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Full-Text Articles in Education

Comparing The Pedagogical Thinking Of More Successful And Less Successful Adult Esl Instructors Using Stimulated Recall, Jason Paul Roberts Aug 2010

Comparing The Pedagogical Thinking Of More Successful And Less Successful Adult Esl Instructors Using Stimulated Recall, Jason Paul Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

This paper reports a study that examined the pedagogical knowledge (knowledge and beliefs related to the act of teaching) of two more successful and two less successful adult ESL instructors during planning teaching and post teaching reflection. The verbal reports of their teaching were compared to previous studies (Gatbonton, 2000, 2008; Mullock, 2006) that used stimulated recall to categorize adult ESL instructors' pedagogical thoughts during their instruction. The comparison showed that the previous categories were inadequate to cover the data. Additional codes were added in order to codify all the data after which patterns and themes emerged that overarched the …


A Challenging And Rewarding Process: Implementing Critical Literacy Instruction In A Middle School Classroom, Amy Michelle Geilman Aug 2010

A Challenging And Rewarding Process: Implementing Critical Literacy Instruction In A Middle School Classroom, Amy Michelle Geilman

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study focuses on a teacher's experiences while implementing critical literacy instruction in a seventh grade language arts class. Throughout the unit, a tension between teacher control and student autonomy emerged in three areas: discussion (teacher-directed and student-directed), curriculum (teacher choices and student choices), and student text comprehension (surface and critical). Finding the balance between teacher control and student autonomy was difficult. When these two elements were not balanced, the classroom experience for everyone was mediocre. When they were balanced correctly the entire classroom community had positive experiences that advanced student learning. Critical literacy instruction, though difficult to …


Adolescent Literate Identity Online: Individuals And The Discourse Of A Class Wiki, Amanda J. Mccollum Aug 2010

Adolescent Literate Identity Online: Individuals And The Discourse Of A Class Wiki, Amanda J. Mccollum

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine students' representations of their literate identities in what Gee (2008) calls Discourse that developed among 105 high school students— 103 10th-grade and two 11th-grade students—using a wiki for class work, collaboration, and social interaction. The theoretical frame for the present study was drawn from of four bodies of literature. Through a reciprocal process of positioning self and others (van Langenhove & Harré, 1999), individuals come to form and display their literate identity (Heath, 1991) within a community of practice (Wenger, 1998). Their interactions reflect norms, values, and accepted ways of being within …


The Stories Of Three High School English Teachers Involved In A Collaborative Study Group, Marjoire Ralph Jul 2010

The Stories Of Three High School English Teachers Involved In A Collaborative Study Group, Marjoire Ralph

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to observe, participate in, and tell the story of teachers involved in a professional development experience. Professional development is an important tool to assist teachers in improving their teaching abilities. After a review of the literature on various forms of professional development and some personal experience with a variety of professional development activities, I created a collaborative study group (CSG) that included three teachers. Their work together was studied using a narrative approach to action research. The stories of these three teachers and their experiences with an informal professional development activity are …


The Nature Of Transfer From The Concepts And Vocabulary Taught In A Character Education Unit To Students Classroom Discourse, Marianne E. Gill Jul 2010

The Nature Of Transfer From The Concepts And Vocabulary Taught In A Character Education Unit To Students Classroom Discourse, Marianne E. Gill

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study was conducted to inform my teaching practices on character education. The purpose of this study was to better understand the nature of transfer from the concepts of character taught in lessons to students' classroom discourse. Data were systematically collected from student comments, class meetings, and student reflection journals during a 13-week character education unit. Their discourse was coded and analyzed for evidence of transfer through an iterative process that allowed for ongoing comparison of the data. Evidence of transfer was identified only once prior to the eleventh week of the study. However,during the eleventh week, evidence …


Understanding The Tensions That Exist Between Two Co-Teachers Education Classroom Using Positioning, Garth Gagnier Jul 2010

Understanding The Tensions That Exist Between Two Co-Teachers Education Classroom Using Positioning, Garth Gagnier

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the tensions that existed between my co-teaching partner and me while working together during the last four years. Additionally, I studied how my partner, the special educator, and I, the general educator, negotiated the tensions that came up during our collaboration. Using a narrative approach to share our stories about our teaching, I investigated how we worked together and contributed to our co-teaching relationship. I analyzed the stories and storylines that we shared using a theoretical lens called positioning. Positioning theory looks at how people interact with each other and the positions …


