Education Commons^™

The Effects Of A Historical Perspective Taking Scenario Activity On Classroom Discussion, William Gary Cole

Doctoral Dissertations

This quasi-experimental, mixed-methods case study examined the effects of perspective taking on the discussion skills of one group of 9^th grade World History students. Specifically, this study investigated the impacts of a historical perspective taking scenario activity on student participation in discussions, quality of discussions, student learning from discussions, teacher perceptions of discussions, and student and teacher enjoyment of discussions. The methods used to assess these impacts were classroom observations, frequency counts, teacher interviews, a student focus group interview, and document analysis.

Results indicated that the use of a historical perspective taking scenario activity produced a dramatic increase in …

Career-Focused Course Sequencing And Retention To Graduation In A Tennessee Community College, Samuel S. Rowell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify course sequencing associated with Industrial Technology Associate of Applied Science students who persisted to graduation at Northeast State Community College (NSCC) in Blountville, TN. The participants in this study were first-time full-time freshman Advanced Technology students whose 3-year program of study at NSCC happened during the years of 2009-2012, 2010-2013, and 2011-2014. Participants were divided into 2 groups, students who graduated (completers) and students who did not graduate (noncompleters). The researcher examined student persistence to graduation. Data for this study were obtained from the college’s information database.

The predictive variables used included …

Implementing Schema-Based Instruction In The Elementary Classroom (Project), Claire B. Lim

Honorable Mentions

Solving mathematical word problems is an ongoing problem for students with both reading and math learning disabilities (Powell, 2011). As more and more students with learning disabilities are included in the general education classroom, teachers must differentiate instruction to benefit all learners. The current strategies emphasized in textbooks are misleading and too general for students who struggle (Jitendra, 2008). Schema-based instruction is an alternative problem solving strategy, which requires students to identify the underlying structure (schema) which each word problem belongs, to translate important information to a diagram, and then to solve the problem. This project uses cognitive theory as …

Raising Creativity Consciousness In Post-Secondary Education, Dixie E. Hudson Mrs.

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Abstract

The knowledge of creativity, what it is, and how one applies it, is a valuable tool that all post-secondary students should be taught. Understanding and managing creativity is one of the most significant competitive advantages of business leaders, entrepreneurs, and students. With the current fast-paced changes in our lives and workplace today, creativity is becoming as necessary a tool as any life skill.

The knowledge and skill of creativity should be taught as a core competency in post-secondary institutions. Most students have had minimal if any training in deliberate creativity. In many cases, it may have in fact been …

Proposal For A Business Communication Collateral Within The Hcb Management Department, Sara C. Moncier

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Latina Mothers' Expectations And Perceptions About A Dual Language Education In The Rio Grande Valley, Rosalinda A. Cobarrubias

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The initial purpose of this study was to identify Latino parents’ expectations and perceptions of a dual language program in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. All of the Latino parents of children in one dual language program were invited to participate in the study. The parents who agreed to participate in the study were all mothers. Consequently, only the perceptions and expectations of Latina mothers were explored. The chosen method of this study was qualitative research to explore the expectations and perceptions of the dual language program of twenty Latina mothers of Mexican descent. There were eleven English dominant Latina …

Ideological Becoming : Intern Teachers' Experience Of Becoming Culturally Responsive Teachers., Sonya Burton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explored the ways that teachers on an intern license who have been recruited by a Teacher Recruitment program experience ideological becoming into culturally responsive teachers in the Four Corners region of the United States. Bakhtin’s theories on ideological becoming and authoritative and internally persuasive discourses frame this study with emphasis on the experiences that caused intern teachers tension and helped them make culturally responsive teaching practices an internally persuasive discourse. I used narrative inquiry methodology to discern intern teachers’ stories and experiences. I interviewed 5 intern teachers teaching in elementary classrooms in the Four Corners region of the …

An Analysis Of The Correlation Between Act Scores And One-To-One Computing, Jeffrey Brian Heath

Dissertations

This study examined whether a relationship exists between one-to-one computing and student achievement, specifically ACT scores. This study also examined whether relationships exist among teachers’ perceptions of one-to-one computing, teachers’ years of experience, subjects taught by teachers, teachers’ skill level in the use of a computer for instruction, and teachers’ perceptions of changes in ACT scores. The results of this study could help policymakers and educators with decisions regarding implementation of one-to-one computing programs.

