Education Commons^™

Relative Rates Of Success Of Students In Calculus I, Joshua Ayerdi

Honors Theses

Students that enroll in Math 1220, Calculus 1, can be categorized into two groups after completion of the course; those that are successful and able to proceed to the next course by earning a grade of “C” or better (pass) and those that are not successful and unable to proceed to the next course by earning below a “C” (fail). The Mathematics Association of America (MAA) has reported the national average of unsuccessful Calculus 1 students to be 25%. At the conclusion of the spring 2015 semester at Western Michigan University (WMU), the rate was approximately 40%. Institutional data was …

Delving Into Multicultural Literature With Inquiry, Juan Gonzalez

Honors Theses

This paper argues for the use of multicultural literature in the classroom, and puts forth a unit plan that uses critical literacy in an English 11 classroom, though it can be readapted to fit other grade levels. Bishop (1990) describes multicultural literature as a set of windows, that people use to view the experiences of others, and mirrors, that reflect and validate peoples’ experience, a core principal in this paper. Critical literacy is comprised of four dimensions (Lewison, Flint, & Van Sluys, 2002) that allows for analyzing literature in a different and meaningful way. The final part of this paper …

Precarious Positions Of Femininity In Contemporary Literature: A College Course Creation, Ireland Atkinson

Honors Theses

In an effort to understand college instruction, I created a collegiate literature course and its logistical materials. This process manifested in the creation of a syllabus, schedules, assignments, and a teaching philosophy statement. With the title “Precarious Positions of Femininity in Contemporary Literature,” the course is in an interdisciplinary format that explores gender and women’s studies with literary scholarship as its medium. All of the texts are not only written by female authors, but also address women’s issues and the precarious positions their femininity puts them in. With a focus on the intersectionality and the diversity of the female experience, …

Implementation Of A Biology Summer Bridge Program For First-Year Biology Majors, Madelyn Aittama

Honors Theses

Students are entering higher education at an escalated rate, but many are unprepared for the rigorous coursework that lies ahead of them. As nationwide programs are continuously being implemented throughout high schools to better prepare students for college life, many students are still not equipped with the skills necessary to succeed in obtaining a bachelor’s degree. Many students feel discouraged and inadequate when they perform below their academic expectations, and for a large portion of students pursuing higher education, this results in discontinuing their education. While retention rates amongst STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) students are particularly low, the …

Reach For The Stars, Jill Heilborn

Honors Theses

Literacy is a huge topic today, both in education and in politics. Many are asking questions like: How do we define it? How do we support its development? What is inhibiting literacy? Some programs, such as Read and Write Kalamazoo (RAWK), are working hard to support and encourage literacy in communities. I was able to work with RAWK to plan and teach a 4 hour Saturday workshop (for middle schoolers in the community) called "Reach for the Stars". It combined learning about astronomy with reading and writing.

In my thesis is a portfolio of pieces, which include:

- Literacy Narrative, …

Future Historiographers: A Unit Plan For Progressive History Classrooms, Holli Sommerfeld

Honors Theses

It is this unit plans goal to introduce middle school students to historiography, which is the history of how history has been written across time. Within this unit plan, students are placed in an inquiry-based environment to dissect varying source materials; during this process, students will focus on three central components that are essential to understanding how history is told, these being content, perspective, and form of writing. Though this subject matter is rarely introduced to students at this age, through the use of an interdisciplinary approach incorporating the strengths of both English and History, careful scaffolding, a collaborative learning …

The Creation Of A Video Review Guide For The Free-Response Section Of The Advanced Placement Calculus Exam, Jeffrey Brown

Honors Theses

The Creation of a Video Review Guide for the Free-Response Section of the Advanced Placement Calculus Exam follows the creation of a resource to help students prepare for the College Board’s Advanced Placement Calculus Exam. This project originated out of the authors personal experiences in preparing for this exam. The goal of the project was to create an accessible resource that reviews content, provides insights into the Advanced Placement exam, and creates successful habits in student responses. This paper, chronologically, details the development of the resource and a reflection on the final product and future uses.

