Education Commons^™

Exploring The First Year Of Teaching Through Focus Group Discussions, Ethno-Mimesis, A/R/Tography, And Performance Ethnography, Marilyn F. Cullen-Reavill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United States is focusing on the important and worthy goal of no child being left behind and in order to accomplish this goal, we must ensure that no teacher, including the first-year teacher, is left behind. This study explores the experiences of three first-year teachers on a monthly basis and uncovers the successes, challenges, supports, and needs that they encounter.

Five research questions guided this study: 1. What are the experiences of a group of first-year teachers and in what ways were these experiences challenging, supportive, or detrimental? 2. What are the benefits for the first-year teachers in meeting …

(De)Composing A Garden For Children's Play, Debra Jean Deverell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Kindergarten has been a part of the educational landscape of the United States since 1856, when the first kindergarten opened in Watertown, Wisconsin. If we fast-forward more than a century and a half to the present, it is clear that the landscape composition of the garden-ideologically, culturally, socially, and politically for children's play has drastically changed.

The purpose of this study, (De)Composing a Garden for Children's Play, is to examine kindergartners' play set against changing school polices and practices of recent years in one Colorado school district. Four research questions guided this inquiry:

1. What does kindergarten look like …

Community College Student Participation In Undergraduate Research: An Explanatory Case Study For Faculty And Research Mentors, Dana L. Peterson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study adapted the current model of science undergraduate research experiences (URE's) and applied this novel modification to include community college students. Numerous researchers have examined the efficacy of URE's in improving undergraduate retention and graduation rates, as well as matriculation rates for graduate programs. However, none have detailed the experience for community college students, and few have employed qualitative methodologies to gather relevant descriptive data from URE participants. This study included perspectives elicited from both non-traditional student participants and the established laboratory community. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the traditional model for a …

Bridging Policy And Education: How Elementary Students Are Impacted By Reform Efforts, Kristen E. Bunn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on how state policies that encourage school reform impact student experience. The paper demonstrates what students in these reformed schools experience and what lessons we can learn from their experiences. In particular, the research focuses on engagement levels and the matching of intentions to student propensities. A goal of the paper is to help bridge the policy and educational worlds by shedding light on what is happening in four school-of-choice classrooms.

A mixed methodology is used; data from an Educational Connoisseurship and Criticism, an engagement measure, and interviews are triangulated. The research was conducted at two school-of-choice …

The Effects Of Computer-Assisted Repeated Readings On The Reading Performance Of Middle School Students With Mild Intellectual Disabilities, Mark Cerasale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has mandated that all public school students will be reading at grade level by the 2013-2014 school year. Florida has embarked on an agenda to ensure that the kindergarten through high school student population is reading at or above grade level by 2014. Many of Florida's low-performing student population, including middle school students with high incidence disabilities, are reading below grade level. Using a multiple baseline across subjects design, this study examined the impact of computer-assisted repeated readings on the reading performance of three middle school students with mild intellectual disabilities over …

Character Education: Examining The Perceptions Of Elementary, Middle, And High School Teachers In A Central Florida School District, Jason Ampel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While schools are academic institutions to prepare our country's youth for their future, developing a child's character and civic responsibilities is necessary and is often deleted from the explicit curriculum set forth in most school districts throughout the country. This study investigated the perception of character education of teachers in a Central Florida school district, as it related to teacher importance, teacher efficacy, and teacher practice of character education. This study investigated the responses of 497 classroom teachers surveyed within one Central Florida school district. The questionnaire used in this study was designed to illuminate teacher perceptions of character education, …

Interrater Reliability Of Psychomotor Skill Assessment In Athletic Training, Jason Craddock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Assessment in athletic training education is an evolutionary process that is determined by each individual Athletic Training Education Program. The autonomy authorized by national accreditation standards allows academic programs to determine the appropriate assessment practices that facilitate the meeting of student learning outcomes. Even with autonomy, formative and summative techniques are to be employed in both the didactic and clinical arenas of athletic training education programs. The major objective of athletic training education is to prepare students for entry-level practice in athletic training. The purpose of this study was to assess interrater reliability of athletic training faculty and approved clinical …

