Date of Conferral
11-7-2025
Date of Award
November 2025
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Education
Advisor
Darci Harland
Abstract
In many educational settings, marginalized populations—African American or Black students, Hispanic students, students in special education programs, and economically disadvantaged students—struggle with traditional assessments, which may create learning gaps. Grounded in Dewey, Vygotsky, and Bruner’s theories, the research problem and purpose of this qualitative single context exploratory case study was to explore high school teachers use of PBL as an innovation to address issues of equity, social justice, and cultural relevance to engage marginalized high school students. Purposeful sampling was utilized to identify 11 high school teachers who employ PBL from multiple campuses in a single school district. Data sources were two asynchronous bulletin board focus groups and six individual asynchronous interviews analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis. Three themes developed: teachers (a) shift instruction to employ strategies that provide access and foster personal growth, (b) challenge students to learn to work together to address issues that are relatable and important as members of communities—local and global, and (c) employ strategies that allow students to develop relationships with content/curriculum, culture, and world— which mirror their lives and broaden their experiences. This study may contribute to positive social change by informing future teacher development that supports the effective use of PBL to engender student innovation, foster critical problem-solving for real-world issues, and prepare marginalized students to become agents of social change.
Recommended Citation
Riser, April Serenity, "High School Teachers' Use of Project-Based Learning to Address Issues of Equity, Social Justice, and Cultural Relevance" (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 18673.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/18673
