Education Commons^™

The Effects Of Implementing An Online Professional Learning Community For Teachers Of Gifted And Talented Courses: An Action Research Study, Chelsey A. Mintz

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to examine the effects of implementing an online professional learning community (PLC) designed explicitly for teachers of gifted and talented (GT) English language arts (ELA) courses. The present action research (AR) is a limited mixed design study, including quantitative and qualitative elements, to discover the effects on collaboration and professional growth focused on best practices for GT instruction. The quantitative data were collected through surveys, which included Likert scales and nominal items and were analyzed through descriptive statistics. The qualitative data were collected through guided and semi-structured interview questions and transcribed before …

The Impact Of Critical Thinking Strategies On Curriculum And Instruction For Usaf Operations Intelligence, Jason R. Baker

Theses and Dissertations

The goals of the present action research study were to understand intelligence analysts’ perceptions of weapon systems visual recognition (vis-recce) training and to determine the impact of a Critical Thinking Training (CTT) Seminar and Formative Assessments on unit-level intelligence analysts' vis-recce performance at a mid-western United States Air Force (USAF) base where the participant-researcher is the USAF unit’s senior intelligence officer which is congruent with action research methods. The identified problem of practice is based on the fact that after decades of viewing vis-recce training as a rote requirement and watching intelligence analysts struggle on the summative assessment, the USAF …

The Use Of E-Readers For Secondary Literacy And Reading Motivation, Graham Parker

Theses and Dissertations

The Use of E-Readers for Secondary Literacy and Reading Motivation is an Action Research study that describes one predominantly white, southern, rural working-class English Language Arts class of 11th grade student-participants (n=44) of below average reading ability who experienced reading The Great Gatsby on e-readers (i.e., electronic books with dictionaries and visual texts in the form of illustrations to supplement written text). The students’ motivation to read was compared and contrasted with an 11th grade class of student-participants who read The Great Gatsby via a traditional print book (i.e., written text with no visual text). Quantitative data included a pre …

Impacts Of An Online Learning Community On The Way Students Communicate, David Dennis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to describe one advanced placement (AP) high school literature unit and student-participants' perceptions of technological communication in that English Language Arts (ELA) unit. The site of the research was West-Oak High School in Westminster, South Carolina. Student-participants are accustomed to electronic communication. The participant-researcher designed and implemented a blended AP ELA curriculum unit for Shakespearean Drama to combine an online learning discussion with face-to-face discussions aimed at observing whether these students are able to improve their ability to construct defensible verbal and written arguments. Data collections included a series of observations and …

One Woman's College And Medical School Experience In The 1920s: Hilla Sheriff's Story, Jennifer L. Daniel

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this historical biography is to describe the educational experiences of Hilla Sheriff, an extraordinary woman who challenged attitudes about women’s education and employment in the medical field in the United States in the 1920s. Although the majority of women who attended a college or university at that time went to co-educational institutions, they were often limited to traditional gender role coursework such as home economics, nursing, or teaching. This study of Sheriff’s educational experiences particularizes attitudes about women’s education and employment in the 1920s. Many people did not see value in higher education for women. The thread …

Pedagogical Practices In Homogeneous And Heterogeneous Ability Grouped Classrooms, Theresa Marie Kinsey

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to describe one sixth grade English Language Arts (ELA) teacher’s pedagogical practices in her heterogeneous grouped classroom and her homogeneous grouped classroom. The focus of this study was on instructional practices in two classes, one homogeneously grouped based on high English Language Arts ability; the other heterogeneously grouped. Through the data generated, the participant-researcher reflected upon the English Language Arts instruction in both classes and described the teacher’s instructional practices in this middle school. Semi-structured interviews, a questionnaire, field observations, videotapes and lesson plans provided the qualitative research data for this …

Studying Jazz In The Concert Band Setting And Its Effects On Perceptions Of Jazz Performance, Joseph Ryan Westberry

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present Action Research study was to describe a class of southern, suburban, high school band student-participants’ perceptions of a jazz performance of an arrangement by the researcher that is a Duke Ellington adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite. Student-participants’ perceptions were gathered using a modified Fennema-Sherman Attitude Scale in the form of a pre-test and a post-test to determine any changes in attitudes towards jazz performance. Data were analyzed and reflected upon with the collaborating band director and administrators at Cane Bay High School and an action plan was designed to improve student-participants’ attitudes toward jazz …

The Act Keytrain Program And The Act Workkeys Test Performance: An Action Research Study, Matthew T. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative action research study was to describe the effectiveness of the American College Testing (ACT) KeyTrain program in the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), conducted with 50 inmate-student-participants who were enrolled in the Palmetto Unified School District’s Tyger River High School’s (TyRCI) adult education program. The identified problem of practice for this dissertation in practice (DiP) was an evaluation of the effectiveness of this program for one group of low socioeconomic status Black male inmate-student-participants. This evaluation was of vital importance to the Palmetto Unified School District (PUSD) and SCDC because ACT WorkKeys is one …

