Education Commons^™

Turning Teens Into Fossilphiles: Citizen Science And Advanced Visualization Of Paleontology Collections, Khai Button, Lynn Cross, K. Ren Rende, Patricia G. Weaver, Jacob A. Van Veldhuizen, Lisa L. Herzog, Lindsay Zanno

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

In 2016, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) received funding from NSF’s Collections in Support of Biological Research Program to launch a new citizen science initiative—FossilPhiles—aimed at improving publically accessible natural history specimen data. The FossilPhiles project supported NCMNS’ ongoing efforts to digitize paleontology collections and provide STEM opportunities for historically underrepresented student populations by engaging middle and high school students in authentic data collection.

Five students were chosen from area schools with underserved populations to digitize highly significant or visually impactful vertebrate, invertebrate, and paleobotanical fossil specimens (e.g., type specimens, rare collections, specimens of high public interest). …

Teachers Of Teachers: What They May And May Not Know About Military-Connected Children, Brianna Conway, Connie Schaffer

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Most children (92%) who have a caregiver in the U.S. military attend school "off-post" (U.S. Department of Defense, 2011).

This means military-connected students are enrolled in nearly every school district in the U.S. (Military Child Education Coalition, 2011), and most of these children are taught by 3.1 million public school PK-12 teachers in the U. S. (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2016). Even with this many educators working with the large population of military-connected children in the school setting, there is no consistent requirement for pre-service educators to receive any kind of training regarding the military lifestyle/culture.

Social Studies Instruction In Nebraska, Jamie Wagner, Connie Schaffer

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

In the 1980s standardized testing began to emerge as a major component of P-12 education reform and by the late 1980s state standards, benchmarks and curriculum frameworks started to become more widely used in states (Vogler and Virtue 2007). Both elementary and secondary social studies classes have changed to adapt to the new standards and mandated standardized testing. With increasing focus on reading, mathematics, and science, many began to be concerned that social studies instruction may be limited. Social studies instruction is vital to educate civically engaged individuals. However, at the high school level, teachers emphasize memorization and recollection of …

Using Ya Fiction To Build Interest In Stem With Teen Girls, Melissa Cast-Brede

Teacher Education Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

If Hunger Games can inspire young women to take up the bow and arrow, then surely other young adult (YA) titles can inspire enthusiasm for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). This program will discuss the role of YA fiction in teen development and specific YA titles to encourage STEM interests with teen girls.

Learning To Assess Student Understanding Through Formative And Summative Assessment, Sheryl Mcglamery, Saundra Shillingstad

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Abstract: Following extensive discourse and observation (2015-2016) of pre-service teacher candidates’ engagement in academic field experiences in math, science, and social studies methods courses, two undergraduate methods professors noted that many of the teacher candidates struggled in the area of assessing student learning. We noted that pre-service teacher candidates struggled to differentiate between formative and summative assessment practices, struggled with knowing when and how to assess students during instruction, and lastly how to identify if student learning had occurred. This action research study reports the impact that modeling, teaching experience, and demonstrations of formative and summative assessment measures had on …

Listening To The Voice In The Field: Cooperating Teacher, Candidate And Supervisor Perspectives On Creating Collaborative Environments, Christina L. Wilcoxen

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Abstract: The researcher surveyed teacher candidates, cooperating teachers and university supervisors in a teacher preparation program at a 4-year, public university. This article focuses on a four semester study surveying the perceptions of pre-service teachers, cooperating teachers and university supervisors as to the necessary elements for a collaborative framework in a co-teaching environment.

Advancing The Dialogue On Multicultural Instructional Approaches, Franklin Titus Thompson

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Most teacher preparation programs and the state governments they answer to agree that education majors should receive training in multicultural education before being granted certification to teach. Agreement begins to break down, however, over the details of that instruction Results of this study show that teachers of tomorrow want multicultural education that is more sophisticated than the typical “blame-game” or “feel-good” paradigms of yesteryear’s efforts. It also shows that students are not fragile and prefer an eclectic instructional approach that has a critical pedagogy piece as its flagship. While all six proposed theoretical instructional approaches were accepted by respondents (N=368) …

The Impact Of Increased Hours And Supervision In Field Experience Practicums, Saundra Shillingstad, Sheryl Mcglamery

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

In recent years much has been written regarding the preparation and effects of the field experience involvement for pre-service teachers. In 2013 the Teacher Education Department (TED) faculty and Office of Field Placements at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) began an in depth review and examination of our pre-service teachers’ engagement during their field practicums in urban and suburban schools throughout the Omaha Metro area. The roundtable presentation will discuss the revisions that the TED has undergone in the last three years to improve courses that have a field practicum component, as well as the benefits and challenges …

Walking Through Apprehension: Beginning The Journey To Cultural Understanding, Connie L. Schaffer, Sarah Edwards, Nancy A. Edick

