Education Commons^™

Active Critical Engagement (Ace): A Pedagogical Tool For The Application Of Critical Discourse Analysis In The Interpretation Of Film And Other Multimodal Discursive Practices, Sultana Aaliuah Shabazz

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a pedagogical framework for applying a critical discourse methodology in the analysis of film as a multimodal, narrative construct of social discourse. This orientation is grounded in a cultural studies perspective that recognizes the significance of popular culture and allows me to situate film as a discursive practice, pedagogical resource, and (re)producer of social knowledges. Once situated, the need arises for a systematic method of critical analysis that controls for the rich, discursive landscape of multimodal artifacts without succumbing to over-reduction. My original contribution - the Active Critical Engagement (ACE) framework – …

Analysis Of The Role Of Homework In Predicting And Improving Exam Performance, Charles E. Galyon

Doctoral Dissertations

Homework is one of many factors thought to improve students’ academic performance, given that homework provides a means for students not only to master course content, but also to develop valuable study habits, improve their time management, and learn to work independently. Unfortunately, college students commit considerably less time to homework than is conventionally thought necessary, and their answers to homework questions frequently indicate an erroneous and/or incomplete understanding of the course material. The current study examined relationships between potential predictors of and trends in exam performance in a large undergraduate educational psychology course. The relationship between homework completion, homework …

Thinking And Reading Among College Undergraduates: An Examination Of The Relationship Between Critical Thinking Skills And Voluntary Reading, Kimberly Tanner Hawkins

Doctoral Dissertations

Many scholars have weighed in on what it means to think critically. Although there has not been agreement on a clear definition for the term “critical thinking,” scholars have agreed on some common skills involved in critical thinking. These skills—inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, analysis, evaluation, and inference are the same ones involved in the ability to read and read well. While many studies have involved critical thinking in college students, none has examined critical thinking and its relationship to reading. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between voluntary reading, academic achievement (as measured by GPA), …

Balancing Student Participation In Large College Courses Via Randomized Credit For Participation, Daniel Fox Mccleary

Doctoral Dissertations

The current study was an extension of research reported by Krohn (2010), which showed that daily credit for self-reported participation in designated credit units tended to balance participation across students (i.e., fewer non-participants, more credit-level participants, and fewer dominant participants). The purpose of the current study was to determine if similar results would be achieved by randomly selecting half of the discussion days in designated credit units for participation credit.

The study was done in 3 large sections of an undergraduate class (approximately 54 students per class). Students self-recorded their in-class comments each day on specially designed record cards. At …

Inter-Rater Reliability And Related Variables Of A Newly Developed Measure Of Quality Of Student Participation, Lisa Nicole Edge

Doctoral Dissertations

Some researchers suggest that quality is preserved when students are rewarded for quantity of class participation (Boniecki & Moore, 2003; Bruss, 2009; Mainkar, 2007; Zaremba & Dunn, 2004); however, few studies have targeted the systematic assessment of participation quality. The primary purpose of the study was to develop a reliable system for rating quality of student participation, investigate whether quality of participation is preserved when students are given credit for the amount of class participation, and examine the relationship between participation quality and important course variables.

The researcher in the current study developed a rating system to evaluate the quality …