Curiosity Beyond The Classroom: Developing Engaging Education Programming At The Grand Rapids Public Museum, Sara Forman

Honors Theses

This project was designed to examine the impact of museums as authentic learning environments for traditional students, and analyze the role of student-centered educational programming in such an environment has upon student’s growth and connection to social studies content. The aim of this project was to develop an education program for secondary students, implement the program in a museum setting, and assess its effectiveness in encouraging student growth. The education program was created and taught at the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) in relation to the exhibit, Whales: Giants of the Deep. The program was developed under the supervision of …

Math Curriculum (Algebra Ii) With Focus On Sports, Raychel Figurski

Honors Theses

Learning mathematics is something that is difficult for students to do. This is definitely the case when the students do not get to investigate and really dive deep into the mathematical concepts. This thesis consists of a curriculum set up to promote a greater learning experience for students learning mathematical concepts. The curriculum is set up to cover one unit, or chapter, revolving around the concepts of linear functions. This thesis contains a student copy of a textbook for a unit on linear functions as well as a teacher version. The teacher version contains answers to all questions as well …

Senegal's Language Problem: A Discourse Of Disparity, Monica Naida

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to assess the deficiencies of the Senegalese education system and to evaluate improvements to the system so that it works for the Senegalese, instead of against them. My research is mostly concerned with the process in which the French language is taught in schools. I explain these deficiencies in the education system through elucidation of the discourse used by the French colonizer, politicians, non-governmental organizations, teachers, and parents. My approach to this research includes an extensive literature review as well as my own personal observations during a faculty-led research trip to Dakar, Senegal during …

Movement In The Classroom To Practice Sight Words, Galina Vander Meer

Honors Theses

This project encompassed the development and implementation of a unit plan that proved beneficial for first grade students in learning and practicing their sight words. Sight words are words that students are expected to read and write by the end of the school year. Every student learns differently, and using movement to enhance students’ learning can give kinesthetic learners a chance to grow. There were four lessons in the unit plan that incorporated different modes of learning, including movement and technology, and correlated to the first grade curriculum. By the end of the four lessons, the students collaboratively created a …

The Impact Of Globalization On Access For Individuals With Disabilities, Katherine Williamson

Honors Theses

This comparative ethnomethodology study is focused on the global context elements that help explain public policies and its consequences on types of access available to individuals with disabilities in the United States Midwest and West Africa. The goal of this study is to identify the role of individuals with disabilities in a global society by answering two research questions. First, what are the public policies in place for physical, social, and educational access in the United States Midwest and West Africa? Second, how is physical, social, and educational access being provided in the United States Midwest and West Africa? The …

Gigapan Education, Marissa Morgan

Honors Theses

Secondary-school students and teachers need a safe, secure website where they can experience the life of their peers around the world through GigaPan panoramic images. Using a simple point and shoot camera, students can create deep-zoomable panoramas called GigaPans. A Ruby on Rails website was created to provide a location and interface for sharing and discussing these GigaPan panoramas between students and teachers across the globe. By sharing experiences and culture through this technology, the website aims to create a community of technologically and culturally aware young people.

The Insights Of Hannah Arendt And Virtue Ethics On Education, Benjamin Bellinger

Honors Theses

This paper attempts to find the purpose of education and resolve if critical thinking can be taught in education. To answer this question the paper uses Hannah Arendt’s seminal piece The Human Condition, her political essays Between Past and Future, and her journalistic controversy Eichmann in Jerusalem to formulate Arendt’s view on education. Julia Annas’ book Intelligent Virtue gives this work a framework for how one learns a virtue. Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue provides the theory for how one grounds the virtues by continuing a version of Aristolean virtue ethics. While this work does not directly use Nicomachean …

Technology And Nutrition: Interactive Strategies For Children To Learn Nutrition, Nicole Bogden

Honors Theses

This manuscript aims to describe nutritional requirements and needs for children and how technology is being used to improve nutritional knowledge among them. Several technologies and applications are explored, and recommendations are given for ways to improve. Four interactive nutrition games for children are examined: two computer games and two mobile applications. Through revision of performance, nutrition content, attraction, design and attention capabilities, HealthyHeroes was chosen to be the best game for children to learn and have fun with the subject of nutrition.

