Digital Commons Network^™

Do Teacher Opinion Leaders Impact Other Teachers, Annette Eyman

Student Work

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were identified opinion leaders among teachers and how those opinion leaders may have influenced teachers’ acceptance levels of the standards and assessment implementation for the language arts curriculum. Three phases of research were conducted. Twenty-four secondary language arts teachers and 109 elementary classroom teachers in the Papillion-LaVista School District were first surveyed to determine their level of acceptance of the standards and assessments for language arts. Each of the respondents was then asked to identify the opinion leaders, or those they turn to and trust regarding the standards and assessment …

Teachers' Perceptions Of And Interventions In Episodes Of Bullying In Schools, Carynn Townsend Wiggins

Doctoral Dissertations

Bullying, defined as the repeated exposure of a less powerful person to negative actions by a more powerful person or group of people, is a serious problem in schools. There are often severe negative consequences, both short-term and long-term, for both the victim and the bully. The attitudes of teachers play a major role in determining the extent and the acceptance of bullying in schools.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the perceptions of selected teachers in reference to bullying. Six teachers were chosen from regional and state teacher of the year competition during 1998–2000. In addition, six …

The Modern Mathematics Classroom: A Collection Of Virtual Manipulatives For Teachers And Students, David Stowell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An important assumption in the implementation of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards 2000 is that the mathematics classroom is a place where students are actively involved in the learning process. One way to foster such a learning environment is by using manipulatives. By their nature, manipulatives make the learning of mathematics a discovery-based activity. As computer use increases in the classroom, virtual manipulatives will become more important as instructional tools. Virtual manipulatives offer advantages over their traditional versions. Most important is their dynamic nature. Their dynamic capabilities provide two main benefits. First, the number of potential …

An Evaluative Argument-Based Investigation Of Validity Evidence For The Utah Pre-Algebra Criterion-Referenced Test, Louise Richards Moulding

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study collected evidence to address the assumptions underlying the use of the Utah Core Assessment to Pre-Algebra (UCAP) to (a) measure student achievement in pre-algebra, and (b) assist teachers in making adjustments to instruction. An evaluative argument was defined to guide the collection of evidence. Each of the assumptions in the evaluative argument was addressed using data from a suburban northern Utah school district. To collect the evidence, test content was examined including item match to course objectives, reliability, and subtest intercorrelations. Analyses of correlations of the UCAP with convergent and discriminant measures were completed using student test data …

First Nations Students: What Some Teachers Do That Make Them Successful, Robert M. Peacock Edd

Dissertations

With the European settlement of North America, the education of First Nations children shifted from being carried out in a natural setting by all community members, communicated through observation and trial, and instructed through values, needs, and traditions; to a whole-group learning model founded on a standard curriculum based on successes and failures. For at least the past fifty years First Nations adults have demanded greater control over their children's education. Recently, the Ministry of Education in British Columbia (BC) has advocated for greater success of First Nations students by providing funding for additional support and by increasing the number …

Teachers' Perceived Effectiveness Of Their Evaluation Process At Selected School Districts, Heather Mcdougall

Master's Theses

Digitized thesis

The Use Of Teacher Facilitation During Computer Activities To Improve The Social Interaction Of Preschool Children In Inclusive Classrooms, Cynthia Lau

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Social competence is a major focus in early childhood education and there is a need for effective teaching methods to increase social skills for both children with and without disabilities. Even though technology is used as a tool for teaching young children, there is limited research on the use of structured teaching coupled with assistive technology to facilitate social skill development in young children; This study investigated the impact of teacher facilitation during computer activities on the social skill development and concurrent interactions of young children. The study compared dyads comprised of children with and without disabilities who received teacher …

Instructional Differentiation In General Education And The Gifted Resource Room: Teacher And Student Perceptions, Mary Trombatore Greene

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study compared the perceptions of three groups concerning differentiated educational opportunities provided for students with gifts and talents. The perceptions of general education teachers, gifted resource room teachers, and students with gifts and talents were collected using a questionnaire that encompassed questions focused on cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal skill development; Results indicated that gifted resource room teachers and general education classroom teachers perceived that they provided differentiated instruction more often in the cognitive and interpersonal domains than in the intrapersonal domain. The most frequent differentiated instructional practices used by teachers (general education and gifted resource room) were in the …

Facilitating The Process Of Knowledge Construction Among Preservice Teachers Through Computer -Mediated Communications, Jennifer Ann Peterson-Lewinson

