Education Commons^™

Tutor In A Bag: Reaching Struggling Readers, Lillian Hoskinson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Tutor in a Bag is a tutoring program designed to match novice adult tutors with struggling early readers. The program trains tutors with varied backgrounds to work with struggling readers using evidence-based instructional strategies and data collection methods. Tutors attended an initial training session to receive materials, practice each component of the lesson plan, and to receive fundamental training on use of reading games and strategies supporting solid reading instruction at a brisk pace. Each designated struggling reader was paired with a tutor for 10 weekly, thirty-minute sessions driven by each student’s individual needs. Support for the tutors was provided …

The Challenge: Magazine For The Center For Gifted Studies (No. 40, Fall 2016), Center For Gifted Studies, Tracy Inman Editor

Gifted Studies Publications

No abstract provided.

Fluency: A Steady Beat In The Making, Nicole Patton

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This honors thesis explores the literacy component of fluency and its instruction in the intermediate grades through the incorporation of Brain-based learning and the arts. Because reading fluency can affect other areas of reading, such as comprehension, it is important to build fluency skills through meaningful instruction. By exploring the best practices of fluency instruction, by understanding how the brain learns, and by recognizing how the arts can meet the needs of different learners, educators can alter and create instruction that challenges students’ reading ability in a unique way. A series of fluency lessons incorporating brain-based learning and the arts …

The Effects Of Community-Building On Achievement, Motivation, And Engagement In Undergraduate Mathematics, Hannak Keith

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This 2 x 2 quasi-experimental study examined the effects of pedagogical method (i.e., direct instruction vs. 5E inquiry) and intentional community-building (i.e., absence or presence) on undergraduate student (N = 103) motivation, engagement, and achievement in mathematics. Conditions were randomly assigned to one of four different College Algebra classes with a one-time occurrence and taught by a trained expert teacher. Findings indicated that intentional community-building – regardless of pedagogical method – had the strongest effects on students’ motivation, engagement, and achievement. Although no differing pedagogical effects were discovered (most likely due to the one-time implementation of the lesson formats), …

Testing The Effects Of Professional Development On Elementary Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs About Mathematics Inquiry Instruction, Courtney Inabnitt

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In this study, a professional development (PD) seminar was designed and implemented with elementary pre-service teachers (n=20) enrolled in a mathematics content course at a small Midwestern university. The central focus of the PD was on bringing inquiry, specifically the 5E model, into mathematics instruction at the elementary level. The structure of the PD followed the 5E model format and participants learned about inquiry through inquiry. The study utilized a pre-post-test design and measured participants’ knowledge about the 5E model and beliefs about using inquiry in elementary mathematics instruction. Statistically significant growth from pre-test to post-test appears in …

University College Connection Spring 2016, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley, University College

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

The Challenge: Magazine For The Center For Gifted Studies (No. 39, Spring 2016), Center For Gifted Studies, Tracy Inman Editor

Gifted Studies Publications

No abstract provided.

Students' Perceptions Of A Teacher Leader Master's Program, Evgenia Mauzy

Dissertations

Teacher leadership is one of the key components of school success. However, teacher leader education has not been the focus of research. This quantitative study explores the central research question: What are the perceptions of teachers completing the Western Kentucky University Masters of Art in Education (MAE) Teacher Leader Program regarding their level of professional preparation?

A Likert-type double matrix descriptive survey with correlational design covered students’ perceptions of level of professional preparation on a 5-point scale at the beginning and the end of the program for the ten MAE Program Standards. All data were gathered from students in the …

Development Of A Questionnaire To Identify Barriers And Facilitators To Academic Careers For Women In Stem, Charles Leonard Bolton Iii

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this research was to develop a questionnaire to be used to identify barriers and facilitators to women faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) academics. The phenomenon known as the leaky pipeline, a theoretical model describing why women are underrepresented in STEM disciplines, was examined. Women have long been underrepresented in STEM professions despite an increase in the number of women earning STEM degrees, suggesting women are faced with barriers that prevent them from achieving equal representation with men. The literature has identified several potential barriers, both historical and new, such as biological inequalities, family responsibilities, …

University College Connection Winter 2016, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley, University College

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

The Challenge: Magazine For The Center For Gifted Studies (No. 38, Winter 2016), Center For Gifted Studies, Tracy Inman Editor

Gifted Studies Publications

No abstract provided.