also depicting a person holding and pouring a tea kettle. This rudimentary example is an instance of depiction. To study how interpreters render depiction in both directions between English and American Sign Language, he developed a single-case study design and presented an interpreter with both English and American Sign Language stimuli. The participant interpreted these stimulus materials, and he in turn, analyzed his production in both language directions, categorizing each instance of depiction into one of thirteen distinct types of depiction.

First the study gives us direct insight into what highly skilled interpreters do, which can be useful for better understanding the work of interpreters. For example, the results indicate that depiction appears to be a linguistic feature in interpreting that is rendered by interpreters according to pragmatic intent and contextualized decision-making, rather than syntactic input alone. Further, this research may be also beneficial for interpreter educators, as the vast majority of American Sign Language/English interpreters and interpreting students are second language learners of American Sign Language. For this reason, many interpreting students and professional interpreters alike struggle to both produce and comprehend depiction, making research into this area especially important.

Read the full study in the Journal of Interpretation.

Dr. David Hoppey recently co-published an article, The Fight Within: Parent-Educators Advocating for Their Children with Autism Inside Their Own School Districts, in Teacher Education and Special Education (TESE). TESE, the journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children (TED-CEC), is the leading journal that is dedicated on teacher education and special education. 

This article showcases how advocating for your child with a disability can be a daunting task for any parent. When the parent is also a school district employee, determining whether advocacy could impact one’s position as an employee becomes inherently more problematic. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate and understand the complexities of the dual roles played by parents who advocated for their own children with disabilities within the schools and districts where they teach. Using a heuristic case study approach, this inquiry intended to discern the experiences, barriers, and perceptions of job security related to advocating from inside the district for two parent-educators with children with autism.

Findings suggest unanticipated experiences and challenges within their dual, parent-educator role as indicated by the theory of responsible advocacy. Specifically, these include experiences that were both positive and challenging in nature as well as barriers that were not anticipated by the parent–educator. Repercussions related to job security were also identified. Implications for practice and future research related to parents of children with disabilities who are also educators are discussed including advocating for using the knowledge and experience of these parent-educators to improve parent–school partnerships and communication in districts and schools.

Read the full article in the journal of Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children here.

Dr. Liz Hale co-authored the article “Providing Platforms: An Examination of Low-level Questions in Informational Read Alouds”, published in the June 2020 issue of The Elementary School Journal. The article describes a mixed-method study that examines the frequency and type of teachers’ spontaneous comprehension questions in script-supported informational read alouds, which includes a secondary analysis on the relationship between low- and high-level comprehension questions. 

Results revealed notable variation in the type, timing and function of low-level questions with some offering support for high-level questions, understanding of content and even student self-efficacy. While the predominance of low-level questioning patterns continues to be a challenge in many classrooms, this study’s findings suggest some low-level questions play important, complementary functions in text discussions, particularly with informational text. With a growing emphasis on teachers supporting students’ critical thinking schools in the elementary years there has been an abundance of research that highlights the use of and benefit of high-level questioning. This emphasis, while understandable, has led to a binary view that often places low-level questions on the undesirable side of question asking, even though they are considered part of almost any continuum or taxonomy of comprehension. 

This article offers a missing counternarrative and illustrates how certain types of low-level questions, if used strategically, play an important role in supporting students’ thinking and interactions with informational texts. After publication, this article was highlighted by Reading Rockets, a national public media initiative that connects teachers, parents, and administrators to recent research that is relevant to the field.

Read the full article in the Elementary School Journal here.