Education Commons^™

Bridging The Gaps In Elementary Life Science Lessons, Kaitlin Cook

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The United States is experiencing a rise in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers while facing a shortage of STEM workers. This could partly be due to a decline in the amount of time allowed for science in elementary schools or possibly because many life science lessons in elementary school lack originality and may not stimulate an interest in science. Lack of captivating STEM education prior to college may be contributing to the decline of students graduating with STEM based degrees. My thesis focuses on getting out of the routine of using monotonous life science lesson plans. I identify …

Learning From The Past To Educate The Future: An Analysis Of The Modern Classical School, Miranda Boljat

Senior Honors Theses

Classical schooling combines the wisdom of thousands of years of learning with the knowledge necessary to succeed in today’s world. Despite the antiquity of some of these ideas, the movement has continued to grow in both number of schools and also number of students attending, measuring almost 100 new schools each decade since 1993. One of the motives for this growth is how Classical schools utilize a curriculum which includes the trivium, Latin, and the Great Books of Western Civilization. Together, these elements of the curriculum lead to improved test scores and general college readiness.

Jewish Time Jump: New York, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

Jewish Time Jump: New York (Gottlieb & Ash, 2013) is a place-based mobile augmented reality game and simulation that takes the form of a situated documentary. Players take on the role of time traveling reporters tracking down a story “lost to time” to bring back to their editor at the Jewish Time Jump Gazette. The game is played in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, New York City. Players’ iPhones become their time traveling device and companion. Based on the player’s GPS location, players receive digital images from their location from over a hundred years in the past as well …

Understanding Second Grader’S Computational Thinking Skills In Robotics Through Their Individual Traits, Youngkyun Baek, Dazhi Yang, Yibo Fan

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study investigated the relationship between the personal traits and computational thinking skills of second graders within the context of robotics activities. The hypothesized model showed that learning preference, intrinsic motivation, and self-efficacy were the main predictors of coding achievement and computational thinking skills, while no direct relationship was found between learning preference, intrinsic, or extrinsic motivation. The final path analysis revealed that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation predict self-efficacy, self-efficacy predicts coding achievement, and coding achievement predicts computational thinking skills. Another important finding was the strong impact of self-efficacy on coding achievement as well as computational thinking skills. Results are …

Teacher Perceptions Of Assessments In Character Education: A Case Study, Sarah Hickman

Senior Honors Theses

Since the time of Aristotle, educators have emphasized character as a necessary part of a student’s education, and currently, many states mandate character education by law. Because of this historical and legal emphasis, there is a growing discussion on the necessity of assessments in character education to ensure that character education programs are effective. While there is research on the large-scale effectiveness of programs with different assessments, there is little research about how teachers perceive assessments and measurements in character education. This study was conducted to begin to address this gap in the research. Through the research design of an …

Beating The Odds: High-Growth Schools Based On The Act Aspire Examinations, Serving Low-Income Communities, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This edition of the OEP Awards highlights schools in Arkansas based on student growth on the ACT Aspire exams in Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). This is a departure from prior awards, which were based on student proficiency.

We choose to focus on student growth for these OEP awards because we think it is a better reflection than proficiency rates of how the school is impacting students. Growth is calculated at the student level, and essentially reflects how much a student improved his or her score from the prior year compared to what was predicted based on prior achievement …

The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics Program: Thinking Globally In A Regional Context, Unicef, Southeast Asian Ministers Of Education Organization (Seameo)

Assessment and Reporting

The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) program is a regional assessment that aims to set a common approach to assessing the learning outcomes of students at Grade 5. As an alternative to international large-scale assessments and national assessments, SEA-PLM has developed a set of assessment and survey instruments for the Southeast Asian region. Designed to be a system-level monitoring tool of educational quality and equity, SEA-PLM covers four domains: mathematics, reading, writing and global citizenship. The assessment also includes questionnaires that gather important contextual information from students, parents, teachers and school principals. A key feature of the SEA-PLM assessment …

Dominant And Critical Mathematics: A Multi-Case Study Examining Mathematics Teachers’ Equitable Teaching Practices, Laura Zamudio

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the field of mathematics education, it is common for studies to use test scores to examine racial and socio-economic achievement gaps. The results of such studies have influenced mathematics teachers to address issues of equitable access and achievement as part of closing existing gaps (Gutiérrez & Ezekiel Dixon-Román, 2011). However, closing achievement gaps does not mean that equity has been addressed if marginalized students continue to express a cultural disconnect from the field of mathematics (Lubienski & Gutiérrez, 2008).

