Education Commons^™

The Road Taken That Has Made All The Difference: A Narrative Inquiry Of Student Engagement And Success In Butler Community College's Accelerated Learning Program In English, Troy Nordman

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate whether students who completed the accelerated learning program (ALP) in English at Butler Community College in fall 2016 perceived a three-part, structured approach to the course as having been a significant factor to their persistence and successful completion of the course. These perceptions were gathered during the spring 2017 semester through one-on-one, face-to-face interviews with 12 students from the fall 2016 cohort. Utilizing the conceptual framework of narrative inquiry proposed by Clandinin (2006) allowing the individual student narratives to weave a common, thematic context, this study examined the specific factors associated with …

The Influence Of Previous Subject Experience On Interactions During Peer Instruction In An Introductory Physics Course: A Mixed Methods Analysis, Judy A. Vondruska

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Over the past decade, peer instruction and the introduction of student response systems has provided a means of improving student engagement and achievement in large-lecture settings. While the nature of the student discourse occurring during peer instruction is less understood, existing studies have shown student ideas about the subject, extraneous cues, and confidence level appear to matter in the student-student discourse. Using a mixed methods research design, this study examined the influence of previous subject experience on peer instruction in an introductory, one-semester Survey of Physics course. Quantitative results indicated students in discussion pairs where both had previous subject experience …

Bonding Ideas About Inquiry: Exploring Knowledge And Practices Of Metacognition In Beginning Secondary Science Teachers, Ana Margarita Rivero Arias

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Metacognition, identified generally as “thinking about thinking,” plays a fundamental role in science education. It enhances the understanding of science as a way to generate new knowledge using scientific concepts and practices. Moreover, metacognition supports the development of students’ life-long problem solving, collaboration, and critical thinking skills. When teachers use metacognition with intention, it can promote students’ agency and responsibility for their own learning. However, despite all of its benefits, metacognition is rarely seen in secondary science classrooms. Thus, it is important to understand what beginning teachers know and how they use metacognition during their first years in order to …

Two Neglected Features Of Honors Advising, Jeffrey P. Hause

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Recent studies on advising show considerable agreement about the sorts of practices that constitute good advising, whether by a professional staff advisor, an official faculty advisor, or an unofficial faculty mentor. These practices include creating a welcoming atmosphere, building a trusting relationship, and helping the student find resources to envision a flourishing future and make concrete plans to achieve it (Gregory and Edwards; Bloom et al.; Cooperrider et al.). Two important features of advising, though, do not receive the focus they deserve. The first is the advisor’s practice of attention, an activity that forms the basis of a trusting relationship …

Effects Of Outdoor Orientation Program Participation On Honors Program Completion, Joanna Gonsalves

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Improving rates of honors program completion is a goal of virtually all honors directors and deans, and research can help identify and evaluate promising strategies. A number of recent empirical studies have investigated predictors of program completion, including students’ admission credentials and honors program features. Though specific indicators of honors program success vary across institutional contexts and even by student cohorts within programs, some patterns have emerged. For instance, high school grade point average (GPA) tends to be a better predictor of honors program success than SAT scores (McKay; Savage et al.; Smith & Vitus Zagurski). Other completion studies focusing …

Institutional Variability In Honors Admissions Standards, Program Support Structures, And Student Characteristics, Persistence, And Program Completion, Andrew J. Cognard-Black, Patricia J. Smith, April L. Dove

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In the autumn of 2014, the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) launched the Admissions, Retention, and Completion Survey (ARC) in an attempt to collect for the first time honors program benchmarking data on important admissions, persistence, and completion metrics, data that are already widely used throughout higher education generally. The ARC survey is part of NCHC’s ongoing effort to collect such data, which began in 2012 with the first iteration of what has come to be known as the NCHC Census, an omnibus survey asking a wide range of questions about honors administrative practices, curricular offerings, basic staffing, and the …

Moving From Forecast To Prediction: How Honors Programs Can Use Easily Accessible Predictive Analytics To Improve Enrollment Management, Joseph A. Cazier, Leslie Sargent Jones, Jennifer Mcgee, Mark Jacobs, Daniel Paprocki, Rachel A. Sledge

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Most enrollment management systems today use historical data to build rough forecasts of what percentage of students will likely accept an offer of enrollment based on historical acceptance rates. While this aggregate forecast method has its uses, we propose that building an enrollment model based on predicting an individual’s likelihood of matriculation can be much more beneficial to an honors director than a historical aggregate forecast. Many complex predictive analytics techniques and specialized software can build such models, but here we show that a basic approach can also be easily accessible to honors directors where a small amount of data …

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Fall/Winter 2017): Editorial Matter