Teacher Guidebook For Esl Students, Ashley Ramo

Honors Theses

Language is the core of one’s identity, as it is essential in order to competently communicate and interact with other humans. Language preserves culture, and when educators are able to effectively teach English-as-a-Second-Language to students, it conveys respect for that culture. American society is highly culturally pluralistic which brings many languages into the classroom. Students bring their own experiences with them to school, including various native languages and a vast array of levels in English; some may not know a single word in English. Educators will encounter ESL students no matter what the location in the United States may be, …

One Man's Fakelore Is Another Man's Treasure: A Case Study Of Paul Bunyan And The Legend Of The Sleeping Bear, And The Value Of Fakelore In An Interconnected World., Kalani Bates

Honors Theses

The American academic study of folklore blossomed in the past hundred years. The tumultuous battle to define, collate and structure the new study of folklore raged in the academic world, especially in the 1950’s.[1] This obsession not only manifested itself in the academic study of it, but also in the popular culture of the 1900’s. The tradition of the tall tale and the legend exploded into the consumer world, becoming a commodity produced and consumed at will.[2] Richard Dorson classifies this explosion into two very separate studies of ‘folklore’ and ‘fakelore’. Folklore is the group of stories that …

U.S. And Spanish Newspapers And The Coverage Of The Land Campaign Of Cube In The Spanish-American War: June 7 - July 16, 1898, Tyler Wilson

Honors Theses

The Spanish-American War was a significant event in the history of the United States that initiated America’s imperialistic goals by spreading its economic and political influence in the Caribbean, the Pacific, and other overseas markets. In 1898, the U.S. saw its foreign and economic interests collide with Spain and its foreign policy in Cuba. This was an opportunity for the United States to expand and colonize areas of the world by challenging Spain and declaring itself as an emerging super power at the time.

The growth of journalism in the 1890s developed alongside America’s outward expansion by being the primary …

Teaching Book Arts In The Classroom To Enhance Education, Leah Ruesink

Honors Theses

Books are the foundation of education and a central component to our society. The process of making books, including the art of paper-making, printmaking, typography, and bookbinding are rarely known or recognized today. In our current age of computer and photographic technology, these processes have become a lost art. Through my experiences exploring and creating book art in Italy through a study abroad experience, as well as an internship at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center, I began to see many connections to book arts and educating children. The power and magical aspect of books came alive to me, and I …

Individualized Education Program Complexities For Students With Autism, Jordan Rohraff

Honors Theses

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) belongs to a group of closely-related neurobiological disorders (Phetrasuwan, Miles & Mesibov, 2009). Incidence of this disorder is on the rise and is also seen as a topic of increasing concern, especially among educators and parents. Students with ASD need assistance from a variety of professionals in order to achieve academic success. To maintain effective communications between all involved parties, a collaborative plan must be put into place. An Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is an educational roadmap for students with disabilities. Although these important plans have many benefits such as providing students with their much needed …

Traditional Assessment Vs Non-Traditional Assessment: What Native American Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Looks Like In A Suburban Classroom., Jamie Keyser

Honors Theses

Native American culturally relevant pedagogy is a form of non-traditional assessment, which focuses on ways to measure what students learn, understand or do not understand, without using the standard traditional assessment of a test or quiz. In schools today, there is a lack of culturally relevant teaching because schools are deep into a curriculum that is Eurocentric and focused on the dominant culture, European Americans. To see if Native American culturally relevant pedagogy assessment strategies were beneficial to students of all races in a suburban classroom, action research was done in an internship classroom in a suburban school district. Two …

Emerging Themes In Dystopian Literature: The Development Of An Undergraduate Course, Devin Ryan

Honors Theses

Young adult (YA) dystopian literature is a trend that is taking the nation by storm. Since September 11, 2001, the genre has gained a strong backing from academics, authors, and YA readers; after Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games (2008), however, YA dystopian literature has become the forefront of teen reading, especially with the recently adapted film versions of the widely renowned trilogy. In order to keep up with the times, a proposed course—YA Dystopian Literature: A Survey of Modern Book Series—has been created to be taught at Western Michigan University by Dr. Gwen Tarbox in the spring of 2015.

Before …

Perceived External Factors Leading To The Resumption Of Occupations Following Acquired Amputation, Danielle Brown

Honors Theses

The aim of this study was to determine external factors leading to resumption of occupations after acquired amputation. In this paper, occupation is defined as the role and activity a person deems necessary for daily living. The working hypothesis is that there are external factors that enable prosthesis wearers to resume relevant occupations.

