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Full-Text Articles in Education
Making A Difference: Accommodating Students With Autism In A General Education Classroom, Luci Ottaviano
Making A Difference: Accommodating Students With Autism In A General Education Classroom, Luci Ottaviano
Leah A. Nillas
“Increasingly, parents and professionals are looking to inclusive settings to provide social interactions and opportunities for children with autism that might otherwise be lacking in a self-contained setting” (Boutot, Bryant, 2005). However, most general education high school teachers have limited experience and knowledge regarding autism, and the purpose of this study was to determine how to accommodate and modify curriculum to address the needs of students with autism. Data was collected in two phases: the first phase took place during student teaching and was comprised of observational journals from my experience; the second phase consisted of three interviews with special …
Basic Math Skills: Can High School Students Do The Math?, Samantha Sebastian
Basic Math Skills: Can High School Students Do The Math?, Samantha Sebastian
Leah A. Nillas
This article examined high school students’ basic mathematics skills. 126 Students participated in a study that lasted ten weeks in which a pretest and post-test were taken. In between the tests, students took weekly quizzes to refresh and relearn the following basic mathematics skills: adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing whole numbers, decimals, and fractions; proportions; conversion between percents, decimals, and fractions; and order of operations. The scores of the pretest and post-test were analyzed to see if improvements were made. Scores were compared by gender and grade level. The study showed an overall improvement on students’ ability to do basic …
Breaking Language Barriers: Connections Between Foreign Language And English Language Arts, Lauren Booth, '09
Breaking Language Barriers: Connections Between Foreign Language And English Language Arts, Lauren Booth, '09
Leah A. Nillas
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between foreign language and English language arts. In previous literature, foreign language has been shown to positively affect students' performance in other subject areas as well as developing their cognitive abilities. When I thought about my own teaching experiences, I made direct connections between foreign language and English language arts in terms of vocabulary acquisition and grammar. Through interviews I found that other teachers are also aware of those connections and deliberately use them to enhance their instruction and defend the study of a foreign language. Upon investigating foreign language …
Literacy Work Stations: Effects On Students’ Reading Comprehension And Fluency, Amy Burns
Literacy Work Stations: Effects On Students’ Reading Comprehension And Fluency, Amy Burns
Leah A. Nillas
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, “Despite recent national attention to the importance of teaching early reading skills, many children in America continue to struggle with reading. Forty percent of U.S. fourth grade children read below a ‘basic level’ and have ‘little or no mastery’ of the knowledge of skills necessary to perform work at each grade level” (Choutka, Jitendra, Edwards, Starosta, Sacks & Jacobson, 2004). With this data in mind, the purpose of this research is to determine how literacy work stations are affecting students’ literacy skills. This research was conducted in a fourth grade classroom at …
The Impact Of Extracurricular Activities On High School Students’ Academic Success, Nicholas Cooprider
The Impact Of Extracurricular Activities On High School Students’ Academic Success, Nicholas Cooprider
Leah A. Nillas
“Although we cannot conclude from the data that extracurricular activities alone caused these improvements, we can say with virtual certainty that when we help a student move from no participation in extracurricular activities to engagement in three or four such activities, it does not harm academic performance” (Reeves, 2008, p.2). Previous research concluded that participation in extracurricular activities does correlate to academic achievement in the classroom. This research examined how students perceived their involvement in extracurricular activities affected their academic performance. Surveys were distributed to a local, rural high school and students were asked to document the amount of time …
Modern Novels: How To Make Them More Relevant To High School Students, David Wendler, '09
Modern Novels: How To Make Them More Relevant To High School Students, David Wendler, '09
Leah A. Nillas
There have been numerous studies conducted researching ways to reinvent how we teach outdated texts that are increasingly losing relevance to the current generation of students because of gaps in interest and culture. Because of this irrelevancy, students do not understand these books as well and are not thinking critically about the issues that they present. My research follows along the same lines, but deals specifically with the increasing irrelevancy of modern novels. I distributed a questionnaire to the class I observe at a local high school. My findings have been that modern novels, while lacking relevance with many students, …
Motivation In Secondary Mathematics: How Lesson Structure Impacts Student Engagement, Vicki Beata
Motivation In Secondary Mathematics: How Lesson Structure Impacts Student Engagement, Vicki Beata
Leah A. Nillas
The purpose of this research is to see how students are engaged emotionally, behaviorally, and cognitively in different types of math lessons. Shernoff, Csikszentmihalyi, Schneider, and Shernoff (2003) found that students had a higher quality of experience (mood, esteem, intensity, and motivation) when they were involved in individual or group work. This study analyzed transcriptions, observations and student work from three pre-calculus lessons, a survey about students’ engagement in different types of lessons and an open-ended survey about the researcher’s teaching style. The results of the study were that students enjoy and are more engaged in lessons that require the …
Multicultural Social Studies Curriculum: A Content Analysis, Bryan Throckmorton, James Carver
Multicultural Social Studies Curriculum: A Content Analysis, Bryan Throckmorton, James Carver
Leah A. Nillas
The increasing diversity of society is affecting schools across the nation, as each student who enters the classroom brings his or her own background and experiences. Given this vast variety of backgrounds, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure that teachers are able to employ a curriculum which affirms students’ cultural identities and prepares them to understand and interact with the many cultures within our global community. Social Studies has traditionally been the content area that handles the historical and social issues, which promote students’ sense of cultural identity and social preparation. Yet, with the diversity of our country’s populace, …
Alternative Assessment: Effects On Students’ Perception And Achievement, Kristen Kopf, Andrew Parker
Alternative Assessment: Effects On Students’ Perception And Achievement, Kristen Kopf, Andrew Parker
Leah A. Nillas
This research investigates the effect of alternative assessment on students’ perception and achievement in six, 9th grade biology classrooms. Students’ perception was determined through the use of a Likert scale questionnaire which compared confidence levels and preference for traditional verses alternative assessment. Achievement was measured according to academic grades from both types of assessment. Our findings indicate a significant student preference for multiple-choice exams as well as greater achievement in traditional assessment methods. The results suggest a further investigation of assessment practices is needed in order to more accurately describe the relationship between assessment strategies, student perception and student achievement.
Keys To Successful Learning, Michael J. White, '09, Leah A. Nillas
Keys To Successful Learning, Michael J. White, '09, Leah A. Nillas
Leah A. Nillas
A nationwide push for the use of technology has influenced classroom teaching in the United States. This study examined the use of technology in elementary classrooms. Specific aspects of technology such as PowerPoint and word processing were examined in relation to developing skills in writing. Data from 46 fifth and third grade students as well as self-evaluation interviews with teachers were used to understand the overall comprehensive value of technology in teaching how to write. I expect my results to support previous research findings which assert that using computer technology in writing motivates students to do better work and is …