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2011

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Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching

Institution
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Articles 31 - 41 of 41

Full-Text Articles in Education

Examining Original Political Cartoon Methodology: Concept Maps And Substitution Lists, John H. Bickford Iii Jan 2011

Examining Original Political Cartoon Methodology: Concept Maps And Substitution Lists, John H. Bickford Iii

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Previous research on classroom uses for political cartoons identified two negative trends: creative stagnation (as teachers utilized them solely for interpretation) and age limitation (as researchers suggested they fit best with gifted and older students). Recent scholarship has addressed both trends by enabling young adolescent students to creatively express newly generated understandings through construction of original political cartoons. During such authentic assessment activities, students demonstrated high levels of criticality by using effective and efficient technologies to create original political cartoons, which then elicited constructive whole class interpretative discussions. This prior research did not detail specific methodological steps that positively influenced …


A Comparative Analysis Of Two Methods For Guiding Discussions Surrounding Controversial And Unresolved Topics, John Bickford Jan 2011

A Comparative Analysis Of Two Methods For Guiding Discussions Surrounding Controversial And Unresolved Topics, John Bickford

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Debates, a popular classroom method, elicit students’ participation and critical thinking. Debates’ focus of winning, at times, generates arguments. Constructive controversy, a researched-based methodological alternative, similarly facilitates students’ engagement and critical thinking while also inventively diminishing arguments through cooperative negotiation (Johnson & Johnson, 2009). The author examines both methods’ impact on students’ engagement, students’ thinking, and the dialogues’ productivity. Three findings and three educationally significant insights emerged.


Examining Original Political Cartoon Methodology: Concept Maps And Substitution Lists, John Bickford Jan 2011

Examining Original Political Cartoon Methodology: Concept Maps And Substitution Lists, John Bickford

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Previous research on classroom uses for political cartoons identified two negative trends: creative stagnation (as teachers utilized them solely for interpretation) and age limitation (as researchers suggested they fit best with gifted and older students). Recent scholarship has addressed both trends by enabling young adolescent students to creatively express newly generated understandings through construction of original political cartoons. During such authentic assessment activities, students demonstrated high levels of criticality by using effective and efficient technologies to create original political cartoons, which then elicited constructive whole class interpretative discussions. This prior research did not detail specific methodological steps that positively influenced …


Students’ Original Political Cartoons As Teaching And Learning Tools, John Bickford Jan 2011

Students’ Original Political Cartoons As Teaching And Learning Tools, John Bickford

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

A meta-analysis of educators’ uses of political cartoons suggests they are mostly used for teaching interpretation skills and then usually only with gifted and older students. This demonstrates creative stagnation, limited elicitation of higher order thinking skills, and age bias. The researcher previously examined young adolescents’ use of effective and efficient technologies to express historical understandings through original political cartoon construction. This methodology elicited students’ higher order thinking as they expressed learning within their creations, which were then used as a teaching tool to facilitate constructive whole class interpretative discussions. The following questions extend previous research and guide this article: …


Understanding A Pakistani Science Teacher’S Practice Through A Life History Study, Nelofer Halai Jan 2011

Understanding A Pakistani Science Teacher’S Practice Through A Life History Study, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The purpose of the single case life history study was to understand a female science teacher’s conceptions of the nature of science as explicit in her practice. While this paper highlights these understandings, an additional purpose is to give a detailed account of the process of creating a life history account through more than 13 in-depth interviews. It includes a discussion of what the author calls composite observations where the observations of the teacher and the researcher are presented as a single unified story. Also discussed are ethical issues specific to life history created due to the intimacy created by …


Collaboration, Mentoring And Co-Teaching In Teacher Education, Gertrude Tinker Sachs, Terry Fisher, Joanna Cannon Jan 2011

Collaboration, Mentoring And Co-Teaching In Teacher Education, Gertrude Tinker Sachs, Terry Fisher, Joanna Cannon

Middle and Secondary Education Faculty Publications

Collaboration at the university level is a fundamental element needed to enhance teaching (Cochran-Smith & Fries, 2005) and reflection is a critical component of teacher education (Dewey, 1933, 1938). A case study is presented of one senior university faculty member's experiences co-teaching with two doctoral students seeking to understand the impact of shared decision-making and authentic collaboration on individuals entering the academy. An analysis of the authors' shared experiences indicated that, through this mentoring, collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships were built. An analysis of the authors' experiences also indicated that these collaborative relationships were built upon several key factors, specifically …


