Abstract: The Concept “I will gladly pay you on Tuesday for a hamburger today.” Saying this makes a promise under the right circumstances. If the vendor accepts, a contract arises from the exchange. Extending beyond this fragment of standard contract law, there are more basic elements of moral and communal survival at stake. Promising introduces the derived concept of obligation. Failure to live up to one’s obligation is a source of being ashamed of oneself and being the subject of shaming by others (Moffett, 2018; 228-30). Once a promise is accepted and service or good provided, a contract exists and is often enforceable by law. But, even without the law, failing to live up to one’s obligations subjects the promiser to sanctions such as shaming and even punishment. “Dad, you promised!” Is an oft heard challenge when a promise is broken to a child. Very young children intuit that in promising, a person becomes obligated to one or more others (Mercier, 2020; p.92). Failing to live up to a voluntarily created obligation on oneself is expected to result in guilt if that same person aborts the obligation others came to rely upon. Legitimate excuses are license to abort an otherwise obligatory commitment. But to be legitimate, the excuses must be recognized by most others as plausibly discounting the afore mentioned obligation.

Abstract: This research focuses on engaging teacher education candidates in curriculum development that promotes a greater foundational understanding of mathematical concepts through the development of Academic Language. When students fully understand the demands of language, mathematics content area knowledge is acquired on a deeper conceptual level and this understanding of language can then be applied successfully across disciplines. This research demonstrates how students’ language and discipline knowledge are indelibly connected and presents strategies to develop direct and explicit instruction of tier-three, field-specific Academic Language. The researchers focus on how to provide pre-service educators with strategies to promote efficacy in the translation of a general understanding of vocabulary into a deeper knowledge of complex, conceptually dense words found in content specific language. The result of regularly incorporating academic language instruction into segments of learning in mathematics is a more profound overall understanding of discipline concepts.

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic has brought dramatic changes to higher education. Students and educators face challenges never anticipated, including switching classes from on-ground to online and back again, mental fatigue, stress, and burnout. Faculty across disciplines may turn to Andragogy to best teach college students to inform their teaching practices. This paper demonstrates how professors from education, criminal justice, and healthcare management have used andragogical techniques in their classrooms.

Abstract: Kindergartens are the oldest formal settings for early childhood education in the United States. Every state now has kindergarten as a part of its public education program. Historically, teachers of kindergarten had to receive formal training in early childhood principles and practices. Over time, teacher preparation requirements shifted and permit elementary trained teachers to teach kindergarten classrooms. This shift in teacher preparation, combined with high stakes standards-based education, has had an impact on instructional delivery and programming. This instructional delivery and programming an impact on the stress levels of the children.

Abstract: In 1925 John Thomas Scopes, a high school football coach and substitute teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, was put on trial for teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in a high school biology class, in violation of state law. One of the prosecutors was none other than William Jennings Bryan, former Secretary of State in the Woodrow Wilson administration, three-time Democratic Party presidential nominee, and a leading Christian lay evangelist. Scopes’s chief defense lawyer was the most eminent defense attorney of the day, Clarence Darrow. The celebrity status of the two main legal protagonists guaranteed the trial’s sensational press coverage. At the conclusion of the trial Scopes, who had initially pleaded not guilty, switched his plea to guilty to guarantee that the case would be appealed, and the trial passed into American history and folklore.

Abstract: This study explored how Project MISE, an inquiry-based professional development, impacted the instructional practices of science teachers. A qualitative research design was used for this study to collect data from ten Project MISE participants. The significant findings that emerged are presented as themes supported by the participants’ voices. These participants explained how Project MISE informed their instructional practices, which uncovered the emergence of the following themes: hands-on teaching and learning, the 5E instructional model, student-centered classrooms, changes in teaching style, and formative assessment. The participants provided compelling evidence that Project MISE had a profound impact on their instructional practices, thus, informing the necessary conditions for an effective inquiry-based professional development.

Abstract: This paper will provide effective strategies for the design and implementation of a flipped, hybrid class. When presented with a unique opportunity for accelerated course offerings for Math 21: College Algebra I at the Pennsylvania State University, The Behrend College, we developed a flipped, hybrid course for nursing students. Lessons learned from this process, best practices derived from the experience, and course demonstrations are shared. This workshop was presented at The Teacher Professor Conference, June 2-4, 2017 in St. Louis, MO.

Abstract: In the growing trend of persons holding a bachelor’s degree, it is estimated that one-third of students in U.S. post-secondary institutions characterize as first-generation students. That means they are the first in the household to achieve a higher education degree since their parents did not attend college. Further, first-generation students are frequently characterized as multiple challenged because of recurrent associated characteristics. Frequent aspects related to life events include a delayed college entry after high school, attending college part-time while working full-time, and living close to home thus off-campus. Additional considerations involve concerns pertaining social economic status.

Abstract: Many professions are trained in a college or university setting. This training is entry level and provides the basics of what must be known to be successful. For many professionals to include primary and secondary education teachers and college and university faculty members, a mentor is needed to assist with overcoming obstacles associated with the early years in the profession. Many times, there are not sufficient mentors available within a department or school for the new professionals. The new professional should not be afraid to look outside of the normal avenues for locating a mentor. Mentors do not necessarily need to be within the same educational system or professional specialty.