Education Commons^™

English Language Learners In The General Education Classroom, Jolie Crane

Honors Theses

English Language Learners are often thrown into the mix of education without much support. This work takes a look into the different ways that general education teachers can support these students while maintaining a regular classroom function.

Censorship In Schools: Reading's Position In The Landscape Of Policy Creation, Rachel Beckham

Honors Theses

Censorship is not new to current issues. It has affected authors and speakers for centuries, but it is especially prevalent today, especially in schools. Teachers and librarians are often challenged for the materials they choose to provide to students. Concerned parents object to the materials for containing sexual content, profanity, or LGBTQ+ characters or themes. This study aims to answer the question, “What role, if any, do books containing controversial topics serve in the literature classrooms of today’s students?” To answer this question, the author of this study conducted a literary analysis on the top three most banned books of …

A View Into Secondary Education Mathematics, Thomas Krieger Jr.

Honors Theses

Teaching methods, and the effects they can have on students, are important to consider for a classroom because when teaching you should allow for every student to have an opportunity. Every student should feel encouraged in the classroom, however not every method may allow for that. An important task for a teacher is to find out how to reach their students in their classroom; be it adapting methods or choosing when to implement one item over another. This task differs with every student that enters the classroom as no student is the same. Every students’ differences stem from their academic …

Holistic Education: How And Why, Amanda Krebs

Honors Theses

Since standardized testing began in the early 2000s, teachers and administrators began to focus on grades and numbers due to pressure placed by these measures. Students are not numbers and therefore are not getting a holistic education that develops their whole being, only their academics. How do we incorporate methods into the classroom to develop the whole child, not just academics, and why is this important?

The most common way in the present day is through socio-emotional learning platforms or curriculums. These may be stand alone lessons or techniques on incorporation into lessons and school culture in general. Normally, whole …

Indirectly And Directly Involved Students' Perspectives On Multi-Modal Communication Treatment In Persons With Aphasia, Emily Lewis

Honors Theses

Our study investigated the perspectives of students who were either directly or indirectly involved in the Multi-modal communication treatment (MCT) sessions for persons with aphasia. Two undergraduate and two graduate students were recruited from the University of Mississippi who participated in the MCT sessions. We collected their perspectives through semi-structured interviews and used thematic qualitative analysis to analyze our data. We reported themes from the indirectly involved students and the directly involved students and compared how the themes were similar and different between the indirectly and directly involved students. We discussed that both direct and indirect experience for clinical therapy …

Challenging The Canon; Teaching The Literary Canon In The High School Classroom, Abigail Baumgartner

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Table Stakes In The War For Talent: Examining The Role Of Educational Assistance Programs Among The Fortune 1000, Noah Hubbard

Honors Theses

This study gathered stakeholder viewpoints regarding the role of educational assistance programs among the Fortune 1000 companies during the war for talent. Thirteen semi-structured interviews revealed themes that addressed four guiding research questions. After analyzing the results of the interviews and reading relevant literature, I created recommendations for each of the questions. From the first guiding research question (How do educational assistance programs help attract and retain employees and differentiate companies from one another?), recommendations include: offer a broad range of programs from G.E.D. to master’s degrees, utilize tuition assistance models to improve access to educational assistance programs, and allow …

“Kids Are 100% Behind”: The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Elementary And Secondary School Students In Massachusetts, Sydney Rosensweig

Honors Theses

For two years now, the Covid-19 pandemic has continuously impacted all aspects of our society, including K-12 education. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is thought to be very harmful and have long-term consequences. Understanding this impact is very important, which is why this study focuses on how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted K-12 education, specifically how it has impacted academics and behavior while attempting to understand which groups were most impacted. This problem was approached in three different ways. Z-score changes were used to determine the changes by subgroup in the percentage of students failing to meet expectations and …

Low Academic Outcomes: A Result Of Food Insecurity And Student Mental Health During Covid19, Kristen Riley Cole

Honors Theses

Food insecurity has significantly increased throughout the United States as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many schools switched to remote learning and children lost access to free school meals, affecting them psychologically and academically. This study examined the relationship between food insecurity and low academic outcomes, accounting for student mental health, such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD, as well as parental involvement as a possible protective factor against mental health. The current study administered a survey through Amazon’s MTurk to reach a diverse group of participants across the United States. Data analysis from the study can conclude that food …

Student Attitudes Towards English Grammar, Evalyn H. Bassett

Honors Theses

The literature on English grammar is mostly on its history, standardization, educational implementations, how ideologies shape its frequency of usage, and how it is perceived by students learning English as a second language. This study seeks to address a gap in the literature that reviews the attitudes of college students towards English grammar as their first language and how these attitudes correlate with any past experience with English grammar up to this point. To gain a better understanding of student’s attitudes towards English grammar, an online mixed-methods survey was distributed to graduate and undergraduate students in all departments of the …

Teacher Work Sample: Telling Time, Courtney R. Hallam

Honors Theses

Three local elementary students were identified as performing below grade-level and receiving special education services, using direct instruction with a scripted program. The students cannot tell time using classroom clocks. The teacher created a five-day unit to teach telling time to the nearest hour and half-hour. Lesson plans were created and implemented using evidence-based practices (EBPs), including explicit instruction, modeling, and response cards. Students were able to successfully complete formative and summative assessments with scores indicating mastery. Implications and suggestions for future teaching are presented.

