Education Commons^™

Imbedding Christian Values In The Public Education Setting: Creating A Democratic Classroom Environment, Brook N. Macmillan

Christian Perspectives in Education

This article supports the need for Christian education in the sustainment of democracy and discusses the opportunity for Christian values to be implicitly imbedded into classroom through the creation of a democratic forum. This nation was founded on Christian principles. While the basis of today’s public education setting includes a basic understanding of the core skills (reading, writing and basic arithmetic), these skills alone are not enough for a student to achieve success. A student must also learn, through the education and spiritual process, courage, confidence and life skills in order to survive in today’s society. Furthermore, the ability to …

The Teaching And Learning Cycle: Integrating Curriculum, Instruction, And Assessment, Donna L. Jones

Christian Perspectives in Education

The philosophies of educators and government entities guide the teaching and learning cycle of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The educator’s worldview plays an important part in developing these concepts which is demonstrated throughout history. Studying the history of the educational philosophers reveals their beliefs about curriculum, instruction, and assessments and the effects on education today. It shows the importance of integrating all three concepts in the educational process creating the teaching and learning cycle.

Are They Going To Stay? Attending To Emotions In Nonformal Settings, Edward W. Taylor

Adult Education Research Conference

Emotions play a key role in teaching in nonformal educational settings. Understanding the nature of this relationship and developing an awareness of learner emotions while teaching in nonformal settings is an essential practice for the nonformal educator.

The Use Of Music To Teach Life Skills To Students With Emotional Disbilities In The Classroom, Williams Emeka Obiozor

NERA Conference Proceedings 2008

My paper reflects on the teaching of American youths with music, lyrics and cultural rhythms --- an instructional curriculum strategy to encourage positive participation, good behaviors and learning in the classroom. This is premised on the understanding of the student’s culture and using such background to educate them. Over the period of one school year, I worked with middle school students in an Emotional Challenged Program in Maryland, teaching Life and Job Skills, Reading, Writing, Math, etc. During the lessons, different hip-hop music/artists were profiled, their lyrics and messages examined and the class discussed the effect to the youths and …

“Literature Alive! Using Second Life To Teach American Literature”, Laura Nicosia

Department of English Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Attracting The Bright And Committed Into Teaching: Political Rhetoric Or Practical Reality?, Anne Graham, Renata Phelps, Berenice Kerr, Lee Macmaster

Dr Renata Phelps

This article reports on a university developed board endorsed course (UDBEC), which allows higher school certificate (HSC) students to undertake two units of an undergraduate teaching degree as part of their final year of schooling. The course, Springboard into teaching, is a collaborative initiative of the School of Education at Southern Cross University (SCU) and the Catholic education office (CEO) in Lismore, New South Wales (NSW). The course aimed to attract students to the teaching profession, and targeted motivated and high achieving students with an interest in studying teaching at the local university. This article describes Springboard into teaching, and …

Viewing And Visual Representation In The Physical Education Classroom, Craig Heynen

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Visual representation and viewing are integral parts of language arts, communication, and physical education. Time constraints often limit a self-contained classroom teacher, or even the language arts teacher's ability to adequately address all areas of language arts. Therefore, it is important to include language arts in other content areas. Visual representation and viewing can be effectively integrated into physical education, and can enhance the physical education learning experience as a result. In this article, the author discusses several strategies to integrate viewing and visual representation in a physical education classroom.

Florida's Class Size Amendment And Co-Teaching: An Uneasy Partnership, Lenford C. Sutton, Phyllis Jones, Julia White

Educational Considerations

For nearly four decades, school finance has become progressively more central in school reform efforts aimed at improving student performance.