Methods: The design of this study included a qualitative (phenomenological) approach. Following HISRB approval, a convenience sample of two participants was enrolled in the study. The subjects were active clients of a prosthetic training program and met the industry criteria of an acquired amputation and regular use …

Resisting (And Reproducing) Language Domination In A Bilingual Kindergarten Classroom, Roxana Gamble

Honors Theses

In modern U.S. society, English is considered the language of power while Spanish is considered a minority language, unfit for academic or professional settings. These macro-level power inequalities are evident in micro-level interactions between students and teachers in mainstream schools. Dual language education programs, however, attempt to challenge this ideology by elevating the status of minority languages and their speakers. In this study, I use an ethnographic/discourse analysis approach to examine how one teacher's practices in a dual language kindergarten classroom work to both reproduce and resist dominant ideologies about Spanish. Through participant-observation, interviews, and audio recordings of naturallyoccurring speech, …

Two-Way Dual-Immersion Programs, Monica Nealis

Honors Theses

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, “of the 281 million people aged 5 and over in the United States, 55.4 million people (20 percent of this population) speak a language other than English at home” (Center for Applied Linguistics). As this number of English language learners, also known as ELLs, continues to grow, families and educators alike are looking for effective programs and instructional strategies to serve these children and adults (CAL). “Dual-language education” is an umbrella term used for an additive form of education in which students are taught literacy and other content (reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social …

The Relevance Of Fraternity New Member Education Programs, Christopher Miller

Honors Theses

College can be a difficult time of transition for young men, and done properly a fraternity can provide a strong tool for initial and continued success. My thesis will center on a curriculum I developed for the new members of my fraternity, the Michigan Beta chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp). Under the auspices of SigEp’s nationally implemented Balanced Man Program, my program is aimed to help new members of college and SigEp understand collegiate life, fraternity, and how living a life centered around the principles of SigEp can help ensure success in college and in life after college. The …

¡Vamos: Es Hora De Conocer España! Unit Plan For The Life And Culture Of Spain, Katheryn Cook

Honors Theses

This thesis, ¡Vamos: es hora de conocer España!, is a unit plan for a high school Spanish course focusing on the life and culture of Spain, with an intense focus on the languages of Spain other than Spanish. The cultures of the regions where these languages are found in Spain are rich with history and are quite individual and unique. The goal of this unit was to create a connection between language and culture for new language learners. When someone has a story and a context behind what they are learning, they will have a connection to the material …

Core Aspects Of Curriculum Development: A Literature Review And Development Of Program Handbook For Health Informatics And Information Management, Nicole Yon

Honors Theses

TIle purpose of this review was to determine the basic principles of curriculum design and to understand how they are used to develop a competent curriculum handbook. The findings were used to develop a handbook for the Health Informatics and Information Management major at Western Michigan University. This literature review focuses on a variety of web pages, articles and books that analyzed the topics of curriculum design and curriculum handbook development. A review of the Bronson School of Nursing Handbook and the Temple University - Health Information Management Department B.S. in Health Information Management (HiM) Student Handbook was also conducted. …

Investigating Adolescent Bullying Programs: Bridging The Gap Between Theory And Practice, Amanda Waligora

Honors Theses

Recently, substantial research has been conducted towards the widespread concern of adolescent bullying. Definitions and qualifications of bullying incidents have changed as studies and factors relating to bullying have evolved. Extensive amounts of resources can be found and made available for schools, parents, and adolescents in relation to bullying, but the question stands if these theories and resources are being used in the schools, and if so, how. This study focuses to examine current bullying program implementations within school districts of the Southwest Michigan area. Qualitative analyses on interpretive interviews were conducted to determine what school districts are actually doing …

A Qualtitative Comparison Examining How The Educational Needs Of Students With Disabilities Are Met In West Africa Vs. The United States, Katherine Sniegowski

Honors Theses

The focus of this qualitative study was to examine the differences in services for students with disabilities In United States vs Dakar, Senegal.The strengths, weaknesses, and presenting needs of each system were addressed . The research questions addressed were: How is a disability defined?, (2) What support services are available for children with disabilities?, (3) What is the level of family support for children with disabilities?, Ind (4) How are teachers prepared 10 work with children with disabilities? The qualitative methodology used to examine the research questions include: personal interviews with school personnel in a self-contained school for children with …