Education Commons^™

Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition In Middle School: An Examination Of Three Instructional Conditions, David B. Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The importance of vocabulary knowledge gained through incidental learning is well documented. The growth of incidental vocabulary knowledge is especially crucial for middle school students due to the complex words encountered in their studies. However, research on incidental vocabulary acquisition for middle school students is lacking. The purpose of this study was to compare the relative effectiveness of three instructional conditions (reading, writing, and reading and writing) on incidental vocabulary acquisition and retention with middle school students in an English as a first language (L1) environment.

In this within subjects repeated measure study, 263 eighth-grade participants received treatment in three …

Writing Focused Professional Development For Content-Area Teachers: The Effects Of Writing Instruction On Content-Area Student Achievement, Amanda Edwards Whatley

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of writing on the content areas when coupled with ongoing professional development and support for content-area teachers. Research shows that writing is an essential skill for success in and beyond the school setting. Research further indicates that writing plays an important role in student learning through its development of cognitive processes; however, in general, writing as a mode of learning is not a focus of either pre or in-service teacher training. As such, writing beyond note-taking and fill-in-the-blank activities is not necessarily a strategy utilized in content-area teacher classrooms. This …

The Impact Of Graphic Organizer Use On The Metacognitive Skills Of Ten Senior High School Students In An English Iv British Literature Class At Seaside High School, Josie P. White

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of graphic organizer use on the metacognitive skills of 10 senior high school students in English IV British Literature at Seaside High School.

This study took place over the course of five weeks in Spring 2017 and involved one section of the teacher-researcher’s English IV British Literature class at Seaside High School. Through student surveys, a pre-study interview with each student-participant, a learning styles inventory, students’ use of graphic organizers, the teacher-researcher’s observations and field notes, two writing assignments, and a post-study interview with each student-participant, extensive data was collected …

The Effects Of Student Involvement In Writing Topic Selection On Achievement And Motivation, Henry D. Tindal

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study examined 18 high school student-participants’ perceptions of essay writing both with teacher-generated standardized prompts and prompts where students were included in the development of the writing assignment. The students consisted of 12 white females, 2 Asian females, and 4 white males enrolled in an Advanced Placement English Language and Composition class from a rural, southern school located in South Carolina. Quantitative methods were used to determine the impact of the prompts on the students’ motivations for writing essays. Writing samples, surveys and observations comprised the data. Teacher-participants and instructional leaders reflected on the data with the …