Trent Dawson

• Quantitative and qualitative research methods
• Introductory programming

Primary research interest is understanding the learning experiences of nontraditional students in 2-year community college settings taking introductory programming courses. Often, this is their first programming/computing experience. Secondary research population is the nontraditional student enrolled in a teacher apprenticeship program, attending school while employed full-time. Both research areas focus on nontraditional students and the barriers these students face prior to enrolling, the challenges they face in completing a degree, and the extent to which embedded support systems support their continued success.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Dawson, T. W., Butler, M., & Fasching-Varner, K. J. (2026). What counts as competent teaching? A systematic narrative synthesis of teacher competencies in K–12 education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 181, 105684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2026.105684
• Dawson, T.W., Hack, M., Fasching-Varner, K. J. (2026). Onboarding Nontraditional Learners: An Evaluation of an Asynchronous Online Orientation in a Teacher Apprenticeship Program. 1–17. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/07377363.2026.2724232
• Dawson, T. W., Hoffman, A., Sahin, B., & Fasching-Varner, K. J. (revise and resubmit). Program support and preservice teacher self-efficacy: A causal-comparative analysis of traditional and apprenticeship preparation pathways. Action in Teacher Education

Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings

• Dawson, T. W. (2026). Exploring self-doubt in community college computer science: Evidence from exploratory factor analysis. In Proceedings of the 57th Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), pp. 1283–1284. St. Louis, MO. https://doi.org/10.1145/3770761.3777171
• Dawson, T. W., Sahin, B., Hack, M., & Fasching-Varner, K. J. (2026). Investigating pre-service teachers’ perceived program support and its relationship to teaching self-efficacy across traditional and apprenticeship pathways. In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Los Angeles, CA.
• Dawson, T. W. (2026). Adapting computing attitudes surveys for community college students: Emerging constructs from factor analysis. In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Los Angeles, CA.
• Joshi, D., Joswick, C., Jocius, R., Albert, J., Blanton, M., Petrulin, B., & Dawson, T.W. (2025). Assessing elementary teachers’ knowledge of integrated computational thinking. In Proceedings of the 56th Annual Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE TS 2025), pp. 1501–1502. Pittsburgh, PA. https://doi.org/10.1145/3641555.3705131
• Dawson, T. W., Calabrese, J. E., & Joswick, C. (2025). The learning styles zombie concept: A systematic review of NCTM publications. In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Denver, CO.
• Dawson, T. W. (2021). The block-based, text-based, and CS1 prepared. In Proceedings of the 17th Annual Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER), pp. 413–414. Virtual. https://doi.org/10.1145/3446871.3469777
• Alegre, F., Moreno, J., Dawson, T. W., Tanjong, E. E., & Kirshner, D. H. (2020). Computational thinking for STEM teacher leadership training at Louisiana State University. In Proceedings of the Annual Research on Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT), pp. 1–2. Portland, OR. https://doi.org/10.1109/RESPECT49803.2020.9272455

• Dawson, T. W. & Fasching-Varner, K. J. (2026). Nevada Forward Initiative: A Workforce-Embedded Pathway for Nontraditional and Rural Learners. Proposal accepted for presentation at the 88th Annual Association for Continuing Higher Education (ACHE) Conference, Norfolk, VA.
• Dawson, T. W. (2026). A Pilot Study Exploring Attitudinal Dimensions in Community College Computer Science: Evidence from Exploratory Factor Analysis. Poster presented at the 57th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), St. Louis, MO.
• Dawson, T. W., Hoffman, A., Sahin, B., Hack, M., & Fasching-Varner, K. J. (2026). Investigating pre-service teachers’ perceived program support and its relationship to teaching self-efficacy across traditional and apprenticeship pathways. Accepted presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Los Angeles, CA.
• Dawson, T. W. (2026). Adapting computing attitudes surveys for community college students: Emerging constructs from factor analysis. Accepted presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Los Angeles, CA.
• Joshi, D., Joswick, C., Jocius, R., Albert, J., Blanton, M., Petrulin, B., & Dawson, T. W. (2025). Assessing elementary teachers’ knowledge of integrated computational thinking. Poster presented at the 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), Pittsburgh, PA.
• Dawson, T. W., Calabrese, J. E., & Joswick, C. (2025). The learning styles zombie concept: A systematic review of NCTM publications. Peer-reviewed paper accepted for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Denver, CO.
• Dawson, T.W., Joswick, C. (2025). Investigating the influence of K–12 computer science experience on community college students’ interest in programming. Peer-reviewed paper presented at the 2025 Annual Conference for the Southeast Educational Research Association (SERA), San Antonio, TX.
• Dawson, T.W., & Karadimou, O. (2025). Navigating the Nevada Forward undergraduate apprenticeship program. Poster presented at the Truckee Meadows Community College Annual EDU Night, Reno, NV.
• Butler, M., Nolan, J., Karadimou, O., Dawson, T.W., Hack, M., & Fasching-Varner, K. J. (2025). The Nevada Forward Initiative: An apprenticeship program strengthening the teacher preparation pipeline. Poster presented at the 2025 UNLV College of Education Annual Education Expo Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
• Dawson, T.W., & Manson, S. (2024). Teaching strategies for academic medicine. Session presented at the Texas Academy of Family Physicians Semiannual Conference, Austin, TX.
• Dawson, T.W. (2024). Demystifying nuances among variable types in statistics. Session presented at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth’s Graduate Certificate in Medical Education Annual Conference, Fort Worth, TX
• Dawson, T.W., & Hollins, K. (2022). Culturally responsive pedagogy to cultivate an inclusive learning environment. Session presented at the Curriculum Camp Annual Conference at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
• Dawson, T.W. (2022). An evaluation of attitudes and beliefs toward computer science at community colleges. Session presented at the Louisiana Educational Research Annual Conference (LERA), Lafayette, LA.
• Dawson, T.W. (2021). The block-based, text-based, and CS1 prepared. Paper presentation at the 17th Annual ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER). August 16–19, 2021, Virtual Event (due to COVID-19).
• Dawson, T.W., Alegre, F., & Moreno, J. (2021). A culmination of strategies for K–12 educators to assess students’ CS knowledge. Paper session presented at the UTeach STEM Educators Annual Conference, Virtual Event (due to COVID-19).
• Dawson, T.W. (2021). Comparing 15 computer science assessment strategies for pre-college learners: A systematic review of the CS literature. Paper session presented at the Curriculum Camp Annual Conference at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
• Dawson, T.W., Alegre, F., & Moreno, J. (2020). A modified 5Es Instructional Model tailored for computer science educators. Paper presentation at the UTeach STEM Educators Annual Conference, Austin, TX. (Conference canceled due to COVID-19).
• Jenevein, S., Kirby, L., Harlow, L., Moreno, J., Dawson, T.W., & Thompson, R. (2020). Expanding computer science certification pathways. Accepted for presentation at the UTeach STEM Educators Annual Conference, Austin, TX. (Conference canceled due to COVID-19).
• Dawson, T.W., Alegre, F. & Moreno, J. (2020). Adding a 6th "E" to the 5Es Instructional Model in computer science education. Accepted for presentation at the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies (AAACS) Annual Conference. San Francisco, CA. (Conference canceled due to COVID-19).
• Dawson, T.W., Fernando, A., & Moreno, J. (2020). A modified 5Es Instructional Model tailored for computer science educators. Session presented at the Louisiana Educational Research Annual Conference (LERA), Lafayette, LA.
• Dawson, T.W., & Reed, G. (2019). Improving educational outcomes: Blending online with traditional face-to-face instruction. Session presented at the Coalition of Adult Basic Education (COABE) Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.