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Full-Text Articles in Education

Dichotomous Musical Worlds: Interactions Between The Musical Lives Of Adolescents And School Music-Learning Culture, Todd Edwin Snead Dec 2009

Dichotomous Musical Worlds: Interactions Between The Musical Lives Of Adolescents And School Music-Learning Culture, Todd Edwin Snead

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

This ethnographic study investigated the interactions between the musical lives of adolescents and school music-learning culture in a suburban high school. Participants included two music teachers and seven adolescents. Framed within a symbolic interactionist perspective (Blumer, 1969), data were collected via methods consistent with qualitative inquiry, including an innovative data collection technique utilizing music elicitation interviews with adolescents. Findings emerged from the data via thematic analysis (Grbich, 2007). Findings indicate limited interactions between the musical lives of adolescents and school music-learning culture because participants portrayed and experienced a dichotomy between the musical assumptions and practices inside and outside of school. …


A Case Study Of Secondary Teachers Facilitating A Historical Problem-Based Learning Instructional Unit, John L. Pecore Oct 2009

A Case Study Of Secondary Teachers Facilitating A Historical Problem-Based Learning Instructional Unit, John L. Pecore

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Current curriculum trends promote inquiry-based student-centered strategies as a way to foster critical thinking and learning. Problem-based learning (PBL), a type of inquiry focusing on an issue or “problem,” is an instructional approach taught on the basis that science reform efforts increase scientific literacy. PBL is a constructivist approach to learning real life problems where understanding is a function of content, context, experiences, and learner goals; historical PBL situates the lesson in a historical context and provides opportunities for teaching NOS concepts. While much research exists on the benefits of historical PBL to student learning in general, more research is …


Female Students And Achievement In Secondary School Mathematics, Barry P. Shildneck Oct 2009

Female Students And Achievement In Secondary School Mathematics, Barry P. Shildneck

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Achievement and the experiences of women in secondary school mathematics have been well documented in the research literature (e.g., Benbow & Stanley, 1980, 1983; Tartre & Fennema, 1995; Sherman, 1982; Ryckman & Peckham, 1987; Keller & Dauenheimer, 2003). With respect to achievement, the research literature primarily focuses on how women are deficient to men (e.g., Benbow & Stanley, 1980, 1983) and the roles affective attributes (e.g., Sherman, 1982; Fennema, Petersen, Carpenter & Lubinski, 1990) and stereotype threat (e.g., Quinn & Spencer, 2001; Steele & Aronson, 1995) have played in women’s deficiencies. Despite the perspective and nature of this research, there …


Effects Of Wide Reading Vs. Repeated Readings On Struggling College Readers' Comprehension Monitoring Skills, Omer Ari Oct 2009

Effects Of Wide Reading Vs. Repeated Readings On Struggling College Readers' Comprehension Monitoring Skills, Omer Ari

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Fluency instruction has had limited effects on reading comprehension relative to reading rate and prosodic reading (Dowhower, 1987; Herman, 1985; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000a). More specific components (i.e., error detection) of comprehension may yield larger effects through exposure to a wider range of materials than repeated readings (Kuhn, 2005b). Thirty-three students reading below college level were randomly assigned to a Repeated Readings (RR), a Wide Reading (WR), or a Vocabulary Study (VS) condition and received training in 9 sessions of 30 minutes in a Southeast community college. RR students read an instructional-level text consecutively four …


The Writing Experiences Of Urban Adolescents: A Multicase Study, Rebecca Covington Calder Oct 2009

The Writing Experiences Of Urban Adolescents: A Multicase Study, Rebecca Covington Calder

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

In the field of adolescent literacy studies, writing has been neglected in both research and instruction (Juzwik, Curcic, Wolbers, Moxley, Dimling, & Shankland, 2005; Graham & Perin, 2007; Scherff & Piazza, 2005; Troia, 2007), especially in urban settings. Given the importance of writing instruction in secondary education, this qualitative case study investigates the writing experiences of five urban adolescent writers in a high school in a major city in the Southeastern U.S. Research questions included: (1) What are the writing experiences of urban adolescents in and out of school? and (2) In what ways do urban adolescents make use of …


