A Developmental Perspective on College & Workplace Readiness

Reviews research on and identifies the physical, psychological, social, cognitive, and spiritual competencies high school graduates need to transition into college, the workplace, and adulthood. Includes strategies for meeting disadvantaged youths' needs

Pathway to Successful Young Adulthood

The Pathway to Successful Young Adulthood assembles a wealth of findings from research, practice, theory, and policy about what it takes to improve the lives of children, youth and families, particularly those living in tough neighborhoods. By laying out a comprehensive, coherent array of actions, the Pathway informs efforts to improve community conditions within supportive policy and funding contexts. The Pathways framework does not promote a single formula or program. Rather, our emphasis is on acting strategically across disciplines, systems, and jurisdictions to increase the number of young people who make a successful transition to young adulthood. The Pathway provides a starting point to guide choices made by community coalitions, services providers, researchers, funders, and policymakers to achieve desired outcomes for young people and their families

Evolution of Computational Thinking Contextualized in a Teacher-Student Collaborative Learning Environment.

The discussion of Computational Thinking as a pedagogical concept is now essential as it has found itself integrated into the core science disciplines with its inclusion in all of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2018). The need for a practical and functional definition for teacher practitioners is a driving point for many recent research endeavors. Across the United States school systems are currently seeking new methods for expanding their students’ ability to analytically think and to employee real-world problem-solving strategies (Hopson, Simms, and Knezek, 2001). The need for STEM trained individuals crosses both the vocational certified and college degreed career spectrums. This embedded multiple case study employed mixed methods data to gain insights into the pedagogical practices, curriculum, and teacher-student interactions that occurred in three teacher’s lives. The study’s teachers were all using LSU’s Introduction to Computational Thinking (ICT) curriculum and the accompanying professional development program. The cases studied demonstrated that it was possible to train a teacher with no experience in computing to be a functional novice teacher. The three teachers demonstrated a pathway of professional growth that I classify as apprehension of the novelty, transitional growth with the content, and reinforced confidence from student interactions. The teachers were challenged by embracing new project/problem based pedagogical techniques and working in a virtual environment. Teacher success was reinforced through their ability to embrace reflective thinking practices with their students. The role of contextualization was examined as a critical factor in teacher professional evolution. The results have implications for future computing curriculum development and meaningful/ successful teacher training practices

Proceedings of the UNC CBE Summit 2017

The University of North Carolina CBE Summit 2017 offered faculty and staff from around the country an opportunity to learn about competency-based education (CBE) models. CBE enables students to earn academic credit based on content proficiency rather than the amount of time spent enrolled in a course. For the 300 participants at the Summit, the sessions focused on broad challenges to implementing CBE into established higher education systems. Nearly sixty national experts covered a broad range of topics as they engaged with teams from UNC’s seventeen campuses, the University System of Georgia, and representatives from community colleges and other higher education institutions, discussing the latest trends in competency-based instruction and delivery models. The six essays in this volume were adapted from presentations given at the 2017 Summit

CYBEREDUCATION-BY-DESIGN™: DEVELOPING A FRAMEWORK FOR CYBERSECURITY EDUCATION AT SECONDARY EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN ARIZONA

Most survey results agree that there is a current and ongoing shortage of skilled cybersecurity workers that places our privacy, infrastructure, and nation at risk. Estimates for the global Cybersecurity Workforce Gap range from 2.72 million (ISC2, 2021) to 3.5 million (Cyber Academy, 2021) for 2021 and the United States estimates range from 465,000 (Brooks, 2021) to over 769,000 (Cyber Seek, 2022) open jobs as of November 2022. The most optimistic estimates still demonstrate a critical issue. As cybersecurity threats continue to grow in sophistication, scope, and scale, the ability to secure the United States from these threats lies in the ability to develop cybersecurity professionals with the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to accomplish the tasks associated with their cyber roles. The ability to supply qualified cybersecurity professionals is outpaced by the growing demand as previously outlined. This study proposes that conducting a case study of existing cybersecurity programs at secondary education institutions can identify the critical elements of these programs. These elements can be codified into program profiles and further refined into a comprehensive cybersecurity education framework for secondary education institutions. This framework can be used by school districts throughout Arizona to develop cybersecurity programs and ultimately develop qualified and competent cybersecurity professionals to overcome the cybersecurity workforce gap

Middle School Algebra as a College and Career Readiness Indicator

A goal of historic and current educational policy in American public schools has been to increase middle school student completion of Algebra I. The purpose of this study was to investigate equitable strategies for mathematics acceleration of diverse populations of middle school students. The context of this inquiry was a mid-sized school district that offers accelerated mathematics pathways to select middle school students throughout the district. My study demonstrated outcomes that align with current college and career readiness literature and support school-wide implementation of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) system

Eye on Collaborative Creativity : Insights From Multiple-Person Mobile Gaze Tracking in the Context of Collaborative Design

Early Career WorkshopNon peer reviewe