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2007

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Full-Text Articles in Education

Mirrors Reflecting Latinas' Realities In An Urban Community, Gabriela Díaz De Sabatés Sep 2007

Mirrors Reflecting Latinas' Realities In An Urban Community, Gabriela Díaz De Sabatés

Educational Considerations

What are the realities of Latina adult learners? This question guided the design of this research project. Utilizing a focus group approach, six Latinas in Kansas City, Kansas, had the opportunity to speak freely about themselves and to share their stories with each other.


Scrutinizing The Cybersell: Teen-Targeted Web Sites As Texts, Darren Crovitz Sep 2007

Scrutinizing The Cybersell: Teen-Targeted Web Sites As Texts, Darren Crovitz

Faculty and Research Publications

Darren Crovitz explains that the explosive growth of Web-based content and communication in recent years compels us to teach students how to examine the “rhetorical nature and ethical dimensions of the online world.” He demonstrates successful approaches to accomplish this goal through his analysis of the selling techniques of two Web sites targeted to a teen audience and his description of a project in which team members devise ways to teach students to consider the language and design elements of a selected site.


Assessing Online Discussion Forum Participation, Matthew Shaul Jul 2007

Assessing Online Discussion Forum Participation, Matthew Shaul

Faculty and Research Publications

As a socially constructive learning tool, discussion forums remain central to online education. They have continued to evolve in functionality, acquiring ever-increasing usability features. However, development has lagged in providing instructors the means to assess student work in forums. The author submits an overview of his software program that provides instructors with the means to evaluate forum work quickly, easily, and repeatedly. The software accomplishes this by accessing the forums' underlying database, searching for manifest and latent data, and calculating data associated with an array of metrics. This is a Web-based tool built on Open Source and standards-based languages, providing …


Deep Learning- A Reflection From The Regents' Academy, Grace S. Thomson Jun 2007

Deep Learning- A Reflection From The Regents' Academy, Grace S. Thomson

Dr. Grace S. Thomson

No abstract provided.


Teaching English In The Dominican Republic, Cassandra Craig May 2007

Teaching English In The Dominican Republic, Cassandra Craig

Senior Honors Projects

As thousands of immigrants and refugees are entering the U.S., and our school systems, each year, English as a second language (ESL) classes are becoming more and more necessary. As a future ESL teacher, it is crucial that I am aware of the wide variety of school environments from which they are coming. My curiosity brought me to Altamira, Dominican Republic, where I was able to experience first hand the school environment of my potential future students. Altamira is a small town located a half hour outside of Santiago, Dominican Republic. There, I was fortunate to stay with an extremely …


Ditcall-Slow: Slowing Native Speech For Language Learners, Dermot Campbell, Ciaran Mcdonnell, Yi Wang, Marty Meinardi, Bunny Richardson, Charles Pritchard May 2007

Ditcall-Slow: Slowing Native Speech For Language Learners, Dermot Campbell, Ciaran Mcdonnell, Yi Wang, Marty Meinardi, Bunny Richardson, Charles Pritchard

Conference papers

It is a common experience of many learners of a foreign language that native speakers (NSs) of that language speak too quickly for them to understand or imitate. Slowing down a segment of speech with older technology results in the familiar deepening of the voice as the pitch drops as well. The result is unpleasant and not particularly instructive. The DITCall-Slow tool slows recorded speech without tonal distortion, so that the learner has – literally – more time to hear what was said by the NS and, especially at slower playback speeds, can attend to the manner in which the …


Recreational Technology And Its Impact On The Learning Development Of Children Ages 4-8: A Meta-Analysis For The 21st Century Cl, Joey Templeton Jan 2007

Recreational Technology And Its Impact On The Learning Development Of Children Ages 4-8: A Meta-Analysis For The 21st Century Cl, Joey Templeton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on technology (specifically video games and interactive software games) and their effects on the cognitive development of children ages 4-8. The research will be conducted as a meta-analysis combining research and theory in order to determine if the educational approach to this age group needs to change/adapt to learners who have been affected by this technology. I will focus upon both the physical and mental aspects of their development and present a comprehensive review of current educational theory and practice. By examining current curriculum goals and cross-referencing them to research conducted in fields other than education (i.e. …


