Education Commons^™

Tpack Development In Teacher Education: A Longitudinal Study Of Preservice Teachers In A Secondary M.A.Ed. Program, Mark Hoffer, Neal Grandgenett

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

How does preservice teachers’ knowledge for technology integration develop during their teacher preparation program? Which areas of their knowledge develop most naturally, and which areas require more scaffolding? In this mixed-methods, descriptive study of preservice teachers enrolled in an 11-month M.A.Ed. program, we sought to trace the development of participants’ technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) over time. Comparisons of self-report surveys, structured reflections, and instructional plans at multiple data points spanning the three-semester program revealed significant development of the participants’ technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK), but only limited growth in technological content knowledge (TCK).

Testing An Instrument Using Structured Interviews To Assess Experienced Teachers’ Tpack, Judith B. Harris, Neal Grandgenett, Mark Hofer

Teacher Education Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

In 2010, the authors developed, tested, and released a reliable and valid instrument that can be used to assess the quality of inexperienced teachers’ TPACK by examining their detailed written lesson plans. In the current study, the same instrument was tested to see if it could be used to assess the TPACK evident in experienced teachers’ planning in the form of spoken responses to semi-structured interview questions. Interrater reliability was computed using both Intraclass Correlation (.870) and a score agreement (93.6%) procedure. Internal consistency (using Cronbach’s Alpha) was .895. Test-retest reliability (score agreement) was 100%. Taken together, these results demonstrate …

Urban Immersion: Working To Dispel The Myths Of Urban Schools And Preparing Teachers To Work With Diverse And Economically Disadvantaged Students, Connie Schaffer

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

This descriptive research investigated the impact of a unique program that partnered an urban K-12 school district and an urban university. The goals of the program were to dispel common misperceptions of urban K-12 schools and to prepare preservice teachers to teach in diverse school settings. The program provided an authentic teaching experience for 35 preservice teachers, completely immersing them and their university instructors in urban schools, working and learning side-by-side with the K-12 teachers and students. Initial results indicated the program was successful in achieving its goals. The program assisted in reframing how preservice teachers perceived urban teaching opportunities …

Early Childhood/Child Welfare Priority, Nancy Edick, Samantha K. Ammons, Melissa Cast-Brede, Ann Coyne, Karen Falconer Al-Hindi, Shari Hofschire, Lisa Kelly-Vance, Jay Killion, Sajda Qureshi, Bridget O. Ryalls, Peter Simi, Peter Wolcott

Foundational Documents

This is the executive summary of a white paper that describes the context, current capacity, areas of opportunity, and next steps for the UNO Early Childhood/Child Welfare Priority (ECCW). It responds to the need for comprehensive integrated systems of services designed to give all young children (birth through age eight) access to what they need in the early years to succeed in school and in life. In this context, UNO recognizes ECCW as critical to our metropolitan university mission. Further, we must come together with early childhood service providers, P-12 districts, parents, policy makers, other University of Nebraska campuses, community …

Supporting Native Indian Preschoolers And Their Families Family–School–Community Partnerships, M. Susan Mcwilliams, Tami Maldonado-Mancebo, Paula S. Szczepaniak, Jacqueline Jones

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

In this urban midwestern public school district, families of Native Indian students, pre-K through grade 12, attend four multigenerational gatherings like this one during the school year—one of a number of events orchestrated by the Native Indian Centered Education (NICE) program. NICE is a program in the school district that partners with families to provide Native-centric educational opportunities for preschool children. Family events such as the storytelling activity in the opening vignette represent trends in early childhood education: building family-school-community partnerships to enhance learning and build family resources. The all- Native-Indian preschool program is unusual and rare in urban areas. …

Developing And Supporting Professional Communities Of Mathematics Teachers In Nebraska, Wendy Smith, Paula M. Jakopovic, Greg Sand, Jerel Welker

Teacher Education Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

For a number of years, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has focused on building a statewide partnership with mathematics teachers, schools, districts, and educational service units, to raise K-12 student achievement in mathematics. During this session, we will share a variety of our efforts to build professional communities of educators, including the NSF-funded grants NebraskaNOYCE, NebraskaMATH, and the Math in the Middle Institute Partnership. We will engage participants in a discussion of necessary and sufficient conditions to support such professional communities, and how such conditions can be created or worked around.

