Education Commons^™

The Attachment Theory: A Content Analysis Of The Objectives Of The Servant Heart Training Modules, Grace Pouliot

Honors College

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the objectives within the Servant Heart Research Collaboration’s “Attachment Theory Workshop and Self-Paced Refresher Training.” These training modules are focused on research in the Attachment Theory, trauma-informed care, childhood resiliency, emotional regulation, caregiver satisfaction, and additional topics, and was created for the purpose of assisting parents and other caregivers of children associated with the Child Rescue Center in Bo, Sierra Leone.

This thesis includes a literature review of research and history associated with the Attachment Theory, Sierra Leone, content analysis, and the Servant Heart Research Collaboration. From here, this thesis will present …

A Content Analysis Of Addition And Subtraction From The Math Teacher's Manuals For Orono, Maine And Santiago, Chile, Jordan Houdeshell

Honors College

The purpose of this study is to do a comparative content analysis of two second grade math teachers’ manuals; one from Santiago, Chile and the other from Orono, Maine. I will be looking at and comparing one unit of study in both math teacher’s manuals: a unit on addition and subtraction.

This thesis will explore how the words and language used in the math teacher’s manuals may affect the way teachers teach addition and subtraction content and what is expected from the second-grade learners. For the comparative content analysis I will focus on, sort, and count the verbs that appear …

Analyzing Student Opt-Out Of Standardized Testing In Maine, Maude Meeker

Honors College

Under current educational policy in the United States, standardized assessment is (and has been) a required element of K-12 education in order for schools to receive federal funding, most often through Title I programs. However, in 2015, many families began opting their students out of these standardized tests in several states, including Maine. This study aims to identify any possible trends associated with opting out, such as socioeconomic status or student achievement levels, and also determine the potential impact of certain subgroups of students opting out of standardized tests, such as misrepresentation of a school’s results because of skewed test …

The Effects Of Emotional And Instrumental Support On Students’ Mathematical Attitudes, Victoria M. Calabrese

Honors College

This study tests to see if a correlation exists between students’ attitudes towards mathematics and teacher pedagogy through emotional and instrumental support. Emotional support is defined as an individual’s perception of a mathematics teacher as being warm, friendly, caring, and empathic (Katz & Gueta, 2010). Instrumental support is defined by an individual’s perception of a mathematics teacher’s instruction, whether the teacher is considered to be helpful, and if the teacher provides guidance when needed (Spielberger, 1979). Two surveys were administered and three interviews were conducted to investigate this hypothesis. The first survey consisted of 12 Likert scale items, 5 open-ended …

Preservice Teacher Self-Efficacy For Teaching Mathematics, Jade Mcguire

Honors College

Self-efficacy for teaching mathematics has an effect on students’ math achievement (Bandura, 1997; Stipek, Givvin, Salmon, & MacGyvers, 2001). It is therefore important that teachers have high self-efficacy for teaching mathematics. The purpose of this study was to discover if the University of Maine’s College of Education and Human Development’s teacher education program is doing enough to help elementary education majors feel confident in their ability to teach mathematics at the kindergarten through eighth grade levels. A modified version of the “Self-Efficacy for Teaching Mathematics Instrument”, or SETMI (McGee &Wang) was administered to one hundred and eleven elementary education majors …