Other Education Commons^™

Jaepl, Vol. 17, Winter 2011-2012, Joona Smitherman Trapp, Brad Peters

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Essays

Cristina Bruns - Immersion, Transformation, and the Literature Class

Anne DiPardo - My Kanawha

Kelly A. Concannon Mannise - Who Cares? Exploring Student Perspectives on Care Ethics

Kym Buchanan & Perry Cook - Playing the Believing Game with Dr. Seuss and Reluctant Learners in Science

Elizabeth Woodworth - Being the Unbook, Being the Change: The Transformative Power of Open Sources

W. Keith Duffy - Suffering and Teaching Writing

Helen Collins Stitler - Perfect

Nikki Holland, Iris Shepard, Christian Z. Goering, & David A. Jolliffe - We Were the Teachers, Not the Observers: Transforming Preparation through Placements in a Creative, …

Suffering And Teaching Writing, W. Keith Duffy

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

How can spiritual texts help us respond to the burn-out we sometimes experience in our roles as literacy teachers?

Perfect, Helen Collins Sitler

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Perfectionism can be a form of trauma that composition instructors should be aware of in some high-achieving students.

“We Were The Teachers, Not The Observers”: Transforming Teacher Preparation Through Placements In A Creative, After-School Program, Nikki Holland, Iris Shepard, Christian Z. Goering

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Teacher preparation at one university shifts pre-service observation to hands-on integration of the arts in an after-school program called Razorback Writers.

“Poetry Is Not A Luxury”: Why We Should Include Poetry In The Writing Classroom, Nicole Warwick

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

How can poetry transform academic writing’s “masculine” ways of knowing and communicating into transnational exploration?

Re-Seeing Story Through Portal Writing, S. Rebecca Leigh

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Findings suggest that portal writing can be used as an effective tool for helping young students focus and revise their narrative work.

Connecting, Helen Walker, Jan Buley, S. Rebecca Leigh, Christopher M. Bache, Bette B. Bauer, Rachel Forrester, Laurence Musgrove

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Connecting

Helen Walker - Teaching/Seeing Jesus

Jan Buley - The Realization

S. Rebecca Leigh - Celebrating Ways of Learning

Christopher M. Bache - The Opening Question

Bette B. Bauer - Teaching as a Spiritual Practice

Rachel Forrester - Appalachia Finally in the Spring

Laurence Musgrove - Syllabus

Book Reviews, Judy Halden-Sullivan, Julie J. Nichols, Mary Pettice

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Book Reviews

Judy Halden-Sullivan - Evolution and Criticism

Julie J. Nichols - Boyd, Brian. On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction. Cambridge: Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press, 2009.

Julie J. Nichols - Zunshine, Lisa. Why We Read Fiction: Theory of Mind and the Novel. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2006

Mary Pettice - Dutton, Denis. The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution. 2nd edition. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2010. Print.

Writing And Time, Time And The Essay, Douglas Hesse

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Writing requires time, thought, and most of all, discovery—despite a high-tech world that can’t be bothered with it.

Content Area Literacy: Relationship Between Lesson Design And Professional Development, Jodi Owens-Kristenson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite Minnesota's investment in professional development in content area literacy, secondary students are not showing expected literacy gains. A lack of literacy proficiency limits future options for students. The purpose of this study was to examine content-area literacy strategy inclusion and its relationship to professional development in the context of complexity theory, efficacy theory, transformational learning theory, structured teaching, and constructivism. A cross-section correlation survey research study was conducted to investigate the relationship of time spent in systematic professional development, type of professional development, rate of strategy inclusion, and confidence in literacy strategy inclusion in lesson design. Convenience sampling was …

Educational Stakeholders' Perspectives On School-Based Obesity Prevention Programs, Todd Yatchyshyn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Childhood obesity is a worldwide problem that can lead to adverse health conditions. In several rural Pennsylvania communities, over one third of elementary students are characterized as overweight, having a body mass index above the 85th percentile. The purpose of the study was to investigate educational stakeholders' perspectives about school-based obesity-prevention programs. The conceptual framework focused on cognitive theory, the theory of planned behavior, and the trans-theoretical model of health behavior change, which postulates that an individual's readiness to change is the most important factor of intervention programs. Qualitative interview data were gathered from 18 educational stakeholders. Inductive code-based analysis …

The Effect Of Two Reading Programs On First Grade Students' Reading Fluency, Christy Stewart Bowling

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School districts struggle to achieve Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in reading in first grade. Nine percent of first grade students at the study site were not meeting state performance standards in the area of language arts. Specifically in the area of fluency, 38% of first grade students were not achieving AYP. Because of the close connection between oral fluency and early reading achievement, first grade students need to be more fluent to attain state standards. Based on LaBerge and Samuels theory of automaticity within reading fluency, the purpose of this study was to identify the impact of the Scholastic Guided …