This qualitative multi-case study seeks to attend to these issues by exploring the understandings of equity and equitable teaching practices …

Multilingual/Translanguaging: Narrative Writing Through Authentic Language, Lucia E. Brea

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Conceptual Models For Integer Addition And Subtraction, Nicole M. Wessman-Enzinger, Edward S. Mooney

Faculty Publications - College of Education

In this article, we report the findings of a study conducted with 6 Grade 8 students in the United States. The students posed stories for open number sentences involving addition and subtraction of integers. We analysed the stories posed by the students to build models that describe the conceptual structures behind these posed stories – the conceptual models for integer addition and subtraction. These four conceptual models for thinking about and using integer addition and subtraction include Bookkeeping, Counterbalance, Relativity, and Translation, and are generated from the students’ posed stories. We also provide profiles of conceptual model use for two …

The Relationship Between Teachers’ Understanding And Implementation Of Differentiated Reading Instruction And Third-Graders’ Reading Achievement Scores, Diedre L. Capers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this correlational study was to determine whether the predictor variables, teachers’ perceived understanding and implementation of differentiated instruction, as measured by the Understanding and Implementation of Differentiated Instruction survey, had a relationship to the criterion variable, third-grade students’ reading achievement, as measured by the mClass: Reading 3D Text Reading and Comprehension Test. Using convenience sampling, third grade teachers from six rural North Carolina counties were invited to participate in the study. Data from 54 third grade teachers who consented to participate were analyzed using a Pearson product moment correlation. The results of this study indicated that a …

Mathematical Dispositions Of Novice Upper-Elementary Teachers: A Phenomenological Study, Leslie Anne Soltis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the mathematical dispositions of novice upper-elementary teachers by exploring their experiences as teachers of mathematics in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Ball’s theory of mathematical knowledge for teaching and Bandura’s self-efficacy theory guided this study. The research project sought to answer the central research question: How do novice upper-elementary teachers perceive and describe their experiences teaching mathematics? Data, in the forms of audio diaries, individual interviews, and online focus groups were collected from a purposeful sample of 10 novice upper-elementary teachers. Data analysis followed a systematic procedure …

How Are Social Studies Teachers Using Technology In The Classroom?, Stephanie Delgado

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

So that students are equipped with the skills needed to compete a in a global economy, schools are being given resources intended to increase equity, opportunity, and to close the digital divide. Digital equitability exists when all students have access to both advanced technologies and the learning opportunities the technologies provide (Solomon, Allen, & Resta, 2003). The U.S. Department of Education notes that although students are graduating high school at high rates, performance gaps among students from low socioeconomic and various cultural backgrounds still exist. My study followed a constructivist grounded theory approach to examine how seven teachers in Miami-Dade …

High-Growth Elementary Schools In Arkansas Based On Performance On The Act Aspire Examinations, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

The mission of the Office for Education Policy is to examine educational issues through the lens of academic research and disseminate our findings to educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders around Arkansas. Annually, we highlight excellent schools around the state in our Outstanding Educational Performance Awards, or the OEP awards.

This edition of the OEP Awards highlights schools in Arkansas based on student growth on the ACT Aspire exams in Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). This is a departure from prior awards, which were based on student proficiency.

Girl Empowerment Club, Tori Pedersen, Murphy Glen

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

Girl Empowerment Club teaches girls about self-reflection and communicating effectively in hope of inspiring confidence. The goal of the club is to encourage girls to strengthen their interpersonal skills while learning more about themselves.

