Education Commons^™

Reflective Documentation As A Movement Potential: Two Digital Platforms Building A Professional Learning Community, John Taylor, Defne Erdur

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Creating dance and training dancers is a collaborative and co-creative process, and teaching has a central role in the co-creative artistic processes. Yet dance teachers, whether free-lance or working in an institution, often develop and maintain their physical teaching practice in isolation. Additionally, because of the ephemeral nature of dance and the relational nature of dance education, these practices usually do not end up being recorded or documented as a body of knowledge. In the face of such a reality the online database IDOCDE.net provides a platform for the development and maintenance of an inclusive professional learning community through a …

The State Of The Parties 2018 (Eight Edition), John C. Green, Daniel J. Coffey, David B. Cohen

The State of the Parties Eight Edition

The State of the Parties 2018 brings together leading scholars of parties, elections, and interest groups to provide an indispensable overview of American political parties today. The 2016 presidential election was extraordinary, especially the unexpected nomination and election of Donald Trump to the White House. What role did political parties play in these events? How did the party organizations fare? What are the implications for the future? Scholars and practitioners from throughout the United States explore the current state of American party organizations, constituencies and resources at the national, state and local level.

Girls Only Science: Motivating Adolescent Females To Pursue Stem Careers, Madeline Cuckow

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Over the last five years, much attention has been drawn to the large deficit of females in STEM careers and fields. Most attribute this failure to colleges not turning out enough female STEM majors. Contrary to this belief, research suggests a young woman's aptitude for STEM related fields begins much earlier, and declines without intervention.

This project details the research of why there is a gender gap in STEM, what is being done educationally, my unique case study to test the research conducted, and the implications of that research.

The Effectiveness Of Word Walls On Various Groups Of Students, Taylor Kish

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper discusses what word walls are and how they are used in a classroom. The various types of word walls are introduced, as well as their uses for spelling and vocabulary. It looks at the impact that word walls have on the following groups of students in a classroom: students at grade level, students above grade level, students below grade level, and students with disabilities. It was discovered that students above grade level receive the least benefits from word walls and that word walls are the most effective when accompanied with activities and explicit instruction. This paper also details …

Impact Of Experiential Learning In Cross Disciplinary Projects, Cassandra M. Cameron

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In higher education, immersion in real-world experience is essential for students’ professional development. This paper seeks to examine the facets of importance within experiential learning while participating in cross disciplinary projects. First, an anecdotal experience of participating in a national financial competition as transcribed by the author is provided in Section I. This will provide personal reflection of the various benefits associated with the project. Section II follows with a review of relevant literature to connect the aforementioned benefits to experimental and empirical evidence. Section III provides the manuscript submitted to and chosen as a finalist of the Financial Service …

Ua Feature Twirler For A Day, Amy Mellinger

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This analysis includes a description of the first UA Twirler for a Day Event, the preliminary research done on the best practices for planning events such as this, and the process that took place to plan the event. It then goes into an analysis of the planning process, communication, registration, and execution of the event, as well as suggestions for planning similar events.

Administrative Cost Reimbursement Online, Luciano Mogorovic

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Administrative Cost Reimbursement (ACR) is a program funded by the state of Ohio that reimburses non-public elementary and high schools for having employees perform a series of mandated activities. ACR Consultants is a company that collects data from schools that contains the amount of time each teacher spent on any of the mandated activities. The president of ACR Consultants is a neighbor and longtime family friend. Currently, to collect the time data, the company goes to each school it services and gives each teacher a large paper spreadsheet for them to fill in with the amount of time they spend …

How Dyslexia Affects Our Students, Kara Burton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The intention of this project was to research articles that explain what dyslexia is and how students are affected by this disability. As a teacher, it is important to address this topic since dyslexia is the leading disability that occurs in classrooms. The eight major subtopics primarily focused on include: what is dyslexia; how dyslexia affects students; and how teachers and parents can help students in their classroom preference. This can be done by using proper teaching techniques, including appropriate accommodations, and by meeting the academic needs of their students and including activities that are proven to help dyslexic students …

Reaching Food Insecure College Students Through An On-Campus Interactive Education Program, Danielle Buchbinder

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Need/Purpose: Emerging research suggests food insecurity is a problem for college students. Unpublished data from our campus (a large, Midwestern public institution) suggests 36% of students struggle with food insecurity, yet the campus has no pantry or meals/swipe donation program. While little research has been conducted examining food insecurity’s impact on academic success in college, it is well established that food insecurity negatively impacts academic performance in adolescents, mental and social health, dietary choices, and overall health. Program/Participants: In order to learn more and begin to mediate this problem on our campus, a series of nutrition education classes was created …

