Digital Commons Network^™

Using A Planetarium To Support Pre-Service Elementary Teachers' Development Of Ngss-Aligned Science Teaching., Breanna Graven

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a case study of five elementary pre-service teachers within a science methods course who attended a planetarium-enriched experience. The experience was designed and taught by an instructor with both experience and education in astronomy and with K-12 students. The focus of the planetarium experience was to teach the science content these PSTs will have to teach to their future elementary students and teach how to teach science in an NGSS-aligned way, by incorporating the Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts. This is a qualitative case study that relied on interviews, open-response surveys, and video prompt responses …

Letters To Myself ~ Reflections Of A New Teacher ~ A Curriculum Of Self, Sarah Brittany S. Greneker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is a nontraditional, very creative approach to dissertation writing. Using reflective poetic inquiry, I reflect on my experiences transitioning from pre-service to in-service teacher in the early childhood classroom. I taught for 7 years and encountered many situations that would have been beneficial to know prior to becoming a certified teacher. I explore overarching themes of coworker relationships, undergraduate program preparation, the various responsibilities, classroom environment, teacher evaluation, teacher perspective, and teacher mental health and well-being and how they each impact a teacher’s experience in the classroom. This is accomplished through the epistolary genre and letters to myself as …

A Quantitative Study Of Mathematics Anxiety In First-Generation Pre-Service Teachers, Wendi Malenfant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many pre-service teachers suffer from mathematics anxiety which can lead to mathematics avoidance, poor mathematics performance, and the potential to pass on mathematics anxiety to their future students. More and more first-generation college students, who also suffer from math anxiety, are attending four-year universities and studying to be teachers. School leaders, educators, and researchers must recognize the serious nature of mathematics anxiety, how it negatively impacts learners, and how the cycle is perpetuated if the root causes of mathematics anxiety are not mitigated, especially in elementary teachers.

This quantitative study, which utilized an anonymous mathematics anxiety survey, examined the prevalence …

Mental Health Literacy And Self-Efficacy Of Pre-Service Teachers In Ontario, Mackenzie Tourigny-Conroy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association ([CMHA], 2014), approximately 10 - 20% of all students have a mental illness, while only one in five of these students will receive proper support and services. To examine the mental health literacy and self-efficacy of pre-service teachers, I posed the following research questions: (1) How literate are pre-service teachers in the field of mental health? (2) How confident are pre-service teachers in their abilities to support and manage mental health in the classroom? An explanatory mixed methods sequential design was used with the Mental Health Literacy and Capacity Survey for Educators as …

Becoming A Science Teacher Together: Course Creation And Exploration Through Participatory Action Research, Rachel Diane Askew

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

States across the nation are reporting a shortage in teachers, with science being a particular area of need (Sutcher, Darling-Hammond, & Carver-Thomas, 2016). Research has been done, and is still taking place, centered around elementary school teachers and their beliefs on science teaching (Avraamidou, 2014; 2016), due in part to a noticeable trend in low science teaching self-efficacy, which can impact students beliefs in science (Bergman & Morphew, 2015; Krajcik, Czerniak, & Berger, 2003; Menon & Sadler, 2016; Ramsey & Howe 1969;).Studies on science teacher identity are not often representative of elementary education teachers (Mensah, 2016); nor do they approach …

Educating Critically : Challenging The Familiar Contours Of Literacy Teacher Education., Bianca Nightengale-Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The shifting cultural ecologies of U.S. classrooms emphasize acknowledging difference, accepting diversity, and sustaining both cultural and linguistic plurality (Banks & Banks, 2009; hooks, 1994; Paris 2014). Teacher education programs play an integral role in preparing Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) with skills, knowledge, and dispositions necessitated by a growing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) student population (Cruz, Ellerbrock, Vasquez & Howes, 2014). To enact equitable teaching practices reflective of 21st century students, PSTs need to demonstrate a level of cultural awareness that acknowledges the racially, socially, and politically charged societal structures that shape education for CLD students (Hall & Carlson, 2016). …

L.E.A.D.Ing With Purpose: Exploring A Compensatory School's Student Success Solutions, Ruxandra Bianca Nahaiciuc

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this intrinsic case study, the researcher investigates the University of Windsor's Bachelor of Education enrichment course called Leadership Experience in Academic Direction (L.E.A.D.) as it is utilized in a compensatory school in Southwestern Ontario. The researcher explores the perceptions of Pre-Service L.E.A.D. Teachers, the Student Success Teacher (SST), the Principal, The Vice-Principal, the Course Instructor, and a Teacher Facilitator concerning the increase in L.E.A.D. Pre-Service Teacher human capital within the compensatory secondary school. The author argues that such an increase contributes to the overall implementation of the school's student success strategies, adapted from Adlai Stevenson High School's intervention model …

Lesson Study-Building Communities Of Learning Among Pre-Service Science Teachers, Fouada Hamzeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lesson Study is a widely used pedagogical approach that has been used for decades in its country of origin, Japan. It is a teacher-led form of professional development that involves the collaborative efforts of teachers in co-planning and observing the teaching of a lesson within a unit for evidence that the teaching practices used help the learning process (Lewis, 2002a). The purpose of this research was to investigate if Lesson Study enables pre-service teachers to improve their own teaching in the area of science inquiry-based approaches. Also explored are the self-efficacy beliefs of one group of science pre-service teachers related …

K-6 Classroom Teachers' Perceptions Of Effective Teacher Education Programs., Pauletta J. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The demands placed upon stakeholders of the public education system have become more and more compelling with each passing year. With the success of schools and students at stake, it is imperative to examine multiple facets of the public education structure. One of the most important aspects of this process is the development of preservice teachers entering the classroom.

This study initially chronicled the history of teacher education and state licensure. Subsequently, standards enforced by the Tennessee Department of Education and National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education were also explored to gain information about the guidelines and criteria required …

An Exploration Of How Pre-Service Early Childhood Teachers Use Educative Curriculum Materials To Support Their Science Teaching, Deirdre Englehart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that a proportion of elementary teachers are not comfortable teaching science to young children. These teachers are unaware of the best methods of approaching science and don't have the science background knowledge to support teaching through inquiry methods. This case study explores the role educative curriculum materials play in supporting pre-service early childhood education teachers' knowledge with science content and teaching practices. Specifically, I examine how educative materials impact pre-service teacher's content knowledge in science and their pedagogical content knowledge related to inquiry methods. Three pre-service early childhood teachers participated in this research. The teachers were initially interviewed …

Cultivating Cultural Workers Through Service Learning In Teacher Education, Melanie Williams Thornton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is the study of cultivating cultural workers through service learning in teacher education. The five participants Kathy (European American), Denise (African American), Alberto (Hispanic American), McKenzie (African American), and Zena (African American) were pre-service teachers enrolled in a developmental reading program at a college in Southwest Georgia where service learning was the major conceptual framework. The five participants were born in the mid 1980s, attended high schools in Georgia in the U. S., and entered colleges in the Fall of 2004. My passion for this inquiry is driven by my desire to foster a sense of agency for social …