Digital Commons Network^™

Teaching Climate Change Science To High School Students Using Computer Games In An Intermedia Narrative, Glenn G. Smith, Metin Besalti, Molly Nation, Allan Feldman, Katie Laux

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

We explored how computer games developed as part of an innovative set of climate change education materials helped students learn and gain interest in global climate change (GCC) science by making it personally relevant and understandable. This research was conducted in a public school district in the southeastern United States. The curriculum, Climate Change Narrative Game Education (CHANGE), used a local, place-based approach using scientific data gathered from the Gulf of Mexico coast and incorporated (a) computer games, (b) a scientifically web-based science fiction novel about future Gulf coast residents, and (c) hands-on laboratory activities. This paper focuses on how …

Online And Self-Directed Learningreadiness Among Hospitality And Tourism College Students And Industry Professionals, Muhittin Cavusoglu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to compare self-directed learning readiness and online learning readiness between hospitality and tourism college students and industry professionals. The Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) was used for measuring self-directed learning readiness. After examining the reliability and validity indices of the modified Online Learning Readiness Scale (OLRS), it was used in the context of hospitality and tourism for the measurement of online learning and training readiness. Two different study populations, hospitality and tourism college students and hospitality and tourism industry professionals, were identified for the purpose of this study. Data were obtained via online …

Inquiring About Inquiry: A Research Journey, Margery S. Miller Ed.D., Valerie Harlow Shinas Ph.D.

Journal of Practitioner Research

It is the responsibility of teacher educators to ensure that novice teachers are reflective practitioners who can critically examine their own practice. One promising practice that supports the development of this reflective stance is teacher inquiry. In this descriptive case study, the authors present data collected from three teacher candidates who engaged in classroom inquiry during a required, semester-long practicum seminar. Data included teacher candidate’s inquiry questions and written summaries of their inquiry projects. Data were analyzed using a priori codes gleaned from the competencies identified in the state-mandated teacher candidate assessment system implemented in the northeast state where the …

Syncing Our Cycles: An Inquiry-Based Coaching Model For Distant Supervision, Stephanie Schroeder, Elizabeth Currin

Journal of Practitioner Research

In response to calls for a reconceptualized approach to pre-service teacher supervision, we propose a model of distant supervision for teacher candidates that blends two evidence-based professional development practices--instructional coaching and practitioner inquiry. The fusion of these frameworks can foster inquiry communities that may ease the transition from teacher candidate to teacher of record. Citing the dilemmas inherent in distant supervision, we argue that this hybrid coaching/inquiry model of student teaching supervision is more suitable to supervision at a distance than coaching or inquiry alone. We invite both comment and critique, hoping to begin a dialogue about how practitioner research …

Building Capacity In Teacher Preparation With Practitioner Inquiry: A Self-Study Of Teacher Educators’ Clinical Feedback Practices, Sherry Dismuke, Esther A. Enright, Julianne A. Wenner

Journal of Practitioner Research

This collaborative self-study of teacher educators’ feedback practices argues for an intentional process for teacher educators to develop an inquiry stance toward our own teaching. Data sources include formative observation forms, evaluations, observation notes, debriefings, surveys, researcher journals, and layered memos. Findings define influences and shared patterns of practice. Our professional learning from this self-study built our capacity as teacher educators by informing our development of an inquiry feedback cycle rooted in representations, approximations, and decomposition of practice (Grossman et al., 2009) to intentionally model and scaffold the development of an inquiry stance toward practice in our teacher candidates.