The sample of schools for investigating the relationship between one-to-one computing and ACT scores consisted of 33 secondary public schools with one-to-one computing programs located in …

Student Perceptions: Teaching And Learning With Open Educational Resources, Janet L. Rowell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze factors that may contribute to student perceptions of courses using Open Educational Resources (OER). Specifically, the 6 independent variables tested were the course discipline, age, gender, course delivery mode, enrollment status, and number of credit hours taken. The dependent variables were measured as mean scores of 6 OER perception dimensions: motivation to learn, quality of learning experience, value of OER, cognitive learning, affective learning, and course quality. A 27-item online survey was administered to gather data from students enrolled in a course that used OER in the fall semester, 2014. There was …

Determining The Academic Achievement Of English Language Learners (Ells) By Using Additional Measures Of Growth, Adriana Maria Marin

Dissertations

Accountability measures employed in the country to determine the academic achievement of all the student population rely solely on the results obtained on the standardized tests. Such measures have often placed English language learners’ (ELLs) at risk of academic failure despite the fact that research on second language acquisition (SLA) has stated the complexity involved in the learning/acquisition process of a target language. Scholars have also discussed the influence accountability measures and the issues with the validity of the tests implemented to assess ELLs may have on such results. Therefore, in an effort to obtain a more comprehensive idea of …

The Influence Of Curriculum Customization On Grade 3 Student Achievement In Language Arts And Mathematics In New Jersey’S 30 Poorest School Districts, Michael Deturo

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose for my correlational cross-sectional study was to explore the influences of proximal and distal forces on curriculum development and how it affects student achievement as it pertains to NJ ASK Grade 3. I sought to determine the strength and direction of the relationships between curriculum customization at the local level and student achievement on the NJ ASK 3 in Mathematics and Language Arts. Seventy-four elementary principals were surveyed pertaining to development, design, and implementation of their curriculum.

Applying Systems Theory As A Lens On Teacher And Student Perceptions Of Assessment And Feedback In An Intensive English Program, Thomas A. Germain

MA TESOL Collection

The goal of this project was to apply systems theory, or more generally, systems thinking as a lens on the perceptions of teachers, students, and administrators who work together at an intensive English program (IEP). This goal necessitated a two-part project: a review of pertinent literature on systems theory and a limited qualitative study situated at the IEP. Sixteen participants, including seven teachers (more than half of the current faculty), two teacher/administrators, and seven students from different levels within the program, were invited to participate. The primary focus of the study was on participants’ awareness of and attitudes about two …

A Textbook Case: The Connection Between Textbooks, Standardized Testing, And Student Achievement, Megan P. Miller

Theses & Honors Papers

The textbooks physical presence, though, is marginal compared to their theoretical presence, as textbooks can drive almost every decision a teacher makes when preparing for a day, a week, a month, the year. For example, in my 11^th-grade English classes at Grafton High School in York County, Virginia, there are two levels of understanding. One is that I am teaching American literature, its development, importance, people, and purpose; the other is that everything I teach will, in some way, better prepare my students for their SOL test at the end of the year. The textbook has been laid …

What Does It Mean For A Teacher To Bring The Whole Person To The Classroom? Reflections And Strategies To Access The Authentic Self And Connect With The Energy Of Joy In The Classroom Learning Experience, Arline M. H. Saturdayborn

MA TESOL Collection

Since I began teaching 10 years ago, I have been summoned by an energy, a vitality that is guiding me. Most days when I walk into the classroom, no matter what is going on in my life, I connect with an energy that makes my heart feel full, brings my whole body alive and fills me with joy. This thesis is an investigation of what I experience when I enter the classroom. I love the energy I have in the classroom. I don’t think it is special to me. I think this energy is available to anyone, if they are …

Navigating The Interim, Joseph E. Saphire Jr

Masters Theses

Navigating the Interim attempts to build a framework for the ways in which visual art, media studies, and forms of social practice might intermingle within a career in the arts, as well as within a thorough art education curriculum. From broad theoretical analysis to the specificity of technical exercises and prompts, this paper serves as a roadmap for the ways in which production, teaching, and organizing might begin to merge into a single holistic practice. The author’s projects provide an anchor from which to analyze the various conceptual trajectories of art that have stemmed from modernism throughout the 20th century, …

High Quality Visual Arts Education K-8, The Student, The Principal, And The Teacher, Patricia A. Hayes

