Education Commons^™

Improving Student Engagement Despite Lowering Attention Spans In The Classroom, Kaycee Lee

Senior Honors Theses

Attention spans have been decreasing throughout society for many years, partially due to the constant increase of technological advances. The average human attention span of eight seconds is particularly concerning to teachers and others in the classroom. It does not seem that the average attention span is ever going to increase, so teachers must implement intentional methods and strategies within their classroom to keep their students’ attention. Physical activities, technology and hands-on supports, small group instruction, shorter lessons, making intentional mistakes, flexible seating, and differentiated instruction are all strategies supported by research to improve student engagement within the classroom. Every …

Mystery Mutt: Dna Analysis With A Dog Named Charlie, Kelly M. Jones

Inclusive Strategies for Teaching Secondary Mathematics and Science

This article provides an in-depth exploration of the design, execution, and outcomes of the "Mystery Mutt: DNA analysis with a dog named Charlie" lesson. Designed for seventh-grade life science students, the lesson focuses on unraveling the correlation between genotype and phenotype using authentic pet DNA test results. Grounded in real-life experiences and employing a multi-dimensional approach, the lesson successfully bridges the gap between theoretical genetic concepts and practical applications. The article discusses the lesson's alignment with academic standards, consideration of materials and safety, its unique classroom context, and the engaging phases of exploration, explanation, elaboration, evaluation, and closure. The emphasis …

Instructional Design With A Language Lens: Preparing Educators For Multilingual Classrooms, Amy J. Heineke, Wenjin Guo, Luke Carman, Mctighe & Associates

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

Classrooms are more diverse than ever before with increasing numbers of multilingual students who are developing English proficiency while simultaneously being expected to learn and perform in English in literacy and the content areas. In the context of the United States, previous efforts to prepare teachers for the heterogeneous population of students have led to simplified curriculum that limits children’s equitable access to rigorous disciplinary learning. This chapter probes one project’s efforts to build capacity in schools by holistically preparing educators across grades and disciplines to provide equitable instruction for students labeled as English learners. Using a framework that added …

Elementary School Teachers' Perceptions Of Student Motivation To Use Classroom Integrated Technology, Jason Lynn Webb

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The integration of technology into the classroom transforms curriculum design and instructional methods. Research suggests that the perspectives of teachers and students are not always in agreement regarding the influence of classroom integrated technology on learning motivation. The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to determine if there is a significant difference in how teachers perceive the influence of technology integration on student learning motivation based on teacher gender, teacher weekly hours of computer use, and teacher years of teaching experience. The study used the Teacher Attitudes toward Classroom Computing Scale to collect data from 238 4th- and 5th-grade rural …

Small Things, Alexandra Byron

Diverse Families Bookshelf Lesson Plans and Activities

No abstract provided.

Intercultural Partnerships That Foster Cultural Competence Among Undergraduate Students, Elizabeth J. Sandell

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

Welcome to my poster presentation: Intercultural Partnerships that foster cultural competence among undergraduate students. Higher education institutions are increasingly committed to fostering equitable access; incorporating global perspectives into teaching, learning, and research; building international and intercultural competence among students, faculty, and staff; and establishing relationships and collaborations with people and institutions throughout the world. Since 2010, I have collected data with the Intercultural Development Inventory (Hammer, 2003; 2011) to assess the course’s impact on students’ developmental orientation to cultural differences.

Lessons From The Pivot: Higher Education's Response To The Pandemic, Janine S. Davis, Christy Irish

Education Faculty Articles

The intensity of major events often leads us to remember minute details of where we were and what we were doing when they occurred: what we wore as we watched the towers fall on September 11, 2001; the faces of our classmates when the space shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986; the smell in the air when we lived through a major earthquake, fire, or other personal tragedy. Similarly, faculty, staff, and students will remember the series of moments that led to the closure of their schools and universities as the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the world--the timeline …

Using Phet Simulations To Improve Scientific Skills And Attitudes Of Community College Students, Rex Taibu, Lloyd Mataka, Vazgen Shekoyan