Pedagogy Of The Transplanted: A Study Of Selected First-Year Jamaican Immigrant Elementary School Teachers And Their Perspectives On South Carolina’S Curriculum Processes, Claudia Fletcher-Lambert

Theses and Dissertations

The study explores the experiences of four first-year Jamaican immigrant teachers in rural southern South Carolina regarding their descriptions of the experiences and the researcher’s observations. The main research question was concerned with first-year Jamaican immigrant elementary school teachers’ experiences as they navigate the curriculum landscape in South Carolina. The inquiry engages a qualitative research design.

Interviews, observations, and artifacts were engaged to collect data. These data were analyzed deductively and inductively through a process of content analysis. These data findings in the study covered four dominant themes these included immigrant teachers’ strengths, challenges, changes, and navigation strategies. The data …

Life After Graduation: Exploring The Utility Of A College And Career Research Project In Defining Students’ Post-High School Goals, Ashley E. Bowers

Theses and Dissertations

In order to assist students with their digital research skills while simultaneously allowing them to research and explore college and career options, a Project-Based Learning (PBL) assignment was incorporated into the secondary English classroom. This served multiple purposes: providing students guidance and support as they determine their future college and career goals, meeting several of the South Carolina 9-12 English/Language Arts standards, and increasing students’ College and Career Readiness. The site for this quantitative action research study was English 3 classes in a large, rural high school in the Charleston, South Carolina area. Quantitative, statistical data was collected from a …

Determining Worth: Cell Phones And Their Perceived Place In Secondary Education Classrooms, Alex J. Hollis

Theses and Dissertations

Determining Worth: Cell Phones and their Perceived Place in Secondary Education Classrooms is an action research study that describes and evaluates educators’ perceptions of Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs), primarily smartphones, in secondary education classrooms at Jackson High School in Upstate South Carolina. The identified problem of practice that undergirds the present study involves a lack of consistency among secondary educators at this school as to how, when, and why PEDs are allowed for classroom use. The study explores these teacher-participants’ interests in and aversions to using PEDs as instructional tools and communication devices, and concurrently examines current instructional practices, school-level …

The Impact Of Project-Based Learning On Critical Thinking In A United States History Classroom, Craig E. Cash

Theses and Dissertations

This present quantitative action research study compared the test scores of one group of students who experienced a project-based instruction United States history unit with one group of students who experienced a traditional lecture style United States history unit at a suburban high school in South Carolina. The problem of practice that guided this study arose from the lack of critical thinking that the essentialist curriculum and teach-to-the-test instructional strategy foster in this school and the social studies classroom. The identification of the problem of practice led to the development of a research focus examining the impact of project-based instruction …

The Impact Of Self-Regulating Practice Strategies On The Achievement Perceptions Of Sixth-Grade String Orchestra Students, Anne Poe Matthews

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of self-regulating strategies on the musical achievement perceptions of 8 6th-grade students in a beginning orchestra class. For the purposes of the study, musical achievement was measured using two parameters: (a) student self-reports of improvement and ability to effectively use self-regulating strategies and (b) teacher observations ascertaining improved class performance and student use of self-regulating strategies. During the Fall 2016 semester, students received instruction during class on goal setting, monitoring, and evaluating strategies that they were to incorporate during self-directed practice. Data were collected during pre- and postinterviews conducted in …

Curricula As Complements: Inclusive Content-Based Literature And The Goals Of Common Core In Secondary Students’ English Achievement, Sara Lott

Theses and Dissertations

The Common Core State Standards now suggest a 70% nonfiction, 30% fiction reading load for 6th to 12th grade students (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2017). To satisfy this curricular push toward nonfiction, many secondary English teachers are shifting away from inclusive literature instruction to a more standardized English Language Arts (ELA) model based on Common Core’s five strands for ELA: reading informational text, reading literature, writing, language, and speaking and listening. This ideological and practical shift within secondary ELA has created a local-level problem of practice. Owing to Common Core’s relative silence on issues of diversity, shifts away from …

The Impact Of Repeated Reading On The Comprehension Level Of Eight Eighth Grade Students At The Middle School Level, Elizabeth C. Dotson-Shupe

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of repeated reading on the comprehension level of eight 8th grade students. Incorporating an action research design, data was collected through utilizing a pretest and posttest, timed repeated readings, a reading semi-open ended questionnaire, a Likert-scale questionnaire, observation and the taking of field notes, and weekly assessments. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected for a total of eight weeks for a period of 20 minutes two times per week, each Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Participants were a combination of eighth-grade regular education and special education students, with the majority …

