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Academic Writing And The Pedagogical Practices Of Effective Teachers, Thomas Devere Wolsey Edd

Dissertations

Composition, particularly when academic register is required, is a complex task. Because cognitive flexibility theory explains how humans can spontaneously restructure knowledge and adapt to situational demands, it is ideally suited to the ill-structured domain of transactional writing. Global aspects related to paragraph and whole-text structure and local operations related to word and sentence-level features define academic writing. A mixed-methods design used quantitative methods for investigation of five corpora of 10th grade students' work. Qualitative methods were used to explore the means teachers used in promoting academic writing and the interactions they intended to promote via teaching cues, including prompts. …

Correlates And Predictors Of Cognitive Complexity Among Counseling And Social Work Students In Graduate Training Programs, Christopher Simmons

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For this study, a web-based survey method was used as a means of collecting data to test a predictive model of education, supervised clinical experience (SCE), age, human services experience (HSE) and cognitive complexity. The theoretical framework for the study was Perry's (1970; 1999) scheme of intellectual development. The sample consisted of 332 counseling and social work students in graduate training programs in four different regions of the United States. The instruments used in the study were a researcher-developed demographic questionnaire and the Learning Environment Preferences (LEP) instrument (Moore, 1987). The results of the hierarchical regression analysis indicated that education …

Dialectic, Perspective, And Drama, Ethan Mckay Sproat

Theses and Dissertations

This project is by and large a project of elucidation: it may add something to studies of Kenneth Burke, but I doubt it adds much to Kenneth Burke's studies. This thesis begins and ends with analyses of Burke's famous motto Ad Bellum Purificandum (or Toward the Purification of War). The Introduction focuses on "war" while the Conclusion focuses on "purification." In short, purified war is a dialectical activity which actively and perpetually pits divergent perspectives against each other. Such an activity keeps the conflictual nature of divergent perspectives in verbal and symbolic arenas rather than physical ones. Burke owes this …

Teaching Evolution With Palentological Data: A Web Resource, Corey C. Coutu

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Over the past thirty years, the presence of naïve notions, or alternate conceptions in a student population, have been consistently identified as playing a key role in the inability for students to understanding evolutionary theory (Brumby, 1979; Greene, 1990; Settlage, 1994; Ferrari and Chi, 1998). Ferrari and Chi (1998) document that most naïve notions associated with evolution education can be linked to mistaken ontological categorizations, where students associated evolutionary concepts with event process (where organisms determine implicitly or explicitly their destiny) instead of equilibration processes (ongoing, nondistinct actions) to which they belong. Research in the remediation of naïve knowledge (Ferrari …

A Two-Semester Course Sequence For Jazz Ear-Training With Application For Vocal Improvisation, Timothy Joseph Brent

Open Access Dissertations

A series of interviews were conducted with Professor Armen Donelian (New School University), Professor Frank Carlberg (New England Conservatory of Music), Professor Gary Keller (University of Miami), Professor Thom Mason (University of Southern California), and Dr. Stephen Prosser (The Berklee College of Music). A comparison and analysis of existing texts whose focus was jazz aural-skill development, in combination with the information gathered from the interviews, as well as the author's personal teaching experience, served as the basis for the creation of a two-semester course sequence for jazz ear-training with application for vocal improvisation. The major content areas found to be …

Increasing Academic And Behavioral Success For Adhd Students In The Primary Classroom, Sandra Kay Munoz

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to develop a teacher's handbook that provides primary classroom teachers with effective classroom interventions and strategies that would improve behavioral and academic success in students who experience ADHD. To accomplish this purpose, a review of current and relevant resources was conducted on topics that included best practices, strategies, techniques and interventions concerning classroom management of ADHD students.

