Education Commons^™

What We’Ve Got Here Is A Failure To Communicate: A Postmodern Analysis Of Representations Of Higher Education In Cinema, Carlos E. Gonzalez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to explore representations of higher education in film. In order to achieve that objective this study consisted of a narrative analysis of the themes that emerged in films regarding higher education. This study focused on films from the 1950s to the present. The narratives that emerged from the analysis of the films were compared and contrasted to the scholarly literature regarding higher education. The analysis of the films also included juxtaposing the film narratives to the work of postmodern theorists such as Michel Foucault in order to inform the claims made by the …

Writers' Club: The Effect Of Extra Writing On Fourth-Grade, Hispanic Students' Writing, And Their Attitude Towards Writing, Helen F A Barnes

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nationally, as well as at state and local level, 75% of students in Grades 4, 8 and 12 have been determined to be writing at the basic or below basic level. In 2012, the standards were made more stringent for the incorporation of details and adherence to customary English conventions. After that, students’ writing scores plummeted. Hispanic students scored more poorly than their White counterparts. Earlier studies indicated that students’ attitude towards writing becomes less positive as they progress through the grades. The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of extra writing on 60 fourth-grade, Hispanic students’ …

Crisis Leadership: The Roles University Presidents And Crisis Managers Play In Higher Education - A Case Study Of The State University System Of Florida, Brenezza D. Garcia

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Universities have had a tumultuous history in terms of crises. Though crises have always existed, its definition and emphasis in the landscape of higher education has dramatically changed in the last 50 years. For this reason, the study and implementation of crisis management systems have become a growing phenomenon on campuses around the nation. However, as the types of crises institutions face diversifies, communities’ emphasis on leadership accountability has also become more magnified. The role of the president, thus, has become increasingly relevant and critical to the conversation concerning campus security and safety.

The purpose of this study was to …

Measuring Teacher Dispositions Toward Teaching Sustainable Systems: A Mixed Methods Approach For Instrument Development And Psychometric Testing, Jennifer Morales

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sustainability concerns have become prevalent in environmental, societal, and economic systems. To address education towards sustainability the need for explicit instruction in sustainable systems is apparent; however, it is underrepresented in American schools. Despite the emergence of sustainability topics in the literature, few have addressed teacher dispositions about providing this needed instruction and none have reported quantitative measures with acceptable estimates of reliability and validity.Dispositions are defined as the tendency to act in a particular manner that aligns with an individual’s belief which can develop and change over time, and are influenced by the experiences and circumstances faced by the …

Mathematics Teaching Experiences Of Elementary Preservice Teachers With High And Low Mathematics Anxiety During Student Teaching: A Multiple Case Study, Leslie Nisbet

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the teaching experiences of six elementary preservice teachers (EPTs), three with high mathematics anxiety and three with low mathematics anxiety, during their student teaching semester. The EPTs were selected from an initial pool of 121 EPTs who took the Abbreviated Mathematics Anxiety Scale. The cases were compared in a cross case analysis to highlight mathematics teaching experiences among EPTs. Data sources included EPT and researcher journal entries, interview transcripts, pre-lesson surveys, field notes, lesson plans, and artifacts of observed lessons. Data were coded using Shulman’s content knowledge, Graeber’s mathematics pedagogical content knowledge, and mathematics anxiety characteristics.

Findings …

Higher Education In And For Rural Bolivia: Key Stakeholders' Perceptions Of The Educational Experiences Of Students Who Have Attended Unidad Académica Campesina Carmen Pampa., Claudio R. Merisio

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Unidad Académica Campesina-Carmen Pampa (UAC-CP) is an institution of higher education located in the rural community of Carmen Pampa, in the Nor Yungas region of Bolivia. As articulated in its mission, the goal of UAC-CP is to prepare young Bolivians to serve their community as professionals with a commitment to bettering the lot of the poorest among them. This research attempted to answer a main question: What are the perceptions of key UAC-CP stakeholders of how the college prepares seniors and alumni to serve their communities as professionals? The sub-question was: What professional endeavors have seniors and alumni pursued upon …

