Education Commons^™

The Impact Of An Experiential Instructional Design On College Student Development, James Sottile, George Watson

George R Watson

Although there is a lack of research regarding the impact of ropes courses on student development, this paper states that there is significant information on this experiential learning experience contributing to student retention. It describes research designed to study how an experiential ropes course can impact undergraduate male and female (18 to 26 years old) student development among students attending a university in a rural area of a Mideastern state. Along with survey data, observations, and journal writings, the students completed open-ended questions about their experiences on the final paper and were interviewed. When the data was analyzed from a …

El Curso De Práctica Profesional En La Facultad De Derecho De La Universidad De Buenos Aires. Crítica A Una Formación Práctica Segmentada., Luciano Antico

Luciano Antico

Son hartas conocidas las virtudes que exhibe el curso de práctica profesional de la abogacía en la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, a través de las clínicas de asesoramiento y patrocinio jurídico gratuito: cumplimiento del fin de extensión universitaria y formación práctica, ético y social de los futuros profesionales de la abogacía. Sin embargo, en lo que respecta a la formación profesional de los abogados (o por lo menos en lo que constituye la oferta de formación), la práctica profesional, por cómo está pensada hoy en día, en mi opinión, resulta insuficiente. En efecto, por cómo …

Higher Education Preparation And Decision Making Trends Among International Students, Krishna Bista, Amy Dagley

Krishna Bista

E-Book Acceptance Among Undergraduate Students: A Look At The Moderating Role Of Technology Innovativeness, Madison Ngafeeson, Jun Sun

Madison Ngafeeson

This paper utilizes the technology acceptance model (TAM) to uncover the moderating roles of technology innovativeness. A study of 158 undergraduate students revealed that the original TAM constructs and relationships were reliable, supported, and applicable in the measurement of e-book acceptance. Interestingly, personal technology innovativeness was found to moderate in a significant way, the relationship between behavioral intention to use e-book and actual usage of e-book. These findings suggest that while individuals who are more open to technology (adopters) as well as less technologically innovative individuals (late adopters and non-adopters) are likely to have the intention to use web-based instructional …

Simulations In Prisons, Kim Read

Kim Read

Using Inquiry-Based Teaching And Kids Inquiry Conferences To Strengthen Elementary Science Instruction And To Encourage More Students To Pursue Science Careers, Paula A. Magee, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

For the past 20 years, there has been a push to improve the teaching and learning of science in elementary schools. One strong reason for this was the release of the National Science Education Standards (NRC 1996). The Standards articulated not only what K-12 students should know (science content standards), but also how science teachers needed to teach (teaching standards) and be continuously supported (professional development standards). The Standards also considered ways to support inquiry-based and meaningful science learning for K-12 students (program and system standards). According to the NRC, one ot:·the four reasons underpinning all of this is because …

Mat-Rix-Toe: Improving Writing Through A Game-Based Project In Linear Algebra, Adam Graham-Squire, Elin Farnell, Julianna Stockton

Elin R Farnell

The Mat-Rix-Toe project utilizes a matrix-based game to deepen students’ understanding of linear algebra concepts and strengthen students’ ability to express themselves mathematically. The project was administered in three classes using slightly different approaches, each of which included some editing component to encourage the improvement of the students’ mathematical thinking and writing. Differences in the implementation of the project illustrate the benefits and drawbacks of various methods of editing in the mathematics classroom and highlight recommendations for improvements in future implementations of the project.

Making The Work Interesting: Classroom Management Through Ownership In Elementary Literature Circles, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner's contribution to "Breaking the Mold of Classroom Management: What Educators Should Know and Do to Enable Student Success".

Tying It All Together: Implications For Classrooms, Schools, And Districts, Ryan Flessner, Kenneth Zeichner, Kalani Eggington

Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner, Kenneth Zeichner, and Kalani Eggington's contribution to "Creating Equitable Classrooms through Action Research"

Addressing The Research/Practice Divide In Teacher Education, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

Educational scholars often describe a research/practice divide. Similarly, students in teacher education programs often struggle to navigate the differences between university coursework and expectations they face in field-based placements. This self-study analyzes one researcher's attempt to address the research/practice divide from the position of a teacher educator. Teaching in a university-based mathematics methods course during the academic year and an elementary classroom during the summer recess provided opportunities to make connections between research and practice. This article examines the effects this study had on the researcher's instruction at the university level. Specifically, the article suggests ways for teacher educators to …

Agency Through Teacher Education: Reflection, Community, And Learning, Ryan Flessner, Grant Miller, Kami Patrizio, Julie Horwitz

Ryan Flessner

Agency through Teacher Education: Reflection, Community, and Learning addresses the ways that agency functions for those involved in twenty-first-century teacher education. This book, commissioned by the Association of Teacher Educators, relies on the voices of teacher education candidates, in-service teachers, school leaders, and university-based educators to illustrate what agency looks like, sounds like, and feels like for people trying to act as agents of change. These examples take the form of narratives, theoretical explorations, formal research studies, and reflective essays. Agency through Teacher Education does not seek to establish one definition for agency, but rather to conceptualize it from three …