An Exploration Of Physical Education Teachers’ Perceptions Of And Experiences With Body Image, Natallie Noel

Honors Theses

Adolescents experience a broad range of physical and emotional changes and begin looking to peers and social media to determine what their bodies should look like through the lens of society. This process of adolescents beginning to visualize themselves is known as body image. These include physical competence, motivation, self-esteem, and confidence through the way the teachers interact with students, develop positive learning spaces, and develop and implement intentional instruction and programs, thus, providing a space where adolescents begin to develop a healthy perception of their own body (Kerner et al., 2017). However, the breadth of literature on body image, …

Video Modeling Vs. Video Prompting With Task Analysis: Which One Do Students With Id Respond Better To?, Patricia Still

Honors Theses

Video modeling and video prompting have been used throughout the history of education. Video modeling is used to demonstrate the target skill to the student and have the student model the skill. Video prompting is used to show the student a certain portion of the target skill and have them perform the target skill after all video prompts are viewed. Students with an intellectual disability have shown progress when educators have used either method. Within the current research for the comparison for video modeling and video prompting, there has been only one study utilizing a task analysis. This research study …

Increasing The Student Activity Fee, Alexandria Bea Mabry

Honors Theses

The Student Activity Fee is a five-dollar fee paid by every graduate and undergraduate student at the University of Mississippi through their university tuition. The purpose of the Student Activity Fee is to support any efforts and passions of student organizations to allow them the financial freedom to host intentional programming for students or provide items needed for the function and success of that organization. The Student Activity Fee Fund was estimated to be depleted by Fall 2023. Therefore, in order to protect the Fund, a Student Activity Fee increase to two-dollars per credit hour was proposed to the student …

Self-Efficacy Development In Elementary-Aged Learners Through Dance As An Algorithmic Thinking Tool, Niva Shrestha

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the effectiveness of a transdisciplinary approach in teaching computational thinking through dance to elementary-aged learners, with primary attention to females. With limited literature available on how pre-adolescents begin to construct conceptions of computer science and other engineering domains, including potential career pathways, the incentive of this project was to leverage a day camp for about 20 rising 3rd - 5th-grade learners to assess their identity development in computer science. Modules that teach computational thinking through dance paired with Unruly splats (block-based programmable electronic gadgets) were implemented. By conducting pre-and post-surveys and a …

Two Marching Band Directors’ Insights About Their Bands’ Musical Achievement And Satisfaction In The American Deep South: A Qualitative Analysis, John Klee

Honors Theses

High School marching band is an intricate facet of music education that operates in several varieties across the United States. Depending on the style as well as many external and internal factors of a marching band, marching bands can have goals and definitions of musical achievement that can vary drastically. This qualitative study aims to assist those in the world of marching music education to better understand these distinct types of marching bands on a deeper level. The study gathered detailed perspectives of two directors in juxtaposed marching programs to a view of what drives these bands and directors to …

Creating A Classroom Culture, Molly Cahill

Honors Theses

Throughout my academic and creative life I have been in many different kinds of classrooms each possessing different values and practices. The art classroom for me was a place of exploration and play, arguably its chief and most important purpose. My thesis seeks to explore how art teachers can foster a creative classroom culture in which students are pursuing some form of expression and how art educators can engage with their students on an equal level and create together. I will also explore how the teacher as a practicing artist can further support and supplement this classroom culture. My thesis …

Community Schools: Effectiveness Of Addressing Barriers To Education In Suburban Communities, Tiffany Patterson

Honors Theses

Over the years, the once thought of as stable suburban community has seen a significant increase in poverty and homelessness which has impacted students in similar ways as it has students in urban area schools and has resulted in the implementation of community school programs. According to Pew Research Center in 2020, there were 37.2 million people living in poverty, 16.2 million live in the suburbs, 15.1 million reside in urban communities – and collectively 11.6 million are minors. Community school programs have grown in popularity as an intervention in urban communities to address challenges that students have encountered which …

Junior Year Gpa - Understanding Its Predictive Relationship To High School Ranking, Act Score, And The Shift To Online Learning, Emily Nicole Miller

Honors Theses

Considerable amounts of resources are allocated to assist and retain students during their first and second years in college, and many universities provide extra support to students as they prepare to graduate and start their professional careers; however, resources are not often specially aimed at third year students (i.e., students in their junior year). The primary goals of this study were to contribute to the body of literature and gain a better understanding of the relationships between students’ ACT scores, their Tennessee High School Quality ranking scores, and their cumulative GPA at the end of their junior year. This research …