Influence Of Phonics Instruction On Reading Fluency And Accuracy, Shelby Bolkema

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This action research study investigated the impact that an explicit phonics curriculum had on second grade readers. Blast Phonics was implemented in first grade during the 2018-2019 school year. Thus, data from 2018-2019 second graders provided baseline data from students who did not receive Blast Phonics. Data from 2019-2020 second graders provided data from students who did receive Blast Phonics. The FAST CBM Reading assessment provides data on fluency (WPM) and accuracy (%). The Press Decoding Inventory provided data on accuracy of targeted phonics skills. Comparing data from the two groups pointed to the impact that the phonics instruction had …

The Effectiveness Of Mathematical Manipulatives In One-On-One Intervention For Third And Fourth Grade Students, Jenifer Lantz, Caitlyn Miller

Honors Projects

The use of manipulatives in elementary schools is one beneficial method that has been utilized to help students grasp abstract mathematical concepts. To examine the effectiveness of implementing mathematical manipulatives, researchers designed a seven week intervention for ten low-achieving third and fourth graders. Topics focused on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics number and operations strand. Data was collected based on observation with the use of a Likert scale measuring each student’s achievement with the chosen and designed manipulatives. Success is defined as students being able to complete assessments using the manipulatives without aid and with little to no …

Documenting Undocumented Motives Influencing The Career Choice Of The First-Year Science And Math Student Teachers In Indonesia, Amirul Mukminin, Masbirorotni Masbirorotni, Lenny Marzulina, Dian Erlina, Akhmad Habibi, Fridiyanto Fridiyanto, Mia Aina, Nunung Fajaryani, Nurulanningsih Nurulanningsih

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The aim of this study was to investigate the motives that were instrumental in driving the first-year science and math student teachers to be a teacher at one public university in Sumatra, Indonesia. A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. 378 participants completed questionnaires consisting of 318 females and 60 males while the interview data were collected from voluntary participants. The data of the fulfilled questionnaires were calculated as percentage of their whole results while the data of the interviews were carefully analysed by looking at the responses from all interviewees. Our results indicated that there …

2018 Pulaski County Education Report Card, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Education Report Card

Our goal is to help parents, school personnel, community members, and policy makers understand how effectively the students in their community are being served.

Pulaski students are demonstrating similar growth in achievement on the ACT Aspire as students in the state overall, but in achievement, graduation rates, and School Quality and Student Success, Pulaski County schools are performing below the state average.

A Culture Of Aggression: School Culture And The Normalization Of Aggression In Two Elementary Schools, Brent D. Harger

Sociology Faculty Publications

Since the late 1990s, increased public and academic attention has been focused on topics related to bullying and peer aggression in schools, yet these behaviors have proven difficult for schools to address. Using data from an ethnographic study of two rural elementary schools in the Midwestern United States, I make both methodological and theoretical contributions to the literature on this topic. Methodologically, I show that examining ‘minor’ aggressive behaviors in schools reveals the way that more serious issues are also normalized. Theoretically, I show that students and adults actively construct shared understandings in these schools regarding the normalization of aggression, …

An Exploration Of Supports For Increasing Classroom Physical Activity Within Elementary Schools, Hannah G. Calvert, Julianne A. Wenner, Lindsey Turner

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Classroom-based physical activity (CBPA) can significantly benefit students’ health and educational outcomes, but many teachers do not utilize CBPA. This study examined teachers’ perceptions about the value and impact of several approaches to support CBPA implementation, and teachers’ weekly self-reported CBPA use. Interviews were conducted with 35 classroom teachers (including those using and not using CBPA) at two public elementary schools, and CBPA tracking logs were collected on a weekly basis. Interview transcripts were interpreted through key domains within implementation science. On average, teachers reported using one activity every other day. Interview data revealed that utilizing professional collaboration time for …

Stem Opportunities - High School 2019, Huey-Xian Kelly Wong, Madeleine Rauhauser, Annie Morgan Nelson

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

This publication details the lesson plan for the “Opportunities in STEM” club for the summer of 2019. This club began out of a desire to educate high school students about the opportunities and careers available in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. Often, students feel that the prospect of entering a STEM field is daunting and out of their grasp. What it means to be a scientist is often unclear, and students never consider opportunities out of the fear of the unknown, particularly when science is associated with complexity and difficulty. This lesson plan integrates experiments with a wealth …

On The Margins Of Friendship: Aggression In An Elementary School Peer Group, Brent D. Harger

Sociology Faculty Publications

This article uses qualitative data from a larger study of two elementary schools in a rural city of about 15,000 people in the Midwestern United States. Here, I focus on a single peer group and those who are on its margins to provide insight into the intersection of friendship, aggression, and masculinity. In doing so, I address the lack of research examining how aggression functions within peer groups and why those who are victimized choose to remain in these groups.