Testing A Tpack-Based Technology Integration Observation Instrument, Mark Hofer, Neal Grandgenett, Judith B. Harris, Kathy Swan

Teacher Education Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Teachers’ knowledge for technology integration – conceptualized as technological pedagogical content knowledge, or TPACK (Mishra & Koehler 2006) – is difficult to discern, much less assess. Given the complexity, situatedness and interdependence of the types of knowledge represented by the TPACK construct, well-triangulated ways to assess demonstrated technology integration knowledge are needed. In 2009, three of the authors created and tested a rubric that was found to be a valid and reliable instrument to assess the TPACK evident in teachers’ written lesson plans (Harris, Grandgenett & Hofer 2010). We have now also developed a TPACK-based observation rubric that testing has …

Nurturing Urban Native American Families Through Preschool Family Literacy Celebrations, M. Susan Mcwilliams, Tami Maldonado, Paula Szczepaniak

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Most Native Americans (NAs ) live in urban settings [1]. Only half of indigenous ninth-grade students graduate with their non-native, same-age peers [2]. New and innovative approaches to teaching urban NAs to increase their graduation rates are urgently needed. One such innovative approach infuses cultural education into curriculum: young children from diverse Native Nations, many of whom have additional non-Native heritage, attend an experimental, urban Native Indian Centered Education (NICE) preschool in the Midwest. The preschool focuses on building and strengthening family literacy resources and developing family-school-community partnerships to strengthen literacy.

The Impact Of Revisionist History On Pre-Service And In-Service Teacher Worldviews, Franklin Titus Thompson, William P. Austin

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Students sometimes find the study of history to be boring and irrelevant. Many question the accuracy of accounts given. The introduction of revisionist history to a convenience sample of students (A^ =164) from a college of education program located at a Midwestern university made a positive difference in historical learner perspective. Students gained a greater appreciation for the study of the past, as well as a better understanding of how the melodramatic hyping of events and heroes discourages the formulation of a balanced and accurate view of history and its leaders. Pretest-to-posttest changes in mean scores were found to be …

Solo But Not Separate: Preparing 21st-Century School Library Professionals Who Can "Go It Alone", Becky Pasco

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Preparing school librarians for a diverse array of 21st-century educational environments is a daunting task. Faculty in school library preparation programs send candidates out into sparsely populated rural areas, dense urban settings, and everything in between. Some candidates will provide services and resources in updated, modern facilities, while others will operate in tiny, tattered little corners. Some new professionals will ply their trade in technically rich arenas, while others will work in technically starved settings. Regardless of place and space, resources and services must be developed and delivered in a proactive and productive manner for the P—12 community. School library …

Compartiendo Nuestras Historias: Five Testimonios Of Schooling And Survival, Wanda Alarcón, Cindy Cruz, Linda Guardia Jackson, Linda Prieto, Sandra Rodriguez-Arroyo

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

This storytelling begins with a positioning of why and how we use testimonio as part of a larger project of social justice and transformative pedagogies. In this collective testimonio, 5 working-class Latina scholars tell the stories of their struggles to overcome the challenges of language and assimilation, of gender discrimination and racism, of the violence of patriarchy, and of the experience of being treated as an “alien” in one's own country.

The Impact Of Content Courses On Pre-Service Elementary Teachers’ Mathematical Content Knowledge, Michael Matthews, Janice Rech, Neal Grandgenett

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

In response to research documenting the mathematical deficiencies of pre-service elementary teachers, many teacher preparation programs are requiring mathematical content courses specifically focusing on the mathematics taught at the elementary level. This study considers what impact two such courses (one course focusing on Arithmetic, and the other course focusing on Geometry and Measurement) had on the mathematical content knowledge and attitude towards mathematics by comparing a group of pre-service elementary teachers who took these courses to a group of pre-service elementary teachers who took only a more general mathematics course (such as College Algebra). Results indicated that those teachers who …

Midlands Voices: Student Literacy Gets Major Boost, Charles Johanningsmeier, Sarah K. Edwards

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

A glance at local and national media might lead one to believe there’s little good news about secondary schools and the literacy skills of their students: Low test scores. Few students reading for pleasure. Their inability to think incisively or write coherently.

Here in the metropolitan Omaha area, however, there is a major effort under way to support the reading and writing skills for high school and middle school students.

For the past year, an organization called METLink — a partnership of UNO’s College of Education and College of Arts and Sciences with area middle and high schools — has …

Formative Feedback: Involving Students As Partners In Assessment To Enhance Learning, Jarene Fluckiger, Yvonne Tixier Y Vigil, Rebecca J. Pasco, Kathy Everts Danielson

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Planning time for giving students effective feedback is an important and challenging aspect of the teaching and learning process. In our article we describe and analyze how we engage students as partners in providing formative feedback in time for students to modify their own thinking or behavior to improve learning. We have found ways to provide formative feedback more frequently and to involve students in providing effective formative feedback to each other. The four techniques we describe are the following: a) three-color group quiz with feedback on product, process, and progress; b) midterm student conferencing; c) shared revision of student …