Assessment Practices Inelementary Visual Art Classrooms, Jennifer Betz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the attitudes and usages of assessment methods by elementary visual art teachers in two southeastern school districts. Data consisted of responses to a mailed survey instrument that included relevant demographic information pertaining to respondent's educational preparation experiences, tabulation of classroom activities, assessment usage, and a construct set of questions which addressed an attitudinal scale about the effectiveness of evaluation and measurement within their visual art classrooms. The primary focus of attitudinal orientation toward assessment centered upon the types of role models respondents encountered regarding assessment during initial teacher preparation and the …

Are Approaches To Teaching And/Or Student Evaluation Of Instruction Scores Related To The Amount Of Faculty Formal Eduational Co, Kristen Schellhase

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate if there are correlations among an instructor's approach to teaching, student evaluation of instruction outcomes, and the amount of formal coursework in education a teacher has completed. Three research questions provided the focus for the study: (1) to determine if there is a correlation between the number of formal educational courses taken by athletic training educational program (ATEP) faculty and their approach to teaching; (2) to determine if there is a correlation between the amount of formal educational courses taken by ATEP faculty and their students' evaluations of instruction; and (3) to …

The Effect Of The Dove Evolution Film As A One-Shot Media Literacy Treatment, Daniel Wheeler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of the Dove Evolution film as a one-shot media literacy treatment to change sociocultural attitudes toward appearance. Four speech classes at the University of Central Florida were used in a Solomon four-group design. Group 1 received a posttest; Group 2 received a pretest and a posttest; Group 3 received the treatment and posttest; and Group 4 received the pretest, treatment and posttest. The treatment consisted of the Dove Evolution film, a viral video introduced in 2006 by Dove as part of its Campaign for Real Beauty. The film has received …

Content And Citation Analysis Of Interdesciplinary Humanities Textbooks Within A Framework Of Curriculum Theory, Julie Guidera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to analyze the content of textbooks used in undergraduate survey courses in interdisciplinary humanities to understand the content of the curriculum and how an author's viewpoint shapes the product. By enumerating the texts and images authors and their publishers used to illustrate 20th century culture and the transition into the 21st century, the analysis generated a description of the range of perspectives from traditional to postmodern found in six sampled textbooks. Textbook content provided chronological data, while authors' source citations established identity properties of the works' contributors. Through a ranking system of authors' treatment …

Towards A Critical Coaching Curriculum, Hunter M. Chadwick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract: This historical case study utilizes Critical Discourse Analysis in order to investigate its availability or absence within American football coaching curriculum outside of the traditional education setting. The study examines texts written by or about football coaches to find where critical pedagogy exists and what it looks like within coaching curriculum. The research attempts to add to the conversation of critical pedagogy, critical theory and their use outside the classroom. Critical pedagogy is investigated in this study in order to add validity to its use within football coaching school curriculum. Critical theory is discussed as a positive element …

Military Children And Holistic Education: A Narrative Reflection On Classroom Practice, Edith Allison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation uses autobiographical narrative inquiry as a source of knowledge-generating reflection to examine how the educational needs of military children might be met through the use of holistic educational practices rather than a (well-intentioned) traditional, standardized curriculum. Data were gathered through observation; personal experience as a military child, military member, mother of military children and teacher of military children; journal entries and vicarious experiences shared by students, parents, educators and other invested in this population of learners. Experiences were compiled into fictional composites to protect the identity of all parties as well as national security. These composites were then …

High School Transformation: The Lived Experience Of Teachers Moving To Small Learning Environments, Reginald Lawrence

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract: Educators faced with a decline in student achievement and increases in dropout rates are seeking ways to provide the best possible educational environment for students (Oxley, 2005). High school transformation, also known as the small schools movement, is a reform that is gaining currency in the world of education (Meier, 2006). Alien (2001) observed that high school transformation is the process of altering the makeup of a large comprehensive high school, also known as a traditional high school, into small high schools or small learning communities at the same location. The teacher is the most important component of …

The Literary Coach As Instructional Leader: How Three Literacy Coaches In Rural Georgia Improve Teacher Practices, Carletha Y. Doyle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract: The bar has been raised on student achievement in the United States and on teaching quality as well. Compelling evidence confirms that a teacher's mastery of the academic content of what he or she teaches is critical to engaging students and inspiring them to academic excellence (Addey, 2000; Wilkinson, 2002). In order to truly impact instructional effectiveness, transformations must occur on the frontlines as teachers put research based theories into practice. A major obstacle facing literacy coaches and leadership teams is identifying an effective implementation model and practice that promotes and support high quality literacy instruction through direct, …