Education Commons^™

Closing The Achievement Gap In Mathematics For Students With Learning Disabilities Utilizing The Resource Room As An Intervention, Esta H. Brownstein

Theses and Dissertations

Students with learning disabilities are placed in general education classrooms in increasing numbers. Many of these students receive additional services in Resource Room programs taught by a special education teacher. The intent of this study was to determine if students with disabilities, who were struggling in mathematics, increased achievement utilizing Resource Room instruction as an intervention. Students in the study were in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades and performed at least one grade level below expectations for that grade in mathematics. All of the students had a specific learning disability. This study investigated the correlation, if any, between the amounts …

Studying Medicine With Dyslexia: A Collaborative Autoethnography, Sebastian C.K. Shaw, John L. Anderson, Alec J. Grant

The Qualitative Report

The topic of this article is the experience of the impact of dyslexia on medical studies, explored using a collaborative autoethnographic methodological approach. The study was prompted by an initial and ongoing full search of the literature, which revealed an absence of autoethnographic research into the experiences of medical students with dyslexia. It has four aims: to provide an in-depth, multi-layered account of the impact of dyslexia on a UK undergraduate medical student; to help other students and academic support staff in similar situations; to outline improvements that could be made to medical and other educational curricula and examination procedures, …

Avoiding The A.B.D. Abyss: A Grounded Theory Study Of A Dissertation-Focused Course For Doctoral Students In An Educational Leadership Program, Leslie Ann Locke, Melanie Boyle

The Qualitative Report

More than half of all graduate students drop out before graduation. Doctoral students often become mired in the “all but dissertation” (ABD) phase of the process. This grounded theory study focused on the perceptions and experiences of doctoral students in an educational leadership program, who were ABD, regarding their participation in a dissertation-focused intensive writing course called the Dissertation Boot Camp (DBC). Findings revealed participants had particular challenges with time, writing, and advisement. The DBC attended to many of these challenges by providing time, structure, encouragement, and support. Results of the study led to the development of a conceptual framework, …

How To Double Or Triple Student Participation/Engagement In Threaded Class Discussions Without Being Coercive Or Punitive, Robert W. Hill

Faculty Presentations

In this highly-interactive session, industry best practices will be shared along with an exclusive look at the instructor’s own current semester class discussion boards to demonstrate specific strategies/techniques he employs to maximize students’ engagement and to foster a safe online learning community. Audience members will immediately be able to apply some of these pedagogical methods to their own current classes that very day.

Whose Reality? A Meta-Analysis Of Qualitative Research In International And Comparative Education, Romina B. Da Costa, Stephanie M. Hall, Anne Spear

The Qualitative Report

This meta-analysis seeks to critically examine the qualitative research being published in influential journals in the field of international and comparative education in order to determine whether qualitative research has remained true to the constructivist paradigm and its theoretical and philosophical underpinnings. Decades after the heated paradigmatic debates within the field of education in the 1980’s, we seek to examine whether predictions that the constructivist paradigm would be pushed out by the call for post-positivist, quantifiable, data-driven research have come to fruition. Based on a review of all qualitative research published in the past three volumes of five influential journals …

A Qualitative Research On Foreign Language Teaching Anxiety, Selami Aydin

The Qualitative Report

While research mainly focuses on identification of anxiety, its causes and effects on the learning process and the ways to allay anxiety among foreign language learners, foreign language teaching anxiety has remained a research area that has not attracted much attention. Therefore, in the context of teaching anxiety among pre-service teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL), the current study aims to investigate the sources of foreign language teaching anxiety (FLTA). The sample group in the study consisted of 60 pre-service teachers. A background questionnaire, interviews, reflections and essay papers were used to collect qualitative data. The results indicated …

The Nature Of Teacher Learning In Collaborative Data Teams, Robert Michaud

The Qualitative Report

As data teams have grown in popularity in recent years, they have been increasingly looked to by educational researchers because of the tantalizing prospect of combining teachers’ on the job professional development with increased and effective data use to drive instruction. Data teams have been increasingly implemented within schools by educational leaders attempting to take advantage of what teachers learn from each other in the context of a data team. Many conceptual models of data team function have been proposed, but few empirical studies have examined how teachers learn from collaborating with each other in a data team. This paper …

Womanism And Snowball Sampling: Engaging Marginalized Populations In Holistic Research, Xeturah M. Woodley, Megan Lockard

The Qualitative Report

Womanist and feminist qualitative researchers continue to identify research methods and techniques that harness the power of social networking and personal connections while engaging with marginalized populations. Many have found that the use of snowball sampling allows increased access to individuals and groups that may otherwise remain inaccessible. The purpose of this article is to discuss the use of snowball sampling techniques within womanist and feminist research. The authors offer critical reflections of the use of this sampling technique as a tool that allows researchers access to “hidden” and marginalized populations. An example of the use of snowball sampling in …

Reflexively Conducting Research With Ethnically Diverse Children With Disabilities, Amanda Ajodhia-Andrews

The Qualitative Report

This reflexive paper explores the process of engaging ethnically diverse children with disabilities within participatory and narrative research concerning their school life via a multi-method qualitative approach. It contemplates the use of participatory research methods, involving children with disabilities as co-researchers, establishing relaxed research environments, and maintaining qualitative rigour while supporting children’s voice and agency. This paper addresses possibilities of qualitative research to access and amplify voices and differing social experiences of children with disabilities, whilst underscoring their capacity and right to contribute to research regarding their lives. The author advocates re-envisioning ways to conduct ethical research with children with …

Characteristics Of Adult General Education Learners And Courses: A Correlational Study On The Elements Of Success, Daniel Jennings Stackhouse

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation exists among characteristics common to successful adult career and technical students in the traditional classroom setting, the online mode of instruction, and a hybrid of the traditional and distance mode of instructional delivery. A gap in the literature exists, resulting in a lack of knowledge specific to the reasons for success or failure of these adult career and technical students, specifically in relation to mode of instructional delivery: traditional classroom, online, or a hybrid of both.

