Education Commons^™

Examination Of An Emerging Community Of Practice For Instructional Designers: A Descriptive Case Study In A Midwestern University, Jiaqi Yu, Connie Hargrave

Constance P. Hargrave

This study examined the functioning of a group of instructional designers (IDs) in higher education through the lens of Communities of Practice (CoPs). The study particularly focused on whether and how the grouping of experienced and novice IDs operated as an effective CoP from the perspective of novices. The findings indicated that a group of IDs working in a midwestern university was able to cultivate a CoP within a clearly defined domain, a well-established community, and the shared practice with a specific body of knowledge. Particularly from the perspectives of novices, they highlighted the positive impact while participating in the …

Assessment Of Teacher Dispositions With The Etq2: A Guided-Reflection And Rasch Model Analysis, W. Steve Lang, Lasonya L. Moore, Judy Wilkerson

LaSonya Moore

Mlearning Device Usage And Self Efficacy By Higher Education Faculty For Professional Activities: A Case Study, Elbert Davis

Elbert Davis

This study examined the level of use and the level of self-efficacy use of mLearning devices for faculty at one university. The study also examined the relationship between use and self-efficacy levels, and the challenges faced by faculty members concerning the use of mLearning devices for professional activities. A mixed-methods model was used to complete the study. A 17-item self-report survey was developed by the researcher to determine the frequency of use, and the self-efficacy level of faculty concerning professional activities. An interview protocol was used to collect additional information from selected respondents. Findings indicated statistically significant differences in mean …

Funneling Versus Focusing: When Talk, Tasks, And Tools Work Together To Support Students’ Collective Sensemaking, Sara Hagenah, Carolyn Colley, Jessica Thompson

Sara Hagenah

Rigorous and responsive science teaching is based on supporting all students in making progress in their understanding of important science ideas over time. In this article, we explore how did classroom talk patterns of funneling and focusing support student sensemaking. We share how talk, tasks, and tools within classroom activity work together to either funnel students toward reproducing normative scientific answers or focus students on deepening their understanding about unobservable causal mechanisms of phenomena. We use classroom examples from two science lessons where students used data to describe and communicate about how and why stars change over time. By recognizing …

Sustainable Agriculture Lesson For Middle School Classrooms, Sara Colombe, Madhav P. Nepal, Jennifer Mclaughlin, Matthew L. Miller, Larry B. Browning, P. Troy White

Madhav Nepal

In this lesson, students will learn about sustainability, where farmers/agriculturists can meet the needs of food, fiber, and fuel for the growing population. Students learn about growing population, its growth rate, major food source, sustainability barrel, potential ripple effects of positive impacts as well as the food waste and its effects.

Using Drones For Precision Agriculture, Jiyul Chang, Madhav P. Nepal

Madhav Nepal

In this teaching module, students will learn what Precision Agriculture is and how to apply drone into Precision Agriculture practices. To use data (images) taken by drone, students will learn the basic theory of Remote Sensing. Using images, students learn how to make NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) maps and how to apply drone (remote sensing technique) in agriculture.

Adulting In The Age Of Neoliberalism Helping Students Explore Their Purpose Post-Graduation By Matthew Dalmeida.Docx, Matthew D'Almeida

Matthew D'Almeida

Thinking Outside The Building: Developing A Library Ambassador Program Across Campus(Es), Lydia C. Gwyn

Lydia Copeland Gwyn

In an effort to address declining university retention rates and to reach students who may not make it to the library for research help, the Sherrod Library at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is in the process developing a peer-mentoring program. This program is one way the library can help the institution in its efforts raise student retention rates and improve student success. Peer learning programs have proven successful in tutoring centers and elsewhere in the university for decades, and research has shown that trained undergraduates are ideal candidates for delivering general reference and information literacy instruction to their peers …

Pre-Service Teachers’ Perspectives On How The Use Of Toon Comic Books During Guided Reading Influenced Learning By Struggling Readers, Ewa Mcgrail, Alicja Rieger, Gina M. Doepker, Samantha Mcgeorge