Politics And Action Research: An Examination Of One School’S Mandated Action Research Program, Ryan Flessner, Shanna Stuckey

Ryan Flessner

Action research has been shown to empower educators, create lasting changes in schools, and have an impact on student learning outcomes. Given these positive results, many school leaders are beginning to mandate the use of action research within their schools. While some in the field have warned against mandating action research, there is little research examining the effects of doing so. This study examines the mandated school-wide action research program at Fieldstone Elementary. While some results align with the action research literature (importance of collaboration, necessity of time to conduct action research, etc.), this article also examines the political tensions …

Five Strategies To Support All Teachers: Suggestions To Get Off The Slippery Slope Of "Cookbook" Science Teaching, Paula A. Magee, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

Many teachers shudder at the thought of implementing an inquiry curriculum. Perhaps they envision a rowdy classroom with little learning. Maybe they wonder, "How will this connect to all the standards?" Fortunately, these legitimate concerns can be addressed, and all students can engage in thoughtfully constructed inquiry science experiences. In this article, we outline five strategies that we have used with elementary school teachers as they moved from a "cookbook" approach in science to an approach that is inquiry-based. Having presented these five strategies in a linear format, we know that on the surface this may seem close to the …

Creating Equitable Classrooms Through Action Research, Cathy Caro-Bruce, Ryan Flessner, M. Klehr, K. Zeichner

Ryan Flessner

Despite the best intentions of reform efforts, educational inequity continues to exist in public schools. Creating Equitable Classrooms Through Action Research confronts this challenge head-on and shows educators how they can use action research confronts this challenge head-on and shows educators how they can use action research to both raise student achievement and strengthen instruction leadership. Ideal for both a first-time action research endeavor or one already in progress, this practical guidebook helps practitioners formulate specific research questions, collect and analyze data, and communicate their findings. Invaluable for school district leaders, teachers, professional development schools, and preservice teachers, this resource …

Understanding Community Voices As A Force In Teacher Education, Ryan Flessner, Paula A. Magee

Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner and Paula Magee's contribution to "Flessner, R., Miller, G. R., Patrizio, K. M., & Horwitz, J. R. (Eds.). (2012). Agency through teacher education: Reflection, community, and learning. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education."

Working Toward A Third Space In The Teaching Of Elementary Mathematics, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

Building on work in the area of third space theory, this study documents one teacher’s efforts to create third spaces in an elementary mathematics classroom. In an attempt to link the worlds of theory and practice, I examine how the work of other theorists and researchers – inside and outside the field of education – can create new lenses for classroom practitioners. In addition, the article provides evidence that third spaces may be more difficult to realize than others have described. Rather than forcing a third space to emerge, what this study finds more important is creating an environment that …

Collaborating To Improve Inquiry-Based Teaching In Elementary Science And Mathematics Methods Courses, Paula A. Magee, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

This study examines the effect of promoting inquiry-based teaching (IBT) through collaboration between a science methods course and mathematics methods course in an elementary teacher education program. During the collaboration, preservice elementary teacher (PST) candidates experienced 3 different types of inquiry as a way to foster increased understanding of inquiry based teaching (IBT). The experiences included a PST driven science inquiry and a mathematics inquiry where PSTs were learners and a science inquiry where PSTs were teachers. During and following the semester of the collaboration, data were collected to assess the impact of the inquiry experiences on the PSTs’ understanding …

Reggio Emilia Approach, Ena Shelley, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

Article in Ainsworth, James, ed. Sociology of Education: An A-to-Z Guide. Thousand Oaks, US: SAGE Publications, Inc, 2013.

Revisiting Reflection: Utilizing Third Spaces In Teacher Education, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

Much has been written about the importance of reflective practice. What is missing is reflective work on the part of teacher educators to address the mismatch between university-based methods courses and the realities of classroom life. With examples from a third grade mathematics classroom as well as a university-based mathematics methods course, this article explores ways educators can employ third space theory as a way to engage in purposeful reflection into their teaching practices.

Pushing The Field Of Practitioner Research: Utilizing ‘Reflective Third Spaces’ To Explore Educational Practice, Ryan Flessner

Ryan Flessner

For decades, literature in the field of education has been rife with descriptions of the divides between theory and practice, research and implementation, and universities and public schools. Beginning with an examination of these divides, this chapter explores the ways that teacher educators can capitalize on their positioning in order to better understand educational practice. Following a brief introduction, an examination of third space theory and its usefulness to teacher educators— especially those engaged in practitioner research— ensues. Building on the work of early theorists in fields such as literature and cultural geography, third space theory has typically been used …

The Rationale For And Use Of Assessment Frameworks: Improving Assessment And Reporting Quality In Medical Education, Jacob Pearce, Daniel Edwards, Julian Fraillon, Hamish Coates, Benedict Canny, David Wilkinson