Innovative Teaching Ideas For Management Educators: Professional Development Workshop, Susan R. Madsen, James H. Davis, Charles Vance, Scott C. Hammond, Kenneth Barlett, Rex Foster

Susan R. Madsen

The primary purpose of this innovative professional development workshop (PDW) is to promote excellence in teaching by providing participants with ideas for effective and creative educational experiences in college and university classrooms and in the surrounding community environment. The goals of this workshop are threefold. First, this session will provide a forum for academy members to obtain and discuss new and creative ideas to enrich classroom environments, ultimately leading to increased student learning. Second, it will provide participants an opportunity to be involved in an active, experiential, and interesting workshop that is designed to motivate current and future faculty to …

Teaching Of Newton's Laws: Force And Motion: The Effectiveness Of Demonstrations, Refik Dilber

Essays in Education

In this study, we investigated effects of demonstrations on teaching of force and motion concepts compared with traditional instruction. The participants of this study consisted of 68 undergraduate students who taking the course in two different classes from the same teacher. One of the classes was assigned randomly to the control group, and the other class was assigned randomly to the experimental group. During teaching the topic of force and motion concepts in the physics curriculum, demonstrations were applied in the experimental group whereas in the control group traditional instruction was followed for the period of four weeks. As a …

Using Local Data To Advance Quantitative Literacy, Stephen Sweet, Susanne Morgan, Danette Ifert Johnson

Numeracy

In this article we consider the application of local data as a means of advancing quantitative literacy. We illustrate the use of three different sources of local data: institutional data, Census data, and the National College Health Assessment survey. Our learning modules are applied in courses in sociology and communication, but the strategy of using local data can be integrated beyond these disciplinary boundaries. We demonstrate how these data can be used to stimulate student interests in class discussion, advance analytic skills, as well as develop capacities in written and verbal communication. We conclude by considering concerns that may influence …

Fort Wayne Alumnus, Taylor University Fort Wayne

TUFW Alumni Publications (All)

The Summer 2008 edition of The Fort Wayne Alumnus, published by Taylor University Fort Wayne in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Interaction Patterns In Mathematics Classrooms In Ogun State Secondary Schools, Adebole Ifamuyiwa, Abisola Lawani

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Interaction among people plays some vital roles in the life of individuals. This is evident in the way people relate with one-another at home, in the school, within the society, and among peer groups. In particular, the relationship between students and their teachers is expected to have a great effect on their lives. The way students learn any subject, Mathematics inclusive, will depend on the teacher’s pattern of classroom interaction. Teacher-student interaction in the classroom is a two-way process. Each participant influences the other’s behaviour; that is, the students condition their teachers’ behaviour and vice- versa. The concept of classroom …

Total Quality Management Culture And Productivity Improvement In Ethiopia Higher Institutions, B.J Ojo

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The desire of all parents is to have qualitative and functional educational programs for their children from nursery school to the university level. This is in conformity with the general belief that a sound education is the only permanent legacy that parents can pass on to their children to ensure their future. However, what we see nowadays is that many countries’ education system is turning out unemployable illiterates. Hallak (1990) emphasized that the quality of the education system depends on the quality of its teachers. Alloy Ejiogu (1990) stated that the quality of education in any given society depend considerably …

Perceptions Of Primary School Teachers Regarding New Science And Technology Curriculum Of Turkey In Terms Of Teaching And Assessment Methods, Pinar Ozdemir, Sibel Guneysu

Essays in Education

The purpose of this study was to explore and investigate perceptions of the primary school teachers’ in 4th and 5th grade public schools on new science and technology curriculum in science and technology classes in Turkey. Whether primary school teachers familiar with the improvements in science and technology curriculum and whether they feel themselves adequate in terms of theoretical knowledge and application of the new approaches in science and technology lessons were also investigated.

The research type of this study includes survey and qualitative research in nature which are non-experimental research methods. The quantitative part of this study includes questionnaire …

Evolution Of Teaching And Learning Through Technology, Phyllis K. Adcock

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

The profession of education has undergone many changes in teaching approaches, course assessments, roles of teachers and students, mainly through the integration of technology. Programs of Teacher Preparation, therefore, are being challenged to prepare their teacher candidates to use technology effectively. Research shows that technology has become an integral part of the teaching and learning environment making technology a stable part of the teaching and learning experience. Teacher educators must prepare teacher candidates to teach content and to use technology effectively so that all students will benefit in a world that depends on technology.