The Impact Of Technology Integration On The Engagement Levels Of Ten Second Grade Students In An English Language Arts Classroom, Octavia J. Hamilton-Hankins

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study examined the way in which integrating technology into a second grade ELA classroom impacted levels of student engagement. Research investigated utilizing various technological tools to meet learning goals and objectives in the classroom, and determined the impact on student engagement as perceived by the students and classroom teacher. The study employed a mixed-methods approach of data collecting. The researcher collected and recorded data twice a week for six weeks. In order to identify and validate the study‘s findings, the researcher used field notes, interviews, questionnaires, and checklists as the data collection sources to measure student engagement. …

The Relationship Between Gender Stereotypes And Academic Performance For Rural Eighth Grade Students: A Mixed Methods Ethnographic Case Study, Elizabeth Anne Royal Witte

Theses and Dissertations

Through this mixed methods ethnographic case study, the subject of gender stereotypes for middle school students, and its relationship to academic performance was investigated. Specifically, the research focused on Albert Bandura’s (1977) Social Learning Theory, gender stereotypes, and how educational institutions, peer relationships, and parental influences may dictate gender norms as they relate to academic success. It also attempted to evaluate the relationship between the issue of gender stereotypes and current experiences in a rural American middle school that led to the recurring issue of the educational gender gap and the underperformance of male students. The purpose of the study …

The Role Of Oral Language In Kindergarten Students Comprehension, Rebecca Kathleen Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

The present quantitative action research study examined two classes of Southern kindergarten students in a Title I school and their oral language and comprehension abilities as measured by standardized tests. The identified problem of practice involved incoming kindergarteners’ lack of preparedness for reading. The research question that guided this quantitative study was: How does a kindergarten student’s oral language ability relate to his or her ability to comprehend a wordless picture book and a text read to them? Assessments of overall oral language, wordless picture book comprehension, and listening comprehension comprise the data set. Data were collected at the beginning …

Medical Homebound Services: Assisting Students With Chronic Illnesses, Melissa Johnson Allgood

Theses and Dissertations

The present action research study examined a group of chronically ill students approved for medical homebound services at a suburban high school located in the southwestern part of South Carolina. Students who have received or are currently receiving homebound services ranging from ninth through twelfth grade along with their teachers and parents/guardians were the subjects of the research. Semi-structured interviews and existing documents provided the data for this research.

The study explored how chronic illnesses affected a group of high school students when they were absent from school as well as ways to improve assisting them through medical homebound services. …

Detracking High School Physical Science Classes Through Teacher Efficacy: An Action Research Study, Vincent Scott Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

This study uses the action research method to determine whether students enrolled in a basic science course (Physical Science College Prep) can be successful learning more advanced material (Physical Science Advanced) by increasing teacher efficacy. Currently, there are three levels of Physical Science courses taught at the study school, a high school in South Carolina, USA. The most basic course, Physical Science College Prep, is comprised of 76% minority students, and 56% who receive a free or reduced-cost lunch. In the spring semester of 2017, a group of students (n = 14) completed two units of study: Unit One - …

The Impact Of Journal Writing On Students’ Understanding Of Rational Number Operations Of Eight Seventh Grade Students At Jackson Middle School, Amanda Marie Smoak

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of journal writing on eight seventh grade math students’ understanding of rational numbers in a public school in South Carolina. The literature on mathematical understanding and achievement suggests that students should be taught to write about their mathematical thinking to learn the concepts or reasons behind the procedure to consistently and accurately perform operations with rational numbers (Countryman, 1992; Anderson & Little, 2004; Borasi & Rose, 1989; Ganguli, 1989; Johanning, 2000; Lim & Pugalee, 2004; McCormick, 2010; McIntosh & Draper, 2001; Miller, 1991).

During the course of the study, participants …

Flipped Classroom Pedagogical Model And Middle-Level Mathematics Achievment: An Action Research Study, Cassondra Leo

Theses and Dissertations

Flipped Classroom Pedagogical Model and Middle-Level Mathematics Achievement: An Action Research Study describes an integers and rational numbers unit (TIRN) over a sixweek period in a seventh-grade flipped mathematics classroom. The identified problem of practice centers on these twenty-three student participants’ low achievement on math tests. The purpose of the study is to determine the relationship between a flipped classroom pedagogy and student achievement. The participant-researcher aimed to differentiate instruction for these seventh-grade student-participants using a flipped model that included videos. This flipped classroom pedagogical model allowed for additional time for the participant-researcher to assist struggling student-participants and to foster …