“Grounded” Technology Integration: Instructional Planning Using Curriculum-Based Activity Type Taxonomies, Judith B. Harris, Mark J. Hofer, Denise A. Schmidt, Margaret R. Blanchard, Neal Grandgenett, Marcela Van Olphen

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK or TPACK) – the highly practical professional educational knowledge that enables and supports technology integration – is comprised of teachers’ concurrent and interdependent knowledge of curriculum content, general pedagogy, and technological understanding. Teachers’ planning – which expresses teachers’ professional knowledge (including TPACK) in pragmatic ways -- is situated, contextually sensitive, routinized, and activity-based. To assist with technology integration, therefore, we suggest using what is understood from research about teachers’ knowledge and instructional planning to form an approach to curriculum-based technology integration that is predicated upon teachers combining technologically supported learning activity types selected from content-keyed …

Generous Leadership, Lana Danielson, Saundra Shillingstad

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Dr. Lana Danielson currently serves as my Department Chair in the Teacher Education Department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. We served together as colleagues prior to her becoming my Department Chair seven years ago (2003). The theme of the Bulletin's Summer 2010 issue is "Educators and Changing Times." Over the years I have had the opportunity to observe first-hand the ways in which Dr. Danielson has utilized the knowledge and skills she shares with her students as their educator and how she continuously applies her wealth of experience in the classroom to her role as leader and mentor.

Improving Student Attitudes About Science By Integrating Research Into The Introductory Chemistry Laboratory: Interdisciplinary Drinking Water Analysis, Dana Richter-Egger, James P. Hagan, Fredric C. Laquer, Neal Grandgenett, Robert Duncan Shuster

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

The integration of student research into a general chemistry laboratory and an environmental geology course has been evaluated for its effectiveness to improve (i) student attitudes about science and chemistry, (ii) student understanding of the nature of experimental science and the scientific method, and (iii) student perceptions of the application of science and the interdisciplinary nature of science. Students in introductory science courses frequently devote all or most of their time and effort to learning basic laboratory techniques by following predefined procedures that have intentionally predictable outcomes. Though this longstanding model of laboratory structure is an important means of effectively …

Impact Of Robotics And Geospatial Technology Interventions On Youth Stem Learning And Attitudes, Gwen Nugent, Bradley S. Barker, Neal Grandgenett, Viacheslav I. Adamchuk

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

This study examined the impact of robotics and geospatial technologies interventions on middle school youth’s learning of and attitudes toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Two interventions were tested. The first was a 40-hour intensive robotics/GPS/GIS summer camp; the second was a 3-hour event modeled on the camp experiences and intended to provide an introduction to these technologies. Results showed that the longer intervention led to significantly greater learning than a control group not receiving the instruction, whereas the short-term intervention primarily impacted youth attitude and motivation. Although the short-term intervention did not have the learning advantages of a …

A Kindergarten For The 21st Century, Nebraska Department Of Education, Westside Community Schools, Umo N Ho N Nation Public Schools, Lexington Public Schools, Omaha Public Schools, Head Start-State Collaboration Office, Marjorie Kostelnik, M. Susan Mcwilliams, Lincoln Public Schools, Gordon-Rushville Public Schools, Red Cloud, Northeast Professional Development Partnership, Nebraska State Board Of Education, District 5, Beatrice Public Schools, Platte Valley Professional Development Partnership

Faculty Books and Monographs

Called to action by parents, teachers, administrators, and other early childhood professionals in Nebraska, the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE), Office of Early Childhood began the process of revising the Kindergarten Position Statement in 2007. NDE’s previous Kindergarten Position Statement was written in 1984 and was a landmark document in the world of kindergarten, not only in Nebraska, but nationwide. The revision of this statement reinforces the expectation of providing high quality experiences for all children to help them reach their full potential, regardless of individual circumstances. The intent of this document is to provide a summary of information about …

Testing A Tpack-Based Technology Integration Assessment Rubric, Judith B. Harris, Neal Grandgenett, Mark Hofer

Teacher Education Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Although there is ever-increasing emphasis on integrating technology in teaching, there are few well-tested and refined assessments to measure the quality of this integration. The few measures that are available tend to favor constructivist approaches to teaching, and thus do not accurately assess the quality of technology integration across a range of different teaching approaches. We have developed a more “pedagogically inclusive” instrument that reflects key TPACK concepts and that has proven to be both reliable and valid in two successive rounds of testing. The instrument’s interrater reliability coefficient (.857) was computed using both Intraclass Correlation and a score agreement …

Principal Led In-Class Positive Behavioral Support Intervention, David Lavender, John W. Hill