Considering Hans-Georg Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics As A Referent For Student Understanding Of Nature-Of-Science Concepts, Jared Michael Rashford Oct 2009

Considering Hans-Georg Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics As A Referent For Student Understanding Of Nature-Of-Science Concepts, Jared Michael Rashford

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine philosophical hermeneutics as a referent for student understanding of Nature-of-Science (NOS) concepts. Rather than focus on a prescriptive set of canons used in addressing NOS pedagogy in K-12 schools, this study seeks to explicate a descriptive set of principles based on Hans Georg-Gadamer’s theory of interpretation that has the potential for developing dispositions necessary for understanding. Central among these are the concepts of fore-structure, prejudice, temporal distance, and history of effect, all of which constitute part of the whole of the hermeneutic circle as envisaged by Gadamer. As such, Gadamer’s hermeneutics is …


To Iron Or To Do Science: A Storied Life Of A Latina From Scientist To Science Teacher, Sarida Peguero Hoy Sep 2009

To Iron Or To Do Science: A Storied Life Of A Latina From Scientist To Science Teacher, Sarida Peguero Hoy

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Reform initiatives such as Science for All Americans (AAA, 1989) and National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996) argue for making science accessible to all children regardless of age, sex, cultural and/or ethic background, and disabilities. One of the most popular and prevailing phrases highlighting science education reform in the last decade has been science for all. In terms of making science accessible to all, science educators argue that one role of science teachers ought to be to embrace students’ experiences outside of the science classroom by becoming aware and inclusive of the cultural resources that student’s households contain. Moll, González …


An Exploratory Study Of Mathematics Engagement Of Secondary Students, Tracy Thomas Brown Aug 2009

An Exploratory Study Of Mathematics Engagement Of Secondary Students, Tracy Thomas Brown

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

An Exploratory Study of Mathematics Engagement of Secondary Students by Tracy Thomas Brown A large proportion of American students are not psychologically connected or engaged to what is occurring in their classes; in addition, they fail to take school seriously, have lost interest in school, and do not value or seek out success (Steinberg, Brown, & Dornbusch, 1996). In addition, the relationship in a mathematics classroom between schooling and engagement from the student’s perspective is not well known (Cothran & Ennis, 2000). The purpose of this study was to investigate engagement in order to describe students’ constructs of student engagement, …


To Stay And To Change: Beginning Social Justice Educators Creating Collaborative Third Space(S), Teresa Renae Fisher Aug 2009

To Stay And To Change: Beginning Social Justice Educators Creating Collaborative Third Space(S), Teresa Renae Fisher

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Beginning teachers committed to social justice and emancipatory education often experience isolation and discouragement and need communities for intellectual, social, and emotional support as they learn to teach, and sustain their commitments to transformative pedagogy. This qualitative inquiry followed recent graduates who demonstrated personal commitments to a more just world through their lives and their studies and who began their first year as teachers in a variety of settings. Framed within a theory of transformational learning, third space, and Adler’s concepts of social interest and encouragement, the participants and the participant researcher co-created a virtual community to reflect upon and …


Factors Affecting Construction Of Science Discourse In The Context Of An Extracurricular Science And Technology Project, Horace P. Webb Aug 2009

Factors Affecting Construction Of Science Discourse In The Context Of An Extracurricular Science And Technology Project, Horace P. Webb

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Doing and learning science are social activities that require certain language, activities, and values. Both constitute what Gee (2005) calls Discourses. The language of learning science varies with the learning context (Lemke, 2001,1990). Science for All Americans (AAAS, 1990) and Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards (NRC, 2000) endorse inquiry science learning. In the United States, most science learning is teacher-centered; inquiry science learning is rare (NRC, 2000). This study focused on 12 high school students from two suburban high schools, their three faculty mentors, and two engineering mentors during an extracurricular robotics activity with FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). …