The Impact Of One-To-One Ipad Instruction On Student Engagement, Sherri Herbst

Theses and Dissertations

The action research study describes the experiences of 14 elementary students using one-to-one (1:1) iPad instruction to engage in learning Spanish as a second language (L2). The student-participants used 1:1 iPads to learn Spanish over an 8 week unit of study. Data was comprised of scores from a student-participant engagement rubric scored by the teacher-participant before and after the study as well as summative structured surveys with student-participants to determine their perceptions of the iPad unit. Data were also collected in participant-researcher’s daily field notes and journal entries. Formative self-reflective journals were also kept by student-participants. Summative artifacts were collected …

Impact Of Standards-Based Instruction On Achievement Levels Of Students With Moderate To Severe Intellectual Disabilities: An Action Research Study, Amy White Condon

Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this qualitative research study was to describe the perceptions of middle school special education teachers in regards to the implementation of Unique Learning Systems (ULS) curriculum, a standards-based curriculum and assessment system designed to be used with students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. The secondary purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of the special needs students’ parents. The tertiary purpose was to design an action plan that will enable Ocean Front School District (OFSD) special education administrators and teachers to better determine if ULS’ content, instructional strategies, accommodations and modifications are effective. …

The Effects Of Arts Integration On Literacy Comprehension Achievement, Sara D. Tucker

Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on the effects of arts-based instruction on student literacy achievement. The study sought to identify how incorporating arts into the reading classroom through arts-based interventions affected the literacy achievement of fifth-grade students who attended a school for science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) located in South Carolina. One group of fifth-grade student-participants, consisting of 10 students, received arts-based interventions, focusing on literacy skills. Students met with the researcher three times a week to receive arts-based literacy interventions. Data collection included a pre assessment and post assessment of literacy skills, along with surveys of student-participants’ attitudes about …

The Impact Of Capturing Kids' Hearts On New Teachers’ Perceptions Of Classroom Management, Stephanie L. Burgess

Theses and Dissertations

The present action research study explored how incorporating the classroom management model of Capturing Kids’ Hearts (CKH) impacted first year teachers’ perceptions of classroom management. The problem of practice indicated first year teachers historically had large numbers of discipline referrals. The guiding questions were 1) What is the impact of Capturing Kids’ Hearts on first-year teachers’ perceptions of classroom management? And 2) How can participant feedback after CKH preparation be used to improve current classroom management policy at BHS? The primary purpose of this action research was to determine the impact of CKH professional development on four first-year teachers’ perceptions …

Promoting A Culture Of Collaboration And Reflection Through A Professional Learning Community, Erica Charlanda Russell Murdaugh

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative Action Research Study was to describe eight elementary English Language Arts (ELA) teachers’ perceptions of a Professional Learning Community (PLC). The teacher-participants’ opinions about the PLC were used to improve the existing PLC to promote a more reflective and collaborative environment where ELA teachers could be supportive of each other in their endeavors to improve curriculum and pedagogy and students’ scholarly activity at Next Generation Elementary School (NGES). Data collection strategies included semi-structured interviews conducted with the eight teacher-participants as well as a focus group with the eight teacher-participants to debrief the data collected from …

Differentiated Mathematics Instruction: An Action Research Study, Melinda A. Cannon

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to evaluate the relationship between two third grade mathematics classroom; one with differentiated pedagogy and other with traditional pedagogy. To fulfill these purposes, the study tested the hypothesis utilizing an independent t-test. The t-test was used to identify statistical differences among variables. The participant-researcher utilized a differentiated mathematics instructional strategy of small group instruction, collaborative group instruction, and online instruction with one classroom and traditional lecture style pedagogy with the other classroom over a five week period in preparation for a Post-Assessment. Quantitative data included Mathematics Pre- and Post-Test scores which were …

High School Science Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Effects Of One-To-One Computing Devices On Student Engagement, Herbert S. Bocchino Iii

Theses and Dissertations

The identified problem of practice for the present action research study centers on ways in which teacher-participants in a working class poor, rural, southern high school can use the iPads in daily science classroom activities to more effectively to engage these students in their classrooms and make the curriculum meaningful. Data in the form of classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and teacher in-service seminars was collected over a six week period. The results of the present action research study indicate a need for more professional development for incorporating iPads into science coursework for these teacher-participants at RHS despite their claim that …

Implementing The Constructed Scaffold Model: Hands-On Activity Units For Advanced Placement Calculus, Susan Scott

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present action research study is to describe a hands-on activity model, named the Constructed Scaffold Model (CSM), used in an Advanced Placement Calculus class in a southeastern United States suburban high school. Data were collected over an 8-week period during the spring 2017 semester. The teacher-researcher developed a pretest and posttest to describe the CSM’s impact on 10 student-participants in her Advanced Placement classroom. Repeated measures t-tests were used to determine the effect of the CSM on the student-participants’ test scores. Additional qualitative data were collected from field notes, student surveys, a focus group, and student …