Does Increasing Biology Teacher Knowledge Of Evolution And The Nature Of Science Lead To Greater Advocacy For The Teaching Of Evolution In Schools?, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld Jan 2007

Does Increasing Biology Teacher Knowledge Of Evolution And The Nature Of Science Lead To Greater Advocacy For The Teaching Of Evolution In Schools?, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

This study investigated whether or not an increase in secondary science teacher knowledge about evolution and the nature of science gained from completing a graduate-level evolution course was associated with greater preference for the teaching of evolution in schools. Forty-four precertified secondary biology teachers participated in a 14-week intervention designed to address documented misconceptions identified by a precourse instrument. The course produced statistically significant gains in teacher knowledge of evolution and the nature of science and a significant decrease in misconceptions about evolution and natural selection. Nevertheless, teachers' postcourse preference positions remained unchanged; the majority of science teachers still preferred …


Does Increasing Biology Teacher Knowledge Of Evolution And The Nature Of Science Lead To Greater Advocacy For The Teaching Of Evolution In Schools?, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld Jan 2007

Does Increasing Biology Teacher Knowledge Of Evolution And The Nature Of Science Lead To Greater Advocacy For The Teaching Of Evolution In Schools?, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

This study investigated whether or not an increase in secondary science teacher knowledge about evolution and the nature of science gained from completing a graduate-level evolution course was associated with greater preference for the teaching of evolution in schools. Forty-four precertified secondary biology teachers participated in a 14-week intervention designed to address documented misconceptions identified by a precourse instrument. The course produced statistically significant gains in teacher knowledge of evolution and the nature of science and a significant decrease in misconceptions about evolution and natural selection. Nevertheless, teachers' postcourse preference positions remained unchanged; the majority of science teachers still preferred …


Pedagogical Agents As Learning Companions: The Impact Of Agent Emotion And Gender, Yanghee Kim, A. L. Baylor, E. Shen Jan 2007

Pedagogical Agents As Learning Companions: The Impact Of Agent Emotion And Gender, Yanghee Kim, A. L. Baylor, E. Shen

Yanghee Kim

The potential of emotional interaction between human and computer has recently interested researchers in human–computer interaction. The instructional impact of this interaction in learning environments has not been established, however. This study examined the impact of emotion and gender of a pedagogical agent as a learning companion (PAL) on social judgements, interest, self-efficacy, and learning. Two experiments investigated separately the effects of a PAL's emotional expression and empathetic response. Experiment 1 focused on emotional expression (positive vs. negative vs. neutral) and gender (male vs. female) with a sample of 142 male and female college students in a computer literacy course. …


The Use Of Teaching Portfolios For Academic Professional Development, Roisin Donnelly, Marian Fitzmaurice Jan 2007

The Use Of Teaching Portfolios For Academic Professional Development, Roisin Donnelly, Marian Fitzmaurice

Books/Book Chapters

This Postgraduate Certificate in Third Level Learning and Teaching is located in the Faculty of Academic Affairs in the Technological University Dublin (DIT) and is aimed at new and existing academic staff in third level institutions in the Republic of Ireland, including lecturers, librarians, and academic support staff, the latter two having responsibility for teaching in their areas. It was initially offered in 2000, and is continuing apace today, with currently over 90 academic staff having successfully graduated from the programme. The lecturers have been drawn from within DIT and a number of higher education institutions throughout the Republic of …


The Use Of Vee Diagrams With Third Graders As A Metacognitive Tool For Learning Science Concepts, Marino C. Alvarez, Victoria J. Risko Jan 2007

The Use Of Vee Diagrams With Third Graders As A Metacognitive Tool For Learning Science Concepts, Marino C. Alvarez, Victoria J. Risko

Teaching and Learning Faculty Research

No abstract provided.


