Education Commons^™

Translanguaging In World Language Higher Education, Alessia Barbici Wagner

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Increased global migration and a myriad of other social and political factors has made today’s universities more diverse than ever. As a result, teachers in higher education regularly find multilingual learners from a variety of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds in their classrooms and must consider this diversity in their teaching. One of the ways that teaching can better serve today’s multilingual and multicultural student population is through translanguaging. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the intentional and unintentional use of translanguaging by multilingual language learners and world language instructors in higher education. Additionally, this qualitative case study …

Curiosity, Motivation, Autonomy, And Lifelong Learning In Education And The United States Marine Corps, Cynthia Malmquist

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Curiosity, intrinsic motivation, and autonomy-supportive teaching all promote lifelong learning in both the classroom and Marine Corps. Humans are all born with curiosity. Children inherently practice forms of intrinsic motivation. Most would agree that they do not like being micromanaged - they enjoy a sense of freedom when completing tasks. Despite this, many students learn in a controlling environment and many Marines work under controlling leaders. Though a large amount of time is spent on learning through the first 18 years of life, lifelong learning does not come naturally and is not commonly practiced. The research and ideas discussed below …

Considering Student Voices In Reading Intervention: Re-Conceptualizing And Rethinking Possibilities For High School Reading Through Arts-Based Educational Research, Angela Kramer

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study examines best practices for secondary literacy intervention and instruction. It also exemplifies the ability of Arts Based Educational Research to give voice to struggling and striving high school readers. This dissertation encompasses three time horizons. The first was the crafting of a ‘non-fiction fiction ‘ play (Goldenstein, 2013; Sizer, 1984). The play’s characters, setting, and plot, were built on my review of literature, and years working with reading students as both a general and special education teacher. The second phase, inspired by the Chicana feminist epistemology process of testimonio, involved a student centered read through and revision of …

Poverty, Literacy, And Race: A Middle Scool Teacher's Iterative Investigaive Journey, Rebecca Tuttle

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study describes an iterative design process that helped me gain a better understanding of the problems (how motivation affects learning and gaining the trust of children that I worked with) I was inquiring about. The design process chronicles three iterations before reaching my final research question focused on building relationships with children of minoritized communities within their learning environment and integrating culturally relevant pedagogy into their learning. By combining these two strategies, the children in this study seemed to embrace being part of a culturally relevant experiment. The components of these iterations include pre-reading activities, read alouds, group discussions, …

How Does Pre-Teaching Of Vocabulary And The Use Of Technology Increase Student Learning In Science, Jennefer A. Hilgenkamp

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Understanding science vocabulary is one of the key components leading to student success in mastering science content. This study looks at the research surrounding pre-teaching vocabulary and the use of technology in the classroom. The purpose is to further investigate and deepen knowledge of science vocabulary. This research will use mixed methods of data collection. The study reports aggregated data on twenty-seven students of varying academic levels and needs (Regular Education, English Language Learners (ELL), Special Education), within Team 6A, of the 6^th grade and data for seven students, who consented for the project, will be evaluated further, through …

Hands-On, Guided Inquiry Science Investigation And Science Vocabulary Acquisition In A Rural Elementary School, Jennifer Mulder

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Much research has been done to show how inquiry science instruction and inquiry student investigation provide students with hands-on experiences to effectively learn science content in the classroom. Additionally, many methods to efficaciously teach students vocabulary has been thoroughly investigated. However, not much research has been done to study what effect hands-on, guided inquiry science investigation has on student content vocabulary acquisition. Within one rural classroom, fourth graders engaged in hands-on, guided inquiry investigation, and then vocabulary words were explicitly taught and discussed. After that, students practiced the vocabulary words in a variety of ways in pairs and as a …

Influence Of Stem Lessons On Critical Thinking, Brooke Waddell

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The study of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is leading educators into a new world of teaching. The classroom roles have been reversed and students are now in charge of their own learning. Students are learning how to engineer and solve real-world problems through critical thinking. Integrated STEM lessons are teaching students to use their prior knowledge across subject areas to prepare themselves for the workforce needed in the 21^st century. This study was conducted in a rural second grade classroom with the number of students ranging from 16 to 21. Throughout this study qualitative data was collected. …

Integrating Design Thinking Into A Methods Course, Zoe Falls, Brandy C. Judkins

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As a part of their methods course in teaching English language learners, Brandy's TEAC 317 and 813M students: visit and learn about the CEHS Research & Design Studio explore and critically analyze a tool that might be in their classroom in small groups or as a whole class, work through the ideation stage of the Stanford d.School model of design thinking identify a problem related to teaching or working with English language learners and brainstorm ways to address they problem, potentially via creation of a technological tool or a new physical one begin plotting what their new tool would do, …

