02/13/2024
By Zakkiyya Witherspoon

The School of Education invites you to attend a doctoral dissertation defense by Tricia Quinn “Effects of a Targeted Four-day Professional Development on Geometry Teachers’ Self-Efficacy in Teaching for Conceptual Understanding in Mathematics.”

Candidate: Tricia Quinn
Degree: Doctoral- Leadership in Schooling (STEM)
Defense Date: Monday, Feb. 26, 2024
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Remote via Zoom
Thesis/Dissertation Title: "Effects of a Targeted Four-day Professional Development on Geometry Teachers’ Self-Efficacy in Teaching for Conceptual Understanding in Mathematics”

Dissertation Committee

  • Dissertation Chair: James Nehring, Ed.D., Professor, Leadership in Schooling, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Committee Member: Phitsamay Sychitkokhong Uy, Ed.D., Associate Professor, Leadership in Schooling, Graduate Coordinator for Ed.D Programs, & Co-director of Center for Asian American Studies, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Committee Member: Amie Milkowski, Ed.D., Dissertation Mentor, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract
This mixed-methods study examined the factors contributing to teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching for conceptual understanding and investigated the impacts of a targeted intervention on their self-efficacy to work toward all students having equitable access to teaching that builds their conceptual understanding. This three-manuscript dissertation discusses the theoretical framework, the major findings identified in the data, and the impacts of the study on future practices. Manuscript 1 includes a thorough review of the literature to examine this problem on a wider scale, as well as two local needs assessments to examine the problem at the meso-level. Manuscript 2 examines the problem of practice, significance for educational equity, and provides a refined theory of in addition to reporting the study results. Manuscript 3 provides a summary and in-depth reflection of the dissertation process, including the improvement approach, the role of leadership in educational equity work, as well as next steps for future research and improvement.