Education Commons^™

Impacts Of Mentoring Program On At-Risk Students, Melissa Marie Judd

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Many middle school students are considered at-risk due to attendance, lower levels of academic achievement, and behavior referrals. Mentoring programs have been in effect for decades and continue to yield positive results. The purpose of the study is to determine if fourth and fifth grade at-risk students are impacted by mentoring. The researcher seeks to determine if mentoring increases students’ attendance, increases math and reading test scores, and decreases the amount of behavior referrals. Participants were compared to their own data using a pre-tests and post-tests. Attendance comparisons were made between Spring 2016 and Spring 2017 semesters. Math and reading …

Occupationally Based Career And Technical Education (Cte) Teachers' Perceived Need For Student-To-Student Interaction In Distance Coursework To Gain Teaching Certification, Tina C. Barger

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to contribute to the body of literature regarding occupationally based career and technical education (CTE) teachers’ perceived need for student-to-student interaction in distance education coursework. The study was based on a previous study by Moore, Warner, and Jones (2016). Student perceptions on the topic of student-to-student interaction were gathered. Participants in the study were CTE teachers who had entered the teaching profession from industry. Participants were pursuing or had previously pursued coursework in online/distance education formats. Findings of the study indicated that, overall, survey respondents did not have high expectations or particularly positive feelings …

Do Homework Trackers Affect Students’ Academic Performance?, Luisdaniel Barrera

All Master's Theses

With new state assessment requirements for high school graduation, teachers are focusing on different strategies to assist students to achieve those goals. Many teachers state that students who complete homework perform better academically. The current study analyzed whether homework planners (trackers) had any positive effect on the academic performance of 16 seventh grade students in a very small and rural school district. This was a mixed study (quantitative and qualitative). Students’ grades, district assessments, state assessments, and teacher surveys were analyzed. The results showed that students improved their math and English Language Arts (ELA) district assessment scores when compared from …

Third Grade Science Teachers' Perspectives On Implementing Sentence Frames And Word Banks During Science Lectures To Increase The Writing Levels Of English Language Learners, Mary-Margaret M. Shimada

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Each year, there is an increase of English Language Learners (ELLS) entering today's classrooms. A third grade teacher can be faced with having multiple ELLs in the classroom and still be required to teach them alongside native English speakers. Furthermore, third grade science teachers are also responsible for preparing all students in the classroom to comprehend and utilize scientific academic language based upon the Florida State Standards. Additionally, students are required on the FSA Florida Assessment to write about science content. Therefore, scaffolded instruction for ELLs, which will prepare them to write about science content is critical. This research study …

Pedagogical Methods Used By Probationary Elementary Teachers, Ronda Scarrow

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Heeding current best practice, many teachers prioritize student-centered instruction as the most effective pedagogy to achieve student learning. However, preservice teachers at a small, southeastern U.S. university have expressed reservations in executing student-centered instructional methods when they become lesson facilitators. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine whether probational elementary teachers have the knowledge and skill set to execute student-centered instruction and identify the characteristics of this method based on their preservice experiences. The conceptual framework consisted of constructivist, humanism, and social learning, theories . The four research questions focused on participants' understanding of student-centered and teacher-centered pedagogical …

Educational Learning Environments, Meaghan Rooney 3287247

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The question of classroom learning environment and how it affects learning has been widely studied. The type of environment in which students learn sparks passionate debate in today’s society, since a significant amount of a child’s time is spent in a school. . Research confirms that attending school and obtaining an education will teach children to be successful citizens, but what about the environment in which they go to school? If school is what makes the next generation ready to positively contribute to society, then steps must be taken so that each child has an opportunity to thrive. Students in …

Using Singing As A Teaching Tool In Brass Playing, James G. Gates

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper is an examination of three prominent brass pedagogues, Emory Remington, Arnold Jacobs, and Joseph Alessi, who each emphasized the importance of singing in rehearsals and personal practice. The purpose of this project is to gather strategies for using singing presented by these pedagogues and consolidate the findings into a resource to be used by classroom educators. The three pedagogical areas included in this resource are Tone/Timbre, Rhythm/Tempo, and Phrasing/Style. The information contained in the resource section of this paper is a collection of beliefs and concepts advocated by each pedagogue. It was gathered through the viewing and transcribing …

The Effect Of Haptic Interaction And Learner Control On Student Performance In An Online Distance Education Course, Marty J. Park

