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Full-Text Articles in Education

Students’ And Parents’ Perspectives On The Social Inclusion Of Secondary School Students With Learning Difficulties, Jennifer E. Richardson Nov 2018

Students’ And Parents’ Perspectives On The Social Inclusion Of Secondary School Students With Learning Difficulties, Jennifer E. Richardson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

For this integrated-article dissertation, I interviewed three groups of participants, one group for each of three studies, to elicit their perspectives on the social inclusion of secondary school students with learning difficulties in school. The three participant groups were (a) secondary school students without learning difficulties, (b) secondary school students with learning difficulties, and (c) parents of secondary school students with learning difficulties. All participants were asked the following focus prompt “Are high school students with learning difficulties sometimes left out at school? Why or why not?” Following Trochim’s (1989) concept mapping methodology, all unique statements that answered the focus …


Third- And Fourth-Graders’ Perspectives On Social Exclusion: A Group Concept Mapping Study, Tsz-Wing Zita Lau Aug 2018

Third- And Fourth-Graders’ Perspectives On Social Exclusion: A Group Concept Mapping Study, Tsz-Wing Zita Lau

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The focus of the present study was to examine third- and fourth-graders’ thoughts on social exclusion of peers with learning difficulties; participants’ responses were expected to corroborate Aboud’s (1988, 2008) social-cognitive developmental theory of prejudice. Moreover, Trochim’s (1989) Group Concept Mapping method was applied to engage the children in the data collection and analysis processes. The second goal of this study was to observe the participants’ capabilities in completing the research tasks. Findings revealed four themes in children’s responses: (a) differences between children, (b) challenges experienced by children with learning difficulties, (c) others’ negative attitudes, and (d) traits leading to …


Exploring Children’S Self-Regulation For Learning Within A Mindfulness-Based Social And Emotional Learning Program, Devon M. Trower Apr 2018

Exploring Children’S Self-Regulation For Learning Within A Mindfulness-Based Social And Emotional Learning Program, Devon M. Trower

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A mixed-method, repeated measures research design was employed to explore (a) the psychometric properties of a shortened version of the Self -Regulation in School Inventory (SRISI), (b) young children’s development of SR/L within MindUP™, and the demographic and teacher factors implicated in opportunities provided for children to engage in SR/L. Data were gathered from 15 kindergarten teachers and eight ECEs (0 male) who provided teacher reports of children’s SR/L (N = 222 children, boys = 108, Junior Kindergarten = 109, Mean age = 4.57, SD = .57), and their teacher efficacy, burnout, and behavior attributions at Time A and …


Empathy In Inclusive Classrooms: Exploring Prosocial Behaviour Through Children’S Academic Writing Skills, Erica J. Partridge Apr 2018

Empathy In Inclusive Classrooms: Exploring Prosocial Behaviour Through Children’S Academic Writing Skills, Erica J. Partridge

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background. Empathy is a crucial means through which diversity is appreciated. Applying inclusivity at a young age and throughout the education curriculum is optimal for social and emotional development alongside academic development. Method. Nineteen students in Grade 5 participated in the language arts curriculum Shakespeare Can be Fun. Writing samples were collected before and after the perspective taking lesson and coded for empathy. Results. Independent t-tests comparing the pre-post writing categories of Organization, Creativity, Voice and Affect, and Grammar generated no significant results. Further t-tests were conducted within Voice and Affect and the item identifying Evidence for Empathy was significant. …


Students' Perspectives On Educational Acceleration, Lynn Dare Mar 2018

Students' Perspectives On Educational Acceleration, Lynn Dare

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation comprises three studies exploring Australian and Canadian students’ perspectives on grade-based acceleration. The first study involved Australian high-ability students, ages 9 to 14, in a two-phase group concept mapping exercise. First, I interviewed participants to hear their beliefs about grade-based acceleration. From the interview transcripts, I synthesized a list of 60 student-generated factors to consider when deciding on acceleration. Next, participants who had accelerated sorted the list of factors into groups, and rated the importance of each. I applied multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) to the sorted data, and identified six key concepts including (a) …


Empathy In Inclusive Classrooms: Exploring Prosocial Behaviour Through Children’S Academic Writing Skills, Erica J. Partridge Mar 2018

Empathy In Inclusive Classrooms: Exploring Prosocial Behaviour Through Children’S Academic Writing Skills, Erica J. Partridge

Western Research Forum

Background. Empathy is a crucial means through which diversity is appreciated. Students who are more empathic may be more willing to help other students, subsequently creating a successful inclusive classroom. Applying inclusivity at a young age and throughout the curriculum is optimal for social and emotional development in children. Often, increased development is found by using interactive methods. Narrative writing can improve affective dimension in their writing skills, but it is still unclear if writing skills translates into prosocial behaviour. Method. This study looked at 19 students in Grade 5 whose teacher implemented a language arts curriculum program. The Shakespeare …


Examining Stigma Among Preservice Teachers Following The Completion Of A Mental Health Literacy Course, Nella Cautillo Mar 2018

Examining Stigma Among Preservice Teachers Following The Completion Of A Mental Health Literacy Course, Nella Cautillo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This research examined whether a mental health literacy course for preservice teachers reduced mental health stigma and whether there were any meaningful differences in stigma based on gender, BEd program, previous degree, and previous learning about mental health. Preservice teachers from X University participated in a mental health literacy course for ten weeks, which involved education about various topics related to mental health. The teachers were asked to complete a pre-test (N=263) at the start of the course, which included an Opening Minds Stigma Scale (Modgill, Patten, Knaak, Kassam, & Szeto, 2014), measuring mental health stigma. Similarly, the teachers were …


The Currents Of Learning Motivation: Learners’ Stories From Arts-Integrated, Regular Classroom Landscapes, Irene Melabiotis Feb 2018

The Currents Of Learning Motivation: Learners’ Stories From Arts-Integrated, Regular Classroom Landscapes, Irene Melabiotis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Intrinsic learning motivation can facilitate learners’ meaningful scholarship, creativity, and interest in life-long learning. Over time, however, elementary learners’ intrinsic motivation can decline. To meet this challenge, some inclusive educators have turned to arts-integrated instruction, which can facilitate positive outcomes for diverse learners in various subject areas. Our understanding, however, of learners’ quality of motivation when learning through the arts is limited. Accordingly, I explored four research puzzles through a narrative inquiry methodological framework, two of which included, (a) What stories do learners tell about their motivation when learning through the arts in their inclusive classrooms? and (b) What do …