Digital Commons Network^™

An Ethnographic Study Of Participants' Perceptions Of Character Education Including Students, Parents, Teachers, Club Sponsors, Administrators, And Community Support People, Lily Odessa Hogan Stoppleworth

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study examined character education within one educational setting. The researcher created a holistic, narrative description of the extent, quality, and impact of character education at one North Louisiana high school. An emergent design was utilized to examine inductively participants' perceptions of character education initiatives within this single, educational site.

The research questions in this study were: (a) How do participants (students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community members) define character education, and what do they perceive its value to be? (b) How do participants perceive character education in relation to values? (c) How is character education viewed by the …

The Level Of Teacher Involvement In The Vermont Mathematics Portfolio Assessment Process And Instructional Practices In Grade 4 Classrooms, Carol Anne Fritz

Doctoral Dissertations

The comprehensive assessment system in Vermont includes student mathematics portfolios that are submitted to the state Department of Education for scoring. A student portfolio should include 5--7 pieces of best work selected by the student that can be scored. This alternative assessment process has been in place for ten years, but limited information has been available from classroom teachers about the instructional practices they use when teaching mathematics, or whether or not those practices have been influenced by the portfolio process.

The study was developed to answer questions about the instructional practices used by teachers. Teachers' responses were compared to …

Making Connections: Compartmentalization In Pre -Calculus Students' Understanding Of Functions, Hope H. Gerson

Doctoral Dissertations

Students develop knowledge constructs that they build into concepts through their experiences. Students demonstrate compartmentalization when they understand a construct or concept within one representation, but not another, or when they do not connect mathematically related ideas. For instance, a student may understand f(x) to mean plug x into the function within a symbolic representation, but the same student may understand f(x) to mean f times x within a tabular representation. A student with these understandings has a compartmentalized understanding of function notation.

A two-month study was conducted with a class of pre-calculus students enrolled in a parochial high school. …

A Study Of Mathematics Course Sequence And Student Performance In Mathematics In A Block Scheduled High School, John Harvell Moody

Doctoral Dissertations

The 1983 study of the condition of American Education, A Nation at Risk, brought a significant amount of attention to the way in which schools provided students with the skills necessary to be productive citizens. Many of the recommendations contained in A Nation at Risk focused on the perceived poor performance of American students when compared to their counterparts worldwide. The year after publication of A Nation at Risk, the National Commission on Time and Learning published Prisoners of Time, a report that called for the establishment of high academic standards for students and a major restructuring of the school …

Relational Learning For A Sustainable Future: An Eco -Spiritual Model, Mary Elizabeth Westfall

Doctoral Dissertations

We are facing unprecedented environmental challenges as we enter the new millennium as human choices and practices have repeatedly led to environmental degradation. Increasingly there are individuals and groups seeking to address this environmental crisis and move toward more sustainable patterns of living. But in order to make alternative choices it will be essential to draw upon the wealth and variety of human capabilities.

For nearly 350 years Western culture has looked to reason and rationality to provide truth and direction. The affective side of being human, feelings, intuition, love, care, wonder, mystery and hope have largely been devalued. In …

Layering Literacies: Computers And Peer Response In The 21st Century, Christopher Warren Dean

Doctoral Dissertations

Research into peer response work has a long history in the field of composition, and the work of my dissertation is to extend that research into the newer subfield of composition, computers and writing. Specifically I focus on the way students use multiple linguistic competencies (oral, print and electronic competencies) to perform a variety of selves in peer response. Drawing on the work of Erving Goffinan, the extant literature of peer response, work done in ethnomethodology, and research done in three first year composition classrooms, I outline the contours and strategies that students use to engage in peer response while …

Taking A Pedagogical Turn: What Happens When The Student /Teacher Conference Moves To The Center Of The Basic Writing Course, Gregory John Bowe

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the redesign of a basic writing course at a large, urban, majority-minority public university in Miami, Florida. In the redesigned course, there are no regular class meetings at all. Instead, small groups of five students meet with a teacher in "writing circles," where they workshop papers. The content of the course is provided by a third-party software program in a dedicated computer lab. The redesign project is examined in light of the particular institutional history of Florida International University, with special emphasis on the roles of space, time, and face-to-face interaction in the teaching of writing to …

Physics Experiences And Calculus: How Students Use Physics To Construct Meaningful Conceptualizations Of Calculus Concepts In An Interdisciplinary Calculus /Physics Course, Karen Ann Marrongelle

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the manner by which students enrolled in an integrated Calculus/Physics course use their understanding of physics to inform their conceptualizations of calculus concepts. This study utilized a multiple case study design with analysis by and across cases. The cases represent eight first year students in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of New Hampshire who enrolled in an integrated calculus/physics program. Data was gathered in a three-part process: (1) Semi-structured task-based interviews, (2) Participant-observation in the calculus/physics course, and (3) Obtaining copies of students' in-class notes, in-class activities, …

It's Not As Thick As It Looks: Unpacking The Rehearsal Practices Of Theatre Professionals And The Significance For The Teaching Of Reading And Writing, Dale Lorraine Wright

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of my study was to identify and describe the components of theatre rehearsal and their implications for the teaching of reading and writing. Using qualitative methods of inquiry such as direct and participant observation and group and individual interviews, I documented the rehearsal process and literacy practices of members of a professional theatre company that performs only in academic environments. In analyzing the data I used Anderson and Jack's strategies for listening and determined that there are four major components of theatre rehearsal: chunking (the breaking down of the script into smaller, more manageable pieces), repetition (the constant, …

Learning And Understanding In Abstract Algebra, Bradford Reed Findell

Doctoral Dissertations

Students' learning and understanding in an undergraduate abstract algebra class were described using Tall and Vinner's notion of a concept image, which is the entire cognitive structure associated with a concept, including examples, nonexamples, definitions, representations, and results. Prominent features and components of students' concept images were identified for concepts of elementary group theory, including group, subgroup, isomorphism, coset, and quotient group.

Analysis of interviews and written work from five students provided insight into their concept images, revealing ways they understood the concepts. Because many issues were related to students' uses of language and notation, the analysis was essentially semiotic, …

Tellin' It Like It Is: Disempowerment And Marginalization Of First-Generation, Low-Income College Students: A Participatory Research, Charlene P. Lobo

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the origins and outcomes of disempowerment and marginalization in five first-generation, low-income college students who were participants in Student Support Services, a federally funded TRIO program at a large urban commuter state university. Using dialogic introspection and participatory research, the participants reflected on their experiences in the areas of disempowerment, marginalization, educational equity, oppression and the needs and concerns of first-generation low-income students. Generative themes fell into three areas: creating conditions for learning; silencing the voice; and resistance, persistence and hope. Themes that created negative experiences for the students included disparities between academic and personal cultures, lack …