Education Commons^™

Carbon Nanotube Thermal Interfaces And Related Applications, Stephen L. Hodson

Open Access Dissertations

The development of thermal interface materials (TIMs) is necessitated by the temperature drop across interfacing materials arising from macro and microscopic irregularities of their surfaces that constricts heat through small contact regions as well as mismatches in their thermal properties. Similar to other types of TIMs, CNT TIMs alleviate the thermal resistance across the interface by thermally bridging two materials together with cylindrical, high-aspect ratio, and nominally vertical conducting elements. Within the community of TIM engineers, the vision driving the development of CNT TIMs was born from measurements that revealed impressively high thermal conductivities of individual CNTs. This vision was …

Exploring The Role Of Feedback And Its Impact Within A Digital Badge System From Multiple Perspectives: A Case Study Of Preservice Teachers, Erin D. Besser

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to examine the role feedback plays within the instructional process, and how students are using feedback to inform their course work within Digital Badge contexts. Educators are looking toward Digital Badges as a way to increase student engagement (Abramovich et al., 2013; Glover & Latif, 2013), develop mastery with critical concepts (Mehta et al., 2013), and reduce gaps in student knowledge (Bowen & Thomas, 2014; Guskey, 2007). Feedback is emphasized as a critical component (Bloom, 1968, 1976; Guskey, 2007; Kluger & DeNisi, 1996; Slavin & Karweit, 1984). Instructors need to be able …

Beliefs About Toddler And Care: A New Measure For Infant Toddler Teachers, Treshawn L Anderson

Open Access Dissertations

The first three years in a child's life are particularly important, as this is a critical time for development in all learning domains, however some of the settings in which infants and toddlers are learning and developing (i.e., child care) have been found to be of despairingly low to mediocre quality, with teacher qualifications also being minimal (Burchinal, Roberts, Nabors, & Bryant, 1996; Howes, Whitebook, & Phillips, 1992; Ruzek, Burchinal, Farkas, & Duncan, 2014; National Survey of Early Care and Education [NSECE] Project Team, 2013, 2014; Vandell & Wolfe, 2000). With more than 60% of children birth to age three …

Private, Professional, Public: An Investigation Of Teacher Identity Development, James Richard Gilligan

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation utilizes qualitative research methodology within a queer theoretical framework to investigate the process by which five in-service teachers integrate their private and professional identities to create public identities. Data collection methods included individual interviews, field observations, and artifact analysis. Data analysis focused on the school gender regimes that prescribe the teachers' professional lives; the impact of those gender regimes on the teachers' private identity development, professional identity development, curriculum, pedagogy, and professional relationships; and the identity management strategies each participant utilized in order to integrate his/her respective identities. In addition, data analysis revealed the relative extent to which …

Elementary Preservice Teachers' Beliefs About Teacher Effectiveness, Mauricio A Herron Gloria

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore elementary preservice teachers' beliefs about effective classroom instruction and the characteristics and behaviors of effective teachers, and to examine how these beliefs may vary across teacher education. Participants were 24 students enrolled in a teacher education program at a large mid-west university in the United States. Data were collected using an intensive interview protocol consisting of semi-structured questions, and analyzed using grounded theory strategies (Charmaz, 2006, 2012). Using a constructive/interpretive framework (Lincoln & Guba, 2013), the analysis of the data indicated that participants' beliefs about teacher effectiveness dwell around 12 overreaching categories; …

The Effects Of A Model-Eliciting Activity On High School Student Design Performance, Tanner J Huffman

Open Access Dissertations

Modeling allows students to become more effective designers. High school technology and engineering students engage in engineering design challenges as part of traditional instructional practices. Model-eliciting activities (MEA) present students with opportunities to elicit mathematically thinking that facilitates modeling. Students (n=266) from four schools completed a model-eliciting activity (MEA) and design challenge procedure. The research design utilized a quasi-experimental method, post-test only, with homogenous matching comparison groups based on possible confounding variables. A rubric was used to measure student design performance. Students in the comparison group (n=124) completed a traditional design challenge and were assessed on their design performance. Students …

English Language Learning Kindergartners' Dynamic Responses To Picturebook Reading, Jiyoung Yi

Open Access Dissertations

This study explores the nature of English language learning by kindergartners as they engage in multimodal literacy practices in response to picturebook readings in a mainstream classroom. Three focal Spanish-speaking kindergartners and their classroom teacher took part in this study. Data were collected daily for four months in a half-day morning kindergarten program. The participants' verbal and nonverbal classroom interactions during picturebook readings were coded and analyzed to characterize the nature of ELL kindergartners' multimodal responses to picturebook readings. Findings indicate that the classroom instruction did not fully address the differences in the focal children's levels of English language proficiency. …

A Sociosemantic Examination Of Secondary English Teacher Written Feedback, Ryan Angus

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide a functional linguistic based description of teacher writing comments in secondary ELA classrooms. Based within a case study methodology, this study used analytical tools from Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) in order to discover the various meanings that teachers make through their commenting practices. The findings of the study show that teacher comments focus on the content of the student writing, but also, significantly, help teachers to discursively realize various teacher identities. It was also found that teacher comments tended to either be concrete in their reference to …