Julian Fraillon

An assessment framework provides a structured conceptual map of the learning outcomes of a programme of study along with details of how achievement of the outcomes can be measured. The rationale for using frameworks to underpin the targeting of essential content components is especially relevant for the medical education community. Frameworks have the capacity to improve validity and reliability in assessment, allowing test developers to more easily create robust assessment instruments. The framework used by the Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration (AMAC) is an interesting and relevant case study for the international community as it draws and builds on established processes …

The Rationale For And Use Of Assessment Frameworks: Improving Assessment And Reporting Quality In Medical Education, Jacob Pearce, Daniel Edwards, Julian Fraillon, Hamish Coates, Benedict Canny, David Wilkinson

Dr Jacob Pearce

An assessment framework provides a structured conceptual map of the learning outcomes of a programme of study along with details of how achievement of the outcomes can be measured. The rationale for using frameworks to underpin the targeting of essential content components is especially relevant for the medical education community. Frameworks have the capacity to improve validity and reliability in assessment, allowing test developers to more easily create robust assessment instruments. The framework used by the Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration (AMAC) is an interesting and relevant case study for the international community as it draws and builds on established processes …

Preferred Learning Mode, Instructor Competence And Tuition Reimbursement: What Our Faculty And Students Are Telling Us, John C. Griffith, Rita Herron

John Griffith

This research examined comments in open response areas from 228 faculty and 659 student surveys regarding learning mode preference (classroom, online, video synchronous) instructor competence with technology and the impact of tuition reimbursement on student choice of learning mode. Most faculty and students viewed traditional classroom as the best option for quality interaction and learning. EagleVision Home (synchronous video learning) courses were noted for increased social presence and online courses were viewed as the most flexible option to take a class. Faculty and students emphasized the need for interaction in distance learning environments. Members of both groups highlighted technical issues …

“Analyze, Acquire, Apply, And Write” As A New Learning Model In Science, Jeong Choe

Jeong Choe

I have developed a new teaching and learning model called AAAW, which stand for Analyze, Acquire, Apply and Write. This model grows from action research and unique experience in teaching a biochemistry course to high school students who are talented in math and science. In this model, students first "Analyze" lab data to generate questions that lead them to "Acquire" background knowledge. Students then go back to the data and "Apply" their new knowledge to better understand the data. Finally, students "Write" about the connections they make from their reading, data analysis, and application of the data. The rationale behind …

A Cross-Institutional Initiative In Digital Assessment, Anne-Marie Chase, Diane Robbie, Bella Ross, Ekaterina Pechenkina

Dr Anne-Marie Chase

Fostering Study Skills Using Google Apps For Education, J. A. T. Smith

J. A. T. Smith

On October 15, 2014, Pepperdine University held its third Technology and Learning Faculty Conference. In this presentation, Dr. Jennifer Smith (Seaver College) discusses the integration of Google Apps for Education into her curriculum, and how she uses it to improve college level literacies like study skills, note taking, and collaboration.

Schedulexpert: Scheduling Courses In The Cornell University School Of Hotel Administration, Timothy R. Hinkin, Gary Thompson

Timothy R. Hinkin

A major curriculum review in the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University revealed that course scheduling was a major problem for the school. We devised a methodology to improve the system and developed a computer program, SchedulExpert, to automate the scheduling process. By using the program, we have eliminated conflicts among core required courses by year and among electives within areas and minimized conflicts among elective sets specified by faculty members. We used to spend weeks on scheduling, but now we achieve better results in only a few hours.

Engineering A Dynamic Science Learning Environment For K-12 Teachers, Patricia Hardré, Mark Nanny, Hazem Refai, Chen Ling, Janis Slater

Dr. Chen Ling

The present study follows a cohort of 17 K-12 teachers through a six-week resident learning experience in science and engineering, and on into the planning and implementation of applications for their classrooms. This Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program was examined using the strategic approach of design-based research, with its fluid, adaptive management of the complexity of authentic learning "in situ" and its attentive documentation of expected and unexpected events, in process and products, to capture the richness of teachers' and mentors' experiences. Research on effective teacher professional development, adult learning, situated cognition, and learning transfer were utilized to inform …

Meeting Patrons At The Point Of Need: Envisioning A Just-In-Time Repository For Oregon Libraries, Kim Read, Lori Wamsley

Kim Read

Mixed Media Visualization Effect On Student Perceptions And Learning Outcomes, James Birt

James Birt

This paper presents a methodology and pilot study rationale to examine the effect of mixed media visualization on learning outcomes in three dimensional (3D) modeling. The context for this study is a university first year undergraduate interactive media and design course. Meta analytic studies in the use of visualizations show positive improvements in learning outcomes among low and high spatial learners. But often these studies are focused on single media and virtual representations.Many multimedia learning studies do not take into consideration important factors that could influence the appropriate selection of media. This exploratory study aims to address this through the …