Education Dissertations

The national infrastructure of arts education shows continued rhetorical support, updated visual art standards, attributes in 21^st century learning frameworks, and research affirming arts disciplines as a core subject still valued today. Concerns from the past, however, show and continue to portend a cloudy future for visual arts education against high profile national standards and high stakes assessments focused on mathematics, language arts, and science. This study provides four views of visual arts education: (a) current research, advocacy, and national and state standards supporting sustained high-quality visual arts education (HQVAE); (b) a renewed look at the Discipline-Based Art Education …

Exploring English Language Learners' Identity Negotiation In A Sixth Grade English Language Arts Classroom, Carolina G. Lopez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Secondary schools in the United States are filled with English language learners. The large amount of English Language Learners (ELLs) represent a diverse population with unique academic trajectories and language needs. The diversity among ELLs requires an examination of ELLs’ identity, as it relates to literacy development and achievement. This qualitative study explores how different types of ELLs negotiate identities in an English language arts classroom. Specifically, how different types of ELLs’ perceptions as readers and writers impact identity negotiation is analyzed. The study takes place in a sixth grade English language arts classroom in deep South Texas. It is …

Effects Of Intervention On Self-Regulated Learning For Second Language Learners, Lu Yu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of the study were to investigate the process of self-regulated learning and the effects of an intervention program on self-regulated learning designed for second language (L2) learners. 120 participants who were sophomores majoring in English education at a university in an Asian country were randomly assigned to either the experimental group or control group. The self-regulated learning intervention was composed of six weekly two-hour training sessions that focus on five main variables of self-regulatory process: goal setting, self-efficacy, time and study environment management, language learning strategies, and attribution. The operation of self-regulated learning processes in the context of …

Differentiation Revealed: A Multiple-Methods Qualitative Study On The Implementation Of Differentiated Instruction In A Mixed-Ability Elementary Classroom, Curtis James Cunningham

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Differentiated instruction as a philosophical approach to teaching has been around for decades. In recent weeks differentiation has come under fire as being an approach to teaching that is simply too difficult for teachers to implement. While teachers may attend a workshop or take a graduate class on the topic of differentiation and choose not to embrace the philosophy, there are also teachers who have successfully implemented differentiation. The argument against differentiation is based on the amount of effort required to simultaneously implement all components of differentiation.

To address these concerns the following question provided guidance for the present multi-method …

Training Model For Incorporating Interactive Whiteboards Into The K-12 Classroom, Elizabeth G. Jamerson

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

School divisions have been implementing interactive whiteboards, as well as other instructional technologies, in ever-increasing numbers with the intent to improve student performance. The benefits of these technologies have been hotly debated, with some researchers claiming that interactive whiteboards improve student achievement, while others claim that the technologies have no effect on student progress. Other researchers concluded that interactive whiteboards are tools which can improve student achievement only if they are used effectively. Research has further suggested that teachers need high quality professional development that incorporates both formal and informal elements to assist teachers incorporate interactive whiteboards into the K-12 …

The Effects Of Encoding Strategy Training On Foreign Language Learning, Olla Najah Al-Shalchi

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Vocabulary of a language makes up approximately 75% of comprehension (Nagy & Scott), and researchers agree that learning vocabulary is more effective when learners are given strategies to learn the vocabulary (Cheng, 2011; Lee, Lim, & Grabowski, 2010; Liu, 2010; Teow, Ismail, & Kabilan, 2010). Research will allow instructional designers to determine what strategies work best for different groups of learners while taking into consideration the amount perceived workload to ensure that it is not too much or too little.

The purpose of this study was to compare the keyword and context strategies with learners enrolled in various undergraduate Arabic …

Does Teacher Behavior Change In Middle School Math Classes When Teachers Receive Instructional Coaching Using Bug-In-Ear Technology?, Ellen L. Browning

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate if there is a relationship between the use of immediate feedback provided through instructional coaching and teacher behaviors shown to improve student achievement. Specifically this study used a time-series nonequivalent control group design to explore the relationship between instructional coaching using Bug-In-Ear (BIE) technology and teacher frequency of the following behaviors: (a) teacher use of technology-enhanced choral response as part of completed three-term contingency trials, (b) the high-access strategy of choral response versus the low-access strategy of call-outs and blurt-outs, (c) re-directs, reprimands, and behavior-specific praise statements. Measures of student engagement and …

The Danielson Model Of Teacher Evaluation: Exploring Teacher Perceptions Concerning Its Value In Shaping And Improving Instructional Practice, Jonathan Tyler Moss