Publications and Research

In this study, conceptual and algebra-based physics students were engaged in scientific inquiry using Physics Education Technology (PhET) interactive simulations via semester-long group projects. The instructor and students used the Scientific Abilities Assessment Rubrics (SAAR) to evaluate project presentations and papers (formative assessment). The overall research project was evaluated using Lab Skills Self-Assessment (LSSA) survey (pre and post) and the post reflection survey. The Science Process Skills Inventory (SPSI) was used to analyze some of the students‟ responses to the reflection survey. Quantitative analysis of the LSSA survey showed a large effect size for both conceptual and algebra-based physics students …

Mathematics Anxiety: Supplementary Materials, Sarah Buckley

Student learning processes

This publication contains two professional development activities for teachers which focus on mathematics anxiety. One is a team-based activity and the other is an activity for individuals. The activities encourage both mathematics teachers and non-mathematics teachers to reflect on their current practice, their attitudes towards mathematics, their ideas about teaching mathematics and the mathematical beliefs of students.

Flip The Script On Change: Experience Shapes Teachers' Attitudes And Beliefs, Thomas R. Guskey

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Teaching is a demanding profession. Teachers dedicate themselves to having all their students learn well and take pride in seeing their students' learning success. But what happens when students don't succeed? How do teachers explain students not learning well or not reaching expected levels of achievement?

Understanding The Development Of Honors Students’ Connections With Faculty, Shannon R. Dean

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Nearly 40% of full-time students enrolled at four-year institutions depart within the first year. Previous research has shown college students are more likely to graduate if they have meaningful interactions with faculty. Honors students provide unique perspectives because of their high levels of interaction with faculty, yet not much is known about how these connections develop. The purpose of this study was to understand how honors students develop connections with faculty. Six upper-division students were interviewed, and participants reflected on meaningful connections made with faculty during their first year. Two themes were identified as influential in developing connections: approachability of …

Students With Learning Disabilities, Pair Programming And Situational Motivation, Shana L. Pribesh, Wu He, Silvana M. Watson, Debra A. Major, Li Xu, Ling Li, Xin Tian, Anjee Gorkhali, Yuming He

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

Persons with learning disabilities (LD) are underrepresented in computer science and information technology fields despite the explosion of related career opportunities and interest. In this study, we examine the use of pair programming as a collaborative intervention in with computer programming and compare students with learning disabilities to students who do not have learning disabilities. We concentrate on situational motivation constructs which tap into the desire to meet goals and acquire skills. We find that students with LD and similar students without LD fare the same. For the both groups, three of the four situational motivation subscales increase after the …

“College Material” Structural Care At A New York City Transfer School, C. Ray Borck

Publications and Research

Based on ethnographic research at Brooklyn Community High School (BCHS), a transfer high school in New York City I demonstrate that students narrate their educational histories in terms of their experience of care, or lack of care, from teachers. Contributing to research on student-teacher relationships, care, resilience and retention, I develop the concept structural care, arguing that teachers’ ability to demonstrate care for their students, and students’ ability to perceive that care, is enabled or constrained by larger, socio-structural forces such as the national educational policy landscape, widespread cultural beliefs about schools and students, and processes of racialization, criminalization, and …

Promoting Student Success: Bilingual Education Best Practices And Research Flaws, Lillian Fassero

Senior Honors Theses

This paper first determines the benefits which bilingual education offers and then compares transitional, dual-language, and heritage language maintenance programs. After exploring the outcomes, contexts, and practical implications of the various bilingual programs, this paper explores the oversight in most bilingual studies, which assess students’ syntax and semantics while neglecting their understanding of pragmatics and discourse structures (Maxwell-Reid, 2011). Incorporating information from recent studies which question traditional understandings of bilingualism and argue that biliteracy requires more than grammatical and vocabulary instruction, this paper proposes modifications in current research strategies and suggests best practices for transitional, dual-language, and heritage maintenance programs.