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study was concerned with the potential for asynchronous computer-mediated communications (CMC) to facilitate the process of knowledge construction among preservice teachers. Using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, this study examined the extent to which the CMC among six groups of preservice teachers was influenced by (a) the structure and focus of CMC, and (b) the interactions among peers. Of particular interest was (a) how these factors influenced the depth in cognitive processing that was displayed throughout the course of the semester, and (b) the patterns of social dialogue and interactions that were involved with the displayed levels in …

Description And Effects Of Teacher Motivation, Teacher Efficacy, And Sequential Behavior Practice In Physical Education Teacher Education (Pete), Hosung So

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Prior to this dissertation, a valid and reliable cognitive measurement instrument was not available in the physical education teacher education (PETE) literature to analyze and evaluate teacher motivation and teacher efficacy. The first important purpose of this dissertation was, therefore, to develop and validate two such instruments to measure teacher motivation (TMT-PE) and teacher efficacy (TES). This purpose was accomplished through the implementation of various statistical methods related to the testing of reliability and validity issues when involved in constructing cognitive measurement instruments. As a second purpose of this dissertation, correlation data among teacher motivation and teacher efficacy, and teacher …

Mentoring Toward Technology Use: Cooperating Teacher Practice In Preparing Student Teachers, Karen Jane Grove

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the practices of cooperating teachers as they prepared student teachers to integrate technology into teaching and learning activities. Descriptive statistics and qualitative methods were used in this study; Participants included 16 cooperating teachers from grades K--12 and seven of their student teachers. The cooperating teachers attended a series of monthly full-day workshops during the semester long project. The school district and the university jointly sponsored the workshops. Seven of the cooperating teachers and their student teachers were selected for case studies; Data sources included electronic transcripts from discussion forums, transcripts of workshop discussions among the cooperating teachers, …

Improved Leadership Through A Myers-Briggs Analysis: Personality Styles Of Principals And Teachers At The Secondary Level, Mark William Loos

Master's Theses

Digitized thesis

Hidden Factors In Teachers' Secondary Grading Practices, Robert H. Rich

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Teacher Portfolios In The Supervision Process: A Journey Of Discovery, Halyna M. Kornuta Edd

Dissertations

Facilitating the personal and professional growth of teachers is a very effective way to positively impact students' self-esteem, skills development, and behavior. Certain professional development strategies, for example, developmental supervision, enable teachers to plan for their own growth. Developmental supervision is a nonevaluative approach to providing feedback that meets individual needs of teachers. The process utilizes research in the areas of professional development, teacher supervision, and adult learning. Portfolio projects could be a component of developmental supervision. However, there is minimal empirical research to support the use of portfolio projects in nonevaluative supervision. The purpose of this qualitative study was …

School-Based Management In Alberta: Perceptions Of Public School Leaders, 1994–1997, Robert James Wilson Edd

Dissertations

In 1994, the Government of Alberta, Canada, instituted major fiscal measures designed to reduce operating costs and a large provincial debt. In tandem, Alberta Education restructured public education by: reducing the number of school districts, redefining the role of school boards, increasing the involvement of parents, initiating Charter schools, expanding student testing, downsizing Alberta Education, improving delivery of services to children, and mandating the implementation of school-based management in all public schools (Alberta Education News Release, January 18, 1994). The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of how the implementation of school-based management, through the first three …

The Effects Of Teachers' Flow Experiences On The Cognitive Engagement Of Students, Nian Q. Zhu Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between teachers' flow experiences and student cognitive engagement during class time. Study participants consisted of students and their teachers in grades 6 through 10 from a number of elementary and secondary schools in the Fraser Valley region of British Columbia, Canada. Data were collected through the use of the Experience-Sampling Method, originally developed by Csikszentmihalyi to investigate flow experiences, that allowed teachers and students to fill out sampling forms in response to randomly generated electronic signals transmitted to pagers or wrist watches that the teachers wore. Data were collected …

Teacher Perceptions Of Student Speech, Yvonne G. Haig

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Although language variation is widespread and natural,it is subject to judgement. Where a standard language has developed, other varieties tend to be judged against its "standards". While a number of overseas studies have found that this type of linguistic bias occurs in education and negatively impacts on dialect speakers, there has been little research in Australia. The research reported in this thesis investigates how teachers perceive the speech of school-aged students and whether the socio-economic status or level of schooling of the students influence these perceptions. Further, it examines the relationships between the teachers' background, the way they define Standard …

The Effect Of Staff Development Of Teachers In The Use Of Higher Order Questioning Strategies On Third Grade Students' Rubric Science Assessment Performance, Maryrose Caulfield-Sloan

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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