Analysis Of Test Anxiety In Human Anatomy And Physiology I Students At The University Of Mississippi, Anne Piazza

Honors Theses

Student anxiety, specifically test anxiety, is common hindrance to student performance in various courses including Human Anatomy and Physiology at the University of Mississippi. Through a sequence of three surveys we collected demographic information, anxiety data related to the course, and test anxiety in general We researched factors that could potentially influence student anxiety such as at what point in the semester the student is evaluated, when students feel the most stressed, outcomes on previous evaluations, and perceived outcomes of the course. We also examined what effect the anxiety has on the student such as lowered performance, lowered test scores, …

Computer Adaptive Instruction And Assessment: The Story Of Prescriptive Curriculum In One Rural Mississippi School, Mary Simpson Stone

Honors Theses

The aim of this study was to discover the impact iReady, a computerized instruction and assessment software, and Ready, the software’s printed counterpart, have had on English/Language Arts teachers at School D (pseudonym). School D is part of the Achieving Success School District (pseudonym) which is located in Town X (pseudonym) in rural Mississippi. This study uses a mixed methods approach to understand teachers’ perceptions of iReady software and Ready curriculum in general as well as teachers’ perceptions of how the implementation of the program affected themselves and their students. The findings and implications recorded in this study are a …

“A Short History Of An Overlooked Genre: How And Why Horror Can Be An Effective Tool In A Classroom And For Creating Social Change”, Hunter King

Honors Theses

Horror as a genre tends to be overlooked by the public eye, especially when it comes to critical analysis and its value as literature or educational film. As a future English teacher, I have made it a mission to promote literacy, and horror has been a tool that has encouraged me to read, so I figured there must be some connection between the genre and the promotion of literacy. The thesis in whole is able to address why the horror genre tends to spark more interest in readers than other genres, highlighting that the genre is built to unite readers …

Learning Local Languages As A Means Of Preserving Culture: An Analysis Of The Federal Education Laws’ Treatment Of Regional Languages In The Basque Country And Colombia, Olivia Jaramillo

Honors Theses

Regional languages are essential components of vibrantly diverse cultures. Across all regions of the globalizing modern world, regional languages remain one of the clearest markers of the rich heritage and history that each continent, country, state, city, town uniquely possesses. Unlike the more dominant languages of our evolving international landscape, local and regional languages explicitly capture precise cultural experiences of limited populations. These languages carry specific nuance, meaning, grammar, and vocabulary obscured by other forms of communication. This project, researching and analyzing two individual countries’ regional language education under the federal legal systems, holds the importance of safeguarding local languages …

The Positive Effects Of Study Abroad On Education, Brooke Semler

Honors Theses

Education, especially at the collegiate level, can be influenced in many ways. Traveling, especially in the form of study abroad allows individuals to experience different cultures firsthand and broaden their perspectives of the world. Study abroad and education have a very strong correlation. When examining all students that attended Western Michigan University from Summer of 2011 to the 2017-2018 school year, students who studied abroad have higher educational success than students who don’t. Most students who completed study abroad show a higher GPA after completing their study abroad course. Furthermore, students who studied abroad have a higher graduation rate than …

Teaching Kids About Media And Digital Literacy, Lauren Schuster

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Empower! A Poetry Curriculum For The 21st Century Learner, Misty Maina

Honors Theses

By providing today’s high school students with a multimodal curriculum centered around critical inquiry, worldview, personal relevance, and by providing students will many opportunities to respond to these principles with their own writings, students will be empowered to engage with their learning and the world in meaningful and intentional ways. Empower! poetry curriculum is designed to help students ask questions about themselves, their immediate surroundings and influences, and about the world around them. Students will be encouraged to take the time and energy for deeper thinking and reflection as they engage with the activities of Empower! While there will be …

Teaching Language Variation In K-12 Schools, Samantha Phillips

Honors Theses

The language used in most classrooms throughout the United States is standard American English (SAE). Although this language is difficult to define, it is often perceived as the correct or proper usage of the English language. Students grow up learning that there is one correct way to speak and write, and consequently, they learn that any variation from this standard must be incorrect or improper. Student speakers of stigmatized variations of English face academic, social, and personal consequences such as poor academic performance, isolation from peers, and assimilation. The ideology that promotes SAE as correct also ignores the connection between …

Teaching Music In The Age Of Zoom: How To Run A Multimedia Piano Studio, Anna Grace Leicht

Honors Theses

This work explores the effects of Covid-19 on teaching and details how to set up and market an online piano studio.

A Research Study On The Effects Of Differentiated Instruction, Tiered Instruction, And Tracking On First Grade And Second Grade Students Who Perform Lower In Academic Subjects Compared To Their Classmates, Britni Sanchez

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Poverty On The Quality Of Education Received By Louisiana Students, Madison Brzezinski

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.