Education Commons^™

Schoology-Supported Classroom Management: A Curriculum Review, Shampa Biswas

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Schoology is an online learning, classroom management, and social networking platform that attempts to improve learning through better communication, collaboration, and increased access to curriculum and supplemental content. In this article, the author evaluates different prospects of Schoology-supported classroom management using selected principles of students learning and literacy development from Cummin et al (2007). Innovative approaches and tools in the Schoology website facilitate both teachers, students, parents to build a collaborative community of learners to fulfill the educational goals in the 21st century. It can be expected that Schoology’s supported instruction has the strongest potentiality of connecting and collaborating school …

Educating For The Twenty-First Century, Judith A. Ramaley

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

In his first inaugural speech, President Obama declared that "our schools fail too many" and an essential component of laying "a new foundation for growth" will be "to transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. " Concerns about our nation s position in the global education race have led to a focus on college completion. Policymakers and foundations are setting goals for degree completion and are pressing colleges and universities to shorten the degree programs offered, address the barriers to degree attainment, rethink how best to help underprepared students be successful in …

Work Less, Party More: A Review Essay About Collaborative Teacher Professional Learning, Jim Parsons

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This article reviews the positive aspects of teacher collaboration. The author’s latest research focuses specifically upon teacher professional learning and teacher efficacy; and, findings in this research suggest that, of all the reported opportunities for positive professional learning, the highest percentage of teachers note that collaboration with colleagues is the “best” professional learning. In addition, the author’s previous research also had much to say about teacher collaboration. This article synthesizes this research and attempts to pull together foundational understandings that would help articulate “key attributes” of teacher collaboration.

Personal, Cultural, And Educational Implications Of Language Loss/Transformation: A Canadian Context, John W. Friesen

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

In this article, the author provides an engaging account of language loss, transformation, and preservation, and the personal, social, cultural implications of language shift. John’s personal reflections on replacing Low German with English as a child, in tandem with a carefully researched account of various language communities in Canada, alerts us to the unique opportunities and challenges teachers face with respect to the multicultural, multilinguistic character of the contemporary classroom. He punctuates his paper with four thoughtful observations with respect to cultural diversity in schools.

Language As Social Context And Literacy Development Of Students From Diverse Backgrounds, Abir R. El Shaban

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

In this article, the author invokes Cummins’ model for social empowerment of minority students to suggest an alternative way of thinking about the empowerment of school communities. This paper explains Cummins’ theoretical framework and suggests implications that might help teachers better understand social language literacy development in terms of Cummins’ (1986-1994) conceptual framework, which is based on the notion that students who are from a diverse background are in need of school literacy learning that attends to “the goals of instruction, the role of the home language, instructional materials, classroom management and interaction with students, relationships with the community, instructional …

Building A Teacher Education “To Do List”, Jim Parsons, Larry Beauchamp, Kelly Harding

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This paper reviews current practices in preservice teacher education to suggest possible improvements that, if practiced, might help mediate many pressures young teachers face. Here we (1) synthesize our recent research in the area of in-service teacher professional learning to inform teacher education programs and (2) use these research findings to suggest possible changes and improvements to pre-service teacher education programs. Synthesizing the research, we generate a “To Do List” of six activities we believe would improve preservice education programs. We believe such instructional activities and pedagogies can become essential foundations that would help build more efficacious teachers, help stem …

Writing Outcomes Assessment Special Report, Rowanna L. Carpenter

University Studies Assessment Research

A group of faculty provided feedback on revised UNST writing outcomes as part of our annual ePortfolio review process. This excerpt from our annual report reflects a summary of their conversation and feedback.

Based in part on this feedback, a group of faculty met throughout the 2013-2014 academic year to revise the UNST writing rubric.

University Studies Annual Assessment 2012-2013, Portland State University. University Studies Program, Rowanna L. Carpenter

University Studies Annual Assessment Reports

Annual in-depth examination and assessment of Portland State University's general education model, the University Studies Program. The tools and methods used to assess student learning are faculty driven and developed.

What Work Samples Reveal About Secondary Pre-Service Social Studies Teachers' Use Of Literacy Strategies, Susan J. Lenski, Gayle Y. Thieman

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

The article discusses a study which aims to answer the research questions of whether secondary social studies pre-service teachers incorporate literacy strategies in their work samples during student teaching, and the extent and conditions secondary social studies pre-service teachers use higher levels of literacy strategies in their work samples. The study is framed within 3 areas of research namely activity theory, work sample methodology and disciplinary literacy.