Pilot Project: Technology Integration In Underserved Schools Using Thinkfinity, Spring 2008, Final Report, Sylvia Russakoff

Cornerstone 1 Reports : Expansion and Enhancements of the Thinkfinity Platform

The Pace Computer Learning Center has been involved in helping teachers learn to integrate technology using Internet resources since 1997, when, under a grant from the then Bell Atlantic Corporation, over 900 teachers were trained over a three year period.

Since that initial project, PCLC has continued this work with New York City and Westchester private and public schools. Most recently, funding has come from the Facilitator Center, an organization serving non-public schools in New York City and the Hudson Valley.

This pilot project was conceived as a way in which PCLC could use its experience and expertise to present …

A Nonnative Speaker, And Still The Right Person For The Job, Eun-Young Julia Kim

Faculty Publications

I am a nontraditional ESL director. There is no denying that I am a foreigner. No matter how many times I've dyed my hair and tried to adopt an American name to appear more "native," I am just too Asian; an invincible accent, a hard-to-pronounce three-syllable name, dark brown eyes, a body the size of an eighth grader's - all these reveal the invconvenient truth that I am not from "here." At just over 5 feet tall, I am almost indistinguishable from my ESL students.

Constructing High Quality Learning Environments Using Learning Designs And Learning Objects., B. Harper, S. Agostinho, Sue Bennett, J. Lukasiak, Lori Lockyer

Dr. Jason Lukasiak

Designing learning experiences supported by information and communication technology (ICT) is becoming an important skill for all academics in the higher education sector. With a range of "quality" measures being implemented and foreshadowed by government, including "dollars" linked to student learning outcomes, all academics will be increasingly asked to examine their instructional strategies and to offer high quality learning opportunities. Sharing learning resources is seen as one strategy to help academics in this change process. As such, online repositories of learning objects are flourishing to encourage the concept of reuse. However, what is lacking are tools to support academics in …

Erin Gruwell: Catalyst For Change, Lisa Penrod, Jennifer Edmond

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

On the evening of February 19^th, 2008, we had the distinct honor and pleasure of meeting Ms. Erin Gruwell, teacher, motivational speaker and author of The Freedom Writers’ Diary and Teach With Your Heart. Upon being introduced, Ms. Gruwell focused the attention of the audience on her greatest passion, the students. After asking the teenagers to stand and be recognized, she ardently requested that the adults in the room purchase a copy of her book The Freedom Writers’ Diary, for every student present so that they might be inspired by students like themselves.

Erin Gruwell And The Freedom Writers: Two Books Reviewed, Jessica Cannaday

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Two books, “The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them,” by the Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell, and “Teach With Your Heart,” also by Erin Gruwell will be reviewed herein. Together, they weave an integrated tale of discovery and self-actualization. This is true for both the students who undergo catharsis with diary entries in “The Freedom Writers Diary,” and for Ms. Gruwell who learns more deeply about who she is as a teacher, a professor, and a person, through a heartfelt journey to help 150 at-risk students find …

Perspectives Of A Summer Enrichment Academy: Participant And Observer Reflections, Lisa Penrod

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Students and teachers rarely come together, at least in a meaningful way, outside the confines of the school environment. Seeing your students at Wal-Mart does not constitute “meaningful interaction”. This fact alone makes the GEAR UP Summer Enrichment Academy (SEA), held at California State University, San Bernardino in the summer of 2006, an epic event. The SEA brought students and teachers from the Rialto and Coachella school districts together with faculty from CSUSB for an intensive, enriching learning experience. Selected bright, young students were given opportunities to explore disciplines far outside of the range of their normal classroom experiences and …

Leading In The Mathematics Classroom, Jon Warwick

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Within the United Kingdom (UK) higher education sector there has been a considerable amount of debate in recent years about the level of quantitative and literacy skills exhibited by students on entry to university courses. Indeed the UK government commissioned two major reports on the development of skills at school level in the post-14 age range focussing specifically on the development of quantitative skills (Roberts 2002; Smith 2004) since there has been a sustained year-on-year fall in the numbers of students opting to study mathematics, science, and engineering subjects at degree level. Coupled with this reluctance of students to specialise …

Critically Prophetic Action In The Public Square: Transformational Insights For School And Community Leaders, Peter Miller, Max Engel

