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Education Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2016

Teacher Education and Professional Development

Theses/Dissertations

Brigham Young University

Articles 1 - 13 of 13

Full-Text Articles in Education

Invisible Students: A Case Study Of Friendless Students During The First Year Of Junior High, Rachel E. Neeley Dec 2016

Invisible Students: A Case Study Of Friendless Students During The First Year Of Junior High, Rachel E. Neeley

Theses and Dissertations

This is a case study that investigates the experiences of eight friendless seventh grade students as they transition from elementary school to junior high. In an effort to examine the wide-range of experiences of friendless students, I explored and compared the experiences of students who have high social self efficacy and students who have low self-efficacy. Each student was interviewed two times and both interviews were analyzed using a priori codes of when and where students felt isolated and distressed. The interviews were also analyzed using an open coding method looking for emergent codes. The study highlights and illustrates what …

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An Analysis Of Support For Elementary Engineering Education Offered In The Science Teacher Journal Science And Children, Tawnicia Meservy Stocking Dec 2016

An Analysis Of Support For Elementary Engineering Education Offered In The Science Teacher Journal Science And Children, Tawnicia Meservy Stocking

Theses and Dissertations

Teachers use professional journals such as Science and Children for ideas to incorporate into their own teaching. As such the purpose of this study was to investigate the support offered for integrating engineering education into science instruction. The research methodology for this was a qualitative content analysis inferring categories based on the information presented. Twenty-three issues of the journal were read, spanning two and a half volume years. The categories that emerged were mentioning, implementing, and integrating. Deeper examples of integration were found to match the mapping and infusion strategies presented by the National Academy of Engineering and National Research …

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What Is Being Said About Historical Literacy In Literacy And Social Studies Journals: A Content Analysis, Kiera Beddes Jul 2016

What Is Being Said About Historical Literacy In Literacy And Social Studies Journals: A Content Analysis, Kiera Beddes

Theses and Dissertations

The Common Core State Standards and the National Council for the Social Studies (C3 Framework) have recently prompted renewed emphasis on literacy, particularly in history, therefore it is important to analyze and compare what exactly the teacher educators of leading journals are saying about historical literacy. This study examines the literacy messages for the history classroom in The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy and Theory (JAAL) and Research in Social Education (TRSE) from 2010-2015. An emergent, qualitative content analysis was used to analyze data from these journals. Results from this study indicates definitions on historical literacy vary between journals, …

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A High School Biology Teacher's Development Through A New Teaching Assignment Coupled With Teacher-Led Professional Development, Lorien Young Francis Jul 2016

A High School Biology Teacher's Development Through A New Teaching Assignment Coupled With Teacher-Led Professional Development, Lorien Young Francis

Theses and Dissertations

This self-study examined the learning that emerged from a change in teaching assignment coupled with self-initiated, teacher-led professional development in order to understand a high school science teacher's development as a teacher. The two participants in the study were the teacher/researcher, an experienced high school biology teacher who was taking up a new assignment teaching biotechnology, an advanced science course; and a first-year teacher assigned to teach biotechnology, who served as collaborator in the professional development and critical friend in the study. In order to uncover the teacher/researcher's learning and thinking, self-study of teaching practice methodology most clearly met the …

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The Impact Of Shortening A Long Survey On Response Rate And Response Quality, Daniel Stephen Allen Jul 2016

The Impact Of Shortening A Long Survey On Response Rate And Response Quality, Daniel Stephen Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Many factors influence the response rate of a survey or questionnaire. The BYU alumni questionnaire was initially a lengthy survey with over 200 questions. After a short version of the questionnaire was created and administered, response rates appear to have increased substantially. Male respondents appear particularly more inclined to respond to the shortened version compared to the long version. The questionnaire is examined through various statistical analyses and compared between the short and long versions. Results are presented in the context of existing research on response rates and response quality.

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Student Growth Trajectories With Summer Achievement Loss Using Hierarchical And Growth Modeling, Sara Bernice Chapman Jun 2016

Student Growth Trajectories With Summer Achievement Loss Using Hierarchical And Growth Modeling, Sara Bernice Chapman

Theses and Dissertations

Using measures of student growth has become more popular in recent years—especially in the context of high stakes testing and accountability. While these methods have advantages over historical status measures, there is still much evidence to be gathered on patterns of growth generally and in student subgroups. To date, most research studies dealing with student growth focus on the effectiveness of specific interventions or examine growth in a few urban areas. This project explored math, reading, and English language arts (ELA) growth in the students of two rural school districts in Utah. The study incorporated hierarchical and latent growth methods …

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Effects Of Fourth- And First-Grade Cross-Age Tutoring On Mathematics Anxiety, Camille Margarett Rougeau Jun 2016

Effects Of Fourth- And First-Grade Cross-Age Tutoring On Mathematics Anxiety, Camille Margarett Rougeau