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Within urban universities, programs often require students to complete experiences via partnerships with P-12 schools, community centers, or social service agencies located in urban centers. These experiences provide rich opportunities for students to apply, in real-world settings, what they study on campus. These experiences also provide opportunities for students to confront their perceptions of the urban neighborhoods in which the experiences occur. However, when students' perceptions are based primarily on stereotypes or negative media portrayals, they may enter into the experiences with apprehension, even fear. This manuscript describes one attempt of a large teacher preparation program to address this issue …

Coaching Teacher Candidates: What Does It Look Like? What Does It Sound Like?, Abigail J. Burke

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Instructional coaching for reflection has traditionally not been part of teacher preparation. In addition, there is limited understanding of developmental coaching relationships within the context of field experience in teacher preparation programs. Reflection has increasingly been recognized as a central element of professional growth during teacher preparation. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the essence of instructional coaching between teacher candidates and an instructional coach as it relates to reflection of practice. Teacher educators would benefit by knowing more about the learning that occurs within the directed conversations between the instructional coach and teacher candidate. This study …

The Road To Hybrid Courses: Challenging Yet Rewarding, Phyllis K. Adcock

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Faculty who have good technology skills and are searching for a way to adapt a course into some form of a distance education course have a number of options. Faculty who have the support of a technology specialist who can share many opportunities such as collaboration technologies and digital media, enable more flexibility in how courses are delivered. The ability to reach beyond the four walls of a classroom has helped developed an attitude that faculty are looking for innovative methodology, using technology in the classroom. Online programs, hybrid courses, audio-video conferencing, and virtual office hours have the power to …

A Tale Of Three Cities: Defining Urban Schools Within The Context Of Varied Geographic Areas, Connie Schaffer, Meg White, Corine M. Brown

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

What constitutes an urban school? This question has confounded social researchers and educators who often limit definitions to population data. H. Richard Milner suggested a framework for defining urban schools that includes population data as well as the racial and social context of schools. This article applied Milner’s model to school districts in New York, Nebraska, and New Mexico which exemplified Milner’s categories of urban schools: urban intensive, urban emergent, and urban characteristic. Application of the framework to the districts presents a model for teacher educators to deliver two important components of preservice preparation. First, the model can assist preservice …

Understanding What Makes For Productive Coaching Moves To Help Teachers Attend To Mathematical Tasks Of Teaching, Paula M. Jakopovic

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Reforms in mathematics education call for teaching to move away from “traditional” approaches (Carpenter, Ansell, & Levi, 2001) that are focused around rote procedures and skills, and toward practice that engages students in cognitively demanding tasks, discourse, and productive struggle to develop conceptual and procedural understanding (NCTM, 2014). This type of teaching is complex, often requiring teachers to develop new content and pedagogical knowledge (Hill, et al., 2008). One professional development effort that attempts to address this need is the implementation of mathematics coaches in schools. Coaching efforts have met with mixed success to date (Campbell & Malkus, 2011; Coburn …

Beyond Sanctioned Activism In Carl Hiaasen’S Flush: Sacrifice Zones In Realistic Fiction, Alexandra Panos

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

This literary analysis considers realistic children’s literature as a powerful means of exploring children’s futures within the challenge of environmental and economic degradation today.

How Do Undergraduate Stem Mentors Reflect Upon Their Mentoring Experiences In An Outreach Program Engaging K-8 Youth?, Kari L. Nelson, Jamie Sabel, Cory Forbes, Neal Grandgenett, William E. Tapprich, Christine E. Cutucache

Biology Faculty Publications

Background: Many university students are becoming involved in mentoring programs, yet few studies describe the impact of mentoring on the mentor. Additionally, many studies report that students graduating from college are not prepared to enter the workforce in terms of key career skills and/or content knowledge. Herein, we examine the impact of our program, NE STEM 4U (Nebraska Science, Technology, Engineering and Math for You), in which undergraduate (UG) mentors engage K-8 youth in after-school STEM experiments. The UGs reflected upon their experiences using post-mentoring evaluations, 12- and 24-week interviews, and exit surveys. Many of the questions asked of …

Modeling Evolution In The Classroom: An Interactive Lego Simulation, Abby Hongsermeier, Nealy F. Grandgenett, Dawn M. Simon

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Evolutionary theory is critical for a comprehensive understanding of biology, yet students often fail to grasp its underlying principles. This results partially from ineffective teaching; however, the use of interactive activities could alleviate this problem. In this guided investigation of evolutionary mechanisms, students use LEGO bricks to simulate how mutation, migration, genetic drift, and natural selection can affect the evolution of a population. This exercise was undertaken and assessed with college introductory biology students, but is also appropriate for advanced high school students.

The Seven Step Strategy, Connie Schaffer

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Is this a familiar scenario? You give students a reading assignment. During class, you pose discussion questions related to the reading. Silence. You rephrase the questions. After an awkward pause, one student responds with a brief answer.

According to the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U 2010 AAC&U. 2010. Reading VALUE Rubric. https://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/reading [Google Scholar] ), when students read they should:

• engage beyond the explicit message,
• consider important questions and scholarly contributions,
• identify relations among ideas,
• acknowledge multiple perspectives, and
• deepen disciplinary conversation.