Welcome to WestCollections Repository
The repository is a service of the Western Connecticut State University libraries. Research and scholarly output included here has been selected and deposited by the individual university departments and centers on campus.
Recent Submissions
Item An Exploratory Case Study of Educators' Experiences with COVID-19: Compassion Fatigue as an Unintended Consequence of a Global Pandemic2024(2024-08-02)This exploratory qualitative case study analyzed educator perceptions and experiences with compassion fatigue during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The researcher explored educators’ experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic, educator responsibilities during the pandemic, to what extent educators experienced compassion fatigue, and educator perceptions of what was needed to support them from these experiences. In this study, 15 general education teachers and five administrators were interviewed utilizing semi-structured interview protocols with data analyzed utilizing NVivo. It was found that secondary traumatic stress (STS) or compassion fatigue (CF) were experienced by participants and can have a major role to play in educators’ well-being and effectiveness. The pandemic compounded the difficulties educators faced on a daily basis. The findings also revealed that educators experienced a lack of work-life balance, decline in health, and new professional challenges during the pandemic. As a result, educators felt helpless, apathetic, and emotionally and physically exhausted. Therefore, the findings indicate that participants in this study experienced elements of compassion fatigue during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Item A Case Study of the Perceived Influence of Visual Thinking Strategies on Teacher Practice(Western Connecticut State University, 2022-03-07)The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of the use of visual thinking strategies (VTS) on teachers’ perceptions of their general teaching practice. A qualitative, multiple case study was conducted to investigate the experience of teachers using VTS. Eligible teacher participants were identified through the Visual Thinking Strategies Organization and the Watershed Collaborative. Responses to a screening questionnaire were used to form a purposive sample focused on maximizing diversity from the pool of eligible respondents. The two cases – teachers practicing VTS in K-12 settings and teachers practicing in VTS outside of the K-12 setting – were investigated separately and then compared in a cross-case analysis. The quintain of perceived teacher experience guided the data analysis of this multiple case study. Themes that addressed the quintain were identified, and case findings that related to the themes were grouped accordingly. As the findings of each case were identified and classified, factors that influenced the quintain were determined and clustered (Stake, 2006). An analysis of the data indicated that using VTS lent itself to a humanistic teaching style. This has implications for educators and educational institutions wishing to implement humanistic teaching practices and raises further questions pertaining to VTS and humanistic education practices that might be explored through future research.Item Positive Relationships Make the Difference: A Case Study of Secondary Educators' Perspectives on Student Connectedness to School2022(Western Connecticut State University, 2022-11-08)The typical high school in the United States can be considered a community comprised of students, teachers, administrators, counselors, coaches, and support staff interacting with one another. A student’s level of connectedness to the school community can have several short and long-term positive impacts on his or her well-being. However, not all students feel as connected to their school as others. This is especially true for students in grades 9-12 in the United States (typically adolescents between the ages of 14-18). This qualitative case study sought a deeper understanding of student connectedness to school from the vantage point of students and educators at a high school in Connecticut. This study utilized pre-existing survey data (n = 643) and educator interviews (n = 10) to address the research questions. The pre-existing survey data from students were utilized to select educators who were interviewed. The survey data also provided descriptive statistics to help the reader better understand the students in the school where the research occurred. The interview data served as the primary data focus. The survey findings demonstrated that students form meaningful connections with a diverse range of adults within the high school. The findings from the educator interviews suggested that educators believed that they could increase students’ feelings of connectedness to school by purposefully working towards creating trusting and psychologically safe learning environments, mindfully humanizing interactions with students, and leveraging opportunities to increase informal interactions with and between students. The findings also indicated that educators believed increasing students’ feelings of connectedness to school can be accomplished by encouraging their students to engage.Item Teacher Beliefs Regarding Middle Level Students and Engagement: Passion, Curiosity, Perseverance, and Interest(Western Connecticut State University, 2022-12-05)Since the early 20th century, education has shifted from the teacher being the sole disseminator of information for students to the teacher serving as the facilitator of curricular experiences that are engaging and promote critical thinking. This is especially impactful for middle level aged students as there is a decrease in student engagement after the elementary years. Examining ways that teachers understand and facilitate student engagement in middle level education has the potential to facilitate increased levels of engagement in their classrooms and increase students’ overall engagement in schooling, even beyond middle school. In order to examine the phenomenon of student engagement in the classroom, a qualitative approach was utilized with this research study. Classroom observations and teacher interviews were conducted to better understand teacher perspectives and the way engagement was actualized in the classroom through teacher directed activities. Findings suggested that there was a disconnect between what the teachers discussed as the importance of student engagement and what they carried out in their classrooms. Areas that teachers did not demonstrate through observation included encouraging flexible thinking, curiosity, and creativity. Ensuring that teachers are trained in the variety of areas that promote all dimensions of student engagement will help teachers utilize student engagement to improve student academic and social achievements.Item Optimizing Daphnia magna culturing for management at Lake Waramaug, CT by experimenting with a variety of food sources(2024-12)Large-bodied Cladocera such as Daphnia are believed to affect algae and cyanobacteria populations in Lake Waramaug. The Lake Waramaug Task Force sought to increase the population of large-bodied Cladocera that had historically been greatly reduced due to the introduction of landlocked Alosa pseudoharengus (alewife). The goal of this project was to develop optimal practices for raising Daphnia magna by investigating the effects of different food sources on fecundity. The experimental food sources were Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus spp., and a combination of all three food sources (C.v., S. spp., YCT). Preliminary work during the summers of 2021 & 2022 on the Lake Waramaug zooplankton farm suggested that current culturing methodology resulted in approximately one organism per liter. A healthy population should be closer to 10 per liter (B. Kortman personal communication, January 17, 2019). Our objective was to develop a reliable practice that would result in >1 Daphnia per liter. The food source that yielded the highest number of neonates and adults was the combination of YCT/Scenedesmus/Chlorella vulgaris. Additionally, Scenedesmus alone yielded more neonates compared to YCT or Chlorella vulgaris alone. Since Scenedesmus is twice the size of Chlorella vulgaris, this additional mass of food could have contributed to these results. This project has lake management value because it aids in the development of an optimal practice for raising Daphnia magna populations in a lake where large bodied Cladocera were eradicated due to the introduction of land-locked alewife.
Communities in WestCollections
Select a community to browse its collections.