The Effects Of Active Learning Technology On Instructors’ Practices And Students’ Engagement And Grades: A Mixed Methods Study, Jeremy C. Van Hof

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Partly in response to university teachers’ changing pedagogies marked by flipping instruction, lecture capture technologies are evolving into active learning systems. Little published research exists on the effects of active learning technology on either teachers or students. This two-phase sequential explanatory mixed methods study details the effects that active learning systems have on instructor practices and on student grades and engagement. Phase one combined quantitative data collection with instructor interviews. Phase one findings show higher student engagement levels correlate with the use of the active learning system only in the presence of very specific, flipped classroom practices. Phase two, a …

The Relationship Of Formative Assessment To The Professional Development And Perspective Transformation Of Teachers, Kimberly K. Snyder

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study uses practitioner research to explore teacher perspectives about formative assessment. The researcher engaged in a four-month-long series of professional development sessions with one middle school and two high school English-Language Arts teachers from the Capital View School District. Understanding formative assessment as a process to monitor student learning and then customizing instruction based on the data gathered from the formative assessment is a complex skill in which teachers need practice and even coaching to become adroit. The sessions were intended to help early-career teachers better understand formative assessment and incorporate it as a strategy in their teaching praxis. …

Linguafolio® Implementation At The Classroom Level: A Collective Case Study Of North Carolina Teachers, Amanda Romjue

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

LinguaFolio® is a language learning portfolio with a rich history rooted in educational research. This study explores the evolution of LinguaFolio®, a learning and self-assessment tool whose origins can be traced back to the European Language Portfolio (ELP). LinguaFolio® is a learning tool designed to promote self-regulated language learning through goal-setting, task-based language learning, and self-assessment and reflection. This study examined the implementation of LinguaFolio® by five experienced, exemplary teachers in order to better understand how LinguaFolio® can best be integrated into the language classroom.

LinguaFolio® is a highly customizable language learning portfolio that teachers are encouraged to adapt to …

Instructionally Dense Literacy Practice In The Middle Grades: A Qualitative Study, Marissa A. Jorgenson

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative, practitioner inquiry examined how a group of novice and experienced middle-grade reading teachers integrated facets of instructional density (Pressley, Wharton-McDonald, & Mistretta-Hampston, 1997) into their practice. Instructional density is a descriptor of effective teaching whereby practitioners layer their instruction in individual lessons with other elements of the curriculum. This occurs in the planning of instruction as well as during dialogic exchanges with students that are the natural outcrop of instruction. The researcher’s role was to conduct a series of observations and post-observation reflections and provide coaching that helped participants generate understanding of instructional density and how it could …

Imagination: Active In Teaching And Learning, Christopher Cunningham

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This autoethnography tells the story of the author’s endeavor to examine my teaching during a sculpture lesson in three 2^nd grade art classes in a mid-western suburban Title I elementary school. I analyze my planning, teaching, reflecting through the lens of Stuart Richmond’s Characteristics of Imaginative Teaching as well as noted educational theorists’ conceptions of imagination and imaginative teaching and learning. These theorists include but are not limited to Maxine Greene, Kieran Egan, John Dewey, and The Lincoln Center Institute’s Capacities for Imaginative Learning. I conclude that imaginative teaching is an intentional act and that there is no …

The Disabled Teacher: A Memoir Of An Interrupted Pedagogical Career, A Life With A Chronic Illness, And An Encounter With Real Barriers To Inclusive Education, Dorothy M. Bossman

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation is a narrative exploration of multiple themes relevant to education research: the relationship between the university and school, epistemology, teacher identity, disability studies, researcher subjectivity, and the retention of quality educators. This work of “autoethnography” (Ellis, Bochner, & Adams, 2011) approaches these topics through the tellings of a teaching career, the awakening of an education scholar, and the development of a chronic illness. While the focus of this inquiry often returns to the researcher’s pedagogical identity, the three storylines interact in myriad ways that relate to the larger field. Removal of one of these narrative threads would, metaphorically, …

Laptops And Language Learning: A Mixed Methods Study Of Technology Integration And Student Engagement, Ginger R. Starks-Yoble Ph.D.