Identifying Social Studies Content Embedded Inelementary Basal Readers, Wendy Taylor Workman Jul 2010

Identifying Social Studies Content Embedded Inelementary Basal Readers, Wendy Taylor Workman

Theses and Dissertations

In the current educational climate of federally mandated assessments of student learning, the survival of the elementary social studies curriculum may depend on interdisciplinary instructional methods to link social studies to the accountability-favored discipline of literacy. The purpose of this content analysis study was to examine and identify social studies content embedded within a second grade and a fifth grade basal reader from the 2008 Houghton Mifflin Reading Series. Each of the basals were read and coded using the Utah State Office of Education Social Studies Standards indicators and the National Council for the Social Studies Standards as a priori …


Mathematics Vocabulary And English Learners: A Study Of Students' Mathematical Thinking, Hilary Hart Jul 2010

Mathematics Vocabulary And English Learners: A Study Of Students' Mathematical Thinking, Hilary Hart

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the mathematical thinking of English learners as they were taught mathematics vocabulary through research-based methods. Four English learners served as focus students. After administering a pre-performance assessment, I taught a 10-lesson unit on fractions. I taught mathematics vocabulary through the use of a mathematics word wall, think-pair-shares, graphic organizers, journal entries, and picture dictionaries. The four focus students were audio recorded to capture their spoken discourse. Student work was collected to capture written discourse. Over the course of the unit, the four focus students used the mathematics vocabulary words that were taught explicitly. The focus students gained …


Elements Of Professional Development That Influenced Change In Elementary Teachers' Writing Instruction, Jill Brown Shumway Jul 2010

Elements Of Professional Development That Influenced Change In Elementary Teachers' Writing Instruction, Jill Brown Shumway

Theses and Dissertations

Teacher quality has been identified as the most crucial factor in raising student achievement. In order for teachers—and consequently their students—to be successful, teachers must participate in life-long career development. For this reason, a great deal of time and resources are spent on professional development. However, professional development for teachers is not always effective. This study was aimed at identifying those elements that led to success in professional development conducted in one rural Utah school district. The study operated within the theoretical framework of Appreciative Inquiry, which consists of collecting evidence by interviewing successful participants to gather stories that reveal …


Narrating The Literate Identities Of Five Ninth Grade Boys On The School Landscape, Mary Frances Rice Jun 2010

Narrating The Literate Identities Of Five Ninth Grade Boys On The School Landscape, Mary Frances Rice

Theses and Dissertations

I conducted a narrative inquiry with five ninth grade boys in my English class that I identified as displaying multiple literacies. The classes I taught the boys in were two sections of honors ninth grade English. The boys came from a variety of backgrounds and lived in various neighborhoods in the approximately 20,0000-member community where we all live. The site of this research was the junior high school in Utah where the boys attend school and I had been employed for six years. After the research was collected, I conducted several negotiation sessions with the boys and their parents at …


The Nature Of Classroom Instruction And Physical Environments That Support Elementary Writing, Monica Thomas Billen Apr 2010

The Nature Of Classroom Instruction And Physical Environments That Support Elementary Writing, Monica Thomas Billen

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to document the nature of elementary writing instruction and classroom physical environments in eight Utah school districts. One hundred seventy-seven full-day observations were completed throughout a one-week period. Results indicated teachers included at least one of the following types of writing: writing workshop/writing process, non-process writing, and writing conventions and mechanics. Process writing time was dominated by instruction from the teacher. Other elements of the writing workshop were implemented, but in a fragmented way. Only five teachers combined aspects of the workshop simultaneously. Non-process writing activities were dominated by prompts and formulas that resulted …


Establishing Reliability Of Reading Comprehension Ratings Of Fifth-Grade Students' Oral Retellings, Laura Elizabeth Bernfeld Mar 2010

Establishing Reliability Of Reading Comprehension Ratings Of Fifth-Grade Students' Oral Retellings, Laura Elizabeth Bernfeld

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to rate the oral retellings of fifth-grade students to determine to what degree passages, raters, and rating occasions affect those ratings, and to identify what combination of those elements will produce reliable retelling ratings. Thirty-six fourth-grade students read and orally retold three contemporary realistic fiction passages. Two raters rated these retellings on two separate occasions using the Reader Retelling Rating Scale. These ratings were analyzed quantitatively using generalizability software. Two research questions were answered by the generalizability (G) and decision (D) studies. The G study answers the first question regarding the percentages of the …