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

Today’s learners are taking advantage of a whole new world of multimedia and hypermedia experiences to gain understanding and construct knowledge. While at the same time, teachers and instructional designers are producing these experiences at rapid paces. Many angles of interactivity with digital content continue to be researched, as is the case with this study.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a significant difference in the performance of distance education students who exercise learner control interactivity effectively through a traditional input device versus students who exercise learner control interactivity through haptic input methods. This study …

Toward Assessment Leadership: Study Of Assessment Practices Among School And Classroom Leaders, Carrie Elizabeth Eubank Morris

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Traditionally, models of instructional leadership espouse data-informed decision making in response to student assessment outcomes as one of the core school leader behaviors. In recent years, rising expectations from accountability policies and related assessment practices have myriad implications for school districts, specifically in the areas of standards-driven reform, student assessment systems, and professional development models. As a result, demands on schools to collect and use student assessment data to inform curricular and instructional decisions has expanded. While principals are typically held responsible for school improvement efforts, more contemporary models of instructional leadership incorporate teachers as classroom-based leaders of assessment practices …

The Use Of Hands-On Educational Pedagogy In A Standardized Science Curriculum, Sarah Alam

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Introduction

The purpose of this project is to implement an innovative, and engaging knowledge transfer pedagogy for 5th grade science students. This project utilized Stealth Learning, a learning pedagogy developed by Dr. James Rosser.^{99,100,109,110} The program featured applied learning to develop skill sets in general and drone aviation, as well as minimally invasive surgery techniques. This was facilitated through the use of computers, table simulators, and drones.

Methodology

This project took standardized subject matter from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and converted it into content featuring the Stealth approach. The section that was converted was the "Practice of …

Faculty Perceptions Of Instructional Strategies That Foster Student Engagement In Online Courses, Sharon M. Hope

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Developing online instructional strategies for increasing student engagement and success is significant locally and nationally due to growth in the online field, advances in technology, and the need for colleges to maximize student success. This study stemmed from the desire of administrators at an upstate New York private college to discover additional ways to design and deliver effective online instruction. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to discover faculty perceptions of and experiences with instructional strategies that they used to foster student engagement in online learning. Kearsley and Shneiderman's engagement theory formed the study's conceptual framework. Ten …

Teachers' Perceptions On English Language Arts Proficiency Of English Learners, Elaine Michelle Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

English learners (ELs) at a middle school in California were not meeting federal accountability requirements in English language arts (ELA). ELs lacking proficiency in ELA often drop out of high school and live in poverty as adults. The purpose of the study was to examine teachers' perceptions of their self-efficacy to implement effective pedagogical strategies to help ELs develop ELA proficiency. A case study design was used to investigate the problem through the lens of second language acquisition theory. The purposeful sample included 11 middle school language arts teachers. Participants completed an online anonymous survey, and responses were analyzed using …

Effect Of Contemplative Pedagogy On The Ecoliteracy Of Undergraduate Public State University Students, Michael Vincent Lees

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Undergraduate students lack the opportunity and environment to contemplate and develop ecoliteracy skills that serve to integrate subject matter into their everyday experiences. Ecoliteracy is grounded in Capra's web of life theoretical framework and represents students' capacities to read world systems objectively with their head, heart, hands, and spirit. Contemplative pedagogy provides educators with exercises that give students time to reflect on the integration of learning. Ecoliteracy and contemplative pedagogy research has shown little quantitative data pertaining to how contemplative pedagogy affects undergraduate student ecoliteracy. To address that gap, this causal-comparative study measured the use of contemplative pedagogy exercises relative …

“I’M Not Good At Math”: Mathematical Illiteracy And Innummeracy In The United States, G. Wesley Rogers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Why do we view mathematics the way we do in the United States and how have these views created an environment where we consider mathematical illiteracy and innumeracy socially and culturally acceptable when a lack of this knowledge and ability can function to enslave, exploit, restrict, and oppress. Throughout this investigation, I have explored some of the possible reasons for why we view education, mathematics, and the learning of mathematics the way we do and the impact of these views on our motivation and desire to learn mathematics. Using my over 20 years of teaching experience and the review of …

Recovery From Design, Cassandra J. Ellison

Theses and Dissertations

Through research, inquiry, and an evaluation of Recovery By Design, a ‘design therapy’ program that serves people with mental illness, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities, it is my assertion that the practice of design has therapeutic potential and can aid in the process of recovery. To the novice, the practices of conception, shaping form, and praxis have empowering benefit especially when guided by Conditional and Transformation Design methods together with an emphasis on materiality and vernacular form.