Finance Day At Ua, Shelby Amatangelo

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Financial stability cannot be built overnight. It takes years of working, saving, investing and planning to develop and maintain financial stability. However, one poor financial decision can destroy a person’s financial stability that they spent years creating. Over 25% of high school students believe that they will be unprepared to manage their finances upon high school graduation (Cooley, 2013). While 43 states require that K-12 standards in financial literacy, only 35 of them are required to be implemented (Heath, 2016). Furthermore, only 17 states require that a high school course in personal finance be taken to graduate and only 6 …

Physical Education, Physical Activity & Academic Achievement: A Longitudinal Study For 1st And 8th Grade Students, Jessica Marita

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Purpose: To examine the physical education requirement, factors that affect physical activity levels for grade-school children, and how physical activity can affect academic achievement. The purpose of the present investigation is to demonstrate a relationship between physical education, physical activity, and academic achievement in K-8th graders.

Hypothesis: Increased physical education in grade-school will be associated with higher academic achievement, higher levels of physical education will be associated with greater amounts of physical activity outside of the classroom.

Methods: Participants were children selected from secondary, publically available, de-identified data from the nationwide Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten 2011 (ECLS-K: 2011). . …

Campus Child Care In Ohio: An Assessment Of Characteristics, Quality, And Challenges, Cassandra Milham

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research is an analysis of campus child care centers in Ohio. In order to assess the quality and status of these centers, phone screenings with centers and a questionnaire completed by directors were utilized to learn of the characteristics of campus child care in Ohio.

Results of the questionnaire were separated into individual sections for quality, academic mission, support for student parents, and challenges. Through analysis of the results, campus child care centers provided quality programs. They assist in the needs of student parents and promote the academic mission of higher education institutions. Some areas where quality was found …

The Impact Of Being A Member Of A Swim Team On Individuals With Down Syndrome, Erin Fenwick

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper explores the impacts of being a member of a swim team on individuals with Down syndrome through a literal replicated case study on two individuals with Down syndrome. By conducting structured interviews with both individuals, their parents, and coaches, as well as research from written articles, the impacts of participating on a swim team are identified by physical health, behavior, and self-perception. Physical health changes are measured by weight, energy level, and muscle tone. Both positive and negative behavior changes were shared to me by the parents and coaches. Self-perception changes are measured by levels of self-confidence and …

The Effectiveness Of Living Learning Communities On Residence Hall Students, Jessica Repko

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the current LLC model that is used at The University of Akron. In this study, a survey was given to two groups of residence hall students in South Hall: first year living learning community students, and first year non-living learning community students. The responses from these surveys were compared to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the living learning communities on first year students. Then, interviews were conducted with the LLC residents to find common themes that were successful or unsuccessful within the LLCs. Surveys were also given to …

Financial Literacy Seminar: An Exploration Of Financial Literacy Education In Ohio, Marysarah Menkhaus

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this study we sought to review financial literacy education in the state of Ohio, particularly for students in Akron City School District. We did this by hosting a day-long financial literacy seminar for high school students in partnership with community financial professionals. I used a pre and post survey to measure the change in student comfortability with financial topics from the beginning of the day to the end. I found that with exposure students become more comfortable with critical financial topics.

The Segregation Of Black Students And White Students In Cuyahoga And Summit County Public Schools, Alexandra Bednarz

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Although segregation has been ruled illegal and unethical in several landmark court cases, the segregation of Black and White students is still prominent in many of the public schools of Cuyahoga County and Summit County. In this paper, I analyze enrollment data from the Ohio Department of Education to determine the percentage of African American students attending intensely segregated school buildings in Cuyahoga County and Summit County. I find evidence that high percentages of students attend such schools, but these percentages have gone down slightly over the last 11 years in both counties. These counties have seen many changes in …

Traditional Grammar For A Modern Classroom, Madison Jones

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project explores the different methods currently being used to teach grammar in a secondary Language Arts classroom. Additionally, the research identifies the relevance of sentence parsing, a traditional grammar method. Finally, the project offers a set of materials that would tangibly allow readers to take the results of the research and apply traditional grammar practices into a modern-day classroom. While there are many different current methods being used to teach grammar, this paper ultimately makes an argument that traditional grammar still can play a powerful role in the classrooms of tomorrow.

Defining Bullying, Emma Mchale

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My project focuses on the foundation of bullying, from 3 different perspectives. The bully, the bullied, and the bystander.

The Presence Of Birth Parents And Students’ Mathematics Achievement, Darian Kanouff

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper discusses the relationship between the presence of birth parents in a student’s home life and their grade last semester in mathematics. Our^[1] study consisted of two sets of rosters from two different urban high schools in a large metropolitan district. The 238 students involved are currently enrolled in either AP Calculus AB, Pre-calculus, Applied Statistics, Algebra II, Honors Geometry, or Geometry. The research showed that 30.8% of students who live with only their birth mother received an A or a B for the semester while 17.5% percent failed their mathematics course. In contrast, 58.4% percent of students …