Efficacy And Implementation Of Automated Essay Scoring Software In Instruction Of Literacies To High Level Ells, Aaron J. Alvero

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explored the integration of automated essay scoring (AES) software into the writing curriculum for high level ESOL students (levels 3, 4, and 5 on a 1-5 scale) at a high school in Miami, Fl. Issues for Haitian Creole speaking students were also explored. The Spanish and Haitian Creole speaking students were given the option to write notes, outlines, and planning sheets in their L1.

After using AES in the middle of the writing process as a revision assistant tool, 24 students responded to a Likert Scale questionnaire. The students responded positively to the AES based on the results …

Students’ Experiences With Community In An Open Access Course, Stephanie J. Blakmon, Theresa A. Cullen

Faculty Publications - Curriculum & Instruction

Online open access courses have become regular offerings of many universities. Building community and connectedness is an important part of branding and success of such offerings. Our goal was to investigate students’ experiences with community in an open access course. Therefore, in this study, we explored the sense of community of 342 participants in an open access chemistry course. We found that participants did not rate a sense of community as important to them, and did not report feeling very connected to the online course. We will discuss opportunities for building community features in such courses in the future.

An Insurmountable Gap: Can We Balance Incoming And Outgoing Erasmus Exchanges Among Engineering Students?, Susan O'Shaughnessy

Stream 2: Curriculum

Because of the global power of English and being situated in an English-speaking country, Irish higher education institutions do not have to try very hard to attract Erasmus students from across Europe. However, persuading Irish students, particularly students of engineering, to undertake an Erasmus exchange in another European country is a much more difficult process. This paper outlines the recent history of Erasmus exchanges of engineering students to and from the Technological University Dublin and examines the push and pulls factors that affect these exchanges. It presents the results of a small-scale research project into the factors that encourage or …

How To Use Wikipedia To Teach Jewish Studies, Shira Klein

History Faculty Articles and Research

"With 35 million articles, Wikipedia has become the largest encyclopedia in human history. We all, students and teachers alike, use Wikipedia on a regular basis. Yet academia has been slow to respond to this exciting source of knowledge. True, the online encyclopedia can’t replace professional scholarship. But instructors have a lot to gain from using it as a teaching tool."

Aligning Technology Education Teaching With Brain Development, Petros Katsioloudis

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This exploratory study was designed to determine if there is a level of alignment between technology education curriculum and theories of intellectual development. The researcher compared Epstein's Brain Growth Theory and Piaget's Status of Intellectual Development with technology education curriculum from Australia, England, and the United States. The researcher hypothesized that there would be alignment between technology education curriculum, brain growth, and intellectual development theories. The results indicate that students could become more technologically literate citizens if technology education was presented to them earlier in their school careers. School systems and students may be missing an opportunity since technology education …

Middle School Student Perceptions Of Homework In Mathematics, Camille M. Thomas

Honors Scholar Theses

Homework has been a source of debate in schools for the past several decades and will continue to be an important topic in the future. It is a traditional part of education but some debate its importance in the classroom. This study explored student perception of homework and their reported performance in middle school mathematics. The research questions focused on student attitudes about homework, the relationship of students’ self-efficacy and support resources to their homework completion, and the relationship of students’ general level of achievement in mathematics to their attitudes about homework. The study involved a survey of 230 middle …

In Their Own Words: Using Students’ Writing To Develop A Digital Manual For New College Students, Kristen Di Gennaro, Agie Markiewicz

Cornerstone 1 Reports : Expansion and Enhancements of the Thinkfinity Platform

No abstract provided.