Gina Doepker

The study presented in this article examines the use of comic books, specifically the TOON comic books during guided reading instruction. The instruction was provided to struggling readers by the Literacy Center at a comprehensive university in southeastern United States. What most pre-service teachers in this study agreed upon was that comic books served as an effective tool for getting their students interested in reading. Reading comic books with tutors as partners in conversation with the struggling readers in this study was also a powerful medium for facilitating students’ literacy skills development, particularly in the areas of reading fluency and …

Learning Through Play At School: A Study Of Playful Integrated Pedagogies That Foster Children’S Holistic Skills Development In The Primary School Classroom, Rachel Parker, Bo Stjerne Thomsen

Rachel Parker

This scoping study seeks to understand the role and impact of learning through play at school. The evidence supporting learning through play’s positive impact on child development is strong. Yet many education systems have reduced opportunities for playful learning and increased emphasis on didactic and structured approaches to learning for school readiness and achievement. A re-calibration is needed, as experts have established that play supports the development of early literacy and numeracy skills while also cultivating children’s social, emotional, physical and creative skills. Eight pedagogical approaches are identified, namely active learning, collaborative and cooperative learning, experiential learning, guided discovery learning, …

Finding The Balance: A Technical Writing Assignment During A Co-Op Work Experience, Lindsay Corneal, Debbie Morrow

Debbie Morrow

This Is Your Brain On Research: Cognitive Theory And Assignment Construction, Jennifer R. Mart-Rice, Franklin Runge, Alyson Drake

Jennifer Mart-Rice

Re-Engage Your Instruction Team Today, Jolene Cole

Jolene Cole, MILS

Being an academic librarian comes with many challenges. Very few of us are privileged enough to come into the profession with a background in education and knowledge in assessment practices. For those of us running instruction programs it is our duty to prepare librarians to not only teach but also assess their own work.

Over the last year, Georgia College has implemented a new training and assessment program for the library staff. This program is grounded in reflection practices and encourages self-improvement. The reflection program includes but is not limited to departmental/personal teaching philosophies, peer-review of instruction, reflection journals and …

Advancing Higher Education As A Field Of Study, Sydney Freeman Jr., Linda Serra Hagedorn, Lester F. Goodchild, Dianne A. Wright

Linda Serra Hagedorn

Where is higher education as a field of study going in this century? How will higher education program leaders design and sustain their degree programs' vitality in the face of perennial challenges from inside and outside the academy? While in 1979 the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) defined standards for student affairs master's level preparation, and while 2010 saw the adoption of guidelines for higher education administration and leadership preparation programs at the master's degree level, there still are, however, no guidelines that address higher education leadership doctoral programs, despite increasing demands for assessment and …

A Student Journal To Celebrate, Preserve, And Improve Beginning Undergraduate Writing, Ann E. Biswas, Maureen E. Schlangen, Heidi Gauder

Maureen E. Schlangen

At the end of each semester, composition instructors at the University of Dayton (UD) collected portfolios of student writing for the annual program assessment, encouraging their students to return the following semester to pick up their folders of work. However, the stacks of unclaimed portfolios that piled up in faculty offices each year was an indication that students cared little about what they had written, perhaps believing no one beyond their instructor was interested in reading their writing now or in the future. Nevertheless, academic scholars have recognized that student writing improves—as do a sense of ownership and pride in …

The Preperation, Roles, And Responsibilities Of Teacher Educators, Robert Hite, Edward Fletcher, Paige Bruening, Anthony Durr, Brian Yontz, Rhonda Zatezalo, Nicole Williams, Kattlyn Wolf

Tony Durr

The literature in teacher education is filled with discourse around the topic of what it is that teacher candidates need to know and be able to do upon completion of their teacher preparation programs. However, a seriously under-researched area in the literature of teacher education is the task of preparing prospective teacher educators in doctoral programs across schools, departments, and colleges of education. Teacher educators must negotiate their varied roles as researchers, teachers, and service stewards without sacrificing their responsibility of modeling sound teaching practices for their teacher candidates. Further, these individuals must learn what the expectations and values are …

Report Results Of Webex Versus Nonsurvey 30 April 2016.Pdf, Ron J. Hammond

Ron J. Hammond

In Review, Edward J. Dwyer

Edward J. Dwyer

No abstract provided.

