Education Commons^™

Closing The Gap Between College Students: An Intergroup Dialogue Program To Reach Understanding And Reduction Of Disparities, Lilly Zhou

Honors Theses

The goals of the intergroup dialogue program are exploration and collective action. The goal of exploration is to spread awareness by presenting the situation. Several students are not aware that disparities between students exist, so this dialogue provided awareness of the issue. With increased understanding of each other, collective action can be taken. Actions by a small number of students are still steps taken to reduce the gap between the financially supported and not financially supported students. Action can look like spreading awareness of the issue, advocating for policy changes, and more.

The structure of the intergroup dialogue program required …

Test Optional Admissions: Pre And Post Enrollment, Mackenzie M. Turner

Honors Theses

This phenomenological qualitative study explores students’ experiences navigating test-optional admissions when applying to post-secondary education. This thesis examines how test-optional admissions influence students' admissions decisions. The recent policy changes in college admissions practices raise questions about student experiences when making decisions when regarding test-optional admissions. First, this study explores the factors that go into a student’s decision on whether to submit test scores in their college application. Second, this thesis investigates college admission administrators’ perspectives on test-optional policies at their respective universities. Third, this study analyzes where the views of college admissions and student applicants are dissimilar. One important insight …

Seventh Grade Book Club Unit, Emily Donnell

Honors Theses

The purpose of this book club unit is to teach students the valuable lessons they need to learn about adversity and emotions while still preparing them for the assessments that are required by school districts. This unit is centered around “Drums Girls and Dangerous Pie” and “Wonder”. These books are part of the required curriculum for on-level 7th graders within Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) in Lincoln, NE. Open discussions and collaboration are the two main ways that students will come to understandings within this unit.

An Analysis Of The Effects Of Covid-19 On Students At The University Of Mississippi: Family, Careers, Mental Health, Hannah Newbold

Honors Theses

This study analyzes the effects of COVID-19 on students at the University of Mississippi. For students, COVID-19 changed the landscape of education, with classes and jobs going online. Students who graduated in May 2020 entered a poor job market and many ended up going to graduate school instead of finding a job. Access to medical and professional help was limited at the very beginning, with offices not taking patients or moving appointments to virtual only. This would require that each student needing help had to have access to quality internet service, which wasn’t always guaranteed, thus producing additional challenges.

These …

The Effects Of Fictional Literature On Real-World Perceptions Of Students, Dylan Dowty

Honors Theses

The ways in which fiction affect the perceptions of high school students’ realities are many, and they vary widely depending on the book read. While lessons can be learned from every fictional book, certain types of books are more beneficial and relevant for students. Young adult literature, while often overlooked, is a significant source of students’ perspective shifts and metacognition. Every book has a lesson that it can teach students, but contemporary young adult literature deserves to be taught in schools alongside the classics in order for students to make personal connections with the texts they read and take an …

Secondary Mathematics Teachers' And Students' Approaches To Engagement And Motivation For Mathematics Learning In The Classroom, Leenah Bouzid

Honors Theses

Engagement and motivation in a mathematics classroom is an issue that educators and researchers continually examine and analyze to understand and develop ways to maintain or increase. The main goal of this thesis research project is to gain insight and understand what engagement and motivation means in a mathematics classroom by examining secondary mathematics teachers and students. The literature from researchers and educators describe components that contribute to engagement and motivation such as mathematical disposition, which is the attitudes and beliefs towards the subject and learning the subject, self-efficacy, which is about the student’s belief in one’s own capabilities, intrinsic …

Mindset Matters: Using Research-Based Strategies To Enhance Middle-School Math Instruction, Catherine Harvey

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Making It: The Role Of School-Based Intervention In Shaping Educational Aspirations Expectations And Achievement Among High School Students, Maeve Williams

Honors Theses

In an age when higher education has become increasingly channeled as a means of gaining access to an information-driven economy, it is important to note who does and does not enroll in postsecondary courses. The American ‘achievement’ ideology touts education as an opportunity equalizer, and attributes lack of achievement in this system to individual failing. An extensive body of literature, however, points to systemic barriers which create a gap in achievement, primarily along the social fault lines of early development and family characteristics, peers and community, school environment and locational setting, and the demographic factors of race, socioeconomic class and …

A Microcosm Of The American Public Education Crisis Surrounding Race And Income, Janey Fine

Honors Theses

This thesis studies the effects that race and socio-economic status have on a student’s academic achievement in the American public education system. It compares the experiences of students from Schenectady, New York, a low-income, minority-populated small city, and neighboring Niskayuna, a predominately white, affluent community, by looking at graduation rates, school budgets and resources, teacher salaries, household income, and rates of poverty. Despite the annual budgets and student expenditures being similar amongst the two districts, the rates of poverty and racial disparities are dramatic. Therefore, this research exposes how there are countless variables outside of the school itself that impact …

Chinese Students' Experience At United College: Dialogue Between Executives And Chinese Students, Alicia Palmer

Honors Theses

More and more Chinese students come to the United States to study. They come to the United States for college because education in American universities counts as one of the best education in the world. Some Chinese families pay a lot for their children's best education. In addition, American universities have major funding problems because the subsidies of the U.S. government decrease rapidly. Students often can not accept the United States scholarship, so have to pay all the tuition. However, it seems that students from the east have more psychological problems than those from western countries. One reason is that …

The Effects Of Music On Foreign Language Retention In Elementary Schools, Hayley M. Collins

Honors Theses

There are a variety of different strategies educators have to choose from when deciding to teach a foreign language in their elementary school classroom. Although this is so, there are still educators who choose to rely on the traditional method of rote memorization. Interactive play allows the students to be hands-on when learning foreign language vocabulary rather than simply memorizing it. Music is also incorporated into interactive play to see its effects on retaining the knowledge students are learning. Both of these, music and interactive play, were used in this study to prove that the combination of the two is …

South Mississippi High School Seniors’ Perceptions Of Civic Duties And Responsibilities, Chelsea L. Lewis

Honors Theses

Former United States Representative Lee Hamilton once explained what it takes to be a citizen of the United Stated. He stated, “Citizenship requires both knowledge about government and the ability to be involved in governance. It means knowing how to identify and inform oneself about issues, explore and evaluate possible solutions, and then act to resolve problems. It demands that you know how to interact respectfully with others. And it asks that you accept responsibility for meeting your community’s and the nation’s challenges.” (Hamilton, 1) This quote comes from a well-known civics program used in American high schools today called …

In Pursuit Of Cultural Immersion: An Anthropological Look Into American Students' Study Abroad Experience, Jessica Sarrantonio

Honors Theses

American students are now more than ever being encouraged to study abroad. Study abroad has been praised for increasing students’ cultural sensitivity, and promoting personal, professional, and intellectual development. In the spring of 2011, I personally had the chance to participant in, analyze, and reflect upon what the American students’ study abroad experience is all about. After three months during the summer in India, as a participant observer in a language intensive program, and three months during the fall in Australia, as a participant observer in Union College’s Partners in Global Education, I have a unique personal and cultural understanding …