Perceptions Of Students With And Without Limited Formal Schooling, Sarah Schmidt De Carranza

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the perceptions that refugee and non-refugee English language learners hold of their academic performance and their perceived sense of membership in a school community. Students currently served in EL programs in grades 9-12 in a large urban school district were invited to participate in the study. Student perceptions were measured using the Morgan Jinks Student Efficacy Scale (MJSES) and Goodenow Pyschological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale.

Unexpectedly, the results indicated that differences of perceptions of student efficacy and school membership between the two groups of students were not statistically …

The Educational Dimensions Of Filipina Migrant Workers’ Activist Identities, Rowena Magdalena Tomaneng

Doctoral Dissertations

There are 10.4 million Filipino/a migrant workers worldwide, with the large majority of Filipina migrants working in traditional gendered labor such as domestic work, care giving, nursing, teaching, and factory work (Ruiz, 2013). Because of the private nature of household work, Filipina migrants are vulnerable to mental and physical abuses from their employers in addition to labor exploitation. While researchers recognize migrants’ agency and acknowledge migrants as political and social actors, few studies connect Filipina migrant workers’ activist identities to the political education they receive from grassroots organizations in the Philippines, United States, and other countries. Consequently, the purpose of …

Differentiating Literacy Instruction For Digital Learners: The Effect Of Multimedia Think-Aloud Worked Examples On Adolescent Analytical Reading Comprehension, Diana Combs Neebe

Doctoral Dissertations

Learning by example is nothing new to the education landscape. Research into think-aloud protocols, though often used as a form of assessment rather than instruction, provided practical, content-specific literacy strategies for crafting the instructional intervention in this study. Additionally, research into worked examples—from the earliest pen-and-paper studies of algebra and statistics, to more recent multimedia studies of legal reasoning and writing—shaped the conceptual framework for the present study by detailing a series of design principles for effective multimedia worked examples. This study aimed to reimagine the face-to-face, teacher-facilitated think-aloud as a multimedia worked example, which could be leveraged for differentiated, …

Ready To Lead? An Examination Of The Alignment Of California Preservice School Leaders’ Fieldwork Experiences With State Leadership Standards, Sandie Stringfellow

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored how three preservice school leaders (PSLs) in California spent their time during their fieldwork for their school-leader-preparation programs and if they were gaining experience in all of the California Professional Standards for Education Leaders (CPSEL). Specifically, my dissertation examined the use of a daily log (Project Reflect), a custom-built web-based application that is designed to serve as an easy-to-use measure of preservice-school-leader practice. The application was accessed from Internet-connected devices and logged time spent in practical situations in each of the CPSEL. This exploratory case study was conducted with three preservice school leaders in the San Francisco …

An Examination Into The Instruction Of The Alphabet During Preschool Years, Amanda Titus

Masters Theses

Instruction of the letters of the alphabet is a controversial topic among early childhood educators. Not only is it debated whether letter instruction is developmentally appropriate but there is then the discussion concerning how the letters are best taught once a program deems it is developmentally appropriate. In this study, 87 children were assessed at two separate times during the school year to determine a method of instruction that proved most effective. The study took place over three consecutive school years. The first year, 27 students were exposed to alphabetic instruction through a combination of music and mnemonic device assisted …

Adhd In Elementary School Students: Impact Of Physical Activity On Adhd Symptoms, Jenny Wilcox

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore alternative treatment options to stimulant medication in reducing symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in elementary aged children. The goal was to understand whether implementing physical activity programs into elementary schools reduces characteristic symptoms of ADHD including, but not limited to hyperactivity, inattentiveness and impulsivity. Secondary data was used in this research to analyze the symptoms of ADHD and the benefits of physical activity as a behavior modification intervention for this disorder with children. The study addressed the research question, what are the most effective types of physical activity for children …

Teaching Tuba Students To Be Complete Musicians, Brandon E. Cummings

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of music educators is to develop complete musicians who successfully learn and perform all musical concepts. One of the limitations of the band classroom is that performers are required to play a part that is specifically written with the needs of the ensemble in mind, and not the needs of the developing musician. These limitations can be seen in the bass instruments of a band which typically play the harmony or bass-line. While the bass-line and harmony are integral portions of the music, they do not often progress as far as other instrumental parts with respect to the …

Mathematics And Music: A Search For Correlation, Isaac Sarver

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Several studies have been conducted, which have shown connections between content in music and mathematics. Concepts such as fractions, ratios, etc. are mathematical concepts that also can be found or expressed through music. Although these connections have been made, they primarily address connections within the subject matter of music and math. This study attempts to find a correlation between a high school student participating in a school sponsored music program and receiving a higher average math grade. In the study, two school districts provided anonymous student math score data, while also showing which students participated in a music program. From …