Female Students' Experiences In An Old Testament Bible Course At A Christian University, Janet K. Puls

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous research has shown that 80% of college students have reported they are interested in spirituality. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of female students while studying Old Testament scriptures as part of their required liberal arts curriculum and to describe how their experiences affected their lives, spiritually or in other ways. While there is a small but growing body of survey data about students' interest in spirituality, a gap exists regarding how or in what ways required biblical curriculum affects students spiritually at Christian liberal arts universities. Fowler's faith stages, Gibson's model for spiritual …

A Clinical Practicum Experience To Prepare Teacher Candidates For Classroom Literacy Instruction, Karen C. Waters

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a pervasive reading crisis in the United States. Critics, including policymakers, educators, literacy scholars, and professional educational organizations have openly accused university teacher preparation programs of not preparing candidates to deliver effective reading instruction. This qualitative study used narrative inquiry to explore ways in which teacher candidates' participation in a research-based university clinical practicum contributed to their pedagogical understanding of literacy instruction. Conceptually this study was based on constructivism and the ideas of Dewey, Freire, Vygotsky, and Schon. Data collection included multiple interviews and observations to determine how teacher candidates' participation in clinical practicum affects their assumptions about …

Skill Versus Will: An Investigation Of A Relationship Between Motivation To Read, Oral Reading Fluency, And Demographics For Third-Grade Elementary Students, Stephanie Lee Embrey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With the demands of the No Child Left Behind legislation to utilize research-based instructional practices and teach all children to read by the end of third grade, teachers find themselves going beyond teachers' editions and curriculum guides to the research on best reading practices. The purpose of this quantitative nonexperimental cross-sectional correlational study was to examine the strength and direction of the relationship between motivation to read, oral reading fluency, and demographics for third-grade elementary students (N=112). An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to quantitatively analyze archival data to assess the relationship between motivation to read, oral reading fluency, …

Effectively Using Presentation Technology In The History Classroom, Scott Louis Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In spite of increased use of technology in the history classroom, the impact of technology remains low on student retention and comprehension of historical information. This project study examined the manner in which PowerPoint slides in history classes are formatted and the elements they contain for effective use. The literature related to best methods was reviewed to reveal practices that lead to the highest levels of comprehension and retention and how those practices could be implemented in PowerPoint presentations. This grounded theory study in the field of cognition and instruction centered on a high school that successfully implements technology in …

A Case Study Of Differentiated Instruction In Upper Elementary Mathematics And Reading Classrooms, Laponya Alexandria Burris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Elementary students in one school have shown a decline in proficient and advanced performance on statewide assessments. This decline increased for reading and mathematics achievement from 2003--2008, especially for disabled and minority students in grades 3--5. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to determine the extent to which differentiated instruction was implemented in instructional practices to increase student academic performance. Vygotsky's theory of constructivism, Bruner's theory of problem solving, and Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences provided the conceptual frameworks for this study. The research questions focused on the instructional strategies and resources used by teachers. Data included interviews, …

The Effects Of School Home Communication And Reading Fluency In Kindergarten Children, Farjana Khan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many researchers have documented that reading fluency scores continue to be a national concern for the United States and have suggested that early reading failure has long-term detrimental effects on society. However, much less is known regarding specific interventions that could reduce this concern. Investigators in other studies have suggested the development of early school-home partnerships to improve reading scores. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a systematic school-home intervention to improve reading fluency scores. Following the theoretical foundation of emergent literacy theory and Joyce Epstein's framework, the research question focuses on the association …

Scaffolding English Language Learners' Reading Performance, Lolita D. Mckenzie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

English language learners (ELLs) spend a majority of their instructional time in mainstream classrooms with mainstream teachers. Reading is an area with which many ELLs are challenged when placed within mainstream classrooms. Scaffolding has been identified as one of the best teaching practices for helping students read. ELL students in a local elementary school were struggling, and school personnel implemented scaffolding in an effort to address student needs. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine how personnel in one diversely populated school employed scaffolding to accommodate ELLs. Vygotsky's social constructivist theory informed the study. Research questions were …

The Effects Of An Integrated Health And Physical Education Program On Student Achievement, Myralynn B. Catchings

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In recent years, several schools have addressed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 by focusing on promoting skill acquisition in reading and math, often overlooking physical education (PE) as a significant part of a child's education. The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated health and physical education (HPE) program on student achievement. This study was grounded in action-based learning theories. The research question examined differences in posttest scores, adjusted for pretest differences, from 204 freshman students enrolled in a Biology-1 class at an urban high school. Students in Group A …