Holocaust Education In Egyptian Secondary Schools, Marisa Jones

Archived Theses and Dissertations

Holocaust Education in Egyptian Seconday Schools is a thesis completed by Marisa Claire Jones under the supervision of Dr. Joel Bein in at the American University in Cairo. The aim of this project was to determine how the Holocaust is taught in Egyptian secondary schools, with a focus on materials, textbooks and instructional style used in this process. To gain data and information for the thesis, background information was collected on the phenomenon of Holocaust denial and on the topic of Holocaust education in Germany, Israel and Egypt, involving the role played by political and ideological currents dominant in these …

Meeting The Professional Development Needs Of Early Childhood Teachers With Child Development Associate Training, Mary J. Heisner

Communication Sciences and Disorders Dissertations

This study examined the impact of Child Development Associate (CDA) training on the beliefs and self-reported practices of early childhood teachers (N = 126) using a pre-post mixed-methods research design. Preschool teachers who were enrolled in CDA classes (n=76) and a comparison group of teachers (n = 50) completed two surveys of beliefs and self-reported practices: the Teacher Beliefs and Practices Survey: 3- to 5-Year-Olds (TBPS) (Burts, Buchanan, & Benedict, 2001) and the Early Childhood Survey of Beliefs and Practices (ECSBP) (Marcon, 1988, 1999). Repeated measures Multiple Analyses of Variance indicated teachers who had completed CDA training became significantly more …

Discovering The Voices Of The Segregated: Oral History Of The Educational Experiences Of The Turkish People Of Sumter County, South Carolina, Terri Ann Ognibene

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

This qualitative study is a narrative investigation that analyzes the educational experiences of the segregated Turkish people of Sumter County, South Carolina during the integration movement. Four participants share their stories of how attending an elementary school for Turkish students affected their integration into White high schools. Oral history is the specific research methodology that is used. The theoretical framework that guides this study is critical-narrative theory. Through critical research, the researcher analyzes how “the social institution of school is structured such that the interests of some members and classes of society are preserved and perpetuated at the expense of …

A Historical Analysis Of The Creation Of A Cabinet-Level Department Of Education, Shayla Lois Marie Mitchell

Educational Policy Studies Dissertations

This dissertation uses historical analysis to understand the political and social conditions that allowed for the creation of a cabinet-level Department of Education when many congressional representatives, state governments, and citizens of the United States were ideologically against federal involvement in education. A cabinet-level Department of Education posed problems for the United States because nowhere in the nation’s Constitution is education mentioned, thus leaving education to be a function of the states according to the 10th Amendment. This dissertation looks at calls for a department of education leading up to and including the one initiated by Jimmy Carter. Conducting a …

Parental Training And Performance Feedback: Implications For Improving Early Literacy Development In Preschool Children, Karie J. Martin

Student Work

The purpose of this study was to compare different types of parent training for early literacy development. The participants were 14 caregiver/child combinations of preschool families enrolled in an area Head Start program. Caregivers completed questionnaires identifying early literacy practices at home. Literacy development for each child was examined using Rhyming and Alliteration assessment tools for Get It! Got It! Go! The early literacy activities were taken from Ladders to Literacy: A Preschool Activity. Visual analyses, percent non-overlapping data, effect sizes, and gain scores were used to evaluate each child's early literacy development across time. Results of they study show …

An Integrated Nutrition Unit For Half-Day Kindergarten, Erin Spencer

All Graduate Projects

The obesity rates among children in the United States have been rising rapidly over the past thirty years. Children are getting messages from the media to eat unhealthy foods. This epidemic is beginning to be addressed in schools. A nutrition curriculum was developed and implemented in a half day kindergarten program. Core academic subject were integrated using Washington State GLEs as a guide. Parent involvement was a component to strengthen student's understanding of cultural diversity as it pertained to food.

Using A Balanced Reading And Spelling Approach To Enhance The “Spell To Write To Read” Program For Preschool To Fifth Grade, Dawn A. Heer

All Graduate Projects

Reading is the foundation of much that society aspires to, even now in the age of technology. The teacher plays a key role in facilitating the learning of reading in an elementary school. By using a balanced reading approach through the use of spelling, phonics, writing and language, teachers will be able to apply user-friendly principles of reading with the curriculum, Spell to Write to Read. A handbook will be used to present this information during a workshop for teachers and para-professionals of preschool to fifth grade students.