Producing Memorable Cloth-Bound Books In The Classroom, Karin J. Keith, A. Horton, A. Roach, J. Temaj, Edward J. Dwyer

Edward J. Dwyer

No abstract provided.

In Review, Edward J. Dwyer

Edward J. Dwyer

No abstract provided.

In Review, Edward J. Dwyer

Edward J. Dwyer

No abstract provided.

In Review, Edward J. Dwyer

Edward J. Dwyer

No abstract provided.

In Review, Edward J. Dwyer

Edward J. Dwyer

No abstract provided.

In Review, Edward J. Dwyer

Edward J. Dwyer

No abstract provided.

Extending The Conversation About Teaching With Technology, Marlina Davidson, Timi Barone, Dana Richter-Egger, Ryan Schuetzler, Jaci Lindburg

Ryan Schuetzler

Over the past two years, UNO has increased the number of online course selections by nearly 50 percent, offering seven fully online undergraduate programs, seven fully online graduate programs, and an assortment of online minors, certificates, and endorsements. The need to expand the conversation about teaching with technology and cultivating effective online teaching environments has never been more important, as UNO seeks to maintain our growth in online learning and retain our current students taking online courses. A strategy introduced in 2017 that has been extremely effective has been the Faculty Liaisons for Instructional Design Program, co-sponsored by the Office …

Study Abroad In The Neoliberal Academy: Shifting Geographies, Terri Carney

Terri M. Carney

No abstract provided.

Media Literacy And Climate Change In A Post-Truth Society, James S. Damico, Mark Baildon, Alexandra Panos

Alexandra Panos

In this article we draw from ecolingusitics (Stibbe, 2015) and a civic media literacy framework (Author, in press; Masyada & Washington, 2016) to consider what happened when three pairs of preservice teachers with different academic backgrounds and climate change beliefs jointly evaluated the reliability of two media sources that make opposing arguments about climate change. An ecolinguistics perspective attends to the environmental impact of the “stories-we-live-by” (Stibbe, 2015) and a civic media literacy lens highlights the centrality of dialogue and deliberation along with critical reading when evaluating the reliability of information sources about complex socioscientific topics like climate change. Our …

Using Imagination To Bridge Young Children’S Literacy And Science Learning: A Dialogic Approach, Huili Hong, Karin Keith, Renee Rice Moran

Renee Rice Moran

Integrating children’s literacy and science learning has become a new focus in literacy instruction. Imagination, an integral part of children’s learning experience, remains marginalized in today’s early childhood education curriculum. Drawing on a yearlong ethnographic study in a first-grade classroom, this paper explores the potential affordance of imagination in integrating young children’s literacy and science learning. The findings showed that the integration opportunities were organically constructed in and through children’s natural engagement of imagination in their reading process. A dialogic approach is presented as one way to ignite children’s imaginations in their literacy and science learning.

Investigating The Influence Of The Level Of Inquiry On Student Engagement, Emily K. Faulconer

Emily Faulconer

Previous studies investigating student-generated questions in a laboratory class compared inquiry to a traditional approach without characterizing the inquiry level. This study investigated the influence of inquiry level on the quantity and quality of student-generated questions over one semester in a General Chemistry course with 356 participants. The researchers studied two types of inquiry in labs: structured inquiry and open inquiry. Quantity and quality of student-generated questions were analyzed and student attitudes were measured using a LIKERT survey while content knowledge was assessed via post-test. A close relationship was not found between the level of inquiry and the quantity or …

Increasing Student Interactions With Learning Objectives, Emily Kaye Faulconer

Emily Faulconer

As educators, we recognize the importance of strong student learning objectives. We also know that students benefit by being well informed of expectations. Existing literature offers little guidance in methods and teaching strategies to apply in exposing students to their learning objectives. In this article, we discuss the use of specific teaching strategies to increase student interactions with the learning objectives. Student opinions regarding learning objectives were measured using an end-of-course Likert survey. Although no statistically significant changes in student opinions were detected in this study, a future study will investigate the influence of these targeted strategies on content mastery. …