A Case Study On The Implementation Of Additional Daily Physical Activity Beyond The State-Required Guidelines, Frances Eugenia Phipps

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to provide an in-depth understanding of teachers’, principals’ and educational stakeholders’ viewpoints of students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades pertaining to the incorporation of additional daily physical activity into the school day above the state-mandated 30 minutes in an elementary school in rural Western North Carolina. Research questions included: How does additional daily physical activity implemented in the school day influence student cognitive development? Why has additional daily physical activity time been incorporated into the school day? How does extended play benefit students beyond cognitive impact? Personal semi-constructed interviews with 11 …

Vocabulary Instruction: Impacts Of Using A Science Notebook In A Dual Language Setting To Teach Science Vocabulary And Content., Manuel Andazola

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

Language learners and students in general often struggle to close the achievement gap in monolingual schools because they lose academic content due to lack of vocabulary. To combat this issue, programs such as dual language schools have been introduced and have gained popularity due to their ability to help students keep learning academic content in their native language while becoming literate in the second language and also maintaining literacy in the content areas. Although these programs offer different instruction models and teaching techniques that teachers are implementing to improve science literacy, many teachers still struggle to find creative and effective …

Egyptian Fractions Re-Revisited, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich, Francisco Zapata

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Ancient Egyptians represented each fraction as a sum of unit fractions, i.e., fractions of the type 1/n. In our previous papers, we explained that this representation makes perfect sense: e.g., it leads to an efficient way of dividing loaves of bread between people. However, one thing remained unclear: why, when representing fractions of the type 2/(2k+1), Egyptians did not use a natural representation 1/(2k+1) + 1/(2k+1), but used a much more complicated representation instead. In this paper, we show that the need for such a complicated representation can be explained if we take into account that instead of cutting a …

Enhancing Self-Monitoring With Differential Negative Reinforcement Of Alternative Behavior For Increasing Students’ Writing Production, Meghann Torchia

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Writing is a difficult task for many students who find it aversive, and who attempt to escape the task. Self-monitoring and differential negative reinforcement of alternative behavior (DNRA) are two approaches that have been shown to improve quantity of performance, but no studies were found that combined the two methods to determine whether they are more effective in combination than in isolation. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using DNRA to enhance self-monitoring for increasing writing productivity using a multiple probe, across participants, design. Number of words and number of sentences were measured. For …

The Impacts On Rural Families When Engaging In Stem Education, Kimberly Felton-Canfield

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

Family STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Nights and Family STEM Backpacks are a way for schools to provide stakeholders the opportunity to work together in a hands-on, interactive environment to learn more about STEM subjects. Students, teachers, parents and community partners learn through various activities what career choices are available that engage STEM disciplines. Through action research, qualitative data was gathered to discover the community impact of attending a Family STEM night and participating in Family STEM Backpack Projects. Participants completed pre- and post- event surveys and open-ended interview questions. The whole community was invited to participate in Family …

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 …

Relating Millennial Teachers' Age To Frequency And Variety Of Instructional Technology Use In Elementary Math, Ladonna Marie Tate

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Mathematics instruction continues to be of immediate concern in the United States. The availability of technology has become commonplace in today’s classrooms. However, the integration of technology-assisted instruction involves a paradigmatic shift in traditional mathematical practices. Instructional technology, such as interactive whiteboards, handheld tablets, laptops, software, and desktop-based devices, serves as a tool to aid students in communicating mathematically and conceptualizing mathematical reasoning. Research posits that when teachers can personally adapt to the use of innovation, instructional technology in the classroom can be a rigorous tool used for the development of individualized, student-centered learning. As generational shifts of power take …