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Student engagement and motivation have been a common focus among educational researchers over the last forty years. Self-determination theory and the inclusive definition of self-regulated learning have identified that both cognitive and motivational engagement are paramount for successful language learning. Within this canon of research, few have looked at student engagement as a result of effective technology integration during the language learning process. This mixed methods study explored students’ perceptions of engagement while learning with technology integration in a first-year language class. Qualitative data was collected from a sub-sample of ten students, in the form of semi-structured interviews, journal reflections, …

A New Approach To Middle School Reading Intervention Balancing Self-Determination And Achievement, Amanda Mancini-Marshall

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While research on Response to Intervention (RTI) has focused almost exclusively on elementary education, an increasing number of middle and high schools are adopting this framework as a way to match student needs with instruction that accelerates academic growth. Without age-appropriate models, curriculum, or interventions, secondary schools often attempt to simply replicate elementary practices with limited success. These attempts typically take a prescriptive approach to reading instruction for struggling below-grade-level readers. However, this self-study examines how one research-practitioner designed, implemented, and modified a middle school Tier II RTI reading course with the goal of improving student self-determination as well as …

Students’ Perceptions Of Academic Self-Efficacy And Self-Regulation While Learning In A 1:1 Laptop Environment, Joan M. Carraher

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

1:1 Laptop initiatives continue to grow throughout Nebraska schools. There are many questions regarding their effectiveness in improving student learning, justifications for expenses, and the process to guide such an initiative.

The purpose of this case study was to explore students’ perceptions of academic self-efficacy and self-regulation while learning in a 1:1 district where students in grades 7 through 12 have 24/7 access to a school-issued laptop. Students in their first (8^th grade) and third-year (10^th grade) of learning in a 1:1 environment at a Nebraska school district participated in this study. Data was collected from an online …

Process Drama: A Medium For Creating A Hospitable Space For Learning Through Reverent Listening, Kim Anne Anthony

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis explores how Process Drama, as pedagogy, can invite into educational discourse a conversation about the roles of hospitality and reverence in the classroom through reverent listening to self, others and context. It can become a medium for holistic learning in the drama classroom and in learning situations of all kinds. Process Drama, as an enactment of reverent listening, creates a space for theater to facilitate the engagement of all participants, creating a learningful experience that can transcend barriers of race and social economic status brought by the invited and uninvited learner. Reverent listening and hospitality become the catalyst …

Connecting Children To Nature: A Multiple Case Study Of Nature Center Preschools, Patti Ensel Bailie

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Environmental degradation, childhood obesity, and aggression of youth are societal problems that appear unconnected. However, their cause (and possible solution) may be linked to a common experience – the amount and quality of time spent in the natural world. Environment based education, significant life experience research, and studies involving urban youth and green spaces have shown that children’s experiences in the natural world have a positive effect on their attitudes, behaviors, and environmental awareness. Nature center based preschools are one approach for connecting children and nature, but little is known about the quality and consistency of their practices. This study …

Evaluation Of An Adult Education Technology Program, Iwasan D. Kejawa Ed.D

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the adult education technology program at a chartered alternative adult education center in Florida. The adult education center had a low rate of students passing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). This study examined the impact of the use of computer technology in an effort to improve student learning in mathematics, reading, and science. Computers at the institution were used by all students for tutorials to prepare them for the FCAT and to obtain a high school diploma. The research questions for this study were as follows: 1. Is the education technology …

The Evaluation Of The Use Of Technology/Electronic Media In Teaching Or Delivering Instructions/Lectures At A Florida University: History, Philosophy And Practices, Iwasan D. Kejawa

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

According to the previous survey conducted by Florida Atlantic University Student Academic Affairs department in 2001, it was indicated that faculty uses of teaching and learning technologies/electronic instruction media to teach and deliver their lectures at the college were lacking.

With the current research study, investigations were thoroughly made and suggestions are provided on the improvement of faculty performance in the use of technologies at the institution to teach and convey knowledge to their students. In this report, the institutional personnel and its administration are made aware whether all existing technologies are being optimally used by faculty. This study also …

Comparison Of Grade Point Average Of Honor Senior Students And College Of Liberal Arts Senior Students At A Florida University, Iwasan D. Kejawa Ed.D

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Attrition rates in theHonor College program division of Florida Atlantic University have risen in recent years. It has been determined that even though a higher high school grade point average is required for admission into the honor program of the university, many applicants to the program were under-prepared to asumme the workload demanded of the students by the Honor College. The requirements for admission into the honor program of the Florida Atlantic University is an overall high school grade point average of 3.5 and a score of 1000 points on the SAT examination while the requirement into the College of …