Education Commons^™

Engaging Every Student In American Government: A Vertical Learning Approach, Tatiana Schumacher

Graduate Research Showcase

This project is a research-based creative endeavor that aims to design an innovative high school course on American government. The course, titled “American Government: Thinking Classrooms,” has several unique and effective features. It promotes equity in the political science classroom by focusing on student assets, such as their cultural backgrounds, personal experiences, and interests. The course also incorporates social-emotional learning, helping students develop skills such as self-awareness, empathy, and collaboration. Culturally responsive teaching methods are utilized, connecting the content to the students’ lives, using diverse sources and perspectives, and fostering critical thinking. The course adopts Peter Liljedahl’s “building thinking classroom” …

The Thinking Classroom: High School Physics Reimagined, Donovan Baker

Graduate Research Showcase

This project is a research-based creative endeavor that reimagines high school physics education. It proposes “The Thinking Classroom: High School Physics Reimagined”, a novel course design that fosters equity, engagement, and learning in the physics classroom. The course design draws on various principles and practices, such as student assets, social-emotional learning, culturally responsive teaching, Peter Liljedahl’s “building thinking classroom” approach, project-based learning, formative feedback, brain-based learning, and AI personalization. The project shows how this course design can transform physics education and prepare students for the 21st century.

How To Spark Bio Curiosity: An Innovative High School Biology Curriculum, Audrie Charles

Graduate Research Showcase

This project is a researched creative endeavor focused around the creation of an exemplary high school biology course. This presentation will showcase an original high school biology curriculum designed to ignite students’ innate curiosity and empower meaningful learning of core concepts like cell structure, genetics, evolution and ecology. Students revisit key ideas through a spiral curriculum that builds complexity, tackling open-ended problems and collaborating on hands-on inquiries like formulating hypotheses, designing experiments, collecting data and drawing evidence-based conclusions. Tangible projects allow students to demonstrate content knowledge in addition to critical thinking abilities like synthesizing concepts, evaluating claims and applying learning …

Proactive Classroom Management In Elementary Music, Gregory Jacot

Graduate Research Showcase

The elementary music classroom is a different environment than the normal elementary classroom, and requires careful attention to classroom management. Rather than only focusing on reactive classroom management, teachers should consider using proactive strategies to enhance their teaching and the classroom experience. Building positive relationships with students, both in and out of the classroom, will make them more receptive to corrective actions if necessary, and building strong relationships with parents and guardians can help address individual challenges that may arise. Designing lessons with thought towards student interest, visuals, pacing, teacher proximity and participation, and physiological needs of students will help …

The Assessment Of The Program Theory And Processes Of Books For Keeps’ Literacy Mentoring Program, Allison Shaw

Graduate Research Showcase

The significance of reading proficiency is frequently emphasized by the time a student reaches the third grade. Third-grade reading proficiency serves as a crucial indicator of a student's potential success in high school and beyond, including college. Research indicates that a failure to attain grade-level reading proficiency by the third grade correlates with increased challenges in comprehending educational requirements and meeting the demands necessary for graduation.

This study focuses on the Books for Keeps Literacy Mentoring Program in Athens, Georgia, which is designed to cultivate supportive relationships between mentors and students, fostering enthusiasm for reading. The examination of the program …

Advocacy For Music Education Programs, Katelyn Gibson

Graduate Research Showcase

The main focus of this research is to provide strategies for raising awareness and promoting support for elementary music programs. This literature review seeks to empower music educators with specific strategies for gaining support for music education in a society where budget cuts are vast and the demand for improved test scores on standardized exams favors the increased attention to be placed on core subjects alone. Music education is proven to have many lasting benefits outside of music education alone. Key elements for creating and maintaining a successful program include; collaboration efforts, communication with stakeholders, community performances, highlighting the integration …

Pre-Calculus: Thinking Deeply About Simple Things, Jacob Carter

Graduate Research Showcase

“Pre-Calculus: Thinking Deeply About Simple Things” is a research-based creative endeavor focused on designing a high-school pre-calculus course. This course aims to foster deep, meaningful thinking, as well as an appreciation of the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the math classroom. The course leverages students’ funds of knowledge to employ culturally responsive teaching methods to connect mathematical concepts to the students’ backgrounds, interests, and real-life situations. This course also integrates social-emotional learning to create an engaging and supportive learning environment for all students. By combining Peter Liljedahl’s “Building Thinking Classroom in Mathematics” approach with problem-based learning, the course …