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Cover

Masthead

Contents

Call for papers

Editorial policy / Submission guidelines

Dedication: Richard I. Scott

Editor's Introduction - Ada Long

About the Authors

About the NCHC Monograph Series

NCHC Monographs & Journals

NCHC Publications Order Form

Back cover: In this Issue

Stimulating The Diffusion Of Innovations In Honors Education: Three Factors, Inge Otto, Chris De Kruif

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

So far, few articles about innovations in Dutch or American honors programs appear to link their findings to an existing body of research about innovations in higher education in general. Although scholars are starting to make this connection more and more (see Kallenberg; NRO, “Excellentie” and “EXChange”; NWO, “Excellentie” and “EXChange”; Jong), both parties could profit from greater contact. Scholars who study innovations in honors programs could benefit from a comparison of their findings to those in more mature fields, i.e., research about innovation in higher education. At the same time, a full model of innovation in higher education should …

Aided By Adderall: Illicit Use Of Adhd Medications By College Students, Amber D. Rolland, Patricia J. Smith

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

“I don’t know that many kids that have done coke, none that have tried crack, and only a few that have dropped acid. I can’t even count all of the ones who’ve taken Adderall” (Stice). This statement made in an interview by a freshman art history major at the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2007 effectively highlights a still growing problem among undergraduate students in the United States: the nonmedical use of stimulant medications prescribed to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as “study aids.” Even as early as 2004, up to twenty percent of college students had used …

A Part Of . . . Or Apart From: A Reflection From South Africa, Ken Mulliken

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

“All of humankind originated in Africa,” our tour guide, Richard Randall, announced as he greeted us in Johannesburg, “so I want to welcome you home.” This reminder of our shared ancestry, as distant as it may be, set the theme for this year’s Democracy Project field experience in South Africa. In the summer of 2017, fourteen students from Southern Oregon University (SOU) traveled to South Africa as part of SOU’s Democracy Project. Involving students, faculty members, and community partners, the Democracy Project (DP) is a comprehensive international examination of democracy organized by the SOU Honors College. To solve shared challenges …

Teaching An Honors Seminar On #Blacklivesmatter In East Texas, Ervin Malakaj, Jeffrey L. Littlejohn, Kimberly Bell, Patrick J. Lewis, Julia D. May

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In spring 2017, Ervin Malakaj (Assistant Professor of German) and Jeffrey L. Littlejohn (Professor of History) led a Difficult Dialogues seminar on #BlackLivesMatter for the Sam Houston State University (SHSU) Honors College. The seminar considered the complex historical, economic, and cultural forces that produced the movement along with the various responses to it. By mid-semester, however, the course had become a target for fake news blogs and websites. Critics of the #BlackLivesMatter movement attempted to portray the course as a propagandistic endeavor intended to force a left-wing ideology upon unwilling students who had reluctantly enrolled in the course in order …

Transformative Learning: Lessons From First-Semester Honors Narratives, Kyler Knapp, Phame Camarena, Holly Moore

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Although the National Collegiate Honors Council has clearly articulated the common characteristics of “fully developed” honors programs and colleges, these elements describe the structures and processes that frame honors education but do not directly describe the intended honors outcomes for student learners (Spurrier). Implicitly, however, the intended outcomes of distinct curricula, smaller course sizes, honors living communities, international programming, capstone or thesis requirements, and any number of other innovative forms of pedagogy are qualitatively different from faster degree completion, better jobs, or higher recognition at graduation. When intentionally directed, honors education promotes the full transformation of the student (Mihelich, Storrs, …

Mental Health Needs In The Honors Community: Beyond Good Intentions, Maureen Kelleher

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In addressing mental health needs in honors communities, I first need to explain that I am not a mental health practitioner; I am a sociologist. The types of issues that interest me are structural: what can we do to set up supportive environments that help all our students. We need to respond appropriately to individuals, but we also need also to look at the larger system (Bertram et al.; JED Foundation, “A Guide”; Atkins & Frazier). For honors educators, the challenges that students face in their daily lives are an ongoing concern. We are all aware of the rising rates …

Helping With The “How”: A Role For Honors In Civic Education, Craig Kaplowitz

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The current political moment in the United States puts an exclamation point on years of growing concern for our civic culture. We have a president who neither understands nor cares for the processes and norms of the American system of government, a Congress that seems almost indifferent to the real issues of governing for the public good, a news cycle driven by flippant tweets, and a toxic social media environment. There is little current recognition that, in our system, how we debate the alternatives and arrive at policies is as important for our long-term civic enterprise as the resulting policies …

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council, Open , Vol. 18, No. 2. Fall/Winter 2017