Creating Confident Writers: Implementing Writing Portfolios In A Secondary-Level Language Arts Classroom, Julia Smagacz

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper explores the implementation of a writing portfolio project in secondary-level English Language Arts classrooms. In addition to defining the project and describing its potential parameters, this paper describes goals and strategies that educators may use to implement this project, using research from multiple school district curricula and reputable state education resources. The paper includes testimonies from four current high school English teachers, in which each teacher details his or her experience with the writing portfolio. The teachers also provided feedback on the importance of writing and the writing process in general. Also included in this paper is a …

The Effects Of Nutrition Education On Third And Fifth Grade Students’ Fruit And Vegetable Knowledge, Preference, And Consumption, Alexandra Epstein-Solfield

All Master's Theses

Regular consumption of fruit and vegetables (F/V) may reduce the risk of obesity and obesity-related diseases, yet most American school children fail to meet recommended intakes. One proposed method for reducing childhood obesity is implementing school-based nutrition education programs aimed at increasing F/V intake. This repeated measures study examined the effectiveness of an eight-week F/V-targeted nutrition education intervention on elementary-school students’ nutrition knowledge, F/V preference, and salad bar consumption. A convenience sample of third- and fifth-grade students (n = 149) participated in the study. Surveys were administered pre- and post-intervention to assess F/V knowledge and preference. Pre- and post-plate waste …

A Case For Collaboration: A Manual For Bringing The Collegiate Tutoring Model To The High School Level, Veronica A. Beaupre

Honors Theses

Colleges across the United States have peer tutoring centers designed to support diverse student bodies in their efforts to learn. At the surface level, peer tutoring provides tailored one-on-one instruction that meets the varied learning needs of a large learning community. In addition, peer tutoring has been shown to benefit not only the tutees coming to the center for assistance, but also increase the performance of tutors and change the learning culture of the rest of the learning community. As a powerful resource, the collegiate peer tutoring center model would greatly benefit high schools across the United States, who also …

Using Extremophile Bacteriophage Discovery In A Stem Education Professional Development Partnership To Explore Model Classroom Research Experiences Integrating The Three Dimentions Of The Next Generation Science Standards, Carrie L. Boudreau Ms

All Student Scholarship

The National Research Council’s (NRC) A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas describes a vision of what it means to be proficient in science. The project discussed in this thesis was developed with a NIH SEPA Grant 8R25OD010937 to the Virology and Electron Microscopy Laboratory at the University of Southern Maine (USM) under the direction of Dr. S. Monroe Duboise. The goal of the project was to explore using discovery of extreme environment bacteria and their bacteriophages as a model for using the three dimensions of learning to teach Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Specifically, …

Evidence-Based Assessment In Adapted Physical Education- Affective Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis, Breanna L. Ketel

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Currently there is a lack of evidence about assessment in adapted physical education (APE) settings concerning the justification for methods or curricula being implemented by teachers in their classrooms, that is perhaps due to a lack of understanding of the central notion of evidence-based practices (Jin & Yun, 2010). The purpose of the current investigation was to conduct a meta-analytic review that evaluates assessment practices to determine the overall effect on specific student affective outcomes. A secondary purpose was to evaluate the moderating effects of different methodological, sample, and study variables. Electronic database searches were performed in SPORT …

Evidence-Based Assessment In Adapted Physical Education On Psychomotor Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis, Sam R. Diskin

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

There is little data to show evidence-based practices in adapted physical education and whether it is working or not. There is a lack of information currently on the frequency that assessments are being done, on the disabilities that are being assessed or should be assessed with each test, and on the uses of the assessments that are being done. The aim of this paper is to assess and synthesize all evidence-based practices on psychomotor outcomes in adapted physical education using a meta-analysis. Data was sourced from computerized searches using the following databases: SPORT Discus, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Pub Med (Medline), Cochrane …

Evidence-Based Assessment In Adapted Physical Education-Cognitive Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis, James Robert Kunkel

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

There is little data to show evidence-based practices in adapted physical education and whether or not such practices are successful. Currently there is a lack of information on the frequency of which assessments are being administered, on the disabilities that are being assessed or should be assessed during each test, and on the uses for which assessments are being conducted. The aim of this paper is to assess and synthesize all evidence-based practices on cognitive outcomes in adapted physical education using a meta-analysis. Data was sourced from computerized searches using the following databases: SPORT Discus, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Pub Med (Medline), …