Student Teachers And Critical Approaches To Education: Re-Imagining The 'Other' Through A Re-Imagining Of The Learning Environment, Gordon L. Brown Jan 2007

Student Teachers And Critical Approaches To Education: Re-Imagining The 'Other' Through A Re-Imagining Of The Learning Environment, Gordon L. Brown

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports on a teacher education initiative that seeks a more effective approach to a commonly used treatment of education foundations, particularly the sociology and philosophy of education. The initiative takes as its starting points a critique of education foundation practices in at least two universities and the standpoint that the main rationale for including education foundations is to (morally) influence learning outcomes in schools. The ‘vehicle’ or ‘mechanism’ for this re-conceptualisation is a developing theory of the Learning Environment, used by the author and others, which takes the Learning Environment to be not simply the location of learning …


Kinder Kids: Learning To Read In The 21st Century, Margaret Turner, Janice B. Turbill Jan 2007

Kinder Kids: Learning To Read In The 21st Century, Margaret Turner, Janice B. Turbill

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Children who enter kindergarten bring to the school environment, a wide range of abilities in reading. Prior literacy experiences in the home and the wider community have been shown to contribute towards these wide ranging abilities (Cairney & Munsie, 1992; Cairney & Ruge, 1997; Brown, 1998; Brooker, 2002; McNicol & Dalton, 2002; Manzo & Robelen, 2003). Our society today, though, is changing rapidly. Our task, therefore, as educators is to prepare our children to function in a future civilization created by the biggest leap in technology since the Industrial Revolution two centuries ago. We have entered a time when advances …


Exploring The Nardoo: Designing Problem-Based Learning Experiences For Secondary School Students, Susan J. Bennett Jan 2007

Exploring The Nardoo: Designing Problem-Based Learning Experiences For Secondary School Students, Susan J. Bennett

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This chapter examines how instructional designers work together in teams to solve problems. It examines the advantages and disadvantages of a team approach to instructional design. This case will explore how a team of instructional designers worked together to create Exploring the Nardoo, a multi-award winning CD-ROM developed by the University of Wollongong’s Educational Media Laboratory (emLab). The case describes key issues related to the design and development of the package from the perspective of a faculty-based multimedia unit, which was established with a strong emphasis on advancing research through innovations in design.


What Is An Authentic Learning Environment?, Anthony J. Herrington, Janice A. Herrington Jan 2007

What Is An Authentic Learning Environment?, Anthony J. Herrington, Janice A. Herrington

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Recent research and learning theory provides a wealth of thought, ideas and strategies to inform the design and implementation of learner-centered, realistic and effective learning environments. This chapter proposes guidelines for designing authentic learning environments for higher education that can be applied across a range of disciplines and in a variety of modes.


Implementing Authentic Tasks In Web-Based Learning Environments, Younghee Woo, Janice A. Herrington, Shirley Agostinho, Thomas C. Reeves Jan 2007

Implementing Authentic Tasks In Web-Based Learning Environments, Younghee Woo, Janice A. Herrington, Shirley Agostinho, Thomas C. Reeves

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

The instructor’s inclusion of authentic activities improves the quality of student interaction and learning in online classrooms.


Representing Authentic Learning Designs Supporting The Development Of Online Communities Of Learners, Ron Oliver, Anthony J. Herrington, Janice A. Herrington, Thomas C. Reeves Jan 2007

Representing Authentic Learning Designs Supporting The Development Of Online Communities Of Learners, Ron Oliver, Anthony J. Herrington, Janice A. Herrington, Thomas C. Reeves

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Authentic learning designs have been explored for some time now and have frequently been shown to provide learning settings that provide many meaningful contexts for learning. These meaningful contexts provide not only encouragement for students to learn but also a raft of learning enhancements including higher-order learning and forms of learning support. The establishment of a sense of community among learners creates support mechanisms that can readily enhance learning outcomes. This paper describes several technology-facilitated authentic learning designs that involve the development and support of learning communities. The learning designs are represented in several forms to provide an overview of …


A Descriptive Study Of Special Education Teachers Serving Students With Autism: Knowledge, Practices Employed, And Training Needs, Dawn R. Hendricks Jan 2007

A Descriptive Study Of Special Education Teachers Serving Students With Autism: Knowledge, Practices Employed, And Training Needs, Dawn R. Hendricks