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Editor’s Introduction — Ada Long

Open Forum Essays

Teaching an Honors Seminar on #BlackLivesMatter in East Texas — Ervin Malakaj, Jeffrey L. Littlejohn, Kimberly Bell, Patrick J. Lewis, and Julia D. May

Helping with the “How”: A Role for Honors in Civic Education — Craig Kaplowitz

A Part Of… or Apart From: A Reflection from South Africa — Ken Mulliken

Mental Health Needs in the Honors Community: Beyond Good Intentions — Maureen Kelleher

Research Essays

Aided by Adderall: Illicit Use of ADHD Medications by College Students — Amber D. Rolland and Patricia J. Smith

Honors …

Honors Student Thriving: A Model Of Academic, Psychological, And Social Wellbeing, Amanda Cuevas, Laurie A. Schreiner, Young Kim, Jennifer Bloom

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Although academic success in honors programs is easily quantified, student thriving has not been previously measured. Honors students are often recruited to raise the academic profiles of their institutions (Carlson; Hebel) and so tend to excel academically in ways that can be measured by grades and graduation rates. Little is empirically known, however, about their holistic success and wellbeing while in college (Boazman; Moon; Slavin, Coladarci, & Pratt; Walker). Because they are no more immune than other students to psychological and social impediments, they may be succeeding but not thriving in their college experience. Thriving—defined as academic, psychological, and interpersonal …

How The Implementation Of Honors Sections Affects The Academic Performance Of Non-Honors Students, Art L. Spisak, Sam Van Horne, Keri C. Hornbuckle

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Research in honors education generally credits honors students with elevating the academic experience for all students at an institution (see Andrews; Clauss; Brimeyer et al.). Honors students are seen as having a positive peer effect: setting a standard for other students to follow as well as stimulating and challenging faculty, thereby raising the level of the classroom for all ( Joseph W. Cohen, cited by Andrews 38). Thus, many assume that moving honors students into separate sections adversely affects the academic performance of non-honors students, an assumption we faced at our institution. In the context of a study done in …

Connect Oer Annual Report, 2016-2017, Brady Yano

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Earlier this year, SPARC launched Connect OER—a platform to share and discover information about Open Educational Resources (OER) activities at campuses across North America. Through Connect OER, academic libraries create and manage profiles about their institution’s efforts on OER, producing valuable data that we use to populate a searchable directory and produce an annual report.

As the first Connect OER Annual Report, this document summarizes insights from the Connect OER pilot, which ran from May - July 2017. The data encompass 65 SPARC member libraries spanning 31 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces who participated in the pilot. Our analysis …

Modeling Inquiry-Oriented Instruction Of Beginning Secondary Science Teachers, Lyrica Lucas, Elizabeth B. Lewis

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

New national science education standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, in the United States (US) promote inquiry-based instruction through an integrated emphasis on scientific practices and disciplinary content. Thus, it is important for beginning science teachers to reach proficient implementation of reformed teaching practices by the end of their induction phase in order to become effective science teachers. Yet, extant science education research studies on development of beginning teachers’ classroom practices is rare. In this study, we collected data from a longitudinal study of science teachers from two teacher preparation programs - a bachelor’s program with teacher candidates who had …

Multilingual Literacies: Invisible Representation Of Literacy In A Rural Classroom, Lydiah Kananu Kiramba

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

In many countries, educational policies typically mandate school activities that promote a homogeneous and narrow range of academic literacies for all learners despite the diverse nature of human learning. This ethnographic case study examines how a 12-year-old Kenyan fourth-grade student performing below average on all standardized tests used multiple invisible literacies while documenting his knowledge and life experiences in a rural context. Invisible literacies are covert meaning- making literacy practices that are not privileged in the classroom. Examination of these practices shows a convergence between school and home literacies, suggesting a need for education stakeholders to identify literacies that are …

Trump, Immigration, And Children: Disrupted Schooling, Disrupted Lives, Edmund T. Hamann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Many of us work with immigrant communities and are witnessing firsthand the fear, frustration, and heartache caused by Trump’s immigration policies. Yet despite our years of work with, and study of, immigrant communities, there are times when our academic expertise is not enough. What follows is a reflection by CAE member Ted Hamann on just such a situation he faced this spring when asked for help in assisting two US-born students that were about to accompany their soon-to-be deported parents to Mexico.