A Manual For Using Communication Strategies With Adolescents With Autism, Gayle J. Anderson

All Graduate Projects

Many students with autism lack the essential skills necessary to communicate effectively as adolescents and adults. They communicate in a nonproductive manner to get their "wants" or "needs" met. Some of these behaviors include crying, screaming, or having tantrums. Current research reviewed for this project indicates clearly the benefits of applied social skills such as social stories, augmentative strategies such as picture exchange systems, and alternative strategies such as gestures and sign language. These students need to communicate their wants and needs by using socially appropriate adaptive methods of communications. The purpose of the manual at the end of this …

The Creative Economy In Small Places: Eight Cases And A Developmental Model, Jennifer L. Hutchins

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Eight case studies across New England offer understanding of the role of the creative economy in the community and economic development of rural towns and small cities. The cases include Providence and Pawtucket, RI; Burlington, VT; and Portland, Bangor, Norway, Dover-Foxcroft, and the St. John Valley, ME. Ten elements or “building blocks” are observed to be important, leading to an explanatory model for the development of the creative economy in small communities. These elements include creative people, education centers, cultural and natural amenities, business engagement, infrastructure, leadership, networks, strategies, time, and money. The creative economy in the eight communities has …

Interruptions In Small Group Learning Settings With Non-Native English Speakers And Native English Speakers In An Esl And Culture Classroom, Jill Suresh

Culminating Projects in TESL

As many English language learners (ELLs) enter mainstream classes, they will begin interacting with native English speakers (NESs) in small group learning settings. This thesis examines the interactions between NESs and non-native English speakers (NNESs) working on small group learning assignments during an ESL and Culture class.

The study focuses on types of interruptions that the participants use to communicate. The three categories that students' verbal exchanges were separated into are non-interruptive, cooperatively interruptive and intrusively interruptive. Using this data along with a questionnaire, the interactions between NESs and NNESs in a small group environment are analyzed as they relate …

Teachers' Beliefs About The Factors That Support Successful Second Language Acquisition Of Elementary School Students, Joann M. Mcdonald Edd

Dissertations

Second language acquisition has increased in importance in elementary schools throughout the United States due, in part, to the growing numbers of English Language Learners (ELLs) as well as an economic and social demand for native English speakers to learn world languages. The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary teachers' beliefs regarding the factors that contribute to successfully learning a second language, whether students are ELLs learning English as a new language or English speakers learning a new language. More specifically, this study compared the opinions of elementary teachers of successful ELLs with teachers of English speakers successfully …

Asian American Children's Literature: A Qualitative Study Of Cultural Authenticity, Virginia S. Loh Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to systematically analyze Asian-American children's trade books in terms of their cultural authenticity and to examine the perceptions of producers (authors) and consumers (teachers) as related to the cultural authenticity of such books. I wanted to understand the role of Asian-American children's trade books in research and classroom practice and also to understand the perspectives and preconceptions of these producers and consumers. By conducting this qualitative study on the cultural authenticity of Asian-American children's trade books, I hoped to fill a gap in the current discourse knowledge which does not adequately include the Asian-American …

Students With Learning Disabilities In Postsecondary Educational Settings: What Do They Need?, Cindee Haider

Culminating Projects in Special Education

No abstract provided.

Doctoral Education Among Latter-Day Saint (Lds) Women: A Phenomenological Study Of A Mother's Choice To Achieve, Jonathan Glade Hall

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) have been compellingly counseled by church leaders that motherhood should be women’s greatest ambition, and as such that it should demand mothers’ full-time in the home; at the same time they have been taught to get all of the education that they can. Mothers with young families must decide if they should continue their educational pursuits, or spend their full-time in the home. This study sought to fill a gap in the literature and understand the lived experience of these women by researching how LDS mothers with young children …

Medination: Pop Culture And The Classroom, Justin Lesniewski

All Theses

This manuscript examines theoretical and practical concerns regarding the use of pop culture items in educational environments. By utilizing an ideological social constructionist perspective, such items can be seen as reified objects of thought and power. This discussion considers the reification process, our growing control over it in an increasingly techno-literate society, a specific example of the process, and how this process and our control over it can be incorporated into the classroom. The intent is to provide both a theoretical foundation and practical suggestions.

The Role Of Occupational Values And Support In Career Choice: An Emphasis On Women In Science, Heather Meikle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how occupational values and social support for career pursuits influenced career choice, with a specific focus on women in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). A sample of 62 college graduates participated in telephone interviews that addressed gender differences in seven occupational values and three sources of social support. Results showed that differences in occupational values differ by both gender and between individuals in STEM and non-STEM careers. The strength of STEM values better predicted a career in STEM than did gender. Finally, women in STEM received the least amount of social …

Effects Of A Mind-Consciousness-Thought (Mct) Intervention On Stress And Well-Being In Freshman Nursing Students, Judith A. Sedgeman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