The Cost And Quality Of Open Textbooks: Perceptions Of Community College Faculty And Students, Tj Bliss, John Hilton Iii, David Wiley, Kim Thanos

Faculty Publications

Proponents of open educational resources (OER) claim that significant cost savings are possible when open textbooks displace traditional textbooks in the college classroom. We investigated student and faculty perceptions of OER used in a community college context. Over 125 students and 11 faculty from seven colleges responded to an online questionnaire about the cost and quality of the open textbooks used in their classrooms. Results showed that the majority of students and faculty had a positive experience using the open textbooks, appreciated the lower costs, and perceived the texts as being of high quality. The potential implications for OER initiatives …

How To Produce Articulate Artists, Peter J. Barr Phd, Christine Reising

Mid-America College Art Association Conference 2012 Digital Publications

This twenty-minute Powerpoint presentation will describe the team-taught, year-long Foundations Core Concepts Program at Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan. It has been in place since 2006 and has successfully integrated a course previously called "Language of Art" (taught by an art historian) with hands-on studio assignments previously taught in a stand-alone design course (taught by a studio professor). We have found that this hybrid approach is extremely effective in developing sensitive and articulate art majors who are prepared to integrate design concepts into all of their artworks and to analyze and describe eloquently both personal and historical works of …

A Comparative Analysis Of Preferred Learning And Teaching Styles For Engineering, Industrial, And Technology Education Students And Faculty, Petros Katsioloudis, Todd D. Fantz

STEMPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Seeing The Clouds: Teacher Librarian As Broker In Collaborative Planning With Teachers, Sue Kimmel

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Teachers engaged in sustained collaboration with a teacher librarian were interviewed about the meaning of that collaboration. The findings suggest that the teachers recognized important contributions of the librarian to instructional planning and classroom instruction including knowledge, legwork, and support. In particular, they understood her role as a broker both to resources and to ideas for using those resources in instruction. While these resources were essential, they were not sufficient; they required a knowledgeable peer who also understood their application to the curriculum and what students were expected to learn. They required a librarian.

A Comparison Study Of Project-Based-Learning In Upper-Division Engineering Education, Ron Ulseth, Bart Johnson, Rebecca Bates

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

A new model for engineering education was launched in January 2010 in northeastern Minnesota. The Iron Range Engineering (IRE) model is a project-based-learning (PBL) methodology that focuses on producing graduates with integrated technical and professional knowledge and competencies. A unique and important element of the IRE model has 100% of IRE student learning taking place in the context of industry projects. Students at IRE are upper-division engineering students who transferred from Minnesota community college lower-division engineering programs. To understand the impact that IRE methodology may have on preparing engineers with the competencies needed for the future workplace, a comparison study …

Sudden Possibilities: Porpoises, Eggcorns, And Error, Darren Crovitz

Faculty and Research Publications

[...] the keys to their development as writers often lie hidden in the very features of their writing that English teachers have been trained to brush aside with a marginal code letter or a scribbled injunction to "Proofread!" (5) A punitive emphasis on correctness, Shaughnessy argues, can actually have the opposite of its intended effect on basic writers, stifling their experiments with language for fear of failure (8). A reflection on the rationale of error-making must extend beyond a student's apparent inability to memorize and apply a rule, toward deeper considerations: "a teacher who would work with [basic writers] might …

Determining Data Information Literacy Needs: A Study Of Students And Research Faculty, Jake R. Carlson, Michael Fosmire, Chris Miller, Megan R. Sapp Nelson

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Researchers increasingly need to integrate the disposition, management and curation of their data into their current workflows. However, it is not yet clear to what extent faculty and students are sufficiently prepared to take on these responsibilities. This paper articulates the need for a data information literacy program (DIL) to prepare students to engage in such an “e-research” environment. Assessments of faculty interviews and student performance in a geoinformatics course provide complementary sources of information, which are then filtered through the perspective of ACRL’s information literacy competency standards to produce a draft set of outcomes for a data information literacy …

Ua98/1 Potter College For Young Ladies Publications, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Publications created by Potter College. This series consists of catalogs, yearbooks and the college newsletter.

Information Literacy Standards For Freshmen Seminars, Libby Knapik

Librarian Publications

Presentation by Libby Knapik, Head of Information Literacy Programs, Sacred Heart University, of definitions and standards of NEASC and ACRL for information literacy.