“The Soccer Field, It Has Dirt”: A Critical Analysis Of Teacher Learners In Contact With Emergent Multilingual Students, Theresa Catalano, Jenelle Reeves, Stephanie Wessels

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

In today’s globalized world, superdiversity and global migration have led to an increased focus on emergent multilingual students and how schools can best serve them. The authors explore how teacher learners in an undergraduate course on emergent multilinguals in a mid-sized university in the Midwest critically reflect on their learning in a practicum experience. Utilizing tools and perspectives from critical discourse studies (CDS), the researchers/teacher educators examine ideologies that surface in teacher learner reflections on their practicum experiences to find out how they renegotiate (or withhold) their beliefs while connecting to critical readings, coursework, and their experiences working with emergent …

Supporting 3rd-Grade Students’ Model-Based Explanations About Groundwater: A Quasi-Experimental Study Of A Curricular Intervention, Laura Zangori, Tina Vo, Cory Forbes, Christina V. Schwarz

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Scientific modelling is a key practice in which K-12 students should engage to begin developing robust conceptual understanding of natural systems, including water. However, little past research has explored primary students’ learning about groundwater, engagement in scientific modelling, and/or the ways in which teachers conceptualize and cultivate model-based science learning environments. We are engaged in a multi-year project designed to support 3rd-grade students’ formulation of model-based explanations (MBE) for hydrologic phenomenon, including groundwater, through curricular and instructional support. In this quasi-experimental comparative study of five 3rd-grade classrooms, we present findings from analysis of students’ MBE generated as part of experiencing …

You're Getting It!: How Preschool Teachers And Students Experience Literacy Tabletop Games In The Classroom, Katherine Sydik

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to examine affordances of literacy tabletop games in a preschool classroom environment as well as the experiences of young children between the ages of 3 and 6 and teachers playing the games. The following themes emerged from the research: “That’s How Games Are” relating to views about games and play, “How The Teacher Does It”, relating to developmentally appropriate educational practice for playing games with preschool children, “A Way to Keep Them More Engaged”, relating to preschool children’s motivation while playing literacy games, “Things Kids Need to Know for Kindergarten”, relating …

"Off From Lost": Generation 1 Learners' Transition From Adult Esl To Developmental Education, Emily Kyungjin Suh

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Immigrant students access community colleges with increasing frequency (Teranishi, Suarez-Orozco, & Suarez-Orozco, 2011); however, the majority of research focuses on Generation 1.5 students who completed K-12 education in the U.S. Generation 1 learners are defined in this study as adult immigrants (Rumbaut, 2004) and adult learners (Knowles, 1970) who began American education in adult ESL. Learners’ unique experiences and social roles motivate their transition to higher education and produce distinct linguistic and cultural needs. Many immigrant students begin in developmental education (Teranishi, Suarez-Orozco, & Suarez-Orozco), which is strongly influenced by the adult learning theory of andragogy (Knowles, 1968). This multiple …

Images, Speech Balloons, And Artful Representation: Comics As Visual Narratives Of Early Career Teachers, Julian Lawrence, Ching-Chiu Lin, Rita Irwin

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

The ways in which teachers adjust to challenges in the process of becoming professionals are complicated. Teacher mentorship, however, is an important step to creating and sustaining a strong professional career. This article discusses new understandings from a Canadian research project: Pedagogical Assemblage: Building and Sustaining Teacher Capacity through Mentoring Programs in British Columbia. Through our use of an a/r/tography informed methodology in teacher mentorship, we have come to understand how the use of comics permits an unfolding of visual narratives as a unique way of contextualizing the complex stories of teaching and learning. Our motivation in employing comics as …

Teaching Critical Looking: Pedagogical Approaches To Using Comics As Queer Theory, Ashley Manchester

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

Given the challenging depth of queer theoretical concepts, this article argues that one of the most effective ways to teach the complexities of queer theory is by utilizing comics in the classroom. I focus on how college-level instructors can use the content, form, and history of comics to teach students how to enact and do queer theory. By reading and making comics, students learn concrete and theoretical tools for combatting oppressive discourses and modes of meaning making. Teaching comics as queer theory promotes both innovative critical thinking and critical looking skills by centralizing both the rich history of queer comics …

Using Superheroes To Visually And Critically Analyze Comics, Stereotypes, And Society, Mike P. Cook, Ryle Frey

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

The purpose of this article is to provide teachers and students useful methods for utilizing the power of comic books as literacy sponsors in ELA classrooms. Given the continued boom in the popularity of comics in popular culture, this provides a relevant way to introduce students to visual and critical analysis. Engaging in meaningful analysis of comic superheroes can help students develop the skills required to critically analyze the stereotypes and social issues both within comics and within the world that surrounds them. Through the study of traditional and contemporary comic book heroes, students can critique society and begin to …

Review Of Captain Marvel And The Art Of Nostalgia, By Brian Cremins, Sean Kleefeld

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

No abstract provided.