The Hospitality Cooperative Education: What Are The Benefits For Industry Partners?, Ying Wang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cooperative education program was introduced into undergraduate hospitality degree program to help students be better prepared for their careers. A cooperative partnership between the industry and universities results in both sides receiving benefits. This study identifies the benefits industry partners receive from a cooperative education program. The implications of these benefits leads to the evaluation of hospitality cooperative education. From the results of the evaluation, recommendations are proposed for redesigning the cooperative education program.

L'Italiano A Miami: An Investigation Of The Current Status Of The Teaching And Learning Of The Italian Language In Miami And Of Students' Motivational Factors, Antonella La Tegola

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the current status of the study of Italian in Miami and particularly to identify the motivational factors behind student enrollment in local Italian programs. A qualitative study was carried out based on interviews with the local director of “Società Dante Alighieri” and four students studying Italian in two different settings. Gardner and Lambert’s (1959) concepts of instrumental and integrative motivation and the motivation components identified by Csizér and Dörnyei (2005) provided the conceptual framework for this study.

According to the information obtained from the five participants the study of Italian in Miami …

Developing A Physics Expert Identity In A Biophysics Research Group, Idaykis Rodriguez, Michelle Goertzen, Eric Brewe, Laird H. Kramer

Stem Transformation Institute

We investigate the development of expert identities through the use of the sociocultural perspective of learning as participating in a community of practice. An ethnographic case study of biophysics graduate students focuses on the experiences the students have in their research group meetings. The analysis illustrates how the communities of practice-based identity constructs of competencies characterize student expert membership. A microanalysis of speech, sound, tones, and gestures in video data characterize students’ social competencies in the physics community of practice. Results provide evidence that students at different stages of their individual projects have opportunities to develop social competencies such as …

An Extended Validation And Analysis Of The Early Childhood Educators' Knowledge Of Self-Regulation Skills Questionnaire: A Two Phase Study, Elizabeth Willis

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Early Childhood Educators’ Knowledge of Self-Regulation Skills Questionnaire (ECESRQ) was devised to measure current teacher knowledge and implementation of pedagogical tools that enhance self-regulatory skills in the early childhood classroom. The purpose of the first phase of this study was to conduct test validation on the ECESRQ. The purpose of the second phase of this study was to (a) assess if teacher knowledge of self-regulation skills predicted teachers’ attitudes and beliefs in the classroom, and if (b) the results from the ECESRQ predicted knowledge of instruction of self-regulation skills.

To address the first phase of the study an exploratory …

Linking Old Librarianship To New: Aligning 5-Steps Of The Innovator's Dna In Creating Thematic Discovery Systems For The Everglades, L. Bryan Cooper, Margarita Perez Martinez

Works of the FIU Libraries

This poster presentation from the May 2015 Florida Library Association Conference, along with the Everglades Explorer discovery portal at http://ee.fiu.edu, demonstrates how traditional bibliographic and curatorial principles can be applied to: 1) selection, cross-walking and aggregation of metadata linking end-users to wide-spread digital resources from multiple silos; 2) harvesting of select PDFs, HTML and media for web archiving and access; 3) selection of CMS domains, sub-domains and folders for targeted searching using an API.

Choosing content for this discovery portal is comparable to past scholarly practice of creating and publishing subject bibliographies, except metadata and data are housed in …

Comparison Of Linear Functions In Middle Grades Textbooks From Singapore And The United States, Linda D. Fowler

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many U.S. students do not perform well on mathematics assessments with respect to algebra topics such as linear functions, a building-block for other functions. Poor achievement of U.S. middle school students in this topic is a problem.

