Education Commons^™

Insights Into The Processes And Practices Novice Professors Use To Continually Develop Their Pedagogical Skills, Kerri Pilling Burchill

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative case study explored the processes and practices three novice professors used to develop their pedagogical skills after attending formal professional development activities or programs. Data for the study included transcriptions of two interviews, pedagogical artifacts, and field notes of classroom observations. The data set was analyzed using a combination of systematic coding, thematic analysis, and the development of grounded theory. The study found that participants instinctively developed their pedagogical skills by engaging in a learning cycle that involved preparing to teach, teaching, reflecting on their teaching experiences, developing new pedagogical strategies that enhanced their instructional practice, and implementing …

We The People: A Simulation For Young Voters, Jessee Hankins

Honors Projects

This project discusses the evolution of my project from its inception through its completion. As a pre-service teacher in student teaching, my experiences directly influenced the development of this project. The project is one that discusses the use of simulations in a social studies classroom, and includes a lesson plan of the lesson that I used within my student teaching experience. The lesson plan also comes with materials that teachers may take advantage of the lesson plan, using it in their classroom to teach their students about the compromises that were created at the Constitutional Convention.

How Arizona Community College Teachers Go About Learning To Teach, Carolyn J. Hamblin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

New Arizona community college teachers go through a transformative learning process when they learn to teach. They enter the classroom with preformed ways of thinking about teaching. These habits of mind include what they imagine a community college teacher to be. They expect their knowledge and expertise to translate into teaching ability and they are shocked to learn that this is not the case. Classroom teaching involves basic pedagogical skills such as preventing cheating, creating appropriate tests, planning a course calendar, and pacing a lecture. The discomfort that accompanies this revelation causes the teachers to think critically about what good …

Effect Of Sleep On Vigilance, Short-Term Memory, And Learning In College Students, Ayesha Uddin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite years of research supporting a link between sleep and cognitive functioning, little research has focused on the effect of sleep on cognitive factors in the college population. According to the trace reactivation hypothesis, sleep plays a crucial role in memory consolidation and learning. Cognitivism further indicates that the processing of information is limited when sleep is restricted. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effect of sleep on vigilance, short-term memory, and learning; an additional goal was to test whether these variables influence grade point average (GPA). Sleep and GPA data were collected using self-report questionnaires. …

College Leve Inqury Learning's Influence On Later Science Thinking Behavior, Eric Gordon Chesloff

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Society needs scientists who can collaborate to become keener analysts so that they might better inform citizens. College students who are well educated in science are likely to become better analysts. The purpose of this grounded theory constructivist-oriented study was to illuminate the influence of undergraduate freshman inquiry learning on thinking skills in science courses during the senior college year. The conceptual framework involved the 3 components of the cognitive learning cycle: exploration, concept invention, and application. Research questions concerned college seniors' perceptions of their freshman process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) experience in general chemistry and its influence on their …

Teachers' Self-Directed Informal Learning For Technology Integration In 1:1 Device High Schools, Mary Moen

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Public schools are implementing 1:1 computing programs in the hopes of

transforming education to provide students with the digital literacy competencies that

will enable them to be successful in our technology driven world. Continuous

professional learning is critical in helping teachers develop the knowledge and skills

for effective educational technology integration. Research has found however, that

formal professional development, commonly implemented as one-time workshops

with outside facilitators, are ineffective due to the multi-dimensional nature of

technology integration. Teacher continuous professional learning outside of the formal

context needs be considered. This survey study explored the self-directed informal

online and offline learning …