Matching International Enthusiasm With Diversity Commitment, Michael J. Smith, Akiko Ota

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

The article discusses the need for diversity and commitment from U.S. universities to increase enthusiasm for foreign student recruitment. It notes that cooperative societies have been formed by universities to attain efficiency and cost control. It mentions that partnership between schools and private sector recruiting firms have risen.

From The Field: How Oregon Social Studies Teachers Are Preparing Students For The 21st Century, Gayle Y. Thieman, Kenneth T. Carano

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Much of the recent data on the state of social studies teaching has focused on the impact of NCLB on the decline of instructional time. The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of K-12 social studies curriculum and instructional practice, as reported by classroom teachers. The survey investigated the impact of mandated testing, major goals and concepts, teachers’ instructional strategies, and technology integration. This paper presents findings from Oregon teachers with comparison to data from the 2010-2011 National Study on the State of Social Studies (S₄) and the content and skills advocated by the …

Preparation In Practice: Simultaneous Preparation Of Educational Leaders And Future Teachers For Social Justice In Professional Development Schools, Amy Daggett Petti, Sabrina Flamoe

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

In times of crisis there are opportunities for innovation. Teacher preparation, leadership preparation, and education in general are facing a time of crisis. Teacher and principal preparation and performance are no longer just the fodder of educational journals and elite academics. When mainstream publications such as Newsweek run a cover image of a chalkboard with repeated lines of text, "We Must Fire Bad Teachers" as the solution to "saving American Education" (2010), we know the public perception of teacher preparation, teacher professionalism, and leadership in schools is in a crisis.

This chapter examines a case study of a school committed …

The Value Of Midterm Student Feedback In Cross-Disciplinary Graduate Programs, G.L.A. Harris, Dannelle D. Stevens

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

End-of-course student evaluations are frequently used to evaluate university faculty teaching. However, employing midterm student feedback has been found to be instrumental in informing faculty about instructional quality and improving student learning outcomes. This study examined and compared the effects on classroom instruction of using a midterm student feedback (MSF) survey in the graduate courses of two faculty, an untenured professor in public administration and a full professor in education. The researchers gathered data from 122 students over two years for three courses in 6 classes—4 in public administration, 2 in education. Results indicate that midterm student feedback offered insight …

Partnering In Tough Times: Service-Learning For Economic Vitality, Julie Plaut, Christine M. Cress, Elaine Kimiko Ikeda, Piper Mcginley

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper focuses on the results and lessons of the CARE initiative. With support from the Learn and Serve America program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, six California universities—California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; California State University, Fresno; Humboldt State University; San Francisco State University; University of California, Berkeley; and University of San Diego—received two-year grants to serve as lead institutions with CARE. Each developed service and service-learning projects themselves and engaged other colleges and universities in their local area in related efforts. Together these campuses collaborated with more than 300 community organizations, 105 of which …

Meaningful Sustainability Learning: An Action Research Study Of Sustainability Pedagogy In Two University Courses, Heather Burns

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Educators are increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability and the need to educate for sustainable change within higher education. This article addresses the growing need to focus on how teaching and learning can be re-oriented towards sustainability, and more specifically how educators can effectively address increasingly well-known sociocultural and ecological problems in ways that transform learners and empower them to make change based on a sense of civic responsibility and sustainability. This research study draws on the Burns Model of Sustainability Pedagogy, which integrates ecological design, systemic and interdisciplinary learning, multiple perspectives, an active and engaged learning process, and …

Basic Fba To Bsp Trainer’S Manual, Sheldon Loman, M. Kathleen Strickland-Cohen, Christopher Borgmeier, Robert Horner

Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This manual presents procedures to train school-based personnel to conduct "basic" functional behavioral assessments (FBA) and design function-based behavior support plans (BSP). "Basic FBA/BSP" training methods, as they are presented in this manual, are designed to train school based personnel with flexible roles in a school (i.e. personnel not directly responsible for providing regular instruction for students; e.g., classroom teachers). The Basic FBA/BSP training methods are specifically designed for use with students that exhibit consistent problems that are NOT dangerous and have not been adequately addressed through previous assessment and intervention. For example, Basic FBA methods would be appropriate for …

The Time For “Positive” Transformation In Teacher Education, Colin Saby, Clive Hickson

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Prevalence rates of serious mental health issues for students at all levels of education are currently unprecedented. Teaching has been frequently identified as one of the most stressful professions. Educational institutions need to be transformed into positive spaces that promote overall wellbeing for students and teachers. This transformation requires a clear, purposeful, and imaginative new vision –Positive Education. Positive Education provides curriculum and instruction that fosters both the skills of wellbeing and academic achievement. Positive Education puts teachers in a better position to rise to the challenges of the profession, which in turn helps students flourish and learn. Teacher education …