Theses and Dissertations

Autism now affects a significant number of students in schools. It is well documented that the unique learning characteristics of these students differ widely from other learners requiring teachers to possess specialized skills (Simpson, 2005). Despite advancements in instructional practices for students with autism (Iovannone, Dunlap, Huber, & Kincaid, 2003) little attention has been given to examining the qualities of special education teachers who deliver services to these students.This dissertation evaluated special education teachers' knowledge and implementation of educational practices critical for the improvement of students with autism and determined areas of training needs. The study was conducted with special …


Effects Of Computerized Storybooks On Early Literacy Development Of Preschool Children With Weak Self-Regulation Skills, Nora E. Land Jan 2007

Effects Of Computerized Storybooks On Early Literacy Development Of Preschool Children With Weak Self-Regulation Skills, Nora E. Land

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of two universally designed methods of instruction, teacher-mediated small group reading and individual use of an electronic book with limited teacher interaction, for preschool children who have been identified as having poor behavioral self-regulation. The sample consisted of 18 preschool children enrolled in an urban Head Start program. The children ranged in age from 43 months to 65 months. Children's measures included the Child Temperament and Personality Questionnaire-Short Form (CTPQ-SF), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT),Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening for Preschoolers (PALS-PreK) - the Print and Word Awareness subtest, an expressive vocabulary posttest, and a story …


Looking For Clarity Amongst The Challenges Faced By Teachers As They Consider The Role Of Ict In Classroom Literacy Learning Experiences, Jessica Mantei, Lisa K. Kervin Jan 2007

Looking For Clarity Amongst The Challenges Faced By Teachers As They Consider The Role Of Ict In Classroom Literacy Learning Experiences, Jessica Mantei, Lisa K. Kervin

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Primary school teachers today operate within a climate of great change with the rapid infusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into schools with the expectation that these be included within classroom experiences. Many schools purchased computer hardware and software and have provided professional development for teachers with the expectation that the technology will be put to use. Studies show, however, that many teachers continue to feel ill-equipped to use technology to support learning in spite of these in-service opportunities. Further studies identify the classroom teacher as the major factor in determining whether ICT are an important component of daily …


Teachers' Perceptions Of Online Modules To Promote Professional Learning Of Ict, Anthony J. Herrington, Janice A. Herrington, Garry Hoban, Doug Reid Jan 2007

Teachers' Perceptions Of Online Modules To Promote Professional Learning Of Ict, Anthony J. Herrington, Janice A. Herrington, Garry Hoban, Doug Reid

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Online professional learning has the potential to be a cost effective, flexible approach that can reach large numbers of teachers. However, there are many factors that need to be evaluated in developing successful online approaches that impact on teaching pedagogy and student learning. This paper outlines one phase of a research study conducted on behalf of an Australian state-based Department of Education to evaluate the transfer of professional learning from online modules about the integration of ICT to the practices of K-12 classroom teachers.


Designing A Brain-Based Learning Environment, Juntana Ginda Sperlich Jan 2007

Designing A Brain-Based Learning Environment, Juntana Ginda Sperlich

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project was to develop a teacher friendly guide that would help teachers not only apply brain-based strategies in the classroom, but also to see results from transforming their classrooms into brain-based learning environments.


Best Practices In Writing Assessment, Robert C. Calfee, Roxanne Greitz Miller Jan 2007

Best Practices In Writing Assessment, Robert C. Calfee, Roxanne Greitz Miller

Education Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Our assignment in this chapter is to discuss best practices in writing assessment, a task that poses a twofold challenge for teachers-first, the task of providing authentic opportunities for students to acquire skill in writing while covering an ever-increasing array of other curriculum demands; second, the overriding pressures to ensure that students perform well on the standardized tests that have become the primary accountability index. As we complete this chapter, few state testing systems rely to any significant degree on performance tests for measuring student achievement. Multiple-choice tests dominate, and on-demand writing tests (including the SAT) generally contravene the counsel …


Differentiated Educational Strategies In The Elementary Art Classroom, Mary Amber Bush Jan 2007

Differentiated Educational Strategies In The Elementary Art Classroom, Mary Amber Bush