Exploring Literacy And Technology With Middle School English Teachers: Articulating Understandings Of Knowledge And Teaching Practices, Benjamin A. Boche

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate five middle school English teachers' understandings of literacy and technology. In particular, how do they define literacy, view literacy and technology learning and teaching, and how do they use (or not use) technology to enact their views of literacy in their classrooms. This narrative inquiry qualitative study consisted of three open-ended interviews, written literacy narratives, and multiple classroom observations with each participant as well as the collection of various teacher documents, such as lesson plans, presentation notes, rubrics, and student handouts. Narrative methods were used in the data analysis. ^ Findings were …

Engineering Faculty Views Of Teaching Quality, Accreditation, And Institutional Climate And How They Influence Teaching Practices, Jacqueline C. Mcneil

Open Access Dissertations

There is wide agreement that teaching quality matters in higher education, but faculty have varied ideas about the definition of quality. This dissertation examined data from a survey administered in 1997, 1999, and 2002 at institutions of the Southeastern University and College Coalition for Engineering Education (SUCCEED) supplemented by a survey administered more recently to a subset of those institutions and two additional institutions. All participating institutions are large public universities. The data collected included faculty teaching practices and three influences on those practices—the faculty member’s definition of quality teaching, their perspective on ABET accreditation processes, and the climate for …

The Relationship Between Teacher Collaboration And Student Achievement, Davin E. Harpe

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this concurrent embedded mixed-methods study was to develop an instrument to measure principals' perceptions of teacher collaboration in their schools. The study further examined the relationship between perceptions of teacher collaboration and student achievement as measured by the Indiana "A-F" Accountability Model. Four key components of teacher collaboration were identified through a review of the literature. Those key components of teacher collaboration included 1) Job-Embedded Collaboration Time; 2) Common Goals; 3) Results Orientation; and 4) Working Interdependently. ^ Using a survey, quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 359 Indiana elementary and middle school principals. Quantitative data …

Examining Teachers' Perspectives On An Implementation Of Elementary Engineering Teacher Professional Development, Nikki Kim Boots

Open Access Dissertations

The emphasis on engaging young learners in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions is driving calls for educational reform. One movement that is gaining momentum is exposing K-12 learners to engineering. With the advent of the Next Generation Science Standards (2012b), engineering is being more formally integrated into standards for the K-12 level. As a result, in-service elementary teachers will need to become familiar with the core concepts of engineering to effectively teach aspects of the subject in their classrooms. Elementary engineering teacher professional development (EETPD) has been identified as a method to disseminate engineering content knowledge to elementary …

Educational Standards, Teacher Preparation, And Metacognition Instruction For Elementary Students: Studies In Pre-College Engineering Education, Ronald Lee Carr

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation is a compilation of three separate works representing a wide range of issues related to pre-college engineering. Each work addresses multiple levels of concern for educators from national policy to specific classroom intervention. Although presenting different styles of writing - due to different journals requirements - and various methods of research, all purpose to further research and instruction in pre-college engineering.

The research detailed in these papers has been inspired by the current STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education movement and in particular, by the National Academy of Engineering's leadership in promoting the integration of engineering into …

The Relationship Between Teachers' Perceptions Of The Feedback They Receive And Their Teaching Efficacy In High-Performing Schools, Joshua D. St. John

Open Access Dissertations

As reform efforts are prescribed in every state through mandates and regulations in an effort to better prepare students to compete in a global economy, and as states like Indiana implement new evaluation plans for teachers based on a rigorous rubric and objective measures of student achievement, close attention to the ripple effects must be involved. While efforts such as professional learning communities and instructional coaches are aimed at building teacher capacity, maximum results can only be achieved when school leaders balance how they leverage their evaluative power while promoting these formative experiences. Absent in the drive for heightened accountability, …

Alternative Teacher Certification: Secondary School Principals' Perceptions In Indiana, Jane Corinne Newblom

Open Access Dissertations

As teacher recruitment intensifies to locate qualified teachers for our nation's classrooms, alternative teacher certification programs are becoming prevalent. Initially these programs were designed to attract professionals and college graduates to enter urban classrooms. However, what has occurred is that over 140 alternative certification programs are available to teacher candidates. Some of these programs are well designed with education courses and content area methodology along with pre-service teaching internships while others may not provide the opportunities for new teachers to be successful in their first years of teaching. This study investigated the perceptions of secondary school principals regarding the effectiveness …

The Effect On Cumulative Language Acquisition Increase For English Language Learner Students In Kindergarten Through Third Grade Who Attended Multiple Years Of Summer Remediation Programs, Gregory Anthony Baker

Open Access Dissertations

Baker, Gregory A. Ph.D., Purdue University, December 2013. The Effect On Cumulative Language Acquisition Increase For English Language Learner Students In Kindergarten Through Third Grade Who Attended Multiple Years Of Summer Remediation Programs. Major Professor: Marilyn A. Hirth

Already academically at risk, students in the rapidly growing English Language Learner (ELL) student population in the United States face additional challenges due to regression of English language acquisition over the average ten-week agrarian summer break when they return to homes in which Spanish was the primary language spoken. While the influence of summer learning loss has been investigated in different contexts …