This study is a quantitative correlation study of explanatory and predictive design using …

Enhancing Entry-Level Physiotherapy Student Learning In Interpreting Radiology – An Action Research Project, Courtney R. Clark, Andrea Bialocerkowski

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: In Australia, the ability to interpret orthopaedic x-rays is an entry-level skill for physiotherapists. Yet there is a paucity of evidence in the literature which details effective learning and teaching methods to optimise confidence and competence in x-ray interpretation. The aims of this study were to describe the content contained in an orthopaedic radiology module within an Australian 2-year graduate entry Master of Physiotherapy degree; approaches to learning and teaching used in this module; student satisfaction associated with this module over a 2-year period. Method: The University’s framework for quality assurance, which is based on the Plan-Implement-Review-Improve underpinned this …

Effective Teaching Practices In Online Higher Education, Kim Mcmurtry

CCE Theses and Dissertations

In the context of continuing growth in online higher education in the United States, students are struggling to succeed, as evidenced by lower course outcomes and lower retention rates in online courses in comparison with face-to-face courses. The problem identified for investigation is how university instructors can ensure that effective teaching and learning is happening in their online courses. The research questions were:

1. What are the best practices of effective online teaching in higher education according to current research?
2. How do exemplary online instructors enact teaching presence in higher education?
3. What are the best practices of effective online teaching in …

Blended Learning For Faculty Professional Development Incorporating Knowledge Management Principles, Julie E. Hewitt

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Adjunct faculty comprise a large percentage of part-time faculty for many colleges and universities today. Adjunct faculty are hired because they are experts in their content areas; however, this does not guarantee that they are skilled in effective classroom management. These instructors can become bewildered and frustrated because they lack the knowledge and skills that are needed to run an effective classroom.

While educational organizations have adopted blended learning environments as an effective delivery method for their students, this method has not gained much traction as a way to deliver instruction to their own employees. Thus, there are opportunities to …

Community College Faculty Dispositions Towards Blended Learning, Robin A. Hill

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Community colleges are being encouraged to find and provide access to higher education by offering more flexible course delivery methods to meet the needs of their diverse student body. At the same time, these institutions must retain their quality of instruction, accountability for learning outcomes, and institutional obligations. Blended learning, where students attend class both on campus and online, is promoted as one solution for attaining such goals. Among the four-year undergraduate population, blended learning has been shown to support student success, meet diverse learning styles, and meet institutional obligations; however, research within the community college population is limited. In …

A Big Idea: The Rollout Of Open Suny, Karen E. Case

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Leveraging technology may be a viable solution in the higher education industry as enrollments decline and institutions have a hard time meeting their projected budgets. One innovative approach to mitigating this problem was approved in March of 2013 by the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY). It is called Open SUNY. Open SUNY consists of nine components: the creation and expansion of online programs to meet workforce development needs, the development of online credit-bearing experiential learning experiences, support for training of faculty who opt to use emerging technologies, support for student access to online courses, …

The Effects Of Time-Compression And Learner-Control In Multimedia Instruction, Jason Alan Pittman

CCE Theses and Dissertations

There is a significant gap in the body of knowledge concerning time-compressed multimedia instruction. Although research indicates that there is no loss in learning through well-designed multimedia instruction compressed at 25%, research is lacking that analyzes the effects of time-compression with learner-control included in the multimedia instruction. The aim of the study was to address this gap in the research by integrating learner-control into the interface of a time-compressed multimedia instructional lesson using similar methodologies from previous research.

Effects were analyzed of time-compressed learner-controlled multimedia instruction on learning and perceived cognitive load. Additionally, the researcher employed a participant population from …

Use Of Student Created Video Podcasts To Promote Foreign Language Grammar Acquisition In Middle School, Sergio Parra

CCE Theses and Dissertations

The use of video podcasts in education has emerged as a phenomenon that has gained a considerable amount of attention over the last few years. Although video podcasting is becoming a well-established technology in higher education, new multimedia instructional strategies such as student-created video podcasts in grades K-12 are under-researched.

The study investigated the effects of video podcasts created by students to promote foreign language grammar acquisition at the middle school level and find how students described such experience. The current investigation was conducted by using the explanatory sequential design, which is a mixed methods research design that occurs in …

Teaching Presence And Intellectual Climate In A Structured Online Learning Environment, Janice Marie Orcutt

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Teaching presence and its implications for the intellectual climate of an online classroom cannot be fully understood unless explored from the perspective of the instructors who experience it. Framed in the theoretical perspective of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model, this collective case study investigated the actions, intentions and perceptions of instructors with the intent of developing an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of teaching presence as it was established in a structured online learning environment.

The experiences of selected successful instructors in this specific online context were explored to gain insight on how pedagogical choices influenced the establishment of …

A Usability And Learnability Case Study Of Glass Flight Deck Interfaces And Pilot Interactions Through Scenario-Based Training, Thomas James De Cino

CCE Theses and Dissertations

In the aviation industry, digitally produced and presented flight, navigation, and aircraft information is commonly referred to as glass flight decks. Glass flight decks are driven by computer-based subsystems and have long been a part of military and commercial aviation sectors. Over the past 15 years, the General Aviation (GA) sector of the aviation industry has become a recent beneficiary of the rapid advancement of computer-based glass flight deck (GFD) systems.

While providing the GA pilot considerable enhancements in the quality of information about the status and operations of the aircraft, training pilots on the use of glass flight decks …