U.S. eighth graders have had average mathematics scores on international comparison tests such as Third International Mathematics Science Study, later known as Trends in Mathematics and Science Study, (TIMSS)-1995, -99, -03, while Singapore students have had highest average scores. U.S. eighth grade average mathematics scores improved on TIMMS-2007 and held steady onTIMMS-2011. Results from national assessments, PISA 2009 and 2012 and National Assessment …

Geographical Literacy, Attitudes, And Experiences Of Freshman Students: A Qualitative Study At Florida International University, Daniela F. Ottati

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to explore the geography literacy, attitudes and experiences of Florida International University (FIU) freshman students scoring at the low and high ends of a geography literacy survey. The Geography Literacy and ABC Models formed the conceptual framework. Participants were freshman students enrolled in the Finite Math course at FIU. Since it is assumed that students who perform poorly on geography assessments do not have an interest in the subject, testing and interviewing students allowed the researcher to explore the assumption.

In Phase I, participants completed the Geography Literacy Survey (GLS) with items taken from …

A Basic Interpretive Study Of The Experiences Of University Students Who Have Dropped Or Failed An Online Course, Natalie Paul

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Online courses have increased in enrollments over the past few decades. As the number of students taking online courses have increased, so has the number of students who have dropped or failed an online course. According to the literature, online courses may have higher drop rates than traditional, face-to-face courses. The number of students who fail an online course is, also, of concern. As online courses may continue to grow over the next few decades, studies on persistence in online courses may benefit students, administrators, instructional designers, educators, and researchers. Although previous research studies have addressed persistence in online courses, …

An Assessment Of The Performances Of Several Univariate Tests Of Normality, James Olusegun Adefisoye

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The importance of checking the normality assumption in most statistical procedures especially parametric tests cannot be over emphasized as the validity of the inferences drawn from such procedures usually depend on the validity of this assumption. Numerous methods have been proposed by different authors over the years, some popular and frequently used, others, not so much. This study addresses the performance of eighteen of the available tests for different sample sizes, significance levels, and for a number of symmetric and asymmetric distributions by conducting a Monte-Carlo simulation. The results showed that considerable power is not achieved for symmetric distributions when …

Foreign Language Education In Colombia: A Qualitative Study Of Escuela Nueva, Daniel A. Ramirez Lamus

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since 2004 the Colombian Ministry of Education has been implementing the Programa Nacional de Bilingüismo (PNB) with the goal of having bilingual high school graduates in English and Spanish by 2019. However, implementation of the PNB has been criticized by English Language Teaching (ELT) specialists in the country who say, among other things, that the PNB introduced a discourse associated exclusively with bilingualism in English and Spanish.

This study analyzed interviews with 15 participants of a public school of the Colombian Escuela Nueva, a successful model of community-based education that has begun a process of internationalization, regarding the participants’ perceptions …

English Language Learners: A Correlational Study Of The Relationship Between A Proficiency Level Assessment And End Of Course Test Scores At One Georgia High School, Jacqueline Caroline Ellis

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the language of one’s cultural environment is important for effective communication and function. As such, students entering U.S. schools from foreign countries are given access to English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs and they are referred to as English Language Learner (ELL) students. This dissertation examined the correlation of ELL ACCESS Composite Performance Level (CPL) score to the End of Course tests (EOCTs) and the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGTs) in the four content courses (language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies). A premise of this study was that English language proficiency is critical in meeting …

Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions Of Study Abroad And Their Level Of Achievement Of Global Learning Outcomes, Claudia Grigorescu

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study expanded on current research on study abroad and global learning, using the Global Perspective Inventory (GPI), and conducted at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, FL. The GPI assesses the holistic development of a global perspective in higher education within three domains and their respective FIU-determined equivalents: cognitive (global awareness), intrapersonal (global perspective), and interpersonal (global engagement). The main purpose of this study was to assess FIU’s undergraduate students’ perceptions of study abroad on their level of achievement of global awareness, global perspective, and global engagement. The secondary purpose was to determine how the students described their study …

Investigating The Effects Of Cognitive Apprenticeship-Based Instructional Coaching On Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs, Teo O.H. Cooper

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The overall purpose of this collected papers dissertation was to examine the utility of a cognitive apprenticeship-based instructional coaching (CAIC) model for improving the science teaching efficacy beliefs (STEB) of preservice and inservice elementary teachers. Many of these teachers perceive science as a difficult subject and feel inadequately prepared to teach it. However, teacher efficacy beliefs have been noted as the strongest indicator of teacher quality, the variable most highly correlated with student achievement outcomes. The literature is scarce on strong, evidence-based theoretical models for improving STEB.

