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Bagwell College of Education 2022-2023 Projects

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  • 2022-2023 First Year Scholars:  Mary Watts, Elementary Education  Misaki Onohara, Elementary Education

    • Go on a “journey” with us to investigate what motivates teacher education major students to apply for the Journey Honors College, and what prompts them to stay in the program.  Nationally, teacher education programs in institutions of higher education are facing a decline in enrollment (Will, 2022).  Does this declining trend also apply to teacher education majors who are also in Honors programs in institutions of higher education? The experiences of these students at KSU will be studied using a case study approach. Our research will explore the reasoning behind why more freshman in teacher education majors do not apply for the Honors program at KSU (a survey will be developed and sent to all freshmen education interest majors who are eligible for but did not apply for the Honors program), and we will collect interview data from those freshmen who are a part of the Honors program on what recruitment strategies, continued supports, resources, and other tools have kept them involved and helped them progress in the Honors program.

      • Describe past research studies involving Honors students in teacher preparation programs.
      • Explain the rationale for choosing a case study qualitative methodology and data analytic techniques
      • Synthesize and critically analyze past research in Honors programs in education
      • Write an IRB proposal and become IRB certified
      • Collect data for a research study
      • Analyze, synthesize, organize, and interpret data from their research study
      • Work effectively as part of a team
      • Contribute to a scholarly paper
      • Present research/creative activity to an audience
      • Describe appropriate professional conduct (e.g., at conferences, when interacting with professionals in the field)
      • Reflect on the research project, including strengths, weaknesses, and things they would do differently in another research context
      • Attend weekly meetings (hybrid or online)
      • Complete CITI training and assist with the IRB proposal
      • Read scholarly journals related to the research topic and assist with the literature review
      • Assist with the data collection and data analysis
      • Collaborate on the research presentation and assist with writing a scholarly paper
    • Online
    • Dr. Stacy Delacruz, sdelacru@kennesaw.edu and Dr. Ethel King McKenzie, ekingmck@kennesaw.edu 

  • 2022-2023 First Year Scholars: Elisabeth Moreau, Psychology  Rachel Abrams, Elementary Education

    • Children’s books mirror power relations and social positions of society and offer windows to see into it. While children read picture books, children knowingly or knowingly understand and interpret what picture books say as texts and illustrations. In particular, home often becomes the context of picture books where the protagonists stay, live, and experience.  

      This project will examine how multiple meanings of home would be addressed in children’s picture books, reflecting intersectionality between race/ethnicity, gender, social class, religions, language, and other factors. This project will seek whose voices will be overlooked and neglected in children’s picture books.

      • Students will learn how to collect data
      • Students will learn how to analyze, organize, and interpret data
      • Students will present their research/creative activity to conferences
      • Attend weekly meetings, which will be mainly virtual
      • Collect data (search for the list of children's picture books under each topic)
      • Analyze data (finding patterns/themes for analysis, interpreting and synthesizing codes
      • Participate in literature review 
    • Online
    • Dr. Jinhee Kim, jkim224@kennesaw.edu

  • 2022-2023 First Year Scholars: Grace Soto, Psychology  Jennifer Perez-Castellanos, Elementary Education

    • Book bans have historically been used to limit the types of books that students have access to. 2021 and 2022 have given rise to book challenges and book bans. The New York Times reported in January of 2022 that “parents, activists, school board officials, and lawmakers around the country are challenging books at a pace not seen in decades (Harris & Alter, 2022). Organizations that have documented book bans and challenges such as the American Library Association reported receiving an unprecedented number of reports in 2021 (Hlywak, 2021). These challenges are not only coming from parents, but also from well-organized activist groups and politicians. For example, Texas representative Matt Krause created a list of 850 books that he believed should be banned from use in Texas classrooms. Many of the books on this list were focused on books that include LGBTQ+ characters or topics, books that addressed race /racism, and books related to sex education (Ellis, 2021).

      Censorship and controversy around what classroom teachers choose to read with their young students has been around for over forty years.  So much so that in 1982 the National Council of Teachers of English launched Banned Books Week. Each year you can find multiple book titles that have been banned by a school district, state, or parent group with many of these books falling under the young adult literature category.  While the emphasis when banning books is on Young Adult books (Anderson, 2014), there has been a growing recent call for censorship in early childhood classroom. 

      This study will focus on analyzing Latinx picture books that can be found in these list of books that should be banned from classrooms. As a part of this project, we will research what Latinx picture books are on the list and conduct a critical content analysis of these picture books. It is important to understand what types of books are being banned considering the already limited number of Latinx picture books available in classrooms. 

    • A student working on this project will develop several skills and techniques. The students will become familiar with organizations (Such as PEN American) that are developing lists of banned books. The students will need to become familiar with the way that picture books are categorized on these lists. 

      The students will also assist with a critical content analysis of the picture books. The faculty member will work with the student to understand the steps that must be taken in order to conduct a critical content analysis. 

      Additionally, the student will learn how to use qualitative software, such as Dedoose, to engage in coding of the picture books.

    • The student will engage in weekly research meeting with the faculty member. The student will be given readings in order to be familiar with the recent book banning. Additionally, the student can expect to engage in data analysis of books each week.

    • Hybrid
    • Dr. Sanjuana Rodriguez, srodri51@kennesaw.edu

  • 2022-2023 First Year Scholars:  Bridgett Stafford, English Nicole Rivera, Psychology

    • The research project, Supporting Multilingual Learners and Their Teachers, Parents, and Communities (MLTPC), aims to enhance educational experiences for immigrant-origin and language-minority learners in our schools and communities locally and internationally.

      Embedded in the large MLTPC project are four current and inter-connected research projects: (a) Dual Language and Bilingual Education (DLBE) programs, with a focus on one Korean-English DLBE (KDLBE) program in a public elementary school in Georgia, (b) trilingual families’ languages practices from justice-oriented perspectives in the United States, (c) multilingual pedagogy and teacher identity and agency in TESOL teacher education, and (d) bilingual education for ethnolinguistically minoritized populations in South Korea. 

      The collective, inter-connected research projects aim to unpack the ways in which language, culture, identity, agency, power, and ideology affects learning and teaching for immigrant multilingual learners. Through the MLTPC project, this research team hopes to support teachers and immigrant families in disrupting the pervasive monolingual ideology and advocate for a more multi-lingual and -literate society.

    • Students will learn all aspects of education and social sciences research, including but not limited to:

      • Scientific literature search and review
      • Academic writing, including manuscript and grant writing
      • Participant recruitment
      • Research project development
      • Data collection, organization, and management
      • Interviewing skills and transcription of interviews
      • Analyses and interpretation of results
      • Research presentations and public speaking

      Students will also expand knowledge on and gain experience in:

      • Dual Language and Bilingual Education (DLBE) programs
      • Curriculum development and evaluation
      • Collaborative work with a public elementary school and a school district
      • Classroom observations and co-teaching
      • Trilingual families’ languages practices from justice-oriented perspectives in the United States
      • Bilingual education for ethnolinguistically minoritized populations in South Korea
      • Anti-bias, multicultural, and global perspectives
      • Best practices in multilingual language and literacy education
      • Data collection, organization, and management
      • Scientific literature search and review
      • Academic writing, including manuscript and grant writing
      • Transcription of interviews
      • Analyses and interpretation of results
      • Research presentation
    • Hybrid
    • Dr. Jayoung Choi, jayoung.choi@kennesaw.edu




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