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Ladson-Billings’ assertion that students’ familial and cultural identities must be recognized and more fully incorporated into the educative process finds much support in the community of progressive educational scholarship, as countless academics (including bell hooks, Paulo Freire, Peter McLaren, and Henry Giroux) and activists (including Myles Horton and Ernie Cortes) have critiqued generalist models of education that ignore community assets in their structures and delivery. Ladson-Billings and others insist that when educational programs (both school and community-situated) are designed and implemented as if they occur in social vacuums they implicitly ignore unique community identities and modes of understanding. They relegate …

Attraction: The Secret Of Teaching, Learning, And Leadership, Kay Woelfel

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The Secret, reveals that the single attribute that ensures success is one that every great educator has always had in his repertoire. Rhonda Byrne (2006, 4) says that “the greatest teachers who have ever lived have told us that the law of attraction is the most powerful law in the Universe.” Byrne points to poets, musicians, artists, and thinkers like Shakespeare, Beethoven, da Vinci, Socrates, Plato, and other legends. But lesser mortals, teachers and administrators in the field, also have known that “attraction” is the secret to school success. Jon Saphier and Robert Gower (1987, 2) put forth this idea …

Using A Paradigm Shift To Teach Neurobiology And The Nature Of Science—A C.R.E.A.T.E.-Based Approach, Sally G. Hoskins

Publications and Research

Decades ago, classic experiments established the phenomenon of “neural induction” (Spemann and Mangold, 1924; Holtfreter, 1933). It appeared clear that amphibian ectoderm was pre-programmed to form epidermis, and that the neural phenotype was induced by a chemical signal from mesoderm. The “ectoderm makes skin, unless induced to make nervous system” model appeared in many textbooks. This interpretation, however, was not simply incorrect but 180 degrees out of alignment with the actual situation. As subsequently demonstrated, the default state of amphibian ectoderm is neuronal, and the expression of the epidermal phenotype requires cell signaling (Hemmati-Brivanlou and Melton, 1992; 1994; 1997). In …

Examining 4-H Robotics In The Learning Of Science, Engineering And Technology Topics And The Related Student Attitudes, Bradley S. Barker, Gwen Nugent, Neal Grandgenett, Amy Hampton

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Youths’ natural fascination and identification with robots make them an ideal teaching and learning platform. Robots would seem to be excellent hands-on tools to teach science, engineering and technology (SET) concepts. However, while research supports their use to increase interest and motivation, the effectiveness of robots to directly teach science, engineering, and technology concepts is less clear. The purpose of this study was to measure the effectiveness of a 4-H robotics program to support the learning of specific SET concepts and to examine related student attitudes towards science. This study compared the pretest and posttest scores on an assessment of …

The Scholarship Of Teaching: Contributing Factors To Improved Teaching Performance Among University Faculty Members, Whitney Ransom

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis brings a much-needed focus on the quality and scholarship of teaching as it pertains to educational and faculty development. The main purpose of this paper is to outline what more than 200 faculty members across a wide variety of disciplines have focused on over a three-year period to make significant (a 1.5 standard deviation increase or higher in online student ratings) and sustained improvements in their teaching. The top three factors of improvement include active/practical learning, teacher/student interactions, and clear expectations/learning outcomes. The researcher also discusses how institutions and faculty communities of practice, research, and faculty personality contribute …

Teacher Empowerment Through Collaborative Action Research: Concepts, Possibilities And Challenges, Anjum Halai, Sherwin Rodrigues, Tauseef Akhlaq

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

This paper focuses on the process of collaborative action research (CAR) as an approach to teacher empowerment, and on issues and questions that emerged as a result of experience with CAR in Pakistan. This is part of a cross-national five year CAR project in selected schools in Pakistan, Rwanda and South Africa, Implementing curriculum change for reducing poverty and improving gender equity, which is studying the process of implementation of curriculum change in science and mathematics classrooms in disadvantaged settings, so that understandings of, and approaches to, poverty alleviation may be developed. A CAR approach has been adopted in this …

Learning In Education, Stanton Wortham

Stanton Wortham

Learning takes place in many settings, but educational institutions foster both breadth and depth of learning. Different types of teaching make very different assumptions about what learning is.