The Challenges And Opportunities For Meeting The Content Area Needs Of English Language Learners In The Teacher Educator Classroom, Gertrude Tinker Sachs, Nancy Brown, Pier Angeli Junor Clarke, Wanjira Kinuthia, Ewa Mcgrail, Caroline Sullivan Jan 2011

The Challenges And Opportunities For Meeting The Content Area Needs Of English Language Learners In The Teacher Educator Classroom, Gertrude Tinker Sachs, Nancy Brown, Pier Angeli Junor Clarke, Wanjira Kinuthia, Ewa Mcgrail, Caroline Sullivan

Middle and Secondary Education Faculty Publications

Teacher preparation in the 21st century within the United States and those states such as Georgia that are experiencing unprecedented increases in immigrant populations must be responsive to the changing demographics and the concomitant content, linguistic and cultural needs and resources of our PK-12 populations. This paper comes out of our collective interest in ensuring that we are delivering a quality and timely education to teacher learners. With the exception of our ESOL and Science programs[1], we report on the extent to which our curricula are serving the needs of the State’s ELL population in subject-area syllabi …


Technology Use In Middle Grades Teacher Preparation Programs, Ewa Mcgrail, Gertrude Tinker Sachs, Joyce E. Many, Cecilia Myrick, Sharry Sackor Jan 2011

Technology Use In Middle Grades Teacher Preparation Programs, Ewa Mcgrail, Gertrude Tinker Sachs, Joyce E. Many, Cecilia Myrick, Sharry Sackor

Middle and Secondary Education Faculty Publications

Changes in reading and reading comprehension precipitated by the emergence of the Internet and related to information and digital communication applications have been noted in the reading and literacy fields for some time now. Teacher education programs play a special role in preparing teachers for instruction that capitalizes on such changes. The purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which teacher education programs help teachers to embrace and critique technology, and literacies they engender, in teaching reading at the middle-school level. The study found the middle grades teacher education programs in this study to encourage the use …


Research Summary: Assessment, Robert Michael Capraro, Mary F. Roe, Micki M. Caskey, David Strahan, Penny A. Bishop, Christopher C. Weiss Jan 2011

Research Summary: Assessment, Robert Michael Capraro, Mary F. Roe, Micki M. Caskey, David Strahan, Penny A. Bishop, Christopher C. Weiss

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

Assessment is important for middle level teachers and their students. In fact, the National Middle School Association (NMSA) highlighted curriculum, instruction, and assessment in This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents (NMSA, 2010). The intention of this summary is to establish assessment’s rightful position as one priority for middle grade teachers and their students. When used wisely and well, teachers obtain information about their students’ strengths and needs, and their students remain informed about their achievements. To begin, educators need an operational definition of assessment. Based on the work of many scholars (e.g., Delclos, Vye, Burns, Bransford, & Hasselbring, …


Solo But Not Separate: Preparing 21st-Century School Library Professionals Who Can "Go It Alone", Becky Pasco Jan 2011

Solo But Not Separate: Preparing 21st-Century School Library Professionals Who Can "Go It Alone", Becky Pasco

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Preparing school librarians for a diverse array of 21st-century educational environments is a daunting task. Faculty in school library preparation programs send candidates out into sparsely populated rural areas, dense urban settings, and everything in between. Some candidates will provide services and resources in updated, modern facilities, while others will operate in tiny, tattered little corners. Some new professionals will ply their trade in technically rich arenas, while others will work in technically starved settings. Regardless of place and space, resources and services must be developed and delivered in a proactive and productive manner for the P—12 community. School library …


A Mixed Methods Study Of How The Transition Process Impacts The Autonomy Of Pre-Service Secondary Mathematics Teachers, Linda Kasal Fusco Jan 2011

A Mixed Methods Study Of How The Transition Process Impacts The Autonomy Of Pre-Service Secondary Mathematics Teachers, Linda Kasal Fusco

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This mixed methods study sought to identify the impact that transition into the practice of teaching had on the autonomy of pre-service secondary teachers of Mathematics. It was based on the belief that a Mathematics teacher’s autonomy depended on: beliefs about Mathematics and how it was learned, reflections on the teaching practice, and social constraints of a secondary school culture. Data was collected between January 2009 and March 2010. In Phase I (Quantitative) the participants (N = 30), selected from ten State University of New York teacher preparation colleges and universities, completed five instruments to quantify the three factors of …