Scientism, Philosophy And Brain-Based Learning, Gregory M. Nixon

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Since educators are always looking for ways to improve their practice, and since empirical science is now accepted in our worldview as the final arbiter of truth, it is no surprise they have been lured toward cognitive neuroscience in hopes that discovering how the brain learns will provide a nutshell explanation for student learning in general. I argue that identifying the person with the brain is scientism (not science), that the brain is not the person, and that it is the person who learns. In fact, the brain only responds to the learning of embodied experience within the extra-neural network …

The Common Core Of A Toothache: Envisioning A Pedagogy Of Renewal And Contemplation, David Lee Keiser

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

In this article, the author makes a case for the metaphor of “Sea Mind” as seen through the lens of pedagogy and describes the importance of his perspective for teaching and teacher education. As a teacher educator who has engaged both educational and contemplative work, his essay introduces the concept of a Sea Mind’s relationship to contemplative teaching and explores the challenge of maintaining healthy selves in a raging river of highstakes testing and test preparation and the rough waters of public school reform.

A Call To Action: What Student Teachers Can Teach Us, Kathleen M. Cowin

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This qualitative study uses six years of survey data, collected from student teachers in a graduate level university initial teacher licensure program, to illuminate student teachers’ experiences with their cooperating teachers during their student teaching internship. The data, comments made by student teachers about their experiences with their cooperating teachers, were used to answer this research question: What are student teachers telling us about their experiences with their cooperating teachers? Using the constant comparative method of qualitative analysis (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) the survey data consisting of answers to the open form question “My cooperating teacher could have been more …

Living The Flourish Question: Positivity As An Orientation For The Preparation Of Teacher Candidates, Sabre Cherkowski, Keith Walker

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

In this article, the authors unpack taken-for-granted elements in a question central to their research and teaching: “What if the primary role of teachers is to learn how to thrive as educators and, in so doing, to continually co-explore and facilitate all means by which everyone in their learning communities flourishes most of the time?” As they explore a positive orientation to teaching and research, they work to understand the potential for generative and positive growth in themselves and school communities. Their article focuses upon seeking to create and sustain personal and professional flourishing at the heart of educational practice …

Standardized Testing: An Overview For Pre-Service Teachers, Kurtis Hewson, John Poulsen

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This paper serves as an overview for pre-service teachers of the current realities of standardized testing and offers some considerations when entering their first classrooms, where these assessments will most likely be a reality. It also aims to serve as a potential resource for study and discussion for pre-service teachers in their education programs.

Using Technology To Promote In-Service Teacher Education And Enhance Professional Capital, J. Edward Frick

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Collaboration has been identified as a vital component to enhancing the educational context and is a key component to professional capital (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2013). With that being said, technology offers a viable and productive venue for such collaboration to take place. The dilemma for districts is determining how to provide in-service education opportunities that promote the use of technology for the purposes of enhancing collaboration. This article explores how in-service opportunities that utilize technology for collaboration can enhance professional capital within the educational context. Recommendations for both district-level leadership and the individual practitioner are outlined.

Developing And Assessing Curriculum On The Physics Of Medical Instruments, Warren Christensen, James K. Johnson, Grace R. Van Ness, Elliot E. Mylott, Justin C. Dunlap, Elizabeth A. Anderson, Ralf Widenhorn

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Undergraduate educational settings often struggle to provide students with authentic biologically or medically relevant situations and problems that simultaneously improve their understanding of physics. Through exercises and laboratory activities developed in an elective Physics in Biomedicine course for upper-level biology or pre–health majors at Portland State University, we aim to teach fundamental physical concepts, such as light absorption and emission and atomic energy levels, through analysis of biological systems and medical devices. The activities address the properties of electromagnetic waves as they relate to the interaction with biological tissue and make links between physics and biomedical applications such as microscopy …

Factors Influencing Social, Cultural, And Academic Transitions Of Chinese International Esl Students In U.S. Higher Education, Akiko Ota

Dissertations and Theses

The U.S. is the leading nation for international students to pursue higher education; the majority of whom are from countries with significant differences in culture and language from American students. As such, many international students start higher education in ESL support programs. While on the surface international students supposedly add cultural and linguistic diversity to American higher education by contributing to the internationalization of campuses, international students' transition into U.S. life and academe is often fraught with challenges including culture shock, adjusting to the new environment and society, adjustment to norms of academic performance, acquisition of academic and language skills, …