Education Commons^™

Exploring The Impact Of Feedback On Learning Transfer In The Liminal Space For Information Literacy, Natalie Edwards Bishop

Education Dissertations and Projects

Mastering new knowledge is a transformative process, but what happens between initial confrontation with new knowledge and the moment it is mastered? This qualitative case study investigated perceptions on how feedback loops influenced student growth and learning transfer in the liminal space. Myer and Land (2005) described the liminal space as a stuck place where learners are wrestling with their conceptual understanding of knowledge that is troublesome.

Students were adult undergraduates in an online information literacy course. Librarians teaching the course were early adopters of ACRL’s The Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education (the Framework) and participated in on-site …

Program Evaluation Of The Leader In Me In A Rural Elementary School With Emphasis On Hispanic Students, John Shepard

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of The Leader in Me (TLIM) program and philosophy on a highly diverse, rural elementary school in North Carolina. TLIM is a program for school-wide transformation that seeks to teach all students 21st century leadership and life skills. TLIM is based on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Covey (1989) and is an integrated approach to teaching leadership development. The study took place at School X, which has over 440 students. School X is diverse: 46% of the students are Hispanic; 41% are White; and 13% are Asian, …

Filling The Reading Void: Studying Reading Stamina In A Suburban High School Through Action Research: A Companion Research Study, Lindsey Ruth Weycker

Education Dissertations and Projects

A common practice in elementary schools is to allow students silent reading time during school. Experts agree this is best practice due to the benefits to students, especially in vocabulary development and reading stamina. As students age, however, this practice tends to decline in favor of activities that are meant to teach vocabulary in isolation and test preparation skills. In addition to these activities, English language arts classes typically read and study novels together as a class for the purpose of studying literary devices and literary analysis. Because of these practices, secondary students tend to read less, which in turn …

A Study Of Staff Development And Teacher Efficacy In Implementing Standards-Based Grading At The Elementary Schools In A Rural School District In North Carolina, Brayton Alan Leonhardt

Education Dissertations and Projects

Standards-based grading is still in its infancy within North Carolina. At this time, only 12 of the 115 school districts have incorporated the standards-based form of grading into their system. As school districts across North Carolina look to implement different forms of grading to assess student learning, it will be important to look at the effectiveness of the professional development that accompanies the shift. The research questions that guided this work center around the support needed by teachers during the transition period and the impact of the professional development on their understanding of how to successfully implement standards-based grading. The …

A Study Of The Implementation Of A Middle School Math Program And Student Achievement, Carla Simmons White

Education Dissertations and Projects

Students who are entering the workplace are required to have middle or high school level skills. Graduates must develop skills in problem -solving and real-world mathematics. The purpose of this study was to determine (a) the extent to which teachers are using Carnegie Learning® for instructional planning, direct instruction, and assessment of students; (b) the extent to which there a statistically significant difference in spring MAP scores of students from spring 2016 to spring 2017 with teachers indicating they frequently use Carnegie Learning®; and (c) the impact of Carnegie Learning® on student achievement in Grades 6, 7, and 8. The …

Filling The Reading Void: Studying Reading Stamina In A Rural High School Through Action Research: A Companion Research Study, Meredith Eubanks Lynch

Education Dissertations and Projects

Experts agree best practice in elementary education allows students time for silent reading during school due to the benefits to students in vocabulary development and reading stamina. As students age, this practice typically declines in favor of activities meant to teach vocabulary, prepare for standardized tests, and study novels together as a class to explore and analyze literature, resulting in less reading and subsequently decreasing reading stamina.

Teachers at a high poverty South Carolina high school, recognizing reading stamina as an issue, implemented a protocol described by Penny Kittle (2013) in Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent …

Learning From Failure: An Action Research Case Study On Developing Growth Mindset Through Academic Risk-Taking In An Athletic Training Program, Sarah B. Rabe

Education Dissertations and Projects

The employment of academic risk-taking and growth mindset instructional practices in educational fields, though supported in literature, is limited and not commonly documented in the classroom. The purpose of this action research case study was to determine the impact of facilitation of growth mindset through modification of instructional practices in athletic training clinical courses at an Institution of Higher Learning. Constructive failure and growth mindset theories supported the mixed-methods research approach and the modification of instructional practices made during the study. Data were collected through growth mindset and academic risk-taking instruments and through semi-structured survey questions. The data analysis was …