Networking Practitioner Research: Leveraging Digital Tools As Conduits For Collaborative Work, Nicholas E. Husbye, Julie Rust, Christy Wessel Powell, Sarah Vander Zanden, Beth Buchholz

Journal of Practitioner Research

Practitioner research is a powerful stance for understanding one’s own practice and reporting out to other practitioners for adaptations within their own contexts. This article focuses on how engagement in a longitudinal, digitally-mediated community of practice supports essential work in practitioner research in regards to collective work as teacher educators. Drawing upon our own experiences, we explore the affordances of four digitally mediated communication channels (video meetings, shared file systems, text messaging, and collaborative writing) and share a series of recommendations for teacher educators interested in sustaining long-term collaborations across digital spaces. When considering the transformative possibilities of digital networks, …

Sustaining A Continuous Improvement Culture In Educator Preparation: A Higher Education Network Based On Data Wise, Sara Quay, Meghan Lockwood

Journal of Practitioner Research

Educator preparation programs across the U.S. are grappling with the best way to respond to new state policies requiring they use data to demonstrate and accelerate improvement in program outcomes. Supported by a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the educator preparation program at Endicott College integrated the Data Wise Improvement Process into its practice. Not only did the Data Wise work help improve student outcomes by engaging the Endicott team in a form of practitioner research, but it also led to the creation of a network of educator preparation programs that, since 2015, has used …

From Rigor To Vigor: The Past, Present, And Potential Of Inquiry As Stance, Elizabeth Currin

Journal of Practitioner Research

Over the years, practitioner research has been both marginalized and trivialized within the larger educational research landscape. This article challenges that exclusion by tracing the emergence and development of the inquiry stance construct. Understanding the origins of teacher inquiry can contribute to its cultivation and ultimately lend a necessary rigor—or better yet, vigor—to practitioner research. Indeed, inquiry as stance endures because it is far more than a best practice or ready-made technique. Deeply ontological and epistemological, an inquiry stance enables educators to transform their teaching for the sake of all learners in the face of an ever-changing educational landscape.

Practitioner Research In A Changing Educator Preparation Landscape: Exploring Tensions And Reimagining Possibilities, Ellen Ballock

Journal of Practitioner Research

In this opening article, Guest Editor Ellen Ballock highlights the purpose of this special themed issue of the Journal of Practitioner Research, introduces the six manuscripts selected for inclusion, and highlights how each piece contributes to building a culture of inquiry within educator preparation.

Linguistic Landscapes And The Navigation Of New Cities: A Phenomenological Self-Study Of What Jim King Taught Me, Lindsay Persohn

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

Landry and Bourhis are credited with coining the term linguistic landscapes, which they defined as “the language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings [combined] to form the linguistic landscape”. Based on a broad study of linguistics through a college course with Jim King and a shared love of travel, I took a phenomenological approach to this self-study as I explored the linguistic landscapes of three unfamiliar countries. I analyzed the photographic data I collected to understand what information I gained from the signs and how I …

Extra: A Festschrift In Honor Of James R. King, Lindsay Persohn, Aimee Frier

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Archiving A Career, Charles Vanover

USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Investigating Levels Of Graphical Comprehension Using The Locus Assessments, Charlotte A. Bolch, Tim Jacobbe

Numeracy

Statistical literacy refers to two interrelated components: people’s ability to interpret and critically evaluate statistical information, and their ability to discuss or communicate their reactions to statistical information. The ability to read and interpret graphical displays is part of statistical literacy because much of the statistical information people encounter in their everyday lives are graphical displays or tables of data. The purpose of this study was to investigate college-level students’ graphical comprehension. Students’ graphical comprehension was assessed using items from the Levels of Conceptual Understanding in Statistics (LOCUS) assessments. Much can be learned about students’ graphical comprehension based on this …

The Sons Report (1989-1994, Mathematical Association Of America): The Way It Was, Linda R. Sons

Numeracy

Recollections and commentary by Linda R. Sons on a 1994 national report entitled Quantitative Reasoning for College Graduates: A Complement to the Standards. Professor Sons chaired the committee which wrote the report and championed its use.