An Autoethnography:A Mathematics Teacher's Journey Of Identity Construction And Change, Anthony B. Stinson Aug 2009

An Autoethnography:A Mathematics Teacher's Journey Of Identity Construction And Change, Anthony B. Stinson

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Despite some gains, improving secondary mathematics instruction remains an area of concern of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Recitation, also known as lecturing, prevails as the practice of choice of mathematics teachers in the United States. However, the report of the NCTM Research Advisory Committee 2000 indicates that the mathematical proficiency of students increases when the practice of choice includes more than recitation. Therefore, changes in instruction in the mathematics classroom should occur to improve student learning. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a personalized account of one mathematics teacher’s use of reflective teaching as …


What Is Mathematics? An Exploration Of Teachers' Philosophies Of Mathematics During A Time Of Curriculum Reform, Kimberly White-Fredette Aug 2009

What Is Mathematics? An Exploration Of Teachers' Philosophies Of Mathematics During A Time Of Curriculum Reform, Kimberly White-Fredette

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Current reform in mathematics teaching and learning is rooted in a changing vision of school mathematics, one that includes constructivist learning, student-centered pedagogy, and the use of worthwhile tasks (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989, 1991, 2000). This changing vision not only challenges teachers’ beliefs about mathematics instruction but their philosophies of mathematics as well (Dossey, 1992). This study investigates the processes that four teachers’ go through as they implement a new task-based mathematics curriculum while exploring their personal philosophies of mathematics. The participants were part of a graduate-level course that examined, through the writings of Davis and Hersh …


African American Men And College Mathematics: Gaining Access And Attaining Success, Christopher Charlie Jett Aug 2009

African American Men And College Mathematics: Gaining Access And Attaining Success, Christopher Charlie Jett

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

The research literature regarding African American male college students reports that they often experience difficulties with mathematics (Stage & Kloosterman, 1995; Treisman, 1992). It is also reported that many African American students enter college seeking to complete their degrees in mathematics and science, but few of these students successfully complete the core requirements (Hrabowski, Maton, & Greif, 1998; Treisman, 1992). In spite of these reported trends, there are some African American male students who, indeed, achieve in college mathematics. The purpose of this study was to analyze how being African American and male might play out in the college mathematics …


Orchestrating Student Discourse Opportunities And Listening For Conceptual Understandings In High School Science Classrooms, Melissa Grass Kinard Aug 2009

Orchestrating Student Discourse Opportunities And Listening For Conceptual Understandings In High School Science Classrooms, Melissa Grass Kinard

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

Scientific communities have established social mechanisms for proposing explanations, questioning evidence, and validating claims. Opportunities like these are often not a given in science classrooms (Vellom, Anderson, & Palincsar, 1993) even though the National Science Education Standards (NSES, 1996) state that a scientifically literate person should be able to “engage intelligently in public discourse and debate about important issues in science and technology” (National Research Council [NRC], 1996). Research further documents that students’ science conceptions undergo little modification with the traditional teaching experienced in many high school science classrooms (Duit, 2003, Dykstra, 2005). This case study is an examination of …


On The Border Of A New Culture: Spanish-Speaking Middle School Newcomers' Perceptions, Expectations And Attitudes, Margo H. Williams Jul 2009

On The Border Of A New Culture: Spanish-Speaking Middle School Newcomers' Perceptions, Expectations And Attitudes, Margo H. Williams

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the Spanish-speaking newcomer middle school students’ perceptions of school, expectations from school, and attitudes toward school. Of particular concern was how these students’ perceptions, expectations, and attitudes developed over a 5-month period. The theoretical framework for the study was derived from Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory; second language acquisition (SLA) theories (Dulay & Burt, 1973; Krashen, 1982; Johnson, 1996; Long, 1985; Schumann, 1978); and Norton’s (1997) theory of identity, investment, and imagined communities. The participants in this study were 4 Spanish-speaking middle school students enrolled in an Intensive English to Speakers of Other …