Understanding Video Adoption: An Insider Action Researcher’S Case Study Using The Concerns-Based Adoption Model To Facilitate A Community Of Inquiry In Online Courses, Emily G. Robertson

Education Dissertations and Projects

This research explored how an insider change agent constructs a holistic understanding of a user’s adoption of video to facilitate the change adoption process and establish a community of inquiry in online courses. The case study was guided by tenets of change theory and constructivism emphasizing the personal and collaborative experience of the change adoption process. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) constructs of Stages of Concern (SoC), Levels of Use (LoU) and Innovation Configuration (IC), along with the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model elements of presence aligned with the theoretical frameworks and guided data collection and analysis.

Using five iterative …

Who Is Selected To Participate In Gifted And Talented Programs In A Small Southeastern School District?, Kancy Cleveland

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study describes a descriptive quantitative study and a binomial logistic regression model that looked at a total population versus academically gifted and talented population in Grades 3-6 in a small southeastern school district. Both populations were examined through the independent variables classified as age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic status was determined by if a student’s lunch was full pay, reduced pay, or free. The dependent variable was whether each student was identified as academically gifted and talented or not academically gifted and talented. Do the two different populations (total versus gifted) evenly or equally represent age, gender, and …

Does Teacher Immediacy Matter? The Relationship Among Teacher Immediacy, Student Motivation, Engagement, And Cognitive Learning, Jessica Rene Stilwell

Education Dissertations and Projects

According to the Academic Development Institute (Walberg, 2010), elementary and middle school students linger behind students from other economically advanced countries on achievement tests and fall further behind during the school years. With a need to improve classroom instruction and enhance cognitive learning for students, this study focuses on immediate communication behaviors of the classroom teacher, both verbal and nonverbal, and student academic motivation as factors in improving learning proficiency in both math and reading. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teacher immediacy behaviors and teacher/student rapport on student motivation, engagement, and academic growth.

The …

Why Do Girls Outperform Boys In School: A Qualitative Study Of Boy-Friendly Teaching, Teacher Efficacy And Practices, Renee Blair Clifford

Education Dissertations and Projects

This research study explored reasons why girls consistently outperform boys in the classroom, examining professional development teachers may have received, strategies teachers are implementing, and teacher’s self-efficacy in teaching boys. This was a qualitative study centered on the idea that boys do not perform as well in school as girls because teachers are not aware of learning differences or not designing instruction to address the unique learning needs of boys. This study took place at one South East elementary school.

Exploring A Rural School District’S Freshman Academy Program Through Parent And Staff Member Perspectives, Dustin Morehead

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study used a qualitative approach to explore a rural school district’s freshman academy program through parent and staff member perspectives using Stufflebeam’s (2003) CIPP model of program evaluation. Interviews and questionnaire data provided information to answer the following research questions.

1. Context: What is the context within which the freshman academy program was developed and implemented?

2. Input: What alternative resources are available to enhance the structure of the freshman academy program?

3. Process: How are the objectives of the freshman academy program aligned with improving student attendance, academic performance, and promotion?

4. Product: What are the perceptions of …

Program Changes For Gifted Students And The Impact On Collaborative Efficacy, Trevor J. Putnam

Education Dissertations and Projects

Research suggests that academically gifted students are often underserved when it comes to the school setting. Academically gifted students require specialized instruction to challenge them. Several successful strategies exist for creating an educational environment that appropriately challenges and helps these students achieve academic growth; however, these strategies are rarely employed due to a lack of accountability, supports, or these students’ ability to make passing scores on state assessments.

The school chosen for this study came out of analysis of state growth numbers for academically gifted students. Analysis revealed that while gifted students of this school were meeting proficiency standards on …

Filling The Reading Void: Studying Reading Stamina In A Rural High School Through Action Research: A Companion Research Study, Meredith Eubanks Lynch

Education Dissertations and Projects

Experts agree best practice in elementary education allows students time for silent reading during school due to the benefits to students in vocabulary development and reading stamina. As students age, this practice typically declines in favor of activities meant to teach vocabulary, prepare for standardized tests, and study novels together as a class to explore and analyze literature, resulting in less reading and subsequently decreasing reading stamina. -- Teachers at a high poverty South Carolina high school, recognizing reading stamina as an issue, implemented a protocol described by Penny Kittle (2013) in Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in …