An emerging "health" paradigm, Mind-Consciousness-Thought (MCT), proposes that three universal Principles, Mind (life energy), Consciousness (the capacity to be aware of thinking as "reality"), and Thought (the ability to create thinking continually), explain how psychological experience is created from the inside-out, not created from the outside-in by events and circumstances. It proposes that life comes through us, not at us. It proposes that insight into the existence and operation of those principles reconnects people to their innate mental well-being, an always accessible source of balance, wisdom, and creativity (i.e., resiliency). It proposes that accessing mental well-being is incompatible with chronic …

Intergenerational Educational Mobility And Child-Parent Relationships: A Response To Absolute Or Structural Mobility?, Eric Willis

All Theses

Research exploring the negative effects of intergenerational educational mobility is very common throughout the social science literature. The primary question driving this research is whether those who exceed the highest level of education attained by either of their parents have less cohesive ties with their parents than those who do not. Most of this research uses a metric of absolute mobility which directly compares the child's education to the education of their mother and father. However, if more people are receiving a college degree in the child's than in the parents' generation, it is possible that the child's mobility will …

Higher Education Event – A Case Study And Special Event Approach, Matthew J. Muldoon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of the present paper is to gain a better understanding of hospitality management literature in order to improve higher education event management strategies. The resulting professional paper intends to bring forward relevant literature and practical trends in event management. In addition, the paper intends to take a useful approach in examining the role of university conference and event standards in coordinating successful university development events. Moreover, this review expects to identify trends in higher education event programs as they relate to the hospitality industry. Events are important development initiatives and when properly planed can become a true cultivation …

Planning Effective School Field Trips For Elementary Students, Marcella Sidars

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Field trips for elementary school students are valuable contributors towards improved learning, motivation, and student social interactions. Unfortunately, they are often underutilized in the support of student learning due to several factors: often teachers do not know how to use field trips to their best advantage, often planning field trips is time consuming and difficult, teachers are pressured to justify field trips in terms of links to measurable educational standards, and preservice teachers seldom are instructed in their effective use. To address these concerns, a guidebook for preservice and current teachers has been developed. In it, research based teaching strategies …

Qualitative Analysis Of Teacher Perceptions And Use Of The Dynamic Indicators Of Basic Early Literacy Skills (Dibels) Within A District-Wide Reading First Program, Brian T. Gaunt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aim of the Reading First grant program was to (a) increase quality and consistency of instruction in K-3 classrooms; (b) conduct timely and valid assessments of student reading growth in order to identify students experiencing reading difficulties; and (c) provide high quality, intensive interventions to help struggling readers catch up with their peers (Torgesen, 2002). In the State of Florida, school districts must incorporate the use of an assessment tool called the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) to qualify for Reading First grant funding. Though DIBELS has been found to be a valid and reliable assessment …

The Samurai In Medieval Japan: A Teacher Resource & Curriculum Companion Based On The Japanese Collection At The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Barbara Anderson

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This resource guide utilizes the fascination with the samurai and their honor code system, known as bushido, to examine the eastern feudal system, and the artistic and cultural traditions of Medieval Japan. The six provided lessons in this resource support a museum visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Mary Griggs Burke Collection of Japanese Art and the Arms and Armor Collection. They are directed to build upon each other to provide students with a meaningful sequence of experiences and attempts to address a diverse body of learners through variance of activities and the integration of academic areas such as …

Educational Games Increase Learning Effectiveness: A Case Study, Shonda R. Hoyt

All Graduate Projects

Educators of all age groups-whether they be elementary, secondary, or postsecondary- have long recognized and known that there is a strong connection between student engagement in the learning process and student success. Given the environment in which we teach in today, with its growing diversity, larger class sizes, increased focus on high-stakes testing, and ever- expanding poverty levels, it is essential that teachers incorporate new teaching techniques into their classrooms as a tool for better engaging students in their own learning. To that end, this paper reviews the purported benefits of educational games in the classroom setting as a tool …

What Funding Resources Are Available To School Libraries And How To Best Access Them, Yvonne Marie Hughes

All Graduate Projects

This project is intended to substantiate the need for school libraries. A great deal of research is presented which links the quality of school libraries to their students' academic success. The serious decline in the current level of funding for school libraries is discussed. The goal is to provide librarians with funding resource options to pursue, which can be used to supplement any district or other funding that they do receive.