This paper traces the development of the 1994 MAA report Quantitative Reasoning for College Graduates: A Complement to the Standards--a report which is still surprisingly relevant. The paper highlights some major parts of the report, describing the context in which its conclusions were made. Additionally, it challenges and encourages those continuing the quest for QL in the nation by noting progress made …

Three Formative Questions In The Quantitative Literacy Movement, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

In this essay we remember early discussions attempting to answer three questions that played a formative role in our understanding of and approach to numeracy, quantitative literacy, and quantitative reasoning: (1) What is numeracy? (2) Should the QL movement promote any specific kind of pedagogy? (3) What organizational structure will best support QL?

As the QL movement has progressed, these three questions continue to be difficult to answer. As a result, they have been useful formative guides for institutions and organizations seeking to improve the quantitative reasoning of students. Now that the quantitative literacy movement has a firmer standing in …

The Second Decade Of Numeracy: Entering The Seas Of Literacy, H. L. Vacher

Numeracy

This multipurpose editorial explores and tries to count the many types of literacy that are referred to by name in Wikipedia and Numeracy. Wikipedia’s Category:Literacy page identifies 44 kinds of literacy that are the subject of articles, ranging from numeracy and graphicacy to braille literacy and diaspora literacy. In addition, searching Google finds more than 30 adjective-literacy or noun-literacy collocations, including quantitative literacy, adult literacy, and document literacy, that do not have Wikipedia pages of their own but are mentioned on other Wikipedia pages. The sum puts this modest literacy count in line with the more than 70 bodies …

Numeracy And Social Justice: A Wide, Deep, And Longstanding Intersection, Kira Hamman, Victor Piercey, Samuel L. Tunstall

Numeracy

We discuss the connection between the numeracy and social justice movements both in historical context and in its modern incarnation. The intersection between numeracy and social justice encompasses a wide variety of disciplines and quantitative topics, but within that variety there are important commonalities. We examine the importance of sound quantitative measures for understanding social issues and the necessity of interdisciplinary collaboration in this work. Particular reference is made to the papers in the first part of the Numeracy special collection on social justice, which appear in this issue.

Brave Spaces: Augmenting Interdisciplinary Stem Education By Using Quantitative Data Explorations To Engage Conversations On Equity And Social Justice, John R. Jungck, Jon Manon

Numeracy

In workshops and courses involving in-service teachers, participating teachers can engage in problem posing and exploration of difficult issues when they are asked to quantitatively model alternative scenarios, statistically analyze complex data, and visualize these data in multiple formats. Subsequent to these activities, discussions of sensitive issues, some even considered taboo in classrooms, can open up “brave spaces” in these teachers’ classrooms. Without coaching through elaborate facilitation strategies, the in-service teachers grappled openly with the nuances of such difficult issues and raised many alternatives involving quantitative reasoning as well as considering biological, cultural, economic, social, and political factors influencing social …

The Gini Index: A Lens For Analyzing Inequality In An Interdisciplinary College Classroom, Jared Warner, Vivian Lim

Numeracy

The Gini index is one of the most commonly used indicators of income inequality, and its computation and interpretation require a thorough understanding of various quantitative literacy concepts. In this article, we describe a unit for an interdisciplinary quantitative literacy course at a community college that treats concepts of ratio and proportion, percentages, and mathematical modeling through an exploration of income inequality and the Gini index. The broader theme of the interdisciplinary course is immigration, so the unit also invites students to explore connections between the Gini index and immigration. Employing in-class simulations, interactive online applets, and real-world data sets, …

Introducing Information Literacy To Mathematics Classrooms: A Cross-Case Analysis, Ander W. Erickson

Numeracy

This study employs a cross-case analysis to explore the demands and opportunities that arise when information problem-solving tasks are introduced into college mathematics classes. Mathematics teachers at three universities developed and introduced tasks that required students to seek out, evaluate, and synthesize quantitative claims from disparate information sources. The results focus on a comparison of how the teachers balanced content-specific instructional demands with the information literacy goals of the tasks that they created. Three tensions were identified through this analysis: the need to balance mathematical content with opportunities for students to engage in a realistic approximation of the information problem-solving …

Developing Mathematics Teachers’ Attention To Quantitative Reasoning In Task Design: A Modeling Approach, David Glassmeyer