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides elementary art teachers strategies for teaching lessons in a method called "differentiation". The purpose of differentiation is to tailor lesson plans to try and meet unique needs of the students. Lessons can be differentiated through content, process, or product. A teacher may choose one of these three areas and provide different approaches to the lesson to meet different learning needs of the students. To meet different learning needs in an efficient way, students are grouped for lessons based on their readiness, interests, or their learning styles. This thesis provides greater detail on content, process, product, readiness, interests, …


Technology At The Beginning Of The 21st Century: Using An Interactive Whiteboard In Elementary Art Education, Nancy G. Kocen Jan 2007

Technology At The Beginning Of The 21st Century: Using An Interactive Whiteboard In Elementary Art Education, Nancy G. Kocen

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined whether art lessons, provided using an Interactive Whiteboard (IWB), were effective in transferring learning to a diverse student population. The descriptive investigation focused on three main areas; the impact of the IWB on student learning, the time invested in integrating the IWB, and the compatibility of the IWB with my teaching style. The research took place over fourteen weeks starting in late August, 2006, and continued in my art room during the first quarter of the school year. Data were collected through daily journal entries, video taped lessons and interviews. Although long hours were required for training …


Desirable Characteristics Of Learning Companions, Yanghee Kim Jan 2007

Desirable Characteristics Of Learning Companions, Yanghee Kim

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This study investigated the desirable characteristics of anthropomorphized learning-companion agents for college students. First, interviews with six undergraduates explored their concepts of desirable learning companions. The interviews yielded agent competency, agent personality, and interaction control. Next, a controlled experiment examined whether learner competency (strong vs. weak) would relate directly to agent competency (high vs. low) and to interaction control (agent-control vs. learner-control). The dependent measures included learners' perceptions of agent functionality, their self-efficacy beliefs in the task, and their learning. The results indicated that academically strong students perceived the high-competent agent higher than the lowcompetent agent and showed higher self-efficacy …


Blended Learning In Higher Education: Theory And Praxis, G. Reinmann, J. Macdonald, Roisin Donnelly, J. Fransen, E. Poldner Jan 2007

Blended Learning In Higher Education: Theory And Praxis, G. Reinmann, J. Macdonald, Roisin Donnelly, J. Fransen, E. Poldner

Conference papers

Recent studies are showing that ‘blended learning’ is more than a mix between face-to-face and online education, or in other words: a mix of traditional and computer-based education. Blended learning seems to include mixtures between eLearning and other ways of learning, where the right choices have to be made in the distribution of learning content, didactical approaches, ways of communicating and characteristics of learning environments, in the perspective of the type of learning process and characteristics of students. This symposium provides evidence from qualitative studies of blended learning in practical situations, drawing on tutors’ and students’ perspectives, contrasted with theoretical …


Features Of Optimally Motivating College Classrooms: Perspectives Of Preservice Teachers, Donna S. Bogart Jan 2007

Features Of Optimally Motivating College Classrooms: Perspectives Of Preservice Teachers, Donna S. Bogart

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The primary objective of this mixed methods study was to explore the parameters of college students' perspectives on classroom learning environments. Specifically, the investigation sought to identify and describe the relevant features of the college classroom context that undergraduate students distinguished as promoting and supporting academic motivation at one four-year postsecondary institution. Secondarily, the study sought to examine the extent to which there was an association between the achievement goals students endorsed and their perspectives concerning the motivating features of the classroom learning environment. The nonprobability purposeful sample of undergraduate students consisted of 122 preservice teachers who were attending a …


Theories Of Learning And Curriculum Design - Key Positionalities And Their Relationships, Tony Cunningham, Julie Gannon, Mary B. Kavanagh, John Greene, Louise Reddy, Laurence Whitson Jan 2007

Theories Of Learning And Curriculum Design - Key Positionalities And Their Relationships, Tony Cunningham, Julie Gannon, Mary B. Kavanagh, John Greene, Louise Reddy, Laurence Whitson

Articles

One of the challenges academics face when designing pedagogies and curricula is how best to articulate their own positionalities regarding the different ways theories or models of learning inform both the process of design as well as the product. It is difficult to find a text book or design resource that illustrates the relationships between the main theories of learning and how they might inform a coherent approach to programme design in higher education. For that reason we decided to produce this summative guide to learning theories and a chart illustrating their relevance for pedagogies and for curriculum design. The …