Theses and Dissertations

A mixed methodological approach was used to examine the effects of fourth- and first-grade students cross-age tutoring on mathematics anxiety. 37 Fourth-grade tutors, both trained and untrained, helped 37 first graders use multiple strategies to solve mathematical word problems for 10 weeks. A control group of 16 first-grade students completed the problems independently. Pre-test and post-test mathematics anxiety measures were used. Observations were also conducted throughout the study. The measures used for both primary and intermediate students were effective in identifying students with mathematics anxiety. However, quantitative findings showed no difference for fourth- or first-grade students on mathematics anxiety measures. …

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Picture Books As Mentor Texts For 10th-Grade Struggling Writers, David Willett Premont Jun 2016

Picture Books As Mentor Texts For 10th-Grade Struggling Writers, David Willett Premont

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to fill gaps in the research to determine if picture books in the high school classroom can enhance student writing especially with word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. Previous research has not fully considered employing picture books as mentor texts to examine writing traits in the high school Language Arts classroom. The population was 12 participants from two low track English 10 Reading classes. Six participants were identified from each class as low, medium, or high-performing students based on an informal narrative writing activity. This study employed an action research methodology (Sagor, 2000). Students …

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Student Self-Assessment: Teachers' Definitions, Reasons, And Beliefs, Christopher Daren Andrews Jun 2016

Student Self-Assessment: Teachers' Definitions, Reasons, And Beliefs, Christopher Daren Andrews

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand how teachers define student self-assessment (SSA), why teachers use or do not use SSA, and to explore how beliefs might influence teachers' reasons for using SSA or not. This study used Ajzen's theory of planned behavior to explore the relationships between teachers' stated beliefs about SSA and reasons for using or not using SSA. I interviewed seven teachers from one high school in the Intermountain West and found that five of the seven teachers in this study used SSA. I found that these teachers' definitions of SSA varied between formative and summative …

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Emotions In Teaching: Self-Compassion, Stacey Freeman Jun 2016

Emotions In Teaching: Self-Compassion, Stacey Freeman

Theses and Dissertations

It has been hypothesized that negative emotions, left unresolved, contribute to feelings of burnout experienced by teachers. Self-compassion offers a kind, mindful way of approaching difficult emotions. The purpose of this study is to explore how teachers experience self-compassion by qualitative means. In semi-structured interviews, four elementary school teachers shared critical incidents of self-doubt or disappointment in their teaching. They also completed Neff's (2003a) Self Compassion Survey. Through intra-case and cross case analysis the findings revealed how teachers' lived experiences include episodes of conflict, reflection, resolution, and self-compassion, but in differing orders. Also, participants experienced self-compassion in ways that align …

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A Look At The Reliability Of An Early Childhood Expository Comprehension Measure, Alta Adamma Mcdonald Jun 2016

A Look At The Reliability Of An Early Childhood Expository Comprehension Measure, Alta Adamma Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

Although the implementation of the Common Core State Standards has included more informational texts in early grades to emphasize reading to gain knowledge (Green, 2012; Roskos & Neuman, 2014), the lack of available expository assessments leaves teachers unsure of what students need to know in order to be successful comprehenders of these texts (Hall, Markham, & Culatta, 2005; Harding, 2014). Moreover, there are very few early expository assessments available which makes it difficult for teachers to monitor young children's expository text knowledge and skills and then adjust their instruction to meet children's unique needs. The EECA R-2 is an early …

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Physical Activity Rates And Motivational Profiles Of Adolescents While Keeping A Daily Leisure-Time Physical Activity Record, Matthew Osden Fullmer Mar 2016

Physical Activity Rates And Motivational Profiles Of Adolescents While Keeping A Daily Leisure-Time Physical Activity Record, Matthew Osden Fullmer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between keeping a daily leisure-time physical activity record and adolescent (a) feelings of competence toward leisure-time physical activity, (b) motivational profiles toward leisure-time physical activity, and (c) leisure-time physical activity behaviors. Participants were 124 junior high and high school physical education (PE) students. Students completed the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire–2, the Godin Leisure–Time Exercise Questionnaire, the Perceived Competence Scale, and were assigned to keep an online leisure-time physical activity record for three weeks as part of their regular PE class. A 2 (gender) x 4 (trials) repeated measures ANCOVA …

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Distraction, Enjoyment, And Motivation During An Indoor Cycling Unit Of High School Physical Education, Kelsey Higginson Mar 2016

Distraction, Enjoyment, And Motivation During An Indoor Cycling Unit Of High School Physical Education, Kelsey Higginson

Theses and Dissertations

With the increased rate of overweight and obese youth in the United States many people began looking for ways to increase youth exercise quality and habits; one such way was by using an external distraction during exercise to increase personal motives toward exercise. This study involved 81 high school aged students enrolled in a required physical education class. Students rode an indoor cycling bike for 20 minutes while wearing a heart rate monitor. They were told to maintain a heart rate between their 70 and 79% maximum heart rate. Every 5 minutes students were asked to rate how hard they …

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