Numeracy

This study examines how a models-and-modeling perspective affected teachers' attention to quantitative reasoning in task design. A Model-Eliciting Activity (MEA) was implemented with 21 teachers over four weeks, challenging teachers to design a quantitative reasoning task for their students. Teachers’ initial quantitative reasoning tasks did not incorporate quantities or quantitative relationships, two essential components of quantitative reasoning. As teachers revised their tasks through the MEA, most teachers began attending to these components. This article details how a modeling approach to teacher education provided a method to describe and support teachers to incorporate quantitative reasoning in their classroom tasks, though attending …

Quantitative Literacy In The Core Curriculum Of Hood College: Chapter Ii, Outcomes And Assessment, Betty Mayfield, Ann Stewart

Numeracy

In a previous article, we described our college’s new core curriculum, which included a Quantitative Literacy (QL) component for the first time. We explained how we defined QL in the college catalog, and how we used that definition to choose courses to satisfy the new requirement. We then discussed our early efforts at assessing the effectiveness of the QL program and described our plans for the future. Here we report on our progress towards those goals, including working with faculty from other departments and with our institutional research office to develop a more sophisticated assessment plan, as well as creating …

Actual And Self-Assessed Financial Literacy Among Employees Of A South African University, Gizelle D. Willows

Numeracy

This study examines the level of financial literacy and self-assessed financial literacy amongst members of a South African tertiary institution’s retirement fund. Based on surveys of the fund’s members, I employ descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analyses to examine differences in financial literacy within and across groups. The results show that, despite working for an employer implementing many best practices identified by financial literacy advocates, respondents from all demographic subgroups possess relatively low levels of financial knowledge. Men, White respondents, and those with a higher cost of employment or higher educational attainment were more likely to have a higher level …

On "Icky" Data, The Political Classroom, And Towards Equity And Social Justice In Mathematics Education: A Conversation With Tonya Bartell, Samuel L. Tunstall, Oyemolade Osibodu, Tonya Gau Bartell

Numeracy

Tonya G. Bartell, ed. 2018. Towards Equity and Social Justice in Mathematics Education (Switzerland: Springer International Publishing) 341 pp. ISBN 978-3319929064.

This brief interview with Tonya Bartell introduces Towards Equity and Social Justice in Mathematics Education to the Numeracy audience. The interviewers also discuss with Tonya connections between quantitative literacy and mathematics for social justice, particularly in the context of US K-12 schooling. Tonya shares her perspective on topics ranging from the placement of quantitative literacy in K-12 mathematics education and how one might get started in incorporating a social justice lens into their teaching to paradigms for research …

Review Of Towards Equity And Justice In Mathematics Education, Edited By Tonya Gau Bartell, Emily Lardner

Numeracy

Tonya Grau Bartell, editor. 2018.Toward Equity and Social Justice in Mathematics Education. (Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing). 341 pp. ISBN 978-3-319-92906-4 (also available as an e-book).

Toward Equity and Social Justice in Mathematics Education is a welcome addition to ongoing conversations about what mathematics should be taught and how it should be taught at both the college and pre-college level. Although the primary audience for the volume will be math educators and researchers, readers of this journal will discover intersecting interests, concerns, and strategies.

An Uncommon Textbook: Review Of Common Sense Mathematics By Ethan Bolker And Maura Mast, Bernard Madison

Numeracy

Ethan D. Bolker and Maura B. Mast. 2016. Common Sense Mathematics.(Washington DC.: Mathematics Association of America) ISBN-13: 978-1-93951-210-9.

Common Sense Mathematics is an integrative quantitative reasoning (QR) textbook that is built around scores of exercises derived from authentic circumstances from public media and other public sources. The exercises elicit responses from students requiring extensive communication and analyses and distinguish the book from ones typically encountered in a mathematics or science course. Responses to exercises often require one-half page or more of writing and can occupy considerable class time in discussion. The book has material for a one- or two-semester …