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Results of this one-year study supported the use of an in-class behavioral intervention program that allowed 8th-grade students to reclaim themselves after verbally disruptive behavioral incidences with direct principal led administrator assistance resulting in student return to differentiated individualized instructional classroom activities. Students involved in a second verbally disruptive incident in the classroom were identified for intervention. Academic and behavioral improvement noted for verbally disruptive students with co-occurring below grade level reading test scores (n = 23) and verbally disruptive students with grade level reading scores (n = 12) suggests continued use of this intervention. All participants were in attendance …

A Community Coalition Promotes Family Literacy With Story Celebrations, M. Susan Mcwilliams

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

A coalition is typically formed between individuals or groups to bring unique strengths together in a cooperative manner to address a common cause. In our community, an alliance was formed to raise public consciousness about the impact of family reading on children's literacy development. As a coalition, we planned, organized and funded literacy-related events or story celebrations in multiple locations throughout the community. In this article, I describe and provide rationale for creating a coalition that advocates for family literacy.

Grounded Technology Integration In Mathematics, Neal Grandgenett, Judi Harris, Mark Hofer

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Teachers today can choose from a variety of technologies for teaching mathematics. Drill-and-practice software, virtual manipulatives, real-life data sets, interactive geometry programs, graphing calculators, robots, and computer-based laboratories are just a few of the options available. But it can be difficult for mathematics teachers to know just which technologies to choose to support student learning in particular lessons.

One way to help teachers integrate technologies effectively is to match technology integration strategies to how teachers plan, rather than asking teachers to plan instruction that exploits the opportunities offered by particular educational technologies. For more information, see our previous article ( …

The Use Of Robotics, Gps And Gis Technologies To Encourage Stem-Oriented Learning In Youth, Viacheslav I. Adamchuk, Gwen Nugent, Bradley S. Barker, Neal Grandgenett

Teacher Education Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

In our technology rich world, the educational areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) play an increasingly essential role in developing well-prepared specialists for the 21st century workplace. Unfortunately, interest in theses areas has been declining for a few decades. Various innovative educational initiatives in formal and informal learning environments have been undertaken nationally to attempt to encourage STEM-oriented learning. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the particular program described in this paper focuses on middle school youth in non-formal learning environments. The program integrates educational robotics, Global Positioning System (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) technologies to provide …

Using Robotics To Equip K-12 Teachers: Silicon Prairie Initiative For Robotics In Information Technology (Spirit), Alisa Gilmore, Bing Chen, Neal Grandgenett

Teacher Education Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

The Silicon Prairie Initiative for Robotics in Information Technology (SPIRIT) is a unique collaborative effort between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) College of Engineering, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) College of Education, and the local Omaha Public Schools (OPS) system. With funding from an NSF ITEST grant, from 2006 – 2008 the initiative recruited and trained 97 math and science middle school teachers through summer workshops and follow-up sessions during the school year, with the goal of equipping teachers in hands-on engineering design principles and providing curriculum development support for STEM instruction. The centerpiece of the training was …

A New Model Of 4-H Volunteer Development In Science, Engineering, And Technology Programs, Bradley S. Barker, Neal Grandgenett, Gwen Nugent

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

New initiatives centered on science, engineering, and technology (SET) in 4-H may be moving away from the long-established adult volunteer delivery model. This shift in delivery may be due to a lack of availability of adult volunteers who possess the necessary SET competencies to effectively lead 4-H clubs. One way to offset this trend may be to blend traditional face-to-face training with continuous training efforts that include asynchronous on-line training modules, synchronous Web-based meetings, and self-directed learning. This new 4-H SET Volunteer Competencies Training Model is being tested in the Nebraska 4-H Robotics and GPS/GIS program.

Reading And Responding To Children’S Books About Bullying, Kathy Everts Danielson, Jan Labonty

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Which of the following scenarios is an example of bullying?

A. Older boys repeatedly steal a second-grader’s lunch money.
B. A group of girls start and perpetuate vicious rumours about a shy classmate.
C. On a daily basis, a boy makes fun of a peer’s old-fashioned clothes.
D. During recess, bigger kids push, shove, and taunt smaller children.
E. All of the above.

If you guessed E, you not only know a lot about test construction, you also understand the classic definition of bullying: “Bullying is a deliberate attempt to hurt another that is repeated over time,” (Craig, 1997, p. …

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.

Examining 4-H Robotics And Geospatial Technologies In The Learning Of Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics Topics, Bradley S. Barker, Gwen Nugent, Neal Grandgenett

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

The study reported here investigated the use of educational robotics, paired with GPS and GIS geospatial technologies, as a context for learning selected concepts in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics within a 4-H camp setting. The study involved 38 students between the ages of 11 to 15. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used in the study, with a 29-question multiple-choice instrument targeting various academic topics. The results of the study suggest that the 4-H robotics and geospatial summer camp program is a promising approach for supporting STEM-related learning, as represented by a significant increase of means from pretest to posttest.

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 …