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Since the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983, the school reform movement has offered many contrasting ideas and initiatives to make our nation’s schools more effective and globally competitive. Today’s educational leaders are faced with an array of complex demands as they are challenged at the state and federal level to improve teacher practices and learning outcomes within their schools. One of those demands for New Jersey administrators was to implement a teacher evaluation program that improves teaching and learning during the 2013-2014 school year. Mielke and Frontier (2012) believe that meaningful teacher evaluation has the potential …

Exploring The Use Of Teaching Strategies To Impact The Academic And Social Challenges Faced By First-Generation College Students, Susan Smierciak Lueders

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Recent studies have shown that roughly one-third of the total students at four-year universities are the first in their families to attend college. These students are commonly referred to as first-generation college (FGC) students. The percent of total college students who are FGC students is expected to rise as the children of working-class, predominantly “blue collar” baby boomers, and the children of immigrants reach college age and enter the college arena. However, these students often enter college with unique academic and social challenges that result in an attrition rate of almost twice that of non- FGC students. While numerous studies …

Instructional Technology And Self-Directed Learning For Students' Academic Success, Vincent Demetrious Wiggins

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Student achievement in the public education system of the United States is ranked substantially lower compared to other countries. One of the initiated goals proposed by the United States government is to increase the number of college graduates by partnering with community colleges (Office of the Press Secretary, 2015). Community colleges are open enrollment institutions, which often assist students described as at-risk. To serve the community college population of students, special curricular strategies have been implemented.

One tool identified for meeting the goal of increasing college graduation for the population of students at-risk is utilization of instructional technology. Instructional technology, …

少壯不努力, 老大徒傷悲 (A Young Idler, An Old Beggar): Chinese Nationals In U.S. Classrooms And The Pedagogical Significance Of Globalization, Ann Marie Frkovich

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Over fifty thousand Chinese students are leaving China to study in US high schools. This interview-based, narrative inquiry study focuses on the experience of ten Chinese nationals now studying at a US high school and expands work done in comparative pedagogy by offering thick descriptions of the school experience in two cultures. This study makes the case that China’s changing culture is reflected in the stories and school histories of Chinese students who experience pedagogy as significantly different in China and the US. The push that drives students out of China includes high-stakes testing and public ranking systems and the …

Technical Communication As Teaching: A Grounded Theory Study Of Cognitive Empathy And Audience Engagement Among Computer Science Majors In A Technical Communication Classroom, Robert Michael Rowan

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a grounded theory study of empathy, ethical awareness, and audience engagement activities in students in a technical writing service course. The course was designed around an empathy-oriented approach to teaching technical writing and writing research. The students are primarily computer science majors, and the teaching methods include a genre and writing research approach as well as the use of an extended metaphor of technical communication as a form of teaching. Findings indicate that students respond to the metaphor by drawing upon positive and empathetically-informed models of teachers and teaching to guide how they would work with and …

Promoting Computer Science With Video Games: Teaching Object-Oriented Programming Through Unity, Dylan Graves

Computer Engineering

In recent years, the demand for people educated in computer science has continued to grow as the possible applications of software expand. For this reason, it is important to not only offer young adults the ability to learn computer science, but also to intrigue them with interesting and engaging applications of computer science. Organizations, such as the CollegeBoard and Exploring Computer Science, have been working to make computer science education more available and desirable to younger audiences. This project contributes to these goals by creating and implementing a curriculum for teaching object-oriented programming to high school students through video game …

Water Filtration Lesson Plan For Ag In Motion, Kelly C. Dawkins

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to create a new lesson plan for the Ag in Motion program. The Ag in Motion program brings science activities to middle schools that may not have the resources to provide hands-on laboratory activities. The organization suggested developing an activity regarding water and its properties. A water filtration activity was developed by working with the Director of Ag in Motion and conducting research regarding hands-on learning. The lesson plan was designed to meet Next Generation Science Standards and show students the importance of clean water supplies. This lesson plan includes a materials and procedure …

How Instructional Strategies Engaged Fourth Graders In Math Learning, Ryan Wallace Patrie

All Theses And Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of fourth-grade learners in a math classroom, how fourth graders express their interest and desire to learn math, and how different instructional strategies influence that interest and desire. The participants for this study were all fourth graders enrolled at a rural school district in Maine that serves approximately 1,200 learners in grades pre-kindergarten through Grade 6. Fifteen fourth graders provided the data to determine student perceptions on how they engage in math instruction. The findings of this study indicate strong relationships between instructional strategies and the self-determination theory of …