This dissertation is comprised of two studies. STUDY #1 was a sequential …

Peer Leaders’ Perceptions Of Learning Experiences, Nataly Rodriguez, Alberto Cruz, Stephanie Sardinas, Aida Ramon

Undergraduate Research at FIU (URFIU) Conference

Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) at Florida International University maintains a large volume of student and Peer Leader (PL) participation. Students, who participate in PLTL, on average, perform a letter grade better than their peers who do not participate in PLTL. To analyze PL perspectives on learning, a survey was conducted. The survey had a series of Likert scale statements and free response questions on learning. The nature of the questions are regarding barriers in education, individual learning strengths and weaknesses, and the perception that PLTL improved the learner’s capabilities to overcome these obstacles. Based on the survey responses, PLs perceive …

Online Education, Accrediting Standards, And Student Success: An Examination Of The Relationship Between The Southern Association Of Colleges And Schools Commission On Colleges Standards For Online Education And Student Success, Michael Porter

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior to 2000, there were less than 1.6 million students enrolled in at least one online course. By fall 2010, student enrollment in online distance education showed a phenomenal 283% increase to 6.1 million. Two years later, this number had grown to 7.1 million. In light of this significant growth and skepticism about quality, there have been calls for greater oversight of this format of educational delivery. Accrediting bodies tasked with this oversight have developed guidelines and standards for online education.

There is a lack of empirical studies that examine the relationship between accrediting standards and student success. The purpose …

The Effect Of Mobile Technology As An Active Student Response System On The Acquisition Of U.S. History Content Of Secondary Students With Specific Learning Disabilities, Ruba Monem

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) typically learn less history content than their peers without disabilities and show fewer learning gains. Even when they are provided with the same instructional strategies, many students with SLD struggle to grasp complex historical concepts and content area vocabulary. Many strategies involving technology have been used in the past to enhance learning for students with SLD in history classrooms. However, very few studies have explored the effectiveness of emerging mobile technology in K-12 history classrooms.

This study investigated the effects of mobile devices (iPads) as an active student response (ASR) system on the acquisition …

The Effectiveness Of An Online Workshop On Behavior Management As A Professional Development Tool For Teachers, Aparajita B. Kuriyan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study examines the effects of an online workshop pertaining to classroom behavior management on teacher self-efficacy, attitudes, motivation, knowledge, and practices. In addition, information about teacher utilization of the Internet, their opinions about professional development, and experiences with classroom management were collected. Participants included 57 1^st through 5^th grade special and regular education teachers. Eligible teachers were those who teach an academic subject and had at least one child in the classroom they considered as disruptive. Teachers were randomized to either a training or waitlist group. Classroom observations of teacher practices and questionnaires were utilized. Teachers …

Assessing Current Instructional Practices In General Biology One (Bio1010) And Arguing For A Model-Centered Curriculum, Seth Manthey

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This collected papers dissertation focused on the argument for the need to adapt and develop a model-centered General Biology I course through the analyses of current instructional practices at a large, public, Hispanic-serving university. This dissertation included a comparison of General Biology I course sections taught in two differing formats, one is a traditional lecture with face-to-face meetings and the other is an online instruction setting. The comparison of these sections was accomplished through the use of a conceptual inventory, student attitude survey, drop-fail-withdraw (DFW) rates, and Social Network Analysis. This comparison found that there was no detectible significant difference …